“driven from their homes by the disloyal Indians . . .”
Native Americans were caught between the Union and the Confederacy, and the loyalties of several tribes were split. In this letter, U.S. Commissioner of Indian...
Eager to serve
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduated enough professional officers each year to staff a peacetime army<&ndash> but not nearly enough for the...
George Henry Thomas
A pro-union Virginian, many southerners considered Major General Thomas a traitor for fighting against the South. His family turned his portrait to the wall, burned...
John McAllister Schofield
During the Civil War, Major General Schofield commanded the Union Army of the Frontier, the Army of the Cumberland, and the Army of the Ohio. He also commanded the...
Lincoln’s difficult general
Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan snubbed and acted insubordinately toward President Lincoln on numerous occasions. Lincoln suffered the insults as long as McClellan...
New lyrics for an old song
The original lyrics of “The Battle Cry of Freedom” were written by George Root and supported the Union. Composer H. L. Schreiner and lyricist W. H. Barnes adapted...
No guns for black men
G. P. Miller, a black physician from Michigan, wrote this letter to U.S. Secretary of War Simon Cameron in October 1861. He proposed to raise a regiment of “sharp...