The Civil War: the final year told by those who lived it

"Yankee wickedness": North Carolina, March 1864 / Catherine Edmondston: Diary, March 8, 1864 Occupied Knoxville: Tennessee, March 1864 / Ellen Renshaw House: Diary, March 9-11, 19, 1864 Northern industry: Pennsylvania, March 1864 / Scientific American: New rolling mills in Pittsburgh, March 26, 1864 Opening a freedmen's school: Virginia, March 1864 / Harriet Ann Jacobs and Louisa M. Jacobs to Lydia Maria Child, March 26, 1864 "My irons were taken off": Tennessee, March 1864 / Jim Heiskell: statement regarding his escape from slavery, March 30, 1864 Hungry families: North Carolina, April 1864 / Susan C. Woolker to Zebulon B. Vance, April 3, 1864 Planning the spring campaign: Washington, D.C., April 1864 / Ulysses S. Grant to William T. Sherman, April 4, 1864 "A tear of sorrow": Louisiana, April 1864 / William Winters to Harriet Winters, April 4, 1864 Freedom and slavery: Virginia, April 1864 / Wilbur Fisk to The Green Mountain Freeman, April 7, 1864 An expulsion order: Tennessee, April 1864 / Ellen Renshaw House: Diary, April 8, 1864 "A proud day": Washington, D.C., April 1864 / Lois Bryan Adams to the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, April 9, 1864 The Fort Pillow massacre: Tennessee, April 1864 / Achilles V. Clark to Judith Porter and Henrietta Ray, April 14, 1864 Predicting Union plans: Virginia, April 1864 / Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, April 15, 1864 "Insatiate as fiends": April 1864 / The New York Times: The black flag, April 16, 1864 Defining liberty and considering retribution: Maryland, April 1864 / Abraham Lincoln: Address at Baltimore Sanitary Fair, April 18, 1864 "Take no prisoners": April 1864 / R.H.C. to The Christian Recorder, April 30, 1864 Debating retaliation: Washington, D.C., May 1864 / Gideon Welles: Diary, May 3, 5-6, 1864 Protesting slave impressment: Alabama, May 1864 / Petition from the Slaveholders of Randolph County, Alabama, May 6, 1864 "Our right cause": Virginia, May 1864 / Samuel W. Fiske to the Springfield Republican, May 3, 1864 Battle of the Wilderness: Virginia, May 1864 / Theodore Lyman: Journal, May 4-7, 1864 "The disaster came": Virginia, May 1864 / Wilbur Fisk to The Green Mountain Freeman, May 9, 1864 "Another struggle with death": Virginia, May 1864 / J.F.J. Caldwell: from The History of a Brigade of South Carolinians Grant turns south: Virginia, May 1864 / Horace Porter: from Campaigning with Grant "Strife in the pines": Virginia, May 1864 / Herman Melville: The Armies of the Wilderness "If it takes all summer": Virginia, May 1864 / Ulysses S. Grant to Edwin M. Stanton and to Henry W. Halleck, May 11, 1864 Battle of Spotsylvania: Virginia, May 1864 / Charles Harvey Brewster to Martha Brewster, May 11, 1864 ; and to Martha Brewster, May 15, 1864

The Bloody Angle: Virginia, May 1864 / J.F.J. Caldwell: from The History of a Brigade of South Carolinians Whipping a slavemaster: Virginia, May 1864 / Edward A. Wild to Robert S. Davis, May 12, 1864 Battle of Resaca: Georgia, May 1864 / James A. Connolly to Mary Dunn Connolly, May 15 and 20, 1864 "These sad fields": Georgia, May 1864 / Alpheus S. Williams to Mary Williams, May 20, 1864 Battle of Pickett's Mill: Georgia, May 1864 / Samuel T. Foster: Diary, May 23-28, 1864 Proclaiming victory: Louisiana, May 1864 / Richard Taylor: General Orders No. 44, May 23, 1864 "I am scared most to death": Virginia, May 1864 / Charles Harvey Brewster to Mary Brewster, May 23, 1864 ; to Martha Brewster, May 24, 1864 ; and to Mattie Brewster, May 26, 1864 Andersonville Prison: Georgia, May 1864 / Eugene Forbes: Diary, May 24-27, 1864 Appraising Grant: Virginia, May 1864 / Charles Francis Adams Jr. to Charles Francis Adams, May 29, 1864 Assessing black troops: May 1864 / Lorenzo Thomas to Henry Wilson, May 30, 1864 Behind the Union lines: Virginia, May-June 1864 / Cornelia Hancock to her sister, May 28, May 31-June 3, 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor: Virginia, May-June 1864 / Frank Wilkeson: from Recollections of a Private Soldier in the Army of the Potomac "Born anew in blood and tears": New York, June 1864 / Maria Lydig Daly: Diary, June 8, 1864 "The work of death": Georgia, June 1864 / Robert Patrick to Alonzo Lewis, June 9, 1864 Ruined plantations: Virginia, June 1864 / Judith W. McGuire: Diary, June 11, 1864 "Miserable long dreary days": Virginia, June 1864 / Charles Harvey Brewster to Mattie Brewster, June 11, 1864 Completing "the great idea": London, June 1864 / Charles Francis Adams to Charles Francis Adams Jr., June 17, 1864 Fighting the Alabama: the English Channel, June 1864 / Charles B. Fisher: Diary, June 19-21, 1864 Battle of Petersburg: Virginia, June 1864 / Wilbur Fisk to The Green Mountain Freeman, June 19, 1864 "Butchered time and again": Virginia, June 1864 / Stephen Minot Weld to Stephen Minot Weld Sr., June 21, 1864 "A horrid, hellish dream": Virginia, June 1864 / George E. Chamberlin to Ephraim Chamberlin, June 27, 1864 Life at Andersonville: Georgia, June 1864 / Eugene Forbes: Diary, June 13-20, 1864 The Atlanta Campaign: Georgia, June 1864 / William T. Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, June 30, 1864 An appeal for negotiations: New York, July 1864 / Horace Greeley to Abraham Lincoln, July 7, 1864 "An infinity of hills": Georgia, July 1864 / John White Geary to Mary Geary, July 8, 1864 Washington, D.C., July 1864 / Abraham Lincoln: Proclamation Concerning Reconstruction, July 8, 1864 Conditions for peace: Washington, D.C., July 1864 / Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, July 9, 1864 Hanging the Andersonville Raiders: Georgia, July 1864 / Eugene Forbes: Diary, July 11, 1864 Threatening Washington: Maryland, July 1864 / Henry Robinson Berkeley: Diary, July 4-13, 1864 The capital under attack: Washington, D.C., July 1864 / Lois Bryan Adams to the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, July 13 and 15, 1864 Pursuing Early: Virginia, July 1864 / Ulysses S. Grant to Henry W. Halleck, July 14, 1864

"The deepest shame": Washington, D.C., July 1864 / Charles A. Dana to Ulysses S. Grant, July 15, 1864 "To whom it may concern": Washington, D.C., July 1864 / Abraham Lincoln: Offer of safe conduct for peace negotiators, July 18, 1864 "War to the bitter end": Canada, July 1864 / Clement C. Clay and James P. Holcombe to Horace Greeley, July 21, 1864 A meeting with Jefferson Davis: July 1864 / James R. Gilmore to the Boston Evening Transcript, July 11, 1864 Fighting in the Shenandoah: Virginia, July 1864 / Henry Robinson Berkeley: Diary, July 14-14, 1864 Fighting for Atlanta: Georgia, July 1864 / Samuel T. Foster: Diary, July 18-23, 1864 "Take my children from those men": Massachusetts, July 1864 / John Q.A. Dennis to Edwin M. Stanton, July 26, 1864 "A melancholy accident": Texas, July 1864 / Benjamin F. McIntyre: Diary, July 29, 1864 Preparing for battle: Gulf of Mexico, July 1864 / David G. Farragut: General Orders Nos. 10 and 11, July 12 and 29, 1864 The Battle of the Crater: Virginia, July 1864 / Stephen Minot Weld: Diary, July 30, 1864, and Memoir from 1912 "Murder them in cold blood": Virginia, July 1864 / William Pegram to Virginia Johnson Pegram, August 1, 1864 "This abominable despotism": New York, August 1864 / C. Chauncey Burr: from The Old Guard, August 1864 "Retribution at last": Virginia, August 1864 / Edgeworth Bird to Sallie Bird, August 4, 1864 "This dictatorial usurpation": August 1864 / Benjamin F. Wade and Henry Winter Davis: To the supporters of the government, August 5, 1864 "Stern retaliation": Virginia, August 1864 / Robert Garlick Hill Kean: Diary, August 7, 1864 "Smoke and flame": Virginia, August 1864 / Mathella Page Harrison: Diary, August 17, 1864 Washington, D.C., August 1864 / Abraham Lincoln: Memorandum on Probable Failure of Reelection, August 23, 1864 Exchanging prisoners: Virginia, August 1864 / Benjamin F. Butler to Robert Ould, August 27, 1864 Defending Atlanta: Georgia, August 1864 / Robert Toombs to Alexander H. Stephens, August 30, 1864 "Four years of failure": Illinois, August 1864 / Platform of the Democratic National Convention, August 30, 1864 "We must conquer": September 1864 / James R. Gilmore: Our visit to Richmond, September 1864 Requesting reinforcements: Virginia, September 1864 / Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, September 2, 1864 "My children is my own": Missouri, September 1864 / Spottswood Rice to his children and to Kitty Diggs, September 3, 1864 Preserving "our own race": Kentucky, September 1864 / Thomas Bramlette to Abraham Lincoln, September 3, 1864 "Shouting for McClellan": Washington, D.C., September 1864 / Gideon Welles: Diary, September 3, 1864 Political advice: Ohio, September 1864 / Clement L. Vallandigham to George B. McClellan, September 4, 1864 "The wrath to come": Louisiana, September 1864 / Kate Stone: Diary, September 5, 1864 "Audacious infamy": New York, September 1864 / George Templeton Strong: Diary, September 5-8, 1864 Accepting the nomination: New Jersey, September 1864 / George B. McClellan to the Democratic Nomination Committee, September 8, 1864 Jonesboro and Atlanta: Georgia, September 1864 / James A. Connolly to Mary Dunn Connolly, September 11, 1864

"War is cruelty": Georgia, September 1864 / William T. Sherman to James M. Calhoun and others, September 12, 1864 Equal pay for black soldiers: Ohio, September 1864 / Rachel Ann Wicker to John A. Andrew, September 12, 1864 A report from Mobile Bay: Alabama, September 1864 / Alexander McKinley to Samuel Francis Du Pont, September 18, 1864 Battle of Winchester: Virginia, September 1864 / Henry Robinson Berkeley: Diary, September 19, 1864 Georgia, September 1864 / Jefferson Davis: Speech at Macon, September 23, 1864 A Cabinet resignation: Maryland, September 1864 / Elizabeth Blair Lee to Samuel Phillips Lee, September 1864 South Carolina, October 1864 / Jefferson Davis: Speech at Columbia, October 4, 1864 A call for political equality: New York, October 1864 / Address of the Colored National Convention, October 6, 1864 "Make Georgia howl": Georgia, October 1864 / William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant, October 9, 1864 "One great desert": Virginia, October 1864 / Stephen Dodson Ramseur to Ellen Richmond Ramseur, October 10, 1864 Desertion and "despotism": Virginia, October 1864 / John B. Jones: Diary, October 10-13, 1864 England and the Civil War: Delaware, October 1864 / Samuel Francis Du Pont to William King Hall, October 13, 1864 War news: North Carolina, October 1864 / Catherine Edmondston: Diary, October 18, 1864 Unity and civil freedom: New York, October 1864 / Francis Lieber: Lincoln or McClellan, October 1864 Election results: New York, November 1864 / George Templeton Strong: Diary, November 9, 1864 Reading a sealed paper: Washington, D.C., November 1864 / John Hay: Diary, November 11, 1864 Retaliatory executions: Virginia, November 1864 / John S. Mosby to Philip H. Sheridan, November 11, 1864 A slaveowner's deception: Maryland, November 1864 / Jane Kamper: Statement regarding her emancipation, November 14, 1864 "Vox populi, vox dei": New York, November 1864 / Maria Lydig Daly: Diary, November 15, 1864 Sherman's March: Georgia, November 1864 / James A. Connolly: Diary, November 17-23, 1864 "The bitter end": November 1864 / John Wilkes Booth: "To whom it may concern," November 1864 Lincoln's reelection: London, November 1864 / Henry Adams to Charles Francis Adams Jr., November 25, 1864 "My boy was dead": Kentucky, November 1864 / Joseph Miller: Statement regarding his family, November 26, 1864 Battle of Franklin: Tennessee, November-December 1864 / Samuel T. Foster: Diary, November 30-December 1, 1864 Washington, D.C., December 1864 / Abraham Lincoln: Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1864 Reports of a slave insurrection: North Carolina, December 1864 / Henry Nutt to Zebulon B. Vance, December 12, 1864 Meeting Sherman: Georgia, December 1864 / John Chipman Gray to John C. Ropes, December 14, 1864 Besieging Savannah: Georgia, December 1864 / John White Geary to Mary Geary, December 17, 1864 Union looters: Georgia, December 1864 / Mary S. Mallard: Journal, December 15-21, 1864 "The torture of loyal men": New York, January 1865 / Harper's Weekly: Retaliation, January 8, 1865

"The most pernicious idea": Georgia, January 1865 / Howell Cobb to James A. Seddon, January 8, 1865

"The birthright of the South": North Carolina, January 1865 / Catherine Edmondston: Diary, January 9, 1865

The right to vote: Tennessee, January 1865 / Petition of the Colored Citizens of Nashville to the Union Convention of Tennessee, January 9, 1865

Enlisting slaves "without delay": Virginia, January 1865 / Robert E. Lee to Andrew Hunter, January 11, 1865

"To have land": Georgia, January 1865 / Meeting of Colored Ministers with Edwin M. Stanton and William T. Sherman, January 12, 1865

Land for freedmen: Georgia, January 1865 / William T. Sherman: Special Field Orders No. 15, January 16, 1865

Washington, D.C., January 1865 / Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, January 31, 1865

"The greatest event": Washington, D.C., February 1865 / George W. Julian: Journal, February 1, 1865

Peace talks: Virginia, February 1865 / Robert Garlick Hill Kean: Diary, February 5, 1865

"We must emancipate:" Virginia, February 1865 / John H. Stringfellow to Jefferson Davis, February 8, 1865

"Let slavery die": Washington, D.C., February 1865 / Henry Highland Garnet: A Memorial Discourse, February 12, 1865

The burning of Columbia: South Carolina, February 1865 / Emma LeConte: Diary, February 17-18, 1865

Confederate deserters: Virginia, March 1865 / Luther Rice Mills to John Mills, March 2, 1865

Washington, D.C., March 1865 / Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

"A sacred effort": Washington, D.C., March 1865 / Frederick Douglass: from Life and Times of Frederick Douglas

"We have work faithful": North Carolina, March 1865 / Roanoke Island Freedmen to Abraham Lincoln and to Edwin M. Stanton, March 9, 1865

"The death flurry of a whale": New York, March 1865 / George Templeton Strong: Diary, March 10, 1865

Marching through the Carolinas: North Carolina, March 1865 / Alpheus S. Williams to his daughter, March 12, 1865

Land and votes: Washington, D.C., March 1865 / Charles Sumner to John Bright, March 13, 1865

"Give me a thousand": Kentucky, March 1865 / Frances Johnson: Statement regarding her whipping and escape, March 25, 1865

"A very cruel man": Kentucky, March 1865 / Clarissa Burdett: Statement regarding her whipping and escape, March 27, 1865

"Awaiting my fate": Virginia, April 1865 / John B. Jones: Diary, April 2, 1865

The fall of Richmond: Virginia, April 1865 / Sallie Brock: from Richmond During the War

"Gloria in excelsis deo": New York, April 1865 / George Templeton Strong: Diary, April 3, 1865

"This peerless comrade": Virginia, April 1865 / William Gordon McCabe to Mary Pegram, April 4, 1865

Occupying Richmond: Virginia, April 1865 / Thomas Morris Chester to the Philadelphia Press, April 4, 1865

Southern "arrogance and folly": Washington, D.C., April 1865 / Gideon Welles: Diary, April 7, 1865

Surrender terms: Virginia, April 1865 / Ulysses S. Grant to Robert E. Lee, April 9, 1865

A commander's farewell: Virginia, April 1865 / Robert E. Lee: General Orders No. 9, April 10, 1865

Lincoln's assassination: Washington, D.C., April 1865 / Elizabeth Keckly: from Behind the Scenes

"A fearful, gigantic crime": New York, April 1865 / George Templeton Strong: Diary, April 15, 1865

The President's deathbed: Washington, D.C., April 1865 / Gideon Welles: Diary, April 18, 1865

A political agreement: North Carolina, April 1865 / William T. Sherman to Ulysses S. Grant or Henry W. Halleck, April 18, 1865

"It is all murder": Louisiana, April 1865 / Sarah Morgan: Diary, April 19, 1865

Explaining surrender: Virginia, April 1865 / Robert E. Lee to Jefferson Davis, April 20, 1865

Fleeing defeat: North Carolina, April 1865 / Jefferson Davis to Varina Howell Davis, April 23, 1865

"Something that haunted us": Virginia, April 1865 / Stephen Minot Weld to Hannah Minot Weld, April 24, 1865

"What we were fighting for": North Carolina, April-May 1865 / Samuel T. Foster: Diary, April 18-May 4, 1865

"A thousand rumors": Georgia, May 1865 / Ellen Renshaw House: Diary, May 2, 1865

"He behaved so brave": Washington, D.C., May 1865 / Walt Whitman: from Specimen Days

"Heroes of the sublimest conflict": May 1865 / New York Herald: The Grandest Military Display in the World, May 24, 1865

The Grand Review: Washington, D.C., May 1865 / Lois Bryan Adams to the Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, May 24 and 27, 1865

"All slaves are free": Texas, June 1865 / Gordon Granger: General Orders No. 3, June 19, 1865.