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.