In a recommendation for trial written by a First Lieutenant of the 2nd U.S Colored Cavalry in early June of 1864 there is mention of Private Sylvester Ray, also of the 2nd U.S Colored Cavalry, who demanded equal pay for the African-American soldiers. In this recommendation, he states that, “he charges conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.” At this time, black soldiers made...
The Battle of Gettysburg remains the bloodiest battle in United States history. With a combined 51,112 men killed in the battle over a three day span, the momentum of the Civil War took a turn in favor of Union forces. With fallen soldiers decorating the landscape of the Gettysburg battlefield, The Republican Compiler, a Gettysburg newspaper from 1854 to 1868, published vivid details of what the battlefield...
The Burden of Defeat: The IX Corps Breaks at Gettysburg The specter of defeat seemed to hang over the military career of German immigrant and revolutionary statesman turned Republican politician and Union General Carl Schurz and bad luck stalk his every move. Poorly positioned at the extreme right flank of Hooker’s army at Chancellorsville, the Eleventh Corps, especially Schurz’s third...
On July 27, 1864, Private Richard Monnahan was discharged from G Company of the 16th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, on the day the entire regiment was mustered out. According to his discharge form from the United States Pension Office, Monnahan was 22 years old, five feet five inches tall, of dark complexion with dark grey eyes. The 16th regiment was formed in 1861 and served until July of 1864. ...
Colonel Hall’s experience in the Battle of Shiloh is unique from any common and popular knowledge of what actually took place during the battle. The general populations’ recognition of the battles in the west does not compare to their recognition of the battles in the east such as Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry. The reason is that the battles in the east took place in close proximity to some of the...