The Front Line
Our communal blog featuring the latest in Civil War news, research, analysis, and events from a network of historians
Published: 11/30/21
Prison Tales
Library of Congress Andersonville Prison in 1864 Looking to learn more about Civil War prisons and prisoners of war? We asked historian Brian Matthew Jordan to suggest a handful of...
Published: 11/4/21
Gettysburg Photo Mystery Solved?
A look at how 3D technology may have helped solved a longtime mystery surrounding an old Gettysburg photograph.
Published: 10/25/21
The Best Civil War Novels
Library of Congress No event in American history has inspired more imaginative writing than the Civil War. Authors have made the struggle the subject of thousands of rhymes, songs, poems,...
Published: 10/18/21
Suits of Shoddy
Founded in 1818, Brooks Brothers of New York is the oldest clothing retailer in America. Even today, the name alone conjures images of fine silk neckties and Italian wool sportscoats—quality,...
Published: 9/27/21
The Five Best Books on Civil War Guerrillas
Library of Congress Two guerrillas stop a civilian rider to rob him in this sketch from a December 1864 issue of Harper’s Weekly. “This Mr. Wales is a cold-blooded killer....
Published: 9/24/21
Mr. Gridley and His Sack of Flour
The story of R.C. Gridley, of Austin, Nevada, who made—and lost—an interesting wager on a local election in 1865.
Published: 9/20/21
Unceasing Fury at Chickamauga
Read Confederate soldier W.W. Heartsills' firsthand account of his participation in the Battle of Chickamauga.
Published: 9/13/21
Extra Voices: Nicknames
Read firsthand Union and Confederate soldiers' quotes about the nicknames they gave to comrades during the Civil War.
Published: 8/27/21
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 2
IN CAMP AND BATTLE WITH THE WASHINGTON ARTILLERY OF NEW ORLEANS (1885) Confederate gunners fire at the enemy in a postwar illustration titled “The Artillery Duel.” Artillerists created an invaluable...
Published: 7/20/21
After Fort Wagner
Read 54th Massachusetts soldier Lewis Douglass' letter about the Battle of Fort Wagner which he wrote days after the the famed fight.
Published: 7/16/21
Bully Boys
“If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry!” Detailing the early war exploits of J.E.B. Stuart’s Confederate troops, this song immortalized the daring ride around George B....
Published: 6/28/21
Voices From the Army of Northern Virginia, Part 1
Library of Congress J.E.B. Stuart leads the Army of Northern Virginia’s cavalry on its ride around the Army of the Potomac in 1862. Between fall 2013 and summer 2016, I...
Published: 6/7/21
Extra Voices: Fear
Read firsthand Union and Confederate soldiers' quotes on the feelings of fear they experienced in battle.
Published: 5/28/21
The Books that Built Me
Library of Congress A Civil War soldier and his reading material Civil War enthusiasts understand that historians construct campaign and battle narratives from official reports, maps, letters, journals, newspaper articles...
Published: 5/24/21
The Death of Colonel Ellsworth
Read The New York Times' lengthy tribute to Elmer Ellsworth after the young Union colonel's death in 1861.
Published: 4/29/21
Essential Reading on the Coming of the Civil War
Library of Congress Fort Sumter under fire, April 1861 The literature on the coming of the Civil War is more than vast—it is overwhelming. Choosing just a handful of the...
Published: 4/19/21
Kissing and Kicking Ass
Private Amos Breneman of the 203rd Pennsylvania Infantry was, by his own estimation, an ass. Addressing a male friend back in Lancaster County, he wrote in April 1865, “I am...
Published: 4/16/21
War’s Early Days
Read South Carolina diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut's gripping account of the fall of Fort Sumter and its aftermath.