Category Periodicals
During the Civil War, Battlefield Dead Were Often Stripped of Anything of Value — Even Their Clothes
This article is from the February 2022 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “On a misty Kentucky morning, Confederate Brig. Gen. Felix Kirk Zollicoffer’s body lay on the muddy ground surrounded by gawking Union Army soldiers. ‘What in hell are you doing here?’ a Federal officer shouted at the men as the Battle of Mill […]
What if Robert E. Lee had Sent Troops to Vicksburg?
This article comes from the Fall 2021 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “That question was certainly on the mind of Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon that season. By default, then, it was also on Lee’s. Anchored on bluffs lining the Mississippi River, Vicksburg was the key to success in the West for either […]
How an Obscure Photograph Triggered a Search for the Fate of 5 Union Soldiers
This article comes from the April 2022 issue of Civil War Times magazine. “In early December 1861, a group of newly minted infantrymen walked into a Washington City photographer’s studio dressed in their freshly issued sky blue overcoats and arranged themselves to have their likeness taken. The five men were either directly related to each […]
Given a Second Chance at Life, This Civil War Soldier Became a Hero in Memphis
This article comes from the June 2022 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “Sometimes a man is judged entirely by a single act or rash of poor choices over a certain period, but it is often necessary to examine an entire life to gauge one’s true character. That was the case for Colonel Alfred Warren Taylor, […]
In Dealing with Pro-Slavery Border States, This Union Colonel Tested Federal Limits When It Came to Emancipation
This article comes from the Summer 2023 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “In November 1862, Marcus Thompson escaped from a farm in Mount Sterling, Ky., to a nearby Union military camp commanded by Colonel Smith D. Atkins of the 92nd Illinois Infantry. Along with 29 other enslaved men, women, and children, Marcus had been […]
A Toxic Mix of Anti-War and Anti-Abolitionist Sentiment Led to the North’s First Riots
This article comes from the Winter 2023 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “The surging mass of armed men stopped the train full of Union recruits and herded the passengers out of their cars. The bold move occurred in Pennsylvania, sending shock waves across the Keystone State. Governor Andrew Curtin dashed off a telegram to […]
On the McClellan-Go-Round
This article by Professor Joseph Harsh is in Civil War History, Volume 19, Number 2, June 1973, pp. 101-118. In it, Professor Harsh gives us a more objective appraisal of McClellan historiography to that point and to McClellan’s own views and policy preferences. He tells us, “Sound and fury swirl around the historical reputation of […]
Could the Bermuda Hundred Campaign Have Ended the Civil War Earlier?
This article comes from the Winter 2023 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “In a war known for its provocative personalities, few could compete with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. An established antebellum politician, lawyer, and businessman, he gained fame during the conflict as one of the first Union generals who refused to return escaped slaves […]
Ulysses S. Grant’s Humble Midwestern Roots
This interview with journalist and author Jack Hurst is from the Summer 2023 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “It could be an American fairy tale. Once upon a time, a young boy who loved horses wanted nothing more than to be a farmer in order to escape the sights and smells of his father’s […]
At Fort Sumter, this Bizarre, Floating Contraption Helped Start the Civil War
This article is from the April 2022 issue of America’s Civil War magazine. “At 4:30 a.m. April 12, 1861, on James Island in Charleston Harbor, Confederate Lieutenant Henry Farley pulled the lanyard of a siege mortar. A solid thump rocked the ground as a huge 10-inch shell roared from the muzzle with a yellow-white flash. The heavy ball […]
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