By now the South is a vast battlefield with only a few pockets of safety. Virginia is increasingly overrun by the enemy. From the Shenandoah Valley to Petersburg and further eastward, Northern armies are embedded in the Old Dominion, easily outnumbering Confederate defenders. Much of coastal North Carolina is under Union control, while periodical forays…
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln imposes himself upon General Ulysses S. Grant less than his other generals. Nonetheless, in the midst of Northern frustrations with drawn-out trench warfare at Petersburg, last month’s rather close call in the form of the failed Confederate raid upon Washington, D.C. does expose some friction between the two men, who had…
Confederate cavalry forces, following the raid upon Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, are attempting to retreat to safety across the Potomac River, a dividing line between North and South. Today they engage Federal troops at Old Town, Maryland and, across the river, Spring Run, West Virginia. Confederate officials hope the raids in the North will create more unrest…