Biographies

The participants in America’s early conflicts were just like people today—farmers, nurses, politicians, mothers, sons, pastors, clerks and soldiers, concerned about the safety of their families and wondering what the future might bring. While millions of stories will forever remain untold, here are some of the main figures that comprised the leadership in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War, both on and off the battlefield.

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Rev War Crispus Attucks In his seminal book, Why We Can’t Wait, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote about the...	Civil War William W. Averell William Woods Averell graduated in the lower third of the United States Military Academy in 1855...	Civil War Nathaniel Banks Nathaniel Banks, a lifelong politician and former governor of Massachusetts, was appointed as one...	Civil War William Barksdale William Barksdale earned a reputation among his fellow Confederates for his vehement support of...
War of 1812 Joshua Barney Undaunted in Battle is a 2014 bas-relief sculpture, in the heroic mold of Saint-Gaudens’ Robert...	Civil War Theodore Harvey Barrett Theodore Harvey Barrett had the distinction of commanding Union forces in the last battle of the...	Rev War John Barry On December 7, 1775, the Continental Congress commissioned its first warship, the USS Lexington...	Civil War Clara Barton Born in Massachusetts in 1821, Clara Harlowe Barton was the youngest of five children. Barton...
Rev War Friedrich Baum Friedrich Baum was born in 1727. Little is known of Baum before his arrival to the Americas. He had...	Civil War Powhatan Beaty While born into slavery in Richmond, Virginia, on October 8, 1837, Powhatan Beaty and his family...	Civil War P. G. T. Beauregard Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was a Louisiana-born author, civil servant, politician, inventor...	Civil War Henry W. Benham Henry Washington Benham began his military career after graduating first in his class from the...
Civil War Judah Phillip Benjamin Judah Philip Benjamin served as the Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State for...	Rev War Louis-Alexandre Berthier The values promoted by the American Revolution could not have been contained to North America...	Civil War James Gilpatrick Blunt While the life of James Gilpatrick Blunt began in the Northeast, it was in the West that he would...	Civil War John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth will always be attached to the name of the president he assassinated. As an actor...