First Person Civil War Podcast

At the Battle of Mill Springs, 19 January 1862, SGT McMurray and the 20th Tennessee marched through the night in a persistent rain to attack a Union Division encamped approximately 10 miles to the north. Armed with flintlock muskets, SGT McMurray and the Tennesseans formed on the right flank of the Confederate battle line and were soon flanked by a brigade with men from their own state: the 1st and 2nd Tennessee (Union) Regiments.

M...

At the Battle of Antietam, beginning at approximately 5:30a.m. on 17 September 1862, a Cornfield owned by the Miller Family became the scene of intense fighting. By about 9a.m., after a series of attacks and counterattacks the mangled Cornfield was in possession of the Union and greatly contributed to the single bloodiest day in United States History.

Elements of the Union I and XII Corps which advanced from the north:

MAJ Rufus R. ...

At the Battle of Chickamauga, 18 – 20 September 1863, the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War, LTC Bishop and the 2nd Minnesota face CPL Carter and the 27th Mississippi in vicinity of the Reed’s Bridge Road on 19 September. As the reserve for the XIV Corps on 20 September, they plug a hole in the line made by LTC Ray and the 60th North Carolina’s Division around noon. After the Army of the Cumberland is split in two by LTG Lon...

At the Battle of Gettysburg, 1 July 1863, CPT Frederick Otto Baron von Fritsch and the 68th New York face PVT George Washington Nichols and the 61st Georgia north of the town of Gettysburg along Rock Creek and what would soon be known as Barlow’s Knoll. The 68th New York retreated with the rest of the XI Corps and reformed south of the town on Cemetery Hill. On 2the evening of July, CPT Neill W. Ray and the 6th North Carolina advan...

At the Battle of Brandy Station, 9 June 1863, SGT Edward P. Tobie of the 1st Maine Cavalry in the Left Wing of the Cavalry Corps attempt a double envelopment of MG J.E.B. Stuart’s Cavalry Division. After crossing the Rappahannock River and riding for several miles, SGT Tobie and the 1st Maine Cavalry formed with their brigade and charged upon Fleetwood Hill, the site of MG Stuart’s Headquarters.

Sources used for this episode:

Tobie, ...

At the First Battle of Bull Run, PVT Casler and the 33rd Virginia formed on the left flank of BG Thomas J. Jackson’s all Virginia 1st Brigade on Henry Hill. The Virginians stood like a Stonewall through several Union advances. During this time, PVT Casler and the 33rd Virginia charged and captured a Union Battery that unlimbered too close them but eventually returned to the line on Henry Hill. The Virginians became the anchor of th...

At the Battle of Missionary Ridge, 25 November 1863, 1LT Charles T. Clark and the 125th Ohio advanced in the Second Line of their brigade in what was intended to be the seizure of Confederate Rifle Pits at the base of the ridge. Once completing this, the Ohioans rallied with the rest of their Division and joined in the spontaneous charge of the Army of the Cumberland up the face of Missionary Ridge.

Sources used for this episode:

Cla...

At the Battle of Globe Tavern, 21 August 1864, SGT William V. Izlar and the 25th South Carolina advanced alongside the rest of Hagood’s Brigade against what was perceived to be an open flank of the Union V Corps, but in reality occupied by BG Lysander Cutler’s 4th Division.

Sources used for this episode:

Izlar, William V. A Sketch of the War Record of the Edisto Rifles, 1861-1865. Columbia: The State Company, 1914. https://www.loc.go...

At the Battle of Yellow Tavern, 11 May 1864, MAJ James H. Kidd, commander of the 6th Michigan Cavalry faced the Confederate Cavalry under MG J.E.B. Stuart. After a fight that lasted several hours, MG Sheridan, commander of the Union Cavalry Corps, ordered his men to charge.

Sources used for this episode:

Kidd, James H. Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman with Custer’s Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Civil War. Ionia: Sentinel Prin...

At the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, 10 August 1861, SGT William H. Tunnard and the 3rd Louisiana advanced north against an artillery battery which opened upon them only to run into a Battalion of US Infantry. After being repulsed, the regiment hastened south to face a Union Brigade marching from the south.

Sources used for this episode:

Tunnard, William H. A Southern Record. The History of the Third Regiment Louisiana Infantry. Baton Ro...

At the Battle of Secessionville, PVT Herbert W. Beecher and the 1st Connecticut Light Artillery Battery supported the advance of the 2nd Division upon the Tower Battery on James Island with their 4x 14-inch James Rifles. Though the Confederate Artillery mostly focused on the several infantry advances upon the Tower Battery, they eventually dueled with the men from Connecticut.

Sources used for this episode:

Beecher, Herbert W. Histor...

At the Battle of Champion Hill, 16 May 1863, CPL Ephraim M. Anderson and the 2nd Missouri (Confederate) rush north along with their entire division to bolster the Confederate left flank which was crumbling under an advance by the Union Army of the Tennessee. After forming in line of battle, the Missourians charged and successfully routed this first Union line, and advanced toward Champion Hill where a second Union line formed.

Sourc...

At the Battle of Cold Harbor, 3 June 1864, PVT Martin A. Haynes and the 2nd New Hampshire, just days from the expiration of their enlistments, advanced into what would become one of the great debacles of the Civil War as the XVIII, VI and II Corps suffered heavy casualties during their failed advance upon Confederate fortifications.

 Sources used for this episode:

 Haynes, Martin A. A History of the Second Regiment, New Hampshire Vol...

At the Battle of Cherbourg, 19 June 1864, Seaman Magee aboard the USS Kearsarge spotted the CSS Alabama, commanded by CPT Semmes as it departed the safety of Cherbourg Harbor to do battle in the English Channel. While both sloops-of-war were almost evenly matched in terms of cannon, the USS Kearsarge also had an armored hull, which became a deciding factor in the coming engagement.

Sources used for this episode:

Bradlee, Francis B. C...

On the evening of 24 February 1863, the expedition that captured the USS Indianola involved a Confederate force of four ships: CSS Queen of the West, CSS Webb, CSS Batey and CSS Grand Era, the latter two being support vessels only. MAJ Joseph L. Brent commander of the expedition, caught up with the USS Indianola as it steamed up the Mississippi river to rendezvous with MG Grants army. Though outmatched in terms of firepower, the Qu...

At the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, July – September 1863, CH Denison and the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery supported the X Army Corps as it occupied Morris Island at the mouth of the Harbor and assaulted Fort Wagner in July. In the wake of these failed assaults, BG Gillmore, the Union Army commander, ordered the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery and several other units to dig gun emplacements for siege artillery. On 17 Au...

At the Battle of New Market, 15 May 1864, Cadet Captain Frank Preston and the Cadets of the Virginia Military Institute, as an infantry battalion, marched north from Lexington to the town of New Market Virginia, where they joined the Confederate Army under MG Breckenridge. Initially placed in a reserve linethey advanced across the muddy fields north of New Market. After a failed Union Advance, CPT Preston and the VMI Cadets filled ...

At the Battle of the Wilderness, 5-7 May 1864, 2LT Camille Baquet and the 1st New Jersey marched to the aid of the V Corps which discovered the Confederate 2nd Corps along the Orange Turnpike. The thick vegetation of the Wilderness meant the Jerseymen fought blind, unable to see the Confederate lines in front of them or in some cases the lines of adjacent Union regiments.

Sources used for this episode:

Camille, Ba...

At the Action at Mount Zion Church, 6 July 1864, PVT John W. Munson and the 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion, or Mosby’s Rangers, intercepted a Union Cavalry detachment that had perused them for three days after their successful raid of the Army Garrison at Point of Rocks Maryland. Mosby’s Rangers specialized in disrupting lines of supply and communication but were more than capable of fighting in the open when the occasion required...