“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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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…

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…

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…

The Trent Affair

John Slidell In accordance with the authority conferred by this Congress, the Confederate President appointed John Slidell and James M. Mason diplomatic agents in October…

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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The Trent Affair

The Trent Affair

John Slidell 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…

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…

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Most Famous Asian Confederates

Probably the most famous Asian Confederate soldiers were the two sons of famed P.T. Barnum Circus world-renowned Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng Bunker. (The Thai twins took the name “Bunker”…

The Battle Of Mill Springs

Although Brig. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer’s main responsibility was to guard Cumberland Gap, in November 1861 he advanced west into Kentucky to strengthen control in the area around Somerset. He…

The Devil’s Punchbowl

A bit of Natchez, Mississippi history during Union occupation that conveniently gets swept under the rug, as it destroys the narrative of Lincoln’s virtuous war of emancipation. According to local…

The Peach Orchard Battle

The Peach Orchard Battle

The Confederate attack during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg overran the Union III Corps and, in one place, reached the crest of Cemetery Ridge. On July 2, the day of the Battle of Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard conflict, Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George Meade had inspected the…

Battle of Wilson’s Creek

Battle of Wilson’s Creek

The Battle of Wilson’s Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was the first major battle of the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard, it is sometimes called the “Bull Run of the West.” Despite Missouri’s neutral status at the…

The Battle of Kernstown

The Battle of Kernstown

Prelude to the Battle In the spring of 1862, Major General George B. McClellan was preparing to launch his much-anticipated Peninsula Campaign against the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. Besides McClellan’s primary command, three Union forces to the northwest prepared to move south through the Shenandoah Valley to support the invasion. REBEL OPPONENTS [caption…

Morgan’s Raid

Morgan’s Raid

Highlighted from the article During his daring raid, Morgan and his men captured and paroled about 6,000 Union soldiers and militia, destroyed 34 bridges, disrupted the railroads at more than 60 places, and diverted tens of thousands of troops from other duties. He spread terror throughout the region, and seized…

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The Battle of Eutaw Springs

Background Seven years of British determination to bring South Carolina to her knees met failure. The spirit that had long resisted royal edict and church canon, the fierce desire and…

The Battles of Lexington and Concord

They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston.

The Siege of Fort Ticonderoga

Overview On April 19, 1775 the Revolutionary War had begun with the skirmishing at Lexington and Concord Massachusetts. Once the British detachment retreated to Boston, the Siege of Boston began. As…

The Boston Massacre and Tea Party

The Boston Massacre and Tea Party

Townshend Acts Parliament wasted little time invoking its right to “bind” the colonies under the Declaratory Act. The very next year, in 1767, it passed the Townshend Acts. Named after Parliamentarian Charles Townshend, these acts included small duties on all imported glass, paper, lead, paint, and, most significant, tea. Hundreds of thousands of colonists…

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…

The Revolution Begins

The Revolution Begins

Committees of Correspondence In 1772, Samuel Adams of Boston created the first Committee Of Correspondence, which was primarily an exchange of ideas in letters and pamphlets among members. Within a few years, this one committee led to dozens of similar discussion groups in towns throughout the colonies. Eventually, these isolated groups came together to…

The French and Indian War

The French and Indian War

The Beginning of the War Unlike the previous wars between European powers in the 1700s, the French And Indian War was begun in North America—in the heartland of the Ohio Valley, where both France and Britain held claims to land and trading rights. Westward-moving British colonists were particularly aggressive in their desire for new…