1865

Society

1865. The American Civil War ends. President Lincoln is assassinated and a 12-year era of Reconstruction begins in the South with state legislatures run by "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags."

1865. Gen. Lee surrenders to Gen. Grant, April 9, at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. and the war is over.

1865. The Union has lost 360,222 men (110,000 in battle), the Confederacy 258,000 (94,000 in battle) with at least 471,427 wounded on both sides.

1865. President Lincoln is assassinated April 14 while attending a performance at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., and is succeeded by his vice-president Andrew Johnson.

1865. The Ku Klux Klan organized at Pulaski, Tenn., is a secret social club of young men who hope to recapture the comradeship and excitement of the war. Their curious uniform is soon discovered to terrorize superstitious blacks. A majority of Southern whites will join in the next few years as the KKK tries to return local and state government to white, Democratic party control.

1865. The commandant of the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Ga., is convicted of "murder, in violation of the laws and customs of war" and hanged November 10 in Washington.

1865. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits slavery or any other denial of liberty "without due process of law."

1865. The Salvation Army has its beginnings in a London mission founded by itinerant English religious revivalist William Booth.

1865. Austrian botanist Gregor Mendel elucidates natural laws of heredity.

1865. Reuters News Service conveys news of President Lincoln's assassination to Europe a week ahead of the competition.

1865. The first U.S. train robbery occurs May 5.

Literature

Atalanta in Calydon. Algernon Charles Swinburne. British. 1865. Play. Based on the Greek legend of Atalanta and the Calydonian boar hunt. She is a swift runner who will marry only someone swifter than she. She is delayed when her suitor drops golden apples which she stops to pick up. Hymn to Artemis.

"O Captain! My Captain!" Walt Whitman. American. 1865. Poetry. Commemorates the death of Abraham Lincoln.

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Mark Twain. American. 1865. Story. Dose of quail shot keeps Smiley's frog, Dan'l Webster, from outjumping the stranger's frog.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll. British. 1865. Story. Everything happens with fantastic illogicality. White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle, the Mad Hatter, etc.

"Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates." Mary Mapes Dodge. American. 1865. Story. Hero is Dutch boy. Interesting picture of life in Holland. Children's story.

"Commemoration Ode." James Russell Lowell. American. 1865. Poetry. In honor of the Harvard students who had died in the Civil War. Added lines in honor of Lincoln.

Rhoda Fleming. George Meredith. British. 1865. Novel. Sister defends guilty sister, but then insists on her marriage on learning of her lost innocence.

1864

Society

1864. Ulysses S. Grant is given command of all Union armies.

1864. The Battle of Atlanta ends in victory for General Sherman.

1864. The second Battle of Atlanta ends in another defeat for Gen. Hood. 1864. Gen. Sherman leads his army on a "march to the sea" beginning November 16 and proceeds to cut a mile-wide swath through Georgia.

1864. Union forces use the hand-cranked Gatling gun to help defeat Gen. Hood at the Battle of Nashville.

1864. The Geneva Conventions signed by representatives of 26 nations pledge all parties to humanitarian rules respecting prisoners of war, wounded and sick military personnel, civilians in war zones and Red Cross neutrality.

1864. Cheyennes go on the warpath, supported by Arapahoe, Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa braves. U.S. troops massacre many of them in November at Sand Creek in Colorado Territory.

1864. New York photographer Mathew B. Brady travels through the war-torn South with a wagonful of equipment to record scenes of the conflict.

1864. A cyclone destroys most of Calcutta, October 1, killing an estimated 70,000.

1864. European immigrants pour into the U.S. to take up free land under the 1862 Homestead Act.

Literature

Notes from the Underground. Fyodor Dostoevsky. Russian. 1864. Story. Complex psychological portrait of the narrator; polemic against positivist philosophy, rationality of man and the possibility of social betterment through material progress. Narrator embodies the irrationality he insists is the essence of man. Starting point of Dostoevsky's literary maturity.

Our Mutual Friend. Charles Dickens. British. 1864. Novel. Will receive an inheritance if he marries a woman he has never met. Under an assumed name, he falls in love with and marries her.

Enoch Arden. Alfred Lord Tennyson. British. 1864. Poetry. Seaman wrecked on a desert island returns home to find his wife married to another. Dies of a broken heart.

Prospice. Robert Browning. British. 1864. Poetry. Written after his wife's death. Optimistic and courageous attitude toward death.

War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy. Russian. 1864/69. Novel. Accurate portrait of the entire Russian nation. Covers the years 1805-1820, centering on the invasion of Russia by Napoleon in 1812. 500 characters. Every social level. Main characters progress from youthful uncertainty to more mature understanding of life. Natasha = instinctual approach to life. Prince Andrey Bolkonsky and Pierre Bezukhov = different approaches to life. Pierre finds peace in living via wisdom of a peasant, Keratayev. Life should be experienced emotionally and accepted naturally. Intellect twists life into artificial forms. Prince Andrey: search for meaning of life through intellect = calm acceptance of death. Historical, social, personal themes. Alternate chapters" personal lives and battles.

1863

Society

1863. The Battle of Chickamauga in northern Georgia ends in empty victory for Confederate troops.

1863. President Lincoln dedicates a national cemetery at Gettysburg, November 19.

1863. The Emancipation Proclamation takes effect January 1, freeing nearly 4 million U.S. slaves, but not those in Union-held areas.

1863. The Nez Perce in the Northwest are forced to sign a treaty agreeing to vacate lands coveted by the whites.

1863. President Lincoln signs a bill guaranteeing builders of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads $16,000 for every mile of track laid on the plains, $32,000 per mile for tracks laid through intermountain stretches, and $48,000 for track laid through the mountains.

1863. The world's first underground railway system opens in London.

1863. A scarlet fever epidemic in England takes more than 30,000 lives.

1863. The fundamental principles of the International Red Cross movement to aid wounded soldiers and other victims of war are established at Geneva.

1863. President Lincoln proclaims the first national Thanksgiving Day, October 3, and sets aside the last Thursday of November to commemorate the feast given by the Pilgrims in 1621.

Literature

Romola. George Eliot. British. 1863. Novel. After marriage to a hedonistic man, Romola, a Florentine woman, comes under the influence of Savonarola and finds peace.

Tales of a Wayside Inn. Henry W. Longfellow. American. 1863. Poetry. Structure modeled on the Canterbury Tales and the Decameron. Tales reflect Longfellow's interest in the Middle Ages.

The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby. Charles Kingsley. British. 1863. Fantasy. Adventures of a chimney sweep who falls into a river and is transformed into a miniature merman.

"Boston Hymn." Ralph Waldo Emerson. American. 1863. Poetry. Celebrates freedom, denouncing kings and aristocrats. Fervent.

"Barbara Frietchie." John Greenleaf Whittier. American. 1863. Poetry. Fictional encounter between Barbara Frietchie, 96, and Stonewall Jackson. Displayed the Union flag. He orders that she not be harmed.

Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln. American. 1863. Freed the slaves in the South, but not in the border states nor in territory under U.S. military occupation.

Gettysburg Address. Abraham Lincoln. 1863. Speech. November 19. Dedication of a national cemetery. Moving, eloquent statement of the American creed.

The Cossacks. Leo Tolstoy. Russian. 1863. Novel. Tired of live in civilized society, hero attempts to find happiness among wild, free Cossacks of the Caucasus.

1862 to 1863

Society

1862. England's Lancashire textile mills shut down as they run out of southern lint from which they have been cut off by the Civil War.

1862. Union Army raiders led by Capt. James J. Andrews steal the Confederate locomotive the General, April 1, and race the Western and Atlantic wood burner north in an effort to cut the rail lines and thus isolate Gen. Beauregard's army at Chattanooga. Confederate soldiers give chase in the locomotive the Texas and catch the raiders.

1862. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" appears in the February Atlantic Monthly with lyrics by Julia Ward Howe.

1862. "Taps" is composed early in July by Army of the Potomac chief of staff Gen. Daniel Butterfield who writes the notes for the bugle call at Harrison's Landing in Virginia. Butterfield has written the bugle call to be played at lights out and at funerals.

1862. British crops fail and hunger is widespread, especially since thousands of mill hands have been thrown out of work by a cotton famine.

1862. Nearly 470,000 settlers will apply for homesteads in the next 18 years under terms of the Homestead Act. Roughly one-third of these will actually receive land.

Literature

Les Miserables. Victor Hugo. French. 1862. Novel. Peasant steals loaf of bread, escapes from prison, becomes respected citizen fearful of being caught. Battle of Waterloo and flight through the Paris sewers are famous scenes.

Modern Love. George Meredith. British. 1862. Poetry. 50 poems. 16 lines each. Thoughts of married couple who perceive that their love is dying.

"Battle Hymn of the Republic." Julia Ward Howe. American. 1862. Song. New words for popular Union Army song, "John Brown's Body."

Fathers and Sons. Ivan Turgenev. Russian. 1862. Novel. Portrays conflicts between older aristocratic generation, new democratic intelligentsia. Russia in the 1860s.

Salambo. Gustave Flaubert. French. 1862. Novel. Set in Carthage. Traveled to Tunisia before writing. Precise, accurate documentation.

Society

1863. President Lincoln relieves Gen. Burnside of command, January 25, and puts Gen. Hooker in charge of the Army of the Potomac.

1863. Union forces suffer defeat at Chancellorsville, Va.

1863. President Lincoln replaces Gen. Hooker, June 28, with Gen. George Gordon Mead who triumphs a few days later at Gettysburg.

1863. Vicksburg, Miss., falls to Gen. Grant, July 4.

1863. Union troops are beaten at Chickamauga, Ga., before rallying to drive the Confederates from Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and win the Battle of Chattanooga in Tennessee.

1863. Conscription for the Union Army begins July 11 under legislation passed March 3, giving exemption to any man who pays $300 to hire a substitute.

1863. Draft riots break out in Northern cities with the worst occurring at New York. Blacks throughout the city are attacked and killed.

1863. Quantrill's Raiders burn Lawrence, Kan. Quantrill, mustered into the Confederate army, includes among his men Jesse and Frank James and "Cole" Younger.

1851 to 1862

Literature

The Insulted and Injured. Fyodor Dostoevsky. Russian. 1861. Novel. Purifying function of suffering. Dostoevsky's first full-length novel. Melodramatic. Verbal duels with cynical prince.

"Maryland, My Maryland." James Ryder Randall. American. 1861. Song. Sung to "O Tannenbaum." A favorite battle song of Confederate soldiers.

The Cloister and the Hearth. Charles Reade. British. 1861. Historical Novel. Uses historical characters. Erasmus as a child. The tragically thwarted love of his parents.

The House of the Dead. Fyodor Dostoevsky. Russian. 1861/62. Nonfiction. Life in Siberian prison. Based on Dostoevsky's personal experience.

Society

1862. The Union gains its first major success in February as Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland fall to U.S. forces under Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

1862. The first naval battle between ironclad ships occurs March 8. The Confederate ironclad frigate Merrimac is forced to withdraw March 9 after an engagement with the Union's ironclad Monitor, built with a revolving gun turret.

1862. The Battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, on the Tennessee River ends after mass slaughter, with both sides claiming victory.

1862. The Second Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), August 30, ends in defeat for the Union.

1862. The Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) in Maryland, September 17, is indecisive.

1862. President Lincoln relieves Gen. McClellan of his command in November and places the Army of the Potomac under Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Gen. Lee hands Burnside a bad defeat, December 13, at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

1862. London has decided not to recognize the Confederacy on which Britain depends for cotton. The British are dependent on the North for grain exports.

1862. "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union," writes President Lincoln, August 22, in a letter to Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune, "and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could do it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and by leaving others alone, I would also do that."

1862. An Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln, September 22, declares that "persons held as slaves" within areas "in rebellion against the United States" will be free on and after January 1, 1863.

1862. Apaches led by Cochise hold Apache Pass with 500 warriors against 3,000 California volunteers until forced out by artillery fire. Cochise leads his followers deep into the Dragoon Mountains from which he continues raids that will terrorize white settlers until 1871.

1862. The Homestead Act voted by Congress declares that any U.S. citizen may have 160 acres of Western lands absolutely free (except for $10 registration fee) provided he make certain improvements and live on the tract for 5 years.

1862. English African explorer John Speke confirms that Lake Victoria is the source of the Nile, the world's longest river.

1861

Society

1861. A United Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed March 17.

1861. Czar Aleksandr II completes the emancipation of the Russian serfs begun in 1858.

1861. Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin returns to Europe after escaping imprisonment in Eastern Siberia. Bakunin will be the leading European anarchist until his death in 1876.

1861. Apache chief Cochise appears at an army post in Arizona Territory to deny charges that he kidnapped a white child. Taken prisoner, he escapes and takes hostages to be exchanged for other Apaches held by the U.S. Army. The exchange does not take place, the hostages are killed on both sides, and Cochise joins with his father-in-law Mangas Coloradas in raids that threaten to drive the Anglos from Arizona.

1861. Congress levies the first U.S. income tax August 5 to raise funds needed for the Union Army and Navy.

1861. The Gatling gun invented by U.S. engineer Richard Gatling can fire hundreds of rounds per minute.

1861. A Western Union telegraph line opens between New York and San Francisco, one of whose hills will hereafter be called Telegraph Hill. The wire has been strung across the continent despite opposition from hostile tribes and Confederate sympathizers who have tried to prevent it, and it brings an end to the money-losing Pony Express started last year.

1861. Most Russian peasants can do no more than grow enough for their own families' needs with a small surplus in good years to sell for tax money.

Literature

Silas Marner, or The Weaver of Raveloe. George Eliot. British. 1861. Novel. Remedial influences of pure, natural human relations. Lonely, embittered, accused of theft of which his friend was guilty. Lost girl he had loved. Friendless miser, robbed of his gold, finds yellow-haired baby girl. Love for Eppie brings him back to normal, wholesome life. Given a chance to live with a wealthy relative, Eppie chooses to stay with Silas.

Elsie Venner: A Romance of Destiny. Oliver Wendell Holmes. American. 1861. Novel. While carrying her, Elsie's mother is bitten by a snake; the child develops serpent characteristics. Strange and repellent, her nature prevents love. Dies while trying to humanize herself. With Elsie, Holmes attacks the Calvinist belief that humanity is held responsible for an inherited flaw.

East Lynne. Mrs. Henry Wood. British. 1861. Novel. Lady runs off with another man. She returns, disguised, to care for her children. She becomes reconciled with her husband.

"Paul Revere's Ride." Henry W. Longfellow. American. 1861. Poetry. Midnight ride to spread the news of a British raid.

1860 to 1861

Society

1860. The longest bare-knuckle prizefight in U.S. history is held at Berwick, Maine, where J. Fitzpatrick and James O'Neill battle for 4 hours, 20 minutes.

1860. Cigarette smoking increases in America. Richmond, Va., has more than 50 cigarette factories; North Carolina and Virginia together have more than 348.

1860. Louis Pasteur sterilizes milk by heating it to 125 degrees Centigrade at a pressure of 1.5 degrees atmospheres. Pasteur will develop methods using lower heats to "pasteurize" milk.

Literature

The Storm. Aleksandr Ostrovsky. Russian. 1860. Play. Tragedy of young wife trying to break out of stifling atmosphere of her life. Dull, merchant-class milieu; love affair; confesses; hounded; suicide.

The Mill on the Floss. George Eliot. British. 1860. Novel. Brother intrudes on his sister's life and lovers; they are both drowned in a flood on the Floss.

"The Children's Hour." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. American. 1860. Poetry. Devoted to his three daughters by first wife, Mary Potter.

On the Eve. Ivan Turgenev. Russian. 1860. Novel. Heroine finds fulfillment in fighting for social justice with her radical husband.

The Marble Faun. Nathaniel Hawthorne. American. 18650. Novel. Naively joyous male commits crime and matures into a true human. "Fortunate fall." Setting is Rome.

The Woman in White. Wilkie Collins. British. 1860. Novel. Villain puts heiress into an insane asylum in order to get her money. Mystery novel.

Great Expectations. Charles Dickens. British. 1860/61. Novel. Pip grows from boy of shallow dreams to man of depth and character.

Children of Adam. Walt Whitman. American. 1860/67. Poetry. Praises physical love and procreation. Man lost Garden through degradations of senses. The body and soul are one.

Society

1861. Italy unites as a single kingdom while the United States disunites.

1861. Kansas enters the Union as a free state January 29 but Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and North Carolina secede between January and May, following the course of South Carolina late last year.

1861. Delegates from six seceding states meet at Montgomery, Ala., and form a provisional government, the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi is named provisional president of the C.S.A.

1861. Civil War begins April 12 as Fort Sumter on an island in Charleston Harbor is bombarded by Gen. Pierre Beauregard, who has resigned as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to assume command of the Confederate Army.

1861. The Battle of Bull Run near the Manassas railway junction across the Potomac ends in a rout of Gen. Irvin McDowell's Union forces by the Confederate troops under Gen. Beauregard.