In South Carolina’s Low Country, former wealthy plantation owners seek re-possession of the lands and homes they abandoned during the war. Among those trying to regain their property are many of the richest Americans prior to the war, their wealth bound up in hundreds or thousands of slaves and massive land holdings. During the war…
Not all Confederate forces have yet surrendered. In the mountains of North Carolina near Franklin, a small contingent of Confederates remain armed and active. Patrolling the area are the forces of Union Colonel George W. Kirk. “(D)ue to the possibility of Yankee Soldiers in the county,” Franklin’s First Baptist Church cancels services this day. Meanwhile,…
Following yesterday’s victory in the Battle of Five Forks at Petersburg, Grant determines to make a frontal offensive on Lee‘s defenses. In the predawn hours of a Sunday morning, Gen. Horatio Wright’s Sixth corps emerge from their trenches and break through the Rebel lines, followed by offensives on the part of the Second and Ninth…