I highly recommend the Civil War daily Calendar for 2009. My sister-in-law got me the 2008 one and most days there is a new tidbit of interest.
Two recent ones:
CIVIL WAR VOCABULARY-- A shell is a hollow projectile, shot from a cannon. Filled with powder and lit by a fuse when fired. Shells exploded when the fuse burned down to the level of the powder. Depending upon the length of the fuse, artillermen could decide when they wanted the shell to burst. Then, you'd best duck.
DID YOU KNOW?-- During the Civil War, Henry Ward Beecher (as in Mr. "Battle Hymn of the Republic") traveled to England to get support for the Northern cause. Addressing a loud, pro-Southern crowd in Manchester, he was asked "Why didn't you whip the Confederates in sixty days, as you said you would?" He allegedly replied, "We found we had Americans to fight instead of Englishmen."
Good One Henry!! --Old B-Runner
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
