During the Civil War, thousands of former slaves joined with the U.S. Army as they were liberated from the homes and plantations where they were enslaved. Although many of these freed men and women would be relocated, there were men among them who joined the Army, and women among them who [...]

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. U.S. Constitution, Article One, Section Nine
The right of a prisoner to know the charges upon which he has been imprisoned is one of the [...]

A boastful man of questionable morals, and one of the more irascible figures of the Civil War era, Union General Joseph Hooker also gained a reputation as an officer beloved by his men but reviled by almost everyone else.
Born in Massachusetts, Joseph Hooker attended the United States Military Academy, graduating in [...]

The modern U.S. army has a wide array of food products available to them in base camps and in the field. There are a large number of MREs (which are actually quite tasty) and other portable foods available to them when on missions and when stationed in hostile terrain. And when posted at an established [...]

The Confederacy was between a rock and a hard place in 1863. Lee was being thwarted in the East, while Vicksburg was besieged to the West. Perhaps a diversion was needed, something to create havoc on the border and in the North, and distract Federal troops. [...]

It seemed to be an established fact that George McClellan was one of, if not the most ineffectual officer produced by either the Union or the Confederacy during the Civil War. Yet recently, some historians have begun to re-examine the legacy of McClellan, on the basis [...]

The Civil War began as an exercise of patriotism. The new Confederacy had no army to speak of, and hence had to depend on volunteers. The Federal Army was woefully undermanned, and President Abraham Lincoln issued a request for volunteers as soon as it was determined [...]

For soldiers on the march during the Civil War, fresh food was often a delicacy that had to be obtained by less than honest means. Yet Confederate General Robert E. Lee was guaranteed one fresh egg every day, but this honor was not due to the [...]

“It’s all a damned mess! And our two armies ain’t nothing but howling mobs!”
- A captured Confederate private gave this description of the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864.
By 1864 it was clear that General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia were a [...]

Relieved of his command of the V Corps after the debacle at Second Bull Run, Fitz John Porter was demoted, while the disgraced General Pope was sent to Minnesota to put down the Dakota Uprising. However, Pope kept up with his powerful friends in Washington - [...]