The Death of General Elon J. Farnsworth at Gettysburg
Elon J. Farnsworth was born in Michigan in 1837. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 8th Illinois Cavalry as a 1st lieutenant. He served as an aide to the...
Iron Brigader Blog
Shores of Tennessee
Ethel Lynn Beers (1827-1879) was a poet most famous for “All Quiet Along the Potomac,” which was originally published under the title “The Picket Guard” in “Harper’s Weekly” in November of 1861, bearing the initials E.B. Nobody...
The Civil War Navy’s Sesquicentennial Commemoration
The U.S. Navy played a vital role in the Civil War, and will be commemorating its part in the war during the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial. Early in the conflict, the Navy set up...
Old Abe the War Eagle: Mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry
Many Civil War units had mascots, but perhaps the most famous of these was Old Abe the War Eagle, the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry. Old Abe was a bald eagle that not...
New Jersey’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration
The State of New Jersey sent nearly 77,000 men to fight for the Union in the Civil War, and over 5700 died. At the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, five of the top...
Confederate Spy Belle Boyd Led a Colorful Life
Belle Boyd was born in Virginia and was a spy for the Confederate States in the Civil War. While on a speaking tour after the war, she died in Wisconsin and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Wisconsin Dells.
John Wilkes Booth in Hell
John Wilkes Booth turns up in an early 20th century poem, ever the villain, playing the sax in hell
Virginia’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration
One might expect the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state that was the scene of so many important events in the Civil War, to be in the forefront of the upcoming 150th anniversary commemoration of...