Welcome

The soldiers in blue and gray were the products of a new kind of society, and so the war they fought was different in many ways from what came before and after. Both citizen armies were composed of men who were more mobile, more literate, more deeply imbued with individualistic and anti-authoritarian impulses than any the world had seen before. Many had already experienced slavery and liberation, immigration, westward migration, and re-settlement, economic failure and revival. How did these experiences shape their character and expectations, and shape the way they fought? And, finally, what did the war do to the Americans?

Discover more about the Americans of 1860 and explore how they experienced the Civil War.

Introduction
"You Can't Imagine the Indignation"
"Seven Prisoners Make a Shadow"
"Germans under a New Flag"
"Under Siege"
"Remembrance! Remembrance of What?"