On May 5, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee clashed for the first time at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia. It was the opening battle of Grant’s Overland Campaign, which was designed to destroy Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.
On April 21, 1898, Spain ended diplomatic relations with America and the US Navy established a blockade of Cuba, marking the official start of the Spanish-American War. The war would last less than four months, but saw the downfall of the Spanish Empire and the rise of America as a major world power with several new possessions.
The first battles of the American Revolutionary War were fought on April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. The American colonists’s brave stand showed the British, and the world, how dedicated they were to the cause of independence.
On April 12, 1861, North and South clashed for the first time at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. It was the opening battle of the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history.
On April 9, 1942, the largest number of US forces was captured at the end of the Battle of Bataan, leading to the Bataan Death March. Today, this date is commemorated as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.
Haym Salomon was born on April 7, 1740, in Leszno, Poland. Salomon raised funds and gave his own money to help the American war effort during the Revolutionary War.
On April 6, 1866, in Springfield, Illinois, Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson founded the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) to bring together Civil War veterans. The GAR provided veterans with support and camaraderie and was influential in the creation of Memorial Day and more…
April 5 is known as “Go For Broke” Day, in honor of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, the most decorated unit for its size in US military history. The regiment was composed entirely of Nisei (children of Japanese immigrants) who volunteered to join the war effort, displaying inspiring valor and loyalty to America.
Soldier, geologist, and explorer John Wesley Powell was born on March 24, 1834, in Mount Morris, New York. A Civil War veteran, Powell explored and produced some of the first accurate maps of the West and later was director of the US Geological Survey.