Evan Portman
Evan Portman has been passionate about history for as long as he can remember. He has enjoyed reading, writing, speaking, and learning about the Civil War ever since he took a trip to Gettysburg as a seven-year-old. Evan majored in history and secondary education at Saint Vincent College and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Duquesne University.
After serving as an intern with the American Battlefield Trust education department, he now works as a video editor helping to create the Trust’s educational content. Evan enjoys speaking at a variety of Civil War roundtables and serves as a continuing education instructor for the Penn-Trafford Area Recreation Commission. In addition to Emerging Civil War, Evan also writes for the Westmoreland County Historical Society and the Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Evan’s research interests include German American, Catholic, and Pittsburgh connections to the Civil War. He now has his own YouTube channel dedicated to exploring lesser-known sites and of the Battle of Gettysburg.
A full listing of Evan’s Emerging Civil War articles can be found here.
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Evan is also a member of the Emerging Civil War Speakers Bureau. His available presentations are listed below:
The Eleventh Corps at Gettysburg
By June of 1863, the Eleventh Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac was considered an inept fighting force by many in the army. Comprised of many German and European immigrants, the corps fell victim to Stonewall Jackson’s flank attack in the Battle of Chancellorsville. By an ironic twist of fate, they again found themselves on the flank of the Union army at Gettysburg, exposed and outnumbered by an advancing Confederate force. Yet, their story is one of both failure and triumph as they took part in the three days of bloody fighting.
The Old Man and His War Horse: Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet
General Robert E. Lee and his second-in-command, General James Longstreet, were the architects of Confederate victories throughout the war. A dependable soldier, Longstreet was at Lee’s side from his ascension to command to the final days at Appomattox. This lecture examines the generals’ military relationship, their personal bond, as well as their reputations after the war.
Coastal Engagements of the Civil War
In addition to the fighting in both the Eastern and Western Theaters, the American Civil War saw consistent action along the Southern coasts as a means of constricting the Confederacy into submission. These engagements include Fort Pulaski, the Siege of Charleston, the Siege of Port Hudson, the Battle of Mobile Bay, and the blockade of Wilmington. This presentation discusses the strategies involved in such battles as well as their overall influence in the Confederacy’s ultimate defeat.
The Armies After Gettysburg
The story of the battle of Gettysburg often ends with the triumphant repulse of Pickett’s Charge. However, in the months after the battle, the Union and Confederate armies faced more challenges on their march back to Virginia and the lull between campaigns. This time would prove crucial as both armies licked their wounds and reorganized for the dramatic third act of the war. Learn about these events as well as what soldiers wrote and said about the battle of Gettysburg in the days and months after it happened.
The Seven Days Battles
By midsummer of 1862, Union armies were achieving victory on most fronts of the war. However, seven crucial days in late June and early July temporarily turned the tide in favor of the Confederacy. This climactic conclusion to Union General George B. McClellan’s lengthy Peninsula Campaign would inaugurate a new Confederate threat that persisted until the final days of the war: Robert E. Lee. Learn about the six consecutive engagements, known as the Seven Days Battles, that catapulted the Army of northern Virginia and its commander to fame.
