The 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War is being remembered throughout the nation. Learn more about what happened around the country and in our hometown of Monroe.
April 1, 1865 – Battle of Five Forks- Union General Phil Sheridan cuts off the lifeline of both Richmond and Lee’s army by attacking the Danville Railroad line
April 2, 1865 – The Confederate Government evacuates Richmond, Virginia. Union troops will occupy Richmond the next day.
April 4, 1865 – President Lincoln visits Richmond.
April 9, 1865 – General Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General U.S. Grant.
April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin. He will die from his wounds the next day. John Wilkes Booth escapes.
April 19, 1865 – The body of President Lincoln will lay in state in the East Room of the White House and then the Capitol Rotunda. His casket, along with his deceased son Willie, will leave Washington for a three week journey to Springfield, Illinois where they will be interred together.
April 26, 1865 – Federal troops track down Lincoln’s assassin in a barn in Virginia. Booth refuses to surrender himself and as the barn is set on fire a shot mortally wounds Booth. He dies minutes later.
April 27, 1865 – Overcrowded with returning Union prisoners, the boilers on the SS Sultana explode and kill over 1500 men. It will become known as one of the worse maritime disasters in U.S. History.
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Paging through the Civil War Book Club - This is a book club that focuses on the American Civil War. We are currently reading Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War by Elizabeth Varon. We will meet to discuss the book on Thursday, May 28 at 7pm at the Ellis Library and Reference Center. For more information please contact Charmaine Wawrzyniec at 734-241-5277 or email at charmaine.wawrzyniec@monroe.lib.mi.us .
Learn more about the Civil War - The Monroe County Civil War Round Table, sponsored by the Friends of Ellis, meets the second Thursday of every month, from September through May at the Ellis Library and Reference Center. Each month a different speaker is invited to share his or her knowledge about specific Civil War topics. This month Mr. Gary Holmes, will give a talk on the Disaster of the Sultana on Thursday, April 9 at 7 pm. All talks are free and open to the public. For more information please contact Charmaine Wawrzyniec at 734-241-5277 or email at charmaine.wawrzyniec@monroe.lib.mi.us .