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.