Author: Justin Lewis

The Battle of Gettysburg

Justin Lewis
October 21, 2020

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace.

Covered in Glory

Justin Lewis
October 17, 2020

The African American Heroes of New Market Heights

A Beacon Light of Liberty

Justin Lewis
October 14, 2020

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address began with the words, “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” By invoking the memory…

Civil War Casualties

Justin Lewis
October 13, 2020

The Cost of War: Killed, Wounded, Captured, and Missing The Civil War was America’s bloodiest conflict. The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam, Stones River, and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international observers alike. Nearly as many men died…

OPINION: Confederacy & Black Soldiers

Justin Lewis
October 13, 2020

The National Archives and Records Administration has a substantial, though scattered, set of records for “Black Confederates.” Thousands of body servants, laborers, cooks, musicians, teamsters, etc., encamped with and served the Confederate Army.

Kennesaw Mountain “The Dead Angle”

Justin Lewis
October 13, 2020

The battle of "Dead Angle," was fought June 27th, on the Kennesaw line, near Marietta, Georgia.

Perryville Overlook

Justin Lewis
October 10, 2020

Despite being the Confederate high-water mark of the Western Theater and one of the most important battles of the American Civil War, most people, including many Civil War buffs, know little about the Battle of Perryville. Consider these 10 facts about this watershed battle in the western theater.

Civil War, Black Confederates

Justin Lewis
October 9, 2020

The Civil War was a fiery prism at the center of American society. Every life entered the prism at its own angle and was refracted in its own way.

The Freedmen’s Bureau

Justin Lewis
October 9, 2020

Overview The Freedmen’s Bureau was established in March of 1865 to help freed people achieve economic stability and secure political freedoms. Many white Southerners, as well as President Andrew Johnson, challenged the Bureau’s legitimacy, sparking racial violence in the South…

13th Amendment, Slavery Abolished

Justin Lewis
October 9, 2020

Following its ratification by the requisite three-quarters of the states earlier in the month, the 13th Amendment is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Battle of Darbytown Road

Justin Lewis
October 7, 2020

Fought on October 13, 1864, during the Petersburg Campaign, the Battle of Darbytown Road, also known as the Battle of Alms House, was a failed Union attempt to stop the construction of new defensive breastworks outside of Richmond, Virginia.

The John Stith Pemberton Background

Justin Lewis
October 6, 2020

Born on January 8, 1831, in Knoxville, in Crawford County, Pemberton grew up and attended the local schools in Rome, where his family lived for almost thirty years. He studied medicine and pharmacy at the Reform Medical College of Georgia in Macon, and in…