MAY 20th. –Mr. Walker, the Secretary of War, is some forty seven or eight years of age, tall, thin, and a little bent; not by age, but by study and bad health. He was a successful lawyer, and having never been in governmental employment, is fast working himself down. He has not yet learned how [...]
May 20th.—Lunched at Mrs. Davis’s; everything nice to eat, and I was ravenous. For a fortnight I have not even gone to the dinner table. Yesterday I was forced to dine on cold asparagus and blackberries, so repulsive in aspect was the other food they sent me. Mrs. Davis was as nice as the luncheon. [...]
An Ordinance To dissolve the union between the State of North Carolina and the other States united with her, under the compact of government entitled “The Constitution of the United States.” We, the people of the State of North Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That [...]
May 20, 1861 The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Delegates to the North Carolina Secession Convention passes Ordinance of Secession A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 North Carolina State Convention met at Raleigh and passed unanimously an ordinance of [...]
May 19th.—Mrs. Fitzpatrick says Mr. Davis is too gloomy for her. He says we must prepare for a long war and unmerciful reverses at first, because they are readier for war and so much stronger numerically. Men and money count so in war. “As they do everywhere else,” said I, doubting her accurate account of [...]
MAY 19th. – The Secretary of War sent for me this morning, and said he required more assistance in his correspondence, then increasing daily; but the act of Congress limiting salaries would prevent him from offering me an adequate compensation. He could only name some ten or twelve hundred dollars. I told him my great [...]
May 19, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Rebels at Harper’s Ferry reinforced. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863
May 18, 1861.—Letter to Colonel F. P. Blair. Washington, D. C., May 18, 1861. Hon. F. P. Blair My dear Sir: We have a good deal of anxiety here about St. Louis. I understand an order has gone from the War Department to you, to be delivered or withheld in your discretion, relieving General Harney [...]
May 18, 1861.—Letter To Secretary Chase. Executive Mansion, May 18, 1861. Hon. Secretary Of The Treasury. My dear Sir: The suggestions of your note accompanying the commission for Mr. Dennison as naval officer at New York have been considered in the same spirit of kindness in which I know they were offered. They present the [...]
MAY 18th. – To-day I had another interview with the President. He advised me to see the Secretary of the Treasury without delay; but the Treasury would not answer so well for my Diary.
May 18, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Rebel batteries at Sewell’s Point, Va., dislodged. This was the first offensive operation of the Government against the rebels. Arkansas admitted as a State of the Confederate States of America. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, [...]
May 17, 1861. Sun and dust. Hot as ___ the deuce. Lots of drilling and ditto fun. Suits me to a T. Am going in for three years as quick as I can. All chance for fight is given up here. We are getting sharp. We trade off our extra fodder for pies, milk and [...]
MAY 17th. –Was introduced to the President to-day. He was overwhelmed with papers, and retained a number in his left hand, probably of more importance than the rest. He received me with urbanity, and while he read the papers I had given him, as I had never seen him before, I endeavored to scrutinize his [...]
May 17, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 C. S. Congress authorized the issue of $50,000,000 8 p. c. 20 years’ bonds. Secession spies arrested in Washington. Rebels fortify Harper’s Ferry. Rebels dispersed at Potosi, Mo. Legislature of Kentucky authorized the suspension of specie payments by the banks. A Chronological History [...]
MAY 16th. –Met John Tyler, Jr., to-day, who, with his native cordiality, proffered his services with zeal and earnestness. He introduced me at once to Hon. L. P. Walker, Secretary of War, and insisted upon presenting me to the President the next day. Major Tyler had recently been commissioned in the army, but is now [...]
May 16, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Bridges on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad de stroyed by the rebels. Gen. Scott ordered Arlington Heights to be fortified. Secessionists dispersed at Liberty, Mo. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, [...]
MAY 15th. –From my window at the top of the house, I see corn in silk and tassel. Three days ago the corn I saw was not three inches high. And blackberries are in season. Strawberries and peas are gone. This city is mostly situated in a bottom on the Alabama River. Being fatigued I [...]
MAY 15, 1861. Colonel Blenker And Gentlemen Of The First Regiment Of Rifles,—I have the honor to present this stand of colors to your regiment. It is the flag which for three-quarters of a century has been hailed in every quarter of the inhabited globe as the emblem of Constitutional liberty, and the beacon [...]
May 15, 1861 Robert Anderson promoted to Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyons [US] occupies Jefferson City, capital of Missouri The First Wheeling Convention closes. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Governor of Maryland issued a proclamation calling for four regiments of volunteers, in response to the President’s demand. Legislature of Massachusetts offered to [...]
The New York Herald May 14, 1862, Our Army Correspondence. WEST POINT, Va., May 8, 1862. I have gathered the following details of a most desperate engagement at this point yesterday:- After the landing of General Franklin’s division, which camped in a large field, surrounded on the south, west and north by a dense wood, [...]
MAY 14th. — The weather is very warm. Day before yesterday the wheat was only six or eight inches high. To-day it is two or three feet in height, headed, and almost ripe for the scythe. At every station [where I can write a little] we see crowds of men, and women, and boys; and [...]
Civil War Portraits—Leaders, Influencers, and the Incidentally Important #011 Captain James Buchanan Eads (May 23, 1820 – March 8, 1887) was a world-renowned American civil engineer and inventor, holding more than 50 patents. In 1861, after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Eads was called to Washington at the prompting of his friend, Attorney [...]
May 14, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 A schooner loaded with arms seized at Baltimore; arms seized in other parts of the city. Ross Winans arrested.2 St. Louis and Memphis mail contract annulled, and mails stopped. Gun-boat “Quaker City” captured ship “Argo” with $150,000 worth of tobacco. A Chronological History [...]
Civil War Era Photographic Portraiture #002 Half-plate ambrotype of Confederate officer Captain William F. McRorie of Co. A, 4th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Richmond, Virginia.—C. R. Rees & Co. Cased images by Rees included in the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs at the Library of Congress show a studio setting identical to this [...]
MAY 13th. —We traveled all night, and reached Wilmington, N. C., early in the morning. There I saw a Northern steamer which had been seized in retaliation for some of the seizures of the New Yorkers. And there was a considerable amount of ordnance and shot and shell on the bank of the river. The [...]