A long shadow: The road to Appomattox – Part 3: 1864-1865
In the third part of our series on the American Civil War, Fred Chiaventone traces the conflict’s bloody final months.
Virginia
Turning point: The road to Appomattox – Part 2: 1863
Fred Chiaventone reveals how Abraham Lincoln was forced to reorganise his forces, hoping for better results after a series of stunning reversals.
The Civil War by numbers
Infographics: Calum Henderson / Images: Wikimedia Commons
Once upon a time in America
In our Special Feature for this issue, and over the next two editions of MHM, historian Fred Chiaventone marks the 160th anniversary of the war’s end by tracing the long and painful road to Appomattox – from Southern secession to final surrender.
Jamestown Archaeology: Remains To Be Seen
REVIEW BY DENNIS B BLANTON This new book from William Kelso is in the tradition of popularised portrayals of archaeological discoveries linked to the ‘Virginia adventure’. Beginning in the 1960s, Ivor Noël Hume published several evocative, book-length accounts of studies…
Remains of lost barracks from revolutionary times uncovered in Virginia
Archaeologists have found the remains of a Revolutionary War-era barracks near the Colonial Williamsburg visitor centre in Virginia. The discovery was made during construction of a new indoor sportsground near to the centre last summer. Colonial Williamsburg is a 300-acre…
War Classics: The Red Badge of Courage
Just over 30 years after the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, a young reporter who had never heard a shot fired in anger managed to produce a literary classic that not only captured the intensity and confusion of the bitter…
This week: The American Civil War
The most important event in the history of the USA began with a disagreement – over the place of slavery in a democratic society. By the time it ended, more than 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers had given their lives…
19th-century graves linked to one of America’s oldest black churches, says analysis
‘As our community comes together to explore this important site, we hope to also reveal voices that have important lessons to teach us about our country’s roots.’
Wreck of WWI-era German submarine identified in US waters
A team of specialist divers secretly traced the final resting place of U-111.
Classical currents: Antiquity and America
The presence of ancient Greece and Rome can be felt in many places in the early history of the United States of America. Lucia Marchini speaks to Sean Burrus and Emilie Johnson to find out how Americans like Thomas Jefferson were putting antiquity to use as a new nation was forged.
The Casco-class Monitors
Following the success of USS Monitor – the ground-breaking ironclad warship, designed by Swedish-born engineer John Ericsson, that played a central role in the US Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862 – the US Navy issued…
Last surviving ‘Band of Brothers’ officer Edward Shames dies
A member of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of the Second World War.
Military history events, lectures, and exhibitions – July 2021
MHM offers a glimpse into the best military history exhibitions and experiences available to the public in July 2021, including The Tank Museum's fair and auction, and the National Army Museum's exhibit on West Indian servicemen.
Raising the dead, 1865
In June 1864, Cold Harbor was the site of a fortnight-long battle during the American Civil War.
A year later, photographer John Reekie visited the battlefield and captured pictures of men as they roamed the fields, collecting and reburying the bones of dead soldiers.
Mexican Clovis and Heavenly Hopewell
In Brian Fagan’s latest instalment of all things archaeological that are both exotic and entertaining, he reads a Jamestown tablet, gets spiritual with the Hopewell, and finds gomphotheres with Clovis points.