Pea Ridge National Military Park is located in northwest Arkansas on U.S. Highway 62 about 11 miles northeast of the city of Rogers. The Battle of Pea Ridge, or Elkhorn Tavern as it is also called, was fought on March 7-8, 1862 and was the largest in terms of numbers of troops engaged in the Trans-Mississippi [...]
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Located about a dozen miles southwest of Springfield, Missouri, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield was established in 1960. The Battle of Wilson’s Creek was fought on August 10th, 1861 and was the second major battle of the Civil War. It was one of the largest battles fought west of the Mississippi River. On that August day, [...]
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The National Park Service (NPS) administers over 70 national battlefields, memorials, military parks, and historic sites related to the Civil War. Some are sites where major battles occued, such as Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, or Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland. Some are less obvious such as Gulf Islands National Seashore on the coasts of [...]
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The Civil War was the costliest war in American history in terms of casualties. Statistics for the number of deaths in the Civil War vary somewhat based on the source used, but the total number of deaths on both sides combined was approximately 618,000. Of these, about 204,000 were killed or died from their wounds. [...]
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From the very beginning of the Civil War, both sides understood the importance of control of the Mississippi River. To that end, the United States government built gunboats specifically designed for military operations in the Mississippi and its tributaries. Among those river vessels was a series of seven ironclad gunboats designed by naval architect Samuel [...]
Continue reading about The Sinking and Raising of the U.S.S. Cairo
Fort Scott National Historic Site is located in the southeast Kansas city of the same name. Fort Scott was an important western military base for the Union Army during the Civil War, but it also served as a frontier fort from 1842-1853, acting as a buffer between settlers and the Native American tribes. It was [...]
