Civil War News

12/18/2025

In early printing presses, capital letters were stored in a case placed above the smaller letters, which were kept below — a simple setup that literally gave us the terms “uppercase” and “lowercase.”

12/17/2025

Just transcribed a letter by Martin G. Modie of Co. G, 121st Ohio Infantry. The letter was datelined from Franklin, TN, where the regiment was bivouacked in May 1863 working on the fortifications about town and skirmishing with the enemy. It was written on patriotic stationery with an image depicting Gen. James Shields---somewhat rare I believe. Shields was a controversial character who once challenged Abraham Lincoln to a duel and there is a compelling documentary on him here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPJxv5fkFJo

To read the letter I've transcribed, see: https://sparedshared23.com/2025/12/17/1863-martin-g-modie-to-george-w-modie/

12/16/2025

Group of Artillery officers on Battlefield of Antietam. Sept. 1862.
Lt. Rufus King, Lt. Alonzo Cushing, Lt. Evan Thomas and three other officers. Courtesy the Library of Congress. Original black & white and colorized version for comparison.

About Lt. Alonzo Cushing

FIRST LIEUTENANT ALONZO H. CUSHING
BORN
January 19, 1841
HOMETOWN
Fredonia, New York
COMMISSIONED
U.S. Military Academy, June 1861
BRANCH
Artillery
UNIT AT TIME OF ACTION
Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, II Corps, Army of the Potomac
MAJOR BATTLES
Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg
Alonzo Hereford Cushing was born on Jan. 19, 1841, in Delafield, Wisconsin, and was raised in Fredonia, New York. Cushing was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1857. Upon graduation in June 1861, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Cushing participated in most of the campaigns and battles of the Army of the Potomac, to include Bull Run (Virginia), Antietam (Maryland), Fredericksburg (Virginia), Chancellorsville (Virginia), and Gettysburg (Pennsylvania). Cushing also trained volunteer troops in Washington, D.C., served as an ordnance officer on the staff of Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, and as a topographical engineer. During the Chancellorsville Campaign, Cushing was promoted to command Battery A, 4th United States Artillery, in the Army of the Potomac's II Corps.
Cushing was killed in action on July 3, 1863, at the age of 22. Although he received a posthumous brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel for his service at the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 1, 1863, no award was awarded to Cushing for his efforts during that critical day of battle. He was buried with full honors at his alma mater, West Point, beneath a headstone inscribed, "Faithful unto death."

12/15/2025

See everyone there!

12/15/2025

Upcoming Civil War Show. Watch for details.

12/15/2025

12/15/2025

Fort Sumter, 1865

Inside the Fort Where the War Began

By April 1865, Fort Sumter was little more than a shattered brick shell. Cannonballs lay stacked inside the ruined interior, mute witnesses to four years of artillery fire. This small island fort, whose guns opened the Civil War in April 1861, endured repeated bombardments that turned masonry into rubble and parade grounds into debris fields.

These postwar images show more than destruction—they show endurance. Gunners lived beside their pieces, repaired damage under fire, and held Charleston Harbor long after the fort’s military value had faded. Sumter became a symbol, and symbols are often fought over hardest.

When the war ended, the scars remained. The walls told the story better than any report.

12/12/2025

On the first day of Cairo Christmas, the gunboat gave to me
A recovered canister shot from the river’s history.

Day 1 begins with a small but powerful artifact.

This metal canister shot, recovered during the USS Cairo salvage, once held iron balls packed inside the gunboat’s cannons. When fired, it burst outward like giant grapeshot, designed to tear through enemy vessels and fortifications on the Mississippi River.

Each piece we share this season helps tell the story of the Cairo, her crew, and the day she sank beneath the Yazoo River.

NPS Photo: VICKC 5129
A cylindrical canister shot with handle, recovered from the USS Cairo.

12/10/2025

Order by December 13 and receive in time for Christmas! See link in description.

12/08/2025

Tim Prince talks about a rare Tranter revolver. For more information about this type of Civil War era revolver, see the link in the comments.