The 14th New Jersey Infantry at the Battle of Monocacy
In the summer of 1864, as the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were engaged in the battles of the Overland Campaign followed by the Siege of Petersburg,...
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Captain John G. Hazard’s Report on the Union 2nd Corps Artillery Brigade at Gettysburg
The Union Army 2nd Corps Artillery Brigade, under the command of Captain John G. Hazard, arrived at Gettysburg on July 2nd, 1863, the second day of battle. The brigade consisted of 28 guns in...
Captain Homer Sprague Recalls the 13th Connecticut Infantry in the June 14th, 1863 Assault at Port Hudson
In the pre dawn hours of June 14th, 1863, Union artillery opened fire on the Confederate defensive works at Port Hudson, Louisiana in preparation for an infantry assault along the entire line. Port Hudson...
Major General Frederick Steele’s Division In the Assault on Vicksburg May 22nd, 1863
As his army began to arrive at Vicksburg, Mississippi on May 18th, 1863, Major General Ulysses S. Grant decided to attack the city’s defenses immediately. Grant believed that the Confederates were demoralized by recent...
The 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery at the Battle of Harris’s Farm May 19th,1864
Following the costly opening battles of his Overland Campaign of 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant ordered reinforcements from the heavy artillery regiments serving in the forts and garrisons guarding Washington DC. These regiments...
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton’s Announcement to the Army of the Death of Abraham Lincoln
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton was present in the room when President Abraham Lincoln died on April 15th, 1865, after he was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater the night before....
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on the Death of Abraham Lincoln
Gideon Welles kept an extensive diary during his time in office as Secretary of the Navy under Abraham Lincoln and his successor, Andrew Johnson. At that time, the Secretary of the Navy was a...
The Gunboats USS Lexington and USS Tyler at the Battle of Shiloh
One of the keys to winning the western theater of the Civil War was gaining control of the larger rivers in the region, including the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers. These vital waterways...