“Brilliant beyond Description”: The Army of the Potomac’s Grand Review at Bailey’s Cross Roads, Virginia, 20 November 1861

The origin of the Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac at Bailey’s Cross Roads, Virginia began on the plains of Manassas, Virginia, with the defeat and hasty retreat of Union forces.
Army ArtiFACTS – Episode 2 – American Civil War Museum “William Henry Parker”

Learn about a Union wool coat in the Museum’s collection and how studying the story of the individual Soldier, not just generals and politicians, and great battles, is important in Army and U.S. History.
Juneteenth: The Army’s Role

General Granger’s reading of General Orders No.3 in Galveston, Texas on 19 June 1865 symbolized what was gained after five long years of war.
The Jayhawker and the Conductor: The Combahee Ferry Raid, 2 June 1863

By James Stejskal NOTE: This article contains excerpts from contemporary official Union and Confederate reports that include racial epithets. Additional eyewitness accounts employ local “dialect” that may or may not […]
Elmer E. Ellsworth

Written By: Emily George “The beginnings of great periods have often been marked and made memorable by striking events. Out of the cloud that hangs around the vague inceptions of […]
Sergeant Major Christian Fleetwood

Written By: CSM (Ret) James H. Clifford The streets of Baltimore were abuzz on 17 September 1863 with word that a new Union regiment was marching from Camp Belcher on […]
Mine Warfare in the Civil War

Written By: John Grady Early in the Civil War, hard-pressed Confederate Army officers in the West, like Major General Leonidas K. Polk, knew they were particularly exposed to the Union […]
A Tale of Two Forts on Mobile Bay: Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan

Written By: Eileen Mattei Two forts separated by only three miles remained worlds apart in the roles they played over a 195-year span. From their authorization as Third System coastal […]
Winning the “War of Western Possession”: The Battle of Glorieta Pass

Written By: Major Adam Morgan, COARNG Original publication date: Spring 2013 All was not quiet on the western front. While the nation braced for civil war, frontiersmen brought their political […]
Company A, U.S. Engineer Battalion, June 1864: “…one of the most brilliant scenes of the war.”

Written By: Donald McConnell & Gustav Person In March 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant had been promoted and brought east to command all the Union armies and, ultimately, to […]