Video: Aug. 30, 1862 (at 34:44)

(Saturday, August 30, 1862, during the Second Battle of Bull Run, part of the American Civil War) — Confederate forces won victories today against the Union at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia, as Maj. Gen. James Longstreet today sent five divisions storming into the Union flank, which was crushed and driven back to Bull Run.

25,000 men were killed, wounded or missing, five times the figure of the First Battle of Bull Run 13 months before.

Video: Aug 29, 1862 (at 34:30)

(Friday, August 29, 1862, during the Second Battle of Bull Run, part of the American Civil War) — Union Maj. Gen. John Pope launched a series of assaults today against Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s position along an unfinished railroad grade in Prince William County, Virginia. The attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties on both sides.

At noon, Confederate Maj. Gen. James Longstreet arrived on the field from Thoroughfare Gap and took position on Jackson’s right flank.

Video: Aug 22, 1862 (at 39:16)

(Friday, August 22, 1862, during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln responded to an Aug. 20 editorial by Republican editor Horace Greeley of the highly influential New York Tribune, demanding a more aggressive attack on the Confederacy and faster emancipation of the slaves by describing the limits imposed by his duty as president to save the Union. Continue reading Lincoln responds to editorial demanding emancipation of southern slaves 150 years ago today (1862) →

Video: Aug 20, 1862 (at 38:41)

(Wednesday, August 20, 1862, during the American Civil War) — Republican editor Horace Greeley of the highly influential New York Tribune published a famous editorial today entitled “The Prayer of Twenty Millions,” demanding a more aggressive attack on the Confederacy and faster emancipation of the slaves by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Continue reading Editor Horace Greeley publicly urges immediate emancipation of southern slaves 150 years ago today (1862) →

Video: 'Minnesota Massacre of 1862' (Aug. 17, 1862, at 2:22)

(Sunday, August 17, 1862, part of Sioux Wars and the American Indian Wars) — The Dakota War of 1862, an armed conflict between the United States and several bands of the eastern Sioux (also known as eastern Dakota), began today along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota. Continue reading Dakota uprising begins in Minnesota 150 years ago today (1862) →

Video: July 4, 1862 (at 15:06)

(Friday, July 4, 1862, during the American Civil War) — Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner today repeatedly urged President Lincoln to use the Independence Day holiday to adopt a policy of emancipation.

“I would do it if I were not afraid that half the officers would fling down their arms and three more states would rise,” President Lincoln reportedly told Sumner.

Video: July 2, 1862 (at 22:04)

(Wednesday, July 2, 1862, during the American Civil War) — Despite victory yesterday at the Battle of Malvern Hill, ending the Seven Days Battles, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan withdrew today to entrench at Harrison’s Landing on the James River, where his army was protected by gunboats, thereby ending the Peninsula Campaign.

Video: Edwin Tennison killed (at 0:07)

(Tuesday, July 1, 1862, during the American Civil War) — Confederate Army private Edwin Tennison, a Georgia bugler whose portrait photograph became one of the most recognizable images of the American Civil War, died today from wounds received at Malvern Hill, Virginia.

Video: June 26, 1862 (at 19:54)

(Thursday June 26, 1862, the first major engagement of the Seven Days Battles during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War) — Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia struck Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac today in the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek in Hanover County, Virginia. Continue reading Lee attacks McClellan’s forces east of Richmond 150 years ago today (1862) →

Video: Army of Virginia organized (at 33:17)

(Thursday June 26, 1862, during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln today consolidated four separate commands of Generals Fremont, Banks, McDowell and Sturgis into The Army of Virginia, appointing Major-General John Pope to command it.

The purpose of the new army was to protect Washington, and act in conjunction with General George B. McClellan’s assault on Richmond.