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The Civil War Doc
@thecivilwardoc.bsky.social
Forthcoming documentary by Keri Leigh Merritt. To make this documentary possible, please consider supporting us by subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/TheCivilWarDoc

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While the Union’s victory during the largest battle of the Atlanta Campaign proved consequential, the leadership of Jewish Americans in the Union Army, like Colonel Salomon, was pivotal in these battles.

#USHistory #CivilWar #JewishHistory #Documentary #OTD

4/4
July 22, 2024 at 9:03 PM
This article in The Jewish News, which highlights Jewish War Veterans of the US, notes Col. Salomon’s calmness in battle. Col. Robinson refers to Col. Salomon as one of the “most deserving officers.”

#USHistory #CivilWar #JewishHistory #ArmyHistory #OTD

3/4
July 22, 2024 at 9:03 PM
After the Battle of Atlanta, Union Colonel John Cleveland Robinson praised Colonel Edward S. Salomon, a Jewish, German-American immigrant who commanded the 82nd Illinois, one of the Union Army's "German" regiments.

#USHistory #CivilWar #JewishHistory #ArmyHistory #OTD

2/4
July 22, 2024 at 9:02 PM
#OTD 1864, Union victory at the Battle of Atlanta opened the door for General Sherman's March to the Sea, later capturing Savannah.

📷: Siege of Atlanta. ca. 1888. LOC.

#CivilWar #USHistory #OnThisDay

1/4
July 22, 2024 at 9:01 PM
“The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea,” President #Lincoln said after the fall of #Vicksburg.

#OTD 1863, Confederate Gen. Pemberton surrendered to Union Gen. Grant after a 47-day siege of Vicksburg, a monumental victory for the Union.
#CivilWar #4thofJuly 
📷: LOC
July 4, 2024 at 5:57 PM
Let Pickett's Charge serve as a reminder that even with the #Union victory, civilians like the #Biggs & #Brian families struggled to recover & repair their post #CivilWar lives.

8/8

📷: Henry Alexander Ogden. Gen. Pickett taking the order to charge from Gen. Longstreet. LOC.
July 3, 2024 at 11:21 PM
Brian repaired his farm and sold it in 1868. He then moved to Gettysburg, where he worked as a hostler at a hotel.

7/8

📷: The Battle of Gettysburg. N.Y.: Printed by Wm. C. Robertson. LOC.
July 3, 2024 at 11:20 PM
Brian submitted a claim of $575, but the damages of Pickett's Charge were not covered, & he received only $15. The $15 was to pay for the 1.5 tons of hay that fed the Union horses.

6/8

📷: Gettysburg, battlefield of, scene of Pickett's charge. LOC.

#CivilWar
July 3, 2024 at 11:20 PM
After the Union's consequential victory at #PickettsCharge, #Brian & his family returned to find their home & barn destroyed, & they had lost all their crops & livestock.

5/8

📷: Gettysburg, Pa. The Bryan house on 2d Corps line, near scene of Pickett's Charge. LOC.
#CivilWar
July 3, 2024 at 11:19 PM
Union General Alexander Hays used Brian's home as headquarters in the middle of the Union's defensive position on Cemetery Ridge.

4/8

📷: Brig. Gen. Alex Hays. United States. LOC.
July 3, 2024 at 11:18 PM
Like other Black members of the Gettysburg community, Brian, his wife Elizabeth, & their five children fled with news of the Confederate invasion.

3/8

📷: Edwin Forbes. Picketts charge from a position on the enemys line looking toward the Union lines. LOC.
July 3, 2024 at 11:18 PM
Abraham Brian [also spelled Bryan] was a free Black American born in Maryland in 1804, moved to Gettysburg in 1840, and bought 12 acres in 1857.

2/8

📷: Abraham Brian Farm. NPS.
July 3, 2024 at 11:10 PM
#OTD 1863, the final Confederate assault of the Battle of #Gettysburg, known as Pickett's Charge. But our focus is the Brian Farm, atop Cemetery Ridge.

1/8

📷: Detroit Publishing Co., Copyright Claimant, & Publisher Detroit Publishing Co. Gettysburg from Cemetery Ridge. LOC.
July 3, 2024 at 11:09 PM
Biggs helped exhume and rebury over 3000 Union soldiers from their battlefield graves into their final resting place at the Gettysburg cemetery.

6/6

📷: Soldiers' National Cemetery
Gettysburg National Military Park. NPS.

#CivilWar #BlackHistory
July 1, 2024 at 10:48 PM
Biggs received a little more than $1300 for the loss of livestock, furniture, food, & 92 acres of crops. But he would be pivotal in the creation of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery.

5/6

📷: Map of Cemetery. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum.

#CivilWar #OTD
July 1, 2024 at 10:47 PM
After the battle ended, the Biggs family returned to find their home & farm ruined as the Confederates set up a field hospital on part of the farm, burying 45 soldiers in his fields.

4/6

📷: Basil Biggs & Family Farm. PBS.

#CivilWar #BlackHistory
July 1, 2024 at 10:47 PM
As news of a Confederate invasion came in, so did the fears of being kidnapped & sold into slavery. Biggs and his family made the difficult choice to flee their home and farm.

3/6

📷: Willcox, William H. Map of the battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1st, 2nd & 3rd. LOC.
#CivilWar
July 1, 2024 at 10:46 PM
Basil Biggs, born a free Black man, was a veterinarian & reported active agent on the Underground Railroad. He and his wife Mary & seven children moved to Gettysburg in 1858.

2/6

📷: Basil & Mary Biggs. Adams County Historical Society/Smithsonian Magazine.

#CivilWar #OTD
July 1, 2024 at 10:45 PM
#OTD 1863, the Battle of #Gettysburg begins. Located 10 miles north of the Mason-Dixon line, let’s focus on the civilians affected by one of the most significant battles of the #CivilWar
1/6

📷: Battle of Gettysburg., ca. 1887. May 16. LOC

#Documentary #BlackHistory
July 1, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Alexander Gardner's photograph of a Black American soldier kneeling next to the remains of those who died at Gaines' Mill & Cold Harbor shows just how brutal this battle was.

4/4

📷: Reekie, John, & Alexander Gardner. A burial party on the battle-field of Cold Harbor. LOC.
June 27, 2024 at 11:40 PM
While the Union's defense held Lee's offense at Boatswain's Creek, the heavy loss and defeat led Maj. Gen. McClellan to abandon the Union's advance on Richmond.

3/4

📷: Unburied dead on battlefield. Reekie, John, photographer. Battlefield of Gaines' Mill, Va. LOC.
June 27, 2024 at 11:39 PM
In this battle, Gen. Lee and his 57,000 Confederate troops attacked Porter and his 34,000 Union forces.

2/4

📷: Waud, Alfred R. , Artist. After Gaines Mill Sunday June 29th. LOC.

#CivilWar #OTD #USHistory #Documentary
June 27, 2024 at 11:38 PM
#OTD 1862, the Seven Days' Battle continued at the Battle of Gaines' Mill in Hanover County, Virginia. 🧵

1/4

📷: Sneden, Robert Knox. Plan of the Battle of Gaines' Mill, Virginia, fought June 26th. LOC

(While dated June 26th, the battle was fought on the 27th.)

#CivilWar
June 27, 2024 at 11:38 PM
As evening fell, Jackson's forces arrived, forcing Porter's troops into retreat. However, the Confederates suffered 1,400 casualties to the Union's 350, marking a Union victory.

5/5

📷: Ellerson's Mill. Battlefield of Mechanicsville, Va. LOC.

#CivilWar #UShistory #Documentary
June 26, 2024 at 9:29 PM
Instead, without orders, the Confederate division commander of Lee's forces, A.P. Hill, crossed the Chickahominy River into Mechanicsville & was met with heavy Union artillery.

4/5

📷: Wiki

#CivilWar #UShistory #Documentary #OTD
June 26, 2024 at 9:29 PM