Charleston: The City Where the War Began
Although the conquest of Charleston, South Carolina, commanded nearly as much of the Union war effort as the capture of Richmond in 1862-65, the conflict is relegated to the back pages of many Civil...
View ArticleTaking a Stand for Our Civil War History
While in Tennessee for a wedding in 2000, Congressman Gary Miller (R-CA) decided to make a side trip to the site of the Battle of Nashville. All he found when he arrived was a plaque on the side of the...
View ArticleThe Hallowed Ground of Antietam
It isn’t easy to unravel the multilayered complexity of the Battle of Antietam, a fight on September 17, 1862, that left 23,000 dead and wounded soldiers in its wake and that some historians consider...
View ArticleGettysburg Retreat: Cavalry in the Spotlight
The 10-day retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia that began on July 4, 1863, is a virtually forgotten part of the Gettysburg story. Naturally, this has led to a lean amount of interpreted points of...
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Seven Days That Saved Richmond in 1862
Although the Confederates had won the first major battle in the state of Virginia in July 1861, Union forces still controlled large areas of the Old Dominion in the summer of 1862 and were threatening...
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The Wilderness: Grant and Lee Meet at Last
.image-13798063 { max-height: 100%; --left: 47.06%; --top: 35.09%; } The spring of 1864 began full of hope in the North. Having received control of all Federal armies and a promotion to lieutenant...
View ArticleBig Trouble in the Big Easy for the Confederacy
The loss of the South’s largest city 145 years ago this April inflicted a deep wound to the Confederacy from which it would never recover. The fall of New Orleans did not yet mean loss of control of...
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Grant Pries Open the Rebel Heartland at Donelson and Henry
In the midst of observing the 145th anniversary of the Civil War’s first full year of combat, it is worth noting that during those first 12 months, the Confederacy was making a strong military...
View ArticleThe Road to Atlanta, Part. 2
In the November/December 2006 issue, “In Their Footsteps” covered the first part of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s ambitious advance through northwest Georgia to Atlanta—a campaign that, when combined...
View ArticleRoad to Atlanta
Some historians believe that without the successful drive of Major General William T. Sherman’s army group through northwest Georgia in the spring and summer of 1864, the South could well have won the...
View ArticleTracking Down the Past: Mobile
The city of Mobile, Alabama’s largest, has long been over- shadowed by New Orleans, its neighbor to the west. But those who have traveled to this dynamic, vibrant city know its cosmopolitan charm and...
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Tracking Down the Past: Harper’s Ferry
.image-13798292 { max-height: 100%; --left: 41.59%; --top: 52.12%; } There were a half dozen so pivotal events occurring in the antebellum period of or United States history that exacerbated sectional...
View ArticleNorth Carolina Coastal Operations of 1861-62
The first successful campaign of Union forces in the Civil War was against the coastal area of North Carolina. This effort, which began in August 1861 and continued through the spring and summer of...
View ArticleCavalry At The Battle Of Gettysburg
In the August 2005 issue, “In Their Footsteps” featured the movements and battles involving cavalry forces of the Federals and Confederates as they advanced toward Gettysburg, as well as the...
View ArticleThe Sioux Wars of 1862-64
The role of American Indians in the Civil War amounts to more than just a historical footnote. Organized groups of warriors, with allegiances to either the Union or Confederacy, took part in battles...
View ArticleTracking Down the Past: The Civil War in Fredericksburg
I believe a case can be made for considering Fredericksburg, Virginia, one of the most strategic cities of the Civil War. Certainly the colonial city, steeped in history and Old Dominion tradition, did...
View ArticleThe Road to Appomattox
At the beginning General Robert E. Lee decided to evacuate his army from the of April 1865, Richmond-Petersburg front. A number of factors led to his decision. These included the failed assault on Fort...
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Vicksburg—the 1863 Campaign
The federal campaign against Vicksburg began shortly after the successful conquest of other parts of the Mississippi River north and south of the “Hill City.” Recognizing Vicksburg’s strategic...
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Civil War Soldiers Loved Their Coffee. So This Colonel Invented a Coffee...
Necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes, and many Civil War soldiers undoubtedly ranked coffee as a necessity—right there with shoes, tobacco, and bullets. That prompted one...
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Tense Moments: Aerial refueling from the Boomer’s Perspective
.image-13788506 { max-height: 100%; --left: 50.00%; --top: 50.00%; } The boom operator, or “boomer,” flies the boom from an airborne tanker into contact with the receiving aircraft, also directing the...
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