The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 3/15/12
A Lady and A Diary from Dixie
Good morning! Our Women’s History Month celebration continues with this tribute to Mary Boykin Chesnut. Mary Boykin Chesnut is perhaps the best known female diarist of the Civil War. Born...
Published: 3/15/12
How I tried and failed to escape the Civil War
My interest in the Civil War should have been a wonderful accident of birth and geography. I was born, raised, studied, and worked around key sites in that event’s history—quite...
Published: 3/12/12
The Women in Black
Last fall, J. David Hacker revealed that the number of Civil War dead is closer to 750,000 than the previously accepted number of 618,222. While not all of them were...
Published: 3/9/12
Voice from the Past: “How These Powerful Machines Are To Be Stopped Is A Problem I Can Not Solve”
Good morning! We continue our celebration of the Battle of Hampton Roads with another “Voice from the Past.” The following is Confederate Major General Benjamin Hunger’s report on the famed...
Published: 3/9/12
The Rebel Lady’s Boudoir
Happy Friday and Happy Women’s History Month! We continue our homage to Civil War women with this provokative—and morbid—drawing from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper: The corresponding commentary and caption read:...
Published: 3/9/12
Voice from the Past: “In the Monitor Turret”
Good afternoon. In honor of the Battle of Hampton Roads, we bring you another Voice from the Past—this time from the Union perspective. The following is Commander S. Dana Greene’s...
Published: 3/9/12
Voice from the Past: “It revolutionized the navies of the world”
We close our Hampton Roads sesquicentennial celebration with this one final quote about the famed clash of the ironclads: THE engagement in Hampton Roads on the 8th of March, 1862,...
Published: 3/8/12
Voice from the Past: “Great God What a Scene is Presented”
Good Afternoon! We conclude our sesquicentennial tribute of the Battle of Pea Ridge with another Voice from the Past. Good Afternoon! We conclude our sesquicentennial tribute of the Battle of...
Published: 3/8/12
The Women Who Went to the Field
In honor of Women’s History Month, we are celebrating the work and poetry of famed Civil War nurse Clara Barton. Born Clarissa Harlowe Barton, Barton was a true patriot and...
Published: 3/8/12
Voice from the Past: “Nothing to Remind me of The Treacherous Days in March of ’62”
Good Morning! The sesquicentennial of the Battle of Pea Ridge continues today. As such, we bring you a special Voice from the Past: Asa Payne’s—of Company E, 3rd Missouri Infantry,...
Published: 3/8/12
Do You Know These Men?
They died in the sinking of U.S.S. Monitor off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862. Their remains were found in the turret of that ship, which was recovered from the...
Published: 3/6/12
The Girl Soldiers of Nancy Harts Militia
Good morning! Today’s Women’s History Month themed post honors Nancy Harts militia—an oft-ignored group of brave women from LaGrange, Georgia. Formed early in the war, Nancy Harts militia was actually...
Published: 3/5/12
A Poetic Tribute to Civil War Women
Good Morning! Our Women’s History Month celebration continues with Mary E. Nealy’s 1864 poem written for the Indiana State Sanitary Fair: And our noble women, the soldier cries, As he...
Published: 3/2/12
“One Side of the War is Theirs” – The U.S. Sanitary Commission
Founded on June 18, 1861 via federal legislation, the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency that supported sick and wounded soldiers of the U.S. Army during...
Published: 3/1/12
Honoring Civil War Women for Women’s History Month
Today marks the first day of Women’s History Month. To celebrate, The Front Line will have a month-long series of women’s history posts including images, quotes, writings, and biographies. We...
Published: 2/28/12
Mustered Out…The U.S. Colored Troops
“Mustered Out,” Little Rock, Arkansas, April 20, 1865 by Alfred R. Waud. Image Credit: Harper’s Weekly, May 19, 1866 courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Published: 2/28/12
Mustering Out Continued…General Orders No. 1
COMRADES: The hour is at hand when we must separate forever, and nothing can take from us the pride we feel, when we look upon the history of the ‘First...
Published: 2/27/12
Recruiting Black Soldiers – The Fight for Equal Rights
After President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union army began recruiting African American soldiers. The first authorized black regiments came from Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Tennessee. While initially...