Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
165 YEARS AGO: News of the previous day’s Confederate victory at Bull Run prompts celebrations in the South and depression in the North. An influential New York publisher writes a desperate letter to President Lincoln asking him to consider seeking peace with the South.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Letter from Lt. Col. Robert McAllister, 1st New Jersey Infantry, to his friend.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Letter from Maj. Sullivan Ballou, 2nd Rhode Island, to his wife.
Letter from 2nd Lt. Thomas Lightfoot, 6th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, to his cousin.
Letter from William B. Darst, 21st Virginia Volunteer Infantry, to his mother.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: U.S. Colonel Robert E. Lee meets with influential statesmen and receives an offer to command the Federal army.