Browse all Entries in the Antebellum Time Period.
Abner Doubleday
June 26, 1819 – January 26, 1893 Abner Doubleday was a career military officer and prominent Union general in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Abner Doubleday was born on June 26, 1819, in Ballston Spa, New York. He was the third of eight children of Ulysses Freeman Doubleday and Hester (Donnelly) Doubleday.…
Abraham Lincoln
Rising from humble beginnings, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the 16th President of the United States in … Read more
Albert Sidney Johnston
February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862 Albert Sidney Johnston, a Confederate commander of the Western Department, became the highest ranking officer on either the Confederate or Union side to die in combat, when he was killed at the Battle of Shiloh, during the American Civil War. Albert Sidney Johnston was born in Washington, Kentucky…
Alexander McDowell McCook
April 22, 1831 – June 12, 1903 Major General Alexander McDowell McCook, who served as a divisional and a corps commander with the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Cumberland, was a member of the “Fighting McCooks,” fifteen family members who served the Union during the American Civil War. Early Life Alexander…
Alfred Pleasonton
July 7, 1824 – February 17, 1897 A prominent Union cavalry officer, Major General Alfred Pleasonton commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg Campaign. Alfred Pleasonton was born in Washington, D.C., on July 7, 1824. He was the second of two sons of Stephen and Mary Hopkins Pleasonton. Pleasonton's…
Alien and Sedition Acts
1798 Enacted in 1798 by the 5th United States Congress, the Alien and Sedition Acts served the dual purpose of attempting to muffle anti-war sentiment and to cripple the Democratic-Republican Party. On March 4, 1797, John Adams became the second President of the United States. Before leaving office, his predecessor, George Washington, warned his countrymen…
Ambrose Powell Hill
November 9, 1825 – April 2, 1865 Commander of the famed "Light Division," Confederate Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill was killed while trying to rally his troops during the Battle of Petersburg on April 2, 1865. Ambrose Powell Hill was born on November 9, 1825 at Greenland, his father's plantation near Culpeper, Virginia. His parents…
Andrew Johnson
December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875 Born into poverty, Andrew Johnson rose to become the seventeenth President of the United States in 1865. Although acquitted in his trial before the U.S. Senate, Johnson remains one of only two presidents ever impeached by the House of Representatives. Andrew Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina…
Anson George McCook
October 10, 1835– December 30, 1917 A member of the famed "Fighting McCooks," Brevet Brigadier General Anson McCook participated in the Battle of Bull Run I, took part in many of the major battles and campaigns in the western theater, and served with Major General Philip Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 during…
August Valentine Kautz
January 5, 1828 – September 4, 1895 A prominent cavalry officer, Ohioan August Kautz served in the Union military in the Eastern and Western Theaters during the American Civil War. August Valentine Kautz was born on January 5, 1828, in Ispringen, Baden, Germany. He was the first of seven children of Johann Georg and Dorthea…