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MOBILE, Alabama in the 1860s: 1 through 9 of 9

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  1. Reactions to Lincoln's Inauguration
    date March, 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags Government, Politics, Slavery, War

    Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861. One month earlier, Jefferson Davis had been inaugurated as the new president of the Confederacy. Elizabeth Saxon traveled to Montgomery, Alabama to celebrate the inauguration of Davis and then traveled to Mobile when Lincoln was inaugurated. In Mobile, she visited with a good friend and mentor from her childhood, Madame Octavia Walton Invert. Well-educated...

  2. Views on the Coming of War
    date June, 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags Church/Religious-Activity, War

    In 1861, the Civil War began in the United States. Susan Brardford Eppes was a teenager in the deep South and responded to this event with intense sorrow. She knew that war had arrived, and she knew war would change everything. In her initial response, Susan discussed the burden now facing the southern people. Everyone in the South had to be a part of the fight. Her support and sadness for the South...

  3. Blurring Lines of Race
    date 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Race in the antebellum South was not as simple as black and white. In recounting her story, Louisa Picquet discussed the races of slaves on several occasions. As a slave, Louisa recognized differences between herself and other slaves. She described herself as relatively white, but that other slaves around her where more white than she. She also noticed a difference in the way masters treated their...

  4. Masters and their Female SlavesMasters and their Female Slaves Masters and their Female Slaves Masters and their Female Slaves
    date 1861map MOBILE, Alabamatags Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Women

    Louisa Picquet was a 14 year-old slave in Mobile, Alabama in 1861. Her master was a married gentleman named Mr. Cook who lived in a boarding house while his wife was away. At the boarding house, Mr. Cook demanded that Louisa take care of him privately. Louisa realized what her master's intentions were, and shared them with a female boarder, Mrs. Bachelor. Mrs. Bachelor was furious and devised plans...

  5. Slaves in the War
    date 1863map MOBILE, Alabamatags African-Americans, Law, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    Throughout southern history, masters continually feared that their slaves would rise up against them. When the Civil War broke, this was exacerbated by the fear that slaves would join the Union army. Louis Hughes was a slave from Mississippi. As the war progressed, Union armies came closer and closer to his hometown until ultimately they came through and destroyed Panola. Masters feared for their lives...

  6. Confederate Desertion
    date February, 1864map MOBILE, Alabamatags Economy, Government, War

    David Glasgow Farragut was captain of a Union ship in Mobile Bay. In his correspondence to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Vasa Fox, Farragut mentioned the increasing number of Confederate deserters he and his men picked up from gunboats. The Union used these men for intelligence, however inaccurate, and continued to take them on in hopes of gaining new information. Union naval vessels...

  7. CSS Tennessee, Confederate Ironclad Proves itself at Mobile Bay
    date August 5, 1864map MOBILE, Alabamatags United States Navy, Confederate Navy, War, Civil War

    On the morning of August 5, 1864, Admiral David Farragut led a fleet of eighteen warships into Alabama’s Mobile Bay. Since the fall of New Orleans in April 1862, Mobile had become the major Confederate port in the Gulf of Mexico, responsible for bringing in blockade runners carrying supplies from Havana.  The result of Mobile’s rise in importance to Confederacy was a rise in the priority of its...

  8. Henry Nields’ Heroism at the Battle of Mobile Bay
    date August, 1864 to 1864map MOBILE, Alabamatags Navy, Union, Victory

    In early August, 1864, a Union Naval fleet, under the control of Rear Admiral David Farragut commanding the flagship U.S.S. Hartford, neared Mobile Bay, Alabama.  The goal was to take over the strategic location which consisted of three confederate forts and a plethora of underwater mines.  The two main forts were Forts Morgan and Gaines aided by a few Confederate ships mainly the C.S.S. Tennessee...

  9. The Surrender of Mobile
    date April 12, 1865map MOBILE, Alabamatags War

    On April 12th, the final major city of the Confederacy fell, Mobile Alabama. The Confederate defenses had been strong, but could not withhold the Union troops out. They evacuated the previous night of the 11th, taking with them what they could and burning the cotton so the Federalists could not use it for themselves. On the 12th, when the Federalists entered the city they found over 300 guns, large...