In the forbidding countryside of Virginia’s Wilderness, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee stumbled blindly toward their first wartime encounter.   More »

With a bloody stalemate looming in the Virginia woods, a young Union colonel, Emory Upton, suggested a risky new maneuver to break the Rebel line.   More »

Ever the gambler, Robert E. Lee put all his remaining chips into the hands of his youngest corps commander at Petersburg.   More »

When the Federal cause was in mortal danger at the Battle of Gettysburg, Winfield Hancock did what had to be done …and more.   More »

A 15-minute skirmish at Wrightsville Bridge had a lasting impact on the Battle of Gettysburg and, by extension, the entire American Civil War.   More »

At the Battle of Fredericksburg, beautifully arrayed ranks of attacking Federals made for grand spectacle in one of the most disastrous Union attacks of the Civil War.   More »

To get the most out of a trip to the Battle of Gettysburg National Military Park, it’s necessary to spend more than just one day.   More »

The larger-than-life bronze figure of Winfield Scott Hancock astride his horse has been a staple of Gettysburg’s Cemetery Hill for over a century.   More »

Both George Meade and Robert E. Lee had seen the success of flanking at Second Manassas and Chancellorsville, and both wanted victory without the carnage of a heads-on attack.   More »

General Custer’s daring diversionary raid penetrated 60 miles behind enemy lines, wrecked Williams Wickham’s camp, and seized 50 prisoners, 100 slaves, and 500 horses.   More »