The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 10/31/22
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 4
USAHEC Confederate corps commander James Longstreet Literature on the Army of Northern Virginia contains book-length testimony from four of the seven officers who commanded its infantry corps. These titles include...
Published: 9/28/22
Quick Picks: Sherman’s March Books
Library of Congress Looking to do some reading on William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea? We asked Bennett Parten, a professor of history at Georgia Southern University who is...
Published: 9/26/22
A Straggler
Harper’s Weekly “A Straggler” by Alfred R. Waud On March 28, 1863, Harper’s Weekly published Alfred R. Waud’s description, and associated illustration, of an army straggler—a class of soldier encountered...
Published: 9/12/22
“Union Jim” Williams
Harper’s Weekly “Union Jim” Williams The March 28, 1863, issue of Harper’s Weekly included the following article about, and illustration of, Jim Williams, a formerly enslaved man who assisted Union...
Published: 8/31/22
The Five Best Books on the Civil War in the (Far) West
Library of Congress On the first day of my American West in History and Film class, I ask students to explain where the historical West of their imaginations is located,...
Published: 8/22/22
Extra Voices: A Thirst For Battle
Anne SK Brown Military Collection In the Voices section of our Fall 2022 issue we highlighted quotes about the thirst for battle that consumed many Union and Confederate soldiers. Unfortunately,...
Published: 8/15/22
Major Knipe Winging a Secessionist
Joseph F. Knipe Library of Congress The following news item and image about an incident involving Union officer Joseph Knipe ran in Harper’s Weekly on July 20, 1861—the day before...
Published: 7/22/22
Quick Picks: First Bull Run Books
Library of Congress The Battle of Bull Run Looking to do some reading on the First Battle of Bull Run? We asked Harry Smeltzer, proprietor of the website Bull Runnings,...
Published: 7/11/22
Extra Voices: Salt Pork
Library of Congress In the Voices section of our Summer 2022 issue we highlighted quotes about one of the more common foods consumed by soldiers on both sides: salt pork....
Published: 6/22/22
CARROLL: Invisible Wounds (2021)
Invisible Wounds: Mental Illness and Civil War Soldiers by Dillon J. Carroll. Louisiana State University Press, 2021. 978-0-80716-9667. $45.00. Historians of the Civil War have been fascinated by mental illness...
Published: 6/21/22
The Five Best Books on Lincoln and His Commanders
Library of Congress Abraham Lincoln was not a military man, yet in March 1861 he became commander in chief of forces that would soon face the task of suppressing an...
Published: 6/14/22
Grand Opening of American Civil War Museum’s Robins Theater
American Civil War Museum We recently asked Jeniffer Maloney, director of marketing and public relations at American Civil War Museum, about their new Robins Theater opening this month. She gave...
Published: 6/13/22
Ticks in Camp
The Diary of a Young Officer Serving with the Armies of the United States During the War of the Rebellion (1909) Josiah M. Favill, 57th New York Infantry Josiah M....
Published: 6/3/22
Eyewitness to Cold Harbor
Meade’s Headquarters, 1863–1865 (1922) Colonel Theodore Lyman Between May 31 and June 12, 1864, the armies of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee clashed near Mechanicsville, Virginia, in the...
Published: 5/23/22
Quick Picks: Civil War Photography Books
Library of Congress A Civil War photographer and his tent. Looking for good books on Civil War photography? We asked Ronald S. Coddington, author and publisher of Military Images magazine,...
Published: 4/28/22
The Books That Built Me: Brian Matthew Jordan
SHAWNA SHERRELL Brian Matthew Jordan I suppose you could say that I started researching my recently published book, Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War, when I was...
Published: 4/4/22
Braxton Bragg at McLemore’s Cove
Library of Congress General Braxton Bragg The art of command remains an elusive and complex concept for historians of the Civil War, and debates about command decisions and methods hold...
Published: 3/29/22
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 3
A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee (1876) General Robert E. Lee rides among his troops during the Battle of Gettysburg. Several European journalists and military officers wrote about their...