On the very day, Wednesday, April 19, 1865, when funeral services were held in the White House for Abraham Lincoln as the North mourned its fallen leader, the fleeing Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his entourage arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was there that Davis received a letter from Confederate General Wade Hampton, suggesting that they both withdraw westward across the Mississippi River to continue the southern war effort. That same day Union General John Pope wrote to Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, who commanded the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, suggesting that Smith consider surrendering his forces on the same terms as Grant had offered to Lee at Appomattox. Smith was not inclined to do so, also believing that his forces could continue to resist the Union.
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.