April 2011 marked the 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and the beginning of the American Civil War. It also marked the beginning of a monthly column by historian Terry L. Jones. This book is a compilation of his fascinating articles describing war-related events between April 1861 and May 1865.

Louisiana's role in the war was critical. It provided sixty-five thousand soldiers to the Confederacy and about half that many to the Union, including nearly twenty-four thousand African Americans, some of whom formed the first sanctioned black regiment in the U.S. Army. Many prominent participants of the war hailed from Louisiana. The state also was the scene of approximately six hundred battles and skirmishes. Among them were some of the war's most crucial engagements that secured the Mississippi River for the Union.

Jones writes for the general reader, covering a wide assortment of interests, from Civil War trivia to biographical sketches, battle scenarios, African American history, politics, and the home front. Vibrant and engrossing, this book is certain to surprise you while fostering an appreciation of Louisiana's participation in this key chapter of the nation's history.