Few military commanders in U.S. history have reached the notoriety and adulation achieved by William Tecumseh Sherman. But not everyone is aware of some of Sherman’s personal struggles. For example, this Southern leader resigned his first commission in 1853 to enter for a spell the field of banking; and he thought about leaving the Army … Read more
In our studies of the Civil War, we often focus on the pivotal importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, its strategies and tactics that ended the Confederate’s chance for a quick victory in the North. But how did the armies get there in the first place? Acclaimed historian Bert Dunkerly, who leads BGES’ “Great Invasion, … Read more
On April 25, 2019, BGES celebrates 25 fantastic years of fronting Civil War education and preservation. In that time, we’ve scoured related sites both large and small with our premier study tours, and branched off into other important areas of American history as well. We’ve launched some important legacy preservation projects, grown our Wounded Warrior … 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
Williamsburg flaunts its colonial heritage, and rightly so–it served as the capital of the Virginia Colony between 1699 and 1780. But after the state government moved to Richmond in 1780, the old colonial capital fell into decay. Civil War came to its doorsteps in 1862, as part of the Peninsula Campaign, in which General George … Read more
Neither the North nor the South had much of a navy before the Civil War. But at the war’s outbreak, both sides realized the strategic importance of the sea, to cut off supply routes, control rivers, and support land operations. One of the greatest developments? The ironclad ship, which could fend off explosive shells capable … Read more