Arizona State University history professor Brooks Simpson talks about the Lieutenant General Act of 1864. The act made Ulysses S. Grant a lieutenant general and gave him command of the Union Army. Professor Simpson spoke at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium.
 

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Mischa Honeck, author and research fellow at the German Historical Institute, talks about German immigrants and their motivations for fighting in the Civil War. He spoke at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium.
 

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Two speakers make presentations at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium. First, author Nikki Taylor addresses the issue of citizenship among free African Americans, and the story of Cincinnati’s Black Brigade. Then, history professor Diane Barnes talks about the abolition movement.

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Two speakers make presentations at the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s 2012 Civil War Symposium. First, author Fergus Bordewich talks about the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, the Congressional panel created to monitor Northern military affairs. Then, economics professor Jenny Bourne talks about how the war was financed.

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Mary Elizabeth Bowser was a former slave who became a Union spy in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. She was part of a pro-Union underground spy ring run by Elizabeth Van Lew, the daughter of a prominent Richmond citizen. In this program, authors Elizabeth Varon and Lois Leveen talk about the life and story of Ms. Bowser, as well as her relationship with Ms. Van Lew. The two authors also discuss how they wrote and researched their books. The event took place at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond.

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The Catoctin Center for Regional Studies hosted a two-day conference on African Americans and the Civil War at Frederick Community College in Maryland. In this program, you'll hear first from historian James McPherson, who examines the reasons for recruiting black soldiers for the war effort. He also discusses the shift from fighting to preserve the Union to fighting to end slavery. Then, Columbia University history professor Barbara Fields looks at racism and slavery during the Civil War era and the motives behind emancipation.
 

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The National Park Service rededicates Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial. As the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and after a six-year restoration effort, Americans can once again see the house much as Lee knew it.

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Historian Frank O’Reilly of the National Park Service discusses the Battle of Chancellorsville, which was fought from April 30th to May 6th, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The fighting resulted in more than 30 thousand total causalities. Historians widely consider the Battle of Chancellorsville to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory.

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Scholars discuss the contributions of U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War and how they are remembered at various battle sites. The panel also takes a critical look at the characterization of black troops in the 1989 film “Glory,” which focuses on the 54th Massachusetts – one of the first all-black units to fight for the Union. This event was part of a conference at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

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Civil War scholars give a historical perspective on the physical and mental battlefield trauma suffered by soldiers in fighting the bloodiest war in American history. More than 625,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some historians believe the death toll exceeded 700,000. This event was part of a conference at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

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