Portal:American Civil War

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The American Civil War Portal

Photographic images of dead impacted the home front

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a sectional rebellion against the United States of America by the Confederate States, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The Union's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through a strategic naval blockade denying the Confederacy access to the world's markets.

In many ways, the conflict's central issues – the enslavement of African Americans, the role of constitutional federal government, and the rights of states – are still not completely resolved. Not surprisingly, the Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox on April 9,1865 did little to change many Americans' attitudes toward the potential powers of central government. The passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution in the years immediately following the war did not change the racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day; and the process of Reconstruction did not heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties – 3 percent of the population, including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of much discussion even today. (Full article)

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Greenbrier County in West Virginia

The Sinking Creek Raid took place in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) during the American Civil War. On November 26, 1862, an entire Confederate army camp was captured by 22 men from a Union cavalry during a winter snow storm. The 22 men were the advance guard for the 2nd Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry, which was several miles behind. This cavalry unit was renamed 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry in 1863, after West Virginia became a state.

The Confederates, who were the rebels in the American Civil War, had an army camp near the foot of a mountain in Sinking Creek Valley. Their camp contained about 500 soldiers, who were surprised by the small group of Union cavalry men. Many of the rebels did not have their weapons loaded. The Union cavalry raced into the camp with sabers drawn, and quickly convinced the rebels to surrender in exchange for their lives. Over 100 rebel soldiers were taken prisoner. More than 100 horses and about 200 rifles were also captured, in addition to supplies and tents. (Full article...)

Grand Parade of the States

During the American Civil War, the State of Vermont gave strong support to the Union war effort, raising troops and money. According to Rachel Cree Sherman:

By the spring of 1865 Vermont was devastated, having sent one tenth of its entire population to war, with a loss of over 5,000 lives to battle, wounds, and disease. The state had dedicated nearly $10 million to support the conflict, half of that amount offered up by towns with no expectation of recompense.

(Full article...)

Featured biography

First Sergeant Powhatan Beaty, of the 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, for taking command of his company at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, after all officers had been killed and/or wounded.

Powhatan Beaty (October 8, 1837 – December 6, 1916) was an African American soldier and actor. During the American Civil War, he served in the Union Army's 5th United States Colored Infantry Regiment throughout the Richmond–Petersburg Campaign. He received America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for taking command of his company at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, after all officers had been killed or wounded.

Following the war, he became an orator and actor, appearing in amateur theater productions in his home of Cincinnati, Ohio. His most well-known stage performance was an 1884 appearance at Ford's Opera House on 9th Street in Washington, D.C., opposite Henrietta Vinton Davis. (Full article...)

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Featured picture

Image 1Confederate casualties at Chancellorsville during the American Civil War, by the National Archives and Records Administration
Image 2Christian Fleetwood
Image 3Richmond, Virginia after the American Civil War
Image 4Robert E. Lee, by Levin Corbin Handy
Image 5David Dixon Porter, by Mathew Brady
Image 6Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and John A. McClernand in 1862 by Alexander Gardner
Image 7Charles Pomeroy Stone
Image 8George Atzerodt, by Alexander Gardner
Image 9The print version of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville at McPhersonville, South Carolina, by William Waud
Image 10African-American Civil War soldiers
Image 11John F. Reynolds, by Alfred Rudolph Waud
Image 12William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State during the American Civil War
Image 13Braxton Bragg
Image 14The burning of Columbia at Columbia, South Carolina in the American Civil War, by William Waud
Image 15George Armstrong Custer, by George L. Andrews
Image 16Andersonville Prison at Andersonville National Historic Site, by John L. Ransom
Image 17The Chickahominy – Sumner's Upper Bridge at Peninsula campaign, by William McIlvaine
Image 18Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Image 19Battle of Fort Sanders, by Kurz and Allison
Image 20Andersonville survivor
Image 21President Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President of the USA
Image 22First Battle of Bull Run map
Image 23Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and biographer John Hay
Image 24Atlanta roundhouse ruin at History of Atlanta, by George Barnard
Image 25Abner Doubleday
Image 26Battle of Harpers Ferry, by Robert Knox Sneden
Image 27Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 28Siege of Yorktown, by James F. Gibson
Image 29Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers
Image 30The original sketch of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville, at and by William Waud
Image 31John Lorimer Worden, by Mathew Brady
Image 32Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, by Alfred Waud
Image 33Daniel McCallum, by the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Image 34Quaker guns, by George Barnard and James F. Gibson
Image 35Ambrose Burnside, by Matthew Brady
Image 36Charles Griffin
Image 37Battle of Franklin, by Kurz and Allison
Image 38William Birney
Image 39John A. Dahlgren, by Mathew Brady
Image 40Pickett's Charge, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 41Francis B. Spinola, Brigadier General for the Union in the American Civil War, and Congressman from New York
Image 42Ulysses S. Grant, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 43United States President (and former Brigadier-General) Benjamin Harrison
Image 44Lithographic facsimile of the Bixby letter, by Huber's Museum
Image 45Harriet Tubman
Image 46Military execution of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination

Did you know...

... that Dubuque, Arkansas, was destroyed in the American Civil War and is now covered by the waters of Bull Shoals Lake?
... that Charles Herman Allen, university administrator and American Civil War captain, opened the University of Wisconsin to female enrollment in 1863?
... that Enoch Marvin Banks resigned from the University of Florida because of public outrage over his belief that the American Civil War was caused by slavery?
... that the only functioning secondary school in Mississippi during the American Civil War was founded by Thomas S. Gathright?
... that Chinese-born Joseph Pierce enlisted as a Union Army soldier, fought at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, and was made a corporal?
... that actor George Kunkel portrayed in blackface the character of Uncle Tom, using it at first to promote slavery during the American Civil War but later to attack it, after his views had changed?