“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security.“

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Revenue Act of 1861

The Revenue Act of 1861, formally cited as Act of August 5, 1861, Chap. XLV, 12 Stat. 292, included the first U.S. Federal income tax statute (see Sec.49). The Act,…

Robert Ransom Jr

Robert Ransom Jr. (February 12, 1828 – January 14, 1892) was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. His brother Matt W. Ransom was also a Confederate general officer…

Lincoln’s Thanksgiving of 1863

In October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation of thanksgiving, calling upon the nation to set aside the fourth Thursday of November to pause…

Battlefield Preservation

Save Tennessee Battlefields

Your help is needed to save two key tracts at Lookout Mountain and Franklin.
The first tract includes 301 acres that played an important role in the “Battle Above the Clouds” at Lookout Mountain. The second tract is a small but crucial parcel at the Franklin Battlefield, which adds a key piece of ground to the land the Trust already worked so hard to reclaim and restore. 

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Confederate Generals (A-D)

Confederate Generals (A-D)

Adams, Daniel Weisiger / Kentucky / Born 31 May 1821 Frankfort, Kentucky / Died New Orleans, Louisiana 13 June 18722nd Lieutenant Mississippi Militia / Lieutenant-Colonel PACS 1st Louisiana Infantry 13 March 1861 / Colonel PACS 30 October 1861 / Brigadier-General PACS 23 May 1862 / Paroled Meridian, Mississippi 9 May 1865 / WIA Shiloh 6…

Alexander W. Campbell

Alexander W. Campbell

Alexander William Campbell (June 4, 1828 – June 13, 1893), was a Confederate States Army Brigadier General during the American Civil War. He was a lawyer in Tennessee before and after the war, mayor of Jackson, Tennessee, 1856, and an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for governor of Tennessee in 1880.…

Old Capital Prison

Old Capital Prison

In November 1861, Secretary of State William H. Seward told Lord Richard Lyons, British Ambassador to the United States, “My Lord, I can touch a bell on my right hand, and order the arrest of a citizen of Ohio; I can touch the bell again, and order the imprisonment of…

The Truth about “Juneteenth”

The Truth about “Juneteenth”

Juneteenth. So what is THAT? In a year’s time, we’ve gone from only a small percentage of people have even heard of that colloquialism referencing one town in Texas’s tradition to now it’s a national holiday? You’ll hear that it’s the date the last slaves were freed, found out they…

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Civil War, Black Confederates

The Civil War was a fiery prism at the center of American society. Every life entered the prism at its own angle and was refracted in its own way.

The Battlefield of Yellow Tavern, Virginia

Though this battlefield has been lost to time, with effort, lingering traces of the ultimate Confederate cavalier’s last battle can still be found hidden in the Richmond suburbs.

Battle of Big Bethel

Battle of Big Bethel

The Battle of Big Bethel, also known as the Battle of Bethel Church or Great Bethel was one of the earliest land battles of the American Civil War (Civil War) after the surrender of Fort Sumter. The battle between Union Army and Confederate States Army forces on June 10, 1861 took place in Hampton and York County, Virginia, (near the present-day unincorporated…

Battle of Sewell’s Point

Battle of Sewell’s Point

Coordinates: 36°57′17″N 76°19′36″W / 36.95472°N 76.32667°W The Battle of Sewell’s Point was an inconclusive exchange of cannon fire between the Union gunboat USS Monticello, supported by the USS Thomas Freeborn, and Confederate batteries on Sewell’s Point that took place on May 18, 19 and 21, 1861, in Norfolk County, Virginia in the early days of the American Civil War. Little damage was done to either side.…

Battle of Darbytown Road

Battle of Darbytown Road

Grant in Charge On March 10, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Grant brought with him, from his successes in the Western Theater of the war, a reputation for the doggedness that Lincoln was seeking in his generals. Unlike…

Battle of Fort Donelson

Battle of Fort Donelson

The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11 to February 16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The capture of the fort by Union forces opened the Cumberland River, an important avenue for the invasion of the South. The success elevated Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant from an obscure and largely unproven leader to…

Database of Battles

From Native Indians, The American Revolution,
and American Civil War

The Capture of Savannah

The American commander Brigadier General Robert Howe of North Carolina, with only 700 men, made a feeble attempt to defend the city.

Battle of White Marsh

The Battle of White Marsh (aka Battle of Edge Hill) was a battle fought in the area surrounding Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the form of a series…

The Battle of Chelsea Creek

The  Battle of Chelsea Creek was the second military engagement of the Boston campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It is also known as the Battle of Noddle’s Island, Battle of…

The Revolutionary Christmas

The Revolutionary Christmas

It is accepted among some historians that Hessian soldiers who fought alongside the British first introduced the Christmas tree to the colonies during the Revolutionary War. Others claim German immigrants who settled in Eastern Pennsylvania started the tradition. All agree that prior to the Revolutionary War, Christmas was not celebrated…

The Revolutionary War

The Revolutionary War

British Strengths When war erupted in 1775, it seemed clear that Britain would win. It had a large, well-organized land army, and the Royal Navy was unmatched on the sea. Many of the British troops in the Revolutionary War were veterans who had fought in the French and Indian War. On the other…

American Society in Revolt

American Society in Revolt

Training the Continental Army As the colonies prepared themselves for war, new militias were formed throughout America, primarily to defend local communities from British aggression. Other units, however, rushed to join their comrades in Boston as soon as every man had a musket. Under the strict command of George Washington, Nathanael Greene,…

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence

Virginia Proposes Independence At a meeting of the Second Continental Congress in the summer of 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a delegate from Virginia, proposed that the American colonies should declare their independence from Britain. Delegates debated this proposal heavily for a few weeks, and many returned to their home states to discuss…