Here brothers fought for their principles
Here heroes died to save their country
And a united people will forever cherish
the precious legacy of their noble manhood.

—PENNSYLVANIA MONUMENT AT VICKSBURG

The Civil War, which began in the 1830's as a cold war and moved toward the inevitable conflict somewhere between 1850 and 1860, was one of America's greatest emotional experiences. When the war finally broke in 1861, beliefs and political ideals had become so firm that they transcended family ties and bonds of friendship—brother was cast against brother. The story of this supreme test of our Nation, though one of tragedy, is also one of triumph, for it united a nation that had been divided for over a quarter century.

Holding a place in history midway between the Revolutionary War of the 18th century and the First World War of the 20th, the American Civil War had far-reaching effects: by the many innovations and developments it stimulated, it became the forerunner of modern warfare; by the demands it made on technology and production, it hastened the industrial revolution in America. This conflict also provided the ferment from which great personalities arise. Qualities of true greatness were revealed in men like William Tecumseh Sherman, the most brilliant strategist of modern times; Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the greatest of natural born leaders; Robert E. Lee, "one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation"; and Abraham Lincoln, who, like the other great men of that era, would be minor characters in our history had they not been called upon in this time of crisis. And emerging from such trying times were seven future Presidents of the United States, all officers of the Union Army.

But the story of this sectional struggle is not only one of great leaders and events. It is the story of 18,000 men in Gen. Sedgwick's Corps who formed a marching column that stretched over ten miles of road, and in that hot month of July 1863, the story of how they marched steadily for eighteen hours, stopping only once to rest, until they reached Gettysburg where the crucial battle was raging. It is the story of more than two hundred young VMI Cadets, who without hesitation left their classrooms to fight alongside hardened veterans at the battle of New Market in 1864. Or it is the story of two brothers who followed different flags and then met under such tragic circumstances on the field of battle at Petersburg.

It is also a story of the human toil and machinery that produced more than four million small arms for the Union Army and stamped from copper over one billion percussion caps for these weapons during the four years of war. Inside the Confederacy, it is the story of experiments with new weapons—the submarine, iron-clad rams, torpedoes, and landmines—in an attempt to overcome the North's numerical superiority.

It is the purpose of The Civil War Centennial Handbook to present this unusual story of the Civil War, a mosaic composed of fragments from the lesser-known and yet colorful facts that have survived a century but have been obscured by the voluminous battle narratives and campaign studies.

Much of this material, when originally drafted, was selected by the National Civil War Centennial Commission for their informative and interesting Facts About the Civil War. This original material, revised and enlarged, has grown into The Civil War Centennial Handbook.

The handbook is divided into five basic parts. The first is a presentation of little-known and unusual facts about participants, battles and losses, and the cost of war. The second is a graphic portrayal of both the men and machines that made the war of the 1860's. The special selection of photographs for this portion of the story were made available through the courtesy of the National Archives and the Library of Congress. Next are reproductions in color of Union and Confederate uniforms from the Official Records Atlas and the famous paintings by H. A. Ogden. The fourth section is a reference table of battles and losses listed in chronological order, accompanied by a map showing the major engagements of the war. And primarily for the growing number of new Civil War buffs, there is a roster of Civil War Round Tables, as well as a recommended list of outstanding books on the Civil War.

The material presented in The Civil War Centennial Handbook has been selected from standard sources, the most outstanding of which are: the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Navies, Moore's Rebellion Record, Cullum's Biographical Register of West Point Graduates, Phisterer's Statistical Record, Livermore's Numbers and Losses in the Civil War, Fox's Regimental Losses, the Dictionary of American Biography, Dyer's Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, the Annual Reports of the Secretary of War, and last but far from least, one of the richest sources of information available, my fellow members of the District of Columbia Civil War Round Table.