Civil War

This Week in the Civil War

00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 515

Texas Public Radio | By Texas Public Radio

Published February 27, 2013 at 1:32 PM CST

On February 26, 1863, Andrew Johnson delivered a speech to a pro-Union convention in Indianapolis, during which he strongly criticized Confederate leaders for seceding from the Union. Before the Civil War, Johnson had been a Democratic Senator from Tennessee.

He was the only Southern Senator not to resign at the war’s outbreak in 1861. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed Johnson to serve as military governor of Tennessee, then occupied by Union forces.

During his Indianapolis speech, Johnson supported the President’s wartime policies, including his emancipation proclamation, in spite of the fact that he had at one time owned slaves. In 1864, President Lincoln would nominated Johnson to serve as his Vice President. He would go on to succeed the President after his assassination in the following year.