Episodes Located: RICHMOND, Virginia in the 1860's

  1. Desertion Plagues the Confederate War Effort
    date February 15, 1865map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Politics, War

    In February 1865, the Richmond Enquirer printed a general order for those who had lost faith in the Confederate war effort and deserted, offering them a way to honorably rejoin their fellow Confederates in the fight. As many Confederate soldiers deserted and returned to their families, General Robert E. Lee appealed to their "honor and duty" by presenting only two options: "war [or] abject...

  2. White Response to African American Mob
    date May 9, 1867map RICHMOND, Virginiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    An escalating series of events led to armed soldiers charging at an African American mob of one thousand. Although the evening had started with a small group of African Americans watching a trial of engines between the Richmond and the visiting Wilmington, Delaware Fire Companies, police soon arrested an African American man who allegedly attacked the firemen. A riot followed, with the mob hurling...

  3. Soldier's Recollection of Capturing Richmond
    date April 2, 1865 to April 3, 1865map RICHMOND, Virginiatags War

    As T.S. Peck quietly lay near the Confederate picket line, trying to avoid whispering and hitting his canteen against his bayonet, the Union soldier reflected on the formidability of his Southern counterparts. His troop would move on toward their destination of Richmond under orders from General Grant, and Peck anticipated the danger of torpedoes planted around Confederate fortifications. Indeed,...

  4. Chastisement of Slaves
    date June 11, 1864map RICHMOND, Virginiatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery, Women

    Emma Mordecai was enjoying the pleasantly cool weather when a very disagreeable affair concerning the servants disturbed her afternoon. The conflict began when the henwife, Georgiana, asked her mother, Sarah, to help her manage the chickens. Sarah then complained of being overworked and provoked the ire of her mistress and the master. In addition, Emma mentioned that Cyrus, Sarah's husband, behaved...

  5. Emma Mordecai Nurses Soldier
    date May 26, 1864map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Health/Death, War, Women

    Emma Mordecai regularly visited wounded soldiers at a nearby hospital, and on one particular day she was tending to a handless soldier whom she called my interesting Cavalry man. She bathed his wounds and rubbed his cold feet, but then she watched helplessly as he complained of an intolerable itch where his hand used to be, scratching at the amputated spot with his remaining hand. Having cared...

  6. Congregation of African Americans
    date January 19, 1860map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Church/Religious-Activity, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Bishop Clark basked in the serene melodies and felt his heart rise with the crescendo of the chorus. Absorbing the scene around him, he noticed how the music held the audience members in rapt attention until everyone began swaying in perfect rhythm. It was as if everyone became gradually magnetized by the harmony, he later recalled.

    Clark soon delivered his sermon, and at its conclusion asked...

  7. Jefferson Davis Addresses Free States
    date January 5, 1863map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    The people of the Union heard from a defiant Jefferson Davis on January 5, 1863. Northern leaders had degraded you and themselves, he criticized, by inviting the co-operation of the black race with Abraham Lincoln's proclamation freeing slaves in the Confederacy and inviting them into the North's army and navy. Just before, the Union had been condemning the South for seeking the intervention of...

  8. The Last Rebel Paper
    date April 3, 1865map RICHMOND, Virginiatags War

    By 1865, General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia had realized the disadvantage of being vastly outnumbered. His men were put under siege by the Union's relentless attacks, and despite his valiant effort and brilliant leadership, the disproportionate numbers proved too much. On the night of April 2, 1865, Lee regretfully ordered an evacuation of the confederate capital, Richmond....

  9. The Antebellum South: Up in Arms?
    date November 23, 1860map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Crime/Violence, Economy, War

    The South was up in arms. On November 23, 1860, the Richmond Daily Dispatch reported an account from the New York Journal of Commerce about the manufacturing and selling of "Arms to the South." Before directly quoting the New York Journal of Commerce, the Richmond editor mentioned that the makers and sellers of arms were perhaps the only ones "gathering any advantage from the present crisis."...