Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Nathan Bedford Forrest will later be cleared of any violations of the rules of war regarding the alleged massacre at Fort Pillow and will be allowed to return to private life. Shortly after General Lee’s last battle at Appomattox, Robert E. Lee was asked to identify the best soldier, he ever commanded. Lee replied: “A man I have never met, sir. His name is Forrest.” Citizens of Covington, Tennessee are forewarned of a guerrilla attack was to take place this evening. Riding into town a band of six guerrillas are ambushed by some 30 citizens, killing three and mortally wounding another. Apparently the other two got away. Wednesday, May 10, 1865 : In the early morning hours at Irwinville, Georgia, shots ring out and ex- Confederate President Jefferson Davis (pictured) and his party are captured. The Confederate Government ceases to exist. Davis is transported to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, where he remains a prisoner.

Davis’s life after the war was bleak. Charged with treason, he went to prison in Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he remained for two years. In prison, his emotional and physical health deteriorated, and he was never the same after he was released in May 1867. He and his family traveled abroad for two years. When he returned to America, he had trouble making a living. He worked for an insurance company in Memphis, but the company went bankrupt, and when he published a history of the Confederacy, it did not sell well. He lived off the charity of friends and relatives, until his death in New Orleans in 1889. He refused to take the oath of allegiance to regain his citizenship, which was restored only posthumously by the U.S. Congress in 1978.

William Quantrill was sleeping in farmer James Wakefield’s barn with about 30 of his men, when about 100 troops under U.S. Captain Edwin Terrill rush the farm with guns blazing. In the excitement, and unable to escape on account of a skittish horse, Quantrill is shot in the back and paralyzed from the chest down. He was brought by wagon to Louisville, Kentucky and taken to the military prison hospital. William Quantrill will die from his wounds on June 6, 1865, at the age of 27. Quantrill and Anderson’s actions remain controversial to this day. Some historians view them heroes, others as an opportunist, and others just bloodthirsty outlaws “pathological killers” who murdered and burned out Missouri Unionists. Some of Quantrill’s celebrity later rubbed off on other ex-Raiders ~ Jesse and Frank James, and Cole Younger, who went on after the war to apply Quantrill’s hit-run tactics to bank and train robbery. Thursday, May 11, 1865 : The Confederate Commerce Raider, C.S.S. Stonewall, arrives at Havana, Cuba in need of supplies. Spanish owned Cuba offers to buy the ship. Now without a country, the captain wants $16,000 for his crew’s back pay. The deal is done, and the ship turned over to the U.S. The Confederates in Texas were now finally aware of the fate of the Confederacy’s eastern armies and many had just packed up and gone home. Today, U.S. Colonel Barrett orders 250 men of the Sixty-second United States Colored Infantry and fifty men of the Second Texas, United States Cavalry (dismounted) to cross to the mainland from Brazos Island at Boca Chica Pass to occupy Brownsville. Carrying five days rations and 100 rounds of ammunition per man, the Union troops crossed over to the coast at 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, 1865 : Near Brownsville, Texas, under the command of Lt. Col. David Branson, (U.S.) this detachment marches all night and reaches White’s Ranch at