He Brought the People with Him: Jackson Reaches Impasse with Congress
Jackson's cabinet choices, largely unknown on the national scene, are causing a stir in official Washington. When John Eaton, Secretary of War, is seen in the company of a well-known Washington widow, the wives of other cabinet members refuse to inv...
Final Stages: Final Days of the Civil War
Both commanders attempt to break the trench deadlock at Petersburg, Lee with Early's raid on Washington and Grant by digging a tunnel under Confederate fortifications and planting explosives. The Battle of the Crater which begins early in the mornin...
Final Stages: Major Battles of 1863: Chattanooga
After occupying Chattanooga, Union forces under William Rosecrans pursue retreating Confederate troops into a trap at Chickamauga and suffer a major loss. As Union troops retreat back to Chattanooga, General Bragg follows too slowly in military hind...
Final Stages: Presidential Election of 1864, The
1864 is a presidential election year, a dangerous and depressing time for the embattled president whose nomination by his party and re-election by the American people are in question. With George McClellan as his Democratic opponent, the entire Unio...
Final Stages: Major Battles of 1863: Vicksburg and Gettysburg
1863 is a pivotal year in determining the outcome of the war between the states. Three significant battles prove to be turning points in the conflict. The first takes place at Vicksburg along the Mississippi River; the second in Pennsylvania where L...
Battle Cry: Politics of Emancipation, The
In 1862 President Lincoln's Cabinet urges him to wait for victory in the war with the Confederacy before issuing Emancipation Proclamation. Lee invades Maryland, hoping that victories in the Eastern Theater will convince Europe to support the Confed...
Battle Cry: North and South Seek Support from Foreign Governments
The military initiative in the Civil War lies mainly with the North. Its task is to defeat the Confederacy; the South needs only to avoid defeat. Diplomatically the situation is reversed. The South must enlist the recognition and support of foreign ...
Battle Cry: Need for Manpower, The
As the conflict continues, the North and the South sustain severe losses of military personnel. The Confederates had already instituted a draft in the spring of 1862, but now it becomes necessary for the Union to take similar steps. Certain categori...
Battle Cry: People at War
Military history is about the experience of people at war, not just armies or generals. There are few aspects of society that are not affected. Women, for example, become heads of households, a difficult position particularly on Southern plantations...
What Price Freedom: Emancipation and Reunification: Challenges to Peacemaking
There are two primary goals at the end of the Civil War, reuniting the country and emancipation, but no one knows exactly what freedom for blacks means. Freed people know what they want--literacy and land--but taking land from the planter class and ...