The 20 Most Significant Events of the Civil War

Home > Nonfiction > The 20 Most Significant Events of the Civil War > Page 31
The 20 Most Significant Events of the Civil War Page 31

by Alan Axelrod


  USS Merrimack, 223–230

  USS Minnesota, 226

  USS Monitor, 3, 219–230

  USS Pawnee, 38–40

  USS Pocahontas, 38–40

  USS Powhatan, 38–40

  USS San Jacinto, 235

  V

  V Corps, 206

  Vallandigham, Clement, 100–101

  Van Dorn, Gen. Earl, 140–143

  Vicksburg, Mississippi, 93

  Vicksburg, siege of, 139–148

  Virginia Military Institute (VMI), 216

  W

  Wade, Sen. Benjamin, 246–248

  Wade-Davis Bill, 6, 246–248

  Walker, Leroy Pope, 38

  Wallace, Maj. Gen. Lew, 162–163, 166, 169

  War Democrats, 90

  War of 1812, 118, 139

  The War Powers of the President and the Legislative Powers of Congress in Relation to Rebellion, Treason, and Slavery (Boston, 1862), 48

  Warne, Kate, 23–27

  Warren, Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K., 81–82, 154

  Washington, George, 128, 130, 133, 190, 214

  Washington, Martha Custis, 130

  Washington Peace Conference, 1861, 27–28

  Webster, Daniel, 11–12, 210–211

  Weed, Brig. Gen. Stephen, 81–82

  Weed, Thurlow, 86–89

  Weitzel, Maj. Gen. Godfrey, 59

  Welles, Gideon, 113

  West Point

  Anderson instructs on use of artillery, 37

  Beauregard at, 42

  Burnside graduates from, 191

  Civil War generals as, 149–150

  Custer graduates dead last, 60

  Hooker graduates from, 179

  Lee as engineer, 130–132

  Nathan Evans “Shanks,” 125

  Sherman predicts bloody war (Class of 1840), 118–119

  teaches Napoleonic rules of war, 155

  Vicksburg siege of, 142

  Western and Atlantic Railroad, 152

  Western Empire, 100

  Western Sanitary Commission, 234

  Western Theater, 121, 140–141, 234, 238

  Wheatland, 37

  Whig Party, 20

  White Oak Swamp Creek, 135

  Whiting, William, 48

  Why it’s significant

  “Black Lincoln” is Inaugurated, 18

  Congress Passes the Homestead Act of 1862, 171–177

  Defeated, Grant Advances, 149

  Gen. Beauregard Opens Fire on Fort Sumter, 31

  The Gentleman from South Carolina Canes the Gentleman from Massachusetts, 7

  The Ironclads Clash at Hampton Roads, 219

  John Brown Raids Harpers Ferry, 208

  John Wilkes Booth Assassinates Abraham Lincoln, 102

  Lee, Gen. Robert E., 128

  Lee Divides and Conquers at the Second Battle of Bull Run, 201

  Lee Surrenders to Grant, 56

  Lincoln Chooses Burnside to Lead the Army of the Potomac, 189

  Lincoln Wins Reelection, 86

  New York Draft Rioters Set Fire to the Orphan Asylum for Colored Children, 93

  “Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation,” 44

  Shiloh Creates a New American Reality, 159

  Stonewall Jackson Falls to Friendly Fire at Chancellorsville, 178–188

  Two Minutes at Gettysburg, 68

  Vicksburg falls to Grant, 139

  Wigfall, Colonel Louis, 12–16, 42–43

  “wigwag” flag signals, 125

  Wilkes, Capt. Charles, 235

  Willard’s Hotel, 27–28

  William of Normandy (William the Conqueror), 68

  Williams Canal, 143

  Wills, David, 71–72

  Wilmot, David, 10–11, 209–210

  Wilmot Proviso, 10–11, 210

  Wilson, Henry, 15

  Winslow, Capt. John A., 241

  Wisconsin Territory, 16–17

  Wise, Henry A., 216

  Wood, Mayor Fernando, 95

  Wool, Gen. John E., 122

  Worden, Lt. John L., 228–229

  World War I (1914–18), 219

  World War II (1939–1945), 219

  Wyandotte Constitution, 212–213

  X

  XI Corps, 77, 79, 182

  Y

  Yazoo Delta, 145

  Yazoo Pass, 144

  Yazoo Pass Expedition, 144

  “Young Napoleon,” 46, 50, 86–89, 149, 190–191, 201–202

  Author Biography

  Alan Axelrod is a popular military historian, whose Civil War books include The Real History of the Civil War: A New Look at the Past (2012), Generals South, Generals North: The Commanders of the Civil War Reconsidered (2011), The Horrid Pit: The Battle of the Crater, the Civil War’s Cruelest Mission (2007), Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Civil War (1998; Second Edition, 2003), and The War between the Spies: A History of Espionage During the American Civil War (1992). He has also written widely on the American Revolution, World War I, and World War II, and is the author of biographies of George S. Patton Jr. and Omar Bradley, as well as the co-author of a biography of George C. Marshall.

  A former university professor and publishing executive, Alan Axelrod is president and CEO of the Ian Samuel Group, Inc., a creative services firm. He has been a creative consultant (and on-camera personality) for The Wild West television documentary series (Warner Bros., 1993), Civil War Journal (A&E Network, 1994), “The American Experience” series (PBS, 2016), and The Discovery Channel, and he has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, CNNfn, CNBC, Fox Network affiliates in Philadelphia and Atlanta, and numerous radio news and talk programs, including National Public Radio.

  He and his wife, the artist Anita Arliss, make their home in Atlanta.

  Senator Charles Sumner, as photographed by Mathew Brady. Library of Congress

  Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration, March 4, 1861. Lincoln is barely visible under the wooden canopy. Library of Congress

  The Sylvester Rawding family’s house was typical of the sod houses erected by homesteaders on the treeless Great Plains. This photograph was made by Solomon D. Butcher in 1886. Wikimedia

  An ornamental print of the Emancipation Proclamation, published by R. A. Dimmock of New York City in 1864. Wikimedia

  General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, first general officer in the Confederate service and the commanding officer at the Battle of Fort Sumter. National Archives and Records Administration

  The Wilmer McLean House, Appomattox Court House, Virginia, site of Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865. Library of Congress

  President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication to the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863. The president is visible slightly left of center, behind the blurred mass of people, facing the camera, head slightly down and tilted to his right. Library of Congress

  Abraham Lincoln delivers his second inaugural address, March 4, 1865. He stands, bare-headed, before a small white table, speech in hand. Architect of the United States Capitol

  The New York Draft Riot. Illustration from Harper’s Weekly titled “The Rioters Burning and Sacking the Colored Orphan Asylum.” Wikimedia

  John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln. Library of Congress

  Major General Irvin McDowell, defeated at the First Battle of Bull Run. Library of Congress

  Robert E. Lee, commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia. Library of Congress

  “Whistling Dick,” a Confederate eighteen-pounder, formed part of the defenses of Vicksburg, Mississippi. A projectile from this gun set USS Cincinnati aflame on May 28, 1863, sinking it. Wikimedia

  Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at Cold Harbor during the brutal Overland Campaign. Photograph by Edgar Guy Fawx. Library of Congress

  Battle of Shiloh, American Civil War, a chromolithograph published by Louis Prang and Company, New York City, 1888, from a painting by Thure de Thulstrup (1848-1930). Wikimedia

  A Mathew Brady photograph of the battlefield at
Bull Run following the Second Battle of Bull Run, August 28-30, 1862. National Archives and Records Administration

  Ambrose Burnside as photographed by Mathew Brady. National Archives and Records Administration

  The Death of Stonewall Jackson as depicted in a Currier & Ives print. Library of Congress

  John Brown, photographed in Kansas, about 1856. Wikimedia

  Union infantryman in a Hardee hat. Library of Congress.

  John L. Worden, commanding officer of USS Monitor. Library of Congress

 

 

 


‹ Prev