Benjamin Douglas and the Siege of Port Hudson tells the Civil War story of Benjamin C. Douglass, who joined Company D of the 26th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in November 1862. His regiment participated in the Siege of Port Hudson, which lasted from May 23 to July 9, 1863, as Union forces fought to gain control of the Mississippi River. During the battle on June 14, 1863, Douglass was hit by a Rebel bullet in the leg. His Dear Wife letter, which is read in this video, tells of that battle and of his harrowing experience.
The video connects Douglass’s wartime service to his later life, noting that after the war he settled in La Valle, Wisconsin. It presents his experience as part of the broader human story of the Civil War, emphasizing individual service, sacrifice, and memory rather than only battlefield dates and military movements.
The video is part of the Voices of the Civil War series produced by PowerUp Design, LLC.
The video “Appomattox and Company A of the Sixth Wisconsin” features Lindsay Wood Davis reading from The Sauk County Riflemen published in 1909, a Civil War diary/history compiled by Philip Cheek and Mair Pointon, who served in Company A of the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. The video focuses on how these Wisconsin soldiers described the closing weeks of the Civil War, beginning with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House and continuing through their return home in August 1865.
Using the words the 1909 book, Sauk County Riflemen, written by Philip Cheek and Mair Pointon, the video has viewers experience the end of the Civil War through soldiers’ own words while using images from the Library of Congress, Harper’s Weekly battlefield drawings, and other historical sources.
The Appomattox story connects several important themes: the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, the role of generals such as Ulysses S. Grant, Philip Sheridan, William T. Sherman, and Robert E. Lee, the fall of Richmond, and the emotional experience of soldiers waiting for war to end and preparing to return home.
The video is part of the Voices of the Civil War series produced by PowerUp Design, LLC.
The video “Between the Fight: The Story of William S. McCready and the 11th Wisconsin” tells the Civil War story of William S. McCready, a soldier from Black Hawk in Sauk County, Wisconsin, using entries from his personal war diary. Rather than focusing only on famous battles, the video emphasizes what soldiers experienced between combat: drilling, marching, building fortifications, waiting, enduring fatigue, and carrying on through hardship. McCready’s story highlights the difficult work and losses of the 11th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, showing the courage, resilience, and personal conviction required of Civil War soldiers. The video uses photographs and drawings from 1861–1865, archived at the Library of Congress, to help bring McCready’s diary and wartime experience to life. It is part of the Sauk County Historical Society’s Voices of the Civil War series.
The video is part of the Voices of the Civil War series produced by PowerUp Design, LLC.
The video “D.W. Hitchcock: Gathering Grit,” tells the Civil War story of Dyer Walker Hitchcock and his service with the 23rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The title emphasizes Hitchcock’s developing resilience as he endured the monotony, hardship, exhaustion, disease, danger, and repeated setbacks of soldier life. Rather than focusing only on dramatic battlefield action, the video highlights the sustained physical and mental endurance required of Hitchcock and the men who served beside him.
The video places Hitchcock’s story within the broader history of the 23rd Wisconsin, which was organized at Camp Randall in Madison and mustered into Union service on August 30, 1862. The regiment served mainly in the Western Theater, including early action at Chickasaw Bayou, the Battle of Arkansas Post, and the long Vicksburg Campaign. After Vicksburg, the regiment continued service in Louisiana and Texas, including smaller engagements and supply-line duty, before mustering out on July 4, 1865.
The video is part of the Voices of the Civil War series produced by PowerUp Design, LLC.
The video “Mair Pointon” features Seth Taft reading from the letters of Mair Pointon, a soldier in the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry and a member of the Iron Brigade. The video presents Pointon’s Civil War experience through his own correspondence, tracing a soldier’s journey shaped by endurance, duty, loss, survival, and growing awareness of human vulnerability during war. Pointon entered Union service as a volunteer in May 1861 and remained in uniform until the war ended in July 1865.
The letters connect Pointon’s personal experience to major Civil War engagements, including Antietam, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. Through these firsthand accounts, the video helps viewers understand how long-term combat affected soldiers’ thinking, especially their sense of responsibility, their exposure to violence, and their changing understanding of survival and sacrifice.
The video is part of the Voices of the Civil War series produced by PowerUp Design, LLC.