Civil War History

Find old Civil War articles here. We have great newspaper articles about the Civil War check them out today!

The Age Progression of President Lincoln (Coronet Magazine, 1945)

Ever since the age of photography began, one of the semi-official pastimes of the American people involves taking note of the rapid facial decay of their assorted presidents while in-office – and as the collected photographic portraits of Abraham Lincoln clearly indicate, no one will be naming a skincare product after him any time soon, however, the aging process that effected his face so dramatically has been the subject of Lincoln admirer’s through the years, and some are collected in the attached article.

The Age Progression of President Lincoln (Coronet Magazine, 1945) Read More »

General Grant Recalled Meeting Lincoln (National Park Service, 1956)

A short paragraph from General Grant’s memoir recalling the the first private interview with President Lincoln, on the occasion in the early spring of 1864 when he was given command of all the Federal armies.

In my first interview with Mr. Lincoln alone he stated to me that he had never professed to be a military man or to know how campaigns should be conducted…


Click here to read about a dream that President Lincoln had, a dream that anticipated his violent death.

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When Grant Met Lincoln for the First Time (National Park Service, 1956)

A short paragraph from General Grant’s memoir recalling the the first private interview with President Lincoln, on the occasion in the early spring of 1864 when he was given command of all the Federal armies:

In my first interview with Mr. Lincoln alone he stated to me that he had never professed to be a military man or to know how campaigns should be conducted, and never wanted to interfere in them…


Click here to read about General Grant’s Chief of Staff, General John Rawlins.

When Grant Met Lincoln for the First Time (National Park Service, 1956) Read More »

When Grant was a Colonel (Literary Digest, 1908)

This Civil War reminiscence was originally printed in a Missouri newspaper and concerned the Union General U.S. Grant (1822 – 1885) when he was a lowly colonel assigned to guard the railroads along the Salt River in Northeast Missouri and how he got along with the local population:


He talked politely in a calm, dispassionate way, and never with heat or anger. Some of those who visited his camp in those days quote him as saying that if he had considered the war merely to free slaves he would have taken his command and joined the South…


Click here to read about
General Grant’s march on Richmond.


Click here to read about the son of General Grant and his memories of his father at Vicksburg.

When Grant was a Colonel (Literary Digest, 1908) Read More »

The Confederate Chaplains (Confederate Veteran Magazine

A chaplain’s proper place in the Confederate Army was well defined in theory at least, but in fact each of us was a law unto himself and stayed wherever he liked. He belonged to the medical staff. But the medical staff in a campaign is divided… The regulation spot was with the surgeons.


Click here to read about the chaplaincy within the American military during World War II.

The Confederate Chaplains (Confederate Veteran Magazine Read More »

Confederate Doctors and their Many Problems (Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1922)

A few paragraphs on the difficulties faced by the medical establishment of the Confederacy as a result of the Union naval blockade of Southern ports. We were surprised to learn that the scarcity of quinine and other medicinal aids forced the doctors of the South to embrace herbalism.


Click here to read about the heavy influence religion had in the Rebel states during the American Civil War.

Confederate Doctors and their Many Problems (Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1922) Read More »

The Battle of Gettysburg: Day Two (National Park Service, 1954)

By the afternoon of July 2, the powerful forces of Meade and Lee were at hand, and battle on a tremendous scale was imminent. That part of the Union line extending diagonally across the valley between Seminary and Cemetery Ridges held. Late in the forenoon, General Dan Sickles, commanding the Third Corps which lay north of Little Round Top, sent Berdan’s sharpshooters and some of the men of the 3rd Maine Regiment forward from Emmitsburg Road to Pitzer’s Woods… as they reached the woods, a strong Confederate force fired upon them…

The Battle of Gettysburg: Day Two (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »

End of Invasion: July 4, 1863 (National Park Service, 1954)

In just two paragraphs this author beautifully summed up the immediate aftermath of that remarkable battle:

Late on the afternoon of July 4, Lee began an orderly retreat. The wagon train of wounded, 17 miles in length, guarded by Imboden’s cavalry, started homeward through Greenwood and Greencastle. At night, the able-bodied men marched over the Hagerstown Road by way of Monterey Pass to the Potomac…


From Amazon: Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaignstyle=border:none


Click here to read about the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion.

End of Invasion: July 4, 1863 (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »

The Career of General George Gordon Meade (Literary Digest, 1912)

A brief article on the military career of Civil War General George Gordon Meade (1815 – 1872) with particular attention paid to his leadership during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Meade will not be ranked by the historians with the great commanders, but his career is that of a well-trained, capable, and patriotic soldier, and he must always be remembered in the history of the war and of the country as the General who, for the longest period in its history, held the command of the Army of the Potomac, and to whom came the well-deserved good fortune of winning with this army the decisive battle of the war.

The Career of General George Gordon Meade (Literary Digest, 1912) Read More »