Browse all Entries, Images, Videos, and Audio Files in the Civil War Groups category.
Committee of Thirty-three
1861 The Committee of Thirty-three was a select committee of the House of Representatives established on December 4, 1860 to explore possibilities for resolving the nation's secession crisis. On November 6, 1860, American voters elected Republican Abraham Lincoln as the sixteenth President of the United States. Alarmed by what they considered to be extremist views…
Corwin Amendment
1861 The Corwin Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that was approved by Congress in 1861 in an attempt to avoid disunion and civil war. On November 6, 1860, American voters elected Republican Abraham Lincoln as the sixteenth President of the United States. Alarmed by what they considered to be extremist…
Fighting McCooks
During the American Civil War many family members fought alongside one another, and it is believed that at least fifteen members of the McCook family of Ohio fought in the war. Daniel McCook, eight of his sons, his brother John McCook, and his five sons fought for the Union. During the American Civil War many…
Freedmen’s Bureau
1865–1872 The Freedmen's Bureau was an important agency of the early Reconstruction era, assisting freedmen (freed ex-slaves) in the South. By the spring of 1865, there was little doubt about the eventual outcome of the American Civil War. Anticipating issues related to the disposition of nearly four million slaves freed by President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation…
Irish Brigade
February 8, 1862–June 25, 1865 Composed mostly of Irishmen from New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, including eleven Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, the Irish Brigade suffered the third-highest number of battlefield casualties of any Union brigade during the Civil War. When the U.S Civil War erupted in April 1861, many state militia units offered their…
Joint Committee on Reconstruction
December 13, 1865–February 9, 1867 Created by the Thirty-ninth U.S. Congress, the Joint Committee on Reconstruction markedly altered the course of Reconstruction after the American Civil War. On April 26, 1865, General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the last major Confederate army in the field to William T. Sherman at Bennett Place, North Carolina, effectively ending…
Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War
December 10, 1861 – May 22, 1865 The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a Congressional committee established in 1861 to "inquire into the conduct" of the American Civil War. After Confederate artillery fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, touching off the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued a…
Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War
December 10, 1861 – May 22, 1865
Ohio Volunteer Infantry
1861–1865 Historically, British colonies utilized militia forces to defend themselves from attacks by Native Americans and other powers. Once Americans secured their independence in the American Revolution, the new states continued to rely primarily on the militia for military defense. Historically, British colonies utilized militia forces to defend themselves from attacks by Native Americans and…