The Union’s squeeze of the Confederacy is felt throughout the South. Charleston, the ideological center of the Confederate States, has now been under siege for some 430 days, with cannon balls raining upon the city almost daily. In Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee remains trapped in the trenches, his forces growing thinner almost by…
With Atlanta now safely in Union hands, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is able to rest a bit easier. The capture of the Southern city bolsters the president’s re-election prospects, and, assuming Lincoln’s re-election (which is not yet a given, despite Atlanta) almost assures a United States victory over the rebellious Southern states. Against this backdrop,…
Today Union General Ulysses S. Grant refuses yet another request from the Confederacy to exchange prisoners. While the practice of prisoner exchange was common earlier in the war, Grant, albeit reluctantly, is now determined to play hardball. Refusing to exchange prisoners with the enemy, in effect, further pressures the Confederate’s decimated army ranks. Meanwhile, far…