Civil War
Swirling Cavalry Fight at Trevilian Station
By Arnold BlumbergDespite costing the Union Army 55,000 men in five weeks of hard marching and grueling combat, Lt. Gen. Read more
Civil War
Warfare History Network is your best source for military history online. This is where we bring you our coverage on all aspects of the American Civil War—from the first shots fired at Fort Sumter to Antietam to the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. In addition to substantial military coverage, we also examine the political climate of the 1860s and how the war influenced civilian life in the North and South. A trove of Civil War photos, maps, and color illustrations complement our written contributions from a team of established writers, including William Welsh, Pedro Garcia, and acclaimed author-historian Roy Morris Jr.
Civil War
The 1st and 2nd Cavalry Regiments: Jefferson Davis’s Pet Project
By Cowan BrewUnder a bright, high sun in a pale blue Midwestern sky, six companies of the United States Cavalry’s 1st Regiment rode into a grassy valley bordering the south fork of the Solomon River in northwestern Kansas on the afternoon of July 29, 1857. Read more
Civil War
Battle of Antietam: Clash in the Cornfield
By Michael E. HaskewThe White House was a somber place in the summer of 1862. The Civil War was in the midst of its second costly year, and the Union armies had yet to win a significant victory in the eastern theater. Read more
Civil War
Morgan’s Ohio Raid
By Joshua Shepherd“It was a sad, sorrowful day,” recalled Confederate Major James McCreary, “and more tears of grief rolled over my weather beaten cheeks on this mournful occasion than have before for years.” Read more
Civil War
Brawl at Brawner’s Farm: Jackson’s Bloody Stalemate at Second Manassas
By John WalkerThe ground around Manassas, Virginia, was not auspicious for Union Army forces in the first two years of the Civil War. Read more
Civil War
The Murder of Bull Nelson
By Stuart W. SandersFew Civil War officers, in either army, were as polarizing as Union Maj. Gen. William “Bull” Nelson. Read more
Civil War
Battle of the Hemp Bales
By Steve LilleyBrigadier General James S. Rains’s Confederate cavalry rode confidently toward the prosperous little town of Lexington, Missouri. Dressed in Missouri homespun, Rains’s men hardly looked the part of a flying military column, but most of the hard-riding horsemen had known only victory during their short service. Read more
Civil War
4th U.S. Regulars at Gettysburg
By Donald McConnell & Gustav PersonWhen the Civil War erupted in April 1861, the 10 companies of the 4th U.S. Read more
Civil War
The Days of Shoddy: Worst Manufacturers of the Civil War
By Timothy Koenig“For sugar the government often got sand; for coffee, rye; for leather, something no better than brown paper; for sound horses and mules, spavined beasts and dying donkeys; and for serviceable muskets and pistols, the experimental failures of sanguine inventors, or the refuse of shops and foreign armories.” Read more
Civil War
A Fierce Glory: The Battle of Antietam
By Christopher Miskimon
In the late afternoon of September 17, 1862 the 7th Maine Regiment received new orders. The Battle of Antietam had raged throughout the day. Read more
Civil War
The South’s Famous Orphan Brigade
By Michael E. HaskewOn April 15, 1861, three days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteer troops. Read more
Civil War
Chasing Jefferson Davis
By Don HollwayWhen the end came, on April 2, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was sitting in his customary pew at St. Read more
Civil War
Taking Forts Henry and Donelson: Turning Point in the Rebel West
By Pedro GarciaOne evening around Christmas of 1861 Union Maj. Gen. Henry “Old Brains” Halleck, commanding the Department of Missouri, dined with his chief of staff, Brig. Read more
Civil War
John Freeman Mackie: First Marine Medal of Honor Recipient
By Melanie SavageOn May 15, 1862, a five-ship Union Navy squadron that included the ironclad USS Galena, gunboats Aroostook, Port Royal, Naugatuck, and the famous Monitor neared a bend in the James River known as Drewry’s Bluff, where Confederate Fort Darling commanded the passage. Read more
Civil War
The Battle of Tupelo, June – July 1864
By Edward Holub and John Marchetti
“For God’s sake, if Mr. Forrest will let me alone, I will let him alone. Read more
Civil War
What Happened at the Devil’s Den at the Battle of Gettysburg
By Don WilliamsThe struggle for the Devil’s Den at Gettysburg occurred on July 2, 1863, under a hot and cloudless afternoon. Read more
Civil War
The Memoirs of Herbert Carlton
By A.B. FeuerEditor’s note: Noted military writer Bud Feuer especially enjoys discovering first-person accounts and diaries. He found the following in “a junk shop” written in pencil on brown wrapping paper. Read more
Civil War
Thomas Custer Fought and Died with His Brother at Little Big Horn
By David MichlovitzPractically all students of military history know of George Armstrong Custer the cavalry officer, Civil War hero, and dashing, controversial Indian fighter ultimately killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Read more
Civil War
General George S. Patton, Sr.: Civil War Veteran
By James M. PowlesThe famed general of World War II, George S. Patton III, often spoke with pride of the military deeds of his forefathers. Read more
Civil War
Why Are There So Few Civil War Films?
By Roy Morris Jr.World War II, America’s last “good war,” has always been a fruitful source for homegrown moviemakers. Beginning with the wartime movies that shamelessly if sincerely promoted American efforts to rally against the fascist evils of Germany, Italy, and Japan, the silver screen gave audiences stirring depictions of brave GIs risking and sacrificing their lives for the greater good. Read more
