Tag Archives: Robert E. Lee

temple tussle

The day before the 1860 U.S. presidential election the governor of South Carolina advised secession in the event of Abraham Lincoln’s probable victory. Thanks to the telegraph, that news got up North very quickly. On Election Day, November 6, 1860, … Continue reading

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the three exemptions

Apparently 150 years ago the United States was free from pestilence and civil strife: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas it behooves a people sensible of their dependence on the Almighty publicly and collectively … Continue reading

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a death on campus

It was a damp, chilly afternoon in Lexington, Virginia. A heavy rain set in that eventually resulted in some severe flooding. September 28, 1870 was a long day for Robert E. Lee, the president of Washington College. According to Colonel … Continue reading

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feeding frenzy

You could say it’s a (very brief) tale of five Union generals. When Ulysses S. Grant became President of the United States in March 1869 he promoted his friend William T. Sherman to be the Commanding General of the U.S. … Continue reading

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late summer of ’68

Some headlines from early September 1868. Statewide elections in Vermont resulted in large Republican majorities. The Georgia legislature expelled twenty-five black representatives (New York Times September 4, 1868). After a conference at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Union General William … Continue reading

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Lost in Lexington

According to documentation at the Library of Congress, Washington College in Lexington, Virginia held commencement exercises on June 18, 1868. A northern newspaper was disgruntled by a report from an unnamed source about some activities (toasts) during an alumni supper … Continue reading

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Lincoln memorial

In its February 10, 1918 issue the New York Tribune published a page of photos commemorating Abraham Lincoln, probably to honor the sixteenth president’s 109th birthday (February 12th): In a February 13, 1918 article from Petersburg The New-York Times reported … Continue reading

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family reunion

This is the Showing forth of the Inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos, to the end that neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works great and marvellous, which have been produced some by … Continue reading

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2,111 unknown

150 years ago this month the Civil War Unknowns Monument was sealed at Arlington National Cemetery. Although Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs intended the monument to honor Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers were probably also included because all the skeletons were … Continue reading

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concord in Lexington

On October 2, 1865 Robert E. Lee was inaugurated as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia – and signed an amnesty oath pledging allegiance to the United States and all its laws, including those regarding the emancipation of slaves. … Continue reading

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