Description

Gothic and Strange True Tales of the Civil War includes dozens of bizarre incidents from the days before, during, and after the war that are not well-known to general readers or professional historians. These stories include legal ramifications of slavery not mentioned in standard history books; soldiers' executions; premonitions and ghosts; the link between a Lincoln assassin and a Jack the Ripper suspect; wealthy antebellum black slaveowners; strange battlefield deaths; problems concerning disposal of massive numbers of dead soldiers; tricks used to escape the draft; multiracial Confederate soldiers; the full story of the embalming and exhibition of Lincoln's body; examples showing that selling humans at auction was still legal and often practiced long after the war; and much more.