Wounded Three Times in Battle— and Once by a Guerrilla
By Scott Valentine Poinsett Cooper seemed destined to find his calling in the military. His father, Benjamin, served as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812
Tag: army of the Potomac
A Wisconsin Sharpshooter’s Changing Face: Portraits and letters trace Pvt. Henry Lye’s wartime life—and loss at Gettysburg
By Jeff McArdle, with images and letters from the author’s collection A few miles south of the Pennsylvania state line on June 30, 1863, sharpshooter Henry Lye scribbled a short
How Many Miles Did Army of the Potomac Regiments March to Gettysburg?
During the three-week lead-up to the Battle of Gettysburg, the Army of the Potomac made a sustained series of forced marches with only occasional breaks as they raced from various
“The Soul of Grant’s Cabinet is Gone”
General and Secretary of War John Aaron Rawlins lost his battle against consumption late in the afternoon of Sept. 6, 1869. His death struggle played out in a bed at
Remembrance as History
The sheer volume of surviving writings by those citizen and professional soldiers who experienced the Civil War firsthand is immense. Accounts in diaries, letters, periodicals and books stand as a
The Little Gamecock: The rise of Brig. Gen. Evander McIver Law, C.S.A.
By Ronald S. Coddington, with images and artifacts from the Craig and Carol Wofford Collection Evander McIver Law focused his piercing blue eyes on the skyline above the Gettysburg countryside.
Paper Trail
Printed on a thin strip of paper cut from a newspaper page and tucked behind the mat of Oliver Gardner’s portrait are poignant details of his Civil War service. He
The Mnemonical Anatomy Professor
Tall, slow-speaking William Henry Gobrecht looked every inch the soldier and might easily be confused for a general. His commanding bearing came not from battlefield glory, but lecture halls where
“You Were Making History”: Faces of Maine men who fought at Gettysburg
By Tom Huntington Maine veterans returned to Pennsylvania in October 1889, 26 years after they had fought at Gettysburg with the Army of the Potomac. For three days in July
Maelstrom in The Wilderness: The deadliest day in Vermont history
By John Gibson Early 1864 found the Army of the Potomac in winter quarters at Brandy Station, Va. As the season transitioned to spring, dramatic changes had reshaped the army.