The day after Lee surrenders to Grant, celebrations erupt in Washington, D.C. The war is over! Neither rain nor mud dampens the occasion as thousands mill about in the city’s streets. Many gather on the grounds of the capitol, serenading President Lincoln. The commotion eventually leads Lincoln to make an appearance at a window. Looking…
When the war began four years ago, Richmond, soon to become the Confederate capital, had a larger number of enslaved African Americans–some 500,000–than any other city in America. Today, the fourth day of freedom in Richmond, the city’s newly-freed blacks hold a “jubilee celebration” at the First African Baptist Church, the celebration including soldiers of…
On the third day of freedom in Richmond, many of the remaining upper class whites want to believe that the setback is only temporary. The brief reflections of Richmond resident Margaret White are not atypical: “Kept in a constant state of anxiety,” she writes this day, “by not being able to hear anything reliable. Some…