Today U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is presented with a note proposing a meeting of “commissioners” from the North and South to explore possible paths to peace. This initiative results in behind-the-scenes diplomacy in the coming weeks. Also in Washington, D.C. this day, Kentucky Baptist and U.S. Congressman Green Clay Smith delivers a speech in favor…
The fall of Savannah continues to ripple throughout the North and South. News of the event reaches the West coast this week, whereupon this day a group of citizens in Los Angeles assembles to organize a Soldier’s Aid Society to assist injured Union soldiers. Additional chapters are formed on both coasts in the weeks following,…
In the Confederate capitol in Richmond, today’s session of the House of Delegates of the Virginia Legislature is opened by Rev. Jeremiah B. Jeter, pastor of the city’s Grace Street Baptist Church, and one of the most prominent Southern Baptists of the Confederacy. Both Senate and House discuss the prospects of arming slaves for military…