Civil War

Author Mary Boykin Chesnut was born on March 31, 1823, near Stateburg, South Carolina. She kept a detailed diary of the Civil War from her perspective and the resulting book had been labeled a masterpiece and a work of art.

Explorer Adolphus Washington Greely was born on March 27, 1844, in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He served with the Union Army during the Civil War and later led a polar expedition. Greely was the second person in history to receive a Medal of Honor for “lifetime achievement.”

On March 7, 1850, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster delivered one of his most famous speeches, the “Seventh of March” speech. It expressed his support for the Compromise of 1850 that would help avert a Civil War but proved disastrous for his Senate career.

Cattle rancher Charles Goodnight was born on March 5, 1836, in Macoupin County, Illinois. One of America’s most famous cattle barons, Goodnight helped blaze a major cattle trail and is sometimes referred to as the “Father of the Texas Panhandle.”

John C. Frémont was born on January 21, 1813 in Savannah, Georgia.

On January 13, 1864, Stephen Foster, the “father of American music,” died in New York City.

Edwin McMasters Stanton was born on December 19, 1814, Steubenville, Ohio.

Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born on November 8, 1900, in Atlanta, Georgia.

On November 7, 1848, the War Department established a post on the Rio Grande that would later come to be known as Fort Bliss.