On the site of what will one day be the Kansas City, Missouri zoo, the Battle of Westport takes place. The battle proves to be a culmination of major activity in the state, as a Union win effectively overcomes the little remaining resistance to Union rule in Missouri. Not only is the battle significant in…
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…
Today, Sunday, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the studio of photographer Alexander Gardner and poses for a new portrait. The president sits for a number of portraits, and later selects as his favorite a picture of him sitting next to a small table with his head leaning upon his left hand (pictured). According to eyewitnesses,…