165 YEARS AGO: Robert E. Lee returns to Richmond after his three-month campaign in western Virginia that many southerners consider a miserable failure.
Category: Military
The Resignation of Winfield Scott
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: President Lincoln decides the time is right for Winfield Scott to retire as U.S. general-in-chief, who had been leading troops in the Army since the War of 1812. Lincoln looked to George B. McClellan as Scott’s replacement.
Exalting Yourself at My Expense
165 YEARS AGO: Confederate officials reorganize the army forces in northern Virginia, while Jefferson Davis takes issue with P.G.T. Beauregard’s report on the Battle of Bull Run.
Burning Up a Million Devils
165 YEARS AGO: John C. Fremont touts the recapture of Lexington and Springfield as great victories, but they do little to change the tumultuous military situation in Missouri.
The Port Royal Campaign
165 YEARS AGO: A massive Federal army-navy expedition leaves Hampton Roads to capture Port Royal, South Carolina, between Charleston and Savannah.
A Deaf Ear Has Been Turned in the Southwest
165 YEARS AGO: John Baylor, commanding Confederates in the New Mexico Territory, expresses concern that Federals are working to drive him from the region.