In our latest photo essay, we assembled images that shed light on the presence—and activities—of sharpshooters in the Union and Confederate armies. View them here: tinyurl.com/39nppsjr

Ulysses S. Grant was appointed to the rank of brigadier general #otd in 1861; the Senate confirmed the appointment days later. Grant, then 39, began the war as colonel of the 21st Illinois Infantry and would end it as lieutenant general and commander of all Union armies.

The Battle of Ezra Church was fought #otd in 1864 as John Bell Hood's Confederates moved to thwart William T. Sherman's efforts to reach and destroy the Macon & Western line that led into Atlanta. While successful, Hood's men suffered heavy losses in the tactical defeat.

Former commanding general of the Union army and U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant, 63, died #otd in 1885. He worked intensely on his memoirs in his final months in hopes of providing financial support to his family. The photo here shows Grant four days before his death.

Union troops, headed by the African-American 54th MA, attacked Fort Wagner, SC, #otd in 1863. While the assault failed, the men of the 54th were subsequently praised for their valor. Shown here: Sgt. William Carney, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

Jefferson Davis replaced Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee #otd in 1864. Frustrated by Johnston's continuous retreats toward Atlanta against William T. Sherman’s forces, Davis thought the aggressive Hood might more effectively blunt the Union advance.

Nathan Bedford Forrest launched a poorly coordinated frontal assault against pursuing Union soldiers outside Tupelo, MS, #otd in 1864. Forrest's force suffered heavy losses in the Union victory, which secured the safety of W.T. Sherman's supply lines during the Atlanta Campaign.

Convicted Lincoln assassination conspirators Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were hanged at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary #otd in 1865. The reported last words of Surratt—the first woman executed by the U.S. government—were "Please don't let me fall."

Happy #250thBirthday America! The illustrated newspaper Harper's Weekly marked the Fourth of July in 1865—and the recent end of the Civil War—by publishing this depiction of triumphant Union soldiers heading home to reunite with loved ones and resume civilian life in peace.

Confederate infantry advanced upon the center of the Union line at Gettysburg #otd in 1863. Known to history as Pickett’s Charge, the Rebel attack proceeded over nearly a mile of open ground before reaching its objective—and being repulsed.

The Battle of Gaines' Mill—the third of the so-called Seven Days Battles—was fought #otd in 1862. The Confederate victory convinced George McClellan to abandon his campaign to take Richmond and pull his Army of the Potomac back to the James River.

Abner Doubleday was born #otd in 1819. The West Point grad was among the defenders of Fort Sumter when it was bombarded in 1861 and rose to the rank of major general by war's end. The claim that he invented the game of baseball—made years after his death—has been debunked.

George Armstrong Custer was killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana Territory #otd in 1876. The  Ohio native, who had made his reputation as the bold and dashing “Boy General” during the Civil War, was 36.

Today is "Juneteenth," the anniversary of the day, in 1865, that enslaved people in Texas learned of their freedom from Union soldiers, 900 days after the Emancipation Proclamation had gone into effect.

Winfield Scott—the influential army commander known as "Old Fuss and Feathers"—was born in Virginia #otd in 1786. As general-in-chief of the U.S. Army in 1861, he formulated the Anaconda Plan, which called for a blockade of southern ports and control of the Mississippi River.

Union cavalry under Philip Sheridan—looking to distract the enemy from U.S. Grant's planned crossing of the James River after Cold Harbor—clashed with Confederate horsemen at Trevilian Station #otd in 1864. The 2-day engagement was the bloodiest all-cavalry battle of the war.

William Quantrill, an Ohio-born schoolteacher who led the notorious pro-Confederate partisan ranger outfit responsible for the Lawrence Massacre, died #otd in 1865 of wounds he received on May 10 in a fight with Union troops in Kentucky, one of the war's final clashes. He was 27.

"The Lynches of South Carolina: From Reconstruction to Redemption," edited by Robert Emmett Curran, "provide[s] a snapshot of a Catholic family seeking to make its way in the postbellum United States," writes Evan C. Rothera in our latest book review. Read it here: tinyurl.com/yuz7snbk

The Summer '26 issue of the Monitor goes on sale today. You can learn more about it—or order a copy—at our website.

The first day of the Battle of Seven Pines was fought #otd in 1862. Tactically inconclusive, the fight saw the wounding of Confederate general Joe Johnston—and his replacement by Robert E. Lee. Shown here: A depiction of Rebels wounded at the battle in the streets of Richmond.

Wishing you all a safe and peaceful Memorial Day, a holiday with its roots in honoring those who died during the Civil War. Shown here is a Harper's Weekly illustration from 1864 depicting Union officers toasting their fallen comrades.

Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, 24, was the first Union officer killed during the Civil War #otd in 1861 when he was shot by the proprietor of the Marshall House in Alexandria, VA, after removing the Confederate flag that had flown from the establishment's roof.

Ambrose E. Burnside was born on this day in 1824. A West Point grad and creator (in 1855) of a breech-loading carbine that bears his name, he began the Civil War as commander of the 1st Rhode Island Infantry and ended it as a major general.

#otd 170 years ago, Representative Preston Brooks, a proslavery Democrat from SC, used a walking cane to beat Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist Republican from MA, nearly to death in the U.S. Senate chamber, an incident that laid bare the country's deepening sectional rift.

The digital version of our Summer '26 issue is now live for subscribers to read at our website: tinyurl.com/maaw88s5. Not yet a subscriber? Fix that here: tinyurl.com/232zx9cd.

The Battle of Resaca, GA, concluded #otd in 1864. Though inconclusive, the engagement resulted in William T. Sherman's Union force pushing Joe Johnston's Confederates farther back toward Atlanta, Sherman's ultimate goal.

Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson died #otd in 1863 from pneumonia, eight days after he was accidentally shot by Confederate soldiers at the Battle of Chancellorsville, a wound that resulted in the amputation of his left arm. He was 39.

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House began #otd in 1864 when Union troops tried but failed to dislodge Confederates blocking their path to the vital crossroads. By the time the battle ended on May 21, the opposing armies had suffered over 30,000 combined casualties.

Joseph Hooker finished concentrating his Army of the Potomac at the hamlet of Chancellorsville, VA, #otd in 1863, part of his plan to defeat Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. "May God have mercy on General Lee for I will have none," a bold Hooker said at the outset.

Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House #otd 161 years ago. Lee, dressed in his ceremonial uniform, stood in contrast to Grant, whose government-issued sack coat, trousers, and boots were splattered with mud.