Show Notes
Simon Bolivar Buckner was a Confederate general and one of the most unique figures of the Civil War. A West Point graduate from Kentucky, Buckner chose the Confederacy when the war began, even though his personal ties to Grant ran deep. In 1862, Buckner surrendered Fort Donelson to Grant after receiving the famous demand for unconditional surrender, a moment that helped launch Grant’s rise to national fame. After the war, Buckner rebuilt his life in the United States. He served as Governor of Kentucky, promoted reconciliation between North and South, and later ran for Vice President in 1896.
More from Battles Of The American Civil War
The 33rd Virginia began as companies of neighbors from the Shenandoah Valley. At Manassas, they charged Union guns. Then came Kernstown, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. Every fight changed who was still standing in the ranks. This is the story of the regiment that made it all the way to Appomattox.
Bragg’s Confederates won the field at Perryville, then withdrew that night. We break down how divided command, bad intelligence, and missed opportunities left a bloody victory unable to save the invasion of Kentucky.
The Cornfield at Antietam changed hands again and again as Union and Confederate troops tore each other apart over a few acres of Maryland farmland.
In the weeks after Fort Sumter, the Union Navy moved to close the Chesapeake Bay and cut Virginia off from the sea. At Gloucester Point and Sewell’s Point, unfinished Confederate batteries faced Union gunboats in two of the war’s earliest armed clashes. These small engagements caused few casualties, but they marked the beginning of the naval blockade in Virginia and showed both sides what controlling Hampton Roads would require.
Benjamin Butler was one of the Civil War’s most controversial figures. A failed battlefield commander who became “Beast Butler” in the South, helped turn escaped slaves into free people, ruled New Orleans with an iron hand, and later fought for Black civil rights in Congress.