Captain George B. McClellan toured Europe with a military commission looking at new military tactics. He returned and developed a new modified cavalry saddle. In 1859, the U.S. War Department adopted the McClellan saddle. They remained the standard issue throughout the history of the horse cavalr

This unit will introduce the first major clash in the Civil War--the Battle of Bull Run--and encourage students to consider the perspectives of ordinary citizens of the North and the South and the impact of this battle on their lives. The activities are based on the award-winning young adult nove

At six feet four inches tall, Lincoln towered over most of his contemporaries. He chose to stand out even more by wearing high top hats. He acquired this hat from J. Y. Davis, a Washington hat maker. Lincoln had the black silk mourning band added in remembrance of his son Willie. No one knows whe

During the American Civil War, General Benjamin Butler so appreciated the heroic actions of African American soldiers under his command at the 1864 battles of Fort Harrison and Fort Gilmer that he commissioned a special medal for them. Designed by Anthony C. Paquet and realized in silver by Tiffa

In this post, students will learn about George Westinghouse, Sr. during his Civil War service, before he became a pioneer of the electrical industry. A transcript of the letter is availalbe for download. Written by Hal Wallace, Associate Curator of Electricity Collections, this post is publi

In this post, students will learn how the Civil War impacted the development of the watch-making industry in the United States by studying one particular watch in the collection. Written by Carlene Stephens, Curator for the Division of Work and Industry, this post is published on the Mu

In this post, students will learn about an inscription hidden inside President Abraham Lincoln's watch that was a secret until the Museum investigated further in 2009. The message was put there by watchmaker Jonathan Dillon, who was repairing Lincoln's watch when the first shots were fired on For

In this post, students will learn how photographs shaped the public’s knowledge and experience of the Civil War, and how people shaped photographs to leave a legacy of how they personally experienced and understood the war. Written by Shannon Perich, Associate Curator for the Photogra

In this post, students will learn about Washington during the Civil War. During the war, Washington’s busy wharves were the focal point for moving people and supplies into and out of the city. Here the wounded from the Virginia battlefields were off-loaded from steamboats to await transpor

In this post, students will explore Louisa May Alcott's service as a nurse during the Civil War. While Alcott is perhaps best known as the author of the 19th-century classic Little Women, she also served as a Union nurse in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown’s Union Hotel Hospita