The Harpers Ferry story does not end when John Brown was captured early in the morning on October 18, 1859. While five members of his group managed to escape (including Barclay Coppoc, who later served in the Union army), others were not as fortunate. Albert Hazlett and John Edwin Cook, who were traveling separately, were […]

The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia, which remains closed as it plans for moving into a new building, has announced that items from their collection will be on display at several institutions in Pennsylvania. Tentative plans call for the museum to partner with the Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center, the National Constitution Center, and the […]

Twitter is the latest craze on the internet and its reach already extends across countless aspects of society, from news reports to celebrity gossip. It is only natural that the 140-character phenomenon would extend into the historical realm with TwHistory. TwHistory is using the Twitter niche to tell history’s stories in a new and interesting […]

Our Editor Matthew Pinsker teaches courses in U.S. political, legal and diplomatic history. His research focuses on the career of Abraham Lincoln, partisanship in the Civil War era, American constitutionalism, the Underground Railroad and the history of U.S. campaigns and elections. Pinsker is the co-director of the House Divided project. Our Correspondents Russ Allen is […]

Susan Montoya Bryan of the Associated Press informed readers of the Dallas Morning News this morning about the opening of the Glorietta Battlefield Trail, which traces the Battlefield of Glorietta Pass, the “Gettysburg of the west.”  The battle occurred in late March of 1862 and resulting in stopping an attempt of Confederate troops to move […]

The New York Times just published an interesting article about a new museum in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The David Willis House, which opens tomorrow (February 12, 2009), was where President Abraham Lincoln spent the night before he gave the Gettysburg Address. Yet as Sean Hamill explains, “the museum’s larger purpose…is to tell what happened after the […]

In the summer of 1863, the town of Carlisle, PA became the one of the northern-most posts of the Confederate Army.  An account of the occupation of Carlisle during the Battle of Gettysburg by Richard Edling appears on civilwaralbum.com.  145 years ago this week, Dickinson College became host to General Ewell’s troops.  Edling provides modern […]

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates is a topic often written about and discussed, certainly in this blog, and certainly among teachers, historians, and political scientists. The Debates are always relevant in telling the story of the nation, especially of those steps into civil war. This year in particular, much has been said about the Debates, whether by […]

History Net is an online collection of history magazines that has daily posts of the latest articles from history magazine.  The site also features images, videos, and daily quizzes from all periods of modern history.  Under features for today there was an article about Confederate discontent following their defeat at Gettysburg.  The History Net also […]

I found on the Civil War Preservation Trust website an animated map of the first day of the Battle of Chancellorsville. The site also has a page geared towards teachers, but I found the animated map to be most interesting. I searched a little more for animated maps and found a few videos on Britannica […]