******************* NOT WELCOME ANYWHERE **********************
Less than a month after Major General Ambrose Burnside had used his Order No. 38 to forbid persons within his Department of the Ohio to express sympathy for the Southern cause, on May 4, 1863 a crowd of twenty thousand gathered to hear a speech by Clement L. Vallandigham. The former Ohio Congressman said that he "spit upon the Burnside order and trampled it under his feet." Denouncing Lincoln as a dictator, he called for an armistice that would end the fighting.
Late that night soldiers under Burnside's command broke down the door of Vallandigham's residence and carted him off to a military prison. Tried by a commission of eight officers, he was convicted of "publicly expressing sentiments designed to hinder suppression of rebellion."
Lincoln was placed in the difficult position of deciding whether to support the harsh military verdict or to set it aside. Concluding that the planned punishment of Vallandigham would do more harm than good, he directed that the culprit be banished into Confederate territory.
Placed aboard the gunboat 'Exchange' at Cincinnati, the former lawmaker eventually reached the headquarters of the Union army at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Since he still strongly voiced his loyalty to the Union whose policies he challenged, he found himself unwelcomed and unwanted by Secessionists. Ordered off Confederate soil, he made a long and circuitous journey to Canada as the only man banished from both the United States and the Confederate States.
********************** FORENSIC FIELD DAY *********************
At the time of Abraham Lincoln's death, no one could have foreseen or even imagined the ease with which medical facts are gleaned today using DNA testing. And yet there does exist today a small treasure trove of dried drops of blood, tiny fragments of bone, and bits of tissue which represent samples salvaged from Lincoln's body before he was prepared for burial.
Small as they are, these specimens have potential for unlocking a major riddle. By subjecting them to DNA tests, it is believed possible to learn whether or not the president was afflicted with Marfan syndrome. This condition causes the elongation of arms and legs, often affects the heart, and can lead to early death. Because of the president's physical appearance, Lincoln may have been afflicted with the syndrome and might have had a very short life expectancy at the time he was assassinated.
Custodians of these bits and pieces that represent all that remain of Lincoln's body have so far refused to permit them to be tested. They may hold the answer to a puzzle that may never be solved.
****************** HOWLING FOR GREENBACKS *********************
The spiraling costs of the Civil War created a national fiscal crisis. For a nation whose monetary system was based on the standard of precious metals, there was not enough gold and silver in circulation to permit the free flow of commerce while military contracts were soaring in number and size.
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase championed a radical change. Non-interest-bearing government notes were issued to serve as a medium of exchange in lieu of "hard money," or specie. Because they were printed in green ink on one side of the paper, these special war-issue notes were called "greenbacks."
Public opposition to the use of greenbacks was tremendous when they entered circulation. As a result, they depreciated in value and sometimes were traded at a rate of forty cents in gold or silver for a one-dollar greenback. Paper money with a face value of $450 million went into circulation as a result of a series of issues.
Late in 1865, with the war over, legislation was enacted to retire the greenbacks from circulation. Once the plan was initiated, a tremendous howl of public protest echoed throughout the land. People had become accustomed to paper currency and had decided that they liked it. As a result, legal tender issued during a wartime emergency became standard in the United States.
**************** NON-EXCEPTIONAL COMMANDERS *******************
"Almost the first intimation of the near presence of the Confederates was the wild cry of pickets flying into camp and a sharp attack upon Sherman's troops by Hardee's division, before the day had fairly dawned on Sunday morning, the 6th of April. Some of the officers were slumbering; some were dressing; a portion of the troops were washing and cooking, and others were eating breakfast. Screaming shells crashed through the forest, and bullets whistled among the tents. Hardee's troops poured into the camp of the bewildered Nationals, fighting desperately, driving half-dressed and half-armed troops before them, and dealing death and terror on every hand. Fearful results followed. Prentiss's division was next attacked. His column was shattered; himself and a large portion of his followers were made prisoners, and his camp was occupied by the Confederates. The struggle soon became general, and for ten hours the battle raged, with varying fortunes on both sides. General W. H. L. Wallace of the Nationals and General Johnston of the Confederates had been killed, and the slaughter on both sides had been severe. The National army was pushed back to the Tennessee River, then brimfull with a spring flood, and the day was fairly lost by the Union troops. The victorious Confederates occupied all the Union camps excepting that of the slain Wallace, where General McArthur was now in command. In the rear of this division the smitten army had now gathered in a space not more than four hundred acres in extent, on the verge of the river. They could be pushed back no further; and so certain was General Beauregard of his final triumph, that he telegraphed a shout of victory to headquarters at Richmond."
*** The above is an excerpt from "A History of the Civil War," by Benson J. Lossing, LLD, which is also illustrated with reproductions of Matthew Brady's war photographs, published by The War Memorial Association in 1912.
This history was originally published as 13 separate periodicals and is very difficult to find today. Yet it is an excellent overview of the Civil War and includes perspectives that are perhaps unique to Civil War enthusiasts today.
It can be found in its entirety at eHistory.com in our "Periodicals" section at: http://www.ehistory.com/uscw/library/periodicals/ahotcw/index.cfm
