First Steps to Greatness
Commentary
Reflections on the Monitor’s Spring 2025 cover story on Ulysses S. Grant
A New Look at America’s Greatest Conflict
Current Issue
The Making of a General
Vol. 15, No. 1
Before he became the Union’s top soldier, Mexican War veteran turned store clerk Ulysses S. Grant needed to find a way back into the army.
Recent Posts
Spring 2025 | Dispatches
Commentary
Letters to the editor published in the Spring 2025 issue
Please Write!
People
First-person quotes from Union and Confederate soldiers about their deep desire to receive letters from home.
Making Progress in Tennessee
Preservation
How support from the Tennessee Sites Preservation Fund is crucial to preserving Civil War sites in the Volunteer State.
A Boy Soldier
Images
The story of 15-year-old Jimmy Bateman’s relentless pursuit to join the Union army in 1861.
Union and Confederate Small Arms
Articles
A look at a cross section of Union and Confederate small arms hints at their great variety over the Civil War years.
Featured Posts
The 1864 Project Trailer
Featured
We’re excited to announce that the Monitor’s first-ever podcast series is launching later this month. The 1864 Project is a 7-part series that focuses on a vitally important year during the Civil War—1864. Listen to the trailer for more.
The Civil War’s Epidemics
Civil War Medicine
It’s well-known that the Civil War was the United States’ deadliest conflict. Between 750,000 and 1 million Americans died, shockingly high figures that still drive interest in the conflict more…
McClellan’s Culture of Command
Featured
George B. McClellan profoundly affected the course of the Civil War. His inexplicable retreat following a major victory at Malvern Hill in July 1862 undoubtedly lengthened the conflict and, to…
A Hospital Steward’s Story
Featured
Read Union soldier James Kendall Hosmer’s account of the “soul-touching” time he spent as a hospital steward aboard the steamship “Iberville” in 1863.
The Books That Built Me: John Hennessy
Featured
The contruction of my historiographical self began on a rainy afternoon in fifth grade. There was no chance for outdoor romping, or venturing through the deluge to a friend’s house…
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 8
Featured
DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Soldiers of the Texas Brigade Putting this series together has been enjoyable but also frustrating. None of the retrospective literature created by soldiers in the…