How did prisoners of war cope with being held against their will? What mechanisms did they develop to endure confinement, uncertainty, pain, and cruelty? Chaplain Louis Napoléon Boudrye of the 5th New York Cavalry, captured after Gettysburg and held at Libby, shares his story.

Following the Battle of Gaines' Miil, a new batch of POWs that arrived at Libby Prison in the Confederate capital. They included one of the nation's best known songwriters and entertainers, Marshall S. Pike. His soothing voice and songs were so good that his captors were not eager to parole him. ...

As George Washington Quimby stood in a perilous position at Fredericksburg, encouraging his men in the 4th Vermont Infantry to stay low, an enemy sharpshooter took aim and fired his weapon. The bullet whizzed across the ground on its way to destiny. This is the story of Quimby's life, service, an...

Major Gen. George H. Thomas believed in staying in his lane as a military commander. Like fellow general William T. Sherman, he had no political ambition, making it clear that he would refuse any nomination to office. He even refused gifts in recognition of his battlefield victories. Here's the s...

In his 1904 memoirs, Confederate Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon looked back on what caused the Civil War. The former Georgia governor and U.S. senator, helped undermine Reconstruction, and championed the fight against civil rights. Here's his thoughts.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Chamberlin of the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry suffered two wounds during the war. An abolitionist and college graduate, he survived his injuries and went on to become a prolific writer, including this poetic tribute to the citizen soldiers who fought to end slavery.

From his quarters at Libby Prison, Chaplain Louis Napoléon Boudrye of the 5th New York Cavalry recounted his journey from Gettysburg to Richmond and the characters he met along the way, including JEB Stuart. Here's Boudrye's story.

During a lull in the fighting on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Bucktails of the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry were both humored and inspired by the old man wearing a blue swallowtail coat and carrying a musket. This account is from one who was there—Lt. Col. Thomas Chamberlin.

One of the ingredients in Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's recipe for success in the Western Theater was cooperation and coordination with the navy. In a letter to a friend, he mentioned how clever and fearless they were, and mentioned Lt. Cmdr. Seth Ledyard Phelps by name. Here's the story.

First Sgt. John V. Miller of the 142nd Pennsylvania Infantry led his company at Gettysburg after all the officers had been hit. A quarter-century after the battle, at a reunion in Gettysburg, he remembered the fallen. Here's his address.

Every general has a champion who celebrates a soldier's life and deeds. Major Gen. George Henry Thomas, the Virginia-born West Pointer remembered as the Rock of Chickamauga, had his champion in Thomas Budd Van Horne, an army chaplain who wrote Thomas's biography. Here's Van Horne's recollection.

On July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg, Asst. Surg. James Fulton of the 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry found himself on an odyssey as he tried to find the makeshift hospital for his division's wounded, and to navigate the lack of food and presence of Confederates. Here's Fulton's story, based on his diary.

If you've visited Gettysburg in recent years, you've found a visitor center, guided tours, museums, hotels, restaurants, and just about everything a modern traveler could want.

Now, travel back to June 1867. What was it like? War correspondent George Alfred Townsend, who used the pen name "Gath,...

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson has become so much a part of Civil War legend that it can be difficult to see the man behind the monument. One of his fellow generals, John Brown Gordon, explored “The secret of his wonderful power” and “The secret of Jackson’s character.”

Sergeant David A. Barnett of the 99th Pennsylvania Infantry participated in the second and third days' fighting at Gettysburg, and lived to write home about it. In a letter to his cousin Robert, Barnett recalls the battle and pokes fun at the "fireside generals" who criticized the Army of the Pot...

There days before the Battle of Gettysburg, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon and his brigade marched into York, Pa., in the vanguard of Confederate invasion forces. Covered in powdery dust from the turnpikes, their presence frightened townspeople. Here's the story, in Gordon's words.

One of the best known artworks about the Civil War is the oil painting depicting generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson conferring before the Battle of Chancellorsville. What are they talking about and what did they say? Two postwar accounts, one by Lee, provide insights.

Becoming familiar with a general's personality traits can help us to better understand how he commanded troops in combat. One of the more unique characters in the Confederate military leadership was Richard S. Ewell, who was described by fellow general John B. Gordon.

Up until the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan was more brute than brains, observed the war correspondent George Alfred "Gath" Townsend. But in this engagement, Gath notes, Sheridan proved he could also be a master strategist.

The thought of Civil War Richmond brings to mind scenes of devastation and destruction caused by Confederates as they abandoned the city in early April, 1865. But there is also the Richmond of 1861, where patriotic fervor for the nascent Confederacy exploded in the wake of the bombardment of Fort...

John Gibbon, the Union-loyal major general from North Carolina, is associated with the Iron Brigade, the defense of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, and the last campaigns that culminated at Appomattox. Long after the war he met up with a friend in Virginia to hunt. Here's the story.

Benjamin Franklin Whitehouse of the 1st Ohio Heavy Artillery was a proud member of the Grand Army of the Republic, As the years passed, and the veterans' hair grayed, Whitehouse wrote of their sacrifices and contributions. Here's a sampling from his papers.

On July 5, 1863, Corp. William S. White and his fellow artillerists in the Richmond Howitzers withdrew from Pennsylvania to Virginia in the wake of the loss at the Battle of Gettysburg. White overheard Gen. Robert E. Lee talking to Gen. Richard Ewell. Here's what Lee said.

Major Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan, known as "Little Phil" to his friends, had a big personality—and a front row seat at the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. In his 1885 memoirs, Sheridan recalls the event, and Grant's character as a man and a leader.