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The Civil War 150 is an immersive online experience, featuring infographics, historian picks and topical information, that highlights the 150 people, places, events and technology that defined America's greatest conflict. The interactive commemorates the Civil War's 150th Anniversary, and utilizes six thematic infographics to create an even more engaging "who knew?" experience:
Five Deadliest Battles – Nearly a quarter of a million men were killed or wounded during the five bloodiest clashes of the Civil War. Find out what happened at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania Court House and the Wilderness.
Who They Were – Some wore blue and some wore gray, but the 3 million soldiers who fought in the Civil War had more in common than you might expect.
West Point Warriors – Almost 900 West Point alums served in the Civil War—in fact, they faced off against each other in 55 of the war's 60 major battles.
Paying for the War – Costing $146 billion in today's money, the Civil War saw rampant inflation—9000% in the South by the end of the war—and the first U.S. income tax.
Weapons of War – The Napoleon field gun, the minie ball, the Spencer repeating rifle, the telegraph and the railroad all helped to turn the tide of battle and changed the face of warfare forever.
How They Died – One in four soldiers—620,000 people—died as a result of the Civil War. That's 2 percent of the population—6.14 million people in today's terms.

Interactives (1)

Videos (9)

  • America Divided
    America Divided

    Video Clip (3:54)

    America is at the brink of a Civil War as cotton spreads west and threatens to expand slavery into new territories.

    Video Clip (3:54)
  • Civil War Counter-Terrorism
    Civil War Counter-Terrorism

    Video Clip (3:26)

    Federal Agent Felix Stidger infiltrated a Confederate terrorist organization called The Sons of Liberty and revealed terror plots against strategic Union targets.

    Video Clip (3:26)
  • Civil War Biological Warfare
    Civil War Biological Warfare

    Video Clip (3:56)

    Confederate agents experiment with an early version of bio-warfare, attempting to spread yellow fever throughout Northern cities.

    Video Clip (3:56)
  • The Plot to Kill Jefferson Davis
    The Plot to Kill Jefferson Davis

    Video Clip (3:38)

    Union leaders hatch a conspiracy to assassinate Confederate President Jefferson Davis in an attempt to bring and end to the Civil War.

    Video Clip (3:38)
  • Confederate Bomb Plot
    Confederate Bomb Plot

    Video Clip (3:39)

    Confederate agents plot to bomb the White House with Lincoln and his cabinet inside to destabilize the Union's leadership during the Civil War.

    Video Clip (3:39)
  • Confederate vs. Union Soldiers
    Confederate vs. Union Soldiers

    Video Clip (2:39)

    Find out what divided the men of the Civil War, and how in many ways they were more alike than different.

    Video Clip (2:39)
  • America and the Civil War
    America and the Civil War

    Video Clip (4:04)

    Discover how the bloodiest war in American history transformed the face of the nation.

    Video Clip (4:04)
  • Impact of the Civil War
    Impact of the Civil War

    Video Clip (3:27)

    The Civil War was a long and gruesome conflict that claimed more than 620,000 lives and had lasting effects on military and civilian survivors.

    Video Clip (3:27)
  • Civil War in One Word
    Civil War in One Word

    Video Clip (1:13)

    If you had just one word to describe the Civil War, what would it be?

    Video Clip (1:13)

Photo Galleries (4)

  • Civil War: Artifacts
    Civil War: Artifacts

    9 Photos

    Explore Civil War artifacts, from medical kits and personal hygiene items, to carbines and currency.

    (9 Photos)
  • Civil War: Confederate Leaders
    Civil War: Confederate Leaders

    13 Photos

    View images of Confederate leaders from the Civil War, like Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and learn more about the roles they played protecting the southern states.

    (13 Photos)
  • Civil War: Union Military Leaders
    Civil War: Union Military Leaders

    13 Photos

    View images of Union leaders from the Civil War, like Abraham Linoln and Ulysses S. Grant, and learn more about the roles they played in this bloody engagment.

    (13 Photos)
  • Faces of the Civil War
    Faces of the Civil War

    28 Photos

    The Library of Congress recently acquired a rare collection of nearly 700 Civil War-era ambrotype and tintype photographs, donated by the Liljenquist family.

    (28 Photos)

Speeches & Audio (10)

  • General Howell Recounts Civil War Experience
    General Howell Recounts Civil War Experience

    Audio Clip (6:29)

    In a recorded interview in 1947, 101-year-old General Julius Howell recalls fighting as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War and the moment he heard about Lincoln’s assassination.

    Audio Clip (6:29)
  • Reagan Speaks on 40th Anniversary of D-Day
    Reagan Speaks on 40th Anniversary of D-Day

    Audio Clip (0:41)

    On June 6, 1984, in Normandy, France, President Ronald Reagan honors the heroes of D-Day, a pivotal moment during World War II.

    Audio Clip (0:41)
  • Truman Announces Germany's Surrender
    Truman Announces Germany's Surrender

    Audio Clip (2:04)

    In a May 8, 1945, radio broadcast, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Germany, but reminds Americans that the war wages on in the Far East.

    Audio Clip (2:04)
  • Nixon on Vietnam War
    Nixon on Vietnam War

    Audio Clip (3:34)

    On March 26, 1971, President Richard Nixon holds a meeting in the Oval Office with his National Security Council to discuss the war in Vietnam. The meeting is secretly recorded. Among the many topics he raises, Nixon recounts a prior conversation with House majority leader Hale Boggs on setting a date for the final withdrawal of U.S. forces.

    Audio Clip (3:34)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt on American Progress in World War II
    Franklin D. Roosevelt on American Progress in World War II

    Audio Clip (1:00)

    With the United States now entered into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt uses the occasion of Washington’s birthday to broadcast to the nation on February 23, 1942, an outline of America’s progress in the war.

    Audio Clip (1:00)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day Speech
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Labor Day Speech

    Audio Clip (1:37)

    In his Labor Day radio broadcast in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt reminds his fellow citizens of the need to devote America’s industrial effort to building weaponry in order to "crush Hitler and his Nazi forces."

    Audio Clip (1:37)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Progress Report
    Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Progress Report

    Audio Clip (0:57)

    In his progress report on World War II on July 28, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt informs the nation that "the first crack in the Axis has come" as Italian Premier Mussolini falls from power.

    Audio Clip (0:57)
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer
    Franklin D. Roosevelt Delivers D-Day Prayer

    Audio Clip (3:37)

    In a national radio broadcast on June 6, 1944, as 160,000 Allied troops land in Normandy in an attempt to liberate France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asks America to join him in a prayer.

    Audio Clip (3:37)
  • John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam
    John F. Kennedy on Coup in South Vietnam

    Audio Clip (6:06)

    On October 29, 1963, President John F. Kennedy meets with the National Security Council to discuss whether to support the overthrow of South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. During the secretly recorded conversation, Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the president craft a detailed plan involving Henry Cabot Lodge, ambassador to South Vietnam, Gen. Paul D. Harkins and the general of the South Vietnamese military, hoping to avoid setting off a civil war in the country.

    Audio Clip (6:06)
  • Truman Announces Japan's Surrender
    Truman Announces Japan's Surrender

    Audio Clip (1:57)

    On September 1, 1945, in a radio address to the American people, President Harry Truman announces the unconditional surrender of Japan, formalized aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.

    Audio Clip (1:57)
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Read More about Civil War Guerilla Leaders

During the American Civil War, groups of so-called “partisan rangers” engaged in bloody campaigns of guerilla attacks, raiding and psychological warfare against rival military units and civilians.

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