On the third day of freedom in Richmond, many of the remaining upper class whites want to believe that the setback is only temporary. The brief reflections of Richmond resident Margaret White are not atypical: “Kept in a constant state of anxiety,” she writes this day, “by not being able to hear anything reliable. Some…
Richmond is fallen, the Confederate capital is no more. Fires smolder. Destruction is everywhere. Federal soldiers and freedmen roam the ruins of the city while many remaining white families are barricaded behind closed doors. A jubilant U.S. President Abraham Lincoln arrives today with his son Tad to visit the former Confederate capital for himself. Recognizing…
Following yesterday’s victory in the Battle of Five Forks at Petersburg, Grant determines to make a frontal offensive on Lee‘s defenses. In the predawn hours of a Sunday morning, Gen. Horatio Wright’s Sixth corps emerge from their trenches and break through the Rebel lines, followed by offensives on the part of the Second and Ninth…