Lancaster, Pennsylvania native John F. Reynolds was a West Point graduate and instructor at that institution when the Civil War began. Initially, he was the Lieutenant Colonel of the 14th U.S. Infantry, but was soon promoted to brigadier general of volunteers. Reynolds saw action as a brigade commander in the Fifth Corps during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign in [...]
Continue reading about The Death of General John Reynolds at Gettysburg
In March of 1864, a land force consisting of the Union Army’s 19th Corps and portions of the 13th, 16th, and 17th Corps under the command of Major General Nathaniel Banks headed northwest up the Red River in Louisiana. Accompanying the army was Admiral David D. Porter and the Mississippi Squadron, a fleet of vessels designed [...]
Continue reading about Colonel Joseph Bailey’s Red River Dam
The Wisconsin Historical Society has added a new section to its website called Wisconsin in the Civil War. The Historical Society Library and archives contain a great deal of material about Wisconsin’s involvement in the Civil War, and this website makes a portion of it available to anyone anywhere. According to the Society, more material [...]
Continue reading about Wisconsin Historical Society Announces New Online Civil War Resources
Although there were a few large scale battles in Missouri in the Civil War, most of the fighting in that state and in eastern Kansas consisted of smaller actions conducted by guerrilla and other irregular forces. Both sides employed these tactics, and the result was a brutal and vicious war of a type that was seldom [...]
Continue reading about The Baxter Springs Massacre October 6, 1863
At the outset of the Civil War, both sides faced the challenge of equipping a large number of soldiers in a short amount of time. Often, this meant furnishing the men with local militia uniforms, regardless of the color. When the first large scale battle occurred at First Bull Run in Virginia in July of [...]
150 Years Ago in the Civil War After the firing on Fort Sumter in April, both sides began preparations for war, and more states were forced to pick one side or the other. On May 6th, both the Arkansas and Tennessee legislatures passed ordinances of secession. And on May 20th, North Carolina became the eleventh [...]
