Today in the Shenandoah Valley Union forces rout Confederate troops in the Battle of Guard Hill (also known as the Battle of Crooked River). The Union victory proves to be the definitive turning point in Federals taking control of the Valley from the Confederates. Soon, Robert E. Lee‘s army, confined to the trenches around Petersburg…
Today the Confederates’ attempt to invade Washington (known as the Battle of Fort Stevens) comes to an abrupt end as Confederate General Jubal Early and his Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia meet unexpectedly stiff resistance by Union forces. The Rebels retreat in the evening, re-crossing the Potomac on the morrow. Washington is…
A new Senate bill for reconstructing the South passes the House and Senate today, its origins hearkening back to a February 1863 plan proposed by U.S. Senator from New York, and prominent Baptist layman, Ira Harris. The plan as passed is based on presupposition that the Southern states would need to “re-join” the Union in…