America at War

In this episode we finish telling the story of the naval contributions to the Civil War. The story concentrates on the campaigns to close the final Confederate ports open to blockade runners - Charleston, South Carolina, Mobile, Alabama, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The naval forces of both sides made important contributions to their respective war efforts.  Have a question, comment, or complim...

One of the more compelling stories of the Civil War was the journey to freedom that many freedmen took. Beginning in 1862, and accelerating in 1863, many men of color took up arms to help defeat the insitution that had enslaved them. They made important contributions to the war effort, though faced many challenges - low pay, raical barriers, and threats of re-enslavement from the Confederate gover...

In our last episode we spoke of Chickamauga. In this episiode, we speak to its sibling, the battle of Chattanooga. General Rosecrans may have captured Chattanooga, but was summarily trapped by Braxton Bragg. Not satisfied with Rosecran, he was relieved and replaced with General Grant. Grant improved the supply situation and planned to dislodge Bragg and break his siege. His subordinate generals at...

As Meade battled Lee at Gettysburg, Grant captured Vicksburg, and William Rosecrans was wrestling with Braxton Bragg in Tennessee. For the better part of the 1863 campaign season, Rosecrans was far too slow in making his moves. While Rosecrans was able to maneuver Bragg out of Chattanooga, Rosecrans split up his army, providing an opportunity for Bragg to attack. Bragg put Rosecrans in his place a...

We have come to the last day of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. The third day was dominated by the event known as Pickett's Charge. General Lee was convinced that a final push at the center of General Meade's line would destroy the Army of the Potomac. Unfortunately, it was wishful thinking. Despite the bravery of the men moving forward, the assualt failed. We spend the remainder of the episode explorin...

We continue the story of Gettysburg, focusing on the afternoon of the second day. With Dan Sickles Third Corps exposed, Longstreet's Corps hit the Union line, endangering Meade's defensive scheme. Despite pushing them back, they failed to break the line. On the far right of the Union line, a poorly coordinated attack failed to make any inroads. Lee was primed to attack on the third and final day o...

In this episode we turn the page to the beginning of the second day of the battle of Gettysburg. As units of the Army of the Potomac concentrated south of Gettysburg, Meade recognized the advantages his position afforded and remained on the defense. Lee, not having a full picture of Meade's army, thought that a second day of attacks, along both flanks, would break Meade's position. As the day unfo...

In this episode we provide an overview of what we accomplished in 2020 and what you all can look forward to in 2022! Take a listen. Have a question, comment, or compliment? Contact us at americawarpodcast@gmail.com . You can also leave comments and your questions on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/americaatwarpodcast/ . Thanks for listening!  

Let's move on to the afternoon of the first day at Gettysburg. While troops from the Army of the Potomac sucessfully stopped the initial probes of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, it came at a tremendous cost. Corps Commander John Reynolds was dead and his command paid a high price for success. With the coming of the afternoon, the Confederates pressed their attack on Seminary Ridge and...

In this episode we focus on the morning of the first day at Gettysburg. Robert E. Lee and George Meade hoped that their actions would entice the other side to battle. In fact, it became a meeting engagement as the leading elements of both armies bumped into each other at Gettysburg. Rather than retreat from adversity, Henry Heth attacked, committing the Army of Northern Viriginia to the offensive....

We are continuing the story of Gettysburg. As Robert E. Lee headed north, the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac, Joe Hooker, was in trouble. In a whispering campaign in the aftermath of Hooker's defeat at Chancellorsville, the Army, the President, and his administration had lost faith in him and he was replaced by George G. Meade on the eve of Gettysburg. In other issues, Lee, having l...

We have finally arrived at Gettysburg. In the first of several episodes, we will start by exploring Lee's reasoning behind his extended raid into the keystone state. This was the Confederacy's last major raid into a northern state, so it garners a great deal of attention in the history of the Civil War. While not as critical as it seems, it was nevertheless an important campaign. Lee took advantag...

In this episode, we finish up the story of the siege of Vicksburg. Once Grant crossed the Mississippi River with his army, it appeared that Vicksburg was doomed. In a brilliant campaign of maneuver, Grant isolated Vicksburg from the rest of the Confederacy. While worried about General Johnston's army, the Confederates were unable to coordinate a strategy to save the city. After an initial, bloody...

We are continuing our narrative on the siege of Vicksburg. In this episode we concentrate on the key moment in this campaign - Grant crossing the Mississippi River and capturing the capital of Mississippi, Jackson. In three weeks, Grant's army was able to cut off the primary supply line and communication corridor from Vicksburg to the rest of the Confederacy. In addition, Grant beat back General P...

We are continuing our short series on the Vicksburg campaign. In part II, we will focus on the winter of 1862-63. Grant and Sherman were bested by the Confederates in their initial probes toward Vicksburg. Undaunted, Grant attempted a number of schemes to get his army on the eastern short of the Mississippi River. Grant dug a canal and made several attempts to reach Vicksburg through some of the a...

One of the most consequential campaign's of the Civil War was U.S. Grant's struggle to capture the Confederate fortress at Vicksburg. As we already know, by mid-1862, Vicksburg was the only remaining major city on the Mississippi River in Confederate hands. As 1862 drew to a close, it became clear that Admiral Farragut's naval forces alone could not defeat the fortifications of Vicksburg. In the l...

Robert E. Lee's greatest victory was against Joseph Hooker at a small crossroads in Virginia called Chancellorsville. Known as 'fighting' Joe Hooker, he formulated a plan that would trap Lee against two arms of the Army of the Potomac. Unfortunately for Hooker, Lee reacted in an unexpected and bold manner. Dividing the Army of Northern Virginia, he kept Union forces at Fredericksburg at bay and fl...

In our last chronological episode, we ended with Ambrose Burnside's disastrous campaign against Lee's army entrenched above the heights of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Undeterred, Burnside launched another march against the Army of Northern Virginia which was ruined by the weather. Tired of the relentless attacks on his character, Burnside attempted to have his critics removed. Lincoln turned the tab...

When we think of the Civil War, the titanic struggles that occurred in the mid-Atlantic states and the southeast comes to mind. What is largely forgotten was what was occurring in the American West. From 1862 through the end of the war, there were clashes in the upper Midwest with the Sioux in Minnesota, in the Southwest with the Apache and Navajo and Colorado. The clashes with Tribes that would d...

Geographically, to this point, most of our focus has been on the campaigns in the Mississippi River Valley and the mid-Atlantic states. In this episode we explore what was happening in the far west. In 1862, a Confederate force launched an offensive into the territory of New Mexico. The plan was bold, but risky. The Confederates were going to depend upon captured supplies to sustain them. After oc...

In this episode we return to the sea and look at what was going on to stem the tide of Confederate blockade runners and commerce raiders. Knowing that Union commerce was vulnerable, a small number of Confederate raiders made their reputations known around the world. Confederate raiders were enough of a problem to ratchet up insurance rates and cause some worry among Union officials. In the second...

The Civil War was as much as struggle to keep armies supplied as it was to vanquish an adversary. Logistics during the Civil War had many modern qualities, in particular, using railroads to supply and move armies around the country. Both the Union and the Confederacy used their railroad networks to keep their armies fed. Unfortunately, the Confederates were not as well prepared as the Union due to...

The great leveler in the Civil War, or any war for that matter, is getting wounded or killed on the battlefield. In this episode we focus on what was going through a soldier's mind as they prepared for battle. We also discuss the medical establishment and how they handled wounded, and preventing disease. While we tend to see Civil War medicine through the lens of the 21st Century, making the 1860s...

In this episode we will return to our mini-series on the experiences of ordinary soldiers with a focus on camp life, food, and recreation. For a majority of the men who served, military life was foreign. Experiences in camp and training molded these men into soldiers. Thankfully, due to a rise in literacy, we have a rich tapestry of memoirs, letters, and diaries that tell the stories of service. T...

We are taking a break from battles and leaders and looking at the men who composed the armies of the North and the South during the Civil War. This episode will be the first of several that look at the lives of the ordinary soldiers. It seems appropriate to start with a broad overview of the motivations that compelled men to serve. On the flip side of the coin, we will also discuss conscription in...