Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #civilwarhistory
Most recents (12)
SOLDIER PROFILE – DR. MARY EDWARDS WALKER, ONLY WOMAN TO EARN THE MEDAL OF HONOR
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was a trailblazing figure in American history, serving her country as the Union Army’s only female surgeon during the Civil War and earning the Medal of Honor.
#Armyhistory
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was a trailblazing figure in American history, serving her country as the Union Army’s only female surgeon during the Civil War and earning the Medal of Honor.
#Armyhistory
When the Civil War began, Edwards Walker offered her services as a surgeon to the Union Army, although they initially rejected her because of her gender and offered her a place as a nurse.
#TRADOC #AMEDD #ArmyNurses #CivilWar #CivilWarHistory #Armyhistory @USArmy @TRADOC
#TRADOC #AMEDD #ArmyNurses #CivilWar #CivilWarHistory #Armyhistory @USArmy @TRADOC
Although technically a nurse, Edwards Walker performed in a surgeon’s role during the early years of the war, and she served in field hospitals and at the U.S. Patent Office Hospital in Washington, D.C.
#MedalOfHonor #MOH #WomensHistoryMonth #MilitaryHistory #Diversity
#MedalOfHonor #MOH #WomensHistoryMonth #MilitaryHistory #Diversity
UNIT PROFILE – 54TH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT
The Emancipation Proclamation’s promulgation in 1863 opened the Union Army’s ranks to Black soldiers for the first time, allowing Black Americans to fight for the Union’s preservation and the end of slavery.
The Emancipation Proclamation’s promulgation in 1863 opened the Union Army’s ranks to Black soldiers for the first time, allowing Black Americans to fight for the Union’s preservation and the end of slavery.
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was among the first all-Black units to be stood up. Led by COL Robert Gould Shaw (scion of a prominent abolitionist family) and promoted by prominent figures like Frederick Douglass, the 54th was flooded with recruits.
Despite Confederate promises to punish captured Black soldiers and their white officers with summary execution for promoting “servile insurrection,” the 54th marched to war in high spirits, leaving Boston on 28 MAY.
#CivilWar #CivilWarHistory #ArmyHeritage #MilitaryHistory
#CivilWar #CivilWarHistory #ArmyHeritage #MilitaryHistory
#OTD in 1864 Brig. Gen. Henry H. Lockwood wrote to his superiors about his concerns regarding Maryland's apprenticeship system, especially as it applied to newly emancipated children. Lockwood explained how former enslavers were exploiting the system to their own advantage.
#Slavery was abolished in #Maryland on November 1, 1864, when the state legislature adopted a new state constitution. The new constitution did not outlaw forced labor. Children of "unfit" parents could legally forced into apprenticeships that often times resembled slavery.
The children of newly emancipated people were overwhelmingly subject to forced apprenticeships, often times being forced to work for the people that formerly enslaved them and their parents. This development was concerning to General Lockwood.
24-25 November 1863 - BATTLES OF CHATTANOOGA #CivilWar
After defeating Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans at Chickamauga in Sept., Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee took up positions south and east of Chattanooga, TN. on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
After defeating Union Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans at Chickamauga in Sept., Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee took up positions south and east of Chattanooga, TN. on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
The CSA force lay siege to Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland in the city, cutting it off its rail access. The War Dept. dispatched about 20,000 men under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker from the Army of the Potomac by rail in late Sept. to relieve the beleaguered Union army.
In late Oct., Hooker attacked CSA positions southwest of Chattanooga to restore rail access. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant arrived and took overall command; Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman led Grant's Army of the Tennessee, while Maj. Gen. George Thomas replaced Rosecrans.
Can you help?
A THREAD
The @VicksburgNPS are looking for the descendants of the following Black Civil War veterans (#USCT) buried in Section T of the National Cemetery at #Vicksburg, MS:
A THREAD
The @VicksburgNPS are looking for the descendants of the following Black Civil War veterans (#USCT) buried in Section T of the National Cemetery at #Vicksburg, MS:
@VicksburgNPS 1. Pvt. Wesley Morris 5th United States Colored Heavy Artillery Aug 17, 1890 Section T 16622
#nosoldierleftbehind #usarmysoldier #civilwarhistory #CivilWar #mississippihistory #Militaryhistory #Blackhistory #hooah #militarybrat #militarybrats #militaryheritage
#nosoldierleftbehind #usarmysoldier #civilwarhistory #CivilWar #mississippihistory #Militaryhistory #Blackhistory #hooah #militarybrat #militarybrats #militaryheritage
@VicksburgNPS 2. Pvt. Jacob McNary 47th United States Colored Infantry Jun 22, 1890 Section T 16620
#nosoldierleftbehind #usarmysoldier #civilwarhistory #CivilWar #mississippihistory #Militaryhistory #Blackhistory #hooah #militarybrat #militarybrats #militaryheritage
#nosoldierleftbehind #usarmysoldier #civilwarhistory #CivilWar #mississippihistory #Militaryhistory #Blackhistory #hooah #militarybrat #militarybrats #militaryheritage
#OTD in 1862 Newton Knight reenlisted in the Confederate Army after being on furlough. He originally enlisted in July of 1861. He deserted in October of 1862 and headed home after he received word the Confederate Army had taken his family's horses for the war effort.
There is much debate and mystery surrounding Knight, his actions during and after the war, and what motivated him. However, Knight's life provides insight into conflicting ideas of race, class, and politics in Mississippi and the South writ large during the Civil War.
Knight was a yeoman farmer in Jones County, Mississippi when the war broke out. According to historian @vikki_bynum, only 12% of the county's population was Black and most whites were subsistence farmers like Knight.
The Battle of Palmito Ranch was fought in Texas #OTD in 1865. The Confederate victory is widely considered the last battle of the Civil War. The battle occurred over one month after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and two days after Jefferson Davis was captured.
Both sides knew the war was virtually over, but a small contingent of Confederate forces refused to surrender near Brownsville, Texas. Many of the men serving under the Union Army there were members of the United States Colored Troops.
A fragile cease fire had been agreed to between the two sides on May 11. However, Confederate Lt. Gen. Edmund Smith of the Trans-Mississippi Department refused to accept the inevitable end of the war.
#OTD in 1864 the House passed the Wade-Davis Reconstruction bill. The House version of the bill was written by Rep. Henry Davis of Maryland. By this time Congress attempted to preemptively take control of post-war policy, creating a rift with President Lincoln.
Lincoln issued the "Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction" on December 8, 1863. It required only 10 percent of a seceding state's population to take an oath of loyalty before a new state government could be formed. These states would also be required to abolish slavery.
Radical Republicans in Congress felt Lincoln's plan was too lenient and began crafting legislation of their own to address the issue. They asserted that Confederate states were not states, but conquered territory. Lincoln maintained that those states never legally seceded.
Last night at the Met Gala, Sarah Jessica Parker wore a dress designed in homage to Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley. Keckley was the first Black female fashion designer to work in the White House. She was First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. Here is a thread about her life.
Keckley was born an enslaved woman in Dinwiddie County, Virginia in February of 1818. As a child she worked with her mother as a house servant for Colonel Armistead Burwell and took care of his infant child. Burwell was also Keckley's biological father.
Keckley was routinely subject to severe physical punishment under the orders of Burwell's wife. Keckley remembered the first time she was whipped and wrote, "The blows were not administered with a light hand, I assure you, and doubtless the severity of the lashing has made..."
#OTD in 1865 President Andrew Johnson put out a reward of $100,000 dollars (Approximately $2 million in today's money) for the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis and a small group of close advisors had fled Richmond in early April.
They initially fled to Danville, Virginia but had to quickly leave because the Union Army was hot on their tail. They arrived in the town of Washington, Georgia in Wilkes County of May 3rd. He held his last meeting the next day.
Davis reunited with his family on May 7th and they arrived in Abbeville on May 8th. During this time, it was believed by the United States Government that Davis played a role in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
February 1st marks the beginning of #BlackHistoryMonth and we will be dedicating much of our #OTD posts to Black history throughout the 19th century, particularly during the Civil War Era. You can read about the origins of Black History Month here: asalh.org/about-us/origi…
With that said, #OnThisDay in 1865, Dr. John Rock became the first African American admitted to the bar of the United States Supreme Court. This occurred the same day President Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment. #History #HistoryMatters #USHistory #AmericanHistory
John Rock lived an extraordinary life. He was a teacher, a prolific abolitionist writer and speaker, a dentist, medical doctor, and lawyer. Rock was born a free man in New Jersey in 1825 and became a teacher at age 19 while studying medicine. #Abolitionist #Teacher
#MemorialDay2021 Let's talk about the origins of Decoration Day. In Race and Reunion, historian David Blight highlights the first Memorial Day. Founded by Black Americans, Decoration Day was held May 1, 1865 at a racetrack/ war prison where freedmen reburied Union soldiers.
They then held a ceremony to honor the 257 fallen soldiers (on this site in South Carolina) called "Martyrs of the Race Course." In the days prior, Black men built an enclosure around the burial ground & created a cemetery of neat rows to honor the US.
On the Morning of May 1, thousands of Black school children from the freedman schools marched along with roses for the fallen while singing "John Brown's Body."
