Have you ever wondered what drove soldiers to find solace in faith amid the horrors of war? Or how different the course of the Maryland Campaign might have been under different leadership? And what were the long-lasting wounds that the soldiers carried home with them?

I'm Terry Johnston, publisher and editor in chief of The Civil War Monitor. The American Civil War remains one of the most pivotal and complex periods in our history. While much has been written, countless fascinating questions still spark our curiosity—from understanding the key decisions that shape the conflict to pondering the compelling “what ifs” that could have changed everything.

Welcome to Civil War Curious, our new podcast series where we enlist expert historians to answer your lingering questions about the conflict. No subject is off limits, no issue too big or small. In our first season, we’ll delve into topics like soldiers’ religious faith, George McClellan’s controversial leadership during the 1862 Maryland Campaign, the tragic massacre at Fort Pillow, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s pivotal role at Gettysburg, and the often-overlooked issue of postwar drug addiction among veterans.

Civil War Curious premieres soon. I hope you'll join us.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

THE FREEDOM SEEKERS

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Amy Murrell Taylor, the T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Professor of History at the University of Kentucky and author most recently of Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War's Slave Refugee Camps (2018). We talked about the experiences of those who escaped slavery during the Civil War, the role the Union army played in the process, and the establishment of "contraband" camps.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

THE PRISONER EXPERIENCE

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Evan Kutzler, associate professor of history at Western Michigan University and author of Living by Inches: The Smells, Sounds, Tastes, and Feeling of Captivity in Civil War Prisons (2019). We talked about the state of Civil War prisons in 1864, from the POW experience to how the breakdown of the formal prisoner exchange system affected conditions.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

MEADE, GRANT, AND THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Jennifer M. Murray, an American military historian at Oklahoma State University. She is the author of On A Great Battlefield: The Making, Management, and Memory of Gettysburg National Military Park, 1933-2013 (2014) and is working on a book tentatively titled Meade at War: The Military Life of George Gordon Meade. We talked about how the relationship between George Meade and Ulysses S. Grant operated during the Army of the Potomac's pivotal 1864 campaigns against Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.

Welcome to The 1864 Project. We hope you’ll join us.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

THE WOMEN'S WAR

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Stephanie M. McCurry, professor of history at Columbia University. She is the author of a number of books on the Civil War era, including Masters of Small Worlds (1997) and, most recently, Women's War: Fighting and Surviving the American Civil War (2019). We talked about the great diversity in women’s experiences—northern and southern, white and black—during the conflict.

Welcome to The 1864 Project. We hope you’ll join us.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

THE WESTERN WAR

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Steven E. Woodworth, professor of history at Texas Christian University and author of a number of books about the Civil War, including Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns and Manifest Destinies: Westward Expansion and the Civil War. We talked about the war’s oft-overlooked western theater in 1864, with a focus on how the decisions made by Union and Confederate leadership affected outcomes on the battlefield.

Welcome to The 1864 Project. We hope you’ll join us.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

GRANT VS. LEE

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Cecily Zander, assistant professor of history at Texas Women's University and author of the recently published book, The Army Under Fire: The Politics of Anti-Militarism in the Civil War Era (Louisiana State University Press, 2024). We talked about the challenges Robert E. Lee and his vaunted Army of Northern Virginia encountered when facing a new opponent in Ulysses S. Grant during the summer of 1864.

Welcome to The 1864 Project. We hope you’ll join us.

©2024 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.

THE 1864 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The 1864 Project is a limited series about the consequential decisions and events that shaped outcomes and affected lives during a pivotal year in the American Civil War.

On this episode, we're joined by Harold Holzer, one of the country’s leading voices on Abraham Lincoln and Civil War-era political culture. Holzer is the chairman of the Lincoln Forum, and his latest book is titled Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration. We talked about the 1864 presidential election, and how Union military progress and his administration’s emancipation policy affected Lincoln’s quest for a second term.

Welcome to The 1864 Project. We hope you’ll join us.

©2025 by The Civil War Monitor. All rights reserved.