Video: 'The Conquerors - Episode 8: Sherman's March to the Sea (History Documentary)' (Dec. 13, 1864, at 19:14)
(Tuesday, December 13, 1864, 5:00 p.m. local time; during the Battle of Fort McAllister (1864) of the American Civil War) — Union forces today overwhelmed a small Confederate force defending the strategically important Fort McAllister near Savannah, Georgia, a major Federal objective during the final stages of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea.
Video: 'The Inner Workings of the Lincoln Presidency: Salmon P. Chase Biography (1995)'
(Tuesday, December 6, 1864; during the American Civil War) — President Abraham Lincoln nominated Salmon P. Chase to be chief justice of the United States today, succeeding Roger Taney, who died Oct. 12, 1864. Chase was installed as chief justice nine days later.
(Friday, November 25, 1864, beginning around 8:45 p.m. local time; during American Civil War) — A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan started fires today (the day after Thanksgiving Day, what is now known as Black Friday) in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.
Image: John Wilkes Booth, Edwin Booth and Junius Booth, Jr. (from left to right) in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in 1864.
(Friday, November 25, 1864, evening local time; during American Civil War) — Actor John Wilkes Booth (later the assassin of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln) played Mark Antony today in a benefit performance of Julius Caesar at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City (with his brothers Junius, Jr. and Edwin). This landmark production raised funds to erect a statue of Shakespeare in Central Park, which remains to this day. Continue reading John Wilkes Booth acts in ‘Julius Caesar’ benefit performance in New York City 150 years ago tonight (Nov 25 1864)
Video: 'George C. Marshall reads Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixbey'
(Monday, November 21, 1864; during American Civil War) — A letter was signed tdoay by President Abraham Lincoln expressing condolences to Lydia Bixby, a widow in Boston whose five sons supposedly died while fighting in the Civil War.
As it turned out, only two of Mrs. Bixby’s sons had been killed in battle. Also, historians are not certain that Lincoln actually wrote the letter.
Still, the text has been widely praised as one of Lincoln’s finest works of writing alongside the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address
Video: 'Bloody Dawn: Bloody Bill teaser'
(Wednesday, October 26, 1864; during American Civil War) — William T. Anderson, better known as Bloody Bill, one of the deadliest and most brutal pro-Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War, was killed today in Albany, Missouri, by a group of Union soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Cox.
Video: 'The Battle of Westport'
(Sunday, October 23, 1864; during American Civil War) — Union forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis decisively defeated an outnumbered Confederate force under Major General Sterling Price today in the Battle of Westport in Westport (now a part of Kansas City, Missouri).
Video: 'The Battle of Cedar Creek 2011'
(Wednesday, October 19, 1864, 4:00 p.m. local time; the culminating battle of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during American Civil War) — Union General Philip Sheridan averted a near disaster today in the Shenandoah Valley when he rallied his troops after a surprise attack by Confederate General Jubal Early, scoring a major victory at the Battle of Cedar Creek northeast of Strasburg, Virginia.
Video: 'Stamp unveiled for 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay'
(Saturday, August 5, 1864, 6:47 a.m. local time; during the Battle of Mobile Bay, part of the American Civil War) — Union Admiral David G. Farragut led a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses today in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Alabama, sealing one of the last major Southern ports.
Video: 'Voices of the Civil War Episode 30: "Battle of the Crater"'
(Saturday, July 30, 1864, 4:44 a.m. local time; during the Battle of the Crater, part of the American Civil War) — Union forces tried to take Petersburg, Virginia, today by exploding a gunpowder-laden mine shaft that had been dug out beneath Confederate defense lines; the attack failed.
