The National Park Service – Old Magazine Articles

Abraham Lincoln: The Boy
(National Park Service, 1956)

Following the death of his mother, Nancy Hanks, the future president was but six years old. Lincoln’s father, Thomas Lincoln, then married Sarah Bush and the family moved to Indiana. The Lincoln family was poor and suffered hardships living in the Indiana wilderness but a bond was created between stepmother Sarah and the boy Abraham that was never broken. From the age of nine and throughout the rest of his life Lincoln would call her, Mother.

These are the tender memories of his boyhood that she called to mind just five months after the assassination.

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.

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.

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 One
(National Park Service, 1954)

An account of the inconclusive first day at Gettysburg:

The two armies converge on Gettysburg – The men of Heth’s division, leading the Confederate advance across the mountain, reached Cashtown on June 29. Pettigrew’s brigade was sent on to Gettysburg the following day to obtain supplies, but upon reaching the ridge a mile west of the town, they observed a column of Union cavalry approaching…

Click here to read a Confederate perspective of the first day at Gettysburg.

It was on the first day at Gettysburg that the Confederates made a terrible mistake. Read about it here.

1863: A Poor Summer for the Rebels
(National Park Service, 1954)

For Jefferson Davis and his confederates, the double disasters of Gettysburg and Vicksburg that came with the summer of 1863 spelled doom for the Rebel cause. Writing in his diary during those canicular days was Confederate General Josiah Gorgas (1818 – 1883) who succinctly summarized the meaning of these two major defeats:

Events have succeeded one another with disastrous rapidity. One brief month ago we were apparently at the point of success. Lee was in Pennsylvania, threatening Harrisburg, and even Philadelphia… Today absolute ruin seems to be our portion. The Confederacy totters to its destruction.

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg
(National Park Service, 1954)

The weapons and tactics used at the Battle of Gettysburg were in no way different from those brought into use during other parts in the war. Just as war has always been practiced, weapons influence tactics and this article lists a variety of Civil War rifles and artillery pieces that were put to use during that three day battle. The author also goes to some length describing the manner in which Civil War regiments and brigades marched into battle and the deployment of their supporting artillery batteries.

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg
(National Park Service, 1954)

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

A clearly written piece which sums up the climactic third day of the Gettysburg battle:

Night brought an end to the bloody combat at East Cemetery Hill, but this was not the time for rest. What would Meade do? Would the Union Army remain in its established position and hold its lines at all costs?

Richmond Selected as the Capital of the Confederacy
(National Park Service, 1961)

Second only to New Orleans, Richmond was the largest city in the Confederacy, having a population of about 38,000. It was also the center of iron manufacturing in the South. The Tredegar Iron Works, main source of cannon supply for the Southern armies, influenced the choice of Richmond as the Confederate Capital and demanded defense.

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

The Depression and Humor of President Lincoln
(National Park Service, 1956)

This 1956 article addressed the issue of Lincoln’s depression:

Lincoln’s story telling proclivities were well known in his own time. On the old eighth circuit in Illinois his humor and fund of anecdotes were proverbial. What was not so well known was that the tall, homely man needed a blanket of humor to suppress the fires of depression, gloom, and sense of tragedy that almost consumed him.

Click here to read about Lincoln, the joke teller.

1863: The Importance of Chattanooga and East Tennessee
(National Park Service, 1956)

Situated where the Tennessee River passes through the Cumberland Mountains, forming gaps, Chattanooga was called the Key to East Tennessee and Gateway to the deep South. The possession of Chattanooga was vital to the Confederacy, and a coveted goal of the Northern armies. Chattanooga’s principal importance during the Civil War was it’s position as a railroad center.

Click here to print American Civil War chronologies.

1863: The Importance of Chattanooga and East Tennessee
(National Park Service, 1956)

Click here to print American Civil War chronologies.

1863: The Importance of Chattanooga and East Tennessee
(National Park Service, 1956)

Click here to print American Civil War chronologies.

Lincoln’s Address at Cooper Union
(The National Park Service, 1956)

Before his 1860 address at the Cooper Institute (presently known as Cooper Union) Abraham Lincoln was known in the East chiefly as a rather obscure western lawyer who had gained some prestige a little over a year earlier in the debates with Douglas during the Illinois senatorial contest. The day after the address Horace Greeley’s NEW YORK TRIBUNE remarked:

No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience.

This speech put within Lincoln’s grasp a chance for the Presidency.

Attached, you will find his very powerful conclusion to the address.

Click here to read about the Confederate conscription laws.

The Lincoln – Douglas Debates Observed
(The National Park Service, 1956)

These four paragraphs first appeared on the pages of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE and were written by a reporter named of Horace White at the conclusion of Lincoln – Douglas debates of 1858. The journalist did a fine job in describing the excitement at the debates and the spirit of the participating candidates.

Douglas ended in a whirlwind of applause…and Lincoln began to speak in a slow and rather awkward way. He had a thin tenor, or rather falsetto voice, almost as high pitched as a boatswain’s whistle.

The debates resulted in a close election that returned Douglas to the U.S. Senate and Lincoln to his law practice.