The Bowie List is a valuable resource that records the burial locations of Confederate soldiers who fought and died in Maryland during the Battles of Antietam, South Mountain, and Monocacy during the American Civil War. The Battle of Antietam was the deadliest one-day battle in American history. It became a mass casualty event, with 22,000…
Approximately one in four soldiers who enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War were immigrants to the United States. They came to America looking for a better life, with many escaping political strife, famine, and persecution. America was viewed as a land of opportunity, offering freedom and a place to begin a new…
In April 1865, some 2,000 passengers, mostly Union soldiers, boarded the Sultana in Vicksburg, MS. The soldiers had recently been released from prison camps, including Andersonville and Cahaba. Weary and tired, they had begun the arduous trek home following the end of the Civil War. The 260-foot-long wooden, side-wheel steamboat, designed to hold 376 passengers,…
We are pleased to announce the addition of records for soldiers who resided in National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938. This free collection contains records for twelve National Homes where disabled soldiers and sailors could live following the Civil War. During the Civil War, many benevolent and philanthropical groups ran soldiers’ homes where disabled…
During the Civil War, regiments were often raised in communities where soldiers knew one another. It was common for brothers, cousins, and even fathers and sons to serve in the same company. Recently, we came across an 1883 newspaper article about the extraordinary sacrifice of the Moore family from Pennsylvania. Dr. James and Harriet Barton…
During the Civil War, more than 400,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were held at prisoner-of-war camps, with a tragic death toll of 56,000. Among these captives was a Confederate soldier with a remarkable tale of escape from Point Lookout POW camp in Maryland. Thirty-six years later, this soldier embarked on a journey to revisit the…
Sydney Herbert Davies is a veteran of the Civil War. Still, this soldier has the unique distinction of having served in three different nations – Great Britain, the United States, and New Zealand. Born in Dorset, England, in 1838, Davies was the eldest son of Royal Navy Admiral George Davies and Julia Hume Davies. Following…
