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The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
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Published: 11/3/14
Yankee Runaways
Major Charles P. Mattocks and his two comrades, Captain Julius P. Litchfield and Lieutenant Charles O. Hunt, were on the run. The three Maine Yankees, each the member of a...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Roger-B.-Taney-512x600.jpg)
Published: 10/13/14
The Death of Roger B. Taney
Throughout the Civil War, the highest judicial officer in the United States, Roger Brooke Taney, held sympathies for the Confederacy. In June 1861—before the first major battle of the war—Taney...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Terrys-Texas-Rangers.jpg)
Published: 7/21/14
Terry’s Texas Rangers
It had been just one month since the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter in April 1861, launching the Civil War. Texas and ten other states seceded from the Union and then...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Photographers-Studio-587x600.jpg)
Published: 6/30/14
Inside the Photographer’s Studio
Between 1861 and 1865, roughly one thousand photographers captured the people and places of the Civil War; dozens followed the armies, shooting pictures of the men who were firing the...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screen-shot-2013-02-13-at-1_27_37-PM-467x600.png)
Published: 6/30/14
Sneak Peek | Lincoln Considered
As a special “thank you” for being an eNews subscriber, we wanted to give you an exclusive sneak peek into the Spring 2013 issue. This issue’s feature article is entitled,...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Gettysburg-poster-526x600.jpg)
Published: 6/26/14
Sneak Peak | Ron Maxwell QA
As a special “thank you” to our eNews subscribers, we offer you this first look at our Q&A with Ron Maxwell, director of Gettysburg. Here, Maxwell tells how Gettysburg almost...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/godey-600x600.jpg)
Published: 6/26/14
Summer Dessert Recipes
From the pages of Godey’s Lady’s Book to your table… Rhubarb Fool Ingredients: Quart of peeled, cut, and inch-long pieces Pint of cream Stick of cinnamon Small piece of lemon-peel...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Spar-Torpedo-600x600.jpg)
Published: 6/9/14
Hunter Davidson and the “Squib”
Hunter Davidson understood the Union Navy, having been in Federal service since 1841 as a teen-aged midshipman, a graduate of its Naval Academy and an instructor there, an officer who...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Crooked-Billet-600x600.jpg)
Published: 5/26/14
The First Civil War Monument
On December 5, 1861, the residents of several Philadelphia suburbs gathered at Hatboro, Pennsylvania, to dedicate a monument to the men of their community who had died during the Battle...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Volunteering-Down-Dixie-600x401.jpg)
Published: 5/5/14
What Should Historians Make of “Black Confederates?”
Library of Congress The topic of so-called “Black Confederates” is controversial. Some insist that Confederate nationalism motivated thousands of African Americans to fight alongside their masters, proving that slavery did...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Guerrilla-Raid-in-a-Western-Town-600x464.jpg)
Published: 3/24/14
The Death of Jim Jackson and the Oxymoron of “Postbellum” Missouri, 1865-1866
In June 1865, Jim Jackson—one of Missouri’s more notorious Confederate guerrilla commanders—made haste for the Illinois line. The Confederate experiment to which Jackson belonged had recently ended in disaster. On...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/usct-600x600.jpg)
Published: 3/17/14
Reconsidering the “Myth” of the Black Union Soldier
It’s hard to believe that 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the Hollywood movie Glory. Twenty-five years later it is also difficult to remember that for many...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Johnsons-Island.jpg)
Published: 2/10/14
The Civil War on the Great Lakes
When President Jefferson Davis refused to sanction a plot to take the American Civil War to the Great Lakes in the winter of 1863, Confederate Navy Lieutenant Robert D. Minor...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Charleston-Harbor-600x252.jpg)
Published: 12/2/13
“Destructionist and Capturer”
Navy Lieutenant W.T. Glassell was furious that his faithful service was being questioned when he landed in Philadelphia in early 1862. He was coming off a long tour that had...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sanitary-600x600.jpg)
Published: 10/9/13
The Wound Dresser
During the Civil War, renowned poet Walt Whitman served as a nurse. His battlefield medical career began at Fredericksburg, where he tended to wounded soldiers—including his brother. Deeply moved by...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/11.jpg)
Published: 10/9/13
Civil War Amputation…In Their Own Words.
Throughout the Civil War, surgeons performed approximately 60,000 amputations—the most common battlefield operation. Such drastic measures were a consequence of the damage caused by Minié balls, which often shattered and...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Medicine9-600x485.jpg)
Published: 10/9/13
Civil War Medical Remedies
While these nineteenth century remedies might not cure what ails you, they make an intriguing read. For Dysentery Dissolve as much table salt in pure vinegar as will ferment and...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Matthew-Maury-432x600.jpg)
Published: 9/30/13
The Civil War’s French Accent
In October 1862 during a wide-ranging meeting, the French Emperor Napoleon III asked Commissioner John Slidell why the Confederacy didn’t have a navy capable of breaking the blockade. The two...![](https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/George-Maddox.jpg)