The reconstruction of Charleston, South Carolina is well under way nearly three months following the February 18 surrender of the city to Union forces. Prior to the fall of Charleston to the Federals, a number of black Baptist congregations were organized in Union-controlled areas of the South Carolina coast. Today, a “Negro Baptist” church is…
Today in Charleston, South Carolina some 10,000 mostly black persons, of whom Baptists are predominant, gather in the city’s Hampton Park in what becomes America’s first Memorial Day observance, also known as Decoration Day. Among the crowd are church leaders, women’s organizations and freedmen. All gather to honor the fallen Union soldiers whose death brought…
Although Union General William T. Sherman and Confederate General Joseph Johnston a week earlier agreed on terms for a surrender of Jonston’s remaining army, the last large body of Confederate forces, officials in Washington D.C. rejected those terms as too lenient on the Confederacy. Subsequently, Jefferson Davis rejected Union demands for harsher conditions, and from…