If there is any place on God’s fair earth where wickedness ‘stalketh abroad in daylight’ it is in the army.” a Confederate soldier, in a letter to his family

General William Tecumseh Sherman’s declaration that “war is all hell” was never more true than when applied to the Civil War. A long, bloody, and tiresome war for those who were pressed into service, the Civil War proved to be so stressful to many that they sought comfort from a bottle. Whether a bottle of whisky or a bottle of opium, drug and alcohol abuse was a fact of life for many during the Civil War era, and that number included several of the most renowned heroes of the war. An often overlooked fact of the war, alcohol and drug use were nevertheless an influential, if sometimes disregarded, factor in the war. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to imagine a time before television news and radio news, not to mention news on the Internet, but during the Civil War, citizens had to rely on two major sources of news – word of mouth and newspapers.

Although word of mouth was the most expedient source of news about the war, newspapers provided citizens and soldiers alike with the most detailed accounts of war that that had ever been published in America or in any other country for that matter. New printing technologies allowed newspapers and magazines alike to publish another new technology – photographs. The advent of the telegraph made news from the front lines of the war available to the press room in minutes rather than days or weeks. Newspapers provided a tangible account of a war that developed by the day. Read the rest of this entry »

Early submarines and submarine warfare were very risky operations. Many early submarines were plagued with problems and it took about 100 years from launch of the first military submarine – the Turtle in 1775 – until the first successful military mission – by the Hunley on February 18,1864.

That one event changed the face of warfare forever.

While it would still be many decades before submarines became a proven part of any naval battle strategy, it was the Hunley – with all its quirks and problems – that finally proved that submarines could make a significant different in the fate of naval warfare.

So what was the H.L. Hunley? Read the rest of this entry »

The second Battle of Franklin Tennessee in late November of 1864 took its toll on the citizens of Franklin. Many had offered their homes as hospitals for the wounded, while others had assisted with the burial of the dead. Few, however, made the sacrifices that the McGavock family of Carnton Plantation had.

Hundreds of dead had been brought to Carnton following the battle. Wounded men were placed on the Greek Revival porches of the sumptuous Carnton home, slave quarters were turned into makeshift hospital tents, and the grounds of the home were populated with tents holding injured soldiers, while others still were laid on the grounds themselves. Colonel John McGavock and his wife Carrie saw to the welfare of around 300 men in their own home-turned-hospital. Carrie McGavock and her children tended the wounded, even assisting in surgery. For months after the battle, convalescing soldiers remained in the McGavock home, recuperating under the care of the McGavock family. Read the rest of this entry »