Author, Historian, Pulitzer Prize Winner. A prolific and popular American Civil War historian, he is best remembered for his books on the American Civil War, and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1954 for “A Stillness at Appomattox.” Born Charles Bruce Catton, his father was a Congregationalist minister who moved the family to Benzonia, Michigan to accept a teaching position at the Benzonia Academy and later became its headmaster. In 1916 he attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, but dropped out when he enlisted in the US Navy during World War I. In 1920 he became a reporter and editor for the newspapers The Cleveland News, followed by the Boston American (1920 to 1924), and The Plain Dealer (1925). From 1926 to 1941 he worked for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, writing editorials and book reviews, as well as serving as a Washington DC correspondent. In 1941 he took a position as Director of Information for the War Production Board in Washington DC, and later he held similar posts in the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior and his experiences as a federal employee prepared him to write his first book, “The War Lords of Washington” (1948). While the book was not a commercial success, it inspired him to leave the federal government to become a full-time author. In the early 1950s, he published three books, known as the Army of the Potomac trilogy, starting with “Mr. Lincoln’s Army” (1951), “Glory Road’ (1952), and “A Stillness at Appomattox” (1953). He followed the Army of the Potomac trilogy with his Centennial of the Civil War trilogy that included “The Coming Fury” (1961), “Terrible Swift Sword” (1963), and “Never Call Retreat” (1965). His other Civil War works include “U.S. Grant and the American Military Tradition” (1954), “Banners at Shenandoah: A Story of Sheridan’s Fighting Cavalry” (1955), “This Hallowed Ground” (1956, which won a Fletcher Pratt Award in 1957), “America Goes to War” (1958), “The American Picture History of the Civil War” (1960), “Grant Moves South” (1960), “Two Roads to Sumter” (1963), “Grant Takes Command” (1969), and “Gettysburg: The Final Fury” (1974). In the latter part of his life, he published “Michigan: A Bicentennial History” (1976) and “The Bold & Magnificent Dream: America’s Founding Years, 1492-1815” (1978). Among his honors and awards, other than the 1954 Pulitzer Prize, include the 1954 US National Book Award for “A Stillness at Appomattox,” the 1959 Meritorious Service Award in the Field of Civil War History, presented by former President Harry S. Truman, and the 1977 Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President Gerald R. Ford. He was also the recipient of 26 honorary degrees from colleges and universities across the US. He died following a respiratory illness at the age of 78. In 1984, the biennial Bruce Catton Prize was established in cooperation with American Heritage Publishing Company and the Society of American Historians to honor a lifetime achievement in the writing of history. In 1988 his Army of the Potomac trilogy was reissued as a single volume reprint titled, “Bruce Catton’s Civil War.” (bio by: William Bjornstad)  Family links:  Parents:  George Robert Catton (1855 – 1919)  Adella M Patten Catton (1870 – 1951)  Siblings:  Nellie Catton (1883 – 1964)**  Ione Catton (1888 – 1974)**  W Robert Catton (1895 – 1972)*  Bruce Catton (1899 – 1978)  Thurber Davis Catton (1904 – 2000)*  Barbara Catton (1909 – 1986)* *Calculated relationship**Half-sibling