World History: 19th Century, U.S. Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, Animal History, and National Archives Research Methods
David J. Gerleman is an American historian specializing in 19th century U.S. history, the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln. He is an emeritus editor of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln and has appeared on multiple media outlets discussing Lincoln and Civil War topics. He has received distinguished fellowships and honors from numerous organizations including Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech, the Massachusetts and Kentucky Historical Societies, the United States Military Historical Institute, the University of Virginia's Center for the Study of the American Civil War, and the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History. He was recently named a 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar at Hungary's University of Debrecen.
“These Loyal Alabamians”: New Perspectives of the First Alabama Union Cavalry from the National Archives Pension Files and Records."[Article]
"‘My Companion in All Places’: The Hidden History of Horses and Mules in the American Civil War." [Book]
"'Put Crepe on Your Hat': The 1864 Burning and Rebuilding of Lincoln’s White House Stables,” White House History Quarterly [Forthcoming 2024].
"James Irvine Dungan's Civil War: From POW to Congressman," The Civil War Monitor, [Forthcoming 2024].
Retropolis: “Documents Reveal Abraham Lincoln Pardoned Biden’s Great-Great-Grandfather,” The Washington Post, February 19, 2024
"As Much a Military Supply as a Barrel of Gunpowder: Horses and Mules as 19th Century Engines of War” in Animal Histories of the Civil War Era, ed. Earl Hess. LSU Press, 2022.
“Who Will Employ an Old Line Whig? Joshua L. Henshaw and the Perils of Patronage,” For The People: The Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Vol. 23, Spring 2021.
“Attuned to the Past: Reconstructing the Civil War Legacies of the Parton Brothers of Sevier County, Tennessee,” The Journal of East Tennessee History, Vol. 91, 2019. Winner of the McClung Award
“The Campaign for Island No. 10: February 28-April 8, 1862,” The Essential Civil War Curriculum, (2019), Online: https://www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/island-no.-10.html
“Bring Our Glorious Flag Triumphantly Back into Texas: Anthony M. Dignowity, Abraham Lincoln, and the Restoration of the Lone Star State,” Our Heritage, 59, 3 & 4, (Spring and Summer 2018), 12-19.
“Veterinary Care in the Union Cavalry,” (p. 115-134) in Astride Two Worlds: Technology and the American Civil War, ed. Barton C. Hacker. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2016.
On Lincoln’s Side: Reelecting a Leader, the Editors of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield, IL, 2014. (Co-Editor).
On Lincoln’s Mind: Leading the Nation to the Gettysburg Address, the Editors of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield, IL, 2013. (Co-Editor).
“French Regimental Flags of the American Revolution, 1777-1783.” Guide Pamphlet. Washington, DC: The Society of the Cincinnati Anderson House Museum. (2001; 2006).
Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, Fulbright U. S. Scholar, University of Debrecen, Hungary, 2024-2025.
Virginia Museum of History & Culture: Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, 2020-2021.
John L. Nau III Center for the Study of the American Civil War, Research Fellowship, University of Virginia, 2020-2021.
National Sporting Library and Museum, John H. Daniels Fellowship, 2020-2021.
Benjamin F. Stevens Fellowship, Massachusetts Historical Society, 2019-2020.
Research Fellowship, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, Virginia Tech University, 2019-2020.
Kentucky State Historical Society Scholarly Research Fellowship, 2018-2019.
United States Military Academy, West Point Summer Seminar in Military History, 2012
David Warren Bowman Award for Best Paper, Alabama Association of Historians, 2011.
The Filson Historical Society, Research Fellowship, 2009.
University of Illinois-Springfield, APAC Professional Development Award, 2009; 2012; 2013.
National Historical Publications and Records Commission/ Wisconsin Historical Society, Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents Certificate, 2008.
The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, 2005.
U. S. Military Historical Institute General and Mrs. Matthew B. Ridgeway Post-Doctoral Research Grant, 2005
Reading Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln in American History and Memory
Introduction to World History
American History, 1877-Present
Virginia History and the Old South, 1607-1867
Rebels & Redcoats: America’s War for Independence, 1763-1783
The Young Republic and the Age of Jackson, 1784-1848
House Divided: 1850s America and the Coming of the Civil War
Ordeal by Fire: America’s Civil War Era
The Diplomatic History of the United States, 1776-1920
America in the Progressive Age, 1890-1920
The Era of Jazz, Gin, and Jalopies, 1919-1929
The American Century, 1900-1994
The Other War: The Civil War on the Fringe
Storm Cradled Nation: The Confederate Experience, 1860-1865
The Immortal Abraham Lincoln: Man, Myth, and Reality
The House Divides: The American Civil War, 1860-1865
Themes in U.S. History, 1500-1865
Themes in U.S. History, 1877-Present
Doctor of Philosophy: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1999.
Master of Arts: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1994.
Bachelor of Arts: Wartburg College, Waverly, IA, 1991.
“Uncle Sam’s Webbed Feet” and “Horsing Civil War Armies,” Twin Cities Civil War Roundtable Annual Symposium, April 2023.
“‘As Much a Military Supply as a Barrel of Gunpowder’: Horses and Mules Procurement,” Virginia Tech University Civil War Weekend, March 2021.
“Lincoln’s Majordomo: Benjamin Brown French and Civil War Washington,” U.S. Capitol Historical Society Scholar Lecture Series, May 2020.
“John Singleton Mosby in History and Memory: Confederate Guerilla, Federal Partisan or Southern Pariah?” National Sporting Library and Museum, Middleburg, VA, August, 2019.
“History on the Hoof: Researching New England’s Horse and Dairy Industry during the Era of the American Civil War,” Massachusetts Historical Society, August 2019.
"Men on Horseback: Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and the Equestrian Image of the Commander-in-Chief," Invited Speaker, National Sporting Library and Museum, Middleburg, VA, June 2019.
"A Most Shut-Mouthed Man: Abraham Lincoln in Myth and Reality," Invited Speaker, John Locke Institute, Oxford University, Washington, DC, November 2018.
"Attuned to the Past: The Parton Family Legacy and Civil War History," Presenter, Society of Appalachian Historians, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, May 2018.
“’Bring Our Glorious Flag Triumphantly Back into Texas’: Anthony M. Dignowity, Abraham Lincoln, and the Restoration of the Lone Star State,” Presenter, Texas State Historical Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, March 2014.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/02/19/abraham-lincoln-joe-biden-pardon-presidents-day/
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/21/abraham-lincoln-biden-pardon-civil-war
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/19/joe-bidens-great-great-grandfather-was-pardoned-by-abraham-lincoln
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/02/19/lincoln-pardoned-joe-biden-great-great-grandfather-civil-war-fight/72662006007
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abraham-lincoln-pardoned-joe-biden-great-great-grandfather-moses-robinette/
https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/l-arriere-arriere-grand-pere-de-joe-biden-a-ete-gracie-par-abraham-lincoln-20240219
https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/international/article/etats-unis-joe-biden-et-abraham-lincoln-ont-un-lien-et-il-est-tres-surprenant_230055.html
Joe Biden et Abraham Lincoln : ce lien insoupçonné remontant au XIXe siècle (parismatch.com)
https://www.businessinsider.com/abraham-lincoln-pardoned-bidens-direct-ancestor-after-civil-war-brawl-2024-2