It was a strange retreat. The men were not frantic, remembered Captain S.E. Howard of the XIX Corps, "only stolidly, doggedly, determined to go the rear." A few units here and there paused to shoot back, but US General Crook's command had come completely undone. "The broad plain was a scene of rout," one of Crook's staff officers recalled, "wagons, ambulances, artillery, soldiers without commanders, commanders without soldiers, every fellow for himself, moving backwards in sullen discouragement in the faces of the yelling victors".

21009 - Major General Philip Sheridan; 'Little Phil' [LC-DIG-cwpbh-01009]On October 19, 1864, General Phillip Sheridan's journey from Winchester to the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia is one of the most famous rides in military history and contributed to the re-election of President Lincoln.


Returning to his Cedar Creek headquarters, "Just as we made the crest of the rise above the stream," Sheridan recalled, "there burst upon our view the appalling spectacle of a panic stricken army - hundreds of slightly wounded men, throngs of others unhurt but thoroughly demoralized, and baggage wagons by the score, all pressing to the rear in hopeless confusion."


Sheridan barked out some orders, selected some men to ride with him to the field. Sheridan, on his big black gelding Rienzi, took the road at a rapid clip. As he went, Sheridan waving his cap and pointing to the front yelled, "Come on back, boys! Give 'em hell, God d___ 'em! We'll make coffee out of Cedar Creek tonight! The fleeing men saw him, stopped, cheered, turned around and began to follow him toward the front.


On the field, Sheridan spent two hours organizing the men into a solid line facing the Confederates. Preparations complete, Sheridan rode down the entire two mile front, cap in hand, showing himself to every soldier on the line. "I'll get a twist on these people yet," he yelled. we'll raise them out of their boots before the day is over!"


"Cheers seemed to come from throats of brass, and caps were thrown to the tops of the scattering oaks", recalled Major Walker.


At almost 4:00 p.m. an ominous silence fell over the field. "Even the batteries were still. The suspense was terrible", recalled Col James Kidd. In the awful quiet the rival armies - 45,000 men in all - waited for the inevitable.

Then the order came - "Attention! Shoulder arms! Forward! March! And with martial tread and floating flags the line of battle is away," recalls Major Forsyth. Confederate cannon erupted, Federal guns replied and musketry began to ripple down the lines.


What began as a rout, Sheridan turned into a Union victory, driving the Confederates permanently out of the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan's dramatic role in the victory, along with the readings of Thomas Buchanan Read's poem, "Sheridan's Ride", gave the North hope that the War could be won. Horace Greeley's influential New York Tribune called it "a magnificent lyric" and ran the seven stanzas of "Sheridan's Ride" on page one. A grateful government rewarded Sheridan with permanent promotion to the rank of major general in the Regular Army.

After the Battle of Corinth, Confederate General Dorn's army had crossed the Hatchie River with stragglers still crossing when Union General Ord's forces caught up. During the confusion some men dived in the river to escape, abandoning artillery. Others charged back over the bridge to fight off the Union troops, creating a blockage on the bridge. Acting brigade commander, 24 year old Colonel Ross, gave the retreat order. Despite the confusion and carnage Ross' order saved most of his command and the bulk of Dorn's army was able to evade capture. This action led directly to Ross’s promotion to Brigadier General.

11004 - General Lawrence Sullivan RossDuring his service in the war, General Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross took part in 135 battles and engagements and had 5 horses shot under him. First as major and then as colonel of his regiment, Ross took part in numerous western campaigns, including those of Pea Ridge, Corinth, and Van Dorn’s Tennessee. He was promoted to Brigadier General in December 1863 and commanded the Texas Cavalry Brigade.


Ross, unlike other Civil War Generals, had not attended West Point. He graduated from Wesleyan University but spent the summer of his junior year with the United States Army fighting the Comanche. In December 1860, he took part in the Battle of Pease River, in which Cynthia Ann Parker, who had been kidnapped as a child, was recovered. This exploit won the praise of the regular army officers for his skill and courage and popularity in the state of Texas.


Ross was a consistently effective General. For example, the Battle of Nashville was fought in bitter cold on Dec. 15-16, 1864. Ross was at Murfreesboro when General George Thomas attacked Hood’s Army of Tennessee. Ross’s Texans captured a Federal supply train, took 150 prisoners, then set the boxcars on fire after removing much needed sugar, coffee, hardtack, clothing plus other badly needed supplies. Hood was soundly defeated and retreated. Ross provided the retreating Army of Tennessee with a rear guard.


After the war Ross took up farming, was elected Governor twice and served as the President of Texas A&M. Within weeks of Ross's death in 1898, former cadets at Texas AMC began gathering funds for a statue.


In more recent years, students began the tradition of placing pennies at the feet of statue before exams for good luck. School legend states that Ross would often tutor students, and as payment would accept only a penny for their thoughts. At exam time, his statue, located in Academic Plaza, is often covered in pennies.

Rose O'Neal Greenhow - Confederate Spy, with Daughter 'Little Rose', at the Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D.C., 1862 -04849Rose O'Neale Greenhow - leader of Washington Society, passionate secessionist and renowned Confederate spy. Her secret messages to General Beauregard was the basis of his victory at the 1st Battle of Bull Run. Beauregard used the information to send for General Joseph E. Johnston's army guarding the Shenandoah Valley sixty miles away. Johnston loaded his army onto trains, marking the first use of trains to rush troops to a battlefield during the Civil War, to support Beauregard. As the result, General McDowell had two armies to face at Manassas and lost.


How did Greenhow become a dedicated fighter for the South? As a child, a family slave was hanged for causing Greenhow's father's death. A few years later, the teenager and her sister moved to Washington D.C. to live at the home of her aunt, the proprietor of the Hill's Boarding House. The residence was favored by Southern Supreme Court Justices, power brokers and Congressmen, including John C. Calhoun. Greenhow considered Calhoun a second father and became an astute political strategist due to his tutelage. She demonstrated her skill by encouraging her friend, James Buchanan, to run for President and formulated the strategy that enabled him to win the office. Years later, Greenhow spent weeks nursing Calhoun on his deathbed at the Boarding House.


Greenhow used her political connections not only to acquire information for the Confederacy, put to petition Secretary of State Seward for promotions for her son-in-law in the Union Army. When it became clear that Greenhow was a spy, the Union hoped to quietly arrest her and capture any possible conspirators who visited her home. The plan was foiled when "Little Rose" climbed a backyard tree to yell to the neighbors, "Mother has been arrested. Mother has been arrested."


Under house arrest, Greenhow's home became a tourist attraction. While raising a fuss over being under constant guard, Rose still managed to send information to the Confederates. Lincoln, himself, ordered her moved to her former home, Hill's Boarding House, which had been turned into the Old Capitol Prison.


On arrival, eight year old "Little Rose" told the prison superintendent, "You have one of the hardest little rebels her you ever saw. But if you get along with me as well as Lieutenant Sheldon (commander of the Greenhow house guard), you will have no trouble."


After months imprisoned, Greenhow was exiled to the Confederate States. In Richmond, Jefferson Davis asked Greenhow to travel to Europe to woo the elite to recognize the Confederacy. There, Greenhow published her memoir, My imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington, which became a best seller. She was granted an audience with Napoleon III and met with highest British and French government officials.


After a year abroad, Greenhow boarded the Condor, a British blockade runner to return home. It was run aground by a US gunboat. Greenhow, fearing a return to prison, fled in a rowboat which capsized. She was drowned by the weight of gold from the royalties for her book. To honor her, the Confederacy gave her a military funeral in Wilmington, North Carolina. The Ladies Memorial Association, in 1888, marked her grave with a cross that read "Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow. A Bearer of Dispatches to the Confederate Government."

04041 - Capt. George A. Custer and Gen. Alfred Pleasonton on horseback"Custer was a splendid horseman - fearless, graceful, and dashing." Gen Alfred Pleasonton

During an August 17, 1880 interview for "The New York Times", Pleasonton was asked, "How was Custer?"

"He was a splendid leader, and when he was upon my staff he did some wonderfully brilliant things. The trouble with Custer was that he would not see that his whole force was available. He would rush in and lead a regiment in a charge and let a whole brigade look at him."

"What was he on your staff?"

"He was Captain A.D.C., but I had him promoted to Brigadier-General. He would have licked the Indians on the Little Big Horn if he had kept his command together."

Sgt. Johnny Clem - 34511It being Sunday, May 24, 1861, and the great rebellion in progress, Johnnie said at the dinner-table: “Father, I’d like mighty well to be a drummer boy. Can’t I go into the Union army?” “Tut, what nonsense, boy!” replied father, “you are not ten years old.” Yet when he had disappeared it is strange we had no thoughts that he had gone into the service recalled his sister Lizzie.


The family feared that Johnnie had drowned in a nearby canal and mourned for him for two years. Instead Clem had joined the 22nd Michigan as a drummer boy. He was in many battles and was captured in Chattanooga, Tennessee.


Clem said that the rebels stole about all that he had, including his pocket book, which contained only twenty-five cents. “But I would not have cared for the rest,” he added, “if they hadn’t stole my hat, which had three bullet holes in it, received at Chickamauga.”


Clem became famous in both the North and the South as the "Drummer Boy of Chickamauga". The Confederate newspapers used his age and celebrity status to claim, "what sore straits the Yankees are driven, when they have to send their babies out to fight us."


A daughter of Chief Justice Salmon Chase presented him with a silver medal inscribed, “Sergeant Johnnie Clem, Twenty-second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, from N. M. C.,” which he wore in at least one of the many pictures taken by photographers hoping to profit from the young boy’s newfound celebrity.


When he was exchanged as a prisoner he came home for a week. He was wasted to a skeleton. He had been starved almost to death. He seemed like as if he was done up in a mass of rags. There were no soldier clothes small enough to fit him, and he was so small and wan and not much larger than a babe, about thirty inches high, and couldn’t have weighed over sixty pounds according to his sister.


For his heroic conduct, Clem was made a sergeant by General Rosecrans, who placed him upon the Roll of Honor, and attached him to the headquarters of the Army of the Cumberland. At the age of 13, Clem became the youngest non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army ever. He rose to the rank of Colonel and became the last soldier of the Civil War to retire from active duty in 1916. Upon his retirement he was promoted to Brigadier General. He died in 1937 and is buried at Arlington.

It took repeated assaults for Burnside’s men to capture the bridge. The Union troops suffered more than 500 casualties compared to less than 160 Confederates. The Confederates were so well fortified that they were only driven off by running out of ammunition. Once the bridge was captured it presented its own set of problems. At only 12 feet wide it was a bottleneck for thousands of troops trying to cross and greatly slowed the army. Afterwards, Burnside had to replenish his ammunition before getting to his job site - the battlefield.

Judah Benjamin, Jefferson Davis's Secretary of War - 05642At the end of the War, Judah P. Benjamin was hunted by every Yankee wanting the big pay day of $40,000 the Federal Government was offering. Between his Jewish religion and having sent John Surratt (son of hanged Lincoln assassination conspirator Mary Surratt) on a covert mission to Canada, Benjamin believed he may not survive Federal capture.


Benjamin served as the first Jewish cabinet member in North America and the first Senator to acknowledge being Jewish in the US Senate. He has been referred to as "the brains of the Confederacy". Benjamin served as the Confederate Attorney General, Secretary of War & State. As Secretary of State, he arranged for the Erlanger "Cotton Loan" to buy military supplies, which were delivered by blockade runners. It is only appropriate that Benjamin's image appears on the Confederate two dollar bill.


Benjamin's harrowing escape sounds like an adventure tale. He parts from Confederate President Davis and Cabinet members in Abbeville, South Carolina on May 2nd. He begins his escape disguised as a Frenchman seeking to make a land purchase. He speaks broken English like a Frenchmen as he made his way to Sarasota Bay, Florida. Benjamin travels by open boat the 600 miles to the Bahamas surviving squalls. After that he boards a sloop carrying sponges. When the boat leaks, the sponges expand and the sloop explodes. He and the crew are fortunately rescued by a British warship. He then takes a steamer to England which catches on fire after five hours and has to return to port to have the fire extinguished. Two days later, Benjamin sets out again and finally reaches England on August 30, 1865.


A man who two US Presidents nominates (and he declines) to be a Supreme Court Justice, restarts his career by reading law for three years before building a very successful law career in London. This enables him to support several friends in the former Confederacy during the Reconstruction era with sizeable financial gifts. Per his doctor's advice, Benjamin retires in 1883 and moves to Paris, where his family lives. On May 6, 1884, Benjamin dies in Paris. His Catholic wife has the last rites administered to him and buries Benjamin in a Catholic cemetery. His grave did not bear his name until 1938, when a plaque was placed by the Paris chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Both sides were aware that over 2,000 raw recruits had joined the Union army in Lexington a few days earlier. Out of town, General "Bull" Nelson ordered an immediate retreat when informed of the approaching Confederate forces. Despite being 2:30 AM, Nelson jumped out of bed to rush to the field. He rallied the troops but was unable to prevent the rout. Nelson was barely able to escape with some of his men.

The victory opened the way north towards Lexington and Frankfort for the Confederates.

06080 - Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith; Trans-Mississippi Department, C.S.A. [LC-DIG-cwpb-06080]"Surrender" wasn't in Edmund Kirby Smith's vocabulary. He is the only officer to both refuse to surrender to the Confederates while serving as a Union officer and refuse to surrender to the Union while serving as a Confederate officer.


As a Major, Edmund Kirby Smith refused to surrender the 2nd US Cavalry at Camp Colorado, Texas to secessionist forces at the start of the war. It wasn't until his home state, Florida seceded, did Smith resign to join the Confederacy.


In 1863, Smith took command of the Trans-Mississippi Department. With the capture of Vicksburg & Port Hudson by US forces, the Confederacy was split in two. Smith became, in effect, governor of the western Confederacy. Despite lacking manpower & supplies, he successfully defended “Kirby-Smithdom” from several Union attacks.


The surrender of Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston in the spring of 1865 didn't impact Smith's actions. He continued to resist with his small army in Texas. Smith insisted that Lee and Johnston were prisoners of war and decried Confederate deserters.


On May 26, 1865, General Simon Buckner, acting for Smith, met with Union officers in New Orleans to arrange the surrender of Smith's force under terms similar to Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. Smith reluctantly agreed, and officially laid down his arms at Galveston on June 2, 1865. His Confederate troops were some of the last in the field.

Facing disaster at Reams's Station, Hancock ignored personal safety. "Hancock had his bridle-rein cut by a bullet," wrote a soldier, "but was continuing galloping along the front urging the stragglers to resume their places in the lines and do their duty."

Suddenly his horse dropped under him. Hancock left the animal for dead, but a few minutes later it clambered to its feet, unharmed by a glancing blow to the spine that had temporarily paralyzed it. Hancock remounted and continued the fight. "We can beat them yet" he bellowed. "Don't leave me, for God's sake!"

Despite Hancock's best efforts his men deserted their entrenchments and fell back. Hancock gave the order to pull out after dark. The II Corps lost 12 battle flags, 9 guns and had 2,747 causalities.

Although the Confederates won a victory, Grant was satisfied that eight miles of Weldon Railroad track had been destroyed before the attack. The ability to get supplies to Petersburg were being weakened. Lee's lines were being stretched even thinner. The Siege of Petersburg would continue until March 25, 1865.

05828 - Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock; Hancock the Superb [LC-DIG-cwpb-05828]“Hancock was superb today", General McClellan, in a telegraph sent to Washington during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. From that point “Hancock the Superb” was born. Sadly, while Hancock may have been superb, McClellan did not take advantage of the opportunity that Hancock had given him and lost an opportunity to have a major victory early in the war.


As the Commander of II Corps, Hancock's men became known as "Hancock's Cavalry"; they stopped marching only while the staff officers got fresh horses.

At Gettysburg, on July 3rd, Hancock was on the receiving end of Pickett’s Charge. Hancock rode his horse along the line to ensure that his men knew he was there and provide moral support. When one of his officers tried to persuade him to move to the rear Hancock replied "There are times when a corps commander's life does not count." Shortly after he was wounded when a round struck his saddle and pierced his thigh. For his gallantry and bravery he was awarded the “Thanks of Congress”. While he continued to command troops, the effect of this wound affected him the rest of the war.

The opportunity to test the water came on August 19, 1862 in the New York Tribune. Influential editor Horace Greeley wrote an open letter to Lincoln urging him to free the slaves to weaken the Confederacy. The editorial called, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", resulted in one of Abraham Lincoln's most famous letters.

Lincoln states, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, & is not either to save or to destroy slavery." His response was a classic statement of Lincoln's constitutional responsibilities and prepared the public for the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.

Horace Greeley - 4190190617Horace Greeley was one of the most interesting and eccentric figures in American history. Even in appearance Greeley sparked comment; he wore a full length coat on even the hottest days and always carried a bright umbrella.


As the founder & editor of the most influential US newspaper from the 1840's to the 1870s, the New York Tribune, he was involved in almost every political and social issue of his era, ranging from election reform to spiritualism and phrenology.


On August 19, 1862, Horace Greeley, wrote an open letter to Lincoln to free the slaves to weaken the Confederacy. The editorial called, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", resulted in one of Abraham Lincoln's most famous letters. Lincoln states, "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery." His response was a classic statement of Lincoln's constitutional responsibilities & prepared the public for the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.

While waiting Caldwell's answer, Miles received a terrible wound. A bullet caught him in the throat and came out behind his left ear. "His comrades expected him to die at any time," recalled Major General Oliver O. Howard. But Miles remained conscious and full of fight, and took his case for a bayonet charge back to Howard. As the General remembered what transpired, Miles gripped his bleeding throat, "holding together the lacerated pieces of flesh with his hands. He staggered to my headquarters, delivered his message and then fainted dead away. He was determined to either to be killed or promoted."

06150 - Maj. Gen. Nelson Miles; Age 26 - Medal of Honor - Chancellorsville 1863 [LC-DIG-cwpb-06150]Major General Nelson Miles was one of the most colorful & famous soldiers of his time. Theodore Roosevelt referred to him as "Brave Peacock". Miles, one of the War's "Boy Generals", became a Major General at the age of 26. He participated in every major battle of the Army of Potomac except Gettysburg.


At the start of the war, Miles was a twenty-two year old store clerk in Boston without any military experience. For most, this would have meant an honorary, meager status in the enlisted ranks. Miles, however, managed to secure a commission and within six months of volunteering in September of 1861, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. As a Colonel, he earned the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Chancellorsville for “Distinguished gallantry while holding with his command an advanced position against repeated assaults by a strong force of the enemy; was severely wounded.”


Following Chancellorsville, in 1863, he was promoted to Brigadier General and finally Major General in 1864. At the end of the war, as commander of Fort Monroe, Virginia, he was the target of public criticism in the North for having kept Confederate President Jefferson Davis chained in his cell.


After the war, Miles became a famous Indian fighter. Like most of his contemporaries, his rank was reduced. Many of the Generals had significant reductions (Custer, also a Major General, became a Captain). Miles, who was only a few months older than Custer and without his West Point background, became a Colonel. Following Custer’s death in 1876, it was Miles that finally managed to end most of the Indian Wars. During this time Miles pioneered the use of heliograph (using Morse code mirror flashes), establishing lines over 100 miles long.


By 1880, Miles was once again a Brigadier General, this time as a permanent and not brevet rank given during the Civil War. In 1894, he oversaw the US troops that aided in putting down the Pullman Strike riots.

Ten years later he was promoted again to Major General, 26 years after first receiving the rank. While few of his contemporaries ever attained their Civil War rank following the war, Miles was not done. In 1895, he was named Commanding General of the United States, a title once held by Winfield Scott, George McClellan, Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman and Phillip Sheridan (among others). Promoted to Lieutenant General, Miles once again commanded troops in the field during the Spanish American War.


Upon his retirement in 1903, the office of Commanding General was abolished, making Miles the last to hold the office. During World War I, Miles once again volunteered for duty but was declined due to age. In 1925, at the age of 85, Miles died while attending the circus with his grandchildren. At the time, Miles was one of the last surviving Civil War era Generals. Miles is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Ordered to keep the CSS Tennessee away from the US wooden vessels, ironclad USS Tecumseh steers directly towards her. Ten minutes later the Tecumseh hits a torpedo (mine) and sinks within 30 seconds. Commander Craven and the pilot, John Collins, arrived at the foot of the ladder leading to the main deck simultaneously with water up to their waists. Craven stepped back, saying "After you, pilot", but was unable to follow him to safety before the monitor capsized. Including Craven, 94 of the crew went down with the ship.

Seen here is an image of Admiral David Farragut. During this Battle, Farragut declares, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" The strategy of having 18 ships run a gauntlet of mines may seem rash. However, all but one ship made it through the channel into the Bay. Then again, the crew of the USS Tecumseh, leading the attack may not agree.

Eventually, Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan fell into the hands of the Union Navy. The port was closed to Confederate blockade runners, but the port city of Mobile was never taken.

Morgans Raiders in JailFor 46 days, between June 11–July 26, 1863, the Confederate Morgan's Raiders distracted tens of thousands of Union forces while Confederate General Bragg's troops retreated unmolested and delayed the fall of east Tennessee. The Raiders destroyed 34 bridges, disrupted the railroad at more than 60 places, seized thousands of dollars worth of supplies, food, and other items from stores, houses and farms. The South called it "The Great Raid of 1863". Some Northern newspapers referred to it as "The Calico Raid" in reference to the procuring of personal goods from stores and houses.


The Battle of Salineville, Ohio ended the Raid with the capture of General Morgan and his men. 118 of the prisoners were sent to the Western Penitentiary, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by rail after the Battle. They were incarcerated here from August 5, 1863, to March 19, 1864, when they were transferred to another prison at Fort Delaware, New Jersey.


On November 27th, 1863, Morgan and six of his men escaped from the Ohio Penitentiary, by digging a tunnel to the inner yard and then going over the wall. It is not known how Morgan selected the men who joined him in the escape. However, the men in this picture were not among the chosen few.


left to right: Captain William E. Curry, 8th Kentucky Cavalry; Lieutenant Andrew J. Church, 8th Kentucky Cavalry; Lieutenant Leeland Hathaway, 14th Kentucky Cavalry; Lieutenant Henry D. Brown, 10th Kentucky Cavalry; Lieutenant William Hays, 20th Kentucky Cavalry.

Neil Armstrong On The Moon - GPN-2000-001209Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo ll mission commander, at the modular equipment storage assembly (MESA) of the Lunar Module "Eagle" on the historic first extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. took the photograph with a Hasselblad 70mm camera. Most photos from the Apollo 11 mission show Buzz Aldrin. This is one of only a few that show Neil Armstrong (some of these are blurry).

01062 - U.S.S. Monitor; Sailors relaxing on deck, July 9, 1862 [LC-DIG-cwpb-01062]Few people today realize that the iconic Monitor we think of only served for eleven months before it was lost at sea during a storm. Such was the success of the ship that it inspired a whole line of Monitor class warships, both in the U.S. and around the world. The legacy of this class of ship continued in service as late as the Vietnam War.


During the Civil War, the Union Navy produced dozens of Monitor class ships. Some of these ships had two or three turrets to increase the fire power over the Monitor’s single turret. Attempts were made to improve the ocean maneuverability that proved to be the Achilles’s heel of the original. These ships were excellent river boats; with shallow drafts and large caliber weapons, they could bring devastating fire on enemy shore positions along the river. The last of the Civil War era Monitors were retired shortly before the First World War. By that time, future generations of ships inspired by the Monitor had replaced them.


Later Monitors became gun boats with large weapons and limited armor to allow it to travel into shallow river areas. Immediately following the war other countries recognized the power of these vessels and began to build their own ships inspired by the Monitor. Sweden produced its first Monitor in 1865 and ultimately produced 14. The first of these ships was named in honor of John Ericsson, who invented the Monitor and had been a Swedish native. Other navies, including Britain’s Royal Navy produced their own. The U.S. continued to build variations up to the Vietnam War that carried the abbreviation of MON (for Monitor). These served as part of the brown water Navy operating river boats during that war.


All of the U.S. Civil War era Monitor class ships were either lost or ultimately scrapped. None exists today. The oldest remaining Monitor inspired ship is Sweden’s HMS Sölve. She was built in 1875 by John Ericsson, the original Monitor inventor. Today it is part of a maritime museum in Gothenburg, Sweden.

I Want You For U.S. Army - 3b52086On April 6, 1917, Congress formally approved declaring War on Germany. Now, the United States needed to quickly fill the ranks of the military to fight in WWI. In a world without television, posters were the go to advertising media.

Today, when we think of the image of “Uncle Sam”, we are thinking of the iconic poster James Montgomery Flagg created depicting Uncle Sam pointing directly at the viewer proclaiming: “I Want You for U.S. Army.”

“That pose was from a sketch of Lord Kitchener, who was the British Secretary of War, who did a similar thing,” says David D. Miller III, Smithsonian curator in the division of armed forces history. “The famous UK 1914 poster shows Kitchener pointing his finger, says ‘Britons Want You: Join Your Country’s Army.’”

According to Miller, Flagg was his own model. He “added the beard and white hair and Uncle Sam costume to it.”
“So the image most of us have of Uncle Sam is that of the illustrator Flagg, imagining himself an older man in white hair in beard. He was a much younger man at the time, but as he grew older, he came to very much resemble that ‘I Want You’ poster,” Miller reveals.


This image has been restored of damage and the colors have been balanced to appear as they would have when the image was new.

05799- Joshua Lawrence ChamberlainHis commanding officer, Colonel Strong Vincent of the 3rd Brigade was dead. Vincent had ordered that the Union's ground was to be held at all costs and not to retreat. Confederate John Bell Hood's brigades were advancing up Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. Lt. Colonel Joshua Chamberlain had to make a decision - fast. Learning that his men's ammunition was essentially gone, Chamberlain yelled, "Bayonet", and lead the charge down the hill. The Union's position was saved while capturing 101 of the Confederate soldiers.


Years later, Chamberlain, the "Lion of Round Top" was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor "for extraordinary heroism on 2 July 1863, while serving with 20th Maine Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults, and carrying the advance position on the Great Round Top."


In all, college professor and future Governor of Maine, Joshua Chamberlain, served in 20 battles and numerous skirmishes, was cited for bravery four times, had six horses shot from under him, and was wounded six times.


On April 9, 1865, Chamberlain was approached by Confederate General Gordon to arrange for General Lee to hear from General Grant as to the proposed surrender. The next day, Chamberlain was selected to preside over the parade of the Confederate infantry as part of their formal surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 12.


Thus Chamberlain was responsible for one of the most poignant scenes of the American Civil War. As the Confederate soldiers marched down the road to surrender their arms and colors, Chamberlain, on his own initiative, ordered his men to come to attention and "carry arms" as a show of respect. Chamberlain described in his memoirs, The Passing of the Armies, what happened next:


Gordon, at the head of the marching column, outdoes us in courtesy. He was riding with downcast eyes and more than pensive look; but at this clatter of arms he raises his eyes and instantly catching the significance, wheels his horse with that superb grace of which he is master, drops the point of his sword to his stirrup, gives a command, at which the great Confederate ensign following him is dipped and his decimated brigades, as they reach our right, respond to the 'carry.' All the while on our part not a sound of trumpet or drum, not a cheer, nor a word nor motion of man, but awful stillness as if it were the passing of the dead.


Many years later, Gordon, in his own memoirs, called Chamberlain "one of the knightliest soldiers of the Federal Army." Gordon never mentioned the anecdote until after he read Chamberlain's account, more than 40 years later.

01652 - Headquarters of Robert E. Lee; Gettysburg, PA July 1863 (LC-DIG-cwpb-01652)“[It was] running the gauntlet in the strict sense of the word. The bullets were flying from each side in a perfect shower. The air seemed so filled that it seemed almost impossible to breathe without inhaling them. Some one fell beside me almost every step,” - Lt. Wilbur Judd, 97th NY

In 1863, the building known today as “General Lee's Headquarters” at Gettysburg, Pa. shot to fame after Matthew Brady’s photograph of it appeared in Harper’s Weekly. The stone home of 69-year-old (Widow) Mary Thompson was located between four key landmarks of the first day of fighting; Seminary Ridge, Oak Ridge, the Chambersburg Pike and the unfinished railroad the locals used as an alternate roadway to avoid paying the toll. If the walls could tell tales, the bloody fighting in the vicinity could be the photo caption, not the gathering place of Confederate generals.

On July 1st, at 7:30 a.m., the Battle of Gettysburg began. By 3:30 p.m., the entire Union position began to crumble. To support the infantry, artillery was placed on the ridge. “Just a few yards west of the Widow Thompson's house were the six Napoleons of Battery B, 4th United States Artillery under the direction of Lt. James Stewart. Three of the guns, under the command of Lt. James Davison, were positioned between the Chambersburg Pike and the railroad cut. The other three were positioned north of the cut in front of the Railroad Woods, and were commanded by Lt. Stewart himself. Just south of these and across the pike from the stone house were the two three-inch rifles of Lt. Benjamin W. Wilber's section of Battery L, 1st NY Light Artillery. South of these guns were the six Napoleons of Cpt. Greenlief T. Stevens' 5th ME Battery, and three three-inch rifles of Cpt. James Cooper' s Battery B, 1st PA Light Artillery.”

As the U.S. Army retreated towards the protection of the artillery, the Confederates followed, “yelling like demons, in a mad charge for our guns. … Almost at the same moment, as if every lanyard was pulled by the same hand, this line of artillery opened, and Seminary Ridge blazed with a solid sheet of flame, and the missiles of death that swept its western slopes no human beings could endure…. After we had ceased firing and the smoke of battle had lifted, we looked again, but the charging Confederates were not there. Only the dead and dying remained on the bloody slopes of Seminary Ridge,” wrote Corporal Robert Beecham of the 2nd WI.
Still, the rebel line continued to move forward. Ordered to retreat, Lt. Col. Rufus Dawes of the 6th WI realized that, “If we had desired to attack [C.S. Gen. Richard] Ewell's twenty thousand men with our two hundred, we could not have moved more directly toward them. We knew nothing about a Cemetery Hill. We could see only that the on-coming lines of the enemy were encircling us in a horseshoe.”

The men fought to move the artillery. Stewart relates how the pintle hook broke on a third piece. “As this happened, a party of rebels came running out of the timber adjoining, shouting: ‘Halt that piece!’ We were all completely surprised, but one of the men was fully equal to the occasion, and shouted back: ‘Don't you see that the piece is halted?’ … During all this time the enemy were firing upon us at not more than one hundred yards; and just as we got the gun out of the [railroad] cut, the enemy made a dash, this time getting within fifty or sixty yards, killing one driver and seriously wounding the wheel driver and two horses, which again caused delay. Seeing his predicament, the 88th PA "made a determined stand to save Stewart's Battery.”

Stewart rode back to check on Davison’s guns. The enemy, spotting him “shouted, ‘Surrender!’ but as I had not gone there for that purpose, I wheeled my horse and started him off as fast as he could go. … I started across the field, when the first thing I observed in front of me was a high fence, and as I could not go either to the right or left without being made a prisoner, I headed my horse for it, and he took the leap in splendid style. As he was making the jump I was struck on the thigh with a piece of shell. The shock was terrible, and I thought at first my leg was broken, but after feeling it I found the bone all right.”

Others were not as fortunate. Noticing that the fleeing Union Army was using the railroad cut as an escape route, C.S. Gen. Stephen Ramseur ordered a battery to throw shells into the cut. The fleeing men had to choose between surrender or “running the gauntlet”.

As his men chased the Federals through the town, C.S. Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived at the Thompson house on his “well-bred iron gray, Traveler”. Selected as Lee’s Headquarters, four guards were placed around the house and “half dozen tents” were set up near the house. The stone building, now within his lines, offered an elevated position with a view of the enemy that could be seen with a field glass. Lee may not have realized it, but at the end of the First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, his Army may have captured as many as 5,000 men.

Inside the house during the battle, the Widow Thompson with her daughter-in law Mary, huddled in the basement as the roar of combat engulfed her home. Previously, on June 30th, Mary gave birth to her second child, Jane Meade Thompson. Furthermore, the wounded who could, made their way to any building seeking help. Her neighbor, Catherine Foster recounts:

“[Thompson’s] house and lot were filled with wounded and dying during the first day; she remained to care for them, and had a daughter [Hannah] living at the foot of the hill, who baked up a barrel of flour into bread, which she carried up the hill to the wounded, and refused to cease doing so during the three days...until her clothes were perforated with bullets and yet she would not be dissuaded, said, ‘In God is my trust.’ All her clothes and bedding except those on her person were used in dressing the wounded and her carpets in wrapping the dead for burial. An empty stone house and fenceless yard were all that was left the widow of seventy years.”

Throughout the next few days, the house was a beehive of activity as incoming messages came for Lee and his generals and artillery was moved into position nearby. Worse, the firing of the guns before Pickett’s Charge sounded, "it seemed as if the heavens and earth were crashing together."

After the Battle, Lee’s Army crossed back over the Potomac River and the Union Army followed. Negative rumors of Lee’s personal conduct began to swirl. To get to the truth, Dr. Junkin of the Sunday School Times went to interview Thompson. The interview appeared in the Lutheran and Missionary, a Philadelphia newspaper on September 24, 1863. Thompson stated that, “she never heard any profane or improper language from him [Lee]. General [J.E.B.] Stuart was with him part of the time. The impression which she had of him was not favorable, Stuart wanted to enter Gettysburg, and burn and make an indiscriminate plunder of all property, but to this Gen. Lee would not consent. She thought Stuart was a bad man: but Lee expressed himself and acted like a humane man showing much feeling on account of the sufferings and the horrors of War.”

05089 - Frederick Douglass; African American Abolitionist [LC-DIG-cwpbh-05089]Frederick Douglass, born in 1818, was a slave for the first 20 years of his life. When he was about 12 he was taught to read by the wife of his owner. When it was discovered, the lessons were stopped, but he had learned enough that he was able to continue teaching himself. The slave owners, realizing that if slaves could read, that they could begin to understand the struggle against slavery and the abolitionists that opposed it. Douglass felt that being able to read would be important, later noting “knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom.”

Douglass began teaching others to read during church services. Soon, as many as 40 slaves at a time were taking lessons from him. For six months the lessons continued without incident until it was discovered and stopped. In 1833 he was sent to work on a farm for a man known to be hard on slaves as punishment. After several failed attempts to escape, he boarded a train in Maryland on September 3, 1838, disguised as a sailor. He was carrying papers that identified him as a free black seaman and was able to continue to New York.

Settling in New Bedford, Maryland, he lived quietly for a few years, becoming a member of several abolitionist groups. At one of these meeting when he was 23, he was asked to speak of his time as a slave. Unprepared and unsure of himself, he spoke of his personal experience and greatly moved several in attendance. Encouraged to begin lecturing, he reluctantly did so a few days later. Within two years he was touring the country providing oratory against slavery.

In 1845 he decided to write his autobiography which became a best seller not only in the U.S. but in Europe. To avoid the possibility of being recaptured as a slave, he spent two years touring England and Ireland. During this trip British supporters raised the necessary money and officially purchased his freedom from his owner. After his return to the United States, he continued writing on slavery and even expanded to women’s rights.

During the Civil War, Douglass argued that blacks should be allowed to take up arms in the fight for against slavery. He met with Lincoln to convince him. When the idea was accepted, he worked as a recruiter for the 54th Massachusetts regiment.

Following the war, he continued to support African-American causes including early attempts against the Ku Klux Klan. During this time he was appointed chargé d'affaires to the Dominican Republic for two years. In 1872, he became the first African-American nominated for Vice President on the Equal Rights Party ticket. During the 1888 campaign he even received a vote for President at the Republican National Convention. The following year he was appointed minister to Haiti.

For the rest of his life he continued to write and speak on behalf of black and women’s rights. He wrote two more versions of his autobiography and updated them periodically before his death in 1895 of a heart attack.

Thaddeus Stevens - 00460He is "the Evil Genius of the Republican Party." New York Times

Powerful congressman Thaddeus Stevens was loved or loathed in his time. His sharp tongue and rapier wit hid his idealism. He spent his career fighting to give everyone, of any race, the opportunity to flourish.

When a Louisiana senator proclaimed that slaves were "the gayest, happiest, the most contented, and the best-fed people in the world," Stevens rose on the House floor with a sarcastic proposal: "If this be so, let us give all a chance to enjoy this blessing. Let the slaves who choose, go free; and the free who choose, become slaves."

His barbs often found their mark during spontaneous repartee, rather than in letters. One day, as he was following a narrow path in Lancaster, he encountered one of his enemies, who was coming from the other direction and refused to give way. The man shouted, “I never get out of the way for a skunk.” Stevens stood aside and replied, “I always do.”

Years later, when Lincoln discussed cabinet positions with Stevens, the president inquired about Simon Cameron from Pennsylvania. Stevens implied that Cameron could be less than scrupulous in financial matters. “You don’t mean that Cameron would steal?” asked Lincoln. “No,” came Stevens’ near-instant reply, “I don’t think he would steal a red hot stove.”

It could be argued that Stevens, father of the Pennsylvania public school system, is best remembered as portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. Jones's performance was not over the top but true to life. Stevens was born with a club foot and later lost his hair due to a disease, resulting in the wearing of ill-fitting wigs. Stevens instructed his personal physician to send him the bill for any "deformed or disabled" boys he treated.

A successful attorney in Pennsylvania, Stevens invested in real estate. In 1863, as the war approached Gettysburg, Confederate General Jubal Early targeted the destruction of the Caledonia Ironworks, due to owner Stevens, "vindictiveness towards the South". The moment a messenger brought the news of the Confederates burning his mill to the ground, Stevens joking inquired, "Did they burn the debts too?"

Stevens had rented his home in Gettysburg to the Widow Thompson after moving to Lancaster. During the Battle of Gettysburg, his home became General Lee's Headquarters. The Widow Thompson reported that Lee was a gentleman but was unable to say the same for the soldiers that were with him.

In 2002, a hiding place for runaway slaves was discovered in Stevens' Lancaster, PA home. More recently, a 52 page account of O.C. Gilbert's flight from slavery was found, specifically mentioning Stevens. Early in his law career, Stevens won a case that resulted in a runaway slave being returned to bondage. Ashamed, he became committed to equal rights for African Americans.

But it was upon passage in the House of the bill authorizing the Thirteenth Amendment that Stevens uttered the words he’s best remembered for: “I will be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus, ‘Here lies one who never rose to any eminence, and who only courted the low ambition to have it said that he had striven to ameliorate the condition of the poor, the lowly, the downtrodden of every race and language and color.’”