Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Confederacy

Jefferson Davis

The Trial of the Century That Wasn’t

The case against Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, would have been a legal showdown of the ages

Some states still celebrate the birthdays of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the same day.

Some States Celebrate MLK Day and Robert E. Lee’s Birthday on the Same Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. has been celebrated on the third Monday in January since the federal holiday was first observed in 1986

Vanderbilt University's newly renamed "Memorial Hall."

Trending Today

Five Places Where Confederate Monuments Have Recently Disappeared (or Soon Will)

Vanderbilt University’s decision to rename a building to “Memorial Hall” is just one of many ongoing efforts

The suspected Confederate blockade runner found near the mouth of the Cape Fear River

Cool Finds

Civil War Blockade Runner Found in North Carolina Waters

Sonar scan finds possible remains of a Confederate steamship used to outrun the Union Navy

On his property, Jones County’s J. R. Gavin points out a site that was a hide-out for Newt Knight. “The Confederates kept sending in troops to wipe out old Newt and his boys,” says Gavin, “but they’d just melt into the swamps.”

The True Story of the ‘Free State of Jones’

A new Hollywood movie looks at the tale of the Mississippi farmer who led a revolt against the Confederacy

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

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

In a video clip from the 1930s, old Confederate soldiers step up to a microphone and let loose with the howling yelp that was once known as the fearsome "Rebel yell."

The Civil War

Civil War Veterans Come Alive in Audio and Video Recordings

Deep in the collections of the Library of Congress are ghostly images and voices of Union and Confederate soldiers

Lee's father, Maj. Gen. "Light-Horse Harry" Lee fought in the Revolutionary War.

The Civil War

Making Sense of Robert E. Lee

“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”— Robert E. Lee, at Fredericksburg

Page 7 of 7