John Burns of Gettysburg by Bret Harte
As U.S. forces rushed through Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 1st, 1863 to meet the approaching Confederates on the northwest edge of town, they were joined by 69 year old John L. Burns, a War...
Iron Brigader Blog
Brigadier General Truman Seymour’s Report on the Assault on Fort Wagner, July 18th, 1863
The July 16th, 1863 assault on Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina, was one of the more famous actions of the Civil War involving African American troops. As depicted in the 1989 motion...
Fort Union on the Santa Fe Trail in New Mexico Also Had a Role in the Civil War
In 1851, the U.S. Army constructed a fort along the Santa Fe Trail in northeastern New Mexico territory. Fort Union, as it was called, was one of the more important such installations in the...
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on the Sinking of the USS Monitor
The battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (a.k.a. Merrimack) was the most famous Naval action of the Civil War. They fought to a draw on March 9th, 1862 in the first...
Colonel Thomas J. Harrison’s Report on His Cavalry Brigade’s Action on Christmas Day, 1864.
December 25th, 1864 would be the last Christmas of the Civil War. The Army of the Potomac was locked in operations against the Army of Northern Virginia around Petersburg, Virginian, as it had been...
After the Carnage of the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Picket Lines on the Rappahannock River Were Remarkably Cordial
After losing the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, the Army of the Potomac withdrew across the Rappahannock River to its camps at and around Falmouth, Virginia, and went into winter quarters. Except for...
Lieutenant Simeon T. Josselyn of the 13th Illinois Was Awarded the Medal of Honor for His Actions at Missionary Ridge
At the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25th, 1863, the 13th Illinois Infantry was part of Brigadier General Charles R. Woods’ brigade in the 1st Division (commanded by Brigadier General Peter Osterhaus) of...
Battlefield Victories and Votes from Soldiers Helped Propel Abraham Lincoln to Reelection in 1864
By the middle of the summer of 1864, Union offensives in Virginia and Georgia had bogged down into near stalemates. It was an election year, and with the Civil War dragging on, President Abraham...