150 Years Ago: Abraham Lincoln's Visit to Richmond

On April 4, 1865 -- twelve days before his death -- the 16th President landed on the banks of the James River near the shattered Tredegar Ironworks in Richmond, Virginia, and walked up the hill to the Confederate White House, accompanied by his disabled son Tad, a small platoon of soldiers, and thousands of cheering newly-freed slaves.

Jefferson Davis' Speech at Macon, Georgia, September 23, 1864: Worst Speech Ever?

Jefferson Davis' speech of September 23, 1864, was so bad that Americans North and South speculated that it was a spoof or a satire - but it was real and sincere. In this speech Davis greatly discouraged his own troops and vastly raised morale in the North; unpersuasively justified his removal of a popular, effective commander for one who had suffered unprecedented losses; viciously attacked one his critics without naming him, leading many of his opponents to believe themselves gravely insulted by the President; and through an unbelievable exercise of "loose lips" caused his army's strategic plans to be published in the newspapers, thereby contributing to the some of the most astonishing Union victories of the Civil War. Most significantly he revealed the principles that he thought the Confederacy stood for.