History of America 1857 -1864

Scott case voids Missouri Compromise. Washington March 9, 1857.
The Supreme Court has decided the Dred Scott case, ruling that a Negro descended from slaves is not a citizen and that the Missouri Compromise is unconstitutional. The decision, handed down three days ago, has outraged the North and excited the South. Its ramifications may be as far reaching as any case since Marbury v Madison.
The case centres around Scott, a slave from Missouri who was taken by his owner to the free state of Illinois, the Minnesota Territory and back to Missouri. Having tasted freedom up North, Scott sued for permanent freedom. Missouri’s Supreme court and a federal Circuit Court both ruled against Scott. But on appeal, and with proddings from Southern politicians in search of an all-encompassing ruling for state’s rights to own slaves, the Supreme Court heard the case.
The Northern press has been bombastic. The New York Tribune wrote that the court “has draggled and polluted its garments in the filth of pro-slavery politics.”

4,932 firms fail in panic. New York City 1857
The failure of the New York branch of the Ohio Life and Trust Company on August 24, set off a financial panic here that has spread across the nation. Most of the city’s banks were forced to suspend specie payments, and the branch office’s parent company went under with huge liabilities to eastern institutions. Many of the Western railroads have plunged into bankruptcy, as have a number of speculative enterprises. The panic, which was caused by over speculation in railroad securities and real estate, has led to the failure of 4,932 companies

Lincoln faces Douglas in seven debates, race for the Senate. Galesburg, Illinois, Oct. 15, 1858.
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, adversaries in the Illinois race for the U.S. Senate, today wound up a series of seven debates that began two months ago. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, as they became known, attracted a wide audience not only in their home state but also beyond the borders. The two proved a study in contrasts, the towering 6ft 4in. Lincoln with his high-pitched voice, and the 5ft. 4in. Douglas with his resonant tones. By today Lincoln had reduced the argument to the moral question of whether slavery was right or wrong.

Trans-Atlantic cable service breaks down. London Sept. 2, 1858
The first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, which went into operation only 28 days ago, ceased to operate today. Its failure is believed to be the result of a break somewhere in its 3,000 mile length, and officials do not know whether the break can be repaired. The cable was largely the work of Cyrus W. Field, the American financier. The 48-year-old field, who made his first fortune in the paper business, founded the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company in the United States and helped organize a similar company in England, arranging for both American and British ships to lay the cable, which runs from the United States to England via Newfoundland. Filed insists the setback is only temporary.

World’s first oil well dug. Titusville, Pennsylvania, Aug. 28, 1859
Oil began flowing today from a well drilled by Edwin L. Drake on property owned by the Pennsylvania Rock oil Company. It is the first such well to be drilled anywhere in the world. The firm has been in the business of collecting oil that seeped out of the ground and selling it for medicinal purposes, but Drake plans to produce it in much greater quantities for possible use in heating and illumination. The 49-year-old Drake, born in New York City, conceived the idea of drilling for oil while working as a railroad conductor. He bought stock in Rock oil and persuaded them to lease him some land.

John Brown hangs for Harper’s Ferry West Virginia Dec. 2, 1859
John Brown was hanged here today, four blocks from the courthouse where he had been found guilty of treason, and conspiring with slaves to create an insurrection at nearby Harper’s Ferry. On Brown’s way to the gallows, he handed his jailer a note that predicted more bloodshed.
Brown had been held in jail here since he was captured by a force of United states Marines under the command of Captain Robert E Lee after the failure of his plan to seze the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and turn the town into a base for an uprising by the slaves and a free-Negro mountain stronghold. All through his trial Brown had a single answer when asked about his motives. He said he wanted to free slaves and that God had given him that mission. Born in Connecticut 59 years ago he became obsessed with the freeing of the slaves when well past 50.

Pony Express makes 11 day run to West. Sacremento California, Apr. 13, 1860.
A thin cloud of dust rising in the distance inspired a wave of elation here today as hundreds gathered to hail the first Pony Express delivery. Minutes later, young Tom Hamilton received a rousing welcome as he galloped furiously into town bearing a satchel with 49 letters and three newspapers that left St. Joseph, Missouri, just 11 days ago. The relentless run across 1966 miles of desolate prairie, rugged mountains and desert wastes was organised by Russell and majors of the Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Service Company.

Lincoln nominated by Republican Party. Chicago, May 16, 1860.
As a nearby cannon boomed to mark the occasion, Abraham Lincoln was declared the Republican presidential nominee today, defeating New York abolitionist William Seaward on the third ballot at the party’s national convention here. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was nominated for vice-president. It was a major victory for the towering lawyer from Springfield Illinois, a man who had once served in the house of Representatives but who had tasted defeat when he lost a Senate race two years ago to the Democrat Stephen S. Douglas, after their famous debates.

Nation’s population reaches 31 million. Washington. 1860.
America’s population has grown to 31.4 million the latest census shows. New York remains the most populous state with nearly 3.9 million inhabitants. Pennsylvania is the second with 2.9 million. More than 58% of Americans work on farms, the census reports, but signs of growing industrialisation include 30,000 miles of railroad tracks. Cotton remains king in the South, with a crop of more than a million tons a year. Immigrants continue to pour into the country, with Italians concentrating in California, French in Louisiana, and Jews in New York.

Lincoln ekes out presidential victory. Washington Nov. 6, 1860.
Despite his own gloomy forecast, Abraham Lincoln of illinois was elected President of the United States today, topping a political career that had known both victory and defeat. While failing to win a majority of the popular vote, the 51-year-old lawyer carried 18 states with 180 of the total 303 electoral votes. Elected Vice-President is Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. Lincoln, who rarely shows emotion, left the cheering throngs on the streets of Springfield to rush home and excitedly tell his wife: “Mary, Mary, we are elected.”

One by One, states join Confederacy. Tennessee June 8, 1861.
Voters endorsed Tennessee’s secession from the Union today, making it the 11th state to join the Confederacy, though the state remains sharply divided. Sentiment in East Tennessee counties is strongly pro-union. Jefferson Davis, the acting president of the Confederacy, now heads a government of four border states and seven Deep South states. Fiery South Carolina led the way last December 20, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected President.

Fort Sumter is bombarded, yields to Southerners. Charleston S.C. Apr. 14, 1861.
Following a bombardment lasting more than two days, the 73 man United States garrison, led by Major Robert Anderson, has surrendered to General Pierre Beauregard, commander of the Provisional Forces of the Confederate States of America. For several months in both North and South, all eyes have been watching the new island fort in Charleston harbour and its beleaguered commander. Carefully avoiding the use of the word WAR President Lincoln today declared a state of “insurrection” as he issued an appeal for 75,000 volunteers.

North now blockading South’s ports. Port Royal, South Carolina, Nov. 7, 1861.
Naval cannons pounded Confederate troops into submission here today, the second major victory for the Union blockade in little more than two months. After shells fell into the port “as fast as a horses feet beat the ground in a gallop” as someone described the scene, the rebel forces abandoned the fort. Their casualties were 10 killed and 20 wounded. Union casualties were 6 killed and 20 wounded. Although the attack was a joint land/sea operation, it is generally conceded that the victory as won by the naval artillery.

Jackson is hero at Battle of Bull Run. Virginia, July 21, 1861.
The first thrust by Union forces towards the new Confederate capital of Richmond has been repulsed. The retreat became a rout, with sightseers and Congressmen fleeing along with troops. A Union armyof 34,000 men, mainly raw recruits under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, met a Confederate army led by General Pierre Beauregarde that was waiting behind a small creek called Bull Run, three miles from Centreville, Virginia. Both commanders knew their untried soldiers would have difficulty with surprises, so they moved their armies cautiously. McDowell tried to attack the Confederate left flank but moved too slowly to turn it. Regiments went into battle piecemeal, and at first it looked as though the Union forces would win The Virginians however stood fast. General Barnard Lee cried “Look, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall” moments later Lee was fatally wounded but the Southerners held.

Grant wins Kentucky forts, gets promoted. Kentucky Feb. 15, 1862.
In the Union’s first key land victory of the war, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, took Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River today and was promoted to Major General. With 17,000 men, the 39-year-old Grant took Fort Henry a week ago. At Fort Donelson after his troops and a gunboat flotilla outmanoeuvred its defenders, Grant forced Brigadier General Simon Buckner into an “unconditional and immediate surrender.

Grant holds fast at Battle of Shiloh.
Tennessee Apr. 7, 1862.
A Confederate army led by General Albert S Johnston has pounded at Union forces led by General Ulysses S Grant for over 36 hours, but failed to dislodge him from his lines. Johnston, and about 40,000 Confederate troops, attacked Grant, with equal force of men, near Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee Rive. Grant’s forces were encamped on an east-west line, running at right angles to the river, which anchored his left.. Both armies remained in place after the battle, the Union having lost approximately 13,000 men; the Confederates 10,000.

Stuart’s ride wreaks havoc on McClellan. White House, Virginia June 15, 1862.
Brigadier General James well Brown “Jeb” Stuart looks like the stuff legends are made of. He wears an ostrich feather in his hat and a grey cape lined with scarlet, and he travels with abanjo player who keeps him entertained. But he is also a competent and aggressive leader of light horse who, with 1,200 of his cavalrymen, rode completely around General George McClellan’s army, which is besieging Richmond. “Stuart’s Ride” behind the Union lines was four days of great military adventure!

Sioux kill over 400 in Minnesota revolt. St. Paul, Dec. 26, 1862.
An Indian uprising has taken the lives of over 400 whites along the Minnesota River. The Santee Tribe, recently relocated to a reservation near St. Paul, found itself surrounded by hostile white settlers and without the annuities that the government had pledged. The impoverished Santees, ld by Chief Little Crow, attacked white settlements from August 18 to 23rd. New Ulm was devastated and had to be evacuated. General Sibley defeated the Santees at Wood lake on September 23 and 38 Indians who surrendered were hanged today in the largest mass execution in American history.

Lee halts Union army near Richmond. Virginia July 2, 1862.
After seven days of hard fighting, General George McClellan’s army has retreated from its lines around a besieged Richmond to the muddy waters of Harrison’s Landing, where the Union trops now wait to be transported away from a place where they have lost battle after battle to a foe that is unquestionably better led than they are.
The idea that the conflict between North and South would be anything less than an enormous and prolonged struggle has died in the last seven days, with the slaying of thousands of young men at places like Gaines Mill, Trent Farm, Savage Station etc..

Open-Hearth steel furnace is installed. New York 1862
Quality steel will become widely available as the first open-hearth furnace goes into operation. This new method of producing steel was invented in 1856 by a German, Fredrich Siemens. Using an efficient technique of recirculating gasses through the furnace, the hearth can achieve higher temperatures, making use of scrap steel and pig iron, remove impurities and produce steel with a desired carbon content. The amount of carbon in the steel determines the hardness and smoothness of the finished product. Availability of this kind of steel will reap enormous benefits in the production of all kinds of tools.

Dissatisfied Lincoln removes McClellan Nov 1862
President Lincoln has fired General George McClellan from his job as commander of the Army of the Potomac and turned over the job to General Burnside. The main reason for the President’s decision seems to have been McClellan’s unwillingness to do battle. In Addition, McClellan has made many enemies, some of them in Lincoln’s Cabinet. The stalemate at Antietam was probably the last straw for Lincoln.

North orders first Draft. Washington March 3, 1863.
With today’s signing of the Conscription Act, President Lincoln can, by executive order, compel American citizens to report for duty in the Civil War - unless they can buy their way out instead. The law empowers the War Department to draft males of 20 to 46, for the Union army. However, for a fee of $300, one’s military obligation can be waived. This provision is expected to raise needed revenue for the war effort; on the other hand, critics contend that it give unfair advantage to the rich. It is no doubt going to stir angry sentiment among the poor.
Congress initiated the resolution because of the drop in enrolment of volunteers and the high rate of desertion. Last year each side lost about 105 of its ranks to desertion. Worse. There is a new breed of soldier: the bounty jumper. Undesirables enlist, take the army’s cash bounty, desert as soon as possible, change their name and find another regiment and do the same again.

Emancipation Proclamation is signed by Lincoln. Washington Jan. 1 1863.
Fulfilling a pledge he made last September , President Abraham Lincoln has signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in Confederate states and radically altering the nature of the war. “The constitution as it is; the Union as it was” though still the slogan of Northern democrats, seems ever more distant from reality. For the decree, Lincoln says, turns the war into one of ‘subjugation.‘ The old South must be “destroyed and replaced by new propositions and ideas”.
Speculation persisted until today on whether the President would actually sign the document. The proclaimation’s moral force may guide the administration and millions of Negroes in the war-torn South through the horror of the months ahead. Last month Lincoln told Congress “The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honour and dishonour, to the latest generation. . . In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free”.

Lee mauls Hooker; Jackson wounded. Chancellorsville, Virginia May 6, 1863.
It is a hallowed military dictum that a general should never divide his forces in the face of the enemy, but Robert E. Lee did it, not once but three times and, routed the Army of the Potomac under its new commander General “Fighting Joe” Hooker. This happened as twilight was falling and as one Union soldier put it “Darkness was upon us and Jackson was on us and fear was on us.”
But at one point Jackson got out in front of his own troops, looking into the darkness for a road that his men could follow. Soldiers from a North Carolina regiment mistakenly fired on him, wounding him severely.
May 10. The best tactical commander that General Lee had, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson died today of his wounds a the age of 39.

Desperate Gettysburg battle forces Lee’s retreat Pennsylvania July 3, 1863
After three days of the bloodiest fighting of the war, the Army of the Potomac has finally scored a decisive victory against its tormentor, the formidable General Robert E Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia.
Today, the third day saw the worst fighting as General Lee sent 14,000 men under General George Pickett, against the federal centre, where they were repulsed with terrible carnage. Only half of Pickett’s men returned to their lines after the charge. The attack on the Union centre was preceded by the biggest artillery duel of the war.; Lee had concentrated 150 cannons in front of his army and, at 3 p.m. All of them began firing. The Union soldiers responded with all its cannons and for a while, 200 guns were firing at once. Both lines were obscured by vast clouds of gun smoke, shot and shell.

Some 20 minutes after the guns stopped firing, the divisions under Pickett formed a battle line a mile wide. It may have been the most spectacular sight in the history of warfare. The Confederate army began its advance, red battle flags snapping in the wind. The Southerners had nearly a mile of open country to cross to get to the Federals, and the blue coats simply tore them to pieces.

Grant wins Vicksburg, splitting South. Mississippi July 4, 1863.
Confederate forces under General Joseph Pemberton today surrendered unconditionally to Ulysses S. Grant, commanding general of the Federal armies that have besieged Vicksburg since May. The Southern defeat is catastrophic. With the Union forces now in possession of this strategic town on the Mississippi iver, the Confederacy is effectively split in two. Long dependent on Louisiana , Texas and the trans-Mississippi west for supplies, equipment and men for its eastern armies, the Confederacy is now cut off from these resources, while Union forces now have absolute control of the north-south waterway that traverses Dixie.

Negro forces attack fort; one wins medal. Charleston SC July 18, 1863.
Badly wounded twice during the attack, Sergeant William H Carney o Company C, 54th Massachusetts Coloured Infantry, has earned the Congressional Medal of Honour for his bravery in leading his troops in the Battle of Fort Wagner. Early in the assault, the standard-bearer for the Union troops was killed; Sergeant Carney picked up the fallen flag and spurred his company on. Negro troops have only been a part of the Union frces since January 1, when the Emancipation Proclamation was announced.

Gettysburg Address. November 20, 1863.
Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated - can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place of those who have given their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our power to add or detract. The world will very little note nor long remember what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here, to the unfinished work that they thus far have so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us; that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here have the last full measure of devotion; tat we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in van; that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth.

Union troops repulsed. Georgia Sept. 20, 1863.
“A mad irregular battle” I how one Federal officer described it, “very much resembling guerrilla warfare on a vast scale”. It could also have been described as a brawl. The Union got the worst of it, being hammered for two days by General Braxton Bragg’s army in the rock and scrub and sandy hills of northern Georgia. General George H Thomas however refused to run and is being called “the Rock of Chickamuga”

Foster, beloved songwriter dies. New York Jan. 13, 1864
America’s greatest song writer Stephen Foster died in Bellevue Hospital today at 37. The life that produced many of the nation’s best songs - and more than 200 in all - was marked early on by phenomenal success and a happy marriage. But foster could not handle money and always seemed in need of cash. He started to drink and his marriage failed, his health ebbed away.

Grant, taking over Federal forces, plans all-out drive to end war. Culpepper, Virginia April 4, 1864.
Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant who may rival President Lincoln in popularity, is planning a consolidated strike against the Confederacy in an all-out effort to win the war. According to Grant, he has carte blanche from Lincoln, who stated that “he never professed to be a military man or to know how campaigns should be conducted.”

Lee stops bloody assault. Cold Harbour, Virginia, June 3, 1864.
General Grant had hoped to overwhelm General Lee today in a final battle for Virginia., but his men knew better. Thousands of federal soldiers were killed in a matter of minutes, and Lee remains entrenched in fortifications just six miles from the Confederate capital of Richmond. For the past month Grant has made dogged progress in his war against Lee, but today was not his finest hour. Said one Confederate general, “this was not war this was murder.”
For the past few days the opposing armies have been skirmishing along a seven mile front from the Totopotemy Creek to the Chickahominy River. Grant, unable to break through the centre of the Confederate line, was also stymied as he tried to manoeuvre around Lee’s right flank.

Republicans chose Lincoln again. Washington June 7, 1864.
Republicans meeting in Baltimore for the first time, today nominated President Lincoln for a second term and chose Andrew Johnson of Tennessee as his running mate. The Lincoln nomination at what the Republicans call their National Union convention, comes at a time when the nation is still engaged in a bloody Civil War, and there had been rumours that the party might turn to General Ulysses S. Grant s its nominee. However, what Grant support there might have been, vanished after his loss of 7,000 men in the clash with the Confederates at Cold Harbour.

Sherman takes Atlanta, burns city, marches to sea. Georgia Nov. 16 1864
Atlanta lay in smouldering ruins today as General William Tecumseh Sherman and his troops evacuated the city and headed eastward toward the Atlantic. After months of shelling and nearby battles, Atlanta became an inferno yesterday. Sherman was determined that this industrial and railroad centre would no longer serve as a major supply centre for the Confederacy.
The massive destruction began when the troops destroyed a railroad roundhouse, piled the railroad depot high with wagons, tents and bedding, and put a torch to them. The blaze at the railroad square spawned a firestorm. A foundry, an oil refinery, the Atlanta Hotel, theatres, stores, the fire stations and the jail all went up in flames..

Union forces ruin Nashville defences. Tennessee Dec. 16, 1864.
The impetuous and unpredictable General John B. Hood finally met his match over the last two days outside Nashville. His soldiers, exhausted by the zig-zag march north from Atlanta and numbed by ice and storms, were soundly defeated by Union forces under the command of General George Thomas. Hood had 35,000 men when he left Atlanta at the beginning of September. By today, half of his Confederate soldiers were dead and the Federals were in firm control all along the western front.

Nevada becomes 26th state in Union. Washington DC Oct. 31, 1864.
The former Territory of Nevada was no sooner officially accepted as the 36th state in the union today than many political observers were discussing the implications of its quick admission. Because at this point the presidential election next month still appears to be a toss up, Washington insiders believe it is more thn a co-incidence that Nevada has been admitted at this particular moment.