OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The Confederacy wins the first land battle on Virginia’s Peninsula and stops a Federal drive toward Yorktown and Richmond.
Category: Military
The U.S. Sanitary Commission
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Despite initial reluctance, the Lincoln administration approves establishing a national agency to improve military healthcare for volunteer soldiers.
Unprovoked and Unparalleled Outrages
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: A conference between Federal officers and Missouri state officials leads to open warfare between the Federals and pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard.
The Battle of Philippi
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Federals win a minor victory that clears Confederates out of the Kanawha Valley of western Virginia and secures the railroad line between Washington and the West.
The Military Situation in Northern Virginia
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The first land battle of the war takes place in northern Virginia, and Confederates blockade the Potomac waterway into Chesapeake Bay.
Chained Down by a Merciless Tyranny
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: William S. Harney is ousted as Federal commander in Missouri due to his suspected leniency toward secessionists. This leaves his successor, Nathaniel Lyon, with free reign to destroy secessionism in the state.