Author: Samuel Shenk Date: 1863 Annotation: After the Battle of Antietam, Lee’s forces retreated into Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley with almost no interference. Frustrated by McClellan’s lack of aggressiveness, Lincoln replaced him with General Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-1881). In December 1862,…

Author:   Joseph M. Maitland Date:1863 Annotation: By early 1863, voluntary enlistments in the Union army had fallen so sharply that the federal government instituted an unpopular military draft and decided to enroll black, as well as white, troops. Indeed,…

Author:   William Tecumseh Sherman Date:1863 Annotation: As the war dragged on, enthusiasm faded and class tensions flared. In the North, the worst mob violence in American history took place in New York City in July 1863, two weeks after…

Author:   Daniel H. Hill Date:1863 Annotation: By early 1863, the Civil War had begun to cause severe hardship on the southern homefront. Not only was most of the fighting taking place in the South, but as the Union blockade…

Author:   Samuel P. Chase Date:1863 Annotation: During the war, the Republican-controlled Congress enacted a series of measures which carried long-term consequences for the future. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided public land free to pioneers who agreed to farm…

Author:   A soldier in the 12th Vermont Militia Date:1863 Annotation: There can be no doubt that some northern soldiers who were willing to fight to preserve the Union were unwilling to fight to abolish slavery. An unidentified soldier in…

Author:   Amos Lewis Date:1863 Annotation: A Northerner reflects on the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation, which went into effect sixteen days before this letter was written. Document: The partial Proclamation has gone forth from the White House that the…

Author:   Rufus Blanchard Date:1863 Annotation: In recent years, it has sometimes been charged that Lincoln’s proclamation did not free any slaves, since it applied only to areas that were in a state of rebellion and explicitly exempted the border…

Author:   Josiah C. Fuller Date:1863 Annotation: When his forces drove northward into Pennsylvania, Lee assumed, mistakenly, that Union forces were still in Virgina. When he suddenly realized that Union forces were in close pursuit, he ordered his forces, which…

Annotation: Congressional act to establish land grant colleges. The Morrill Act was introduced by Congressman Justin Morrill of Vermont. Under the act, each state that had remained in the Union received 30,000 acres of federal land for each member of…

Author:   George C. Burling Date:1862 Annotation: Almost as many soldiers died during the Civil War as in all other American wars combined. Union combat deaths totalled 111,904; another 197,388 died of disease, 30,192 in prison, and 24,881 as a…

Author:   David V.M. Smith Date:1862 Annotation: The Civil War separated families in unprecedented numbers and freed women to assume many new roles. With the departure of many men into the military, women entered many occupations previously reserved for men…