Lincoln in the Telegraph Room
The enigmatic President Abraham Lincoln spent numerous hours in the War Department's telegraph office during the Civil War, where he closely monitored developments on the front. David Homer Bates, one of the first military telegraphers hand-selected for the job, had a unique opportunity to witness the president in action as he managed the war while still in the capital. Here, we share some of these compelling scenes.
By David Bates (1907)
An Abolitionist at Bull Run
A courageous twenty-three-year-old from the Midwest, driven by the anti-slavery movement, stands tall with a musket at Bull Run.
By Richard Beecham (1902)
“Cut to Pieces”: William Howard Russell at the Battle of First Bull Run
William Howard Russell, a groundbreaking war correspondent, became well-known for his reporting on the Crimean War. In 1861, he arrived in the U.S. with the intention of covering the conflict and witnessed the retreat at Bull Run. His thorough report of the event ruffled some feathers in Washington.
By William Howard Russell (1861)
Going to the Front: Recollections of a Private
In his Recollections of a Private, Warren Lee Goss provides a unique perspective, taking us on a journey from the life of a law student to that of a private. His engaging and humorous account of the early days of 1861 is a testament to his storytelling prowess.
By Warren Lee Goss (1887/88)
An Awful Universe of Battle
Frank Haskell, an aide on the staff of General John Gibbon, was positioned on July 3, 1863 at perhaps the salient point on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg.
By Frank Haskell (1908)
“I Would Have not Missed this for Anything”
An account of the July 3 assault on Cemetery Ridge by a British observer who witnessed the aftermath of the battle.
By Arthur Fremantle (1863)
Life in Log Huts
From the mundane to the morose, John Billings’ day to day account of what life was like for the Civil War soldier is still a fascinating read.
By John D. Billing (1888)
Photographing the Civil War
With the thousands of photographs of scenes on land and water during the momentous years of 1861 to 1865, the Civil War is on a basis different from all others.
By Henry Wysham Lanier, The Photographic History of the Civil War (1911)
“This is no Place for a Civilian”: The Adventures of “GATH” During the Civil War
“This is no Place for a Civilian”: The Adventures of “GATH” During the Civil War
By Jeffrey R. Biggs
Reviewing Hooker’s Army
Abraham Lincoln's visit to the Army of the Potomac, April 1863
By Noah Brooks (1896)
The Hospital Transport
George Alfred Townsend, a war correspondent from the New York Herald, witnesses the final days of the Peninsula Campaign, hazards a trip on a hospital transport, and arrives at Fortress Monroe with a tale of the ages.
By George Alfred Townsend “GATH” (1866)
Lee’s Old War Horse Strikes Back
The Old War Horse opens up on the War, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Confederate Failures
By unknown interviewer, Washington Post (1893)