The day following General Lee's surrender, Captain George Baylor, Dickinson College class of 1860, was leading his Virginia cavalry company on a raid in Fairfax County.  He was engaged there by several squadrons of Illinois cavalry, under the command of Colonel Charles Albright, class of 1852. After a sharp running fight of some duration, the two forces seperated after what had been one of the very last engagements of the Civil War in Virginia.  The two veterans' post-war assessment of the clash differed quite significantly, incidentally. (By John Osborne)

Just after midnight a New York City police patrolman found a factory building on Water Street in the docks section of the city afire.  The flames quickly spread and the structure had collapsed within hour.  But the fire had already spread by this time to neighboring warehouses and before the final fires were put out around dawn, the total damage was reported to be around $1,500,000.  No serious injuries were reported, however. (By John Osborne)

Boston newspapers reported that as Fall River crowds were gathered around the morning bulletins with the grim news from Washington, a shopkeeper named Leonard Wood was heard to announce this the best news he had heard in years.  This foolhardy remark earned him a beating and when he ran to his store and locked himself in, police had to rescue him.  As it was, the angry mob smashed all the windows in his shop front.  (By John Osborne)  

In keeping with orders from the War Department, New York City Provost Marshal Colonel Richard Dodge suspended all draft and recruiting activities and closed his offices.  The unexpected news was met with much rejoicing in the city that had put up the most violent resistance to conscription in the country, two years before.  Hundreds of newly selected recruits could now resume their peacetime lives.  (By John Osborne)  

The new season of the New York race season began at the Fashion Course on Long Island, with a five heat trotting contest for $500 between the mare Lady Marshall, with Isaac Woodruff the driver, and the gelding General McClellan, with Woodruff's brother Hiram at the reins. The male horse won the first heat but Lady Marshall took the next three to win the rubber.  (By John Osborne) 

Local newspapers reported that suspected Confederate arsonists made a concerted attempt to burn down the city of New Bern, North Carolina.  The area had been in Union hands for some time now and the citizens were able to extinguish the various fires that carefully placed incendiary devices had started in the mid-morning. No injuries were reported. (By John Osborne)

A fire broke out amongst the scenery of a theater in the city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti as the lamps were being lit for an evening performance marking the end of Carnival.  The fire quickly spread and a six hour blaze consumed much of the city's business district.  A reported four hundred buildings were destroyed, leaving hundreds of homeless.  No significant loss of life was reported, however.  (By John Osborne)  

Two buildings on Furman Street in Brooklyn, New York, the premises of a lead paint and a turpentine manufacturer took fire in the early hours of the morning and were burning fiercely when units of the N.Y. Fire Department arrived.  During the fighting of the fire, around three a.m., five firemen on the roofs of the buildings died when the structures collapsed and pitched them into the flames below.  Four others were injured, some severely. (By John Osborne)

The General Lyon had left Wilmington, North Carolina three days before, bound for Fort Monroe, Virginia.  Up to 600 people were aboard, including released prisoners of war, refugees, and more than 200 time-expired men of the 56th Illinois Volunteers, heading home. A fire during a violent storm off Cape Hatteras destroyed the vessel and only 29 people survived. And only five men from the 56th aboard made it home.  (By John Osborne) 

The daily mail train had left Baltimore, Maryland, bound for Wheeling in West Virginia.  About sixteen miles after passing Cumberland, Maryland, Confederate irregulars waylaid the locomotive, robbed the passengers of their cash and valuables, and set the carriages afire before escaping.  No injuries were reported.  (By John Osborne)