Today Edgar Harkness Gray (1813-1894) becomes the first Baptist appointed as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. A Vermont native, Gray was converted to the Baptist faith at the age of twelve. Following a period of schooling, he was ordained to the ministry and served churches in Maine and Massachusetts before accepting the pastorate of Washington…
With Wilmington under Union control, Federal forces are advancing inland in North Carolina. Today in the Battle of Wyse Fork, Union forces attack Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s forces near Kinston. Control of roads and a railroad is at stake. For four days the battle rages. For much of the time the Confederates appear to have…
In South Carolina Union troops of the 12th Indiana Infantry are defeated by Confederate forces in the skirmish of Gamble’s Hotel in Florence, South Carolina. Albeit meaningless in the course of the war, the moment is a rare triumph for the Confederacy at this late date in the great conflict. Meanwhile Private Elijah J. Marrs…