Alabama’s Frank Windes: “I Can’t Imagine What You Want with Me as Captain”
Life on the Civil War Research Trail
•
20m
After the Civil War began, schoolteacher Francis Marion Windes joined a local militia company in Morgan County, Ala. Much to his surprise, the rank and file elected him to be their captain and commander. Thus began his experience as an officer. Here's the rest of Frank's story.
Up Next in Life on the Civil War Research Trail
-
They "Breathed the Hot Flame of Battl...
The six pards pictured in this photograph served in "The Gallant 79th," or the 79th Pennsylvania Infantry, a regiment that fought in the Western Theater's largest battles, from Perryville to Atlanta to Bentonville. And yet, they have been largely forgotten by history.
-
Jack the Terrier Was a Loyal Friend t...
During the evacuation of Petersburg on April 2, 1865, Surgeon John Herbert Claiborne paused when he realized his Scotch terrier, Jack, had gone missing. Claiborne dispatched the chief of his hospital ambulance corps to go find him. Here's what happened.
-
General John B. Gordon's Parting Word...
If you were a senior Confederate commander present for the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, what would you tell the troops who had served alongside you for four brutal years? Major Gen. John Brown Gordon shared his message in his postwar memoirs. Here's his recollection.