The Civil War Monitor

07/09/2026

In our latest digital history column, Zethyn McKinley examines the American Civil War’s effects on faraway Hawaii through its impact on the native sugar industry. Read it here:

An examination of the American Civil War's effects on faraway Hawaii through its impact on the native sugar industry.

04/09/2026

Confederate cavalry general John Hunt Morgan—the “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy”—was killed in Greeneville, TN, in 1864. Union cavalry had entered the town and surprised Morgan, who was shot while fleeing the house in which he had spent the night.

02/09/2026

“Requiem for Reconstruction: Black Countermemory and the Legacy of the Lowcountry’s Lost Political Generation” by Robert D. Bland “offers a fresh perspective on an old history,” writes Justin Behrend. Read more about it here:

A review of "Requiem for Reconstruction: Black Countermemory and the Legacy of the Lowcountry’s Lost Political Generation" by Robert D. Bland

01/09/2026

Union generals Phil Kearny and Isaac Stevens (depicted here) were killed in 1862 at the Battle of Chantilly while leading their men against Confederates under “Stonewall” Jackson, who were attempting to cut off the retreating Union army after its defeat the previous day at Second Bull Run.

31/08/2026

Discover more strange and offbeat images made during the conflict in the fourth installment of our “Odd Civil War Photos” series:

Discover more strange and offbeat images from the Civil War in the fourth installment of our 'Odd Civil War Photos' series.

30/08/2026

James Longstreet’s 25,000-man-strong corps of the Army of Northern Virginia launched the largest mass assault of the Civil War in 1862, routing John Pope’s Union army at the Second Battle of Manassas. Days later, Robert E. Lee’s began his campaign into Maryland.

26/08/2026

“The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign, February 6–16, 1862,” ed. by Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear, is “a worthwhile collection that will repay novice students of the war and seasoned scholars alike,” writes Lisa M. Chavez. Learn more here:

A review of "The Forts Henry and Donelson Campaign, February 6–16, 1862" edited by Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear.

24/08/2026

In the latest installment of her “War in the West” digital history column, Cecily Zander writes about how the Civil War’s Morrill Act embedded military training in the institutional foundations of western higher education. Read more here:

How the Civil War's Morrill Act embedded military training in the institutional foundations of western higher education.

21/08/2026

The first of seven Lincoln-Douglas debates was held in 1858. Democratic U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Abraham Lincoln, his Republican challenger, clashed mainly over the fate of slavery in the country. Lincoln would lose the election but gain national recognition.