Episodes Nearest to August 31, 1863: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Copperheads in Illinois Threaten Violence against the Act of Conscription
    date August 31, 1863map EDGAR, Illinoistags Crime/Violence, Law, Government, Politics, War

    In an article from the New York Times on August 31, 1863, it is made evident that the Peace Democrats or Copperheads were not so peaceful. The article stated that, “The Copperhead troubles still continue in the central and southern counties of this Illinois.” A group of around 150 armed Copperheads went to the county seat of Paris in Edgar County. The Copperheads threatened aggression...

  2. Donations
    date August 29, 1863map BEAUFORT, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Health/Death, Race-Relations

    Food was often hard to come by during the Civil War, especially in the South. But in Beaufort, South Carolina, at least in the summer of 1863, there was not a large shortage of food, or of generosity.

    In a letter to the editor published on August 29, 1863 in The Free South newspaper of Beaufort, northerner Dr. John Milton Hawks thanked the many local ?people of color? who had donated food...

  3. The Battle of Sabine Pass
    date September 8, 1863map JEFFERSON, Texastags War

    One of a few Union attempts to gain occupation of parts of Texas during the Civil War, the Battle of Sabine Pass was a land versus sea battle. The unique aspect of this battle was the disparity of numbers and the lack of arms that the Texans faced in their match-up with the Union Army. A Houston saloonkeeper named Dick Dowling heroically led a significantly smaller force of around fifty Irish-born...

  4. A Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer
    date August 21, 1863map CHATHAM, Georgiatags Church/Religious-Activity, Politics

    On Friday August 21, 1863, Reverend Stephen Elliot delivered a sermon to Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia. In his sermon, Elliot compared the plight of Southern citizens to that of the biblical figure Ezra who is thought to have led 5,000 Israelite exiles living in Babylon to Jerusalem in 459 B.C. As quoted from Elliot?s sermon, ?We find ourselves in a condition which calls for a wisdom superior...

  5. Union Attempts to Gain Control of Fort Sumter
    date August 17, 1863map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags War

    Occupied by Confederates, Fort Sumter at Charleston Harbor in South Carolina prevented the Union from blockading the Atlantic Coast during their campaign to gain control of Charleston. The Federals needed to take back Sumter if such a blockade was to be successful. Daily attacks around Charleston Harbor with little benefit for either Federal or Confederate sides, but as early as July 30, 1863,...

  6. African American Spies in the Civil War
    date September 14, 1863map COLLETON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, War

    William Stokes climbed to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th South Carolina Cavalry unit while serving for the Confederate Army from January 1862 to April 1865. In his diary, Stokes highlighted the major events throughout his three-year term of enlistment in the Civil War. Specifically, he noted a number of occasions in which his regiment came in contact with both African American soldiers...

  7. Carrie Childer's Written Hope
    date September 15, 1863map POLK, Missouritags Crime/Violence, Civil War, Irregular Warfare

         Throughout the Civil War in Missouri many citizens lived in fear of the bands of guerrilla soldiers. Among these citizens was a woman by the name Carrie Childers. On September 15, 1863 Carrie Childers of Bolivar, Missouri wrote to Capt. Rowan E. M. Mack in Cassville, Missouri a letter concerning the Rebel activity occurring in her local area. She informs Capt. Mack that guerrillas are...

  8. Lincoln Demotes Burnside After Resignation Letter
    date September 17, 1863map KNOX, Tennesseetags Civil War, Politics, Government

    In the aftermath of the Battle of Fredericksburg, there have been three main reasons given arguing that Ambrose Burnside should bear all of the blame. Contempioraries and historians have pointed to the delay of pontoon bridges, the distrust of Burnside within the Army of the Potomac, and lastly the presence of partisanship in the army.  The overwhelming evidence, however, still points to Burnside’s...

  9. General William Rosecrans' Report at the Battle of Chickamauga
    date September 19, 1863 to September 20, 1863map HAMILTON, Tennessee, WALKER, Georgiatags William Rosecrans, The Battle of Chickamauga, Civil War

    Major General William Rosecrans, commander of the U.S. Army of the Cumberland, awoke nervous on September 20, 1863. His forces at Chickamauga had been assailed throughout the previous day but held their ground. Rosecrans did not know if they could withstand another day of Confederate assault, however. He also did not know that he was about to give an order that would swing the battle, the Chattanooga...

  10. From Infantryman to Staff Officer: The Battle of Chickamauga Through the Eyes of Ambrose Bierce
    date September 19, 1863 to September 20, 1863map HAMILTON, Tennessee, WALKER, Georgiatags War, literature

    Bierce writes, “They were men. They crept upon their hands and knees. They used their hands only, dragging their legs. They used their knees only, their arms hanging idle at their sides. They strove to rise to their feet, but fell prone in the attempt.” Through chilling words Ambrose Bierce illustrated the battlefield at Chickamauga in his short story, Chickamauga. Bierce, a writer...

  11. James A. Garfield at Chickamauga
    date September 19, 1863 to September 20, 1863map WALKER, Georgiatags The Battle of Chickamauga, James A. Garfield

    James A. Garfield was by definition an opportunist, he used even his failures in life to present a heroic image and thus propel himself into political office.  Such was the case when he beseeched his commanding officer after their position had been overrun and he desired to be where the Union was winning the battle (and thus seen as victorious), “Let me go to the front… It is dangerous, but...

  12. Braxton Bragg's Chickamauga: Trouble with the Brass
    date September 19, 1863 to September 20, 1863map CATOOSA, Georgia, WALKER, Georgiatags The Battle of Chickamauga, Braxton Bragg

    General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee was in sore need of a decisive victory in September 1863. Following the Army's failed invasion of Kentucky in 1862, Bragg had been steadily pushed out of Middle and Eastern Tennessee and into Georgia without putting up much of a fight. General William Rosecrans had proven a formidable commander of the opposing Army of the Cumberland. After General James...

  13. Union Artillery during Picketts Charge
    date September 27, 1863map ADAMS, Pennsylvaniatags War

    Pickett's Charge is known as one of the worst mistakes made by the Confederacy in the Civil War. Robert E. Lee sent 15,000 Confederate soldiers into an open field in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania hoping for the best and instead he lost entire regiments at the hands of the Army of the Potomac. Their failure was made possible by Union quick thinking and Union artillery. Reports from Brigadier General...

  14. A Disillusioned South
    date August 2, 1863map ADAMS, Pennsylvaniatags Medicine, Civil War, War

    A month after the vicious Battle of Gettysburg, a Confederate surgeon wrote home to his wife, explaining that the Southern soldiers had nearly won but chose to retreat instead.  Spencer Glasgow Welch’s words encompass the view of many of the Confederate army and its supporters at the time: that despite their lack of food, clothing, and decent shelter, there was hope for a victory against the...

  15. Bread in the South During the 1860s and 1870s
    date July 31, 1863map SHENANDOAH, Virginiatags Agriculture, Arts/Leisure, Economy

    Levi Pitman was a respectable southern gentleman living in the southern county of Shenandoah in Virginia during the Civil War. Levi kept a careful diary in which he would write the day to day activities he participated in and observed. In 1863 the Rebel soldiers were camped near Levi's home and he could go and watch them march for their leader. He and his wife met some of the soldiers and his...

  16. Advances In Education For Women
    date October 1, 1863map PRINCE EDWARD, Virginiatags Women, Education, Published Women

    The document entitled "The Next Term of This Institution will commence Thursday, October 1st, 1863" was a notice, authored by A. Preot, that described Farmville Female College. The information in the notice pertains to the term that was scheduled to begin on October 1, 1863. The notice included the subjects that were offered by Farmville Female College, as well as the courses of study that students...

  17. The Anticipation of War News
    date October 3, 1863map ITAWAMBA, Mississippitags War

    In 1863 the state of Mississippi found itself entrenched in a massive war of attrition against its northern neighbors. Men from the South donned gray and marched off to battle, leaving those who did not join the ranks to fend for themselves on the home front. Rev. Samuel Agnew of Lee, Mississippi was one of these individuals. Agnew and others like himself found that they could not easily keep the...

  18. Lincoln The Monster
    date February 7, 1863 to 1863map BEDFORD, Virginiatags Crime/Violence, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations, Slavery, War

    On January 7, 1863, the Lynchburg Daily Virginian posted an article that called President Lincoln a monster. Their opinion stated that President Lincoln was instigator of servile insurrection, including amongst his victims helpless women and children. Lincoln should be considered an outlaw and a reward offered for his head. Also, the paper said that a fitting response must be made in response to...

  19. The Establishment of the United States Colored Troops
    date October 13, 1863map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, War

    In the midst of the Civil War, with its end undetermined, the War Department in Washington, D.C., requested the Lieutenant Colonel George Wagner to serve as the Captain for the Eighth Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops. The U.S. Colored Troops had been established only a month before Wagner received this request. Many of the men within the Colored Troops had originally escaped into Washington where...

  20. The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment's Attack on Fort Wagner
    date July 18, 1863map CHARLESTON, South Carolinatags African-Americans, Race-Relations, War

    July 18, 1863 marked the first time an all-black regiment fought in the Civil War. The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts Regiment composed of only blacks and led by abolitionist Robert Gould Shaw, attacked Fort Wagner in a Union attempt to gain control of Charleston Harbor in Charleston, South Carolina. During the recruiting process of his regiment, Shaw experienced a difficult time attempting to recruit...

  21. The Battle of Bristoe Station
    date October 14, 1863map PRINCE WILLIAM, Virginiatags War

    After the Battle of Gettysburg, Union General George G. Meade and Robert E. Lee of the Confederates headed south to Virginia in a footrace to gain a position in the Blue Ridge Mountains. At Bristoe Station, Virginia, Federal and Confederate corps crossed paths, and battle ensued. Confederate General A.P. Hill underestimated the size of the Union army and attacked an overwhelmingly large Union...

  22. William Hall Supports the Draft but Abhors the Riot (1863)
    date July 15, 1863map NEW YORK, New Yorktags Montgomery Blair, Immigration

    Buildings had beenburned, homes had been destroyed, and men, women, and children perished at the hands of angry citizens. In July of 1863, New York City became engulfed in a wave of mob violence that swept through the city. Irish immigrants made up the majority of the rioters in opposition to the Enrollment Act of Conscription set forth earlier that year by President Abraham Lincoln. The rioters...

  23. Gettysburg After the Battle
    date July 9, 1863map ADAMS, Pennsylvaniatags Civil War, Environment, Battle

    "Little of the enclosure remains save the wicket gateway, from which the gates have been torn," Thomas Knox wrote in a dispatch published in the New York Herald on July 9, 1863. This was just one scene of the aftermath of Gettysburg, which was the single bloodiest and most memorable battle of the American Civil War. In many cases, the battle spilled out of the field into the town and destroyed...

  24. George Meade: Hero at Gettysburg?
    date July 1, 1863 to July 13, 1863map ADAMS, Pennsylvaniatags War: American Civil War, Civil War

    George Meade was the commander of the Union Army of the Potomac during one of the most well-known battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1-3, 1863, and he is one of the war's least well-known generals. As Meade learned of the escalating battle at Gettysburg, PA on July 1, he began ordering his army toward the town. At the end of the first day, the Confederate force failed...

  25. Louisiana Lady Battles with Regional and Human Attraction
    date October 17, 1863 to November 5, 1863map DE SOTO, Louisianatags Agriculture, Politics, Migration/Transportation, War, Women

    As a young twenty-two year old Louisiana woman, Miss Sidney Harding was completely caught off-guard when her prosperous family had to flee their plantation because of Yankee pressure and become Civil War refugees in DeSoto Parish, LA.Harding was not unlike other southern women: she faced internal and external conflicts throughout her years as a refugee.OnOctober 17, 1863, Harding commented on the...