Category: American Civil War

Jefferson Davis, Feb. 10, 1861

On this day in 1861, a telegram arrived at Brierfield, Jefferson Davis’ Mississippi plantation, informing him that on the previous day, breakaway delegates meeting in Montgomery, Ala., had chosen him as the provisional president of the newly formed Confederate States of America. The former congressman and senator from Mississippi had resigned his Senate seat when…

Maps of the Confederate Army

The Confederate Army had difficulty throughout the war in supplying its field officers with adequate maps.

Allegheny Arsenal Explosion of 1862

In the early afternoon on September 17, 1862, just about 200 miles from where the Battle of Antietam was taking place, another Civil War-era tragedy occurs: Three explosions rip through the Allegheny Arsenal and kill 78 workers, mostly young women and girls.

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, motivated by the need to fund the Civil War, imposed an income tax to be “levied, collected, and paid, upon the annual income of every person residing in the United States, whether such income…

The Battle of Kernstown

Fought on March 23, 1862, the First Battle of Kernstown was the initial engagement of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. The conflict was also Stonewall Jackson's only defeat as commander of a large force during the Civil War.

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 and U.S. Senator. Ransom was born in Warren County, North Carolina to Robert Ransom Sr. and Priscilla Whitaker Ransom. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1850. Ransom was assigned to the…

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 and give thanks to God. Lincoln was far from the first to do this; during the Revolution, the Continental Congress set aside several days for giving thanks, and George Washington…

The Trent Affair

In accordance with the authority conferred by this Congress, the Confederate President appointed John Slidell and James M. Mason diplomatic agents in October 1861, with the power to enter into conventions for treaties with England and France. They were commissioned to secure from these European powers recognition of the Confederate government as a nation, based…

Confederate Generals (A-D)

Pole-Bearers (predecessor to the NAACP) Speech by Nathan Bedford Forrest

Ladies and Gentlemen I accept the flowers as a memento of reconciliation between the white and colored races of the southern states. I accept it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is anyone on God’s earth who loves the ladies I believe it is myself. This day is a…