Today U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Thirteenth Amendment, thus sending it to the states for ratification. Also today, from Savannah Assistant Adjutant-General E. D. Townsend writes to the U.S. War Department concerning the January 12 meeting that took place between General William T. Sherman and “the colored ministers in Savannah.” From that meeting, during…
Today’s session of the Confederate Senate is opened in prayer “by the Rev. Mr. Tichenor, of the Baptist Church,” presumably Isaac T. Tichenor, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama, and Confederate chaplain. Also this day, Confederate General Robert E. Lee orders the Confederate Army to suspend military duties for the observance of…
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…