Civil War Chronicles

09/26/2025

Civil War Chronicles was recently in Harper's Ferry. We were fortunate to find the final resting place of a lesser known marine who bravely lost his life.

Private Luke Quinn was an Irish immigrant who enlisted for 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1855 as tensions continued to grow between the states.

On October 16, 1859, he became the only Marine killed in action during John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. Quinn was struck by a rifle ball in the abdomen while storming the engine house with U.S. Marines under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee and Lt. J.E.B. Stuart. Quinn was 24 years old.

A simple monument stands on Potomac Street in Quinn's memory. He was buried in St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Cemetery in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. His grave is marked with a simple headstone noting his service, and today it remains a reminder of both the Marine Corps’ role in suppressing John Brown’s raid and the deep divisions that led to the Civil War.

09/17/2025

September 17, 1862 – The Battle of Antietam unfolded near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Known as the bloodiest single day in American history, more than 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing after 12 hours of brutal combat.

Union forces under General George McClellan clashed with General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in what became the first major battle of the Civil War fought on Northern soil.

Though tactically inconclusive, Antietam gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, reshaping the war into a fight not only for Union but also for freedom.

08/29/2025

The Second Battle of Manassas (Second Bull Run) took place August 28–30, 1862 in northern Virginia between Union forces under Major General John Pope and Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee. The battle opened on August 28 when Stonewall Jackson struck a Union column near Groveton. On August 29, Pope launched repeated assaults against Jackson’s defensive position along the unfinished railroad, including a bayonet charge by Brig. Gen. Cuvier Grover’s brigade, but none succeeded in breaking the Confederate line.

On August 30, with Jackson still firmly in place, James Longstreet’s wing arrived and launched a massive counterattack that overwhelmed the Union left, sending Pope’s army into retreat. Union losses totaled about 14,000 casualties, while Confederate losses were around 8,000. The Confederate victory forced the Union back toward Washington and opened the way for Lee’s first invasion of the North, culminating at Antietam the following month.

08/11/2025

CWC spent some time down in West Virginia over the weekend and managed to stop at a few interesting locations. Included here are the first battle of the Civil War at Philippi and Clarksburg the birthplace of Stonewall Jackson.

08/05/2025

The Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5,1864 marked a pivotal day in Civil War history. Now, Union Admiral David Farragut led his fleet into the heavily mined harbor and launched an assault on Fort Morgan. He secured a major Union victory and sealed off one of the Confederacy’s last vital ports. It was during this bold attack that Farragut famously shouted: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”—a phrase that would echo through history as a symbol of fearless leadership.

07/31/2025

Arabella Griffith Barlow was laid to rest on this date in 1864. She was just 40 years old.

The devoted wife of Union General Francis Channing Barlow, Arabella answered her country’s call in her own way—through service in the U.S. Sanitary Commission. It was a role born not only of patriotic duty, but of love, allowing her to remain close to her husband amid the turmoil of war.

Arabella’s presence near the battlefield proved crucial during some of the war’s darkest hours. In the bloody clashes at Antietam and Gettysburg, General Barlow was gravely wounded—both times believed to be mortally so. Yet it was Arabella’s tireless, tender care that saved him. Her love and devotion were his salvation.

In a tragic turn of fate, though both wounds were feared fatal, it was Arabella—not her husband—who gave her life for the cause. Weakened by months of unrelenting service under harrowing conditions, she contracted typhoid fever while nursing soldiers - sick, wounded and dying. She died on July 27, 1864, having given everything—mind, heart, and body—to those in need.

Her sacrifice was quiet, but no less heroic.

07/30/2025

Wishing our content contributor, Lee McGinnis, a very happy birthday!

Photo from some Rev War nerding in Lexington, Massachusetts.

07/27/2025

Around 11 o’clock in the morning on July 27, 1864, in quiet dignity, Arabella Wharton Griffith Barlow drew her last breath—lost not to war’s violence but to the quiet sacrifice of service. She succumbed to gastric fever, a final price paid for tireless work with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, tending to wounded and sick soldiers with unwavering devotion.

Arabella gave not only her strength but her very life in service to others. In a war that too often forgot the names of women who bore its burdens, hers endures. She was not only the beloved wife of General Francis C. Barlow but a quiet force of compassion, intellect, and courage in her own right.

She did not seek glory. She sought to heal—and in doing so, became unforgettable.

07/26/2025

Civil War Chronicles was out and about early.

Where's your favorite sunrise battlefield spot?

07/07/2025

July 7, 1865

07/03/2025

Gettysburg – Day 3, July 3, 1863

The final and most infamous day: Pickett’s Charge. Over 12,000 Confederate soldiers surged across open fields toward the Union center on Cemetery Ridge—only to be repelled in a brutal and decisive Union victory. The “high-water mark” of the Confederacy was met… and broken. As night fell over the fields of Gettysburg thousands of dead and wounded scattered the once tranquil town in Adams County, Pennsylvania.

07/02/2025

If interested in learning more about Francis Channing Barlow beyond July 1, 1863, please listen to our very own, AQ, Andrea M Quinn, and her guest appearance on the Civil War Breakfast Club Podcast.

Podcast Episode · Civil War Breakfast Club · 06/28/2025 · 1h 20m