John Francis Campbell journeyed far and wide during his lifetime. A scholar, an author, a traveler, and a rambling renaissance man, he traveled to different parts of the globe to see what he could see. This includes a visit to the war-torn United States in the autumn of 1864.

In 1862, The New York Journal of Commerce declared Vermont Gov. Frederick Holbrook’s Thanksgiving message “a proclamation worth reading and preserving.” 163 years later, the governor's words continue to resonate.

During the lead up to the election of 1860, Ulysses S. Grant lived in Galena, Ill., where he worked in the family business. Though not able to vote because he had not lived in the state long enough to qualify, he had a preferred candidate—Abraham Lincoln—and he helped drill the Wide-Awakes, a you...

This image of an unidentified soldier showing us his knapsack, stenciled with the name of his organization, and his Sharps rifle kicked off a trip down the research rabbit trail to learn more about his company and regiment. Here's the story.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain possessed many natural gifts honed during his life's journey as a professor, general, and governor of Maine. His abilities as a writer shone light on his beloved 20th Maine Infantry and his own leadership at Little Round Top. Here's a lesser known writing about a night...

During the Army of the Potomac’s 1864 advance across the Rapidan River and deep into enemy territory in Virginia, Union and Confederate forces clashed in The Wilderness—by all accounts some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Here's an eyewitness account by artilleryman Charles B. Brockway.

During the winter of 1860-1861, as the secession crisis unfolded and the country teetered on the brink of war, private citizen Ulysses S. Grant traveled the upper Midwest, chatting up locals in towns about the future of America. Here's his reflections.

History remembers John Clifford Pemberton as the Northern-born Confederate general who surrendered his forces garrisoning the Mississippi River fortress city of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. Following his death in Philadelphia in 1881, a local newspaper remembered "the doom of a beaten man was on hi...

If you search military service records for Cullen Bullard Aubrey, you will not find his name and deeds mentioned. Nonetheless, the teenaged runaway saw as much of the war as most enlisted men when he attached himself to the Iron Brigade and became known as the "Newsboy of the Army of the Potomac....

What do Southern citizen accounts say about being occupied? Here's one, an early war account from the diary of Sarah Fowler Morgan, whose family was divided by secession and the hostilities that followed.

Sarah Fowler Morgan, a resident of Baton Rouge and New Orleans during the war years, remained loyal to the Confederacy through its trials and tribulations. In April 1865, she shared her feelings about the surrender by Gen. Robert E. Lee of his army and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Captain Allen L. Fahnestock of the 86th Illinois Infantry posed with his Henry Repeating Rifle, which, according to his account, was one of the first two of these firearms to arrive in Union-occupied Nashville. Here's the story about this most desirable—and deadly—weapon.

Sudents of the Civil War know that technical innovations developed or advanced during the conflict played an important role in history: ironclad warships, use of railroads and the telegraph, repeating rifles, medical and surgical practice, to name a few. Here's another one: the portable photograp...

Dreams were as important to the Civil War generation as during any time in human history. The Currier & Ives lithograph pictured here popularized soldier dreams of home, and Abraham Lincoln's dreams were believed to be symbolic and prophetic. Here are revelatory dreams had by soldiers before battle.

The death of Capt. André Cailloux, commanding Company E of the 1st Louisiana Native Guards, at Port Hudson spread shock waves through New Orleans—and one of the largest funeral processions in the city's history. It also prompted larger questions about race and identity.

After the initial burst of patriotism, the quintessential citizen-soldier in an infantry regiment is left to ponder existential questions that haunt almost every soldier who makes it onto a battlefield for the first time: How will I perform in combat? Willie Rexford answered these questions in 18...

William Crawford Smith is remembered in architectural history for his designs of buildings on the campus of Vanderbilt University. Yet he also served in the Civil and Spanish-American Wars. Here's his story.

The memoirs of Lt. Gen. and President Ulysses S. Grant are filled with subtle—and not so subtle—commentaries. Here's one, which appears at the end of his second volume, and it speaks to American power and the future.

On a January day in 1864, Confederate Capt. Nathaniel Sturdivant and his patrol arrived at Cherry Grove, a landing along Virginia’s James River, to seek out the enemy. He and his men soon found them in the town of Smithfield. Here's what happened next.

James Wheaton Converse Jr., an 18-year-old sergeant in the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, distinguished himself in combat along the North Carolina coast in early 1862. Recognized by his superiors for gallantry, he went on to prove himself again in Louisiana. Here's the story.

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.

Military Images magazine subscriber Ken Harris emailed Ron about a particular regimental history, one that he was very familiar with and had used from time to timw. In reviewing the book, Ron scrolled to a section that had previously escaped his attention—the Publisher's Preface—which provides co...

In February 1861, U.S. Navy Lt. Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven returned to New York Harbor after a two-year assignment aboard the steamer Mohawk. He took the time to write a letter to fellow naval officers about the very real perils he saw as the country drifted towards Civil War.

In his 1885 Personal Memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant offered a candid assessment of his adversary at the 1862 Battle of Shiloh, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, and provided context about the battle's importance to war. Here's his thoughts and opinions.