Five Days at Chancellorsville Private John Pray of Waterville, Ohio reported that Major General Dan Sickles credited his Battery H, 1st Ohio Light Art ..read more

                                                                                              Five Days at Chancellorsville We'll likely never know the author of the following account of the Battle of Chancellorsville, but his eloquent and deta ..read more

                                                                                              Five Days at Chancellorsville “Why did we retreat? It was the Rebels’ retaking of Fredericksburg and the fear that our line of communication might be ..read more

The 79th Pennsylvania, part of Colonel John Starkweather’s brigade, was marching into action at the Battle of Perryville side by side with the 1st Wisconsin.      “As the solid, serried ranks of glistening bayonets and brave men moved onward with all the regularity and precision of a dress parade, and with the steadiness of veteran troops, the two regiments involuntarily paid just tribute to one another by sending up long and loud cheers,” one veteran recalled. “It was a grand sight! There was no flinching- not a man! Every man stood his ground firmly and manfully.”   ..read more

In mid-January 1863, General Ambrose Burnside directed what proved to be his final offensive move as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Burnside’s aim was to steal a march on his opponent General Robert E. Lee, seize Banks’ Ford on the Rappahannock, and push into the rear of Fredericksburg. It was a bold move, but within two days of beginning, the drive was hopelessly mired down in the mud and the dejected Federals tramped back to their camps near Falmouth.           The offensive became known as the Mud March, and it marked both the end of Burns ..read more

Sergeant Fred True of the 41st Illinois numbered among the lucky survivors of Shiloh as he explained in a letter to his sisters back home in Illinois.           The regiment went into action on the morning of April 6, 1862, and soon found itself in a pounding firefight with advancing Confederates. “I was hit twice. One ball struck my leg and numbed it considerably without entering the pants. The other struck me on the chin or throat and drove me from the field. The wound bled severely so that I was worse scared than hurt,” True confessed. “Buell’s f ..read more

By the time John Baker of Battery B, 1st Michigan Light Artillery was exchanged more than six months after being captured at the Battle of Shiloh, the artilleryman had traveled through seven of the eleven states of the Confederacy, and lost his brother to typhoid fever at Cahaba, Alabama. “We have suffered everything but death and that has started us in the face,” he wrote to the editors of the Hillsdale Standard. “There has been 270 men who have died since our captivity began. We have been without clothing and have been obliged to live upon corn meal and bacon. I have never seen any meat but ..read more

In the early twilight hours of September 19, 1863, at Chickamauga, Sergeant William Richey of the 15th Ohio was dispatched between the lines to try and ascertain the location of the Confederates. “Presently I saw an officer on horseback approaching me from the right only a short distance from me,” he later wrote. “We were no sooner side by side than I discovered that we were enemies. As quickly as I could, I said to the man on horseback in a loud, bold tone, “You are my prisoner! Surrender, or I will blow out your brains!” Instantly the officer reached for his pistol but, pointing my weapon at ..read more

In a war defined by the theme of brother against brother, the amazing tale of Granville and George Moody and their journey through the Civil War highlights the interconnected nature of family and social life in the 19th century. It's a story that starts in Maine, weaves through the histories of both the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Cumberland, twists in and out of prisoner of war camps, and ultimately involves President Jefferson Davis in the final days of the Civil War and President Andrew Johnson in its immediate aftermath.         &nb ..read more

The first commissioner of major league baseball was Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis who was appointed by the team owners in November 1920. His unusual first name was chosen by his parents in remembrance of one of the bloodiest engagements of the Atlanta campaign, the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain which was fought on June 27, 1864. But had his father not been wounded at Kenesaw, its possible he would have named his later famous son Chickamauga Landis after the horrors he experienced at that engagement.  Kenesaw Mountain Landis was born November 20, 1866, in Millville in Butler County, Ohio to D ..read more