Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Bay be searched for President Lincoln killers. Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth along with David Herold arrives at Rich Hill, Maryland. General Sherman (U.S.) receives a message from General Johnston (CSA) asking for a “cessation of hostilities with a view to negotiating a surrender.” In the operation known as “Wilson’s Raid”, General James H. Wilson’s (U.S.) cavalry takes West Point and Columbus, Georgia the largest surviving supply city in the South. Skirmishing continues in Crawford and Opelika, Alabama as Wilson attempts to capture General Nathan Bedford Forrest (CSA). Monday, April 17, 1865 : At Durham Station, North Carolina, Generals Sherman (U.S.) and Johnston (CSA) meet to discuss surrender. During the talks Johnston makes it clear that he includes other armies in the surrender, not just his own. To honor slain President Lincoln, the U.S. Navy orders a gun to be fired every half hour from sunrise to sunset. His body is moved to the East Room of the White House to lie in state. Hoping to cross the Potomac into Virginia, John Wilkes Booth and David Herold arrive at Port Tobacco, Maryland. Hiding in a pine thicket, two miles east of the Potomac River, Union troops come so close, Booth can hear them searching for him. Investigators receive a tip that leads to the arrest of Lewis Powell; the Secretary of State, William H. Seward’s attacker. The same day police also arrest other conspirators Michael O’Laughlen, Edman Spangler, Samuel Arnold and Mary Surratt. Realization of the Confederacy’s downfall begins to set in as Bolivar, Tennessee’s 17 year old Sally Wendel Fentress writes in her diary: “Yes the last two or three days all the bad news has been confirmed and contradicted so often that if it does not turn out as we heard through Yankee papers, I will never believe another thing they publish in regard to the rebellion being crushed.” Tuesday, April 18, 1865 : Generals Sherman (U.S.) and Johnston (CSA) meet again, and sign a controversial peace agreement. The terms of surrender went beyond military issues. Sherman guarantees the Southerner’s political rights as laid down in the U.S. Constitution. The document also states “the U.S. government is not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they abstain from acts of hostility and obey the law.” In Washington D. C., General Sherman (U.S.) receives a great deal of criticism regarding this, and politicians saw him as interfering in political issues that were outside of his military remit. In his own defence, Sherman claims, that he was doing what Lincoln would have wanted as part of his policy of reconciliation. Both governments still need to ratify the settlement. General Wilson (U.S.) continues his raid with new attacks at Pleasant Hill and at Double Bridges over the Flint River in Georgia. A small 18-man Union patrol is attacked near Germantown, Tennessee. Heavily outnumbered the patrol retreats back to their camp. A few Union soldiers are killed. Those who were killed or wounded were robbed of everything, the rebels even take the boots from some of the dead. General Washburn (U.S.) orders that no Union patrols will be sent out with less than fifty men. Wednesday, April 19, 1865 : Lincoln’s funeral services take place in the East Room of the White House. The casket is moved to the Capitol rotunda for public showing. In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Confederate cabinet learns of Lincoln’s assassination. General Wade Hampton (CSA) advises Confederate President Davis to flee across the Mississippi and continue the fighting west of the Mississippi. At the same time, General John Pope (U.S.) urges Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith (CSA) to surrender all their troops west of the Mississippi on General Lee’s terms. On the Hatchie River at Randolph, Tennessee, a Union patrol returns this afternoon, having been successful in capturing 1 colonel, 1 major, 4 captains, 2 lieutenants, and 12 men, and killing