
The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians


Published: 12/1/11
Voice from the Past: 1861
ARM’D year! year of the struggle! No dainty rhymes or sentimental love verses for you, terrible year! Not you as some pale poetling, seated at a desk, lisp- ing cadenzas...
Published: 11/29/11
A Second Helping of Civil War Thanksgiving
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, ate lots of turkey/tofurkey, and survived the chaos of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. Since, we did not post our regular...
Published: 11/29/11
Celebration or Riot?
Upon hearing the news of General George McClellan’s appointment to chief commander of the Union Army, Washingtonians embarked upon a grand torch-light procession down Seventh Street. The “compliment” proceeded from...
Published: 11/28/11
Voice from the Past: “The Best Man and the Best General”
“I am very glad to learn that my order changed Gen. Scott’s feelings entirely, and that he now says I am the best man and the best general that ever...
Published: 11/25/11
Voice from the Past – Thanksgiving is Over
Happy Black Friday! We hope you all had a wonderful (and delectable) Thanksgiving. Our final “Voice from the Past” comes from the November 1861 diary of Lucy Larcom of Nordom,...
Published: 11/24/11
Voice from the Past – Thankfully Keeping Thanksgiving Day
Our Thanksgiving tribute continues. Today’s “Voice from the Past” is Wilder Dwight of the Second Massachusettes Infantry Volunteers. “Camp near Seneca, November 16, 1861. …The virtue of this military life...
Published: 11/23/11
Voice from the Past – “Fleshing our teeth in a secesh gobbler…”
Good Morning! We continue our week long Civil War Thanksgiving celebration with an excerpt from William Wheeler’s November 11, 1861 letter to his mother: Camp Observation, Md., November 11, 1861....
Published: 11/22/11
Voice from the Past – Thanksgiving Sensations
Happy Thanksgiving! The following account of an 1861 Thanksgiving dinner amongst the Union army comes from a letter written by Wilder Dwight of the 2nd Massachusettes Infantry: Camp near Seneca,...
Published: 11/22/11
Voice from the Past – A Thanksgiving Day Proclamation
While Americans had celebrated Thanksgiving since 1621, it was not until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln issued the following Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. Only then, did the holiday became a national...
Published: 11/21/11
Voice from the Past – The Customs of Our Puritan Fathers
Good morning! To celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, The Front Line will be posting different “Voices from the Past” about Civil War soldiers’ Thanksgiving experiences. Our first quote comes from the...
Published: 11/17/11
Voice from the Past – “Am afloat, adrift”
“Am afloat, adrift, abroad, motion uneasy, “Inner man” “stomach” becoming so. I think I’ll try full-length. A cotton-bale & the open air on the for’ard deck. “Very grand.” The sea—if...
Published: 11/15/11
“Soldiers of Fortune, Make Us Your Game!”
William Howard Russell was a “special correspondent” for the London Times, who travelled the North and South during the early years of the war. The excerpted quote describes a luncheon...
Published: 11/15/11
A Civil War Cattle Drive
Beef for the Union Army Cross the Long Bridge at Washington. Image Credit: Harper’s Weekly, 16 November 1861.
Published: 11/14/11
Voices from the Past – The Integrity of the Union
“You will please constantly to bear in mind the precise issue for which we are fighting; that issue is the preservation of the Union and the restoration of the full...
Published: 11/11/11
Honoring our Veterans…Then & Now
The Civil War Monitor editors would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all of the veterans and active duty personnel of our armed services. We salute you! To...
Published: 11/10/11
Who Will Be Worthy of Memorialization?
The following cartoon is from the 9 November 1861 issue of Harper’s Weekly. The caption reads: “BROTHER JONATHAN, who has been getting up a Military Statue, succeeds very well in...
Published: 11/10/11
Happy Birthday Marines!
To celebrate the 236th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps, we found this image of Civil War marines. The caption reads, “The United States Marines and Marine Barracks at...
Published: 11/8/11
A Regiment of Inventors
“In the arts of life man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery all the slaughter of plague, pestilence,...