Civil War

Life, Trial and Execution of Captain John Brown details the final chapter of the radical abolitionist who led the raid on Harpers Ferry. It includes his courtroom statements and legal proceedings, highlighting the national attention to his execution for treason against Virginia. It emphasizes Brown…

This map from January 1864 indicates by color the territories “claimed by the confederates in 1861,” “in the military possession of the Confederates in 1861,” “reclaimed from rebellion by the Federal Union,” and “remaining in possession of the Rebels January, 1864.” Map also includes rail lines a

The movement of several Southern states toward secession in early 1861 is portrayed as a doomed enterprise. The artist shows Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, all represented by men riding donkeys, following the lead of South Carolina toward a cliff.

This photograph, titled A Harvest of Death, was taken by photographer Timothy H. O'Sullivan between July 4 and 7, 1863. The photograph depicts the bodies of soldiers killed at the Battle of Gettysburg on part of the battlefield.

This photograph of Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was taken by Civil War photographer Matthew Brady. Jackson was one of the most prominent Confederate generals who took a leading role in nearly all military engagements until his death in 1863.

Clara Barton was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. During The Civil War, she was a hospital nurse, teacher, and patent clerk.

This photograph, taken by Civil War photographer Matthew Brady, depicts the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry at Camp Northumberland near Washington D.C. The photograph was taken 1861 and gives insight into the living conditions that soldiers experienced during The Civil War. 

 

This historical content is presented as it originally appeared. Images and language reflect their era and will contain wartime propaganda, sentiment, and realities. These digital learning objects have been created to be viewed and discussed for educational purposes.

 

The Battle of Gettysburg was costly on a scale that is hard to imagine today. A soldier in the
civil war had about a 1 in 4 chance surviving. The first chart below illustrates the amount of military losses in the Civil War compared to other U.S. conflicts. The second chart below compares…

<p>Michael Corcoran led New York’s Irish brigade to glory in the Civil War after being disciplined for refusing to parade in honor of Britain's Prince of Wales.</p>

Amendments 13-15 are called the Reconstruction Amendments both because they were first enacted right after the Civil War and because they addressed questions related to the legal and political status of African Americans. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery unless used as a punishment for a crime…

The Emancipation Proclamation was a document issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, that declared enslaved people in the rebellious states of the Confederacy to be free. It was a significant moment in the American Civil War and is considered one of the most important documents in…

<p>At Gettysburg 50 years after the battle, it was no longer blue and gray. In 1913, a kind of union prevailed.</p>

<p>Our American heritage is greater than any one of us.</p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> Along the Mississippi the spirit of vanished culture lingers in the ruined columns of the great plantations</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> A southern woman’s memoir of a by-gone era</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> If Buchanan had met the Kansas problem firmly we might have avoided civil war<br />
The fourth in a series on TIMES OF TRIAL IN AMERICAN STATECRAFT </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> The Civil War soldier marched to his own individualist cadence, but he was much like today’s G. I.</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck">Two adroit diplomats successfully prevented an open breach between London and Washington during the Civil War</span></p>

<p>Missives, one by Mark Twain, the other by Walt Whitman, reflect the impact of the Civil War on the nation.</p>

<p><span class="deck"> “The President came forward and the sun burst through the clouds.”</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> On the eve of the Civil War differing loyalties sent some West Pointers north, others south, but their academy friendship survived the conflict.</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck">At Fort Wagner the Negro soldier was asked to prove the worth of the “powerful black hand”</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> Upon the clash of arms near a little Maryland creek hung the slave’s freedom and the survival of the Union</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">The draft riots of 1863 turned a great city into a living hell.</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">Surprised and almost overwhelmed, he stubbornly refused to admit defeat. His cool conduct saved his army and his job</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> Flags flew and champagne flowed when the Czar’s ships anchored in New York Harbor. Fifty years later we learned the reason for their surprise visit</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">Was the old South solidly for slavery and secession? An eminent historian disputes a long-cherished view of that region’s history</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> On the flaming Kansas-Missouri border the name of Quantrill struck terror in men’s hearts. He was a cruel and ruthless guerrilla who burned, robbed, and killed without mercy; but legend made of him a hero dashing and bold</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> His shrewd handling of the Radical Republican bid for power at the end of 1862 established him as the unquestioned leader of the Union</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck">The first modern war correspondent won a nickname, much Northern ill will, and a lasting reputation out of his account of a famous battle</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> A Union veteran talks of life in a prison camp: it was bad, yet there were times one could recall happily</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> Concerned lest history<br />
overlook their triumphs, veterans of the Army of the Cumberland had them writ large -- on a canvas five hundred feet long.<br />
of the Cumberland had them writ large—on a canvas<br />
five hundred feet long</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> A choice between life and honor is a fearful one for any man. Here is the unforgettable story of how it was made by a twenty-one-year-old Confederate private.</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck">Verdicts Of History: III -- Even his abolitionist friends thought his attack on Harpers Ferry insane, but the old Kansas raider sensed that his death would ignite the nation’s conscience.</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck">The Union stood in danger of losing an entire army at Chattanooga. Then U. S. Grant arrived, and directed the most dramatic battle of the Civil War.</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> AN AMERICAN HERITAGE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT<br />
Edited and with an introduction </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"><span class="typestyle">Year by year the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic grew thinner — but until the last old soldier was gone, Decoration Day in a New England town was a moving memorial to “the War”</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> Captain Semmes was spoiling for a fight—and Winslow of the U.S.S. <span class="typestyle"> Kearsarge</span> was waiting for him, just off Cherbourg </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> The black laborers on John Williams’ plantation never seemed to leave or complain. It took some digging to find out why</span> </span></p>