Articles tagged as Civil War | Smithsonian Magazine

A ward in Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. One key innovation during this period was the division of hospitals into wards based on disease.

Six Ways the Civil War Changed American Medicine

150 years ago, the historic conflict forced doctors to get creative and to reframe the way they thought about medicine

June 17, 2015

An African American soldier is shown cooking at the camp kitchen of 2nd New York Regiment during the Civil War

Cool Finds

The Civil War’s Division of North and South is Reflected in Cookbooks

Naval blockades kept the South starving for salt and other foods, a fact reflected in the recipes of the time

June 4, 2015

A rendering of the USS Nautilus, the world's first atomic submarine. The real Nautilus is now open to the public, docked in Connecticut so that visitors can walk around inside and explore the torpedoes and living quarters.

Urban Explorations

Step Inside a Famous Submarine

Where to visit historic subs this summer—or ride in a modern one

May 26, 2015

Soldiers on the Union side look solemn as they carry a large flag.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

What the Final, Major 150th Anniversary Civil War Reenactment Looked Like

What war—and surrender—looked like on the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War

April 13, 2015

The top hat, with a silk mourning band for his son Willie, was worn last to Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

A Host of Relics from Lincoln’s Last Days All Came to Reside at the Smithsonian

The Lincoln collection at the American History Museum marks the horrific tragedy and the poignancies of a nation in mourning

April 11, 2015

"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