Episodes Nearest to April 1, 1862 to April 30, 1862: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Fleeing Louisiana on a Steamboat
    date April, 1862map LAFOURCHE, Louisianatags African-Americans, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    In the middle of the night Richard, the Fearn's son, awoke his parents to tell them that New Orleans had fallen to the Yankees. During breakfast this unsettling news was reinforced as a man rode by the Fearn home yelling, The Yankees are coming It was clear to the Fearns that they had to leave their home as soon as possible. In the panic to depart, Mrs. Fearn was too distraught. She could barely...

  2. More than Just Dancing at the Ball
    date April, 1862map LAFOURCHE, Louisianatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Arts/Leisure, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Every year the Fearn plantation threw a ball in honor of the magnitude of work that had been done the year prior. The slaves put much effort into the night to make it the happiest of times. Slaves on the plantation looked forward to the ball each year. This year the ball fell on a beautiful night. The Fearns were the last to leave for the ball. As they followed the path to get there, a large slave...

  3. Women in Post-Civil War New Orleans
    date April, 1862 to 1862map ORLEANS, Louisianatags Women, New Orleans, Civil War

    For one of the first times in American history, the women of New Orleans were taking the protection of their city and its reputation into their own hands. Spitting and yelling at soldiers from the north and refusing to even acknowledge their presence in the streets, even when the soldiers were offering the women assistance. There were many hostile feelings between the north and the...

  4. Beaufort's Change of HeartBeaufort's Change of Heart
    date March, 1862 to May, 1862map CARTERET, North Carolinatags War

    In March of 1862, a northern soldier stepped on board the steamer Union to accompany it on its journey down South to attempt to take the Confederate locations of Beaufort and Fort Macon. Once the ship landed on the North Carolina coast, the soldier disembarked and continued the voyage on foot with several other men. They were headed twenty miles north towards the city of Morehead City, North Carolina,...

  5. Reports of Southern Atrocities at Manassas Published
    date April 1, 1862 to May 5, 1862map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence, Government, Politics, War

    There had been reports of horror coming from the battlefield at Manassas. In April 1862, the Senate Committee on the Conduct of War was asked to investigate accusations of Confederate crimes against Union dead and wounded at the First Battle of Manassas. On May 5, 1862, The Chicago Tribune published the Committee's report, including excerpts of testimony and their conclusions. The...

  6. The Battle at Yorktown
    date April 5, 1862 to May 4, 1862map YORK, Virginiatags Government, Politics, War

    The Civil War was raging on a day in early April in 1862 when Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan and his Union troops marched south from Fort Monroe. On his way south he and his army ran into a small group of Confederate troops led by Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder in Yorktown Virginia. Magruder put on a show and made McClellan think that he had a very large army behind him therefore encouraging McClellan...

  7. A Contraband Works for the Union
    date April 14, 1862 to April 28, 1862map KANAWHA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    The contraband only spent a short time working for James D. Templeton's brigade before his death, but in that time the ex-slave managed to leave a lasting impression. Templeton was a young Union soldier from Savannah, Ohio who took part in several major battles of the Civil War, including Antietam. He spent much of his first two years in the mountains of West Virginia, as the horn player in...

  8. Confederate Disorganization Leads to Chaos at Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 14, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags Civil War, The Battle of Shiloh

    During the battle of Shiloh, Colonel Issac L. Dunlop discovered that even the clearest laid plans and troop organization can be turned into complete chaos after the start of battle.  According to the Official Reports of the battle, Colonel Isaac L. Dunlop and his Ninth Arkansas Infantry are clearly put under the command of Brigadier General J.C. Breckinridge in the Reserve Corps, to the east of...

  9. Turning the Tide: Col. Samuel Beatty's experience at Shiloh
    date April 9, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags The Battle of Shiloh, Civil War

    Reversing momentum is a crucial element that is necessary for success, whether on a football field or a field of battle. Often, however, those involved in these critical moments do not realize their own significance. On April 9, 1862, Colonel Samuel Beatty, of the Nineteenth Ohio Infantry submitted a report which detailed the actions of his regiment during the Battle of Shiloh two days earlier....

  10. Shiloh As Witnessed by the Sixth Iowa Regiment
    date April 6, 1862 to April 10, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags battle of shiloh, Sixth Iowa Infantry

    Similar to the soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi, the recruits of the Sixth Iowa Regiment in Grant’s Army of the Tennessee found warfare during the battle of Shiloh to be far more intense than any of their previous combat experiences. Mustered on July 17, 1861, the Sixth Iowa Infantry Regiment participated in the expeditions to Springfield and Crump’s Landing along the Tennessee River...

  11. Raw Meat: The Nineteenth Louisiana Regiment at Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 10, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags Nineteenth Louisiana, battle of shiloh

    The experiences during the first day of combat at Shiloh were a display of a new level of brutality encountered in American warfare, with no unit better exhibiting this change than the Nineteenth Louisiana Regiment. A regiment of the First Brigade under Colonel Gibson in the Army of the Mississippi and led by Colonel B.L. Hodge, the Nineteenth Louisiana entered combat on the Sunday of April 6, 1862...

  12. The Battle of Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map GRAINGER, Tennesseetags War

    On April 6th and 7th, the Battle of Shiloh took place taking the lives of more men than in all previous American wars combined. Just off the banks of the Tennessee River, a Confederate surprise attack left General Ulysses S. Grant's troops unprepared with nightfall on the 6th having the federal troops on the verge of defeat. By the end of fighting in the area after the initial attack, there...

  13. Sherman Praises Soldiers of the Fifth Divison
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags 32nd Indiana Regiment, The Battle of Shiloh

    During the Battle of Shiloh, General William Tecumseh Sherman gained an appreciation for the bravery of his men. As seen in his after-action report, Confederates surprised the Fifth Division with their attack and Sherman's forces were driven far from their encampment. Though the army was in a panic, the retreat was ultimately halted and Sherman's men held their ground. The 32nd Indiana behaved...

  14. Shiloh: Col. Cyprus Hall, 14th Illionois Infantry.
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags Civil War, 1862, Shiloh, Pittsburgh Landing, Cyprus Hall, Union Army

    Colonel Hall’s experience in the Battle of Shiloh is unique from any common and popular knowledge of what actually took place during the battle. The general populations’ recognition of the battles in the west does not compare to their recognition of the battles in the east such as Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry. The reason is that the battles in the east took place in close proximity to some of...

  15. Shiloh: Col. Ralph P. Buckland, 72nd Ohio Infantry.
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags Ralph P. Buckland, Pittsburgh Landing, 1862, Shiloh, Civil War

    Colonel Buckland’s experience in the battle of Shiloh is unique from any popular knowledge of the battle. The general populations’ recognition of the battles in the west, concentrating on Shiloh in particular, does not equate to their recognition of the battles in the east such as Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry. The reason is that the battles in the east took place in close proximity to some of...

  16. Col. John C. Moore's report of The Battle of Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags The Battle of Shiloh, Civil War

    “In justice to my regiment, permit me to say that no other regiment entered the fight on that day under more unfavorable circumstances than the Second Texas.” Colonel John C. Moore included this in the beginning of his report on the first day of the Battle of Shiloh. Tired, hungry, and lacking supplies, the Second Texas Infantry left Texas, met with the rest of the Army of Mississippi and then...

  17. J.J Anderson's report on the battle of Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map SHELBY, Tennesseetags battle of shiloh, loyalty

      Texts about the Civil War will often discuss in great lengths about the heroic deeds and bravery of the soldiers who fought. These men were often revered for their dedication to the army and to their country. Jabez J Anderson was a thirty eight year old farmer from Middleton, Illinois, who had to take control of his regiment during the first day of battle when two of his superiors were severely...

  18. Captain Robert H. Sturgess's report of the Battle of Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map HARDIN, Tennesseetags battle of shiloh, Battle of Pittsburg

    In the early hours of the morning of April 6, 1862, the Eighth Regiment Illinois Volunteers heard shots fired near the Union battle lines. These shots signified the beginning of a bloody, two-day battle known as the Battle of Shiloh. The battle of Shiloh occurred on April 6th and 7th of 1862 in Shiloh, Tennessee. During those two days of fighting, the causality count was higher than it was in the...

  19. Adolph Engelmann's report of the Battle of Shiloh
    date April 6, 1862 to April 7, 1862map SHELBY, Tennesseetags The Battle of Shiloh, Medicine

    In Adolph Engelmann's report on the battle of Shiloh, he discusses the different obstacles and hardships that the forty third regiment had to endure during this "bloody battle". Within his regiment, a report stated that seventy five enlisted were either killed or mortally wounded while one hundred and sixty one of the soldiers died either of disease or accident. Although significant, these...

  20. The Conferderate Uniform was on fire!
    date April 5, 1862map FREDERICK, Virginiatags Confederate Army, Civil War

    The letters written from a Confederate soldier to his “Charming Nelly” tell the stories of a Confederate regiment throughout the Civil War.  Between 1862 and 1864, J.B. Polley, the Confederate soldier, wrote 28 different letters to the same person.  Curiously, “Charming Nelly” was someone who Polley had only met three times in his life and all three meetings were very brief.  Polley joined...

  21. Going To War
    date April 25, 1862 to May 1, 1862map ORLEANS, Louisianatags War

    Shouts and cheers filled the air as the words The Washington Artillery is going to war hummed through the streets. A telegram was sent by L. Pope Walker, the Secretary of War, to the battalion of artillery stationed in New Orleans, Louisiana. In preparation for the journey to Lynchburg, Virginia, contributions of money and clothing were raised by the women. Without any expense from the state or...

  22. Timothy Webster Becomes First Spy Executed in the Civil War
    date May 4, 1862map RICHMOND, Virginiatags Civil War, Timothy Webster, Espionage

    On the day of April 29, 1862, Timothy Webster became the first person executed during the Civil War for acts of espionage. Convicted four days prior to his execution, a court-martial in Richmond, Virginia ruled that Webster, an “alien enemy,” should “suffer death by hanging.” The New York Times republished an original article from the Richmond Dispatch relaying the information...

  23. West Augusta Guardsman Troubled by Enemy's Lack of Respect for Wounded Soldiers
    date March 25, 1862map SHENANDOAH, Virginiatags Wounded Soldiers, Battle, Shenandoah Valley

    Jedediah Hotchkiss wrote home to his wife, Sara Hotchkiss, on Tuesday, March 25, 1862 after a skirmish with the Union army, around Woodstock, Shenandoah County in Virginia. Hotchkiss had just received news that one of his children had passed away. He longed to be at home with his family, but said, "It is forbidden of me & it is now too late to reach you before the crisis has passed."...

  24. Federal Government issues the Homestead Act
    date May 8, 1862map Washington City, District of Columbiatags 37th Congress

    Millions of unsettled acres remained in the west by the 1850s, and the Republicans viewed the land as an opportunity to offer it to settlers for next to nothing. Republicans drafted a homestead bill, but southern senators immediately rejected it. One southerner explained it "would prove a most efficient ally for Abolition by encouraging and stimulating the settlement of free farms with Yankees and...

  25. Southerners Interactions With Northern Soldiers
    date March 14, 1862 to July 7, 1862map SHENANDOAH, Virginiatags Crime/Violence, War, Women

    On March 14, 1862 in Shenandoah County, Virginia three Union soldiers marched to the door of Sigismunda S. Kimball, the wife of a southern planter, and demanded supplies. The soldiers threatened Mrs. Kimball saying they had plenty of ladies prisoners and continued to torment her. On July 6, 1862 two Yankee soldiers came up to the house and demanded for the key to the corn house, saying they had...