Subscriber John VanSant shared a letter written in 1864 by Capt. Richard Waterman of the 31st Indiana Infantry. In it, he describes an experience on the picket line during the Atlanta Campaign. I've told Waterman's story before, and this letter is new to me.

The 38th Virginia Infantry suffered a significant number of casualties at Gettysburg, including William B. Chatten, who suffered a gunshot wound in his left arm on July 3 and fell into enemy hands the next day. Thus began a trip to Fort Delaware, where he met his fate.

In late July 1863, the cessation of prisoners exchanges became clear to the Confederate government in Richmond—prompting a crisis that threatened the fate of the Southern armies. A fiery editorial in the Richmond Dispatch tells the tale of woe.

First Lt. Edward Burgin Knox of the 11th New York Infantry, a friend of the late Elmer Ellsworth who established the U.S. Zouave Cadets before the Civil War, fought at the First Battle of Bull Run. His vivid letter describing the battle includes a rallying cry in his lamented friend's honor.

On April 9, 1885, the twentieth anniversary of the surrender at Appomattox, the Boston Globe published an interview with former Confederate Maj. Gen. William Mahone about his part in the final days of the Army of Northern Virginia. Here's what he remembered.

Major Gen. William T. Sherman’s “Bummers” could be hated, feared, condemned—or welcomed as indispensable providers. These hard-riding, hard-fighting foragers kept 60,000 Union troops fed during the March to the Sea, living off Southern resources while spreading chaos from Georgia to Savannah and ...

Every monument at Gettysburg tells a story. And so it is with the monument to the 13th Vermont Infantry, located near the Copse of Trees, the focal point of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. The statue of the officer on the memorial, Stephen F. Brown, carried an axe into the fight.

Narratives by Civil War generals sharing their opinions about the momentous battles and campaigns abound. Far less numerous are such writings by private soldiers. Here's one, by John Joseph Bowen of the Richmond Howitzers, that takes a different view of the Battle of Gettysburg.

I’m always on the lookout for obscure references to the character and habits of momentous figures who shaped and influenced the political, military, an cultural forces of the Civil War period. I found a number of such references in a book by John W. Forney, a political insider with allegiances to...

On April 26, 1865, on a wharf at Helena, Ark., photographer Thomas W. Bankes captured the steamboat Sultana packed with about 2,130 souls—almost 2,000 of them Union ex-prisoners-of-war. Soon, about 1,200 of them would be dead. One of the survivors, Corp. Erastus Winters of the 50th Ohio Infantry,...

Following the Battle of Gettysburg, public opinion was forming a first draft of history on the performance of Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. The reviews were mixed. Did he deserve credit for victory at the crossroads Pennsylvania town in July 1863? Here's who one editorial writer believed should have...

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.

William Tecumseh Sherman is credited by historians as pioneering total war. Almost two years before Sherman’s March through Georgia, the idea of taking off the kid gloves and fighting a hard war was expressed in no uncertain terms by Union 2nd Lt. James E. McBeth.

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.

Of the many alternative names for the Civil War, the Brothers' War represents the shared sacrifice of families on both sides of the conflict. It enjoyed a wave of popularity during the reunification period in the early 20th century. One of the many anecdotes comes from the border state of Kentucky.

William Pratt Parks, Mississippi-born and Arkansas-raised, left college in 1861 to join the Confederate army. His service as an artillery officer in the Western and Trans-Mississippi Theaters, a stint on the ironclad "Arkansas," and his postwar career in politics reveal his character.

2nd Lt. Samual D. Brooks of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry and his trusted charger, Yeager, served together through much of the Civil War

The lore of the Civil War is filled with the stories of mascot dogs who followed the armies on camp and campaign. One of these intrepid canines served in the Orphan Brigade, Frank was his name, and he followed the men of Company B of the 2nd Kentucky Infantry. Here's his story.

The 1864 Savannah Campaign, better known as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's March to the Sea, left behind a wake of destruction that had been a lightning rod for criticism ever since. One of the participants, 1st Lt. Frederick W. Fout of the 15th Indiana Light Artillery, shared his perspective in ...

One of the most memorable word plays to come out of the Civil War is sideburns, which traces its origins to the massive side whiskers of Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. How you viewed them, be they luxuriously magnificent or the butt of jokes, could depend on what side you fought on.

James F. Putnam of the 8th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, participated in the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862. During the days following, he wrote a pair of letters home to his mother. Both were printed in his hometown newspaper. Here's his observations.

On April 10-11, 1862, Union artillery bombarded Fort Pulaski with targeted fire that ended with the surrender of its garrison 30 hours later and largely closing the port of Savannah, Ga. Quartermaster Sgt. Aaron H. Ingraham of the 49th New York Infantry witnesses the event, and wrote home about it.

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...

The emotions felt by a soldier going into combat, and his faith, are the theme of this letter written by 2nd Lt. Alfred Leroy Conklin of the 11th Ohio Infantry. A veteran of many Western Theater battles and campaigns, Conklin's words capture the war experience from the perspective of the front li...