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The Extraordinary Life of Pauline Cushman: Actress, Spy, and Brevet Major
Pauline Cushman, born Harriet Wood in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1833, led a remarkable life that intertwined theater and espionage. Her mother was French, her father a Spanish merchant with a lineage allegedly linked to one of Napoleon’s soldiers. As a young girl, her...
April Fools Day
Happy April Fools Day Everyone loves a good April Fools joke even during the Civil War. Published in April 2, 1864, in Harper’s Weekly, Thomas Nast's drawing titled 'The First of April, 1864' is a mix of jokes, making fun of the Civil War, and commenting on...
Be My Civil War Valentine
Sherman presents Lincoln with a Christmas gift
On December 22, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman presents the city of Savannah, Georgia, to President Abraham Lincoln. Sherman captured the city after his famous March to the Sea from Atlanta. Savannah had been one of the last major ports that remained open to...
Death of Robert E. Lee
Confederate General Robert E. Lee Dies After Suffering a StrokeOn this day in 1870, General Robert Edward Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, dies peacefully at his home in Lexington, Virginia. He was 63 years old.The following...
The Death of Mary Todd Lincoln
The Death of Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Lincoln passed away on July 16, 1882, at the home of her sister Elizabeth in Springfield, IL. At her funeral, Reverend Reed eloquently spoke of two trees that had grown so close together that their roots had become intertwined. When...
The Execution of the Lincoln Conspirators
On July 7, 1865, four conspirators of the Lincoln assassination, Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt, were hanged just after 1:30 p.m. on a very hot day in the prison yard of the Old Arsenal Penitentiary, which is now on the grounds of Fort...
June 30 1863 – Prelude to Gettysburg
After some minor skirmishes, Major General John Buford is convinced that the Confederates are near the small town of Cashtown and that they will be marching on Gettysburg the next day. Buford sends a message to Gen. John Reynolds to come up quickly while he holds...