The Civil War has produced a staggering amount of fodder for literature, both fiction and nonfiction. Sorting through the good, the bad, the great, and the life-changing isn’t easy. So rather than identify the ten best Civil War novels, here’s a list of some that shouldn’t be missed. Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier (1997) One … Read more
Andrew Jackson. Our nation’s seventh president. Known as “Old Hickory” for his legendary toughness—though the original nickname coined by those under his command was simply “Hickory.” That’s one of many interesting facts about this favorite son of the South and one of American history’s more colorful figures. Here are 11 more. 1. Jackson’s birthplace is … Read more
As Dixie’s largest city, New Orleans buzzed during the Civil War with commercial, shipping, and manufacturing verve. The Union coveted it for all of the above, resulting in the Farragut-led Battle of New Orleans and subsequent Union occupation. In his upcoming tour on April 5-8, 2019, “Civil War New Orleans and the Gulf Coast,” BGES’ … Read more
It may look like any other mid-19th-century courtroom, but this third-floor room in Fort Lesley J. McNair’s Grant Hall, in Washington, D.C., is like no other. For it was here, between May and July 1865, that eight co-conspirators in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination–including a woman–were tried and convicted, and four were sentenced to death by hanging. … Read more
Interview by Barbara Noe Kennedy Andrew Jackson is one of our nation’s most colorful characters and presidents. Beloved by many for being a self-made frontiersman, he was fiery and passionate and derisive. After the War of 1812 broke out, he gave up his job as attorney to don the uniform of a major general, going … Read more
While Gettysburg and Vicksburg and other significant battles get all the attention, the Civil War was fought across the expanse of the North and South … and beyond, in places one might not expect. Here are some lesser-known Civil War sites that, while not as famous or visited as their celebrated battlefield brethren, all played … Read more