Showing results for "Mexican American War"

“I Felt Keenly All the Horrors of War”: Psychological Experiences of Civil War Generals During the Mexican War

There is no shortage of connections between the Mexican War (1846-48) and the American Civil War. When Lee and Grant met at Appomattox in April 1865, the two adversaries eased the tension by evoking memories of the Mexican War. Lee and Grant were just two of the 336 of 1,008 Civil War generals (33%) who […]

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The Trust’s 2019 Teacher Institute: Where was the Civil War Won?

Once upon a time, in a decade not our own, a young “emerging” historian wrote a thesis paper for his master’s degree at Norwich University. The paper examined the eastern theater and the western theatre and asked, “Where was the Civil War won?” In 2013, that thesis served as the basis for an extended blog […]

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A Saintly Civil War Veteran: Brother Joseph Dutton

By the age of 40, former Union lieutenant Ira Barnes Dutton felt disgusted with how he had spent most of his twenties and thirties in sin. To atone for these misdeeds, he decided to devote his remaining years to helping others. Once he read about Father Damien’s selfless work among Hawaiian lepers banished to the […]

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Railroads – Riding the Rails: Union Soldiers Experience Train Transport in the Civil War

As Leander Stillwell was penning his Civil War reminiscences in the nineteen-tens, the Mexican Revolution was raging across the border. It was a time of heightened tension in the American Southwest, and a recent stir regarding the shuttling of American troops southward caught Stillwell’s attention. He reported: At the time I am now writing, about […]

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Slaves and Sailors in the Civil War

The enlistment of African Americans as soldiers in the United States Army during the Civil War is a well-examined topic, but less appreciated is the story of freedmen and former slaves as sailors in the navy. Wartime experiences of these men (and a few women) are as distinct as the environments—ashore or afloat—in which they […]

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The Final Resting Place of Lee’s “Old Warhorse”

Gainesville, Georgia, a town of 36,306 people at the last census, sits in North Georgia  perched on the banks of Lake Lanier and straddling Interstate-985. Yet, in this Georgia town, lie the remains of James Longstreet, affectionately known during his life-time as “Pete” or during the American Civil War as Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s  […]

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The Awkward Meeting of Richard Taylor, Edward Canby and Peter Osterhaus

Today, we are pleased to welcome back guest author Sean Michael Chick In considering the ways Americans have debated the American Civil War, its meaning and influence, one particular illustrative episode can be found in Richard Taylor’s eloquent memoir Destruction and Reconstruction. Taylor was the son of Zachary Taylor, serving on his staff in the […]

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Book Review: “War With Mexico! America’s Reporters Cover The Battlefront”

Looking for a unique, historical angle on the Mexican-American War? Ever wondered when American war journalism “began”? “War With Mexico! America’s Reporters Cover The Battlefront” by Tom Reilly, edited by Manley Witten is an excellent book to add to your bookshelf (or borrow from a library).

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Showing the White Feather”: The Civil War Ordeal of Col. William H. Christian

We are happy to welcome guest author Kristen M. Trout. Kristen is a life-long student of the Civil War,  and holds a degree in History from Gettysburg College and is currently working towards her MA in Nonprofit Leadership from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of Wildwood, Missouri, she has worked in the National […]

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