OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The Confederacy wins the first land battle on Virginia’s Peninsula and stops a Federal drive toward Yorktown and Richmond.
Tag: Virginia Peninsula
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.