Videos

Southern Utah University Professor Laura June Davis talked about Confederate boat burners and naval guerrilla action on the lower Mississippi River during the last years of the Civil War. She…

Christopher Bonner spoke with the co-editors of the Journal of the Civil War Era about the his book Remaking the Republic: Black Politics and the Creation of American Citizenship. He…

McCormick Civil War Institute director Jonathan Noyalas talked about how Union veterans of the 1864 Shenandoah campaign attempted to burnish their regimental legacies through writing…

Fort Monroe Casemate Museum director Robin Reed gave a tour showcasing the coastal Virginia fort’s history from the colonial era through its completion in 1834, and its role in the Civil…

Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer John Matteson looked at how the Civil War’s 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg impacted the lives of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louisa May Alcott, Walt Whitman,…

Civil War historian James Oakes examined how Abraham Lincoln thoughout his political career used the Constitution to abolish slavery. This was a virtual event hosted by the Massachusetts…

Author Joseph Reidy discussed how during the Civil War the emancipation process was often messy and nonlinear, rather than occurring at one moment or neatly tied to Lincoln’s proclamation. Among…

On October 19, 1864, General Philip Sheridan’s timely arrival at the Cedar Creek battlefield helped turn a Union retreat into a resounding victory, effectively ending Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah…

Joshua Greenberg discussed his book, Bank Notes and Shinplasters: The Rage for Paper Money in the Early Republic, which examines the design and use of paper money in the antebellum era. He…

At the annual Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment, C-SPAN visited a camp brothel in the living history village and spoke to reenactors about Victorian-era marriage expectations and…

Jonathan Jones of Penn State University talked about widespread opiate addiction among Civil War veterans. He explained how prescribing opium and morphine -- common treatments used for wartime…

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine hosted an online discussion with John Heckman, known as “The Tattooed Historian,” about Civil War soldiers' nutrition and hygiene. He described…

During the Civil War, animals served in a variety of roles, from transporting supplies to acting as regimental mascots. Brad Stone talked about General Lee’s hen, Jeff Davis the marching…

Historian Michael Shaffer looked at the life of Thomas Wallace Colley, who served in the Confederate 1st Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War. Using Colley’s voluminous journal entries and letters,…

Mark Flotow’s book, In Their Letters, in Their Words: Illinois Civil War Soldiers Write Home, features the writings of 165 troops from Abraham Lincoln’s home state and covers the war from…

In the fall of 1864, Union General Philip Sheridan sought information on the position and strength of Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley. Rebecca Wright, with the help of enslaved man…

Professor Judith Giesberg talked about the ways northern middle-class women volunteered during the Civil War. She focused on Louisa May Alcott’s time as Civil War nurse chronicled in her…

The Lincoln Forum hosted a discussion among current and former college professors on their approaches to teaching Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era. Speakers included Craig Symonds of…

Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election over three challengers with less than 40 percent of the popular vote and without a single electoral vote from a slave state. His transition to…

In October 1859 -- just 18 months before the first shots of the Civil War -- militant abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the U.S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, hoping to arm the area’s…