A Revolutionary Connection

A Revolutionary Connection

Tension between South Carolina and the national government reached its peak shortly after Abraham Lincoln’s election, prompting President James Buchanan to replace New England-born Colonel John L. Gardner (1793–1869), then commander of the Charleston federal...
Scott’s Anaconda Plan

Scott’s Anaconda Plan

General Winfield Scott’s Plan to Defeat the Confederacy By 1861, Winfield Scott served as the general-in-chief of the United States Army for twenty years. He was known as the hero of the Mexican War, as the “Grand Old Man of the Army,” and less flatteringly,...
Thanksgiving and the Civil War

Thanksgiving and the Civil War

On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November as: “a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” He continued: “In the midst of a civil war of unequaled...