Today, Civil War historian Rick Britton talks about what was happening in the Civil War 150 years ago this month. Despite brutal winter weather, January of 1865 was filled with momentous events:

1) On the 9th & 11th, the Tennessee and Missouri state Constitutional Conventions voted to adopt amendments abolishing slavery.

2) On the 15th, after a three-day battle involving land & naval units, Fort Fisher, NC, fell to Union forces, thus cutting off the Confederacy’s last major port–Wilmington, NC. Over 10,000 men in the fighting on both sides: casualties totaled about 2,000. One of the Union generals, Adelbert Ames, lived to be 97. He died in 1933. He was the last surviving regular U.S. Army Civil War general.

3) On the 31st the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the House on a 119 to 56 vote, thus abolishing slavery. It was not officially law until ratified by two-thirds of the states on Dec. 18, 1865.

4) On that same day, the 31st, Robert E. Lee was made General-In-Chief of Confederate Armies.

Rick Britton’s OLLI at U.Va. lecture series–“Tales of the University”–starts on Thursday, Jan. 15. at Michie Tavern! Lectures include: on Jan. 15, “Edgar Allan Poe at U.Va.”; on Jan. 22, “John Singleton Mosby at the University”; & on Feb. 5, “The 1895 Rotunda Fire.”