The Civil War: Day by Day

March 8, 1862: a date best remembered for the duel between the ironclads USS Monitor and the CSA Merrimack at Hampton Roads, was also the date of the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas--the most important encounter in the Trans-Mississippi Theater--while in Washington, President Lincoln discussed the plans for the invasion of Richmond with General George McClellan, Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Until very recently warfare was, at best, a collection of independent actions by commanders in the field and their subordinates. Without modern communications general directives had to be interpreted on the battlefield--there was no way to check back with HQ. This important concept is made clear in The Civil War, Day by Day where we follow the action chronologically, seeing the different events happening on land, on sea, and in Washington and Richmond, often very independent of one another. Seven chapters follow the war between the North and the South, starting with the origins of Secession, the five years of bloody conflict, and finishing with the era of reconstruction that followed the end of hostilities in 1865. Read more nsi-CivilWarDayByDay