Fires burn brightly through the night, followed by a smoky sunrise over the town of Princeton, (present-day) West Virginia in Mercer County. (At the moment, West Virginia is in the process of official recognition as a state carved out of Virginia.) Princeton lies near the Virginia and Tennessee rail line, and is thus considered strategic…
These days, the capital of the Confederacy is abuzz with citizen efforts designed to support Confederate soldiers. As soldiers march in and out of the city of Richmond, women sew clothes for their nation’s defenders and various groups hold fund-raisers to help in the equipping and feeding of regiments. The Baptists of Richmond faithfully do…
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, growing impatient with Gen. George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, orders the general to launch offensive operations no later than February 22. Thus far, McClellan has exercised too much caution, in the estimation of Lincoln and many northerners. Meanwhile, on New York’s East River, the Union ironclad Monitor…