Shifting Terminology for Enslaved People
As the Civil War transformed the legal and social status of Black Americans, the language used to describe them evolved as well. In 1861, Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler claimed
Tag: 1865
Mary’s Album: Cartes de visite and tintypes collected by a teenager put faces on two Loudoun Rangers of Virginia
By Bob Iwig, with images from the author’s collection Following popular cultural trends, Mary Nunnamaker collected cartes de visite photographs in an album during the Civil War. The teenaged daughter
He Arrested Mary Surratt and Lewis Powell
By Richard Look Captain Henry Warren Smith climbed the stairs to the entrance of a home in Washington, D.C., during the night of April 17, 1865. Bathed in the soft
Participants in an Early Commemoration at Gettysburg’s National Cemetery? A post-war portrait shines a light on a little remembered 1865 event.
By Elizabeth A. Topping This carte de visite of an officer and ladies taken in Gettysburg, Pa., two years after the momentous battle fought in and about the town begs
Tracking Booth
By Richard A. Wolfe Towards sunset on Wednesday, April 26, 1865, a detective rode into Washington, D.C, carrying the personal effects of the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes
Case Number 16
By Patrick Naughton During heavy fighting along one sector of the Petersburg front on a February day in 1865, a Union lieutenant aided a wounded brother officer. The lieutenant later
The Capture of Jubal Early’s Headquarters Flag
The procession of cavalry officers and enlisted men that marched into the War Department one morning in March 1865 drew immediate attention. The sunburnt troopers, carrying 17 rebel flags they
Custer’s “Main Stay In a Tight Place”
The veteran 2nd Ohio Cavalry earned high praise for its service from legendary golden-haired Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer. According to the June 1, 1865, issue of the Cleveland Daily
“Fateful April 6”
In February 1905, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution to return 74 captured Confederate flags stored in the War Department in Washington, D.C. According to a news report, the
“Pass Those Colors Over to Me”
There came a moment during the fight at Five Forks when federal Sgt. Robert Shipley ran across a rebel color bearer from the 9th Virginia Infantry. The Confederate, with banner