People, Locations, Episodes

Robert E. Lee, Confederate General born

*Robert E. Lee was born on this date in 1807. He was a white American soldier known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865.

Cow Tom, Interpreter born

*Cow Tom’s birth, in 1810, is celebrated on this date. He was a Black Creek Native American interpreter.  He was born a slave in Alabama to the Muskogee leader Yargee of the Upper Creeks. As a young man, Tom was known to tend to the cattle of Chief Yargee; thus, the name Cow Tom was […]

The Corps of The Colonial Marines, a story

*The Corps of Colonial Marines began on this date in 1810. It was two British Marine units raised from former Black slaves for service in the Americas. At the behest of Alexander Cochrane, the units were created at two separate points during the wars (Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812). They were later disbanded once […]

John Horse, Black Seminole Soldier born

*The birth of John Horse is celebrated on this date, c. 1812. He was an African and Native American soldier who fought alongside the Seminoles in the Second Seminole War in Florida.   John Horse was from the region called Micanopy in north central Florida. His father was the Seminole trader Charley Cavallo, and his […]

Black History And The War of 1812, a story

*Black history and the War of 1812 are celebrated on this date in 1812. This was a conflict between England and the United States. Blacks fought on both sides, though many fought for the same reason: freedom from chattel slavery. In the Revolutionary War, black and white patriots fought together, which helped convince many Northern states […]

John Fremont, Politician, and Abolitionist born

*John Fremont was born on this date in 1813. He was a White American soldier, politician and abolitionist.

From Savannah, Georgia, educated at Charleston College, he taught mathematics before joining the Army Topographical Engineers Corps in 1838. Among other field services, in 1842 Fremont mapped most of the Oregon Trail and climbed the second highest peak in the Wind River Mountains, afterwards known as Fremont Peak. Fremont made many expeditions; in 1845 he explored the Great Basin and the Pacific coast.

Robert Bridges Forten, Soldier, and Abolitionist born

*Robert Bridges Forten was born on this date in 1813. He was a Black sailmaker, abolitionist, and Union Army soldier.   He was the son of James Forten, abolitionist and co-founder of the Free African Society, and Charlotte Vandine. He was one of nine children educated privately due to segregation in the Philadelphia area schools. Family, friends, and acquaintances considered […]

The Merikins Community is Established

*The origin of the Merikins is celebrated on this date in 1814. They were African expatriates of the War of 1812, freed black slaves who fought for the British against the American colonies.

Nathaniel Banks, Officer, and Politician born

*Nathaniel Banks was born on this date in 1816. He was a white-American politician and a military officer.   Nathaniel Prentice Banks was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, and was the first child of Nathaniel P. Banks, Sr., and Rebecca Greenwood Banks. His father worked in the textile mill of the Boston Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming […]

Benjamin F. Butler, Military Officer born

*Benjamin Franklin Butler was born on this date in 1818.  He was a white-American major general, politician, lawyer, and businessman.   Born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best known as a political major of the Union Army during the American Civil War and for his leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson. He was a colorful and often controversial figure on the […]

The Battle of Grahamstown Occurs

*The Battle of Grahamstown took place on this date in 1819. This was part of the Fifth Xhosa War at the frontier settlement of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The battle was defended by the British garrison, aided by a group of Khoekhoe marksmen, against Xhosa warriors. When a British-led force […]

William T. Sherman, American Civil War Officer born

*William T. Sherman, a white American soldier, businessman, educator, and author, was born on this date in 1820. William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, near the banks of the Hocking River. His father, Charles Robert Sherman, a lawyer who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court, died of typhoid fever in 1829. He left […]

Fort Snelling (Minnesota), a story

*Fort Snelling was established on this date in 1820. This is a former military garrison built with slave labor to advance white American land acquisition from indigenous communities. It is in Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers meet. The military site was initially named Fort Saint Anthony but was renamed Fort Snelling […]

Martin Becker, Naval Sailor, and Printer born

On this date we celebrate the birth of Martin F. Becker in 1820. He was a Black sailor, printer, administrator, and barber.

Ulysses S. Grant, Soldier, and Politician born

*On this date, in 1822, Ulysses S. Grant was born. He was a white-American soldier and politician.   Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, to Jesse Root Grant, a tanner and merchant, and Hannah Simpson Grant. Grant’s great-grandfather fought in the French and Indian War, and his grandfather, Noah, served in the American Revolution at Bunker Hill. Their son Jesse (Ulysses’s father) was a Whig Party supporter […]