Category: Civil War
James Buchanan Mansion Lancaster, Pennsylvania
In June of 2026 I was able to visit the mansion of our fifteenth president, James Buchanan, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This is about an hour…
A Senator’s Wife Sees Her Husband Arrested for Lincoln’s Murder
Virginia Clay was there when her husband was arrested by the Union forces after the surrender of the Confederate armies in 1865. She was married…
Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument Richfield Springs, N.Y.
Just fourteen miles northwest of Cooperstown, Richfield Springs originally developed around its naturally occurring sulphur water springs. The springs had claims to various health benefits,…
Camp Nelson National Monument Kentucky Where Colored Troops Trained and Their Families Were Expelled
Last month I posted pictures of a whole lot of Civil War and Reconstruction sites from a Confederate cemetery in Columbus, Ohio, to General Grant’s…
Soldier Memorial Ouleout Cemetery in Franklin, New York
Franklin, New York is one of the smallest villages in the state. Its current population is only 374 people. In 1870 there was about twice…
The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis, Indiana
The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument is the tallest and largest monument in Indiana. I had never visited Indianapolis before and as we came…
Free Program for Adults and Kids at Fort Stevens in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2026
Next weekend if you live near Washington, D.C. you may want to go to Fort Stevens to join in the commemoration of that battle. There…
The Irish Regiment that Ended “Pickett’s Charge”: Gettysburg July 3, 1863
On July 3, 1863, as the Confederates of George Pickett’s Division closed on the stone wall near the top of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg, they saw…
A Prayer Before Death for the Irish Brigade: Gettysburg July 2, 1863
In the days before the Battle of Gettysburg one soldier reportedly asked another the name of the regiment marching past. He was told “that’s not a regiment,…
The “German” XI Corps at Gettysburg July 1, 1863
After weeks of hard marching, when the “German” XI Corps reached Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, it was suffering from the scorn of many American nativists who blamed the “Dutch”…