The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 6/13/22
Ticks in Camp
Discover the challenges of dealing with ticks in camp as documented by a young officer in the 57th New York Infantry during the Civil War.
Published: 6/3/22
Eyewitness to Cold Harbor
Read Colonel Theodore Lyman's eyewitness letter about brutal Battle of Cold Harbor, fought in June 1864.
Published: 5/23/22
Quick Picks: Civil War Photography Books
Library of Congress A Civil War photographer and his tent. Looking for good books on Civil War photography? We asked Ronald S. Coddington, author and publisher of Military Images magazine,...
Published: 4/28/22
The Books That Built Me: Brian Matthew Jordan
SHAWNA SHERRELL Brian Matthew Jordan I suppose you could say that I started researching my recently published book, Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, when I was...
Published: 4/4/22
Braxton Bragg at McLemore’s Cove
Library of Congress General Braxton Bragg The art of command remains an elusive and complex concept for historians of the Civil War, and debates about command decisions and methods hold...
Published: 3/29/22
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 3
A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee (1876) General Robert E. Lee rides among his troops during the Battle of Gettysburg. Several European journalists and military officers wrote about their...
Published: 3/21/22
Extra Voices: Mother Bickerdyke
Read the poignant quotes about Mother Bickerdyke that illustrate her role as a revolutionary nurse in the Civil War.
Published: 2/28/22
The Five Best Books on Civil War Memory
Library of Congress Union and Confederate veterans shake hands at the reunion to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. In his 1948 novel Intruder in the Dust,...
Published: 1/18/22
Essential Reading on the Peninsula Campaign
anne s.k. brown military collection George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac on the move during the Peninsula Campaign In the spring and early summer of 1862, Union general George B....
Published: 1/13/22
Word-clouding the Emancipation Proclamation
Discover the significant terms in the Emancipation Proclamation through our word cloud, highlighting Lincoln's powerful message.
Published: 12/17/21
Extra Voices: War’s Grisly Toll
First-person quotes from Union and Confederate soldiers on the grisly impact of Civil War Combat.
Published: 12/6/21
The Best Civil War Books of 2021
A roundup of the best Civil War history books published in 2021.
Published: 11/30/21
Prison Tales
Library of Congress Andersonville Prison in 1864 Looking to learn more about Civil War prisons and prisoners of war? We asked historian Brian Matthew Jordan to suggest a handful of...
Published: 11/4/21
Gettysburg Photo Mystery Solved?
A look at how 3D technology may have helped solved a longtime mystery surrounding an old Gettysburg photograph.
Published: 10/25/21
The Best Civil War Novels
Library of Congress No event in American history has inspired more imaginative writing than the Civil War. Authors have made the struggle the subject of thousands of rhymes, songs, poems,...
Published: 10/18/21
Suits of Shoddy
Founded in 1818, Brooks Brothers of New York is the oldest clothing retailer in America. Even today, the name alone conjures images of fine silk neckties and Italian wool sportscoats—quality,...
Published: 9/27/21
The Five Best Books on Civil War Guerrillas
Library of Congress Two guerrillas stop a civilian rider to rob him in this sketch from a December 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly. “This Mr. Wales is a cold-blooded killer....
Published: 9/24/21
Mr. Gridley and His Sack of Flour
The story of R.C. Gridley, of Austin, Nevada, who made—and lost—an interesting wager on a local election in 1865.