At the Battle of Gettysburg, the Union saw the value of securing a rocky outcropping called Little Round Top.  Strong Vincent seized the opportunity, taking the boulder and yelling to his men, “Don’t give an inch.” As he uttered the words a bullet tore through his thigh and lodged

On May 22, 1863, Ulysses Grant sent brigades from three corps of the army to assault Vicksburg. While the assault showed some success, a long bitter struggle ensued and the Confederates quickly restored their original lines of defense. Realizing that the city could not be taken by assault, Grant

The Confederate States of America’s first national flag was also known as the “Stars & Bars.” This flag flew from 1861 to 1863. Each of the eight stars represented a Confederate state in March 1861 when the flag was adopted.

Seal with an equestrian portrait of George Washington, surrounded by a wreath composed of the principal agricultural products of the Confederacy including cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, wheat, and rice. Embossed around the edge, "The Confederate States of America: 22 February, 1862" and the motto D

The Battle of Gettysburg was a critical turning point in the American Civil War. During the first three days of July 1863, over 172,000 men and 634 cannons were positioned in an area encompassing 25 square miles.

Civil War battle rattle used on smaller ships to call all hands to battle stations.

A match safe, lantern, frying pan, and cup would have been part of a soldier’s equipment. Hardtack is the name given to a thick cracker made of flour, water, and sometimes salt.

This Sharps rifle was made especially for John Brown, though it bears no maker’s mark or number. Brown carried this weapon on his Kansas campaign in 1856 and later presented it to Charles Blair of Collinsville, Connecticut. In 1857, Brown contracted Blair to forge pikes for the clandestine slav

The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 allowed the two states to decide the issue of slavery by a popular ballot. The fight in Kansas was so intense that the state earned the nickname “Bleeding Kansas.” John Brown bought 2,000 of these revolvers and sent them to Kansas for the “Free-Soilers.”

From 1861-1865, Americans battled over preserving their Union and ending slavery.  The Civil War is the focus of this section of The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, an online exhibition. This pivotal and complicated period of American history is divided into sections that allow