Civil War

Civil War

The Battle of Vicksburg & The Hardships of Military Siege

By William E. Welsh

The defenders of Vicksburg, clad in tattered uniforms, stood drenched in sweat at their posts on the morning of May 22, 1863. Read more

Civil War

The Battle of Wilson’s Creek: A Bloody Southern Victory

By William E. Welsh

The morning of August 10, 1861, dawned damp and hot. A steady drizzle fell on the large Confederate encampment on the still waters of Wilson’s Creek. Read more

Civil War

President Abraham Lincoln & The American Civil War

by Mike Haskew

The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was elected to the highest office in the land in November 1860, and the event prompted the secession of numerous southern states beginning with South Carolina the following month. Read more

Civil War

The Sites That Bring Petersburg National Battlefield to Life

by William E. Welsh

When you mention the Petersburg campaign to someone familiar with Civil War battles, chances are the discussion will turn to the Battle of the Crater. Read more

Civil War

Union Generals of the American Civil War: George McClellan

by Mike Haskew

General George McClellan was a key figure in the prosecution of the American Civil War, particularly during 1862, when he led the Union Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign, a failed offensive to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond in the spring, and the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history, on September 17, 1862. Read more

Civil War

Harvest of Death: Visiting Antietam National Battlefield

By William E. Welsh

The harvest of death in the farm fields of western Maryland was a heavy one on September 17, 1862. Read more

Civil War

Civil War Quarterly Preview: The Greatest High Seas Duel of the American Civil War

 

Newly promoted Captain Raphael Semmes of the Confederate States Navy called his crew—largely English—to the quarterdeck of his new command. Read more

Civil War

The History of Slavery in America Prior to the Civil War

By Rick Beard

For nearly two centuries, the “peculiar institution” of slavery dominated Southern social and economic life in America, infecting the nation’s politics with an unresolvable moral conflict that led finally to civil war. Read more

Civil War

Union General Winfield Scott Hancock’s Statue at Gettysburg

By John Deppen

On Friday, June 5, 1896, Brevet Brig. Gen. Henry Bingham stood before a crowd of Union veterans and citizens gathered on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. Read more

Civil War

American Civil War Timeline – 1862: Chipping Away at the South

By William E. Welsh

In 1862, Confederate forces in Virginia were enjoying a number of campaign successes, but the decisive advantage in naval power enjoyed by the Union enabled it to advance down the Mississippi, capture river forts, and conduct many coastal attacks. Read more

Civil War

William B. Hazen: The “Best-Hated Man” of the American Civil War

Quarreling With Every Officer… Even The President

In the course of his 30-year military career, Hazen managed to quarrel with various superior officers, up to and including the president of the United States. Read more

Civil War

Going Up Against J.E.B. Stuart

Brigadier General Alfred Pleasonton’s outward appearance was that of a well-groomed man. He kept his beard and moustache neatly trimmed, parted his wavy hair on the side, and wore a wide-brimmed hat like a dandy. Read more

Civil War

A True Civil War

By Roy Morris Jr.

With this issue, Civil War Quarterly joins the roster of other regularly published Sovereign Media publications. Our new issue, appropriately enough, contains a heavy dose of Gettysburg on the eve of the battle’s 150th anniversary. Read more

Civil War

“The South never smiled again at Shiloh”

No one expected this—not the fiercest “fire-eater” in South Carolina or the flintiest abolitionist in New England. By the time the guns fell silent at Shiloh on the night of April 7, 1862, soldiers on both sides of the battlefield realized that they had endured something never before seen in American history. Read more

Civil War

Confederate Cavalry Leader Turner Ashby

Even in an army not lacking for larger-than-life figures, Confederate cavalry leader Turner Ashby stood out from the crowd. Although not particularly tall—about five feet, 10 inches—there was something about Ashby that commanded attention. Read more

Civil War

The Death of Union “Boy General” Elon Farnsworth

While newly minted Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer was leading his Michigan cavalry brigade to glory at Gettysburg, fellow brigadier Elon Farnsworth, himself a native Wolverine, confronted a very different fate. Read more

Civil War

Gettysburg in Black and White

By Michael E. Haskew

By the 1860s, photography itself was little more than 30 years old. Photographic techniques had progressed somewhat in three decades, but the process was still lengthy and the equipment was cumbersome. Read more

Civil War

When War Came Home

By Kevin Hymel

Unlike most civil wars, the American Civil War took place primarily in one section of the country—the South. Read more

Civil War

The Common Soldier in the Post-Civil War Era

As author Lee Chambers’s new book on Fort Abraham Lincoln (reviewed in this issue) illustrates, the reading public, both in the United States and abroad, remains fascinated by life in the West following the Civil War. Read more

Civil War

Gettysburg

Don Williams’ story on the Devil’s Den allows me an opening to write about the Battle of Gettysburg. To the myriad words on the conflict, I add the following. Read more