union forces Archives

Though not considered a major battle in the American Civil War, the Battle of Philippi was nevertheless the first land action in the Eastern Theater.

union forces

On This Day in History: The Battle of Philippi

On this day in 1861, Union and Confederate forces met at the Battle of Philippi in modern day West Virginia. (The area still belonged to Virginia during the early years of the Civil War.) Read more

“The Anaconda Plan” was devised by General Winfield Scott and President Lincoln to squeeze the Confederacy into submission by blockading the South’s seaports.

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The Anaconda Plan: Lincoln and Scott’s Move on the Mississippi River

by Donald J. Roberts II

In theory, sealing off Southern seaports was supposed to cause economic ruin in the South, which in turn would diminish the Confederacy’s ability to wage war. Read more

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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