Marines deployed by the Union Army during the Civil War played an intricate role in battles and skirmishes that took place along rivers and coastlines. The library at Augustana College has compiled and transcribed the diary of Basil H. Messler, a soldier in the Union’s amphibious Mississippi Marine Brigade, which outlines his exploits as a […]

Continue reading...

The Library of Congress’ American Memory has constructed an interactive database containing over 3,000 maps from the Civil War era. The collection offers detailed descriptions of a variety of topics such as Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s successful Atlanta Campaign to an outline of 23 forts defending the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Another great […]

Continue reading...

Marist College’s Kathryn Silberger has put together an impressive collection of thirty-one letters by  Union soldier Daniel Francis Kemp from his tenure as a landsman in the US Navy between 1862 and 1863. Your Affectionate Son offers a wide range of pictures detailing the specific events and locations described in Kemp’s letters. It offers a […]

Continue reading...

A great general resource on the web is PBS Teachers. Easily searchable, resources are broken down by grade, subject, and topics. It seems that PBS strives to make their resources interdisciplinary and tie in with different media sources. One example uses the Ken Burns’ film, The Civil War, to explore the music of the period. […]

Continue reading...

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has a new online exhibit on John Brown. The exhibit covers Brown’s life in the 1850s, the attack on Harpers Ferry, and Brown’s legacy. While only a few documents are available right now, they will add more material every month through March 2010. The Gilder Lehrman Institute has […]

Continue reading...

These two reports from November 1860 use John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry to argue that a federal arsenal in Fayetteville, North Carolina had to protected, but not in the way that one might expect. Rather than have the local militia continue to provide protection, some Fayetteville residents asked the War Department to send soldiers. […]

Continue reading...

A number of organizations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland have organized events for the sesquicentennial anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. These include the Virginia Historical Society’s exhibit “The Portent: John Brown’s Raid in American Memory,” a reenactment of the march from the Kennedy Farm in Maryland to Harpers Ferry, and […]

Continue reading...

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 […]

Continue reading...

The University of Washington offers a great collection of Civil War letters that provide interesting accounts on a wide range of topics. The collection contains correspondence from both Union and Confederate soldiers, including a description of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender. “It all seems like a dream,” as M. Adelaide Smith explained to his “dear friends” back in […]

Continue reading...

PBS now offers on their website selected full-length episodes from programs like the American Experience. While these documentaries cover a wide variety of subjects, several episodes are on 19th century American history – Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Walt Whitman, and Kit Carson. “We Shall Remain,” a documentary on Native American history, is also available. Also be […]

Continue reading...