This Week in The Civil War – A Single Shot – by S. McBride

A nation breathing a collective sigh of relief after a long and bloody civil war.  A packed theater.  A celebratory crowd. A wave of laughter punctuated by the pop of a single gunshot.  A man leaping to the stage in front of a full-house crowd, crying “Sic semper tyrannis!”  Screams. A blood-curdling shriek from the flag-draped box from which the man had jumped at stage left. Confusion. Chaos. Fear.

It was Good Friday, April 14, 1865.

Read the entire article in the April 16th issue.

The Express Newspaper – April 16, 2015

Surrender at Appomattox – by S. McBride and C. Kelly

The siege of Petersburg was in its ninth month, and the outlook for saving the Confederate capital at Richmond was becoming increasingly grim. General Robert E. Lee, with most of his supply routes cut off, had witnessed a steady decline in the morale of his Army of Northern Virginia as the siege wore on.  Men who had risked death, injury and capture on the battlefield for several years, and who still faced constant hunger, lack of shoes and clothing, were deserting in increasing numbers.  Lee knew he had to make a move. (On Page 2)

By Sandy McBride half is in the April 2nd Express - the rest to run next week.

The 125th NY Regiment was part of the Army which pursued General Lee and his dwindling army westward. On April 8th they were about two miles from the little village of Appomattox Courthouse. The illustrations show the McClean house, site of the meeting of Grant and Lee, in 1865 and as I saw it a couple of years ago. (On page 14)

By Chris Kelley - Schaghtocoke Town Historian

The Express Newspaper – April 2, 2015

This Month in the Civil War – March, 1865 Closing In – by S. McBride

On the morning of March 4, 1865, the day when Abraham Lincoln would be sworn in for his second term as President of the United States, it rained.  In fact, it had rained nearly every day of the month just past. But the incessant downpour did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the 50,000 citizens who had gathered in front of the Capitol building in Washington, with its newly-completed dome topped by the statue of Freedom, to hear his inaugural address.

Read the entire article in the March 19th edition.

The Express Newspaper – March 19, 2015

This Month in the Civil War: February 1864 – by S. McBride

For the rebellious Confederate States of America, the fortunes of war had taken a nosedive. Savannah had fallen.  So had Atlanta and Nashville. With the defeat at Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast, the port of Wilmington was embattled.  Petersburg was under siege.  The Shenandoah Valley was in ruins. The Union controlled the Mississippi River. Rebel soldiers were deserting by the hundreds.

The entire article is in the February 19 edition.

The Express Newspaper – February 19, 2015

Union College’s Civil War Connection – by S. McBride

The connection between Schenectady’s Union College and the American Civil War is both profound and poignant.  And given that 2015 is the 150th anniversary of the end of that defining period in our history, the college will host an exhibit in the Nott Memorial that will be on display throughout the coming year. Fittingly, it is called “Profound and Poignant; Stories of Union and the Civil War.”

Read the entire article in the Feb. 5th issue of the Express.