Henry W. Halleck (1815-1872) Henry W. Halleck, “Old Brains,” was the Union Army General who commanded the Department of Missouri (succeeding John C. Frémont) before his appointment as General in Chief in July 1862. Halleck was a military theoretician who was… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) “Unconditional Surrender.” Union general who was a West Point graduate. He reentered the Army with difficulty in Civil War, but after capture of Fort Donelson, he swiftly rose to command Army of Mississippi, leading it to the capture of Vicksburg [in July 1863]. His occasional lapses into… Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]

John Dahlgren (1809-1870) Navy ordinance expert and officer in charge of Washington Navy Yard, which President Lincoln frequently visited, John Dahlgren also invented the Dahlgren cannon. He chafed at shore duty and longed to be at sea; finally, in 1864 he was appointed to command the… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Benjamin Butler (1818-1893) Benjamin Butler AKA “Spoons” and “Beast” was a War Democrat who supported John Breckinridge for President in 1860 after earlier supporting Jefferson Davis for the Democratic nomination. Butler ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts in 1860 as a Breckinridge Democrat. After the fall of Fort Sumter, he became… Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]

Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-1881) Ambrose E. Burnside, “Burn,” was the General of Army of Potomac, who succeeded George McClellan in November 1862. A failed Rhode Island businessman who designed a rifle later used in the Civil War, he worked for the Illinois Central Railroad under George McClellan when Lincoln was… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Frank P. Blair, Jr. (1821-1875) Francis P. Blair, Jr. was a Union general who served in Missouri and West. A Republican congressman from Missouri (1857-58, 1861, 1864) at the outset of the war, he organized pro-Union military units among German-Americans which were instrumental in keeping Missouri in Union. An early political backer of… Abraham Lincoln’s […]

Nathaniel Banks (1816-1894) Nathaniel Banks was known as “Old Jack’s Commissary General” and “Commissary Banks.” A Union General, Banks was defeated by Stonewall Jackson at Winchester on May 25, 1862 and Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862. He was typical of a breed of political generals who commanded volunteers with unfortunate… Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]

Fort Stevens During the Civil War, the nation’s capital was ringed by a network of 68 forts and 93 gun batteries which were designed to protect it from Confederate attack from all sides. “Union troops were first stationed in the vacant squares of the city, but as time went on, and the army continued to […]

Campbell General Hospital Campbell General Hospital, located at Florida Avenue and 7th Street several miles north of the White House, was one of nearly three dozen military hospitals in Washington. By 1864, journalist Noah Brooks observed: “All Washington [was] a great hospital for the wounded in the great battle now going…” Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]

Washington Navy Yard Mr. Lincoln frequently visited the Navy Yard to take Potomac cruises, review troops and inspect new weapon enhancements with Captain John A. Dahlgren, commandant of the Navy Yard. Dahlgreen took over after the previous commandant defected to… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >