Parting Shot
Published: 9/1/20
A Sinister Band
A look at a Civil War–era poison ring, which contains a small box intended to be filled with a toxin.
Published: 6/1/20
Seating for Surrender
When Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met to discuss the terms of Confederate surrender, they used the chairs—and sat at the table—shown here.
Published: 4/1/20
A Battlefield Death Delayed
In the final weeks of the Civil War, Thomas W. Chandler was hit in the left temple by a Confederate bullet. He lived for 17 more years.
Published: 12/1/19
Yankee Ingenuity
When Albert Walker was transferred out of the Andersonville prison camp, he left with a wooden pipe carved for him by a fellow captive.
Published: 9/1/19
Jack, the Four-Legged Soldier
Read about "Jack," a stray dog who accompanied the men of the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry when they went to war in 1861.
Published: 7/1/19
Cat vs. Cat
A look at the print "The Question Settled," which considers the Civil War as a struggle between three cats.
Published: 5/1/19
Children of the Battlefield
Gettysburg resident J. Howard Wert collected relics of the battle, including photos of children, mementos that soldiers carried into the fight.
Published: 12/1/18
A Fitting Tribute
A look at a calligraphic portrait by W.H. Pratt of Abraham Lincoln using the text of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Published: 10/1/18
A POW’s Thoughtful Gift
This ring, believed to have been made by a Confederate POW at Fort Delaware, was presented to Confederate First Lady Varina Davis.
Published: 7/1/18
Satterlee’s Saw
One of the more popular Civil War medical tools was an amputation saw with a pistol-gripped handle known as Satterlee’s Saw.
Published: 5/1/18
A Talented Texan
Confederate soldier John F. Brooks carved this pipe from a piece of a damaged dogwood tree along the Potomac River.
Published: 5/1/13
A Rare Reprieve
Captain Joseph B. Fitch of the 20th Maine Infantry was wounded and captured at Gettysburg, but granted a rare battlefield parole the following day.
Published: 12/1/11
Winterizing Houses, Civil War-Style
An 1863 advertisement for Browne's Metallic Weather Strips, styled as a military proclamation, warned of an invasion of loyal northerners' homes.