The wrong way to make a mark on history
Category: Civil War
From the Pension Files: the Story of Stephen Twombley
Today's post was written by Catherine Brandsen, Innovation Hub Coordinator at the National Archives in Washington, DC. In the spring of 1864, a white Private named Stephen Twombley of the 1st Maine Cavalry was taken prisoner by Confederates. While being transported on train cars to Andersonville Prison, Twombley jumped from the train and escaped into … Continue reading From the Pension Files: the Story of Stephen Twombley
The World Reacts to the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Again.
In the aftermath of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, the Department of State received a cascade of condolences and expressions of grief from around the world. Those messages came from government officials, major institutions, newspapers, and private citizens. Subsequently, the Department published those communications as an appendix to the then-new … Continue reading The World Reacts to the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Again.
Memorializing James Longstreet, 1941
In 1941, Helen Dortch Longstreet, widow of Confederate general James Longstreet, and the the Longstreet Memorial Association were planning for the placement of a memorial to the general on the Gettysburg battlefield. That organization had been “organized on the Gettysburg field by the Veterans of Longstreet’s command during the seventy-fifth anniversary celebration of the battle” … Continue reading Memorializing James Longstreet, 1941
Under the Water, Through the Mountain, Deep Underground – Records of Tunnels in the National Register of Historic Places
Payette River Scenic Byway - Payette River Rail Tunnel (National Archives Identifier 7721000) Growing up in New York, we would frequently travel through the Lincoln Tunnel, connecting Manhattan with New Jersey. There is a scene in the Stephen King book, The Stand, where characters escape New York by making their way across the roofs of … Continue reading Under the Water, Through the Mountain, Deep Underground – Records of Tunnels in the National Register of Historic Places
BENEATH HIS SHIRT SLEEVES: Evidence of Injury, Part II
Tintype Images of Wounded Civil War Union Soldiers from Pension Application Files in the U.S. National Archives This is the second of two posts about personal tintype images of wounded soldiers in the Civil War Pension Application Files from the Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Record Group 15). **Please note that the following … Continue reading BENEATH HIS SHIRT SLEEVES: Evidence of Injury, Part II
BENEATH HIS SHIRT SLEEVES: Evidence of Injury
Tintype Images of Wounded Civil War Union Soldiers from Pension Application Files in the U.S. National Archives **Please note that the following post contains graphic images that may be disturbing to some readers.** This is the first of two posts about personal tintype images of wounded soldiers in the Civil War Pension Application Files from … Continue reading BENEATH HIS SHIRT SLEEVES: Evidence of Injury
Help is on the Way! Hospitals in the Records of the National Register of Historic Places
Car of Hospital Train (NAID 138926016) Much has been written over the past two years about the first responders who have performed so admirably and nobly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Doctors and nurses caring for so many Americans as people suffered, and in too many cases, succumbed to the virus. There are more than 8,000 … Continue reading Help is on the Way! Hospitals in the Records of the National Register of Historic Places
New Web Page for Digitized U.S. Navy Logs Through 1940
Images of the USS Bear, USS Jeannette, and the USS Monitor from NOAA and US Naval History and Heritage Command Imagine the ability to time travel virtually from the comfort of your home as you read on your computer or cell phone about: an Arctic rescue mission as it unfolded on the deck of the U.S.S. … Continue reading New Web Page for Digitized U.S. Navy Logs Through 1940
Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Why William Carman’s Tintype Was in His Widow’s Pension File
Today’s post is by Jackie Budell, Archives Specialist at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This is the final of three posts about tintype images in the Civil War Pension Application Files from the Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (Record Group 15). Photographic image from the approved pension application file of Emeline Carman, … Continue reading Civil War-Era Personal Tintypes Exposed: Why William Carman’s Tintype Was in His Widow’s Pension File