Blog
Published: 2/7/12
The Sesquicentennial of the Battle of Roanoke Island
February 7th and 8th mark the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Roanoke Island. A lesser known battle, Roanoke Island was part of Brigadier General Ambrose E. Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition...
Published: 2/6/12
Honoring the 107th U.S. Colored Infantry Band
Our Black History Month Celebration continues… 107th U.S. Colored Infantry Band at Fort Corcoran in Arlington, Virginia, November 1865. Freed blacks served in various capacities in the Union army, including...
Published: 2/6/12
The Battle of Fort Henry Sesquicentennial
The Union Gun-Boats Advancing Up the Tennessee River to the Attack of Fort Henry Today marks the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Fort Henry—a Confederate earthern fort on the Tennessee...
Published: 2/6/12
Voice from the Past: “The 6th Dawned Mild and Cheering”
The following is Rear Admiral Henry Walke’s recollection of the Battle of Fort Henry. …Heavy rains had been falling, and the river had risen rapidly to an unusual height; the...
Published: 2/6/12
Aboard a Gun Deck During the Battle of Fort Henry
Gun-Deck of one of the Mississippi Gun-Boats Engaged in the Attack on Fort Henry – sketched by Alexander Simplot – Image Credit: Harper’s Weekly, February 22, 1862
Published: 2/6/12
Voice from the Past: “We Had Held Out for Over Two”
The following is Captain Jesse Taylor’s recollection of the Confederate defense of Fort Henry on February 6, 1862. …Arriving at the fort, I was convinced by a glance at its...
Published: 2/2/12
Voice from the Past: Rallying with the Hearts of Lions
The following letter is from Samuel Cabble, a private in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry, to his wife. Cabble was a slave before he joined the army at twenty-one years of...
Published: 2/2/12
Preparing to See the Elephant
Preparing the Negro Soldiers to Use the Minie Rifle Image Credit: Harper’s Weekly, March 14, 1863.
Published: 2/1/12
The Business of Civil War (2010)
At its core, Mark R. Wilson’s volume on military mobilization during the Civil War is the story of Union procurement principles, policies, and practices. Few observers anticipated that the war...
Published: 2/1/12
Honoring African American Veterans for Black History Month
Happy Black History Month! Today—and throughout the month of February, we honor those African Americans who fought in the Civil War. Image Credit: “A Negro Regiment in Action,” Harper’s Weekly,...
Published: 1/30/12
The Launching of a Legend…the USS Monitor
Naval Historical Center’s Online Library of Selected Images 150 years ago today, the Union Navy launched the USS Monitor—its first ironclad—from the Continental Iron Works, at Greenpoint in Long Island,...
Published: 1/30/12
Inboard the USS Monitor
Naval Historical Center’s Online Library of Selected Images The above image is the USS Monitor‘s general plan featuring an inboard profile of the ironclad. First published in in 1862, the...
Published: 1/26/12
The Mighty Mississippi
General View of the Mississipii River from Cairo, Illinois to the mouth of the river. Image Credit: Harper’s Weekly, January 11, 1862.
Published: 1/25/12
The Battle of the Crater: A Novel (2011)
In recent months, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has sprinkled the campaign trail with promotional events for the books he published last year, including the Civil War novel The Battle...
Published: 1/24/12
What Robert E. Lee Didn’t Do After Appomattox
Actually, he didn’t do a lot of things. For starters, he didn’t lead a guerilla army against Federal invaders/occupiers—even though more than a few people suggested that he take that...
Published: 1/23/12
Prisoners from the Front
Before Winslow Homer became a famed sea-scape painter, he was a Civil War correspondent and illustrator for Harpers Weekly. The above paiting, entitled “Prisoners from the Front,” (1866) was featured...
Published: 1/19/12
Voice from the Past: “A Terrible Struggle if it Comes to War.”
“They do not know what they say. If it comes to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians will not appreciate the determination...
Published: 1/18/12
Remixing the Civil War (2011)
Who could have anticipated that, by the early years of the 21st century, America’s bloodiest military conflict might be re-imagined in the form of a photograph of nine smiling Lincoln...