The glorious battleship CSS Virginia sails up the James River toward the Confederate capital, Richmond. However, as it does so, it is moving in shallow water and must be lightened. Some of its armor is therefore removed and abandoned. Gradually, the battleship risks running aground,
The Mexican Republican Army defeats the French Army (regarded as one of the most efficient in the world) in the Battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862, a date still celebrated as a Mexican national holiday: Cinco de Mayo)
Even New Orleans, the largest Confederate city, surrenders to the Yankees. The Southerners thus lose the Leeds Foundry and two battleships under construction, including the CSS Mississippi, the largest in the world at the time.
2:00 a.m. Ferragut’s sailors silently prepare to break the Mississippi blockade, but the Confederates soon realize what’s happening, and a terrible battle breaks out, with 400 cannons thundering simultaneously over a 2-mile radius for about an hour. After numerous losses, the Union fleet manages to
At the end of the historic naval battle off Norfolk, the CSS Virginia, at first glance, was hit by a staggering 96 cannon shells, though her steel was only dented. She single-handedly routed the entire Union fleet.
12:00 PM. The Confederate battleship CSS Virginia, the first true all-steel battleship, though still reinforced with oak, leaves Norfolk Harbor. Her armament consists of a gigantic ram and two 7-inch Brooke rifled guns. In a historic naval engagement, she single-handedly defeats almost the entire Union
The Union’s descent down the Mississippi River continues. Between Kentucky and Missouri, the objective is now Island No. 10 and nearby New Madrid, fortified by the Confederates.
After the defeat at Fort Donelson, the Southerners retreated from Nashville, Tennessee, which fell to the Union.
Willie, the son of Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary, dies of a bacterial infection. In the midst of the Civil War, with her husband engaged in governing the nation at war, the enemy at Washington’s gates, the loss of her second son is a
Series of Northern military successes leading to control of West Virginia, Tennessee, and the Mississippi Valley
Mississippi River: Confederate forts Fort Henry and Fort Donelson come under fire from Union gunboats. The former is quickly evacuated to the much more formidable latter.
Thomas Alva Edison, after purchasing 300 pounds of old type from a junk dealer, along with a small printing press, published his first issue of the “Weekly Herald” with the paragraph “LOCAL INTELEGENCE” (misspelled like that) and even a footnote for the joke of the
Australian amateur astronomer John Tebbutt discovers a large comet, passing just 19 million kilometers from Earth and sweeping across 120 degrees of the sky. It is also said to have cast shadows on Earth.
U.S. Navy fleet composed of the steamships Pocahontas, Pawnee, Harriet Lane, and the warship Powhatan heads for Fort Sumter in Charleston to support the Marines besieged there by the Confederates. In Montgomery, the Confederate generals work feverishly to issue orders: the tremendous responsibility they bear
Messina. Several hours of continuous bombardment convince the Bourbon soldiers to surrender.
The cooling of political relations between England and the United States due to the American Civil War led to the temporary abandonment of plans and attempts to lay transatlantic cables. President Lincoln then turned to Tsar Alexander II to connect Alaska with a cable under
Gaeta. The Savoy army begins bombarding the fortress of Gaeta with the brand-new Cavalli cannons, which have a greater range than the Bourbon ones. Inside the fortress, the king and queen, Francis II and Maria Sofia, resist. They will hold out for 102 days, making
Calabria. Caught between Cosenz’s column descending from Aspromonte and Garibaldi’s march from Reggio, the Bourbons surrendered on August 23. Garibaldi advanced on horseback toward his defeated adversaries and reminded them that they were sons of Italy. He promised a warm welcome to those who wished
Calabria. 2:00 AM. Reggio Calabria is attacked: Garibaldi, with Missori’s forces, approaches from the eastern hills and encounters no resistance. The main body advances toward the city center and encounters strong resistance when it reaches the cathedral square; Bixio, the column’s commander, is wounded. Garibaldi
Calabria. The day after the landing, Garibaldi’s men, the belated intervention of three Bourbon steamships, set fire to the Torino and suffered some casualties among the disembarked men. On the evening of the 20th, approximately 3,600 men set out for Reggio after making contact with
Palermo. Lanza sends Garibaldi his plenipotentiary to negotiate a truce. A few minutes after the truce took effect, Von Mechel’s column of soldiers appears at Porta Termini. Some Garibaldians try in vain to inform them of the truce in force, but the Swiss and his
Garibaldi and his men began their descent toward Palermo, toward Porta Termini, east of the city. They rushed in and built a barricade, which Francesco Carbone climbed onto and remained there for a while, amid the whistling of cannonballs. With Garibaldi’s men inside the city
Abraham Lincoln leaves Springfield, Illinois, by train for Washington, D.C. He never returns to Illinois.
Mazzini and Garibaldi plan to penetrate the Papal States and from there advance towards Naples. Garibaldi has the king’s support. But the political dangers of invading the Papal States are soon realized and the decision is made to focus on Sicily. Cavour is skeptical of
Congress of Paris and the end of the Crimean War. Piedmont, among the victors, is also invited, represented by Cavour, who thus manages to bring to the attention of the European powers the Italian question, the backwardness of the Papal States and the Kingdom of
Nicolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky died poor, blind, and heartbroken. Financial difficulties, health problems, progressive blindness, and the death of his first son marred his final years. His mathematical work was not adequately recognized during his lifetime.
United States. American scientist and women’s activist Eunice Foote experimentally demonstrated for the first time that an atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide would significantly raise the temperature. The discovery was almost completely ignored. It was attributed to Irish physicist John Tyndall in 1860, and in
United States. With the convergence of the Northern interests of Whigs (formerly conservatives), Democratic freesoilers (farmers and ranchers who settled new territories in the West to obtain them free of charge), progressive frontiersmen, the big business of New York, and the Puritans of New England,
Industrial Revolution: Isaac Merritt Singer invents the famous automatic sewing machine. When he moves to Boston, he realizes what’s wrong with the machine produced at the Phelps factory. The needle must be straight, not curved, and the shuttle must be positioned askew; finally, the machine
China entered a period of chaos, which was interrupted only in the middle of the following century with the arrival of Mao, who plunged China back into its previous isolationism, stability, and poverty.
William Wallace, the third son of Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary, is born.
Piedmont. Alfonso La Marmora is Minister of War. He limits himself to introducing changes suggested by experience and practice. He invents nothing. But that’s enough for the Savoy army to prove itself vastly superior to the other armies on the peninsula, which still clung to
Venice falls to the Austrians. The revolutionary attempt of 1848-49 in Italy is over.
Comacchio. 1:00 PM. Garibaldi’s fugitives arrive from the left bank of the Reno, at a place called “Chiavica Bedoni.” From there, Anita is transported to the nearby Guiccioli farm, where the “partisans” had sent the local doctor, Dr. Nannini. It is too late, however, and
Comacchio. Garibaldi lingers in the marshy areas, slowed down by his wife Anita, who is six months pregnant and ill. He and Captain Giovanni Battista Culiolo are rescued by a villager, who shelters them in a hut. Culiolo then has the incredible fortune of meeting
Comacchio. 4:00 PM. The 13 fishing boats of Garibaldi’s volunteers are shelled for hours by Austrian warships. Eight boats are forced to surrender, with 151 volunteers and 11 officers. Garibaldi’s boat and four others land on the coast, and the crews divide into small teams.
Rome. Roman Republic. Rome is defended by approximately 10,000 soldiers of the Republic (the other half of the 20,000 who make up the army are deployed in other areas of Lazio). The troops are divided into four brigades: the first, commanded by Garibaldi, guards the
Rome. Papal States. After the Pope’s flight, many democratic patriots flock to Rome, beginning with Mazzini and Garibaldi.
Rome. Papal States. The Pope leaves the state and takes refuge in Gaeta in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, hosted by Ferdinand II.
Rome. Pope Pius IX decides it’s best to abandon St. Peter’s after some fanatics assassinate Prime Minister Pellegrino Rossi. The Pope leaves the city in disguise to go to Gaeta, under the protection of the Bourbons of Naples. Rome will soon be proclaimed a Republic.
Rome. Papal States. The liberal Prime Minister, Pellegrino Rossi, is assassinated on the steps of the Chamber of Deputies in the Palazzo della Cancelleria.
Radetzky reconquered Lombardy. The following autumn, he signed a decree forcing the wealthier classes to pay damages. 1848 was the dark year of the Italian Risorgimento, but also the year in which the seeds of recovery and the plan for unification were sown.
Milan watched in astonishment as Radetzky returned. One hundred thousand people went into exile, including Cattaneo, who had rejoiced at the defeat at Custoza, convinced that Milan had room for a solitary war. Many fled to Turin, including Sottocorno, hero of the Five Days of
Vicenza. First Austrian assault on the city after defeating the volunteers at Cornuda.
Sicily. Ferdinand II forcefully abolishes the Constitution and Parliament.
Vienna. The Wiener Zeitung: “Milan has surrendered at Radetzky’s discretion and is ready to pay 12 million” (€42 million). But the Augsburg-based Allemagne Zeitung reveals that Radetzky has actually been defeated.
Vienna. The Wiener Zeitung admits that there were significant disturbances, but reassures readers about Milan’s loyalty to Ferdinand.
Vienna. The Viennese learn from the Wiener Zeitung, the most important newspaper, that minor clashes have occurred in Milan, attributed to misunderstandings. With the government in chaos, the military command imposes censorship.
Venice. The Austrian military governor, Ferdinand Zichy, signs the capitulation, even though his soldiers still control the forts. After the capitulation of Como, Bergamo, Sondrio, and Brescia, only Mantua and Verona remain under the Empire’s control.
Turin. The fearless Martini arrives in the city, bearing letters signed by Cattaneo and another by Manzoni, among other illustrious Milanese. Carlo Alberto has just dismissed the cabinet. It was its first meeting, but the king, with scant regard for the new constitution, decrees that
First Italian War of Independence. With spontaneous popular participation in various cities (Milan, Venice, Genoa) and regions (Sicily, Tuscany), Piedmont rebelled and waged war against Austria. From a strictly military perspective, it was divided into three phases: two military campaigns (the first from March 23
Milan. After two days of revolt, the picture is clear: in the heart of Milan, the insurgents have the upper hand. There are more than 1,700 barricades. In front of the castle, an imposing barricade is erected with granite slabs linked with iron chains and