Gen James J. Byrne Camp 1, Dept of TX & LA, SUVCW

05/15/2026

True! lol

Happy Friday!

05/15/2026

New Market
15 May 1864

162 Years Ago Today... The Battle of New Market

As part of his spring offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered Gen. Franz Sigel to advance through the Shenandoah Valley along the Valley Pike and destroy the railroad and canal network at Lynchburg.

On May 15, at New Market, Sigel was met by a hastily assembled Confederate force under Gen. John C. Breckinridge. Seizing the initiative, Breckinridge attacked Sigel’s larger force, driving it from the town and back toward the northern hills. Repeated Federal infantry and cavalry assaults failed to break the Confederate line.

05/13/2026

's gracious words to soldiers of the Twelfth Indiana Regiment.

Source: https://ow.ly/8gOP50YYwM8

05/13/2026

The last land battle of the Civil War was fought in 1865. The Battle of Palmito Ranch occurred on the banks of the Rio Grande River near Brownsville, Texas. Union forces, including African Americans from the 62nd USCT Infantry fought Confederate forces that included Benvide’s Regiment, made up of Hispanics from Mexico. This was the last Confederate victory before their western forces surrendered in June.

Image: Battle of Palmito Ranch diorama (Texas Military Forces Museum)

05/13/2026

Old Abe the War Eagle

05/10/2026

No extra cylinders.

Did Civil War cavalry soldiers really carry extra revolver cylinders with them during campaigns or battles? In this video, we explore this fascinating questi...

05/10/2026

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine!

05/10/2026

Uncle John

Today marks the anniversary of the second day of fighting at Spotsylvania Court House, and the day Sixth Corps commander, Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick was killed there. CVBT shares here a recent article by Dean Chester, one of our fantastic volunteers, about veterans' efforts to mark the spot where Gen. Sedgwick fell. https://bit.ly/4d7oKB8

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

https://www.cvbt.org

05/08/2026

Pvt. George Bucknam, an artillerist in the 3rd Massachusetts Light Artillery found himself in a hot place on May 8, 1864, during the opening of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. With the ground shrouded by the smoke, his officer on horseback saw Confederates attacking. “Boys give them Hell,” the officer shouted. As “the smoke in front of our guns [was] lifting we see the Rebs right on us,” Bucknam remembered. As they limbered up, “two lead horses . . . got a bullet through them and killed them both in their tracks . . . we cut their traces and left the horses where they fell. . . .” Upon moving to the rear and attempting to navigate through a farm gate opening, two of their artillery pieces got locked together. As the enemy closed on them, a lieutenant ordered “to double shot each gun and rip them apart which we did with good effect and went down the road flying,” Bucknam recalled.

Later in the day, according to his service records, Pvt Bucknam was wounded. His casualty sheet reads, “One hand shot away, and all but the thumb and one finger of the other caused by the premature discharge of [the] gun while in action.”

CVBT is currently working to save the 3rd Massachusetts Light Artillery tract at Spotsylvania where Pvt. Bucknam’s injury likely occurred. To donate, visit: https://bit.ly/4tVMmQp

Image courtesy of Find A Grave.

https://www.cvbt.org

05/08/2026