Union Army Contributions as a Percent of the 1860 Population
A breakdown of about 2.1 million soldiers contributed by each loyal state and the District of Columbia during the Civil War as a percent of the 1860 U.S. Census population
Tag: pennsylvania
Hampton’s Battery at Gettysburg and Puerto Rico
By Kurt Luther In April of this year, the Facebook page “Civil War Pittsburgh,” managed by public historian Rich Condon, posted an intriguing photo of a group of Civil War
The Compact: In 1864, a group of soldiers at an army hospital pondered their futures. They pledged to meet 20 years later and find out.
By Ronald S. Coddington What will become of us? What will become of our country? Existential questions such as these span the arc of humanity. In times of strife and
A Capitol Policeman Inside the Dome
Policeman John Patterson Gulick sits in the infrastructure of the U.S. Capitol dome with an open book on his knee and an arm resting on a worktable. On and around
They Knew Gettysburg Before the Battle
Included among the millions of artifacts in the collections of the Adams County Historical Society are these hard plate portraits of individuals connected to Gettysburg, Pa. Most were residents whose
Identifying an Officer Pictured in a Library of Congress Negative
By Kurt Luther In my first “Photo Sleuth” column in 2015, I wrote about the power of combining perseverance and luck. After years of fruitless searching for photos of my
Team Frailey on the Quaker City
Leonard August Frailey’s first gig as a naval officer was a plum assignment. In August 1864, authorities dispatched the newly minted acting assistant paymaster to the sidewheel steamer Quaker City.
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
Gum Blankets and Ammunition Boxes at Bermuda Hundred
An unnamed aide to a Union general observed the favorable position occupied by federals along one section of the front line at Bermuda Hundred, Va., on May 18, 1864. At
Non-Traditional Research Tools—and Serendipity
By Kurt Luther Photo sleuthing fundamentally pieces together bits of evidence to build a theory. For especially tricky images, these pieces of the puzzle may come from a wide variety