Runaway slaves are now fleeing to Union lines and the northern states in unprecedented numbers. Today in Chicago, seventeen escaped slaves, many having traveled North via the Underground Railroad, establish the Providence Baptist Church, the first African American Baptist church on the west side of Chicago, and the city’s second overall. The name “Providence” is…
Today U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is delighted to learn of the capture of Vicksburg. The good news is tempered, however, when later in the day he is informed that Union Gen. George G. Meade has failed to aggressively pursue the retreating Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. News of the…
Robert G. Shaw, commander of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment — the first African-American regiment of the war — stationed in Union-controlled Beaufort District, South Carolina, for the second day in a row attends a local African Baptist church, writing of the experience to his mother. His words describing today’s Sunday service are not as complementary…