Category Archives: Nifty History People

William Tecumseh Sherman: Grant’s Perfect Lieutenant

William Tecumseh Sherman, frequently considered the first “modern” general, was above all, the indispensable lieutenant to Ulysses S. Grant. Sherman Meets Lincoln William T. Sherman (1820-1891), Ohio born and bred, was orphaned as a child and foster-raised by the politically … Continue reading

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Roosevelt and Remington: The Cowboy and the Sculptor

Theodore Roosevelt was an unlikely cowboy. Frederic Remington was an unlikely sculptor of the West. Roosevelt the Cowboy Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)was a wealthy New Yorker by birth and upbringing. A nearsighted and asthmatic child, he overcame much of his frailty … Continue reading

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Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Davis: A Healing Friendship

Two Civil war icons, one North, one South, finally met in old age, and became friends. Varina Davis: The Confederate Queen Varina Davis (1826-1905) first appeared on a national stage when she was eighteen and recently married to Congressional widower … Continue reading

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U.S. Grant: The Shiloh Tree HQ

Army Generals in the Civil War usually commandeered the best houses in the area for their Headquarters. Pittsburg Landing, TN Pittsburg Landing, TN was a small village on the Tennessee River. Control of that river, which flowed into the Mississippi, … Continue reading

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Martha Washington’s White House

Martha Washington died in early 1802. She had never set foot in what is known today as the White House in Washington, DC. Martha’s White House in New Kent County Martha Dandridge (1731-1802) was only seventeen when she married Daniel … Continue reading

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The Lincolns and the Actors

Everyone knows about Abraham Lincoln’s brief run-in with John Wilkes Booth, but  other Lincolns had life and death incidents involving theater folks. Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth came from a well regarded family of dramatic actors. His … Continue reading

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Wilmer McLean: A Plague on Both His Houses

Wilmer McLean is one of those oddities of the Civil War, where truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. Wilmer McLean was a Virginia wholesale grocer, who at age 39 married a well-to-do widow with two children and a moderate plantation … Continue reading

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Lincoln’s First General: Winfield Scott

When Abraham Lincoln was a small child, Winfield Scott was already a military commander of stature. Winfield Scott, Virginian Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was born near Petersburg, Virginia to a family of gentry. He attended the College of William and Mary, … Continue reading

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The White House Nellie Weddings

White House Weddings Before Ulysses S. Grant was even born, there had been weddings in the White House. During James Madison’s administration, Dolley Madison’s widowed sister married her second husband, Thomas Todd. Some years later, James Monroe’s daughter Maria Hester … Continue reading

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Lincoln’s General’s Wives: A Book Review

The American Civil War created powerful generals with powerful and sometimes peculiar personalities. In a remarkably intelligent and readable quadography, author Candice Shy Hooper has brought to life four interesting(ish) women who were thrust into a spotlight(ish) because of the … Continue reading

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