History of the Civil War on Stamps

History of the Civil war On stamps

Events that led up to the start of the Civil War

1820 The Missouri Compromise was a United States statute devised by Henry Clay. It regulated slavery on the country’s western territories by prohibiting the practice in the former Lousiana Ter- ritory north of the parallel 36, degrees 30’ north except for the proposed state of Missouri. The compromise was agreed to by both the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress and passed as a law in 1820, under the presidency of James Monroe.

The Missouri Compromise was effectively repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, submitted to Congress by Stephen A. Douglas in January 1854. The act opened Kansas Territory and Nebras- ka Territory to slavery and future admission of slave states by allowing white male settlers in those territories to determine through “popular sovereignty” whether they would allow slavery within each territory. Thus, the Kansas-Nebraska Act effectively undermine the prohibition of slavery in the north territory which had been established by the Missouri Compromise. This change was viewed by many abolitionist Northerners as an aggressive, expansionist maneuver by the slave-owning South, and led to the creation of the Republican Party.

January 1831 William Lloyd Garrison co-founded a weekly anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator, with his friend Isaac Knapp. In 1834 subscriptions number about 2000 with three-fourths of whom were blacks, Benefactors paid to have the newspaper distributed to influential statesmen and public officials. Although Garrison rejected physical force as means for ending slavery, his critics took his demand for immediate emancipation literally. Some believed he advocated the sudden and total freeing of all slaves, and considered him a dangerous fanatic. Nat Turner’s slave re- bellion in Virginia just seven months after The Liberator, started publication fueled the outcry against Garrison in the South. A North Carolina grand jury indicted him for distributing in- cendiary material, the Georgia Legislature offered a $5,000 reward for his capture and convey- ance to the state for trial.

March 1832

John C. Calhoun became senator of South Car- olina, after serving as Vice President of the United States since 1825. Calhoun was a great proponent of states’ rights, limited government, and free trade. He saw these means as the only way to save the Union. He is best known for his intense and original defense of slavery as a positive good and for pointing the South toward secession from the Union. As a side note, his fourth child Anna Marie married Thomas C. Clemson who founded Clemson University. The Clemson’s inherited Calhoun’s home and acreage, leaving it to South Carolina to start an agricultural college. The home remains on the campus of Clemson University as a museum.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Missouri Statehood Henry Clay Scott 1426 James Monroe Scott 274 Scott 810

Nebraska Territory Kansas Territory Scott 1060 Scott 1061

Stephen A. Douglas

John C. Calhoun CSA 14

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Events that led up to the start of the Civil War

August 1841 Fredrick Douglass delivers his first speech at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Convention. Rad- ical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison spoke at a meeting of the Bristol County Anti-Slavery Society in New Bedford, Massachusetts on August 9th. Induced to speak himself about freeing slaves before the assembled group of abolitionist Douglass caught Garrison’s attention. Douglass was invited to speak two days later on Nantucket Island at the annual convention, in front of a largely white audience. It was this speech that got him on the path to becoming a lecturer for the society. He proceeded to go on tour, delivering speeches that touched upon his life and expe- rience as a slave. His oratory skills were so striking and impressive that many who heard him speak were skeptical, unable to believe a former slave could have such talents. During the Civil War he met with President Lincoln to discuss conditions of black soldiers in the Union Army and advised him on other subjects relating to African Americans.

September 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five different bills passed by the United States Con- gress, which defused a four-year political confrontation between slave and free states regarding the territories acquired during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) under the leadership of General Stephen W. Kearny. The compromise, drafted by Henry Clay of Kentucky and bro- kered by Clay and Stephen Douglas of Illinois, reduced sectional conflict. The compromise became possible after the sudden death of President Zachary Taylor, who, although a slave owner, had favored excluding slavery from the Southwest. The Compromise of 1850 was greeted with relief, although each side disliked specific provisions.

March 1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin . It depicts the harsh life for African Americans under slavery. It reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and Great Britain. It energized anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Fredrick Douglass Scott 1290

General Kearny proclaiming New Mexico part of the United States Aug. 15, 1846 on the plaza in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Stephen Kearny Scott 944

Zachary Taylor Harriet Beecher Stowe Scott 817 Scott 3430

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Events that led up to the start of the Civil War

March 1857 Dred Scott vs. Sandford was a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court in which the Court held that African Americans whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens, and therefore had no standing to sue in federal court, and that the federal government had no power to regulate slavery in the federal territories acquired after the creation of the United States. Dred Scott, an enslaved African American man who had been taken by his owners to free states and territories, attempted to sue for his freedom. In a 7-2 decision written by Chief Justice Rog- er B. Taney, the court denied Scott’s request. The court’s decision proved to be an indirect cata- lyst for the American Civil War, and to this day is considered by legal scholars to be the Su- preme Courts worst decision ever.

August—October 1858 The Lincoln-Douglas Debates were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Re- publican candidate for the US Senate from Illinois and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic candidate. At the time senators were appointed by the state legislatures; thus Lincoln and Douglas were trying for their respective parties to gain control of the legislature. The debates previewed the issues Lincoln would face in the aftermath of his victory in the 1860 presidential election. Although Illinois , itself, was a free state, the main issue discussed in all seven debates was slavery in the United States. Newspaper coverage of the debates was intense. Newspapers that supported Douglas would edit his speeches to remove any errors made by ste- nographers and to correct grammatical errors, while they left Lincoln’s speeches in the rough form in which they had been transcribed. Pro-Lincoln papers edited Lincoln’s speeches, but left the Douglas texts as reported.

After losing the election for Senator in Illinois, Lincoln edited the texts of all the debates and had them published in a book. The widespread coverage of the original debates and the subse- quent popularity of the book led eventually to Lincoln’s nomination for President of the United States by the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago

October 1859 John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, (West) Virginia was an effort by abolitionist John Brown to initiate an armed slave revolt in 1859 by taking over a United States arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now part of West Virginia) The arsenal was a huge complex of build- ings that contained 100,000 muskets and rifles. Brown accompanied by 21 men in his party, was defeated by a platoon of US Marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee.

John Brown originally asked Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglass, both of whom he had met in his formative years in Springfield Massachusetts, to join him in the raid. Tubman was prevented by illness and Douglass declined indicating to Brown that he believed the raid was a suicide mission. “You will never get out alive” he warned. Douglass was correct. Of the 22 raid- ers only 5 escaped. Ten were killed, seven captured. All of the seven captured were tried and hung. Brown was the first to be hanged on December 2, 1859.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Lincoln-Douglas Debates Scott 1115 Abraham Lincoln Scott 555

Civil War Cancel on Scott 65

Enlargement of a rare Harper’s Ferry cancel August 29, 1864; during the Civil War.

West Virginia Scott 1232

Robert E. Lee Scott 1049

Harriet Tubman Scott 1744

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Events that led up to the start of the Civil War

Marines under the direction of Colonel Robert E. Lee capture John Brown at the Harper’s Ferry arsenal fire house.

November 1860 Abraham Lincoln wins a four-way race for President of the United States. Although he does not win a popular majority and is not even on the ballot in nine southern states, he earns enough electoral votes to beat all other opponents. Lincoln’s election led to the following states seceding from the Union:

South Carolina, Nov. 6 1860 Mississippi, Dec. 20 Florida, Jan. 10, 1861 Alabama, Jan. 11, 1861 Georgia, Jan. 19, 1861 Louisiana, Jan 26, 1861 Texas, February 1, 1861 Virginia, Apr. 17, 1861 Arkansas, May 6, 1861 Tennessee, May 7, 1861 North Carolina, May 20, 1861

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History of the civil war on stamps

Mississippi Scott 1337 South Carolina Florida Scott 1407 Scott 927

Alabama Georgia Louisiana Scott 1197 Scott 1375 Scott 2339

Texas Arkansas Scott 776 Scott 782

Virginia Scott 2345

Tennessee Scott 941 North Carolina Scott 2347

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Events that led up to the start of the Civil War

February 1861 Jefferson Davis had been Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Davis returned to the senate after his time in the Pierce administration, where he was a vocal supporter of state’s rights. But he quit after Lincoln’s election saying “we are about to be deprived in the Union of the rights which our fathers bequeathed to us.”

Even before Lincoln could be inaugurated the six states that had left the Union called their own constitutional convention, on February 4, in Montgomery, Alabama. A dozen delegates at the Confederate congress quickly wrote a provisional constitution and proclaimed Davis as provisional president of the Confederate States of America. On February 18 Jefferson Davis was inaugurated on the steps of the Alabama Capital in Montgomery.

March 1861 Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated March 4 as the sixteenth President of the United States. In his Inaugural Address he gives stark warning to the South he will not tolerate secession.

April 1861 Confederate forces under general P.G.T. Beauregard bombard Major Robert Anderson and his Union soldiers at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War officially begins! Major Anderson surrenders Fort Sumter to Confederate forces after two days of bombardment.

July 1861 On the Fourth of July President Lincoln addresses Congress and requests the enlistment of a Union Army. Congress authorizes a call for 500,000 men. It is clear now that the war will not be short.

July 1861 The First Battle of Bull Run pits Union General Irving McDowell against the new Confederate army. McDowell is defeated causing a panicked retreat back to Washington which is about for- ty miles away. The withdrawal is hampered by the large numbers of spectators who are there to see the battle.

One of the first to meet the troops and tend to the wounded was Clara Barton. She was at number s of battles assisting with the wounded. During the Battle of Antietam a bullet went through her sleeve and killed the soldier she was attending. Following the war President Lin- coln appointed Clara to search for missing prisoners of war. She helped soldiers reunite with their units and families. She set up Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army, later to be known as the Red Cross.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Jefferson Davis CSA 12 Franklin Pierce Scott 819

Fort Sumter Charleston 250th. Anniv. Scott 1178 Fort Sumter Scott 683 Scott 4522

Bombardment of Fort Sumter by Currier and Ives

First Battle of Bull Run Clara Barton Scott 4523 Scott 967

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Events of the Civil War

March 1862 The Battle of Hampton Roads often referred to as the Monitor vs. Merrimack (or Virginia) was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War. It was fought in Hampton Roads, Virginia at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay adjacent to the city of Norfolk. The battle was part of the effort by the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Norfolk and Richmond from international trade. The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting of ironclad warships The Monitor, built by John Erics- son and the Merrimack built from remnants of the USS Merrimack and several other vessels. The two ironclads fought for about three hours, with neither being able to inflict significant damage to the other. The battle is a draw, but it makes wooden warships obsolete and ushers in the era of steel warships, changing naval warfare forever. The duel ended with the Merrimack returning to her Navy yard for repairs and the Monitor to her station defending the Union wooden ships. The blockade remained in place.

April 1862 The Battle of Shiloh was a major battle in the American Civil War fought in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Major General Ulysses S. Grant had moved deep into Tennes- see and was encamped on the west bank of the Tennessee River. Confederate forces under the direction of Generals Albert S. Johnson and Pierre G.T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack on Grants army. Johnson was killed in the action during the fighting: Beauregard decided against pressing the attack late in the evening. Overnight Grant received considerable rein- forcements from the Union Army of the Ohio, allowing him to launch an unexpected counterat- tack the next morning which completely reverse the Confederate gains of the previous day. Combined deaths in the two days fighting were 3,482, 16,420 wounded and 3,844 captured or missing

April 1862 The Capture of New Orleans was an important event for the Union. One of the first steps in such an operation was to enter the mouth of the Mississippi River, ascent to New Orleans and capture the city, closing off the entrance to Confederate ships. In mid-January 1862 Flag- Officer David G. Farragut undertook this enterprise with his West Gulf Blockading Squadron. The way was soon open except for two forts, Jackson and St. Philips above the Head of the Pass- es, approximately seventy miles from New Orleans. In addition to the forts and their armament, the Confederates had placed obstructions in the river and there were a number of ships, including two ironclads, to assist in the defense. On April 8th. Farragut assembled 24 of his vessels and Commodore David D. Porter’s 19 mortar schooners near the Head of the Passes. Starting on the 16th. and continuing for seven days, the mortar schooners bombarded Fort Jack- son but failed to silence its guns. Some of Farragut’s gunboats opened a way through the ob- struction on the night of April 22nd. Early on the morning of the 24th, Farragut sent his ships north to pass the forts and head for New Orleans. Although attempts were made to stop the Un- ion ships, most of the forces successfully passed the forts and continued on to New Orleans where Farragut accepted the city’s surrender.

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History of the civil war on stamps

John Ericsson Scott 628 The Monitor and the Merrimack

Battle of Shiloh Scott 1179

Ulysses S. Grant Scott 823

Capture of New Orleans Scott 4664

Farragut and Porter Scott792

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Events of the Civil War

June 1862 General Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Three weeks later over the course of Seven Days of fighting, Lee attacks George McClellan’s Un- ion Army of the Potomac near Richmond, Virginia. Huge casualties cause McClellan to withdraw north towards Washington, preventing Union forces from capturing Richmond.

August 1862 The Second Battle of Bull Run is a resounding victory for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Union General John Pope is blamed for the loss and is relieved of his duties after the battle.

Second Battle of Bull Run Lithograph by Currier and Ives

September 1862 The Battle of Antietam was fought near Sharpsburg, Maryland and Antietam Creek. It was the first major battle in the Civil War to take place on Union soil. It is the bloodiest single-day battle in American History, with a combined tally of dead, wounded and missing at 22,717. Gen- eral Lee committed his entire force, while General McClellan sent in less then three-quarters of his army, enabling Lee to fight the Federals to a standstill. Despite having ample reserve forces that could have been deployed to exploit localized successes, McClellan failed to destroy Lee’s army. McClellan had halted Lee’s invasion of Maryland, but Lee was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia without interference from the cautious McClellan. Although the battle was inconclusive, Confederate troops had withdrawn first, making it in military terms, a Union victory. It had significance as enough of a victory to give President Lincoln the confidence to an- nounce a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which declared his intention to free all slaves in any new territory captured by the Union Army.

December 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg saw Union General Ambrose E. Burnside request pontoon bridge parts to be used in mid-November so he could cross the Rappahannock River and race to the Confed- erate capital of Richmond before Lee could stop him. Bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the cross- ings. On December 11th. Union engineers laid five pontoon bridges across the river under fire. On the 12th. Union forces crossed the river and on December 13th. Burnside mounted a series of futile frontal assaults that resulted in staggering casualties. On December 15th. Burnside called off the offensive and re-crossed the river, ending the campaign.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Stratford Hall. Scott 788

Battle of Antietam Lincoln and McClellan in the general’s Scott 4665 tent on October 3, following the Battle of Antietam. A month later Lincoln would remove McClellan from his command.

The Battle of Fredericksburg by Kurz and Allison

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Events of the civil war

January 1863 President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1963. It frees all slaves in territory captured by the Union Army, and orders the enlistment of black soldiers. From this point forward the Civil War is a war over slavery. Lincoln proposed the Proclamation in July of 1862 to his cabinet, but Secretary of State, William Seward suggested waiting for a Union victory so that the government could prove that they could enforce the Proclamation.

March 1863 Congress enacts the first military draft in American history, requiring every man to serve in the army unless he can furnish a substitute or pay the government $300. These escape provisions are wildly unpopular with the workers and recent immigrants, and lead to draft riots in northern cities. During July in New York City, 120 men, women and children-mostly black are killed before Union troops returning from Gettysburg can restore order.

May 1863 The Battle of Chancellorsville was Lee’s and Jackson’s shining moment. Despite the fact that they faced and army twice the size of theirs, Lee daringly split his force and sent Jackson around the Union flank-a move that resulted in perhaps ‘Fighting’ Joe Hooker’s and the Army of the Potomac’s most stunning defeat. When nightfall halted the attack, Jackson rode forward to reconnoiter the territory for another assault. But as he and his aides rode back to the lines, a group of Confederate soldiers opened fire. Jackson was hit three times, and a bullet shattered his left arm, which had to be amputated the next day. Soon pneumonia set in, and Jackson began to fade. Jackson a devout Presbyterian, died as he had wished, on the Sabbath, May 10, 1863, with these last words: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

July 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1 to July 4, the Union Army under General Meade defeats Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Gettysburg is a turning point, and marks the farthest advance of the Confederate Army into northern territory. On the third day of the battle, Lee orders General George Pickett to assault entrenched Union positions. In what would become known at ‘Picketts Charge’ more then half of the 12,000 Confederate soldiers who participated in the charge are slaughtered as they walk slowly across a 3/4 mile field into a hail of gunfire.

Far to the West on the Mississippi river, General Ulysses S. Grant takes Vicksburg after a long siege. At this point the Union controls the entire river, cutting the Confederacy in two.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Emancipation Proclamation Scott 1233 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition William H. Seward Scott 370

The Death of “Stonewall” Jackson Currier and Ives (1872)

Gettysburg Scott 1180 Battle of Gettysburg Battle of Vicksburg Scott 4888 Scott 4887

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Events of the Civil War

September 1863 Union General William Rosecrans is defeated by Confederate General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Chickamauga, in Tennessee, even though the Union soldiers had Spencer repeating rifles. Seems Rosecrans was given inaccurate information about a gap in his line of defense. So he moved troops to seal the gap creating a real one that let Bragg get though.

November 1863 President Lincoln delivers the two-minute Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

March 1864 Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies, ending his long search for a decent general to command northern forces. General William T. Sherman takes over as commander in the West replacing Grant. Grant, President Lincoln, and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton devised a coordinated strategy that would strike the heart of the Confederacy from mul- tiple directions, including attacks against Lee near Richmond, Virginia. Grant’s objective was not to capture Richmond , but the destruction of Lee’s army.

May 1864 Beginning a drive aimed at ending the war, Ulysses S. Grant and 120,000 troops under the direction of General George C. Meade march south towards Richmond. Grant gambled that Meade could move his men quickly enough to avoid being ensnared in the wilderness. The Army of the Potomac with its supply wagons, ambulances, and a herd of cattle stretched out almost 70 miles. Grants plan became clear to Lee on May 4, Lee knew it was imperative to fight in the Wilder- ness, as his army was massively outnumbered, and his artillery’s guns were fewer and inferior to those of Grant. Fighting in the tangled woods would eliminate grant’s advantage in artillery, and the close quarters could give Lee’s outnumbered forces better odds. He therefore ordered his army to intercept the advancing Union army in the Wilderness. During the horrific Battle of the Wilderness, thousands of men burn to death as the woods in which they were fighting catch fire.

Battle of the Wilderness By Kurz and Allison

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History of the civil war on stamps

Gettysburg Address Scott 978

The only known and confirmed photograph taken of Lincoln at Gettysburg by photographer David Bachrach. Red arrow indicates Lincoln.

Sherman, Grant and Sheridan Scott 786 Edwin Stanton Scott 160

Battle of the Wilderness Scott 1181

General George Meade Monument at Gettysburg battlefield

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Events of the Civil War

June 1864 Following the Battle in the Wilderness, Lee retreated toward Richmond. Grant continued his advance attacking Lee’s forces at Spotsylvania with Lee retreating to once again be confronted on June 1st. at the Battle of Cold Harbor. The battle of Cold Harbor is a disaster for the Union. General Grant makes a series of tactical mistakes that result in the deaths of 7000 Union troops in twenty minutes. Following a three day battle Lee once again retreats toward Richmond. The Union Army forges on after Lee and the Confederate forces.

On June 15th.the mobile war of chasing Lee is replaced by a nine-month Siege of Petersburg. This was not a classic military siege, in which the city is surrounded and supply lines are cut off, nor was it limited to actions against Petersburg. The campaign consisted of nine months of trench warfare. Union forces unsuccessfully assaulted Petersburg and then constructed trench lines extending over 30 miles from the eastern outskirts of Richmond to the eastern and southern outskirts of Petersburg. Union raids were conducted to cut off the railroad supply lines through Petersburg and Richmond, many of these caused the lengthening of the trench lines, overloading dwindling Confederate resources.

August 1864 The Battle of Mobile Bay was an engagement in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Ad- miral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fleet and three forts that guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay. The battle was mark by Farragu- t’s seemingly rash but successful run through a minefield that had just claimed one of his ironclad monitors, enabling his fleet to get beyond the range of the shore-based guns. This was fol- lowed by a reduction of the Confederate fleet to a single vessel, ironclad CSS Tennessee. Tennes- see did not then retire, but engaged the entire Northern fleet. The armor enabled her to inflict more injury then she received, but she could not overcome the imbalance in numbers. She was eventually reduced to a motionless hulk and surrendered, ending the battle. With no Navy to support them the three forts also surrendered within days. Complete control of lower Mobile Bay thus passed to the Union forces.

September 1864 On September 2nd. Union General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia, he knew he could not stay there for long. His tenuous supply line ran from Nashville’ Tennessee though Chattanooga, Tennessee and through 100 miles of mountains in northern Georgia. During the fall Sherman conceived a plan to split his army. He sent part of it back toward Nashville to keep the supply line open, while he prepared to take the rest of the troops across Georgia. He built up a massive cache of supplies in Atlanta. He then ordered a systematic destruction of the city to prevent the Confederates from recovering anything once his troops had abandoned it. The business district was burned on November 12th., and the industrial portion on the 15th.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Siege of Petersburg Scott 4910 Photograph of Union trenches near Petersburg, Virginia

Battle of Mobile Bay David G Farragut Scott 4911 Scott 311

Photograph of CSS Tennessee after being captured by Union forces at the Battle of Mobile Bay.

William T. Sherman Scott 272

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Events of the Civil War

November 1864 Union General Sherman begins his famous ‘March to the Sea.’ cutting a swath of destruction 300 miles long and 60 miles wide. He would apply the same burn policy to the rest of Georgia he used in Atlanta. “All war is hell” he comments.

December 1864 On December 15th. The Confederate Army of the Tennessee is crushed by the Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Nashville. The war in the west is nearly over.

General Sherman captures Savannah, Georgia on December 21, ending the ‘March to the Sea.’ He offers the city to Lincoln as a Christmas present.

January 1865 The United States Congress approves the Thirteen Amendment to the Constitution, which will abolish slavery.

March 1865 Lincoln is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States. His re-election was aided by the extensive coverage of the Battle of Mobile Bay and the capture of Atlanta by Union newspapers in the north.

April 1865 The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1st. southwest of Petersburg, Virginia around the road junction of Five Forks, Virginia. Orders from General Lee were to defend Five Forks “at all hazards” (costs) because of its strategic importance as the key supply line and evacuation line. A mobile task force of combined infantry, artillery and cavalry from the Union Army commanded by Major General Phillip Sheridan defeated the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Pickett. The Union forces inflicted over 1000 casualties on the Confederates and took between 2400 and 4000 prisoners, while seizing Five Forks, the key to control of the South Side Railroad, Lee’s vital supply and retreat line from Petersburg. The loss of Five Forks and Grants break though of the defenses of Petersburg the next day forced Lee to abandon and retreat from Petersburg and Richmond.

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History of the civil war on stamps

Map of Sherman’s ‘March to the Sea.’

Thirteenth Amendment Scott 902 Photograph of Lincoln’s second inauguration from the Library of Congress

Battle of Five Forks Scott 4980

General Phillip Sheridan (on Scott 787)

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Events of the Civil War

April 1865 The Battle of Appomattox Court House fought on the morning of April 9th.was one of the last battles of the American Civil War. It was the final engagement between General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant. Lee retreated from Richmond west hoping to join Confeder- ate forces in North Carolina. Union forces pursued and cut off the Confederate retreat at the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Lee launched an attack to break through the Un- ion forces to his front, assuming the Union forces consisted of all cavalry. When he realized that the cavalry was backed up by two corps of Union infantry, he had no choice but to surrender.

The signing of the surrender documents occurred in the parlor of the house owned by Wilmer McLean on the afternoon of April 9. On April 12, at of the formal ceremony marked the dis- bandment of the Army of Northern Virginia and the parole of its officers and men, effectively ending the war in Virginia. This event triggered a series of surrenders across the South, signal- ing the end of the war.

President Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, April 14, while watching the play Our American Cousin with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.. The assassination was planned and carried out by the well known actor John Wilkes Booth, as part of a larger conspiracy in a bid to revive the Confederate cause by severing the continuity of the U.S. government. Booth’s co-conspirators were Lewis Powell and David Heorld, who were as- signed to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, and George Atzerodt who was to kill Vice- President Andrew Johnson. Lincoln died the next morning from his wounds. The rest of the conspirator’s plot failed; Powell only managed to wound Seward, while Atzerodt, lost his nerve and fled.

On April 18th. Confederate General Joe Johnson, leading the largest Confederate Army still in existence, surrenders in North Carolina.

December 1865 The Thirteenth Amendment is ratified by the States. Slavery is abolished

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History of the civil war on stamps

Appomattox Scott 1182

A print showing General Grant accepting General Lee’s surrender at the McLean house in 1865.

Battle of Appomattox Court House Scott 4981

Andrew Johnson Scott 822

Presidential box at Ford’s Theater

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Individuals on stamps with Civil War connections

Dr. Mary Walker, M.D. Mary Edwards Walker was urged by her father to pursue a medical career and in 1855 she grad- uated from Syracuse Medical College, married a fellow-graduate, but was later divorced. As the Civil War broke out, Dr. Walker traveled to Washington, to petition for a commission in the Army as a surgeon. Denied the commission, she served for several months as a contract surgeon. When Walker was finally appointed assistant surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland, she con- tinually crossed Confederate lines to treat civilians. Although she later fought rumors that she was not a qualified doctor, but a Union spy. Dr. Walker was taken prisoner in 1864 by Confed- erate troops and imprisoned in Richmond for four months until she was exchanged with two dozen other Union doctors for 17 Confederate surgeons. After the war, President Andrew John- son awarded her the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1917 the criteria for the award changed and she along with 900 others had their award rescinded. She refused to return the medal and wore it always. She is the only woman to ever be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Johns Hopkins One of the first campaigns of the Civil War was planned at Johns Hopkins’ summer estate, Clif- ton. Hopkins was a strong supporter of the Union, unlike some Marylanders, who sympathized with and often supported the Confederacy. Hopkins support of Lincoln also put him at odds with some of Maryland’s prominent people. In 1862 Hopkins wrote a letter to Lincoln request- ing the President not heed the detractors, calls and continue to keep soldiers stationed in Mary- land. Hopkins also pledged financial and logistical support to Lincoln, in particular the free use of his B&O Railroad to move troops and supplies.

Sojourner Truth Born Isabella Baumfree in 1797, Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist and woman’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in New York state, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. She changed her name in 1843. Her best know speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron. The speech became widely known during the Civil War by the title “Ain’t I a Woman?” During the Civil War Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army; after the war, she tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants from the federal government for former slaves. Julia Ward Howe Howe was inspired to write “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” after she and her husband visit- ed Washington, D.C., and met Abraham Lincoln at the White House in November of 1861. During the trip, her friend James Freeman Clarke suggested she write new words to the song “John Brown’s Body” which she did on November 19. The song was set to William Steffe’s al- ready-existing music and Howe’s version was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in Febru- ary 1862. It quickly became one of the most popular songs of the Union during the American Civil War.

History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 26 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org

History of the civil war on stamps

Medal of Honor Scott 2045 Mary Walker M.D. Scott 2013

B&O Railroad Johns Hopkins Scott 1006 Scott 2194

Sojourner Truth Julia Ward Howe Scott 2203 Scott 2176

History of the Civil War on Stamps, Page 27 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org

Events related to the Civil War

Final National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic The GAR was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, Union Navy, Marines, and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the Civil War for the Federal forces. The organization grew to have over 490,000 members at its peak in 1890. The Final En- campment (convention) took place in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1949. At that time only 16 members remained and only six were able to attend. The six member ranged in age from 100 to 108 years old. 105 year old Joseph Clovese, from Pontiac, Michigan, a former slave was the last black soldier alive and was attending his first encampment. The GAR was dissolved in 1956 when its last member, Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota died at 106. The GAR was a strong advocate for voting rights for black veterans, patriotic education, the creation of Memori- al Day as a national holiday, establishment of veterans pensions and support of Republican political candidates.

Final Reunion of the Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans was an association formed in New Orleans, Louisiana June 10, 1889 by veterans of the Confederate States Army and Navy. The organization grew rapidly in the 1890’s. The national organization assembled annually in a general convention and social reunion. Numerous veterans brought family and friends along also, further swelling the crowds. In 1911 an estimated crowd of 106,000 members and guests crammed into Little Rock, Arkansas—a city about one half that size. Then the passing years began taking a telling toll and the reunions grew smaller until finally in 1950 only one member could attend, 98-year-old Commander-in Chief James Moore of Selma, Alabama. The organization disbanded in 1951.

Stone Mountain Memorial Stone Mountain is a pluton, a type of igneous intrusion. It is primarily composed of quartz monzonite, the dome of the mountain was formed during the formation of the Blue Ridge Mountains about 300 to 350 million years ago. It formed as a result of the upwelling of magma from within the earth’s crust. The magma solidified to form granite. While it is well known for its geology it is also known for having the worlds largest bas-relief carving of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis on its side. The carving was began by Gutzon Bor- glum 1n 1916. He abandoned the project in 1925 to begin Mount Rushmore. Two carvers later in 1972 the relief was completed by Roy Falkner. Stone Mountain was owned by the Venable Brothers and was the site of the founding of the second Ku Klux Klan in 1915. Sam Venable, an active member of the Klan, granted the Klan easement with the perpetual right to hold cele- brations as they desired. In 1958 the State of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain from the Ve- nable Brothers for $1,125,000. When the state completed the purchase in 1960 it condemned the property to remove the Venable’s agreement to allow the Klan perpetual right to hold meetings on its premises.

Panoramic view from the top of Stone Mountain

History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 28 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org

History of the civil war on stamps

Final Encampment of the GAR Scott 985

Joseph Clovese, the last remaining black Civil War soldier at the Final Encampment of the GAR.

Final Reunion of Confederate Veterans Scott 998

Stone Mountain Memorial Scott 1408

History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 29 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org

Summary Issue relating to the Civil War

Civil War Sheet In June of 1995 the U.S. Postal Service issued, as part of it’s ‘Classic Collections’ series, a sheet of twenty different design stamps relating to the American Civil War. On the back of each individual stamp is an identification and brief history of the individual or event depicted on the stamp. While each of these stamps would fit in the album timeline of events, it seemed more appropriate to place it as issued on the last page of the album.

Information found on the back of each stamp on the Civil War Sheet.

History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 30 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org

History of the civil war on stamps

The Civil War Scott 2975

History of the Civil War on Stamps– Page 31 American Philatelic Society, www.stamps.org