Mere days after the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution eradicating slavery throughout the nation, white citizens of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Old Confederacy, remain defiant in defending white supremacy and black subservience. In many homes, however, fathers are absent, having lost their lives during the war. Thus the…
Freedom comes to the Confederate capital this day, although many of the white citizens yet remaining in the city see anything but freedom. As the sun dawns, vast destruction stretches as far as the eye can see. Worse yet, soldiers in blue are approaching the city. As one eyewitness, white Richmond resident Sallie Putnam, observes:…
In the pre-morning duskness at 4:30 a.m., Union forces begin today’s assault on Confederate troops in the ongoing Battle of Cold Harbor near Richmond, Virginia. Although the federals breach the heavily defended rebel lines in a few places, the day does not turn out well for the Union. In close fighting, often hand-to-hand combat, the…