Check out the following famous Thomas Nast illustration of Thanksgiving during the Civil War. Titled “United We Stand,” this cartoon from Harper’s Weekly in 1864 shows President Abraham Lincoln, US Army soldiers, and a host of others gathered...
A Wedding in Camp… On March 12, 1863, in a rare celebratory event against the backdrop of war, Captain Daniel Hart of the 7th New Jersey Volunteers wed Ellen “Nellie” Lammond in camp. Captain Hart was unable to secure a furlough from camp, prompting Miss Lammond to...
A Call to Arms! – President Lincoln’s Call for 75,000 Volunteers On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln issued the following proclamation: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS the laws of the United States have been, for some time...
On July 14th, 1861, Major Sullivan Ballou wrote a letter to his wife Sarah at home in Rhode Island one week before he fought and died in the First Battle of Bull Run. Sullivan Ballou was born to Hiram and Emeline Ballou, a distinguished Huguenot family in...
Voting for President during the Civil War In November 1864 Abraham Lincoln was running for reelection against his former top Civil War general, the Democratic candidate, George B. McClellan. Interestingly, since the 1864 election occurred during the Civil War,...
