Civil Wars Story Briefs

When Americans disagreed on the power of individual states to control their respective governments and institutions, they fought a war, between themselves, during 1861 to 1865. Other countries have also fought "civil wars." These stories focus on those people, places and events.

Jefferson Davis - President of The Confederate States of America - first took office as a provisional leader. He was elected to the position on Novemb...

John Wilkes Booth died four hours after Sgt. Boston Corbett shot him at Garrett's farm.

Riding a very fast roan mare, which he'd rented earlier in the day, John Wilkes Booth escapes from Ford's Theatre, is on the run for 12 days and final...

Lewis Payne is arrested on April 17, 1865, three days after President Lincoln was shot. His fate is now sealed, after his attempted assassination of t...

Lewis Thornton Powell was born in Alabama, lived in Florida and served as a Confederate soldier. He became a "Lincoln Conspiracy" Defendant.

Do you know the background of "Little Women?" Meet Louisa May Alcott and learn how she based her still-famous story on her real-life family.

Lt. Col. Joshua Chamberlain, from Maine, was an officer in the Union army during the Civil War.

This clip recreates the trial of Major Henry Wirz who was the superintendent of a prisoner-of-war camp - located in Andersonville, Georgia - at which ...

Harper's Weekly reported the massacre at Lawrence, Kansas (which took place on August 21, 1863) in its September 5th issue.

Six days after the United States elected Abraham Lincoln to serve as America''s 16th President, South Carolina held a meeting to endorse a call from t...

On the fourth Monday of May, Americans honor those who have died for their country. Hear a bugler playing "Taps," and learn about the history of this ...

This drawing, depicting the Battle of Monroe, is from the August 17, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly.

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