OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Confederates abandon Harpers Ferry in northwestern Virginia as Federals cautiously prepare to enter that part of the state.
Category: Virginia
The Battle of Big Bethel
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The Confederacy wins the first land battle on Virginia’s Peninsula and stops a Federal drive toward Yorktown and Richmond.
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.
Contraband of War
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Benjamin F. Butler causes another controversy, this time by refusing to return fugitive slaves to their masters. This military policy of designating escapees as “contraband of war” is endorsed by the Lincoln administration, which sets a wartime precedent.
Federals Capture Alexandria
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Federal troops invade northern Virginia and seize the strategic town of Alexandria, but a promising young officer becomes one of the war’s first casualties.
The Confederate Capital Relocation
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The Provisional Confederate Congress votes to adjourn after approving the relocation of the national capital from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond, Va. President Jefferson Davis had initially opposed the move, but with significant support from Virginians and military considerations, the transfer is approved.