Author: Charles River Editors
Narrator: Jim Walsh
Unabridged: 4 hr 20 min
Format: Digital Audiobook
Publisher: Findaway Voices
Published: 05/23/2023
Genre: History - United States - Civil War Period (1850-1877)
The Eastern Theater of the Civil War saw the bloodiest and most famous battles, as well as the biggest losses, giving the Iron Brigade a chance to demonstrate its mettle during legendary confrontations with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, particularly at the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, and Gettysburg. In fact, the brigade suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the Civil War, rendering it almost incapable of maintaining a fighting force by June 1864, during the middle of Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign.
General Thomas Jonathan Jackson and his brigade earned the nickname “Stonewall” at First Manassas by turning the tide of that battle, and they would become known as the legendary foot cavalry by bottling up 3 different Union armies in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862. Although Stonewall Jackson and the Stonewall Brigade may share the most famous nickname to come out of the Civil War, it’s still unclear whether Barnard Bee, the general who provided the legendary name at First Manassas, meant it as a complaint that they were not moving or as a compliment for standing resolute in the heat of battle.
Regardless, the Stonewall Brigade went on to fight in every major battle in the Eastern theater of the American Civil War, to the extent that of the 6,000 men who fought with the brigade over the course of four years, less than 200 remained by the time General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. They were organized, trained, and mentored by one of the most revered military leaders in American history, and they made a decisive impact on battles like First Manassas, the 1862 Valley Campaign, and Chancellorsville. The brigade was virtually a spent force by the end of the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse in May 1864, which took place nearly a year after Stonewall Jackson himself had been mortally wounded at Chancellorsville.
This public address, given well before his presidency, was to the Springfield Washington Temperance Society. Although it did take a stance for temperance, it stirred the waters quite significantly for its time – mainly because it criticized th...
A House divided was a speech that was given after his nomination to be a state senator by the Republican Party at the Illinois State Capital. In this speech, he clearly states something that he had always held to be true – that the United Stat...
Abraham Lincoln was undeniably one of the most influential politicians in American history. In this collection of letters, speeches, and other writings by Lincoln, listeners can gain a uniquely intimate perspective on the sixteenth president of the ...
Abraham Lincoln saw many political changes during his time as president, few speeches regarding this were so impactful for their time than the last public address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1865. This address was given only two days after the surre...
James M. McPherson, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom, and arguably the finest Civil War historian in the world, walks us through the site of the bloodiest and perhaps most consequential battle ever fought by Americ...
This was the first speech given by the newly-elected President of the United States. In an already tense state, Lincoln made the address with the hopes that the discordant South would listen. While reinforcing that the Union would never break, he en...
Americans have long been fascinated by the Civil War, marveling at the size of the battles, the leadership of the generals, and the courage of the soldiers. Since the war's start over 150 years ago, the battles have been subjected to endless debate...
As 1862 dawned, the American republic was at death’s door. The federal government appeared overwhelmed, the U.S. Treasury was broke, and the Union’s top general was gravely ill. The Confederacy—with its booming economy, expert mili...
Americans have long been fascinated by the Civil War, marveling at the size of the battles, the leadership of the generals, and the courage of the soldiers. Since the war's start over 150 years ago, the battles have been subjected to endless debat...