After hours of brutal combat at the Battle of Shiloh, only about 80 men remained of the 11th Illinois Infantry. They included Ira Beddo, who continued fighting despite a mangled hand. Their stubborn stand helped hold the line during one of the Civil War’s bloodiest engagements.

William Baldwin Fletcher held high hopes of serving as a Union army surgeon. When that prospect failed to materialize, he instead became a scout for Brig. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds. Thus began his adventures in western Virginia during the earliest months of the war. Here is what happened.

After witnessing the aftermath of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth’s shooting in May 1861, Edward B. Knox carried his friend’s legacy from Alexandria to Gettysburg, earning honors for bravery and lifelong devotion to the Union cause. Here's his story.

On April 18, 1861, in Baltimore, the Washington Artillery of Pottsville, Pa., disembarked from a train and marched through the city to the jeers and taunts of Southern sympathetic mobs. One of the Pennsylvanians, Nick Biddle, was one of the targets for their anger. Here's what happened.

Captain Dennis Barnes of the 93rd New York Infantry found himself deep in The Wilderness on the night of May 5, 1864, searching for men wounded and left behind in the thick underbrush after a brutal, bloody, and relentless day of combat. Here's what happened next.

In 1863, shortly after the death of Stonewall Jackson from wounds received at the Battle of Chancellorsville, John Esten Cooke, a staff officer to General J.E.B. Stuart, paid tribute to the fallen commander in his biography, The Life of Stonewall Jackson. One chapter reflects on Jackson after his...

A search of the annals of the Civil War reveals that the rise of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson as legendary figures in the Confederacy begins its ascent in 1861 with Jackson’s leadership at First Manassas and gathers momentum in 1862, when Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virgini...

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.

The discovery by Union troops of a copy of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Special Order 191 on Sept. 13, 1862, had significant consequences for the Maryland Campaign, which ended days later when Confederate forces were checked on the battlefield of Antietam. Hailed as one of the most consequential intellig...

In the early 20th century, author Gamaliel Bradford pioneered a form of psychological biography he called “psychography.” Over 20 years, he wrote 114 of them, including studies of influential Civil War figures. His portrait of Robert E. Lee examines the man beneath the Southern icon (Part 3 of 3).

In the early 20th century, author Gamaliel Bradford pioneered a form of psychological biography he called “psychography.” Over 20 years, he wrote 114 of them, including studies of influential Civil War figures. His portrait of Robert E. Lee examines the man beneath the Southern icon (Part 2 of 3).

In the early 20th century, author Gamaliel Bradford pioneered a form of psychological biography he called “psychography.” Over 20 years, he wrote 114 of them, including studies of influential Civil War figures. His portrait of Robert E. Lee examines the man beneath the Southern icon (Part 1 of 3).

The historic debut of the ironclad CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads, Virginia, forever changed naval warfare. One of the officers aboard the Confederate vessel, Douglas Forrest, served as an aide to Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan. This is his story.

Captain Edwin E. Bouldin (1838–1912) wrote a brief history of the company he commanded, the Charlotte Cavalry, which entered Confederate service as Company B of the 14th Virginia Cavalry. In closing, he reflected on his men and offered his thoughts on how the Confederacy—and their service—should ...

The 131st birthday of George Washington, on February 22, 1863, offered newspaper editors an opportunity to connect the founding father and first president to current events. In occupied Nashville, Tenn., the Nashville Daily Union weighed in.

Major Gen. George Gordon Meade rose to national attention with his victory at the Battle or Gettysburg, and stands among the pantheon of military leaders who saved the Union. Yet, he never quite gained the heroic status of a Grant or Sherman, or a Lee or Jackson. Writer Gamaliel Bradford explored...

Major Gen. George Gordon Meade rose to national attention with his victory at the Battle or Gettysburg, and stands among the pantheon of military leaders who saved the Union. Yet, he never quite gained the heroic status of a Grant or Sherman, or a Lee or Jackson. Writer Gamaliel Bradford explored...

Major Gen. George Gordon Meade rose to national attention with his victory at the Battle or Gettysburg, and stands among the pantheon of military leaders who saved the Union. Yet, he never quite gained the heroic status of a Grant or Sherman, or a Lee or Jackson. Writer Gamaliel Bradford explored...

On December 22, 1864, the Union transport North America steamed up the Florida coast, packed with soldier patients, crew, and caregivers on the way to New York. A raging storm overcame the vessel, and crew worked feverishly to save lives. Here's what happened.

On July 4, 1865, in courthouse square at Princeton, Ind., a monument was dedicated to the 58th Indiana Infantry, which had been organized in the town four years earlier. Its origins date to April 1863, when the regiment was only half way through its service. Here's the backstory.

Ulysses S. Grant provided little color commentary in his memoirs about his brief trip to Washington, D.C., to accept his lieutenant general's commission from President Abraham Lincoln. The four-day event did receive attention in newspapers. Here are early accounts of the visit.

William Wade Dudley, the respected lieutenant colonel of the Iron Brigade's 19th Indiana Infantry, suffered a combat-ending wound on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. A quarter-century later, during the heated presidential campaign of 1888, a private circular Dudley wrote leaked to the p...

Just after the federal loss at the Battle of Second Bull Run, Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball and his brigade of Buckeyes, Hoosiers, and West Virginia paused in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., before heading into the Maryland Campaign. Here's a view of Kimball and his battle-hardened citizen-soldiers.

There comes a time in early life when a slave becomes aware that he is a slave. And so it was with Henry Scott, a half-white child fathered by his master in Northern Virginia’s Fauquier County. Henry became acutely and painfully aware of his condition at age eight in about 1856—and vowed to escap...