Philadelphia and the Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Philadelphia was the second-largest city in the country and had the industrial might to earn the title Arsenal of the Union.� With Pennsylvania's anthracite coal, the city mills forged steel into arms, and a vast network of rails carried the ammunition and other manufactured goods to the troops. Over the course of the war, Philadelphia contributed 100, 000 soldiers to the Union army, including many free blacks and such notables as General George McClellan and General George Meade, the victor of Gettysburg. Anthony Waskie chronicles Philadelphia's role in the conflict while also taking an intimate view of life in the city with stories of all those who volunteered to serve and guard the Cradle of Liberty.

Professor Waskie was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and pursued a languages/history major at Bloomsburg University. He studied abroad in Salzburg, Austria, pursued graduate study in Germany and received a scholarship to study Slavic at Charles University, Prague. He received MA and PhD degrees from New York University. He performed duty with the Army Reserves as a language specialist. He became a teacher of languages and history at Pennsbury School District in Bucks County. Waskie is a professor of languages at Temple University. He is a cofounder of the Civil War and Emancipation Studies at Temple. As a Civil War historian, author and researcher specializing in Philadelphia and a historian of the life and career of General George G. Meade, Waskie seeks to promote the history of the city. He is a member of the Union League of Philadelphia. Waskie serves as president of the General Meade Society of Philadelphia and as a board member of a number of history-related institutions.