34posts
Clara Barton ran through artillery fire on the front lines of the Civil War to save the wounded — all on her own. The American Red Cross she founded continues to save millions of lives to this day.
May 14, 2026
Portrait studio owner Mathew Brady poured his entire fortune into taking a camera to the battlefield. A single photograph of the dead showed Americans, for the first time, what war actually looked like.
May 11, 2026
A celebrated beauty of Washington society and confidante of powerful politicians, Rose Greenhow was secretly funneling Union military secrets to the Confederacy. A single coded message from her changed the outcome of the Battle of Bull Run.
May 9, 2026
In 1861, Mathew Brady spent his entire fortune to bring cameras to the battlefield. The photographs he and his team produced showed Americans the true face of war for the first time — and changed history.
May 9, 2026
In the early hours of May 13, 1862, an enslaved Black man quietly stole a Confederate vessel and sailed it straight to the Union fleet. His name was Robert Smalls — and that one night changed American history forever.
May 4, 2026
On April 27, 1822, Ulysses S. Grant — the soldier and president who changed the course of American history — was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio. His life was filled with dramatic highs and lows, as the brilliant general who led the Union to victory in the Civil War and went on to serve as president during the Reconstruction era.
Apr 27, 2026
November 1863. Lincoln stood on a field where 50,000 men had fallen four months earlier. His speech was 272 words. It took less than two minutes. Those two minutes changed America.
Apr 25, 2026
June 1863. Harriet Tubman led 150 Black soldiers up the Combahee River in the dead of night. By morning, 756 enslaved people were free. The first woman in U.S. history to lead an armed military operation.
Apr 25, 2026
February 1864. The Confederate submarine Hunley became the first in history to sink an enemy warship. Then it disappeared. Found 131 years later — all eight crew members were still at their posts.
Apr 25, 2026
May 1862, 3 a.m. — enslaved Robert Smalls put on the captain's hat, blew the signal whistle, and sailed a Confederate warship past two forts to freedom.
Apr 25, 2026
1857. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2: Black Americans were not citizens and had no right to sue. Congress had never had the power to restrict slavery. The last door to compromise closed.
Apr 25, 2026
John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, was shot and killed in a Virginia barn in the early hours of April 26, 1865. April 25th was the tense night federal investigators closed in on him. We take a closer look at the assassin's flight, his end, and the hidden stories behind it all.
Apr 25, 2026
July 1863. Three days. 50,000 casualties. Pickett's Charge — 12,000 men walked one mile across open ground into Union fire. Half didn't come back.
Apr 24, 2026
January 1, 1863. Lincoln picked up the pen. His hand was shaking. 'Today of all days, it must not tremble.' Then he signed.
Apr 24, 2026
September 17, 1862. The bloodiest single day in American history. This battle made the Emancipation Proclamation possible.
Apr 21, 2026
In February 1861, seven states gathered and created the Confederate States of America. Lincoln hadn't taken office yet. There were already two nations.
Apr 21, 2026
Rose Greenhow was the queen of Washington D.C.'s social scene during the Civil War. She was also the Confederacy's most dangerous spy, passing Union secrets through hidden messages.
Apr 21, 2026
On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected president. That same night, South Carolina moved to secede. The war was five months away.
Apr 21, 2026
In 1858, an obscure lawyer named Lincoln challenged incumbent Senator Douglas. Seven public debates. This argument over slavery changed the direction of America.
Apr 21, 2026
One law passed Congress. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers rushed into Kansas with guns. The Civil War didn't start in 1861. It started in 1854.
Apr 21, 2026
After negotiations that began on April 9, 1865, the Confederacy's last resistance effectively crumbled around April 21, propelling the American Civil War toward its end. Let's revisit the dramatic moments of how four blood-soaked years of civil war finally came to a close.
Apr 21, 2026
In 1859, John Brown led 21 men to seize a federal armory. He was captured in 36 hours. But those 36 hours helped bring on the Civil War.
Apr 20, 2026
A slave named Dred Scott sued for his freedom. The Supreme Court's answer didn't just deny him — it pushed the nation toward war.
Apr 19, 2026
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel made the North weep and the South rage. Lincoln called her 'the little woman who made this great war.'
Apr 19, 2026
On July 21, 1861, Washington civilians rode out to watch the battle. They expected an easy Union victory. By afternoon, everything had changed.
Apr 19, 2026
Five days after the Civil War ended, Lincoln went to a comedy with his wife. The audience was roaring with laughter, the President was smiling for the first time in years. Then, at 10:15 p.m., a single shot rang out.
Apr 13, 2026
At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate cannons opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. That first shell started the deadliest war in American history — a conflict that would kill more than 620,000 Americans before it was over.
Apr 12, 2026On April 10, 1865, news of General Lee's surrender reached Washington D.C., sending the entire North into celebration. But just four days later, Lincoln was assassinated.
Apr 10, 2026On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively bringing the American Civil War to a close. As four blood-soaked years of war came to an end, something remarkable unfolded between the two generals.
Apr 9, 2026
Just days before the Civil War came to a close, what did Abraham Lincoln see and feel on April 8, 1865, standing in the heart of the front lines? A look at the quietest day on the eve of victory.
Apr 8, 2026
On April 7, 1865, General Ulysses Grant sent a letter to Robert E. Lee requesting his surrender. Two days later, the Civil War came to a close at Appomattox.
Apr 7, 2026
On April 1, 1865, the Union secured a decisive victory at the Battle of Five Forks, setting the final act of the Civil War in motion. This battle, fought on April Fools' Day, marked the opening of the most dramatic turning point in American history.
Apr 1, 2026
On March 31, 1861, the thunder of the American Civil War began echoing not just on land, but across the water. The early naval clashes on the Chesapeake Bay signaled a dramatic new phase of the war.
Mar 31, 2026On March 29, 1865, General Ulysses Grant launched the Appomattox Campaign, opening the final chapter of the Civil War. Just ten days later, the division of the United States would officially come to a close.
Mar 29, 2026