Remembering the Civil War

1. On this day in Civil War History, Aug. 22, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln responded to "Prayer of Twenty Million," an article written by Horace Greeley in the New York Tribune, imploring the president to make the abolition of slavery the main aim of the war. President Lincoln said, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.” In Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, the New England Civil War Museum in Vernon will be presenting Mark your calendars for Sept. 25 at 4 p.m., as Dr. Matthew Warshauer, a history professor at Central Connecticut State University, will speak at the Museum about his new book of the same name. Also coming up at the New England Civil War Museum is its , which takes place Sunday, Aug. 28 from noon to 3 p.m.

2. On Sept. 24, Civil War buffs are invited to join historian and author Bill Hosley for to some of the state's most important, and sometimes unsung, Civil War collections and sites. The group will depart from and return to the Connecticut Historical Society, located at 1 Elizabeth St., Hartford. This trip is part of the society's Civil War 150 commemoration. To register for this trip, and for the complete itinerary, visit the historical society’s Web site or register by phone with a credit card by calling Mary Muller at 860-236-5621, ext. 209.

3. Another date to jot down is Oct. 15, when the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association in Hartford holds a family-friendly event to . Activities will include Boy Scout Troop 105 leading a flag-raising ceremony, a march through the cemetery with music and song, Kevin Johnson’s one-man performance of "The Life and Times of William Webb: An African American Civil War Soldier from Connecticut," and readings of Civil War send-offs and letters home. Following the conclusion of the march, visitors will be invited to stroll through a Civil War encampment scene by the 27th Connecticut regiment and take a tour of some of Cedar Hill’s Civil War graves.

Cedar Hill Cemetery also hosts a on Saturday, Aug. 27. Historian Dave Smith of the Hartford and New London Civil War Round Tables will conduct a lecture on Civil War prisons and escapes, cavalry life and capture and political implications. Following his talk, visitors will tour the final resting places of prisoners of the Civil War interred at Cedar Hill and hear stories of their bravery and resiliency.

4. On this day in history, 1989, Nolan Ryan, on the mound for the Texas Rangers, became the first player in Major League Baseball history to record 5,000 strikeouts.

5. Today is expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 80ºF. The expected low for tonight is a cool 55ºF, according to National Weather Service reports.