May 13th.—We have been down from Montgomery on the boat to that God-forsaken landing, Portland, Ala. Found everybody drunk—that is, the three men who were there. At last secured a carriage to carry us to my brother-in-law’s house. Mr. Chesnut had to drive seven miles, pitch dark, over an unknown road. My heart was in [...]
May 13, 1861 George McClellan [US] appointed Commander, Department of Ohio. The following day he is promoted major general, his rank in the Ohio militia. Only General-in-Chief Winfield Scott held a higher rank. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a “proclamation of neutrality” which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights. The First Wheeling [...]
Civil War Era Photographic Portraiture #001 Title: [Unidentified cadet in Virginia Military Institute uniform] Date Created/Published: 1845. Medium: 1 photograph : sixth-plate daguerreotype ; 9.4 x 8.1 cm (case) Summary: Portrait of a young man who, in later years, might have fought in the Civil War as a Confederate soldier. The initials VMI, visible on [...]
MAY 12th. — To-day I set out for Montgomery. The weather was bright and pleasant. It is Sunday. In the cars are many passengers going to tender their services, and all imbued with the same inflexible purpose. The corn in the fields of Virginia is just becoming visible; and the trees are beginning to disclose [...]
Sunday, May 12th, 6 p.m. Several men from Alabama arrived here to-day with their backs beaten blue. We caught another spy last night. The drums rolled last night at 11 and we all turned out in the biggest, dark and deepest mud you ever saw. It was a mistake of the drummer’s. Six rockets were [...]
Charles Francis Adams To His Mother Fort Independence, May 12, 1861 The truth is that in garrison life, with guard duty three times in two weeks, five hours drill a day and the necessity of waiting on oneself, it is difficult either to write or read much in a room about the size of our [...]
May 12, 1861 Benjamin Butler takes control of Federal Hill and threatens to fire on downtown Baltimore if Southern sympathizers protest. (During night of May 12/13) A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Renewed attempts of the rebels to destroy bridges on the railroads leading to Baltimore. A Chronological History of the Civil [...]
Civil War Portraits—Leaders, Influencers, and the Incidentally Important #011 Robert Anderson (June 14, 1805 – October 26, 1871) was a United States Army officer during the American Civil War. He was the Union commander in the first battle of the American Civil War at Fort Sumter in April 1861 when the Confederates bombarded the fort [...]
MAY 11th. —Robert Tyler has arrived, after wonderful risks and difficulties. When I left Mr. Tyler in the North, the people were talking about electing him their representative in Congress. They tempted him every way, by threats and by promises, to make them a speech under the folds of the “star spangled banner” erected near [...]
May 11, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Blockade of Charleston established. Government troops again attacked by the St. Louis mob—four rioters killed, etc. Great Union demonstration in San Francisco. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863
MAY 10th. – The ladies are postponing all engagements until their lovers have fought the Yankees. Their influence is great. Day after day they go in crowds to the Fair ground where the 1st S. C. Vols. are encamped, showering upon them their smiles, and all the delicacies the city affords. They wine them and [...]
Camp Wilkins, Pittsburgh, Penn., Friday, May 10, 1861. Dear Sister L.:— I hardly know where to begin or what to write. My mind is, perhaps, in the same condition as yours–a good deal confused. It is a damp, rainy morning, so rainy that no companies will be out for drill until the weather is more [...]
May 10, 1861 Nathaniel Lyons [US] takes control of St. Louis to end rioting, seizing Camp Jackson (Confederate militia) and 1200 1855 Springfield Rifles A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 The President, by proclamation, declared martial law upon the island of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, Fla. Mob attack upon [...]
MAY 9th. – The Examiner still fires shot and shell at Gov. Letcher and the dominant majority in the Convention, on account of recent appointments. It is furious over the selection of Mr. Baldwin, recently a leading Union man, for inspector-general; and seems to apprehend bad results from thrusting Union men forward in the coming [...]
May 9th.—Virginia Commissioners here. Mr. Staples and Mr. Edmonston came to see me. They say Virginia “has no grievance; she comes out on a point of honor; could she stand by and see her sovereign sister States invaded?” Sumter Anderson has been offered a Kentucky regiment. Can they raise a regiment in Kentucky against us? [...]
May 9, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 C. S. Congress authorized the President to accept all the volunteers that offer. First landing of Union troops by steamers at Baltimore. The “Winans Steam Gun” captured on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. A brigade of rebel militia encamped near St. Louis surrendered [...]
MAY 8th.– The Convention has appointed five members of Congress to go to Montgomery: Messrs. Hunter, Rives, Brockenborough, Staples, and ——. I have not yet seen Mr. Hunter; he has made no speeches, but no doubt he has done all in his power to secure the passage of the ordinance, in his quiet but effective [...]
May 8, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Governor of Ohio made a call for 100,000 men, to be held as a force of reserved militia. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863
Memphis Daily Appeal Tennessee May 7, 1861 A large quantity of clothing for the military companies is on hand, and the number of ladies having it in charge is inadequate to the work. All ladies who can assist, are requested to call at the residence of Mrs. Owen, corner of Madison and Second streets, and [...]
Daily Advocate Baton Rouge May 7, 1861 Mr. Editor—Here we are all safe and sound, becoming rapidly initiated into the regular routine of camp life. We all find it a somewhat different matter from the holiday soldiering at home, but the duties imposed are cheerfully and bravely met. It is a somewhat strange spectacle to [...]
Daily Advocate Baton Rouge May 7, 1861 We learn that Mr. McKelvy, Postmaster at Delhi, met with a serious accident on last Saturday evening, by the explosion of an anvil, with which he was firing salutes1. One of his legs was so shattered as to render amputation necessary. There are some hopes of his recovery.—Herald, [...]
MAY 7th. –Col. R. E. Lee, lately of the United States army, has been appointed major-general, and commander-in-chief of the army in Virginia. He is the son of “Light Horse Harry” of the Revolution. The North can boast no such historic names as we in its army. Gov. Wise is sick at home, in Princess [...]
Memphis Daily Appeal Tennessee May 7, 1861 Headquarters, Army of K. G. C.,} Louisville, Ky., May 1, 1861.} 1. Commandants of K. G. C. castles throughout the various States of the South, excepting Texas, are hereby ordered to forward, without delay, to general headquarters, at Louisville, Ky., complete muster rolls of military companies. If the [...]
Memphis Daily Appeal Tennessee May 7, 1861 A system that has long been a curse to northern cities has lately been inaugurated here—we mean the practice of sending little girls out into the streets to beg. As soon as one of these young swindlers—for that is what they are in reality—sees two or three gentlemen [...]
May 7, 1861 A Chronological History of the Civil War in America1 Riot at Knoxville, Tenn., on hoisting a Union flag. Governor of Tennessee announced a military league between that State and the Confederate States. A Chronological History of the Civil War in America by Richard Swainson Fisher, New York, Johnson and Ward, 1863