Browse all Events, Entries, Images, Videos, and Audio Files in the Civil War Reconstruction Time Period.
Erastus Bernard Tyler
April 24, 1822–January 9, 1891 Brigadier General Erastus B. Tyler was a Union officer who participated in many of the major battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. Erastus Bernard Tyler was born in West Bloomfield, New York on April 24, 1822. He was the son of Asahel Tyler and Maria Bernard…
Fifteenth Amendment
February 3, 1870 Approved by Congress on February 26, 1869, ratified by the states on February 3, 1870, and certified by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish on March 30, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution affirmed that, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or…
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…
Fitz John Porter
August 31, 1822 – May 21, 1901 Fitz John Porter was a corps commander with the Union Army, whose career was ruined by court martial proceedings over his performance at the Battle of Bull Run II. Fitz John Porter was born on August 31, 1832, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was the son of Captain…
Fitzhugh Lee
November 19, 1835–April 28, 1905 A nephew of Robert E. Lee and a Confederate major general, Fitzhugh Lee served one term as governor of Virginia before commanding U.S. troops as a brigadier general during the Spanish-American War. Fitzhugh Lee was born on his family's plantation, Clermont, in Fairfax County, Virginia, on November 19, 1835. He…
Fourteenth Amendment
July 28, 1868 Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was the second of the Reconstruction Amendments proposed by Congress and ratified by the states following the American Civil War. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln invoked his powers as commander-in-chief to free "people held in slavery in areas designated in rebellion…
Francis Jay Herron
February 17, 1837 – January 8, 1902 Major General Francis J. Herron was a prominent Union officer who served in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and commanded the Army of the Frontier in 1863. Francis Jay Herron was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 17, 1837. He was the third child of…
Francis Preston Blair, Jr.
February 19, 1821 – July 8, 1875 U.S. Senator and Congressman from Missouri, Frank P. Blair was one of President Abraham Lincoln's more successful political generals, rising to command the 15th and 17th Army Corps during most of the major campaigns in the Western Theater of the Civil War. Francis Preston Blair, Jr. (more commonly…
Franz Sigel
November 18, 1824 – August 21, 1902 During the American Civil War, Franz Sigel, one of President Abraham Lincoln's "political generals," achieved the rank of major general in the volunteer army and served as a corps commander with the Army of the Potomac. Franz Sigel was born in the town of Sinsheim, in the duchy…
Frederick Douglass
February 1818–February 20, 1895 After escaping from bondage on September 3, 1838, Frederick Douglass became a highly-acclaimed orator and writer supporting the abolition of slavery before the Civil War and the enactment of African American rights during Reconstruction. Acclaimed abolitionist and women's rights supporter Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, near…