March 1861: Abraham Lincoln Inaugurated
150 Years Ago in the Civil War Late in the morning of March 4th, 1861, President elect Abraham Lincoln left Willard’s Hotel in Washington DC, boarded a carriage, and departed for the Capitol. He was...
Tagged: abraham lincoln
Lincoln Document in National Archives Altered; Wal-Mart Cancels Store Near Wilderness Battlefield: Civil War in the News January 2011
Two items related to the Civil War were in the news in late January 2011. Here’s a brief summary of these events The National Archives in Washington D.C. announced January 24th that historian Thomas...
Thanksgiving Day 1863: First Official Thanksgiving
Sara Hale and Abraham Lincoln When most people think of the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., they think of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians celebrating at Plymouth in 1621. While the...
Lincoln’s 1860 Election and Secession: November and December 1860
November and December 1860 in the Civil War This is the first of a series of overviews of the events of the Civil War in chronological order. These overviews will cover varying lengths of...
John Wilkes Booth in Hell
John Wilkes Booth turns up in an early 20th century poem, ever the villain, playing the sax in hell
Cordelia Harvey Worked Tirelessly to Improve Medical Care for Soldiers
Wisconsin had a new governor in January 1862. Louis P. Harvey, a Republican and former Wisconsin Secretary of State, took office on January 6th. Four days later, Harvey addressed the state legislature, asking that...
John Wilkes Booth Facts and Trivia
John Wilkes Booth was almost 27 years old when he shot President Lincoln on April 14, 1865 — it was about four weeks before Wilkes’ May 10th birthday. John Wilkes Booth was his father’s...
April 12, 1861: Fort Sumter is Fired Upon and the War Begins
On December 20th, 1860 representatives at the South Carolina Secession Convention voted 169-0 in favor of seceding from the United States. It was the first state to do so. Tensions were running high in...