On this Valentine’s Day, we remember the eloquent words of Major Sullivan Ballou whose last letter was written to his wife leading up to the battle at First Bull Run and found on his dead body after the battle. Sullivan Ballou was a prosperous attorney at...
The History of Thanksgiving in the United States In the early days of the United States, Thanksgiving was declared by Presidents George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison, but it was primarily observed on a state or territory level in the following years....
I have shared about Halloween before and since it is that time of year, I wanted to share this haunting illustration by Thomas Nast which appeared in Harper’s Weekly on July 7, 1866. Captioned “Why He Can’t Sleep,” the image shows a sleepless...
Testimony of Boston Corbett Boston Corbett served with the 16th New York and was a prisoner at Andersonville for four months. Shortly after he was exchanged in 1865, he made headlines for killing John Wilkes Booth. Later that year, on August 28, he testified against...
Acrostic Poems to Teach the Civil War An acrostic poem is a form of poetry in which the first letter of each line, when read vertically from top to bottom, spells out a word, phrase, or name. It is a creative and engaging way to express ideas, evoke emotions, and...
