Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Pro-Confederate Kentuckians boycott an election that results in Unionist candidates winning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Unionists in northwestern Virginia assemble a convention at Wheeling, where they declare their independence from the rest of Virginia and request recognition by the U.S. government.
165 YEARS AGO: George B. McClellan comes to take personal command of Federals in western Virginia as Confederates try to strengthen their defenses.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Federal forces advance in northern Missouri and win a minor victory at Boonville. But the secessionists are not done fighting yet.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Federals led by Colonel Charles P. Stone seize Edwards’ and Conrad’s ferries on the Potomac River, which are the main approaches from Maryland to the strategic town of Leesburg, Va.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Confederates abandon Harpers Ferry in northwestern Virginia as Federals cautiously prepare to enter that part of the state.