His true identity has remained a mystery, as is befitting a spy. Prior to the battle of Gettysburg, General Lee was unaware the Union army had crossed the Potomac River and was in close pursuit. It was a spy working for Lt. Gen. James Longstreet that let the Confederates know of the approaching danger. The spy has come down through history simply as Harrison.

Not all occurrences of honor, valor, and bravery took place on the battlefield during the Civil War. There were many other instances of people doing what they felt was right, even if it put them in mortal danger. In one such instance, a young man was facing the hangman’s noose. Giving his enemy the information they wanted, which he did know, would save his life. But Sam Davis would not betray his comrades.

  by Andy Turner On the night of September 30, 1864, the British blockade runner Condor approached Wilmington, North Carolina. On board, in addition to clothing bound for the Confederate army, was Rose Greenhow. Mrs. Greenhow, who had been imprisoned in Washington for spying for the Confederacy, was making her way back to the South… [Continue Reading]

When a new president is elected and takes power, it will often take some time for everyone involved in the government to settle into their role. Even in situations like last week’s election where the chief executive does not change, some personnel often does. The goal is for everyone to work together smoothly to get results. It doesn’t always happen that way. In 1861, the new administration looked like it might be off o a shaky start.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that in the public’s eye, a good story outshines true history almost every time. Although many people, especially during the years they are sentenced to school, claim a dislike for history, everybody loves a good story. If they didn’t, gossip wouldn’t exist. But good stories aren’t always true stories.

He was the beau ideal of the Southern Cavalier and had provided the Confederacy with valuable service throughout the war. At Yellow Tavern, however, James Ewell Brown Stuart fell victim to a Union bullet that proved mortal. The following article, published in the February 1879 issue of the Southern Historical Society Papers, describes his last moments.

As he approached Gettysburg, Isaac R. Trimble was a major general without an independent command. Still hobbling from a severe leg wound, suffered at Second Manassas, the Marylander had missed action at Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.

The accession to command of the artillery of the respective armies represented an important turning point for each organization. Through 1861 and 1862 the long arm of each army generally suffered a pronounced ineffectiveness with a few notable exceptions. The reasons for this were threefold. First, the batteries were dispersed among the various brigades of the armies.

When the American Civil War started in 1861 it caught the tiny United States Army unprepared for major combat, and their opponents in the South were in worse condition with no regular army. The U.S. Army had to expand at a frantic pace to meet the exigencies of the war while the Confederate States worked feverishly to develop an organization.