Chronological History of the American Civil War

P a g e | 324

widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. ~ Abraham Lincoln.” Lincoln felt that his Second Inaugural Address was the best speech he ever made. More than any other, it reflected his deep compassion for the suffering of all involved in the scourge of war. But listening in the crowd that day, unmoved, was John Wilkes Booth, and just six weeks later, he would kill the President. An Interesting Twist ... A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. It happened on October 19, 1864, the northernmost raid of the Civil War lead by Bennett Young. He had been staying in town for a few days, letting on little about himself beyond evident interests in the Bible and fishing. On that Wednesday, he drew a pair of Colt revolvers and said, “Gentlemen, I am a Confederate officer, and my men have come to take your town. Anyone who resists will be shot.” Young had been in Canada for months, recruiting escaped Confederate POWs to conduct raids on presumptively safe American towns. Twenty-one raiders had entered St. Albans, Vermont; while some of them held some townspeople prisoners in Taylor Park, others robbed the three banks of about $208,000. Some residents fired at the Confederates, fatally wounding one; one resident was killed in return. The fleeing Rebels tried to burn the town down, but their firebombs proved to be duds. The American posse crossed into Canada and located many of the raiders, who were arrested by Canadian constables. The Canadians returned what money the raiders still had and charged Young and four of his men with violating Canada’s neutrality, but they dropped the charges a month later for lack of evidence. Only $75,000 of the stolen money was ever recovered. After the end of the Civil War, Young was excluded from President Andrew Johnson’s amnesty proclamation. He could not return home until 1868. Thus, he spent time studying law and literature in Ireland and at the University of Edinburgh. After being permitted to return to the United States, he became a prominent attorney in Louisville, Kentucky. His philanthropic works were legion. Young founded the first orphanage for blacks in Louisville, a school for the blind, and did much pro bono work for the poor. He also worked as a railroad officer as President of the Louisville Southern Railroad, author, and National Commander of the United Confederate Veterans. Alexander Mudd was a doctor in Southern Maryland. He also employed slaves on his tobacco-farm and declared his belief in slavery as a God-given institution. Dr. Mudd had met John Wilkes Booth a year earlier, but on this day April 14, 1865 Booth rode with co-conspirator David Herold to Mudd’s home. In the early hours of the April 15th Dr. Mudd performs surgery on his fractured leg, before Booth and Herold cross into Virginia. On April 26, Dr. Mudd was arrested. A military commission found him guilty of aiding and conspiring in a murder, and Dr. Mudd was sentenced to life imprisonment just barely escaping the death penalty by a single vote. Dr. Mudd is imprisoned at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas about 70 miles west of Key West, Florida. The fort housed Union Army deserters and held about six hundred prisoners when Mudd arrived. There was an outbreak of yellow fever in the fall of 1867 at the fort. The prison doctor died and Mudd agreed to take over the position. In this role, he was able to help stem the spread of the disease. The soldiers in the fort wrote a petition to President Johnson in October 1867 stating of Mudd’s assistance, “He inspired the hopeless with courage and by his constant presence during danger and infection.... [Many] doubtless owe their lives to the care and treatment they received at his hands.” Mudd was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson and released from prison in 1869. Lincoln's Funeral Train A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. President Lincoln’s death was a shock to the whole nation. Everyone wanted to pay their last respects to the nation’s leader. After Dr. Mudd Redeems Himself A few facts you might not know about the Great American Civil War. Born in 1833, Samuel