09/24/2026
Join us on Friday, October 30th at 7pm At Kingsland Homestead
Although no battles were fought on Long Island, the Civil War affected every one of the 101,000 people living in current-day Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. More than 3,000 young men — white and black — answered their country’s call to preserve the Union by serving in the army or navy. There were training camps for regiments on their way to the front, Confederate ships marauding within eight miles of Montauk Point, anti-war protests and a little-remembered draft riot in Jamaica in 1863. Local women raised thousands of dollars for Union hospitals, and Long Island companies manufactured uniforms, drums and medicines for the army. Long Island and the Civil War explores this fascinating story, from the 1860 presidential campaign that polarized the region to the wartime experiences of Long Islanders in the field and at home, and through the last local veteran’s death in 1945 to the history buffs who keep the memory of the conflict alive.
Bill Bleyer was a prizewinning staff writer for Newsday for 33 years specializing in history and maritime issues before retiring in 2014 to write books and freelance for the newspaper and magazines.
He has written seven books published by the History Press: “The Roosevelts in New York City” (2025); The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound (2023); George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide (2021); Long Island and the Sea: A Maritime History (2019); Fire Island Lighthouse: Long Island’s Welcoming Beacon (2017); Sagamore Hill: Theodore Roosevelt’s Summer White House (2016); and, with co-author Harrison Hunt, Long Island and the Civil War (2015).
He has been featured on C-Span and his work has been published in American Heritage, in Smithsonian magazine’s digital edition and in America’s Civil War, Naval History, Sea History, Lighthouse Digest, Civil War News and other publications.
The Hofstra University graduate has taught economics and journalism there and maritime history at Webb Institute, the naval architecture college in Glen Cove.
Admission $10 for non-members and $5 for members.
*Limited on-site parking available.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bill-blyer-presents-long-island-and-the-civil-war-tickets-2000849224893?aff=oddtdtcreator
