Trapped in a time of war, the Christmas spirit may be imperiled, but the longing for peace lingers. So it was during the Civil War.

Four months after the battle, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to dedicate the cemetery for the Union soldiers who were killed there. In a mere 272 words, Lincoln captured the meaning of the war, its importance to the nation, and the responsibility of its citizens to ensure that those […]

In December, 1862, General Ambrose Burnside ordered the Union Army to cross the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to attack the Confederate forces led by Robert E. Lee. The largest battle of the war, with more than 200,000 soldiers participating, Fredericksburg was the first to require a river crossing at […]

Maine’s 16th Volunteer Infantry Regiment, one of the 15 Maine units engaged in the battle of Gettysburg from July 1st through the 3rd in 1863, participated in what came to be known as the pivotal battle of the American Civil War. The 16th’s efforts, in many ways, helped decide the […]

Attacked by Confederate soldiers from Alabama and Texas throughout the late afternoon and evening on July 2, 1863, Col. Joshua Chamberlain and the men of the 20th Maine hold their ground, then, outnumbered and out of ammunition, charge down the hill and break the attack. Little Round Top remains under […]

Maine’s 5th Artillery Battery, under the command of Greenleaf Stevens, arrives at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 and is immediately ordered to a position beside the Lutheran Seminary, where the Maine men join with artillery batteries from Pennsylvania and New York to try to slow the advance of the Confederate […]