Category: American Civil War

Armed Confederates in the Capital, Washington DC

Historian Kevin M. Levin’s recently published book Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War’s Most Persistent Myth deftly examines the complicated history of the role of enslaved African Americans both on the battlefield during the conflict, and in the fight over the memory of the war and it’s causes and consequences.

Stonewall Jackson, Champion of Black Literacy

On one occasion Gen. Thomas J. Jackson was appointed one of the collectors of the Bible Society. When he returned his list it was discovered that, at the end, copied by the clerk of session, was a considerable number of names written in pencil, to each of which a very small amount was attached.

The Battlefield of Yellow Tavern, Virginia

Though this battlefield has been lost to time, with effort, lingering traces of the ultimate Confederate cavalier's last battle can still be found hidden in the Richmond suburbs.

How Taxes Caused the Civil War, Not Slavery

Over a century before anyone had even coined the term, “fake news,” our own government put a spin on the real cause of the Civil War which has been the accepted truth in history books and media to this day.

Events leading to the Civil War

The Civil War was the culmination of a series of confrontations concerning the institution of slavery. The following is a timeline of the events that led to the Civil War.

Lucinda Dogan ‘Belle of the Battlefield’

‘Belle of the Battlefield’ Lucinda Dogan and six of her children lived in a two-room home in Manassas, where, on July 21, 1861, the First Battle of Manassas raged just down the road. Lucinda loaded a wagon with casks of water and food and had it driven to the battlefield with orders…

Death Before Dishonor-The Immortal 600

On August 20, 1864, a chosen group of 600 Confederate officers left Fort Delaware as prisoners of war, bound for the Union Army base at Hilton Head, S.C. Their purpose–to be placed in a stockade in front of the Union batteries at the siege of Charleston. The 600 were landed on Morris Island, at the…

The Battle of Gettysburg

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.

Quantrill’s Guerillas and William Anderson “Bloody Bill”

A low-level conflict had already been raging in the Missouri-Kansas borderlands in the years preceding the outbreak of the Civil War. Fueling this conflict was a dispute over whether Kansas should be a slave-holding state or not. By the time the war started, Missouri’s pro-rebel guerrillas were known as “Bushwackers,” while their pro-Federal counterparts…