As the year draws to a close following months of major Union victories on the battlefield, Peace Democrats–popularly known as “Copperheads” due to the pennies they wear as an identifying symbol, and characterized by their opposition to the war and demands for an immediate peace with the Confederate States–have lost their political momentum. Having reached…
South Carolinian Robert Smalls, a former slave who had worked in Charleston’s shipyards, became a hero to the North in May 1862 when he commandeered the Confederate transport CSS Planter in Charleston Harbor and steered the ship to safety and freedom for himself and his crew of slaves and their families, behind nearby Union naval…
The Confederate Army of the Tennessee, defeated twice by their Union counterparts outside of Chattanooga in the past two days, is desperate to turn the tide of the Chattanooga Campaign. Confederate General Braxton Bragg, however, is unable to halt the offensive maneuvers of Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Today’s action plays out on Missionary Ridge…