Civil War Mortars Were the Feared Precision Artillery Weapon of the Victorian Age.

Robert E. Lee

Civil War Artillery

By John D. Gresham

For much of its history, artillery has been a weapon of mass destruction and attrition, a force designed to cause casualties, destroy fortifications, and wear an enemy down with its noise, explosions, and shrapnel. Read more

Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant watches as his troops march into the Wilderness south of the Rapidan River. The commander of all Union forces accompanied the Army of the Potomac on its 1864 spring campaign.

Robert E. Lee

Recollections of The Fighting at Spotsylvania Court House

By William E. Welsh

The recollections of Virginia-born John O. Casler of the famed Confederate Stonewall Brigade offer considerable insight into the nature of the fighting, as well as the thoughts and actions of the enlisted men, at Spotsylvania Court House in mid-May 1864. Read more

William Welsh walks us through the steps of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

Robert E. Lee

Civil War’s End: The Battle of Appomattox Court House

by William E. Welsh

When Confederate General Robert E. Lee learned on the morning of April 9, 1865, that Union infantry was both in front and behind of his meager army of 12,500 effectives as it approached Appomattox Court House in central Virginia, he resigned himself to the sad task before him. Read more

The 16th U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln guided the nation during the turbulent years of the American Civil War years.

Robert E. Lee

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

Robert E. Lee

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