Uses a variety of contemporary materials to describe and illustrate the early battles in the Civil War from the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861 to the conflict at Fredericksburg at the end of 1862.

Discusses the number of troops and casualties in each battle as well as the length and outcome of the individual campaigns.

This title focuses on key battles, such as the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Antietam, that took place during the first half of the Civil War. Critical thinking questions and two “Voices from the Past” special features help readers understand and analyze the various views people held at the time.

On January 19, 1862, Confederate and Union forces clashed in the now-forgotten Battle of Mill Springs. Armies of inexperienced soldiers chaotically fought in the wooded terrain of south-central Kentucky as rain turned bloodied ground to mud. Mill Springs was the first major Union victory since the Federal disaster of Bull Run. This Union triumph secured the Bluegrass State in Union hands, opening the large expanses of Tennessee for Federal invasion. From General Felix Zollicoffer meeting his death by wandering into Union lines to the heroics of General George Thomas, Civil War historian Stuart Sanders chronicles this important battle and its essential role in the war.

After the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861, both sides thought victory would come quickly. But they were wrong. Battle followed battle, and the death toll climbed. The North and the South were unprepared for the long bloody conflict ahead. Then the two armies met at Gettysburg, a battle that would change the course of history.

Balanced and in-depth military coverage (all theaters, North and South) in a non-partisan format with detailed notes, offering meaty, in-depth articles, original maps, photos, columns, book reviews, and indexes. Fire Zouaves at First Bull Run – 1st VA Infantry (US) in WV – Guibor’s Missouri Battery – Ship Island and War in the Gulf – interview with John Hennessey

The complete text of one of the most important speeches in American history, delivered by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln arrived at the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to remember not only the grim bloodshed that had just occurred there, but also to remember the American ideals that were being put to the ultimate test by the Civil War. A rousing appeal to the nation’s better angels, The Gettysburg Address remains an inspiring vision of the United States as a country “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”