The “Grand Campaign” Under Way – The Day before The Battle of the Wilderness 

Pontoon-Bridges at Germanna Ford, on the Rapidan. Here the Sixth Corps vinder Sedgwick and Warren’s Fifth Corps began crossing on the morning of May 4, 1864. The Second Corps, under Hancock, crossed at Elys Ford, farther to the east. The cavalry, under Sheridan, was in advance, by night the army, with the exception of Burnside’s Ninth Corps, was south of the Rapidan, advancing into the Wilderness. The Ninth Corps (a reserve of twenty thousand men) remained temporarily north of the Rappahannock, guarding railway communications. On the wooden pontoon-bridge the rear-guard is crossing while the pontonniers are taking up the canvas bridge beyond. The movement was magnificently managed; Grant believed it to be a complete surprise, as Lee had offered no opposition. That was yet to come. In the baffling fighting of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House, Grant was to lose a third of his superior number, arriving a month later on the James with a dispirited army that had left behind 54,926 comrades in a month.

 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain 

On May 4, 1626, Peter Minuit arrived at New Netherland to serve as the Dutch colony’s director. 

Peter Minuit portrait via Wikimedia Commons, public domain 

 Snow drifts on Main Street in Calumet, Michigan

May 4, 1893

Image via The J. Paul Getty Museum, no known restrictions 

Nathaniel Greene Homestead, Anthony (Coventry Town), Rhode Island 

On May 4, 1776, two months before the Declaration of Independence was ratified, Rhode Island legislators boldly renounce allegiance to Britain.

Image: postcard via Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts, no known restrictions 

A watercolor titled Rocky Mountains, May 4, 1885, created by Mary King Longfellow, niece of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

via Wikimedia Commons, public domain 

Born May 4, 1826 artist Frederic Edwin Church was an important figure in the 19th century Hudson River School of landscape painting. Several of his works, like “Niagara,” “The Icebergs,” and “The Heart of the Andes” are known for their artistry, attention to detail, and large size. The latter, for example, measures five feet by ten.

Image via National Portrait Gallery via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US

Chicago Police Officer Mathias J. Degan who lost his life during the Haymarket riot and bombing in Chicago on May 4, 1886.
Seven other police officers were mortally wounded in the incident. 

Degan was 34 years old. 

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

On May 4, 1961, the first bus of Freedom Riders left Washington, DC. The civil rights activists rode buses throughout the south to publicize that segregation on public buses still existed despite a ruling that it was illegal. Many of the Freedom Riders faced violence, arrests and “jail without bail” treatment.

Image from Center on Civil and Human Rights by Adam Jones via Wikimedia Commons, CCA-SA 2.0 Generic.

American architect and West Point Graduate John Augur Holabird was born on May 4, 1886 in Evanston, Illinois.

Holabird took over the architectural firm that his father partnered and built skyscrapers in Chicago.

Holabird passed away on his 59th birthday, May 4, 1945.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Construction of the Panama Canal in 1913, about a year before it was completed.

On May 4, 1904 the U.S. took over the construction of the Panama Canal. 

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Ernest Hemingway writing on a table at his campsite in Kenya in 1953.

On May 4, 1953, Ernest Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for his short novel, The Old Man and the Sea.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

A photo of the Clown Motel along Main Street (U.S. Routes 6 and 95) in Tonopah, Nevada that was taken on May 4, 2015. 

Known as “America’s Scariest Motel,” it features a unique clown-themed atmosphere and sits next to the historic Tonopah Cemetery. The motel has more than 30 rooms, each decorated with clown artwork, and even houses a Clown Museum with over 5,000 clown-related items. 

Image from Famartin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 4.0

The Mask, 1902 by American artist Thomas Wilmer Dewing who was born in Massachusetts on May 4, 1851.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain 

 U.S.S. Montana, May 4, 1912

Image via LOC, no known restrictions 

“We do ourselves the most good doing something for others.“

Horace Mann, who was born on May 4, 1796 in 1796
Franklin, Massachusetts.

Image via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions.