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News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson MARCH 9, 1864—ULYSSES S. GRANT IS COMMISSIONED AS LIEUTENANT-GENERAL On March 8, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant and his eldest son, Fred, arrived at Washington, DC. It was the general’s first visit to Washington since 1852, when he had been a...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean December 17, 1862: Lincoln’s Cabinet Crisis Less than a week after the disastrous Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 13, 1862, Abraham Lincoln confronted one of the most serious political crises he faced during the...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson January 20, 1863: "Mud March" of the Army of the Potomac After its bloody defeat in December 1862 the Army of the Potomac settled down for the winter around Falmouth, Virginia, on the north bank of the Rappahannock River across from...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean February 23, 1863: Vallandigham Denounces the Draft What is the proper way for Americans to express political opposition to an ongoing war? How can the party out of power maintain its own identity without appearing disloyal? Can party...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean March 31, 1863: Halleck Instructs Grant On March 31, 1863, Henry W. Halleck wrote an "unofficial letter" to Ulysses S. Grant "as a personal friend and as a matter of friendly advice." [1] As is often the case in communications between...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean April 30, 1863: Hooker Reaches Chancellorsville The bloody Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Virginia, in December 1862 and the aborted "Mud March" along the Rappahannock River the following month demoralized the Army of the Potomac and...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson MAY 22, 1863: GRANT LAYS SIEGE TO VICKSBURG It had been a long and difficult winter for Ulysses S. Grant. For months his army had struggled in the bayous and swamps around Vicksburg, Mississippi, looking for some way to attack the...
News Scholar’s Blog - Aaron Sheehan-Dean JUNE 12, 1863: LINCOLN DEFENDS THE ARREST OF VALLANDIGHAM Clement L. Vallandigham, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, distinguished himself as one of Abraham Lincoln’s most vociferous critics. Although claiming a great love for the...
News Scholar’s Blog - Brooks D. Simpson JULY 1–3, 1863: THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG As the Army of the Potomac moved northward in late June 1863 to counter the Army of Northern Virginia’s invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, it passed by the battlefields of Manassas. Samuel...