Portal:American Civil War

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The American Civil War Portal

Specifications of the third Confederate national flag

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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The 5th Massachusetts charges up a hill in Washington D.C. during training, May 1861. The U.S. Capitol is shown in the background.

The 5th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia was a peacetime infantry regiment that was activated for federal service in the Union army for three separate tours during the American Civil War. In the years immediately preceding the war and during its first term of service, the regiment consisted primarily of companies from Essex County as well as Boston and Charlestown.

The regiment first served a 90-day term of service from April to July 1861. Near the end of this first enlistment, the 5th Massachusetts was heavily engaged in the First Battle of Bull Run. Their second term of service lasted 9 months from September 1862 to July 1863 during which they were stationed in New Bern, North Carolina, participated in several expeditions and saw minor combat including the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge. Their third enlistment in response to the emergency call for troops to defend Washington, D.C. lasted 100 days from July to November 1864 during which they were stationed in various fortifications around Baltimore, Maryland, primarily in Fort McHenry. (Full article...)

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Grand Parade of the States

During the American Civil War, the state of Illinois was a major source of troops for the Union Army (particularly for those armies serving in the Western Theater of the Civil War), and of military supplies, food, and clothing. Situated near major rivers and railroads, Illinois became a major jumping off place early in the war for Ulysses S. Grant's efforts to seize control of the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. Statewide, public support for the Union was high despite Copperhead sentiment.

The state was energetically led throughout the war by Governor Richard Yates. Illinois contributed 250,000 soldiers to the Union Army, ranking it fourth in terms of the total manpower in Federal military service. Illinois troops predominantly fought in the Western Theater, although a few regiments played important roles in the East, particularly in the Army of the Potomac. Several thousand Illinoisians were killed or died of their wounds during the war, and a number of national cemeteries were established in Illinois to bury their remains. In addition to President Abraham Lincoln, a number of other Illinois men became prominent in the army or in national politics, including generals, Ulysses S. Grant, John M. Schofield and John A. Logan, Senator Lyman Trumbull, and Representative Elihu P. Washburne. No major battles were fought in the state, although several river towns became sites for important supply depots and "brownwater" navy yards. Several prisoner of war camps and prisons dotted the state after 1863, processing thousands of captive Confederate soldiers. (Full article...)

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1894 engraving of a photograph of Slack

William Yarnel Slack (August 1, 1816 – March 21, 1862) was an American lawyer, politician, and military officer who fought for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Born in Kentucky, Slack moved to Missouri as a child and later entered the legal profession. After serving in the Missouri General Assembly from 1842 to 1843, he fought as a captain in the United States Army for fourteen months during the Mexican–American War, beginning in 1846. He saw action at the Battle of Embudo Pass and the Siege of Pueblo de Taos. Returning to a legal career, Slack became influential in his area.

After the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Slack, who held pro-slavery views, supported the Confederate cause. When the Missouri State Guard (MSG) was formed the next month to oppose the Union Army, he was appointed as a brigadier general in the MSG's 4th Division. After participating in the Battle of Carthage in July, he fought in the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10. After a surprise Union attack, Slack's deployment of his division gave time for further Confederate States Army and MSG troops to deploy. Suffering a bad hip wound at Wilson's Creek, he was unable to rejoin his command until October. (Full article...)

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

Did you know...

... that the Confederate States Navy ordered six Squib-class torpedo boats from England, but they were never delivered?
... 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 Romeo and Juliet both served in the Union Navy?
... that CSS Beaufort fought USS Albatross in the first ship-versus-ship action of the American Civil War?
... that after the Little Rock campaign, Union forces held three-quarters of Arkansas?
... 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?