The American Civil War - Chronologically

January 13, 1861 Union secures Fort Taylor Key West, FL  * This fort was held by the Union the whole time (the only Southern port with that designation) and never fired upon. A bunch of folks died of tropical diseases though... * Though there are far less photo ops, this is actually the southernmost point in the continental U.S. The buoy where everyone takes pictures is 1.2 miles North of here - and it was closed for construction when we visited in Dec. 2025 anyway. Here's a public domain pic of the fort: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=240156 To Guard the Harbor Where It All Began Fort Taylor was designed in 1843 by Colonel Joseph Totten, Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Fort was to be a key installation in the Army's Third Tier System of 42 coastal fortifications. Its purpose was to guard the harbor at Key West, as well as the island itself. Construction began in June of 1845 on a hard rock shoal 1,100 feet off the southwest point of the island. It was built by Iri...

December 2 and 16, 1859, and March 16, 1860 Hanging John Brown and his men  Charleston, WV * The Col. who oversaw this execution then built himself a mansion in the shadow of the gallows . Weird. Are you, are you, going to the tree... A private home today: "Kids, clean your toys - you're going to ruin the site of the gallows' scaffold!"  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=41650 John Brown Hanging Site Creation of a Martyr — Prelude to War — This is where seven men were hanged in December 1859 and March 1860 for their part in John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry. The scaffold stood here in a large field. A month after the trial, on December 2, 1859, John Brown was the first to die. He rode here in a wagon, sitting on his casket, with his arms tied. His last message, which he gave to a jail guard, read: “I John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without...