Within twenty four hours of the Union’s victory at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July 1863, Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered his forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi on July, 4, 1863 to General Ulysses S. Grant after a long siege. Vicksburg is a city located along the Mississippi River and the Confederacy’s loss of such an important […]
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10
Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi
Posted by sailerd Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Historic Periodicals, Images, Letters & Diaries, Maps, Places to Visitno comment
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10
Alexander Kelly was an African- American Civil War soldier who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was born on April 7, 1840 in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania and worked as a coal miner prior to his involvement in the war. On August 19, 1863 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania he enlisted in Company F of the 6th […]
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10
William H. Carney at Fort Wagner
Posted by solnitr Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Historic Periodicals, Images, Letters & Diaries, Places to VisitOn May 31, 1897, the city of Boston erected a monument created by the American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens in honor of the 54th Massachusetts and its colonel, Robert Gould Shaw. The monument commemorates the regiment’s participation in the second attack on Fort Wagner, South Carolina on July 18, 1863. The August 8 edition of Harper’s […]
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Jun
10
Fort Stevens: July 11-12, 1864
Posted by mckelveb Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Lesson Plans, Places to Visit, Rare BooksOn July 11, 1864, two days after the Battle of Monocacy, Confederate forces under the command of General Jubal A. Early reached the edge of Washington D.C. The following day, the Confederate forces faced the Union VI Corps under the direction of Major General Horatio G. Wright and Major General Alexander M. McCook and were […]
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Jun
10
Confederate forces under the command of General Robert E. Lee and Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had 40,000 fewer soldiers fighting at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia than Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s Union troops. Nonetheless, General Lee executed what historian John Murrin has labeled “the riskiest operation of his career” coming out victorious on May […]
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Jun
10
Battle of Shiloh – April 6-7, 1862
Posted by sailerd Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Letters & Diaries, Places to VisitThe battle of Shiloh took place on April 6-7, 1862 in Hardin County, Tennessee between the Union Army of the Tennessee & the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Mississippi. After several decisive victories, Union forces had largely driven the Confederates out of Kentucky and central Tennessee. However, Confederates regrouped under General […]
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Jun
10
The Battle of Monocacy- July 9, 1864
Posted by mckelveb Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Images, Maps, Places to Visit, Rare BooksThe Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864 in Frederick County, Maryland became known as “The battle that saved Washington” as it gave supporting Union troops more time to fill the area and defend the Capital. The National Park Service ’s website provides resources including a short summary of the battle and a map that […]
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Jun
10
The Battle of Pea Ridge, March 6-8, 1862
Posted by solnitr Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Images, Letters & Diaries, Places to Visit“I hope to God that I won’t have to witness the same again,” wrote Vinson Holman after his first combat experience at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Though Holman’s regiment, the 9th Iowa, lost 216 men to casualties over the course of the three-day battle as documented by the Official Records, the Union victory on March 8, […]
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Battle of Chickamauga – September 18-20, 1863
Posted by sailerd Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Letters & Diaries, Places to VisitThe battle of Chickamauga took place on September 18-20, 1863 between the Army of Tennessee, under the command of General Braxton Bragg and Lt. General James Longstreet, and the Army of the Cumberland, under the command of Major General William Rosecrans and Major General George H. Thomas. General Bragg’s overall objective was to retake Chattanooga, […]
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Jun
10
Fort Pillow Massacre- April 12, 1864
Posted by mckelveb Published in Civil War (1861-1865), Maps, Rare Books, Recent ScholarshipThe Confederate Army attacked Fort Pillow in Lauderdale County, Tennessee on April 12, 1864 in a fight that later became known as the Fort Pillow Massacre since the lives of few Union soldiers were spared. The National Park Service’s website gives a valuable overview of the fight and its commanding figures in its battle summaries section […]
