The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 3/3/25
Cleaning Ironclads
A look at the process used to clean the ironclad monitor-class warships that made up the Union's South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Published: 2/17/25
Medicine From a Pandora’s Box
Explore the story of the Civil War medicine box belonging to Confederate surgeon Christopher H. Tebaul.
Published: 2/3/25
Veterans Visit an Idealized West
In July 1883, thousands of former Union soldiers in the East and Midwest boarded railroad cars bound for Denver, Colorado, to attend the Seventeenth National Encampment of the Grand Army...
Published: 1/27/25
Handsome Dan
A profile of Union general George B. McClellan's war horse "Daniel Webster," also known as "Handsome Dan."
Published: 1/20/25
Family Ties
How understanding our familial connections to the past help us form our collective aspirations for the future.
Published: 1/19/25
Civil War Snow Sledding
A contemporary review of Brown's Coasting Sled, a device patented in 1862, offers a look at the nature of snow sledding during the Civil War years.
Published: 1/13/25
Extra Voices: Narrow Escapes
In the Voices section of our Winter 2024 issue we highlighted quotes by Union and Confederate soldiers about the close calls they or their comrades had experienced during the Civil...
Published: 1/6/25
A Firearm Transformed
In the first two years of the Civil War, the United States Model 1816/22 .69-caliber smoothbore musket was undoubtedly one of the most issued and most used firearms by both...
Published: 1/1/25
An Eventful New Year
Sometime in early 1865, Massachusetts officer S.R. Keenan, stationed in New Bern, North Carolina, wrote the following letter to Miss Sarah Southworth of Winthrop, Maine, to wish her a Happy...
Published: 12/30/24
The Loss of the “Monitor”
In December 1862, USS Monitor—which had garnered national attention for its engagement with CSS Virginia in the first-ever battle of ironclad warships at Hampton Roads the previous March—was ordered to...
Published: 12/23/24
A West Point Fantasy Draft
Evaluating antebellum West Point graduates based on their class performances as part of a mock Civil War commanders' NFL-style draft.
Published: 12/16/24
How a Man Feels in Battle
In its October 12, 1861, issue, The Scientific American reprinted a brief article that had recently appeared in the Philadelphia newspaper North American. In it, an editor at the North...
Published: 12/9/24
At Fredericksburg
In its February 7, 1863, issue, Harper’s Weekly published the following poem. Titled “At Fredericksburg” and published under the byline “L.C.M.,” the poem tells a poignant tale of two Union...
Published: 12/2/24
Discovering Munfordville
Plagued by my god-awful wanderlust, I pack my 8-ounce drone and head north from Nashville to Hart County, Kentucky. I figure it’s high time for a first visit to the...
Published: 11/18/24
A Helping Hand
The Civil War saw many advances in devices to aid amputees, including the practical tool known as a “knork.”
Published: 11/4/24
Lincoln and Yosemite
In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt paid his first visit to the Yosemite Valley of California, with John Muir as his guide. For three days the president and the naturalist explored a...
Published: 10/28/24
Death of a Loyal Brother
In September 1861, Byron B. Wilson, 24, enlisted as a private in Company H of the newly forming 4th Vermont Infantry. Over the time of his service, Wilson wrote home...
Published: 10/21/24
To Dig or Not To Dig
What do the battlegrounds at Gettysburg, Kennesaw Mountain, and Murfreesboro have in common? From a tactical perspective, large portions of these fighting fields resisted digging, prohibiting entrenching as a defensive...