From History News Network by Professor James Brewer Stewart: We are, the cliché goes, reliving the Gilded Age. Then as now the mega-rich wax ever fatter while the chasm between poor and prosperous yawns ever wider. Then as now over-consumption… Read More ›
United States Civil War
Why Was Vicksburg “The Gibraltar of the Confederacy?”
As the calendar flipped from June to July in 1863, two events changed the course of the Civil War. The first event occurred in in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg, a small market town founded in the soft, rolling hills of south… Read More ›
Why are there so many Monuments to the Confederacy across the United States?
As one travels across the southern United States, it is not unusual to find monuments and memorials to the Confederate dead in many small towns. In fact, these sculptural pieces, often composed of the same statues and plinths from the… Read More ›
What Was the Role of Hood’s Texas Brigade at the Battle of Gaines’s Mill?
It is estimated that 56,000 Texans served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, yet the approximately 4,000 men, organized into thirty-two companies that formed the Texas Brigade, were the only Texans who fought in both theaters of operation.[1]… Read More ›
Did the Battle of Fredericksburg Change the Identities of Irish Soldiers?
Whose blood was spilled December 13, 1862 on the battlefield in Fredericksburg, Virginia? During the American Civil War, the Battle of Fredericksburg was but one meeting ground of Irish immigrants from both the Union and Confederacy. Once fellow countrymen, these… Read More ›
How Did the Battle of South Mountain Alter the Course of the American Civil War?
While the Battle of Antietam was the most important conflict that took place in Maryland, it critical to avoid overlooking the battle that forced the Union and Confederate forces to meet at Antietam Creek on September 14, 1862 along the… Read More ›
Civil War Battles Top Ten Booklist
The Civil War is the most written about event in United States history. There are an extraordinary number of books covering all aspects of the war from large overviews like James McPherson’s Battle Cry Freedom, Gary Gallagher’s books on The… Read More ›
Was the Destruction Perpetrated by Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman Necessary to End the Civil War?
January 1, 1863 marked a pivotal moment in the American Civil War. On this date the Emancipation Proclamation, the preliminary of which was issued by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862, took full and permanent effect, thus changing the Union’s… Read More ›
Was the Destruction Perpetrated by Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman Necessary to End the Civil War?
January 1, 1863 marked a pivotal moment in the American Civil War. On this date the Emancipation Proclamation, the preliminary of which was issued by President Lincoln on September 22, 1862, took full and permanent effect, thus changing the Union’s… Read More ›
The Best Historians and Books According to James McPherson
In 2014, the New York Times published a brief interview with noted Civil War historian James McPherson, The George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University. McPherson is considered to be the dean of Civil War historians…. Read More ›
African American Soldiers During the Civil War: Interview with Author Bob Luke
Here’s an excerpt from our interview with Bob Luke about his book Soldiering for Freedom that looked at African American soldiers during the Civil War: What drew you initially to the story of black Union soldiers? How did you first… Read More ›
Engineering Victory during the Civil War: Interview with Thomas F. Army, Jr.
Logistics win wars. Logistics is the coordination of complex operations such as moving, housing and supplying troops and their equipment. War is the ultimate test of any logistician. During the Civil War, the Union troops fought almost the entire war… Read More ›
Why Was the Battle of Antietam a Pivotal event in the American Civil War?
Gettysburg, perhaps the most renowned battle of the American Civil War, was the second incursion of Confederate troops onto Union soil. The first offensive in the North taken by General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia… Read More ›