On April 1st General Lee feared the loss of Five Forks, in Petersburg, VA, would result in serious threat to Richmond and Petersburg and the Confederate line of retreat. He ordered Pickett to make sure that the troops “hold positions at all cost.' Lee and his troops prepared for battle entrenched; however, Union troops overpowered Confederate, 53,000 to 10,000. Grant's strategy was...
On May 25, 1865, John Herbert Claiborne took the oath of allegiance to the United States at the Office of the Provost Marshal in Petersburg, Virginia. He served as a surgeon with the title of Major in the Confederate Army during the war and continued to practice medicine after the surrender. In the terms of the oath he swore to "support and defend the Constitution" and to support all laws including...
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....
On July 4th, 1828 construction began in Baltimore, Maryland to build one of the first railroad lines in the United States. It was a massive project proposal that took many months of negotiations between the Maryland State legislature and the Chesapeake Company. The Maryland Gazette, based in Annapolis Maryland, reported that the cost of the operation to be in the range of five hundred to seven hundred...
In his official report on the final battle at Petersburg Captain R. Frank Hean of the 93rd Pennsylvania Infantry, wrote that the General Horatio Wright ordered the Union attack on "Battery Gregg," to begin at 4 a.m, on the morning of April 2, 1865. At the appointed hour, the Sixth Army Corp of the Army of the Potomac, charged forward and carried the enemy works. "In so doing," wrote...
Specific military units did not usually separate intentionally on the battlefield during the Civil War, yet First Lieutenant William H. Rogers received orders that detached him from his unit. On March 31, 1865, Lieutenant Rogers was temporarily relieved of his command of company K of the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery and was assigned 100 men from artillery units, who would “follow a charging...
William W. Woodward entered the Civil War by enlisting as a second lieutenant in company K of the Ohio 2nd Cavalry Regiment, but he left the war as a Colonel of the 116th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. His tenure with the Ohio 2nd Cavalry yielded rewarding results, as he was promoted to Full Captain on November 14, 1862, just one month and eight days after he enlisted. However, things...
April 1865 was a tough month for Emma Florence LeConte. General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to the Union and effectively destroyed any chance of her beloved Confederacy succeeding in its war effort and becoming a separate and distinct nation. For Emma, the only highlight of the month appeared in the assassination of President Lincoln: "After all the heaviness and...
At 4:30am on March 25th, Lee's troops attacked Fort Steadman, part of the Union defense line, and caught them completely by surprise. The confederate troops captured Fort Steadman and the forces in Petersburg, VA. This capture was only temporary, it lost momentum and had little strength to maintain control allowing Union troops to counter attack later that same day forcing the confederate...
Ten-year-old Carrie Berry lived with her family in Atlanta, Georgia in 1864 while Union general Sherman tried to capture Atlanta. The diary that Berry kept daily shows the immediate effect of the war on her and her family.
Sherman's offensive against Atlanta brought a lot of damage to the city, and made things very difficult for the residents. Berry wrote about the difficulties her family...