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On this day in the Civil War, Horace Greeley writes in the New York Tribune, “Our own conviction is…that it is advisable for the Union party to nominate for president some other among its able and true men than Mr. Lincoln.”
President Abraham Lincoln
(Photo Credit: Library of Congress)
On this day in the Civil War, the Battle of Spotsylvania becomes one of the bloodiest days of the war. A Federal soldier says, “This has been the most terrible day I have ever lived.”
On the previous day, Union General U.S. Grant wrote to General Halleck, “I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.”
General Ulysses S. Grant
(Photo Credit: Library of Congress)
On this day in the Civil War, the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (Merrimack) is destroyed by the Confederate navy.
Two months earlier, the CSS Virginia and USS Monitor clashed in the first sea battle of ironclad ships, revolutionizing naval warfare.
On this day in the Civil War, Federal troops entrench at Spotsylvania. Confederate snipers harass the Federals as the entrenchments are being built. Union General John Sedgwick attempts to calm his men, saying: “Don’t duck, they couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance!” A few moments later, a Rebel bullet strikes the general under his left eye and kills him. The shot is fired by a Confederate marksman from nearly half a mile away.
General John Sedgwick
(Photo Credit: Library of Congress)
On this day in the Civil War, the Federal army’s flanking move after the Battle of the Wilderness, is stopped by Confederates. This action starts the bloody Battle of Spotsylvania.
The Civil War Book 