Hidden tattoos revealed pride, patriotism

Atlas Obscura: “The Civil War helped tattooing begin a transition from the military to wider society, and ushered in the style of classic tattooing unique to America. Tattooing had long been widespread among sailors, but during the war men who would never have considered getting a tattoo before wanted a way to show their allegiance to their cause and to identify themselves in the event of death." • Article

Death, through 19th century eyes

Ric Burns' grim, gripping documentary "Death and the Civil War," which premieres on PBS on Sept.18, strongly suggests that the war's great charnel house not only changed society's view of war and death but helped create a new kind of nation as well. • Article

Higher death toll raises new questions

Nearly 150 years after the last fusillade of the Civil War, historians, authors and museum curators are still finding new topics to explore as the nation commemorates the sesquicentennial. • Article

Did N.C. overestimate number of dead?

North Carolina's claim that it lost the most men during the Civil War is getting a recount from a state historian who doubts the accuracy of the accepted, 144-year-old estimate. If North Carolina's numbers are wrong, then the numbers for other states are wrong as well because they all come from the same faulty sources, said Josh Howard, a research historian with the Office of Archives and History in Raleigh. • Article