Articles tagged as Civil War | Smithsonian Magazine

"One more stain on the old banner," Booth yelled, conjuring the Confederate flag as he prepared to face his pursuers

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Final Hours of John Wilkes Booth

“I have too great a soul to die like a criminal,” Booth once wrote

April 8, 2015

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

A look back at the fateful night 150 years ago that changed American history forever

April 8, 2015

The two commanders sat across from each other; Lee in a tall caned armchair and Grant in a swivel chair with a padded leather back next to a small oval side table. They made some small talk before Lee asked on what terms Grant would “receive the surrender of my army.”

The Civil War

The Gentleman’s Agreement That Ended the Civil War

When Generals Grant and Lee sat down at Appomattox Court House, they brought an end to the struggle that had consumed the nation for five long years

April 6, 2015

The carriage that transported President Abraham Lincoln, Mary Lincoln, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris to Ford's Theatre is on view at the American History Museum through May 25, 2015.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

This is the Carriage That Took Lincoln on his Fateful Trip to Ford’s Theatre

As the April anniversary of Lincoln’s last ride approaches, an historian recounts the president’s other horse and buggie moments

March 23, 2015

The Civil War

The Underappreciated and Forgotten Sites of the Civil War

To commemorate the end of the war 150 years ago, here are fascinating locales that remind us of the conflict’s sprawling impact

April 2015

A general view shows damaged buildings in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus in Syria on February 24, 2015.

New Research

Are Climate Change And the Conflict in Syria Connected?

A new study shows a link between the nation’s recent unrest and a major drought spurred on by global warming

March 3, 2015

An aerial view of the city of Washington, D.C, in 1861 as seen from a balloon.

How the Backwater Town of Washington, D.C. Became the Beacon of a Nation

As the Anacostia Community Museum delves into daily life in a city at war, author Ernest B. Furgurson recalls the nascence of a city on the verge

February 11, 2015

An 1862 Alexander Gardner photograph shows the bodies of dead Confederate artillerymen at Antietam.

Vivid Images of Civil War Casualties Inspire a Scholar’s Inner Muse

Alexander Gardner’s photography, a record of sacrifice and devastating loss, prompts a new creativity from the show’s curator

January 22, 2015

Marian Anderson as Ulrica in the Verdi opera Un ballo in maschera

Marian Anderson performed as the fortuneteller Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera

January 8, 2015

We just have so much to look forward to

December 31, 2014

Shrine to Uwais al-Qurani and Ammar Bin Yasser. After: October 6, 2014.

All three tombs on the outside of the shrine, their minarets and a section of the linking arcaded pricinct have been destroyed.

The new satellite photos show the extent of the damage

December 23, 2014

The wounded soldiers above were photographed at a hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia, between 1861 and 1865.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Did Civil War Soldiers Have PTSD?

One hundred and fifty years later, historians are discovering some of the earliest known cases of post-traumatic stress disorder

January 2015

Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) embraces Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) in a famous scene from the 1939 epic film Gone with the Wind.

How Gone With the Wind Took the Nation by Storm By Catering to its Southern Sensibilities

From casting to its premiere, how Southerners viewed the film made all the difference

December 15, 2014

A Civil War historical re-enactment at Tunnel Hill, Georgia

Cool Finds

A Nurse Describes the Smell of the Civil War

The overpowering stink of blood and decaying flesh can surprise even trained soldiers

November 28, 2014

Separatist forces walk the streets of Donetsk, Ukraine on November 8th.

Unmarked troops and equipment have traveled from Russia to Ukraine

November 13, 2014

New Research

“Arming the Rebels” Has Pretty Much Never Worked

Guns and training, but no on-the-ground support, doesn’t amount to much

October 15, 2014

Photograph of Robert E Lee's Arlington house taken in 1861

Cool Finds

Rare Photo of Robert E. Lee’s Slave Acquired by National Park Service

The photograph of Selina Gray and her children sold on eBay for $700

October 10, 2014

A protester holds the cut off nose of the statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin after it was toppled during a rally on the central square of eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, 28 September 2014.

Lenin’s ears are also, reportedly, up for grabs

October 3, 2014

In this portrait, Webster wore what looks like a Confederate uniform, but there is no evidence he fought for the South.

Why Was Robert Webster, a Slave, Wearing What Looks Like a Confederate Uniform?

This remarkable man risked his life to undermine the Confederacy yet remained close to his former owner after the Civil War

October 2014

Cool Finds

The Social Media Fight Between the U.S. and ISIS Is Weirder Than You’d Imagine

The U.S. has decided to fight propaganda with propaganda

September 10, 2014