The Civil War in Black and White
A collection of historic front pages shows how civilians experienced and read about the war
By Jeanne Maglaty
Scattered Actions: October 1861
While the generals on both sides deliberated, troops in blue and gray fidgeted
By David Zax
September 1861: Settling in for a Long War
During this month, the civil war expands to Kentucky and West Virginia, and President Lincoln rejects an attempt at emancipation
By David Zax
The Battle of Bull Run: The End of Illusions
Both North and South expected victory to be glorious and quick, but the first major battle signaled the long and deadly war to come
By Ernest B. Furgurson
Women Spies of the Civil War
Hundreds of women served as spies during the Civil War. Here’s a look at six who risked their lives in daring and unexpected ways
By Cate Lineberry
Fort Monroe’s Lasting Place in History
Famous for accepting escaped slaves during the Civil War, the Virginia base also has a history that heralds back to Jamestown
By Andrew Lawler
Documenting the Death of an Assassin
In 1865, a single photograph was taken during the autopsy of John Wilkes
Booth. Where is it now?
By Ashley Luthern
Who Had the Best Civil War Facial Hair?
Among the many officers who fought in the U.S. Civil War, who wore their beard, mustache, mutton chops or sideburns the best?
By Jeff Campagna and Brian Wolly
Fort Sumter: The Civil War Begins
Nearly a century of discord between North and South finally exploded in April 1861 with the bombardment of Fort Sumter
By Fergus M. Bordewich
Ask an Expert: What Did Abraham Lincoln’s Voice Sound Like?
Civil War scholar Harold Holzer helps to decode what spectators heard when the 16th president spoke
By Megan Gambino
The Essentials: Six Books on the Civil War
These six histories of the Civil War that are must-reads if you want to better understand the conflict
By T.A. Frail
How We’ve Commemorated the Civil War
Take a look back at how Americans have remembered the civil war during significant anniversaries of the past
By John Hanc
Elizabeth Van Lew: An Unlikely Union Spy
A member of the Richmond elite, one woman defied convention and the Confederacy and fed secrets to the Union during the Civil War
By Cate Lineberry
The Destruction of Charleston in the Civil War
Visitors to the South Carolina city can still see signs of the pre-Civil War structures that were devastated by Union bombardment and a blazing fire devastated
By Ray Gordon and Molly Roberts
From Election to Sumter: How the Union Fell Apart
Historian Adam Goodheart discusses the tumultuous period between Lincoln’s election and the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter
By Brian Wolly
How Col. Ellsworth’s Death Shocked the Union
It took the killing of their first officer to jolt the North into wholeheartedly supporting the Union cause
By Adam Goodheart
The Women Who Fought in the Civil War
Hundreds of women concealed their identities so they could battle alongside their Union and Confederate counterparts
By Jess Righthand
"Sheridan's Ride" Saved the Union, One Stanza at a Time
Through a wildly popular poem, Rienzi, the steed ridden by war hero Phil Sheridan, became a nationwide sensation and helped Lincoln win re-election
By John Fleischman
Women Warriors of the Civil War
Hundreds of women fought for the Confederacy and the Union armies disguised as men
By Robert F. Howe
Making Sense of Robert E. Lee
Heralded as a general but criticized for abandoning the Union and owning slaves, Lee's legacy has always been a contradictory one
By Roy Blount, Jr.
Catching Up With Gen. George H. "Old Slow Trot" Thomas
Stubborn and deliberate, Thomas was one of the Union's most brilliant strategists. So why was he cheated by history?
By Ernest B. Furgurson
Lincoln as Commander in Chief
A self-taught strategist with no combat experience, Abraham Lincoln saw the path to victory more clearly than his generals
By James M. McPherson
Lincoln's Contested Legacy
Great Emancipator or unreconstructed racist? Defender of civil liberties or subverter of the Constitution? Each generation evokes a different Lincoln. But who was he?
By Philip B. Kunhardt III
How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be
The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved home—seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War—went on for decades
By Robert M. Poole
In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, an Absence of Malice
Historian Ronald C. White, Jr., explains why Lincoln's address, given just weeks before he died, was his greatest speech
By Ronald C. White, Jr.
