Privately determined to free the South’s African slaves, U.S President Abraham Lincoln today ratchets up Northern military might while maintaining a cautious public profile regarding slavery. The Union Army receives a boost from the president’s order to draft 300,000 militia for a period of nine months. It is doubtful that Lincoln believes he will need…
Today is the Sabbath, and James W. Stovall, an Alabama slave born in 1837–the son of a white slaveowner and his house mistress–secures permission to attend a Baptist church that is now located behind federal lines in Union-occupied Decatur (at the time known as Cater), Alabama. Stovall, years later and living in Winona, Illinois, describes…
Some war events during the summer of 1862 make little news outside of local circles. One example is the sacking and burning of Germantown, Tennessee, a small community near Memphis. The past two months have witnessed the Federal capture and occupation of the major Tennessee towns of Corinth and Memphis, victories that solidified Union control…