Civil War History

In the course of history, few human events have had so compelling an effect and left such a deep mark on the nation's soul as has the Civil War. New Hampshire in the Civil War presents a unique and concise pictorial chronicle of the state's volunteer regiments that served during the four very long and costly war years. This volume includes more than 200 vivid and accurate pictures depicting heroic battles scenes, maps, camp life, and more than 40 portraits of the men who served New Hampshire in battle. These chapters contain accounts of battles from the first bombardment of Fort Sumter to the sinking of the Alabama. Also included are glimpses of camp life, with its frying pan meals of "slosh" and the illnesses accompanied by "cold clammy sweat," and of the famous Libby Prison.

As centuries turn and decades pass, many wars and major historical events fade into the national memory as bold-face words in our history textbooks. However, the Civil War is unique, in that it still remains a heavily discussed, published, and debated topic in today's society. No other war has struck such a chord in our country's consciousness, combining romantic notions of glory and chivalry with horrific images of death and devastation, both of the landscape and its people. Entire libraries of books are devoted to discussing the battles, the tactics, and machines of warfare, the strategies of notable and eccentric commanders, and the biographies of the many larger-than-life personalities conducting the war, both civilian and military. But like most wars, the Civil War was a "rich man's war, but a poor man's fight." It is the story of the common soldier's plight that is most engaging, for it is in those stories in which one sees the true effects the war had on the people and time. The Tar Heel State provided much of the manpower behind the Confederate armies and thus, sacrificed many of its fathers and sons for the Confederate cause. An eclectic scrapbook of sorts, Piedmont Soldiers and Their Families details, in word and image, the lives of some of those common soldiers and their families in Forsyth, Stokes, Surry, Yadkin, and Davidson Counties, allowing today's readers an opportunity to explore the lives of their ancestors affected by the war.

One of history's greatest naval engagements, the Battle of Hampton Roads, occurred on March 8 and 9, 1862. On the first morning, the Confederate ironclad the CSS Virginia, formerly known as the Merrimack, sank two Union wooden warships, proving the power of the armored vessels over the traditional sailing ships. The next morning, the Virginia engaged the Union ironclad USS Monitor to a draw in a battle that significantly altered naval warfare. It was the first engagement between ironclads and ushered in a new era of warship construction and ordnance. The 25, 000 sailors, soldiers and civilians who witnessed the battle knew then what history would soon confirm: wars waged on the waters would never be the same. The seemingly invincible Monitor and Virginia were experimental ships, revolutionary combinations of new and old technology, and their clash on March 9, 1862, was the culmination of over 2, 000 years of naval experience. The construction and combat service of ironclads during the Civil War were the first in a cascade of events that influenced the outcome of the war and prompted the development of improved ironclads as well as the creation of new weapons systems, such as torpedoes and submarines, needed to counter modern armored warships.