The Notorious General Hood
An ill-mannered man with streaks of wildness, nonconformity, and sometimes drunkenness. Battered, beaten, discredited and a hopeless cripple. No evidence of mental brilliance. History has not been kind to John [...]
Memorial Day’s Civil War Roots
Memorial Day was born out of need after the Civil War. A war-torn United States was faced with the task of burying and honoring the 600,000 to 800,000 Union and [...]
The Rich Man’s War
Grover Cleveland, future President of the United States, never served in the military during the Civil War. He was healthy, of the appropriate age, and educated. His law practice provided [...]
Captured in Women’s Clothing? Fact or Fiction.
Almost 200 years ago, General Benjamin Dudley Pritchard and the 4th Michigan Cavalry effectively ended the Civil War. It was May 10, 1865 when they captured Jefferson Davis, President of [...]
Unrequited Love and General Sherman
On the banks of the Etowah river, which runs through the beautiful north Georgia landscape, stood the historic Etowah Heights mansion, the only building for miles around not destroyed by [...]
Andersonville: Hell on Earth
“I don’t know for whom I am keeping this Diary,” Corporal Samuel J. Gibson wrote on August 12, 1864. “I still have hope that I will yet outlive this misfortune [...]
“Hellmira” Prison Camp
On July 6, 1864, 400 Confederate prisoners of war marched from Erie Train Station to the camp, becoming the first of 12,123 prisoners held in Elmira. This camp quickly became [...]
Fort Sumter: Small Battle, Big Results
This week’s blog will explore the bombing on Fort Sumter. 160 years ago, on April 12, this event marked the beginning of the American Civil War. With the booming of [...]
Union Blue, Confederate Gray but with a Dash of Pink
The blue and gray of the Civil War had a surprising pink streak running through it. Even though women weren’t legally allowed to fight in the Civil War, it is [...]
Can’t Tame a “Wild Rose”: D.C. Socialite and Confederate Spy
Rose Greenhow was a society woman in D.C. who became a spy ring leader and icon for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The first major Confederate victory on the [...]