OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Jefferson Davis responds to allegations that he hindered the Confederate army’s ability to march on Washington after Bull Run.
Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Jefferson Davis responds to allegations that he hindered the Confederate army’s ability to march on Washington after Bull Run.
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.
165 YEARS AGO: The battle that many hoped would end the war takes place in northern Virginia near a stream named Bull Run.
165 YEARS AGO: The standoff in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley continues. Federal General Robert Patterson feebly tries to engage Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates, but Johnston has other ideas.
165 YEARS AGO: Various detachments of Federal and Confederate forces maneuver toward a confrontation in Unionist western Virginia.
165 YEARS AGO: George B. McClellan comes to take personal command of Federals in western Virginia as Confederates try to strengthen their defenses.