July Fourth and the Civil War

Some research I found about the Fourth of July during the civil war

US Capital The East Front ca. 1861

1861

• Lincoln calls an "extraordinary" session of Congress and presents an address regarding the suspension of Federal government functions by secessionists in the South.
• The President also reviews 29 New York military regiments in front of the White House and also raises the stars and stripes (the flag presented to the city of Washington by the Union Committee of New York) on a 100-foot high flagstaff located at the south front of the Treasury Department.
• Galusha A. Grow is the only Speaker of the House of Representatives ever to be elected and take office on the 4th of July.
  
• An artillery salute of 15 guns is fired at Camp Jackson near Pigs Point, Va., in honor of the Southern States that have declared and are declaring their independence.
  
• In Baltimore, the citizens there present a "splendid silk national flag, regimental size," to the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment
• Gov. John A. Andrew of Massachusetts celebrates the 4th with the 1st Massachusetts Regiment at Camp Banks near Georgetown, D.C.
  

1862-

• Lincoln is in the White House and receives the "Soldiers of the War of 1812"...Mr. Lincoln replied appropriately, thanking them for the call."
• A pyrotechnic depiction of the battle between the Monitor and Merrimac takes place in New York

President Lincoln at Antietam, 1862

1863-

• The President issues an address to the people honoring the Army of the Potomac and "for the many gallant fallen." There was a ceremony on the grounds of the Executive Mansion.
• Upon hearing of the news of the surrender of Vicksburg, the President gives a "Fourth of July" speech on July 7 from the upper window of the White House to an "immense" crowd.
• Vicksburg, Mississippi waited 82 years, until 1945, to again celebrate the 4th after General Ulysses Grant took the city in 1863 during the Civil War.
• In Concord, N.H., former president Franklin Pierce addresses 25,000 persons at the "Democratic Mass Meeting" held there.
  
• In Buffalo, N.Y., 17 veterans of the War of 1812 march in a parade there.
• At Annapolis, a "flag of truce" boat filled with Secessionist women from Philadelphia and elsewhere leaves on July 3rd and travels south.
  
• In Gettysburg, Pa., as the Rebel troops are.making their escape from the great battle just fought there, someone throws firecrackers among their ambulances carrying the wounded and causes a stampede of the horses and panic among the troops.
  
• In Columbus, Ohio, Randal and Aston's store has 8,500 American flags to sell for the holiday.
  
• In Newport, Rhode Island, the Fourth of July celebration is repeated on Tuesday, July 7, due to the news regarding the Union victory at Vicksburg.
  
• Gov. Zebulon B. Vance of North Carolina giv es a speech in Granville county, urging "the people to continue their assistance in prosecuting the war until the independence of the Confederate States was established"

Charleston, S.C. Site of the night attack on Fort Sumter, September 8, 1863

1864-

• The President is at the White House reviewing the Reconstruction Bill and meeting with various officials.
• Gov. Andrew Johnson of Ten nessee addresses the citizens of Nashville.
  
• In Washington, D.C., Secretary William Seward, riding in a carriage, narrowly avoids serious injury when a rocket, set off by a young boy, strikes him above his eye
  

1864. Maj. Gen. Sherman and staff

1865-

• One of the first "Freedmen" celebrations occurs, in Raleigh, N.C.
  
• Lincoln's "Emanicipation Proclamation" is publicly read in Warren, Ohio, and Belpassi, Oregon.
  
• The National Monument Association lays the cornerstone of the Soldier's Monument in Gettysburg.
  
• The Huntsville Advocate (Alabama) prints news about celebrations in Gettysburg and New York.
• The celebration by the Colored People's Educational Monument Association in memory of Abraham Lincoln occurs in Washington, D.C. and is the first national celebration by African-Americans in the U.S.
  
• In Albany, N.Y., 100 "tattered" Civil War battle flags are presented to the state and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is in attendance.
  
• In Savannah, Ga., Governor James Johnson addresses the citizens there telling them that slavery is dead and that they should renew their allegiance to the Government.
  
• At Saratoga Springs, N.Y., J.C. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, reads the Emancipation Proclamation.
  
• Union General William Tecumseh Sherman participates in a 4th of July civic celebration in Louisville, Ky., and witnesses a balloon ascension there.
  
• In Hopewell, New Jersey, a monument to the memory of John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is dedicated and New Jersey Governor Joel Parker delivers an oration

Pennsylvania Ave 1865

Its interesting to note as well that when July 4th fell on a Sunday, the anniversary was celebrated in most places on Monday, July 5.