Year in Review 2020: Most-Read Posts of All Time
Before we get to our #1 post from 2020, let’s take a look at our most-read posts ever.
We’ve had a monster year on the blog this year, so a majority of our Top Ten posts from this year have also made it into the list of most-read posts ever. We’ve taken this year’s posts out of the list so you can have a look at some of the most-popular pieces from our archives.
#10: Breakthrough at Petersburg: First Man Over the Works
by Edward Alexander, posted on April 2, 2015
Charlie Gould seemed destined for adventure in his life. The young lad scarcely made it safe through his toddler years before his heroic deeds in front of Petersburg at the end of the war cause many to declare him the first Union soldier to reach the Confederate fortifications….
#9: Civil War Nurses Series: Interesting Facts about Northern Nurses
By Virginia Benson, posted on September 3, 2013
One great misconception many people have regarding nurses in both the Union and Confederacy is that they assisted the surgeons in medical procedures. This was for the most part not the case, except in rare situations in the field.
#8: In Jumping Broke My Leg: Another Look at the Lincoln Assassination Legend
A guest post by Cal J. Schoonover, posted on February 26, 2014
History says Presidential Assassin John Wilkes Booth broke his leg as he made the jump from the President’s Box to the stage, claiming Booth’s spur was caught on the red, white, and blue flag that draped the front of the area where the Lincoln party sat.
#7: Stonewall’s Great-Great Granddaughter
By Chris Mackowski, posted on March 21, 2013
One of the great benefits of this job is the opportunity to travel around and talk to different Civil War Roundtables. This week, I had the privilege to meet Bill and Corty Freeman. Corty is Stonewall Jackson’s Great-Great-Granddaughter.
#6: A Life Turned Tragic: Major Henry Rathbone and the Lincoln AssassinationA guest post by Cal J. Schoonover, posted on July 31, 2014
By the beginning of April 1865, the Civil War was slowly winding to a close and Washington D.C. was in the mood to celebrate. On the day before President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, April 13, the city of Washington had been putting on grand shows with fireworks, bonfires and torchlight parades. Most everyone had reasons to be in good mood, of course with the exception of the well- known stage actor, John Wilkes Booth.
#5: A History of Civil War Drummer Boys (Part 1)
A guest post by Michael Aubrecht, posted on July 27, 2016
Throughout the history of warfare musicians have always played an important role on the battlefield. Military music has served many purposes including marching cadences, bugle calls and funeral dirges. Fifes, bagpipes and trumpets are just some of the instruments that were used to instruct friendlies and intimidate foes. But perhaps the most notable instrument was the drum.
#4: African-Americans in the Civil War (Part 1)
By Steward Henderson, posted on November 17, 2011
African-Americans were freemen, freed men, slaves, soldiers, and slave-owners during the Civil War. As a historian, I must be objective and discuss the facts based on my research. Some of our history maybe different from how it has been previously taught, and some of it is not very pretty.
#3: War Chicken
By Meg Groeling, posted on February 20, 2012
Robert E. Lee’s image is everywhere. His silhouette is so easily recognizable that it is one of the most powerful symbols of the Confederacy. Tales are told, legends have been created concerning the love and affection his men had for him–how they would stare at their General in silence as he rode by the Southern troops, mounted on his beautiful, well-bred horse Traveler, how they would spontaneously cheer and rush toward him for any type of personal recognition possible.
#2: Reactions to Lincoln’s Death
By Ashley Webb, posted on April 15, 2015
Six days after the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln while at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC. Almost immediately, a word of mouth network began diffusing throughout the city. As news of the president’s death spread, disbelief, sorrow, and even joy crossed the minds of many Americans. Many exclaimed their opinions publicly, while others quietly expressed their grief or exultation in their letters and diaries.
#1: Meeting Grant’s Great-Great-Grandson
By Chris Mackowski, posted on September 1, 2015
Last month, while giving a talk for the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield on Grant’s Last Battle, I had the chance to meet one of Ulysses S. Grant’s descendants: great-great grandson John Griffiths.
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Now, let’s slip in our most-read posts from 2020 into our list of most-read posts of all-time. We’ll list the blog posts from this year in bold:
#19: Breakthrough at Petersburg: First Man Over the Works
#18: Civil War Nurses Series: Interesting Facts about Northern Nurses
#17: In Jumping Broke My Leg: Another Look at the Lincoln Assassination Legend
#16: Stonewall’s Great-Great Granddaughter
#15: A Life Turned Tragic: Major Henry Rathbone and the Lincoln Assassination
#14: Removal of Confederate Monuments from National Parks?
#13: Deer Discovery Atop Marye’s Heights
#12: A History of Civil War Drummer Boys (Part 1)
#11: African-Americans in the Civil War (Part 1)
#10: History vs. Memory: Statues of Stonewall Offer a Lesson
#9: War Chicken
#8: The Saga of Lt. General A.P. Hill’s Remains Continues
#7: Reactions to Lincoln’s Death
#6: Meeting Grant’s Great-Great-Grandson
#5: When a Monument Cherrypicks Its History
#4: BREAKING NEWS: Newly Discovered Map Shows Antietam Burials in Detail
#3: When a Monument Gets Its History Wrong
#2: What To Do With Lt. General A.P. Hill’s Remains?
What has been our most-read post of all time? It was also our most-read post of the year. We’ll find out next!