Portal:American Civil War

The American Civil War Portal

James Shields at the First Battle of Winchester

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a sectional rebellion against the United States of America by the Confederate States, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The Union's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through a strategic naval blockade denying the Confederacy access to the world's markets.

In many ways, the conflict's central issues – the enslavement of African Americans, the role of constitutional federal government, and the rights of states – are still not completely resolved. Not surprisingly, the Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox on April 9,1865 did little to change many Americans' attitudes toward the potential powers of central government. The passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution in the years immediately following the war did not change the racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day; and the process of Reconstruction did not heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties – 3 percent of the population, including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of much discussion even today. (Full article)

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First book edition cover of *The Red Badge of Courage* (1895)

The Red Badge of Courage is an 1895 war novel by American author Stephen Crane. The novel was published on 3 October 1895. Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound, a "red badge of courage", to counteract his cowardice. When his regiment once again faces the enemy, Henry acts as flag-bearer, carrying the regimental colors.

Although Crane was born after the war, and had not at the time experienced battle first-hand, the novel is known for its realism and naturalism. He began writing what would become his second novel in 1894, using various contemporary and written accounts (such as those published previously by Century Magazine) as inspiration. It is believed that he based the fictional battle on that of Chancellorsville; he may also have interviewed veterans of the 124th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Orange Blossoms. Initially shortened and serialized in newspapers in December 1894, the novel was published in full in October 1895. A longer version of the work, based on Crane's original manuscript, was published in 1982. (Full article...)

Grand Parade of the States

The New England state of Connecticut played an important role in the American Civil War, providing arms, equipment, technology, funds, supplies, and soldiers for the Union Army and the Union Navy. Several Connecticut politicians played significant roles in the Federal government and helped shape its policies during the war and the Reconstruction. (Full article...)

Featured biography

Oliver Christian Bosbyshell (January 3, 1839 – August 1, 1921) was Superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia from 1889 to 1894. He claimed to have been the first Union soldier wounded by enemy action in the Civil War, stating that he received a bruise on the forehead from an object thrown by a Confederate sympathizer while his unit was marching through Baltimore in April 1861.

Bosbyshell was born in Mississippi of an old Philadelphia family, residing temporarily in the South, and raised in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the Union cause on the outbreak of war. He served in the Union army during the American Civil War with the 25th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment for three months and then the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry for three years. He saw action in several key battles of the Eastern theater and was promoted to the rank of major. He led African American troops during the Battle of the Crater that suffered over 400 casualties. (Full article...)

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Featured picture

Image 1The Chickahominy – Sumner's Upper Bridge at Peninsula campaign, by William McIlvaine
Image 2Siege of Yorktown, by James F. Gibson
Image 3John A. Dahlgren, by Mathew Brady
Image 4Military execution of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination
Image 5Atlanta roundhouse ruin at History of Atlanta, by George Barnard
Image 6John Lorimer Worden, by Mathew Brady
Image 7Ulysses S. Grant, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 8Ambrose Burnside, by Matthew Brady
Image 9John F. Reynolds, by Alfred Rudolph Waud
Image 10Confederate casualties at Chancellorsville during the American Civil War, by the National Archives and Records Administration
Image 11George Armstrong Custer, by George L. Andrews
Image 12Battle of Franklin, by Kurz and Allison
Image 13President Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President of the USA
Image 14Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and John A. McClernand in 1862 by Alexander Gardner
Image 15United States President (and former Brigadier-General) Benjamin Harrison
Image 16The original sketch of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville, at and by William Waud
Image 17Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers
Image 18Harriet Tubman
Image 19Charles Pomeroy Stone
Image 20Richmond, Virginia after the American Civil War
Image 21The burning of Columbia at Columbia, South Carolina in the American Civil War, by William Waud
Image 22Quaker guns, by George Barnard and James F. Gibson
Image 23George Atzerodt, by Alexander Gardner
Image 24Christian Fleetwood
Image 25The print version of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville at McPhersonville, South Carolina, by William Waud
Image 26African-American Civil War soldiers
Image 27Pickett's Charge, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 28Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 29Abner Doubleday
Image 30Daniel McCallum, by the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Image 31William Birney
Image 32David Dixon Porter, by Mathew Brady
Image 33Andersonville survivor
Image 34Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, by Alfred Waud
Image 35Battle of Harpers Ferry, by Robert Knox Sneden
Image 36Lithographic facsimile of the Bixby letter, by Huber's Museum
Image 37William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State during the American Civil War
Image 38Robert E. Lee, by Levin Corbin Handy
Image 39Battle of Fort Sanders, by Kurz and Allison
Image 40First Battle of Bull Run map
Image 41Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Image 42Francis B. Spinola, Brigadier General for the Union in the American Civil War, and Congressman from New York
Image 43Charles Griffin
Image 44Braxton Bragg
Image 45Andersonville Prison at Andersonville National Historic Site, by John L. Ransom
Image 46Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and biographer John Hay

Did you know...

... that American Civil War chaplain Thomas Mooney was pulled from service after baptizing a cannon?
... that Benjamin Jackson was likely paid at least $300 to fight in the American Civil War as Lewis Saunders?
... that the American Civil War inspired the design of the British Amazon-class sloops?
... that some Confederate bullets were sourced from a silver mine?
... that Nereus Mendenhall led a delegation to the Confederate States Congress in April 1862 to allow military exemption in the Confederate Army for Quakers?
... that singer Frank Croxton performed a duet with his father for the unveiling of a monument to a Confederate States Army general?