News "Document of the Month" - April 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News Playing ball for the troops: Yankees/Dodgers/Giants exhibition benefit game, 1943 There’s no denying the important role that baseball has played in America’s past. It has always been considered more than a game, whether played by professional athletes or kids at the sandlot. This was never more obvious than during...
News Robert E. Lee’s condolence letter to his son Rooney, 1864 In this beautifully written letter, Confederate general Robert E. Lee attempts to console his son William Fitzhugh "Rooney" Lee on the loss of his wife. The letter demonstrates the emotion that Lee felt for his family and offers a...
News "Document of the Month" - May 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News "Document of the Month" - June 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News Robert E. Lee writes about friends and "the daughters of Eve" at Fort Monroe, 1834 This gossipy and personal letter captures the close friendship between Robert E. Lee and John "Jack" MacKay. It offers an example of letter writing in the days before the instant communication provided by telephones and the Internet....
News "Document of the Month" - July 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News "Document of the Month" - August 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News Respected General turns traitor, 1780 Benedict Arnold, whose name is now synonymous with the word "traitor," was once a well-respected American officer responsible for key victories at Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Stanwix, and Saratoga. Arnold’s contemporaries were...
News "Document of the Month" - September 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News "Document of the Month" - October 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News Fredericksburg, Then and Now by Elena Colón-Marrero, Christopher Newport University Class of 2014 One would think that growing up in a town rich in colonial and Civil War history would inspire an appreciation for that history. My experience living in...
News "Document of the Month" - November 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News "Document of the Month" - December 2013 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News "Document of the Month" - January 2014 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News "Document of the Month" - February 2014 If you don’t see the full story below, click here (PDF) or click here (Google Docs) to read it—free!
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson MARCH 9, 1864—ULYSSES S. GRANT IS COMMISSIONED AS LIEUTENANT-GENERAL On March 8, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant and his eldest son, Fred, arrived at Washington, DC. It was the general’s first visit to Washington since 1852, when he had been a...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean December 17, 1862: Lincoln’s Cabinet Crisis Less than a week after the disastrous Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 13, 1862, Abraham Lincoln confronted one of the most serious political crises he faced during the...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson January 20, 1863: "Mud March" of the Army of the Potomac After its bloody defeat in December 1862 the Army of the Potomac settled down for the winter around Falmouth, Virginia, on the north bank of the Rappahannock River across from...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean February 23, 1863: Vallandigham Denounces the Draft What is the proper way for Americans to express political opposition to an ongoing war? How can the party out of power maintain its own identity without appearing disloyal? Can party...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean March 31, 1863: Halleck Instructs Grant On March 31, 1863, Henry W. Halleck wrote an "unofficial letter" to Ulysses S. Grant "as a personal friend and as a matter of friendly advice." [1] As is often the case in communications between...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean April 30, 1863: Hooker Reaches Chancellorsville The bloody Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862 and the aborted "Mud March" along the Rappahannock River the following month demoralized the Army of the Potomac and...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson MAY 22, 1863: GRANT LAYS SIEGE TO VICKSBURG It had been a long and difficult winter for Ulysses S. Grant. For months his army had struggled in the bayous and swamps around Vicksburg, Mississippi, looking for some way to attack the...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean JUNE 12, 1863: LINCOLN DEFENDS THE ARREST OF VALLANDIGHAM Clement L. Vallandigham, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, distinguished himself as one of Abraham Lincoln’s most vociferous critics. Although claiming a great love for the...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson JULY 1–3, 1863: THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG As the Army of the Potomac moved northward in late June 1863 to counter the Army of Northern Virginia’s invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, it passed by the battlefields of Manassas. Samuel...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson SEPTEMBER 19–20: THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA: MISSED OPPORTUNITY In June 1863 the Union Army of the Cumberland under William S. Rosecrans commenced a skillful campaign of maneuver. In just over twelve weeks it drove the Confederate Army...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean OCTOBER 10 AND NOVEMBER 5, 1863: DAVIS TRIES TO RALLY CONFEDERATE MORALE The summer of 1863 had been a poor one for the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee’s army was not just repulsed from its invasion of Pennsylvania but bloodily beaten at...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson NOVEMBER 23–25, 1863: THE BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA On the afternoon of November 25, 1863, Ulysses S. Grant stood on Orchard Knob east of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and pondered what to do next. It was just over a month since he had arrived...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson JANUARY 2, 1864: GENERAL CLEBURNE PROPOSES THAT THE CONFEDERACY FREE AND ENLIST ITS SLAVES As 1864 began, both northerners and southerners believed that the coming year would prove decisive in the ongoing conflict. Although the...