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A Prized Memento Of The Civil Way: Joseph Abbott's "Lightning Brigade" Medal, James Brenner

Student Projects from the Archives

This silver medal commemorates Joseph N. Abbott's Civil War service with Wilder's Lightning Brigade, 1861-1865. The engraving on the reverse reads, "Jos. N. Abbott, Co. B, 98th Illinois. Dating to about 1887, these medals were features at post-war veterans' reunions.

The Failed Powder Boat Explosion During The First Attack On Fort Fisher In December 1864., Christopher Steven Carroll

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This paper attempts to provide a detailed understanding of how General Benjamin Butler's proposal to detonate an explosive laden ship to secure Fort Fisher and ultimately Wilmington, North Carolina failed because of a flawed plan, a gross failure of communication and a desire for personal glory over intelligent planning led to an embarrassing Union defeat in 1864.

Carolina Sunset, Cuban Sunrise: A Comparative Study Of Race, Class, And Gender In The Reconstructed South And Colonial Cuba, 1867-1869, Eric Walls

Madison Historical Review

The loss of the American Civil War and the consequence of Reconstruction literally turned the South on its head, profoundly altering the dynamics of race, class, and gender that previously defined antebellum Southern society. The letters of Harriet Rutledge Elliott Gonzales reveal one formerly elite South Carolina family’s struggle as they faced a new social landscape that forced them to adapt to new challenges, particularly surrounding emancipation and the drastic reversal of the norms that previously characterized Southern society that development entailed. Harriet Rutledge Elliot Gonzales never abandoned a sense of her “aristocratic” origins and “good blood,” despite the hardships …

An Unguaranteed Victory: Military Challenges In The Union Army And Lincoln’S Call For A Militia, Madelaine Setiawan

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Many have assumed that the Union victory in the Civil War was guaranteed. This research paper looks at the challenges the Union army endured that interfered with the likelihood of a victory. Men who had previously fought for the Union retreated to fight for the Confederates, which necessitated President Lincoln to expand the Union army, by calling forth volunteers of 75,000 men. The Union’s advantage of having a larger federal army and national funding did not guarantee a Union victory as the challenges President Lincoln and the Union army faced proved an equal likelihood of a Confederate victory.

Many have …

What Happened To Robert E. Lee After April 12, 1865, Katherine Hugo

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Confederate general Robert E. Lee is remembered primarily for his military leadership during the Civil War. However, the period of his post-war life is not as well studied as his military career. This paper seeks to examine his life after the war, as well as the effects of the decision to join the Confederacy.

“Broken Ground Of Which I Was Entirely Ignorant:” John C. Frémont Outclassed At Cross Keys, Ethan Zook

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

During the spring and early summer of 1862, Maj. General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and his Army of the Valley engaged several larger Union forces during a series of battles and skirmishes in the Shenandoah Valley. On June 8, 1862 at the Battle of Cross Keys, Major General John C. Frémont attacked Confederate infantry, commanded by Jackson’s subordinate Maj. General Richard S. Ewell, in an attempt to capture a strategically valuable bridge at the small town of Port Republic. Frémont was was forced to retreat when the inexperienced 8th New York Volunteer Infantry was flanked, leading to a collapse of the …

“When This Cruel War Is Over”: The Blurring Of The Confederate Battlefront And Homefront During The Civil War, Sophie Hammond

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

The line dividing the Confederate battlefront and homefront was always extremely blurred, and this blurring, though initially a source of strength, contributed significantly to the South losing the Civil War. While fighting the war, the Confederacy faced a terrible handicap which the Union did not: the vast majority of the war's battles happened on its own soil. At first, this situation galvanized Southerners. But as the war dragged on, concern for their families as well as the very real costs of war—Confederate soldiers were nearly three times as likely to die as Union soldiers—encouraged a total of around 103,000 Confederates …