Crashing Into Gordon’s Line at Appomattox
The flag of the 46th Virginia Infantry figured prominently on three occasions during the life of the regiment. Yankee fire shattered the staff in two and 18 bullet holes were
Category: The Honored Few
Escape after Spotsylvania
Edmund Rice is a familiar figure to many students of the Civil War. A Massachusetts surveyor at the beginning of hostilities, he worked his way up from captain to brigadier
Three Bullets at Gettysburg
In 1903, James Monroe “Roe” Reisinger was asked to describe the wounds he received at the Battle of Gettysburg. On the first day of the fight, he served as one
A Ditch Too Far
The wide defensive ditch that reinforced Stockade Redan and its Confederate garrison at Vicksburg, Miss., measured six feet deep and about twice as wide. Akin to a grave, the furrow
Personal Encounter in The Wilderness
The thick undergrowth of The Wilderness made it almost impossible to determine friend or foe during the battle on May 6, 1864. Federal troops powered through dense woods and rebel
“Give ‘em Hell on the Flank”
During the evening of the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Col. Wheelock Graves Veazey received orders to form an advanced picket line. He led his 16th Vermont Infantry
Courage in the Cornfield at Antietam
At Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862, an awful moment occurred when heavy Confederate artillery fire from the vicinity of the Dunker Church greeted the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry as it
Courage at New Market Heights
Brave. Aggressive. Fearless. Uncompromising. A writer once used these words to describe Milton Holland – leadership qualities that came into play when he and his regiment, the 5th U.S. Colored
“I Had Rather Die With the Boys Than Live With the Rebs”
Amidst the roar of battle at Trevilian Station, Va., on June 11, 1864, 1st Lt. Noble Delance Preston lay in a plowed field bleeding profusely. Only seconds earlier, he and
A Surgeon Under Fire at Fair Oaks
Shortly after the end of the bloody Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., Union Brig. Gen. William H. French sat down to write his after-action report. French, like many commanders, concluded his