Manassas

Bloody Fiasco at the Crater

By Arnold Blumberg

In the summer of 1864, after six weeks of virtually constant combat in the Wilderness area of northern Virginia, the Union and Confederate armies of Ulysses S. Read more

Manassas

Rose O’Neal Greenhow: The Spy Who Won Bull Run

By David Alan Johnson

“But for you, there would have been no Battle of Bull Run.” When Confederate President Jefferson Davis made that blanket statement in the summer of 1862, he was not addressing Pierre G.T. Read more

Manassas

Battle of Richmond, Kentucky: Cannae in the Bluegrass State

By Pedro Garcia

On September 7, 1862, Colonel Walter Taylor of General Robert E. Lee’s staff wrote to his sister: “The Yankee papers of the 6th exhibit a gloomy picture for our enemy. Read more

Manassas

J.E.B. Stuart and Kilpatrick Butt Heads at Buckland Mills

By Arnold Blumberg

For the Federal government at Washington, D.C., the news from Tennessee was grim in late September 1863. The Union Army of the Cumberland, under Maj. Read more

Manassas

Battle of Mechanicsville: McClellan’s Unexploited Victory

By John Walker

After an almost uninterrupted, four-month-long string of Union successes beginning in early 1862, followed by the advance of a 100,000-man enemy army to the eastern outskirts of its capital at Richmond, Virginia, the Confederacy suddenly found itself in a life-or-death struggle for its very survival. Read more

Manassas

The American Civil War: Forging a National Identity

by Mike Haskew

The American Civil War was the tragic culmination of divergent perspectives on the proper conduct of the government of the United States and socio-economic issues that had been frequently at the forefront of American political life for decades. Read more

Manassas

Comparing the Battle of Gettysburg to the Entire Civil War

by Brooke Stoddard

The occasion was, for the North, inauspicious. In the Battle of First Manassas, the Federals were routed, humiliated, and almost utterly crushed. Read more

Manassas

Lincoln vs. Frémont and His “Hasty Emancipation”

As the early days of the American Civil War were unfolding and the destiny of the republic was being contested on the battlefield, President Abraham Lincoln was engaged in a no less perilous type of battle. Read more

Manassas

Flanks vs. Frontal Attacks: Meade and Lee’s Tactics

by Robert Suhr

All day on July 4, 1863 the Union and Confederate armies stared at each other during the Battle of Gettysburg. Read more

Manassas

Attack of the Ironclad Manassas

by Robert Suhr

In late September 1861, the Union navy moved to the Head of the Passes. From there, below New Orleans, the Mississippi River divided into three major passes leading to the Gulf of Mexico. Read more

Manassas

Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee and the Battle of the Wilderness

The year 1864 was shaping up to be a critical one in the American Civil War. During the previous year, Federal armies had gained control of the Mississippi River and consolidated their grip on Tennessee. Read more

Manassas

Swirling Cavalry Fight at Trevilian Station

By Arnold Blumberg

Despite costing the Union Army 55,000 men in five weeks of hard marching and grueling combat, Lt. Gen. Read more

Manassas

American Civil War Timeline – Southern Offensives Turned Back

by William E. Welsh

Confederate offensives into two border states, Maryland and Kentucky, formed the key highlights of the second half of 1862 for the Confederacy. Read more

Manassas

Eppa Hunton at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff

By William E. Welsh

The gray-clad Virginia infantry marched quickly through the woods. In the distance they could hear the familiar rattle of musketry signaling an encounter with the enemy. Read more

Manassas

Grover’s Savage Attack at the Battle of Second Manassas

By William E. Welsh

The New Englanders crept forward through the thick woods toward the Rebel position at mid-afternoon. Trading volleys with the Confederates behind the natural trench afforded by the unfinished railroad line during the Battle of Second Manassas in summer 1862 had so far proved unsuccessful throughout the scorching hot summer day. Read more

Manassas

Women in the Civil War: Enlisting With the Men

By Carole Butcher

On a warm morning in July 1861, the Union Army marched forth with bands playing and regimental flags flying. Read more

Manassas

Manassas Battlefield Park: Illuminating the Outset of the Civil War

by William E. Welsh

The first thing that strikes a visitor to Henry Hill at Manassas National Battlefield Park is the spectacular view. Read more