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00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - #1010

  On Thursday, January 19, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln made an interesting request to General Ulysses Grant, inquiring if the general would consider a military appointment for Robert Lincoln, the president’s twenty-two year old son who had just graduated from Harvard but desired to participate in the Civil War “before it ends.”  Mary Lincoln had for several years thwarted Robert’s desire to enter the military.  Somewhat embarrassed by his request, the president asked Grant to respond not as if he were president, but as a friend.  Grant soon appointed Robert Lincoln to the rank of captain and assigned him as an assistant adjutant general on his personal staff, a position minimizing the young man’s chances of being harmed in combat, a fact not lost on either of Robert’s grateful parents.