On Great Fields: Leaders of the American Civil War

In this episode, we begin the battle of Shiloh, which was a turning point in Grant's life and the lives of all Americans. Also, we begin a discussion of Grant's early life and experiences at the US Military Academy.

We conclude the Fort Donelson battle in the episode, which represents the first major victory of the war for the Union army. Grant captured an entire Confederate army for the first time and came to be know as "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. 

In this episode we discuss the fallout from Fort Henry and Begin the Fort Donelson Battle.

This is an announcement of two upcoming changes to the podcast.

In this episode, we discuss the aftermath of Belmont and the first big battle of his career, Fort Henry. 

Before this, we cover Grant's relationship with his wife Julia as well as Henry Halleck. And we discuss a topic that plagued his time in the deep South, the illicit cotton trade and corruption in the war dept. 

In this episode, we begin our exploration into U. S. Grant's life starting when he assumed command of the 21st Illinois Regiment in June 1861. We will cover his early camp life experiences, his command at Cairo IL, and the capture of Paducah KY. We end with his first battle in Belmont, MO against Leonidas Polk and Gideon Pillow. 

In this final episode of the Stonewall Jackson series, we briefly cover the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. Then we spend most of our time on Jackson's and Lee's masterpiece at Chancellorsville. Stonewall Jackson's career ended the same way it began: With a rebel yell and a complete rout of the enemy. 

This episode covers Jackson's taking of the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction and the Battle of Second Bull Run. Then we finish with the Battle of Chantilly. Some believe this was Jackson's masterpiece, others believe it was Chancellorsville. You be the judge.

In this episode, we discuss Jackson's time at the WestPoint military academy. Then we resume where we left off after the valley campaign with Jackson joining Lee's forces to defend the confederate capital in the Seven Days Battles. After this, we find Jackson again being sent off to destroy Nathaniel Banks's federals at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, just before Second Manassas (aka Second Bull Run). 

In this episode, we conclude Jackson's spectacular valley campaign. First, his army will somehow escape from the danger of a well-sprung trap set by President Lincoln, then he will proceed to defeat two much larger Union armies in detail. By the end of the campaign he is likely the most famous person in the world.