- Civil War Series - At the start of the Civil War in 1861, both the Union and the Confederacy foresaw a quick conflict, expecting to be done fighting by summer’s end. Politicians in the North believed the Federal Army would conquer Richmond, the Confederate capital, in one fell swoop, while top Southern general P.G.T. …
- Civil War Series - General Grant National Memorial, the largest mausoleum in North America, is situated in a quiet and beautiful corner of New York City and commemorates the life of Civil War hero and 18th US President Ulysses S. Grant. The site—widely known simply as “Grant’s Tomb”—includes a small visitor center that tells …
- Civil War Series - The climax of the First Battle of Manassas took place on Henry Hill, a grassy pasture west of Bull Run and north of Manassas Junction, Virginia—the object of Union attack. On the afternoon of July 21, 1861, after a Federal victory in the morning at nearby Matthews Hill, fierce Confederate …
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- Civil War Series - The Civil War’s First Battle of Manassas comprised two major engagements: a Union victory at Matthews Hill in the morning, and a Union defeat at Henry Hill in the afternoon. With Gen. Irvin McDowell’s Federal forces crossing Bull Run at Sudley Ford, Confederate Col. Nathan “Shanks” Evans shifted 900 troops …
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- Civil War Series - The Stone Bridge at Virginia’s Manassas National Battlefield Park was the site of the first action of the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. Destroyed during the war, the bridge has been reconstructed, just off today’s Warrenton Turnpike (Lee Highway), and marks the start of a short circuit …
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- Civil War Series - On July 19, 1861—two days before the Civil War’s First Battle of Manassas—Union General Irwin McDowell dispatched John G. Barnard, his chief engineer, to identify a suitable place for thousands of Federal soldiers, horses, and artillery to cross Bull Run Creek undetected. Barnard found such a crossing at Sudley Ford, …
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- Civil War Series - On April 12, 1861—after decades of fierce debate over slavery—South Carolina Confederates kicked off the Civil War with a barrage of fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Surrounded, outgunned, and short on supplies, Major Robert Anderson was forced to cede the fort the next day—despite not losing a …
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- Revolutionary War Series - - Civil War Series - Fort Moultrie—built to defend South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor—has played an important role in several of America’s conflicts. First, under the leadership of Revolutionary Colonel William Moultrie, it fought off a British assault in 1776, and decades later, helped deter the British threat again during the …
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- Civil War Series - While the fort itself steals the show, Georgia’s Fort Pulaski National Monument also contains a handful of hiking trails. Among the easiest (and mostly wheelchair-accessible) is the North Pier Trail, a 6/10-mile stem-and-loop which begins and ends at the northwest corner of the park’s main parking area on Cockspur Island. …
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- Civil War Series - An imposing structure with walls 11 feet thick, Fort Pulaski was widely regarded at the start of the Civil War as an impenetrable fortress guarding Savannah, Georgia from a Federal naval attack. The U.S. Chief of Engineers, referring to the fort’s heavy masonry walls, once quipped: “You might as well …
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