Many people believe the first recorded gold strike was at Sutter's Mill in Northern California in 1848. They are mistaken. In this episode, we'll see who, where and when was the first official recorded gold strike in California.

After weeks of maneuvers and minor skirmishing, the Northern Virginia Campaign is about to reach its climax on the familiar battleground of Manassas, where thirteen months earlier the Union Army had suffered a humiliating defeat in the first major battle of the Civil War. This time, however, Unio...

Months after the disastrous battle of Shiloh and the fall of the vital rail junction of Corinth, Mississippi, Major General Braxton Bragg is chosen by President Jefferson Davis to lead the revitalized Confederate forces in the western theater against the stagnating Federal troops under Major Gene...

After the fall of Corinth to Halleck's gigantic at the end of May 1862, many Confederates dream of retaking the vital rail junction in Northern Mississippi. However, with the Federal forces under Ulysses S Grant and William Rosecrans anchoring their new defensive line on the town, it will prove t...

After weeks of marching around Tennessee and Kentucky, the Confederate Army of Mississippi under the command of General Braxton Bragg nears its ultimate prize. The jewel of Kentucky, the city of Louisville. Yet, due to decisions made while dealing with the pesky Munfordville garrison, Don Carlos ...

The story of a 'superweapon' designed to break the stalemate of siege warfare in the Crimea using all the industrial might Victorian Britain had to offer. This massive 36in mortar could fire a 2900lb shell nearly two miles - built in 1854 as a Crimean War superweapon by Robert Mallet, an Irish g...

With England under threat of invasion, these 'Martello' towers were built all along the shores of Southern and Southeast England. Filmed at the Slaughden Martello Tower in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England, one of 74 Martellos built in England between 1804-1814 as part of the British preparations for a...

Learn more about the fights at Cross Keys, Port Republic, and Piedmont through animated maps, primary sources, and historic images in the program!

Civil War Digital Digest's host Will stops on the way home from vacation to talk with Patrick Craddock, owner of The Craftsman’s Apron. In his quest to make inspired regalia for modern masons, Patrick draws on his year as a living historian and studying masons from the Civil War era. Enjoy a conv...

After the devastating defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in March and the shameful departure by Major General Earl Van Dorn back across the Mississippi, Arkansas has been left in a state of anarchy. With no coherent Confederate force to assert authority from Richmond and the Federals on the verge ...

When the Missouri Division pulls out of Northwest Arkansas to reinforce Grant's efforts against Vicksburg, Hindman sees an opportunity forming for his army to get back to Missouri. With only Blunt left in the region to defend the border, Hindman draws up a plan to bag the Kansas Division and use ...

He never saw battle.
He never fired a shot.
But in 1863, William Laird, a mentally challenged young man from Maine, was executed by a Union Army firing squad.
This is one of the most tragic and forgotten stories of the Civil War.