Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
165 YEARS AGO: Secessionists defeat a Federal detachment in a minor clash as both sides scramble to link with their main forces in southwestern Missouri.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The Confederate government acquired a merchant steamer and converted her into a naval cruiser named the C.S.S. Sumter. Led by Captain Raphael Semmes, the Sumter runs the Federal blocked and enters the Gulf of Mexico to begin her career of waging war on U.S. shipping.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln holds a special cabinet meeting in which General Irvin McDowell explains his plan to invade northern Virginia, crush the Confederate army, and capture Richmond.
Federal forces crack down on suspected secessionism in Baltimore in the ongoing effort to keep Maryland in the Union.
165 YEARS AGO: Various detachments of Federal and Confederate forces maneuver toward a confrontation in Unionist western Virginia.
165 YEARS AGO: Professor Thaddeus Lowe ascends in a balloon to demonstrate the usefulness of aerial military reconnaissance, and J.D. Mills demonstrates a forerunner to the modern machine gun. Both of these innovations capture President Lincoln’s interest in advanced technology.