Category Archives: Civil War

Part 1: Interview with Haley Aaron, Division of Special Collections graduate assistant

Editor’s Note: This interview will be posted in two parts. Check back on Wednesday for the second portion of my conversation with Haley. First off, what got you interested in special collections? My love of special collections stems from my … Continue reading

Jefferson Davis’s Namesake

In 1878, more than a decade after his faction’s defeat in the Civil War, former Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote a letter to the child of a friend, Confederate General and eventual University of Alabama President Henry De Lamar Clayton. … Continue reading

Newly Online: James A. Goble Civil War diary

Sometimes our records of historical events come to us from ordinary and relatively unknown sources. All we know about James A. Goble is that he was a soldier in the First Alabama Infantry, and that while he was born in … Continue reading

Battle of Chickamauga

“…I see a hog and black sheep dead. poor things they ought to keep away from where man meets in fearful combat. it is strange that the most intelligent beings on earth endowed with reason and sense cannot settle disputes … Continue reading

The Siege of Vicksburg

150 years ago today, Vicksburg, Mississippi. was in between two major assaults that began a more than month-long siege of the city. What began as a conflict between Gen. Grant’s Army of Tennessee and the Confederate forces of Lt. Gen. … Continue reading

Life Studies of the Great Army

One of our great small digital collections is Life Studies of the Great Army, a book of etchings depicting scenes from the Civil War. Published in 1876, it features the work of Edwin Forbes, a relatively well known landscape artist. … Continue reading

A Civil War Perspective: Benjamin Gaston

Benjamin J. Gaston served as a first lieutenant with the Independent 2nd Battalion Alabama Volunteers and as a private in the 10th Alabama Cavalry.  He wrote several letters to his parents, and sometimes his brothers and sisters, between 1859 and … Continue reading

Please Write Soon

We often think of Valentine’s Day when we think of February, but that month can be hard for people separated from their loved ones. Whether at home or abroad, soldiers have always found it difficult to be days, weeks, months … Continue reading

A Day in the Life: November 28

On this date, through the years… * 1860. Alabama. Hugh Davis laments the political tumult of his day, which in hindsight we recognize as the prelude to Civil War. Davis writes: “Revolution. Fire. Precipitation. Slaughter. How rapidly, how fearfully the … Continue reading

The Civil War’s Lyrical Battlefield

We all know the Civil War had a seismic impact on our country. Did you know that its effects trickled down to the music publishing industry? UA Libraries Special Collections has a lot of 19th and early 20th century sheet … Continue reading