Today in the District of Columbia the 39th Congress convenes. The big question looming over all others is that of what to do about the Southern states who, although defeated in the recent war, seem determined to defy the Union by continuing their oppression and violence against against former slaves. Republicans, the party of Lincoln…
Built at Birkenhead, England, the CSS Alabama is a 1050-ton screw steam sloop of war that was placed in commission of the Confederate Navy on August 24, 1862. Early in 1863 the Alabama sunk the USS Hatteras near Galveston, Texas, then spent the remainder of the year chasing down U.S. merchantmen, seizing some 40, of…
“Freedom’s Eve” has given way to the morning of January 1, the day U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln arises in anticipation of signing the Proclamation, only to be distracted by a message from General Ambrose Burnside who, following his defeat at Fredericksburg two weeks earlier, is offended by a…