Gettysburg: 20th Maine Dedication, 1889

Gettysburg: 20th Maine Dedication, 1889

October 3, 1889 Dedication Speech by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: A quarter of a century ago on this rugged crest you were doing what you deemed your duty. Today you come with modest main, with care more for truth than for praise, to retrace and record the simple...
Civil War Humor

Civil War Humor

The image at the top of this post is rare. Victorians seldom smiled in photographs and almost never grinned. The reason is that long exposure times for early photographic equipment meant holding a pose for an uncomfortable stretch; the slightest movement meant a...
Major Reno’s Day in Court

Major Reno’s Day in Court

Court Recorder: “State whether it was cowardice or not that prompted you to leave the timber and the bottom.” Major Reno: “There was no use in my staying in the timber as I could assist no one and could make no diversion. When I left there I acted on...
McClellan’s Last Word on the Civil War

McClellan’s Last Word on the Civil War

Considering the eventual fortunes of Ulysses S. Grant and George McClellan, the start of the American Civil War promised a very different outcome for each. Grant stated to a reporter after his presidency: “I was anxious to see McClellan. McClellan was then in...

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