165 YEARS AGO: The Federal defeat at Ball’s Bluff outrages northerners, sends the Lincolns into mourning, and increases calls for an “all-out war” against the Confederacy.
Tag: Edwin M. Stanton
Inviting a Collision and Possibly Civil War
The adversarial relationship between Secretary of War John B. Floyd and the rest of President James Buchanan’s cabinet worsens when news arrives that Major Robert Anderson had moved his Federal garrison to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Floyd leads the southern cabinet members by insisting that Anderson withdraw, while northern members insist that Anderson stay.
The Evil Has Now Passed Beyond Control
Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb becomes the first member of President James Buchanan’s cabinet to resign over the sectional crisis. He would not be the last.
The Presidential Restoration Plan
Andrew Johnson issues two proclamations designed to continue Abraham Lincoln’s plan to restore the Confederates states to the U.S. This begins what would ultimately become one of the bitterest feuds between the executive and legislative branches of government.
The U.S. Army Grand Review
The “Grand Armies of the Republic” stage a triumphant review through Washington to celebrate the Federal victory and end of the war.
God Knows Those Who Obey Him
President Jefferson Davis and his Confederate government-in-exile reach South Carolina on their way to regroup in Texas. But Federal patrols are closing in on them.