Events

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Date
Type Title
Battles/Soldiers In North Carolina, New York troops burn the town of Winton on the Chowan River
Personal Eleven-year old Willie Lincoln, the President's third son, dies of typhoid in the White House
Lawmaking/Litigating Slave ship captain Nathaniel Gordon executed in New York City as a pirate for slave trading
Battles/Soldiers Confederate Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley inflicts a heavy defeat on Union forces in New Mexico
Campaigns/Elections In a rainy Richmond, Virginia, Jefferson Davis is inaugurated to a full term as Confederate president
Crime/Disasters Off the coast of Ireland, a timber ship is smashed on the rocks of Dingle Bay and nine crewmen drown
Crime/Disasters North of London, a coal train and cattle train collide resulting in death and serious injuries
Personal Mary Smith Peake, teacher of classes for "contrabands," dies of tuberculosis in Hampton, Virginia
Battles/Soldiers In Tennessee, Confederate forces evacuate Nashville, the state capital
Crime/Disasters - Off the coast of Massachusetts, the massive winter storm drowns 128 Gloucester fishermen
Crime/Disasters - Huge, wind-swept fire devastates Boston's docks and kills two firefighters
Crime/Disasters Strong winds damage buildings in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and New York City
Lawmaking/Litigating The War Department takes over all telegraph communication in the United States
Battles/Soldiers In Tennessee, Nashville becomes the first Confederate capital to fall to the Union
Battles/Soldiers At Columbus, Kentucky, Confederate forces begin the abandonment of "the Gibraltar of the West"
Lawmaking/Litigating President Lincoln signs the Loan and Treasury Act, creating a national paper currency
Education/Culture The president of Harvard dies suddenly at his brother's home in eastern Pennsylvania
Crime/Disasters In Philadelphia, a workshop producing Japan varnish explodes, killing its owner
Lawmaking/Litigating Jefferson Davis declares martial law in and around the Virginia towns of Norfolk and Portsmouth
Religion/Philosophy Fast day of "humiliation, prayer, and thanksgiving" observed throughout the Confederacy
Education/Culture In Paris, Charles Gounod's opera "The Queen of Sheba" has its first performance
Battles/Soldiers At Beaufort, North Carolina, Confederate commerce raider Nashville returns home
Lawmaking/Litigating Jefferson Davis declares martial law in the Richmond area and also bans the production of spirits
Battles/Soldiers Famous explorer and Union general Frederick West Lander dies at his headquarters in western Virginia
Lawmaking/Litigating In Richmond, former Constitutional Unionist congressman John Minor Botts is arrested in dawn raid
Battles/Soldiers At Columbus, Kentucky, Union forces take possession of "the Gibraltar of the West"
Battles/Soldiers Generals Buckner and Tilghman, captured at Fort Donelson, arrive in Boston as prisoners-of-war
Battles/Soldiers On the northern Florida coast, Union forces capture Fernandina and Fort Clinch on Amelia Island
US/the World In Italy, Baron Bettino Ricàsoli resigns as Prime Minister
Lawmaking/Litigating President Lincoln names Andrew Johnson the military governor of Tennessee