165 YEARS AGO: The Federal army reaches Centreville in northern Virginia, while Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates slip out of the Shenandoah Valley undetected and head east.
Tag: Irvin McDowell
General Beauregard is Attacked
165 YEARS AGO: The largest army ever assembled in North America goes into motion, starting the great campaign that many hope will end the war.
You Are All Green Alike
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln holds a special cabinet meeting in which General Irvin McDowell explains his plan to invade northern Virginia, crush the Confederate army, and capture Richmond.
Ballooning Operations and the Coffee Mill Gun
165 YEARS AGO: Professor Thaddeus Lowe ascends in a balloon to demonstrate the usefulness of aerial military reconnaissance, and J.D. Mills demonstrates a forerunner to the modern machine gun. Both of these innovations capture President Lincoln’s interest in advanced technology.
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.
Vigorous Measures are Anticipated
165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln calls for increased military enrollment, which results in Federal troops pouring into Washington, D.C. By mid-May, talk turns from defense to offensive operations including an invasion of the South.