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September 17, 1862: The Battle of Antietam
You are there: General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the north ends at Sharpsburg, Maryland with a total of 22,727 American casualties during the bloodiest one day battle in U.S. history. Lee makes his bold move after turning back George McClellan’s 105,000 man force south of Richmond in June and repeating an earlier Confederate […]
September 14, 1814: Ft. McHenry
You are there: The Atlantic coast phase in America’s second war for independence from Britain better known as the War of 1812, comes to an end with the successful defense of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore harbor. Battle of Lundy Lane On July 25, 1814, the bloodiest single battle of the war takes place at Lundy’s […]
September 9, 1837: Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary Opens
You are there: When Mary Lyon opens her Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, the movement toward educating women and achieving gender equality takes a giant step forward. From the colonial era on, the role of women in America’s society is carefully prescribed according to the rules of “coverture” inherited from British Common Law. A married (or […]
September 2, 1864: The Fall Of Atlanta
You are there: Fourteen months after the Confederate losses at Gettysburg (7/3/63) and Vicksburg (7/4/63), the fall of Atlanta seals the fate of the deep south. The battle matches two of the leading generals of the entire war: the rebels Joseph Johnston and William Tecumseh Sherman for the Union. Johnston is born in 1807 at […]
August 21, 1837: Nat Turner’s Black Uprising
You are there: On Sunday, August 21, 1831 the apocalyptic vision of enslaved people murdering white masters to win freedom becomes reality as Nat Turner strikes at Joseph Travis‘s farm near Jerusalem, Virginia, seventy miles south of Richmond. This uprising is preceded by four others, the most successful to date being the 1811 rampage led by […]
August 16, 1780: Britain’s Southern Strategy At The Battle of Camden, SC
You are there: As the Revolutionary War enters its third year, Britain makes a radical shift in its plans to prosecute the conflict. Instead of driving inland from its two northern garrisons in New York City and Philadelphia, it adopts what becomes known as its “Southern strategy” focused on taking control over Georgia, the Carolinas […]
August 8, 1846: The Wilmot Proviso Shakes The Foundation Of Congress
You are there: Fighting between American and Mexican troops begins along the Rio Grande border on May 3, 1846, and Congress officially declares war on May 13. By then, U.S. troops led by General Zachary Taylor have already won at Palo Alto and Resaca and are marching inland on their way to victories at Santa […]
July 23, 1885: America Mourns The Loss Of General Ulysses Grant.
You are there: after surviving years of front-line combat in the Mexican and U.S. Civil War, Ulysses Grant is finally felled by throat cancer, the result of smoking up to 20 cigars a day for most of his adult life. His 1862 victory at Ft. Donelson earns him the sobriquet “Unconditional Surrender Grant,” along with […]
July 11, 1804: Vice-President Aaron Burr Kills Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton In A Duel.
You are there: In the most notorious duel in American history, the sitting Vice-President, Aaron Burr, kills Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. The bad blood between the two is long-standing. Both men serve nobly under Washington in the Revolutionary War, but the General always seems to favor Hamilton, a source of some early animosity. Burr fails to get […]
June 27, 1844. The Founder Of The Mormon Religion, Joseph Smith, Is Murdered In Carthage, Illinois.
You are there: Joseph Smith’s quest to lead his followers in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to their “New Jerusalem” destination ends suddenly in a flurry of gunshots fired by an angry mob in Carthage, Illionis. Born in 1805, Joseph Smith, Jr., grows up in a family of Christian mystics in […]