The 1936 Garand rifle was a military issued weapon that made its greatest contribution during World War II. Also known as the M1 Garand it was a gas operated, bolt action rifle that was massed produced for the military by subcontracted companies located across the country. The original design of the bolt that made this weapon uniquie was created by none other than a prisoner who developed the idea...
With hostilities breaking out between Confederate and Union forces in the east, a secessionist uprising in California was feared. In command of the U.S. Army’s Department of The Pacific, was Col. Albert S. Johnston; an adopted Texan with questionable loyalties. Believing that Johnston posed a risk to Union control in California, General Winfield Scott dispatched Brigadier General E. V. Sumner to...
 John Jacob Oswandel from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, would go on to serve in the field in the volunteer army. He and an associate, Louis Bymaster, traveled to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania to register for military service on 12 December 1846. After meeting with Captain William F. Small of Company C, First Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, they were filed and sent off by ship for training. After being deemed...
The full story of the Civil War is not complete without mentioning the role that the African Americans played. To this day, there are southern heritage groups that see the Confederate flag as a symbol of honor and sacrifice. In the late-nineteenth century, such perceptions helped to “revise” history to exclude or at least minimize the centrality of African Americans and slavery as part of the United...
Harry T. Hays was the Brigadier General of the feared Louisiana Tigers.  During the Civil War, the Tigers gained a reputation in the North as one of the fiercest Southern brigades. The Tigers are best known for their tremendous efforts at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where Hays said they, “advanced through the city of Gettysburg, clearing it of the enemy and taking prisoners at every turn.” The...
At eleven o’clock on the morning following Christmas Day, 1862, General Braxton Bragg of the Confederate Army forced his Company E, 6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment (part of the commonly denoted “Orphan Brigade”) to stand round their fellow soldier, Asa Lewis, who awaited execution. Exactly one hour later the firing squad of twelve men carried out the young soldier’s sentence. As Lewis’ body,...
In the spring of 1834, the South Carolina court of appeals heard numerous cases none more prominent than a case on Military law determining whether newly appointed Lieutenant Edward McCready’s rights were infringed upon when he was denied commission by a superior officer, Colonel Benjamin F. Hunt. Presiding over the cases at Law argued and determined in the Court of Appeals of South Carolina at...
The battle of Gettysburg will be remembered as one of the deadliest battles in American history. Over 46,000 Americans were either wounded, killed, or captured in three days of fighting. One moment, occurring on the last day of the battle, stands out from the rest. Pickett’s charge, which took place on the third and final day of the battle, is considered to be one on the biggest military blunders...
The concept of enemy prisoner of war camps was a new idea at the time of the American Civil War. Previously soldiers that surrendered on the battlefield were often paroled. These soldiers were expected to return home and lay down their arms. However, often these men would return home then reenlist and fight the enemy again. Armies recognizing this problem placed punishments on soldiers who were captured...
The veteran soldiers geared for the attack, confident in their strategy and ability, ready to accept nothing less than success. As the enemy forces approached and the men “spearheaded the charge” with all that they had, it quickly became evident that it was not going to be enough. The “Union artillery opened” on the Confederates’ “parade-ground ranks” and the group suffered greatly...