Emerging Civil War

The Summer of 1862 saw a huge swing in momentum for the Confederacy in the east following the rise of Robert E. Lee. Emerging Civil War's Devan Summerville followed in the footsteps of the Army of Northern Virginia this spring, and he joins podcast host Chris Mackowski to talk about his discoveries. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offeri...

Take a deep dive into the action on and around Little Round Top on July 2, 1863, during the battle of Gettysburg. In this episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast, author Joseph Boslet brings a soldier's-eye view to some of the most famous fighting of the Civil War. The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s lar...

The battle of Shiloh represented a whole new scale of war for North and South. Author Sean Michael Chick discusses some of the controversies, personalities, and new things to learn about one the Civil War’s most stunning contests. The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offering more than...

Was the relationship between Ulysses S. Grant and George Gordon Meade a partnership or a rivalry? In this episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast, we'll take a closer look at that relationship with historians Brad Gottfried, Will Greene, and Jennifer Murray. The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest op...

Daniel Harvey Hill was one of the Confederacy's most talented and temperamental commanders. Chris Hartley joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to talk about his new biography of this complicated officer, "D. H. Hill: A Military Life."The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, of...

Before the Civil War, John Fremont made a national reputation as "The Pathfinder" for helping to open up America's west coast. Emerging Civil War contributor Tonya McQuade has been on Fremont's trail, finding him in some of the most unusual places. The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest...

The 1862 New Mexico Campaign promised huge benefits for the Confederacy if it succeeded, even while offering relatively low risks. What was there to lose? Patrick Kelly-Fischer and Phill Greenwalt join the Emerging Civil War Podcast to talk about their new book about the campaign, "Desert Empire." The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you...

William T. Sherman and John McClernand started off as effective partners under Ulysses S. Grant, but by the time Grant began his inland campaign against Vicksburg, Sherman considered McClernand his "demon spirit." Historian Timothy B. Smith joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to discuss the important Sherman/McClernanrd partnership/rivalry and Grant's role in managing it. The Emergi...

A military governor and his provost marshal—occupation duty in wartime Alexandria, Virginia, paired two unlikely partners, John Slough and Henry Horatio Wells. As we explore our theme of "Rivalries and Partnerships" this year, Madeline Feierstein joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to explore the highly successful working relationship between Slough and Wells and the profound impact the...

The Army of Northern Virginia was led by larger-than-life personalities. So how did the mild-mannered Lt. General Richard Anderson fit in once he rose to corps command? Edward Hagerty joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to talk about his new biography of Anderson, Soldier of the South .The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails,...

During and in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, through the Civil War centennial, the Republican Party drew on America’s memories of the war in order to reorganize and reinvent itself. Tim Galsworthy joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to explain how the modern GOP became “the Party of Lincoln” AND “the Party of Lee.” The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode...

Today’s political polarization has had an impact on how weremember the Civil War—and how we remember the Civil War impacts how we view today’s politics. In this episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast, host Chris Mackowski speaks with historians Jennifer Murray and John Kinder about the new collection of essays they’ve edited, They Are Dead and Yet They Live: Civil War Memories in a Polarized Am...

The Emerging Civil War Podcast kicks off a new feature, “Three Things,” in which a pair of our historians each share three things they’ve learned over the last year that surprised them. This week, Kevin Donovan and Evan Portman—“Kevin and Evan”—join host Chris Mackowski to share what they’ve learned. This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s...

As Emerging Civil War prepares to examine "Partnerships & Rivalries" at our 2026 Symposium, we take a look at one of the most important relationships to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Curt Fields and Melissa Winn join ECW Podcast host Chris Mackowski to talk about Grant's relationship with his chief of staff, John Rawlins.   This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is bro...

The Emerging Civil War Podcast steps back in history to the Revolutionary Era for a discussion with Dr. Marianne Holdzkom about Founding Father John Adams. How do we remember a man who often worried he would not be remembered?   The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski (a John Adams fanboy--ergo this week's tangent!). This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Civil Wa...

Imagine being rounded up on land or captured at sea and then being forced to work on an enemy ship. The practice was called "impressment," and as Neil Chatelain explains, navies during the Civil War—North and South—carried on the infamous tradition. The Emerging Civil War Podcast is hosted by Chris Mackowski. This episode is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-ai...

All bets were off and the rules of war were still being written in 1861 in the Trans-Mississippi theater of the Civil War. In this episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast, ECW contributor Devon Sommerville walks us through the perils of the wild far-west.   This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offering more tha...

Merry "Kris"-mas from Emerging Civil War! ECW's Chief Historian Kris White decks the halls with a discussion about Christmastime during the Civil War. This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offering more than 1,500 sites across six states. Request a brochure at ⁠⁠⁠ civilwartrails.org ⁠⁠⁠ to start plan...

As the Confederate campaign into Kentucky got underway in the fall of 1862, one of the first clashes came in Richmond, Kentucky—a battle that became one of the most complete Confederate victories of the war. Historian Phil Seyfrit and preservationist George Ridings join the Emerging Civil War Podcast to talk about the battle and the amazing preservation successes they've had with the battlefie...

The Emerging Civil War Podcast explores "America's Buried History: Landmines in the American Civil War," with Dr. Ken Rutherford. Rutherford, himself a landmine survivor, is one of the world's leading experts on landmine nonproliferation. This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offering more than 1...

Proud Hoosier Arie DeYoung, one of the newest contributors to Emerging Civil War, joins the podcast to share his top five favorite stories from Civil War-era Indiana. This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offering more than 1,500 sites across six states. Request a brochure at ⁠⁠⁠ civilwartrails.org⁠⁠⁠ to start pla...

A new biography on Union General Phill Sheridan by Jonathan Noyalas has ECW’s Chris Mackowski on a quest to reconsider the controversial general. In this episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast, he asks historians Kris White, Jim Lewis, and Hampton Newsome to offer their expert assessments.  This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest...

General "Little Phil" Sheridan remains a polarizing figure in Civil War history. However, a new Sheridan biography by Jonathan Noyalas of Shenandoah University invites a reconsideration. Sheridan's achievements and legacy, and the reasons we remember them the way we do, may be more complicated than we realize. This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil...

Was George Washington a Federal or a Confederate? Historian Abbi Smithmyer joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to talk about the ways Northerners and Southerners alike tried to lay claim to Washington's memory to give their side more legitimacy during the Civil War. This episode of the Emerging Civil War Podcast is brought to you by Civil War Trails, the world’s largest open-air museum, offer...

What were the critical decisions at the battle of Chancellorsville that proved to be "moments of no return"? Historian Sarah Kay Bierle joins the Emerging Civil War Podcast to talk about her new book, "Decisions at Chancellorsville," part of the University of Tennessee Press's "Command Decisions of the Civil War" Series.   This episode of the Emerging Civil War Po...