The First Baptist Church West Main Street, Charlottesville, Virginia, an African American congregation, traces its beginnings to March 16, 1863. That was the day that some 800 black members of the Charlottesville Baptist Church petitioned the church’s white leaders to allow them to form their own congregation. Today their request is finally granted, and the…
In an attempt to draw Union forces away from Petersburg, Confederate General Jubal A. Early has for days been ransacking territory behind enemy lines. Now in Maryland, Early’s troops have ransomed Hagerstown and Middletown and hope to take Frederick next. This morning, however, Northern troops on a scouting mission run into a contingent of Early’s…
While in Virginia the North and South struggle over control of Petersburg–and hence the Confederate capital of Richmond–numerous minor skirmishes take place this summer throughout Virginia at large. One such clash occurs today when Confederate Col. John S. Mosby’s Rangers (or Raiders), a crack cavalry unit, attack 150 Union cavalrymen near the Mt. Zion Old…