Portal:American Civil War

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The American Civil War Portal

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a sectional rebellion against the United States of America by the Confederate States, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The Union's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through a strategic naval blockade denying the Confederacy access to the world's markets.

In many ways, the conflict's central issues – the enslavement of African Americans, the role of constitutional federal government, and the rights of states – are still not completely resolved. Not surprisingly, the Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox on April 9,1865 did little to change many Americans' attitudes toward the potential powers of central government. The passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution in the years immediately following the war did not change the racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day; and the process of Reconstruction did not heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties – 3 percent of the population, including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of much discussion even today. (Full article)

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Theatrical release poster

Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell. The film was produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures and directed by Victor Fleming. Set in the American South against the backdrop of the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, the film tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), the strong-willed daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, following her romantic pursuit of Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), who is married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland), and her subsequent marriage to Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).

The film had a troubled production. The start of filming was delayed for two years until January 1939 because Selznick was determined to secure Gable for the role of Rhett, and concluded in July. The role of Scarlett was challenging to cast, and 1,400 unknown women were interviewed for the part. Sidney Howard's original screenplay underwent many revisions by several writers to reduce it to a suitable length. The original director, George Cukor, was fired shortly after filming began and was replaced by Fleming, who in turn was briefly replaced by Sam Wood while taking some time off due to exhaustion. Post-production concluded in November 1939, just a month before its premiere. (Full article...)

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Grand Parade of the States

New Hampshire was a member of the Union during the American Civil War.

The state gave soldiers, money, and supplies to the Union Army. It sent 31,657 enlisted men and 836 officers, of whom about 20% were killed in action or died from disease or accident. (Full article...)

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Matthew Stanley Quay (/kweɪ/; September 30, 1833 – May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control of the Pennsylvania Republican political machine made him one of the most powerful and influential politicians in the country, and he ruled Pennsylvania politics for almost twenty years. As chair of the Republican National Committee and thus party campaign manager, he helped elect Benjamin Harrison as president in 1888 despite Harrison not winning the popular vote. He was also instrumental in the 1900 election of Theodore Roosevelt as vice president.

Quay studied law and began his career in public office by becoming prothonotary of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in 1856. He became personal secretary to Governor Andrew Curtin in 1861 after campaigning for him the previous year. During the Civil War, he served in the Union Army, commanding the 134th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment as a colonel. Quay received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He acted as Pennsylvania's military agent in Washington before returning to Harrisburg to assist Curtin and aid in his re-election in 1863. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1865 to 1868. (Full article...)

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Image 1John Lorimer Worden, by Mathew Brady
Image 2Battle of Franklin, by Kurz and Allison
Image 3Confederate casualties at Chancellorsville during the American Civil War, by the National Archives and Records Administration
Image 4The original sketch of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville, at and by William Waud
Image 5Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and John A. McClernand in 1862 by Alexander Gardner
Image 6Pickett's Charge, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 7Harriet Tubman
Image 8William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State during the American Civil War
Image 9United States President (and former Brigadier-General) Benjamin Harrison
Image 10Abner Doubleday
Image 11Quaker guns, by George Barnard and James F. Gibson
Image 12The burning of Columbia at Columbia, South Carolina in the American Civil War, by William Waud
Image 13Andersonville survivor
Image 14Charles Pomeroy Stone
Image 15Ulysses S. Grant, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 16The Chickahominy – Sumner's Upper Bridge at Peninsula campaign, by William McIlvaine
Image 17Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and biographer John Hay
Image 18Lithographic facsimile of the Bixby letter, by Huber's Museum
Image 19Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers
Image 20The print version of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville at McPhersonville, South Carolina, by William Waud
Image 21Francis B. Spinola, Brigadier General for the Union in the American Civil War, and Congressman from New York
Image 22Daniel McCallum, by the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Image 23African-American Civil War soldiers
Image 24Andersonville Prison at Andersonville National Historic Site, by John L. Ransom
Image 25John A. Dahlgren, by Mathew Brady
Image 26Braxton Bragg
Image 27Ambrose Burnside, by Matthew Brady
Image 28Battle of Fort Sanders, by Kurz and Allison
Image 29David Dixon Porter, by Mathew Brady
Image 30George Atzerodt, by Alexander Gardner
Image 31George Armstrong Custer, by George L. Andrews
Image 32Siege of Yorktown, by James F. Gibson
Image 33Robert E. Lee, by Levin Corbin Handy
Image 34Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Image 35Charles Griffin
Image 36Battle of Harpers Ferry, by Robert Knox Sneden
Image 37William Birney
Image 38Military execution of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination
Image 39Richmond, Virginia after the American Civil War
Image 40Christian Fleetwood
Image 41John F. Reynolds, by Alfred Rudolph Waud
Image 42Atlanta roundhouse ruin at History of Atlanta, by George Barnard
Image 43President Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President of the USA
Image 44Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, by Alfred Waud
Image 45First Battle of Bull Run map
Image 46Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, by Thure de Thulstrup

Did you know...

... that at the Battle of La Haye-du-Puits in July 1944, a Confederate flag dating to the American Civil War was raised over the town?
... that Justus H. Rathbone, founder of the Knights of Pythias, served as a hospital steward during the American Civil War?
... that The Land We Love, a little magazine that merged into Southern Magazine, printed American Civil War recollections, poetry, agricultural material, and many works by female authors?
... that singer Frank Croxton performed a duet with his father for the unveiling of a monument to a Confederate States Army general?
... that after the Little Rock campaign, Union forces held three-quarters of Arkansas?
... that CSS Beaufort fought USS Albatross in the first ship-versus-ship action of the American Civil War?