The American Civil War

Images of the warships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia illustrate how the age of ironclads dawns during the American Civil War.

The American Civil War lasted for four years, and evolved from what people thought would be a minor conflict into an almost unbelievable bloodbath. The progress of the war is a fascinating story of strategy and campaigns, glorious victories and bitter defeats.

Photographs of the Civil War and Famous Civil War Photographers: Learn about how photography documented the Civil War and helped create lasting images of the great struggle.

Concise biography of photographer Mathew Brady, who created a visual record of the Civil War and was known for his portraits of noted Americans, including Abraham Lincoln.

America's road to Civil War stretched for decades as regional conflict, centered on the issue of slavery, threatened to split the Union. Learn about America's long road to Civil War.

Col. Elmer Ellsworth, the first Union officer killed in the Civil War, organized the Fire Zouaves, a regiment of New York City firemen, and was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. The national reaction to Ellsworth's death, which included a funeral in the East Room of the White House, says lot about America at the beginning of the Civil War.

Some people claim a forgotten law, the Morill Tariff, was the real cause of the American Civil War. Is this true? What is the real story?

Learn about the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, which began the American Civil War. While it was technically the first battle of the war, the engagement lasted little more than a day, and no one was deliberately killed.

The streets of New York erupted in shocking violence for several days in July 1863 in what became known as the New York City Draft Riots. The federal government instituting conscription for the army during the Civil War was the root cause, though other factors, such as racial and ethnic strife, certainly played a part. This gallery of images documents the horrors of the Draft Riots, in which buil…

The Union Army's Irish Brigade fought in the Civil War battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. The brigade consisted of three New York regiment and a Massachusetts regiment, and it was led by an exiled Irish revolutionary, Thomas Francis Meagher.

The Battle of Fredericksburg in mid-December 1862 was a major Confederate victory, but it wasn't so much a turning point in the Civil War as a gruesome confirmation that the war was going to be long and very costly. As the second year of the war ended, widespread optimism that it could end early faded, and citizens on both sides steeled...

The photographs of such giants as Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner are contained in the Library of Congress's collection of Civil War Photographs. Of particular interest are the photos Gardner took at Antietam in 1862, which, when displayed at Brady's Gallery in New York, caused a sensation.

The New York Historical Society boasts an enormous collection of photographs, posters and manuscripts from the Civil War. The U.S. Library of Congress showcases part of the collection at this fascinating site.

The Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 was a major battle of the Civil War and was the bloodiest day in American history.

Edmund Ruffin was a fanatical pro-slavery southerner who urged the southern states to secede from the Union. He became a symbol for the Confederacy, and was present as major historical events.

President James Buchanan faced a horrendous problem as his term came to an end after the election of Abraham Lincoln: the southern states began to leave the Union.

The Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the American Civil War. It was considered a defeat for the Union, and it destroyed any hope that the war would be short and easy.

Balloon pioneer Thaddeus Lowe offered his scientific expertise to Abraham Lincoln and became the creator of the U.S. Army's Balloon Corps during the Civil War.

Flags were enormously important in the American Civil War. Why is that? What was so special about flags that so many men died defending them on the battlefield?

Surgeons during the Civil War often amputated limbs. Why were amputations so common in the Civil War? What made Civil War wounds so destructive?

The Battle of Ball's Bluff in October 1861 was a disaster for the Union, and while it was a relatively minor battle it had consequences as it led to the creation of a powerful Congressional committee, the Joint Committee On the Conduct of the War.

Civil War Photographer Alexander Gardner shocked the nation with his historic photographs of the the 1862 Battle of Antietam. Gardner also took more portraits of Abraham Lincoln than anyone else, and could be considered a pioneer of news photography.

Out of thousands of Civil War photographs there are none taken in combat. Why? It has to do with chemistry, believe it or not.

Did the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin help to start the Civil War? Did Harriet Beecher Stowe intend to influence public opinion by writing a novel? To what extent did she influence public opinion?

A gallery of envelopes with patriotic images used during the Civil War.

The first great costly battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 shocked Americans in the North and South. The carnage at Shiloh indicated that the Civil War would probably be a long and very bloody conflict.

The history of the bugle call "Taps," which was composed and first played during the Civil War.