(Tuesday, May 9, 1865; during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation today declaring the American Civil War may be regarded as “virtually at an end” and that nations or ships still harboring fugitives would be denied entry into U.S. ports. Persons found aboard such vessels would no longer be given immunity from prosecution of their crimes.
(Friday, May 5, 1865, 8:00 p.m.; during the American Civil War) — In what’s believed to be America’s first train robbery, a band of criminals derailed a St. Louis-bound train near North Bend, Ohio tonight and proceeded to rob the passengers and loot safes on board before getting away.
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (May 4, 1865 at 24:35)
(Thursday, May 4, 1865, 1:00 p.m.; during the American Civil War) — U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was laid to rest today in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois, following a 180-city, seven-state train journey from Washington, where he had been assassinated.
Lincoln’s son Willie, who died at age 11 from typhoid fever in 1862 and had originally been buried in Washington while Lincoln was serving as president, was interred next to his father in the family plot.
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (May 3, 1865 at 23:22)
(Wednesday, May 3, 1865, 9:00 a.m.; during the American Civil War) — The remains U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his deceased son, William Wallace Lincoln, arrived today in Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Illinois, for public viewing at the Old State House, concluding a 1,654 mile train journey from Washington for final burial.
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (Apr. 28, 1865 at 23:09)
(Friday, April 28, 1865, 6:50 a.m.; during the American Civil War) — The remains U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his deceased son, William Wallace Lincoln, stopped in Cleveland today for public viewing at Monument Square on a 1,654 mile journey to Springfield, Illinois, for final burial.
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (Apr. 27, 1865 at 9:57)
(Thursday, April 27, 1865, 2:00 a.m. local time; during the American Civil War) — SS Sultana, a Mississippi River side-wheel steamboat exploded this morning in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history.
An estimated 1,800 of her 2,427 passengers, including 2,1000 recently liberated Union prisoners of war, died when three of the boat’s four boilers exploded and she burned to the waterline and sank near Memphis.
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (Apr. 26, 1865 at 26:32)
(Wednesday, April 26, 1865; during the American Civil War) — After three separate days (April 17, 18 and 26, 1865) of negotiations, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman today at the Bennett Farm in Durham, Durham County, North Carolina.
It was the largest surrender of the war, totaling 89,270 soldiers.
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (Apr. 26, 1865 at 26:07)
(Wednesday, April 26, 1865, at about 7:15 a.m.; during the American Civil War) — John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, died this morning about five hours after the men of the 16th New York Cavalry surrounded the tobacco barn he was sleeping in at Richard H. Garrett’s farm, just south of Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia.
Booth had been shot in the neck by a soldier after he had refused to surrender and the barn was set on fire. As he lay dying, Booth looked at his hands and supposedly gasped, “Useless, useless.”
Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (Apr. 22, 1865 at 22:13)
(Saturday, April 22, 1865, 4:50 p.m.; during the American Civil War) — The remains of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his deceased son, William Wallace Lincoln, stopped in Philadelphia, today as part of a 1,654 mile journey to Springfield, Illinois, for burial.
Video: 'Funeral March for Abraham Lincoln J.G. Barnard 1865'
(Wednesday, April 19, 1865, 12:10 p.m.; during the American Civil War) — A funeral was held today at the White House for President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated five days earlier; his coffin was then transported in a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Rotunda, where a ceremonial burial service was held.
