Category Archives: ’62

December ’62

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 President Lincoln opened the final month of 1862 by making his annual speech to Congress on the state of the Union. He didn’t have to tell the lawmakers that the situation was precarious. In struggling to stay alive, the … Continue reading →

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November ’62

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 November’s most important event—or non-event—occurred across the Atlantic. France wanted to intervene in America’s war, but only if Britain and its all-powerful navy would join in. So Confederate ministers James Mason in England and John Slidell in France, as … Continue reading →

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October ’62

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 Abraham Lincoln’s preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued on Sept. 22, began sinking in on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line—and the Atlantic Ocean. Internationally, the incipient measure produced the kind of wide reaction Lincoln had hoped to avoid. For that reason, … Continue reading →

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September ’62

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 A Confederate tide now washed northward on both sides of the Appalachians. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac River into Maryland with titanic ambitions but reduced ranks. Thousands of its 55,000 men—worn-out, ill-fed, and reluctant … Continue reading →

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August ’62

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 The Southern mindset now became more aggressive. Heartened by Robert E. Lee’s victories over the Union Army of the Potomac on the Virginia peninsula, Confederate leaders were desperate to recover Middle and West Tennessee. They also hoped to encourage … Continue reading →

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July ’62

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 Fighting for the six consecutive days ending June, General Robert E. Lee and his outnumbered Confederates had separated, flanked, and stopped the Union Army of the Potomac, breaking an impending siege that had panicked the Southern capital. The Federals had … Continue reading →

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June ’62

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 The botched battle of Seven Pines and the serious wounding of General Joseph E. Johnston resulted in a new Confederate commander in front of Richmond. General R. E. Lee, as he was known then, rode forward to replace Johnston … Continue reading →

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May ’62

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights

1862 Abraham Lincoln seriously doubted whether General George McClellan’s just-begun campaign up the Virginia peninsula would fare better than a direct drive on Richmond. That was because Lincoln had long since learned to doubt McClellan’s stomach for war anywhere. The … Continue reading →

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April ’62

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights
Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant

This gallery contains 4 photos.

1862 Dixie’s Virginia-to-Texas vastness was too large to be conquered, many in the South had assured themselves. But by the onset of this, the war’s one-year anniversary month, room for doubt had grown. The Federals had made alarming inroads. The Confederacy’s figurative back … Continue reading →

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March ’62

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Civil War-Civil Rights
Senator Charles Sumner

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1862 Neither contending government exhibited pride in the root of their war. Southerners shrank from broaching the topic of slavery around non-slaveholders, and Northerners were similarly reluctant among slaveholding unionists. Each had two more reasons on the other side of … Continue reading →

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