Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant today writes U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, voicing his “hearty support” of arming blacks in the war against the Confederate States. For Grant, the letter reflects evolving convictions; earlier in the war, Grant had not voiced sympathy for the emancipation of slaves. Cairo Illinois August 23d 1863. Sir: Your letter of…
On this fourth of July, the outlook for the Confederacy plunges. A heavy rain blankets the blood-soaked, body-strewn battlefield following the three day Battle of Gettysburg. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee‘s Army of Northern Virginia stares across the carnage to the lines of Union Gen. George G. Meade‘s Army of the Potomac. Lee anticipates another…
Clashes intensify along the lower Mississippi River as U.S. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant continues his relentless pursuit of capturing the strategic river city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The key city of Jackson, Mississippi, having been occupied by Union troops for two days, is by now mostly destroyed as Grant’s army moves out of the city this…