At the “Old Temperance Hall” on South Main Street in Pinckneyville, Illinois, a new Baptist church is formed this day. Nine persons, four men and five women, are the founding members of the First Baptist Church of Pinckneyville. Like many churches formed immediately after the war, progress is slow. The congregation meets in the Temperance…
Today at Florence, Alabama, Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood is finally positioned and ready to cross the Tennessee River into the state of Tennessee. Hood’s hope during his march through Alabama has been that Union General William T. Sherman will follow him, thus taking Sherman and his armies away from Atlanta. The Union general…
The First Battle of Saltville takes place today in Virginia. Salt is an important war-time commodity. In today’s battle, Union forces attempt to seize saltworks controlled by Confederate forces. For three days the fighting rages, until at last Confederate soldiers, regulars and home front guards, although outnumbered, defeat the Federals. Upon defeating the enemy, irregular…