The embarrassing Union Army defeat at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff on October 21, 1861, was only the beginning of Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone’s troubles.

Union Army

Union Army Defeat at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff

By Conan Brew

In the wake of the humiliating and unexpected defeat, and fourth in a line that stretched back to Fort Sumter, the Battle of Bull Run, and the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, the Union Congress created a seven-man Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War to oversee and review all battles and the events surrounding them. Read more

Looking back at the Battle of Gettysburg

Union Army

Facts About the Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg Fact #1: There Were 50,000 Military Casualties, 1 Civilian

Despite roughly 50,000 casualties reported on both sides during the Battle of Gettysburg, there was only one reported civilian casualty: Mary Wade, a seamstress, was hit by a stray bullet while making bread in her kitchen. Read more

Union Army

A Murderous Order at Culp’s Hill

By Joshua Sheperd

Although Union Colonel Silas Colgrove had previously led his men through some of the most horrific fighting in the eastern theater of the Civil War, the order he received on the morning of July 3, 1863, in the woods near Culp’s Hill at Gettysburg, was the most unnerving he had ever received. Read more

Union Army

The Fort Pillow Incident

By Roy Morris Jr.

When Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and his 3,000 battle-hardened troopers rode back into their homeland of West Tennessee in late March 1864, they were not in the best of moods. Read more

Abraham Lincoln clashed publicly with Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont over his hasty emancipation proclamation in Missouri.

Union Army

The Frémont Emancipation Proclamation

By Lawrence Weber

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

Union Army

Union Army Colonel Wlodzimierz Krzyzanowski

By John E. Spindler

The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the American Civil War. Various parts of the battle have been proposed as pivotal moments for the Union victory, such as the successful defense at Little Round Top or Pickett’s failed charge on the final day. Read more