A quarterly magazine featuring originally researched & richly illustrated articles on all aspects of America's greatest conflict.
Joined August 2011
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Winfield Scott—the influential army commander known as "Old Fuss and Feathers"—was born in Virginia #otd in 1786. As general-in-chief of the U.S. Army in 1861, he formulated the Anaconda Plan, which called for a blockade of southern ports and control of the Mississippi River.
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Union cavalry under Philip Sheridan—looking to distract the enemy from U.S. Grant's planned crossing of the James River after Cold Harbor—clashed with Confederate horsemen at Trevilian Station #otd in 1864. The 2-day engagement was the bloodiest all-cavalry battle of the war.
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"Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls" by Rob Edwards is "cleverly written, beautifully illustrated, and exceptionally well-produced," writes Aaron David Hyams. Read more about the new graphic novel here: tinyurl.com/3dbps6x6
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Union and Confederate forces clashed around Brandy Station, Virginia, in what became the largest cavalry battle ever fought in North America, #otd in 1863. Read a firsthand account of the historic fight from a member of Cobb’s (Georgia) Legion: tinyurl.com/u8af7u6j
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William Quantrill, an Ohio-born schoolteacher who led the notorious pro-Confederate partisan ranger outfit responsible for the Lawrence Massacre, died #otd in 1865 of wounds he received on May 10 in a fight with Union troops in Kentucky, one of the war's final clashes. He was 27.
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"The Lynches of South Carolina: From Reconstruction to Redemption," edited by Robert Emmett Curran, "provide[s] a snapshot of a Catholic family seeking to make its way in the postbellum United States," writes Evan C. Rothera in our latest book review.
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The Summer '26 issue of the Monitor goes on sale today. You can learn more about it—or order a copy—at our website.
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In our latest digital history column, Chuck Lyons writes about Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's clever ruse to keep a captured Union ironclad from Confederate service. Read it here: tinyurl.com/4tnc362v
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The first day of the Battle of Seven Pines was fought #otd in 1862. Tactically inconclusive, the fight saw the wounding of Confederate general Joe Johnston—and his replacement by Robert E. Lee. Shown here: A depiction of Rebels wounded at the battle in the streets of Richmond.
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"Green and Blue: Irish Americans in the Union Military, 1861-1865" by Damian Shiels "represents a significant accomplishment in advancing the study of the common Irish American soldier," writes Jeremy Knoll. Read more here: tinyurl.com/mujtfvbh
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In the Season 2 finale of our "Civil War Curious" podcast, historian Allen C. Guelzo discusses the various causes behind the outbreak of the American Civil War. Sponsored by @Battlefields. Listen here: tinyurl.com/y6y9put9
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Wishing you all a safe and peaceful Memorial Day, a holiday with its roots in honoring those who died during the Civil War. Shown here is a Harper's Weekly illustration from 1864 depicting Union officers toasting their fallen comrades.
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Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, 24, was the first Union officer killed during the Civil War #otd in 1861 when he was shot by the proprietor of the Marshall House in Alexandria, VA, after removing the Confederate flag that had flown from the establishment's roof.
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Ambrose E. Burnside was born on this day in 1824. A West Point grad and creator (in 1855) of a breech-loading carbine that bears his name, he began the Civil War as commander of the 1st Rhode Island Infantry and ended it as a major general.
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#otd 170 years ago, Representative Preston Brooks, a proslavery Democrat from SC, used a walking cane to beat Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from MA, nearly to death in the U.S. Senate chamber, an incident that laid bare the country's deepening sectional rift.
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Learn more about the incident that foreshadowed the Civil War here: civilwarmonitor.com/article/…
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The digital version of our Summer '26 issue is now live for subscribers to read at our website: tinyurl.com/maaw88s5. Not yet a subscriber? Fix that here: tinyurl.com/232zx9cd. #civilwarhistory #twitterstorians #history
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Patrick H. Garrow's "From Gray to Blue" offers "an effective overview of the wartime experiences of the thousands of ex-Confederates who found themselves in the curious position of fighting for their former adversaries," writes Jeremy Knoll. Read more: tinyurl.com/5cfhh6sp
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In the latest episode of our "Civil War Curious" podcast, Joan Waugh discusses the postwar relationship between U. S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, as well as those between other former Union & CSA military leaders. Sponsored by @Battlefields. Listen here: tinyurl.com/52pyfd98
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