Chronological History of the American Civil War

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today.) The riders received $25 per week as pay; a comparable wage for unskilled labor at the time was about $0.43-$1 per day. The longest ride was by Jack Keetley when he doubled back for another rider, ended at Seneca, CA, where he was taken from the saddle sound asleep. He had ridden 340 miles in thirty-one hours without stopping to rest or eat. Probably the best-known rider than any other for the Pony Express, was William Cody (better known as Buffalo Bill). He symbolized the legend and the folklore of the Pony Express. He became world famous for his Wild West shows where performers re-enacted the riding of the Pony Express, Indian attacks on wagon trains, and stagecoach robberies. Civil War Arms and Ammunition A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. Many view the Civil War as the first “modern” war, and much experimentation and refinement of arms and ammunition occurred because of the conflict. For this reason, a large variety of small arms ammunition exist. Early ammunition included the “.69 caliber” (caliber is a bullet’s or bore diameter in hundredths of inches) round lead ball for smooth bore muskets of the type used in the War of 1812. Their inaccuracy and short-distance range quickly made them outdated as the war dragged on. The accuracy of rifled muskets made smoothbores obsolete. The most common round lead rifle balls include the “.58 caliber” for the muzzle-loading 1861 Springfield Rifle and the “.577 caliber” Enfield. The “.58 caliber” Minie, named after its inventor, Claude Etienne Minie, made the round ball almost obsolete. It quickly became a common ammunition because its conical shape and incised rings with a hollow interior helped it to function better in rifles. Its shape also made it more accurate than the round lead ball. Sharps made a “.52 caliber” hollow-conical bullet for its breech-loading rifle, a popular cavalry weapon. The most common Civil War handgun is the 1860 Colt Army pistol. It used a conical .44 caliber bullet. Mary Todd Lincoln's Ties to the Confederacy A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. Did you know ... while Abraham Lincoln was president, several of his “brothers-in-laws” (Mary Todd Lincoln brothers) served in the Confederate Army? Of the 14 children from Mary Todd’s father’s 2 marriages, living at the time of the Civil War, eight supported the Confederacy and six supported the Union. Abraham Lincoln had five brothers-in-law who served in the Confederate Army. At least one was present at many of the major battles of the Civil War, including Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Bull Run. David Todd was the “black sheep” of the family. Given an officer’s commission, he was briefly commandant of the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond, VA. George Todd was an army surgeon. Samuel Todd was the first Todd brother killed in the war. He died at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. Four more of Lincoln’s brothers-in-law were present at the battle in southwestern Tennessee. Alexander “Aleck” Todd was the youngest brother to enlist. Aleck was killed by friendly fire near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in August 1862.

Brother-in-law Benjamin Hardin Helm (pictured) was born in Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1831, the son of John L. Helm, governor of Kentucky in 1850-51 and 1867. He came into Abraham Lincoln’s Kentucky family circle when he married Emilie Todd, Mary Lincoln’s half-sister, in 1856. Benjamin Hardin Helm, a West Point graduate who had been in the United States Army before the war, became a Confederate general. His death was at Chickamauga on September 21, 1863. When President Lincoln, who had tried to retain Helm in the Union service learned of his brother-in-law’s death in battle, he was deeply moved and told one member of his cabinet that he felt like David in the Bible when he learned that his son Absalom had been killed. Mary did not mourn her fallen brothers

publicly, telling one visitor that in joining the Confederates, they had “made their own choice.” After her husband’s death, Emilie Todd Helm tried to return to the family home in Kentucky from Alabama. She was detained after refusing to pledge loyalty to the Union. Lincoln ordered her sent to Washington under his protection and lived with them in the White House. On December 8, 1863, Lincoln