Today is Saturday, November 7, 2009 Today in U.S. Civil War History 1861 - The Battle of Belmont, Missouri took place. Union General Ulysses S. Grant overran a Confederate camp, but was forced to leave when additional Confederate troops arrived. 1862 - U.S. President Lincoln replaced General George B. MeClellan with General Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac. U.S. Civil War Quotes "I failed, I failed, and that is about all that can be said about it." - Abraham Lincoln's self-criticism of his famous "Gettysburg Address"