A Modest Iron Man
A writer visiting Arlington National Cemetery in the late 19th century noted Civil War veterans paying tribute at the memorial to Maj. Gen. James Brewerton Ricketts. “No more daring or
Category: Most Hallowed Ground
“The Soul of Grant’s Cabinet is Gone”
General and Secretary of War John Aaron Rawlins lost his battle against consumption late in the afternoon of Sept. 6, 1869. His death struggle played out in a bed at
The Celebrated Man of the Hour
Bad news flooded Northern newspapers in 1861. Secession. Fort Sumter. Riots in Baltimore and St. Louis. Lost battles at Bull Run and Ball’s Bluff. Death snuffing out young lives. News
Near Death Encounter at Camp Jackson
Less than a month after the bombardment of Fort Sumter inaugurated civil war, pro-secession militia in Missouri agitated to join the nascent Confederacy. When word leaked that the militia planned
The Young Patriot
One day in early 1864 at Chattanooga, Rev. Calvin Holman of the U.S. Christian Commission busied himself about camp when the army’s commander, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, arrived on
Family Irony Behind “The Rock of Chickamauga”
During the morning of the second day’s fight at Chickamauga, coordinated Confederate attacks came perilously close to breaking the Union army’s right flank. Towards the climax of the advance, the
Sergeant MacNulty and the Stereophan
Sergeant William Augustus MacNulty, a native of Maine who served in Company A of the 10th New York Infantry, suffered a devastating wound at the Battle of Fredericksburg. A Massachusetts
Active With the Sword Rather Than the Pen
On July 23, 1861, two days after the Battle of Bull Run, Lt. Col. Frank Wheaton wrote the official report of his 2nd Rhode Island Infantry. He lamented the loss
Captain at 18, Lieutenant Colonel at 21
When 16-year-old Andrew Geddes volunteered in the Union army, he began a military career that most teenagers might never have imagined. In April 1861, the Canada native left his job
“The Light 12’s Were Magnificent”
At Trevilian Station during the afternoon of June 12, 1864, Union reserves moved quickly to contain damage inflicted by Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton’s cavalry. One of the hastily formed skirmish