“Pass Those Colors Over to Me”
There came a moment during the fight at Five Forks when federal Sgt. Robert Shipley ran across a rebel color bearer from the 9th Virginia Infantry. The Confederate, with banner
Tag: Honored few
June’s Hero, the Gallant Tompkins
During the first months of the Civil War, the Union urgently needed heroes. Fortunately for the patriotic Northern press, it did not have to look too far to find them.
The Quartermaster Who Helped Save a Line
During the final days of the war in Virginia, Maj. Horatio Collins King stepped away from his quartermaster duties to help his comrades on the front lines. He did not
A “Red Burial Blent” at Nashville
On Dec. 16, 1864, the second day of the Battle of Nashville, Maj. Gen. George H. “Pap” Thomas’s Union army readied for a bloody assault. His men marched amidst a
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
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
“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