165 YEARS AGO: Various detachments of Federal and Confederate forces maneuver toward a confrontation in Unionist western Virginia.
Category: Military
Ballooning Operations and the Coffee Mill Gun
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.
Naval Strategies North and South
165 YEARS AGO: Confederate and U.S. officials work to develop strategies to wage war against each other on the waters. The Confederate Navy Secretary pushes for building armored warships, while the Federal naval blockade intensifies and strategy turns to capturing Confederate ports.
Military Maneuvers in Northwestern Virginia
165 YEARS AGO: George B. McClellan comes to take personal command of Federals in western Virginia as Confederates try to strengthen their defenses.
Rebellion Dissolved Into Smoke
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.
The Rockville Expedition
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.