Major John Harman (above) was described as a “man of strong convictions and uncompromising in his beliefs, caring little for the opinion of others.” A good summary, but I would add he was short-tempered and his language turned the air blue. Harman had been many things before the Civil War: butcher, farmer, and stage line

It happened just south of Nashville, right in the middle of Tennessee. The Rebels called it the Second Battle of Murfreesboro. The Federals called it the Battle of Stones River. (The Union Army frequently named battles after rivers and creeks that played a role in the fighting. Confederates generally used the names of nearby towns

  Late Spring 1864: Grant wanted to take the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia.  He had been trying to slip around the Rebels, but the wily Lee kept blocking him. Now Grant made a wide swing to flank the Rebels and seize Cold Harbor. Not a real town, Cold Harbor was just an intersection of

Lieutenant Alexander Douglas could it no longer. The cries stirred him to action. Douglas had been born on Christmas Day of 1833 in South Carolina, a land that was first settled by the English in 1670.  Early Americans battled Redcoats there in the Revolutionary War, and later, in 1865, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burned

A lot of folks tell us what the Civil War was all about. Professors and reporters and “very important” people tell us. And with what conviction they tell us! But I rarely hear from the scholars about why the man in uniform was fighting. Seems the soldier is simply forgotten. Sure, we hear “what the

Few Confederate units carry a name as haunting as the Orphan Brigade. Officially the 1st Kentucky Brigade, these men came from a state that never left the Union. When Kentucky fell under Federal control early in the war, the Kentuckians who had gone South to fight could not go home again. They fought for four

The Civil War produced many fine shooters, and some made their way into sharpshooter units. Champion marksman Hiram Berdan of New York raised a Union sharpshooter unit. To qualify, volunteers had to put ten shots in a circle of 10 inches from 200 yards. Berdan’s Sharpshooters wore green uniforms, like the reenactor above. Sharp’s rifles,

It was July 31st, 1861. Federal troops were just north of Manassas, Virginia. There were many who thought they would send the Rebels reeling, putting an end to the rebellion. The day was Sunday, and a throng of civilian sightseers had come down from the U.S. capitol, just 25 miles away. Lieutenant Tibdall commanded a