Between July 20 and November 19, 1863, over twenty thousand wounded Union and Confederate soldiers were treated at Gettysburg’s Camp Letterman, the largest field hospital established following the Battle of Gettysburg. Discover what life was like for the patients and medical staff, who suffered, ...

At Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, the men of the 20th Maine Infantry found themselves at the far left of the Union line on Little Round Top. Company B played a crucial role in repelling the confederate attackers. This video explores their story—what they faced, how they fought, and why their stand bec...

ne of the central figures in Pickett’s Charge was the colonel responsible for the massive artillery bombardment intended to soften up the Union position prior to the assault: Edward Porter Alexander. In 1877, he shared his experience on July 3, 1863, including his communications with Gen. James L...

In 1938, the Mutual Broadcast Network’s Special Features Division aired programming from the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. One of the Confederate veterans interviewed, Robert Powell Scott of the 45th Arkansas Mounted Infantry, told his story. Here's what he had to say.

Image: Lib...

He signed his name as "X" in his dispatches to the Richmond Enquirer, and filled newspaper columns with hope and steadied nerves that supported the citizens of the capital and elsewhere across the South as they fought for independence. He is Edward A. Pollard, and here's an example of his narrative.

Private John C. West numbered among the stalwart Texans who fought in the Devil's Den and along Little Round Top during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Less than a week after the fighting ended, during the retreat to Virginia, West described the action in two letters to his family.

John C. West, who served in the ranks of Company E, 4th Texas Infantry, Hood's Brigade, participated in the long march through Virginia on the way to invading Maryland and Pennsylvania in the 1863 campaign that ended at Gettysburg. Here's his vivid recollection.

At the end of July 1863, from his camp in Culpeper, Va., Pvt. John C. West of the 4th Texas Infantry wrote his brother back in the Lone Star State about the Battle of Gettysburg, where "Breakfast in Virginia, whiskey in Maryland and supper in Pennsylvania" ended unexpectedly.

On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, Capt. Thomas Clark of the U.S. Signal Corps stood high above Gettysburg in the steeple of the town’s prominent two-story courthouse. From this perch—one of the tallest points in the town—he had a commanding view of the surrounding countryside—and the Confederate ...

On July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg, color sergeant Burlington “Burl” Cunningham expressed his eagerness to unfurl the regimental colors of the 19th Indiana Infantry. A staff officer ordered him not to do so. Cunningham brought them out anyway—here is what happened.

It can be fairly stated that Maj. Gen. George G. Meade believed he had no chance at becoming the commander of the Army of the Potomac. As much as he might have aspired to higher office, he also realized that what he wanted and what he might get were very different. In two letters to his wife, wri...

A battalion of veteran Confederate cavalry from Virginia and Maryland rode along the pristine Pennsylvania countryside on the morning of Saturday, June 27, 1863. They encountered the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, a regiment hastily formed to meet the emergency triggered by Gen. Robert E. L...

Following Gettysburg, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade’s caution reflected his newness to command and his belief that Robert E. Lee’s battered but dangerous army could still inflict serious harm. Meade’s own words after the battle reveal the personal weight behind decisions later criticized in Washington.

President Abraham Lincoln's 272-word address at Gettysburg stands as a literary masterpiece, completely overshadowing the more than 13,000-word address delivered by renowned orator Edward Everett. Thought rarely quoted, it is a meritorious work. Here's the story.

After Maj. Gen. Francis C. Barlow moved his division from its position to Blocher's Knoll north of Gettysburg on July 1, Confederate attackers took advantage of the gaps he created. One of the regiments that bore the brunt of the attack was the 17th Connecticut Infantry. This is the story of one ...

The after-action report of Lt. Col. Walton Dwight of the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry, popularly known as the Second Bucktail Regiment, tells the tale of a tough choice no senior officer would wish to make—to save your regiment or abandon your colors. Here's the story.

One of the top correspondents in the American press during the Civil War, the Boston Journal's Charles Carleton Coffin, arrived at Gettysburg after the first day's fighting. His description of Pickett's Charge, from the Union side, is vivid, poetic prose.

John Buford, one of the most respected Union generals, displayed grit and determination on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, one of Buford's staffers, 1st Lt. and Signal Corps officer Aaron B. Jerome, worried that history would forget Buford. So he wrote a letter to promot...

For three days in October 1865, Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, staff, and friends, toured the battlefield of Gettysburg. For Hancock, walking and riding the grounds in company with historian John Batchelder made the visit a memorable and newsworthy event.

During the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, Helen Gilson lent her considerable skills as a compassionate caregiver to Union and Confederate wounded. At one point, a patient asked her to sing. The song she chose moved Northern and Southern hearts,

A subscriber recently commented: "Did Lee or his Chief of Staff write an after action report that survives? That would be a great insightful document." He did, and the entire report is 7,406 words long. I read it, and found six takeaways to share.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon happened upon a severely wounded Union brigadier, Francis C. Barlow. Gordon shared his canteen and had men carry Barlow to a shady spot to die. 15 years later, he learned Barlow survived. Here's the story.