Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
President Lincoln’s call for volunteers is enthusiastically answered but getting them to Washington is another matter. This leads to chaos in the capital, where fears of a Confederate attack heighten.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Virginians seize the important military arsenal at Harpers Ferry after retreating Federals fail to destroy it completely.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Virginia militia seize the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk after Federals abandon the vital naval base with controversial haste.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln issues an order imposing a naval blockade on ports in the Confederate states. This is intended to prevent supplies from reaching the Confederacy, despite lacking legal basis since he did not recognize the Confederacy as a foreign nation.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The first blood of the war is drawn when Federal troops traveling through Baltimore fire on a jeering mob, sparking mass unrest.
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: U.S. Colonel Robert E. Lee meets with influential statesmen and receives an offer to command the Federal army.