Started By
Message
re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 1/23/15 at 9:24 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 1/23/15 at 9:24 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 24 January 1865
The Congress of the Confederate States of America offered again to exchange prisoners with the Federals. This time, however, Union Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant tentatively accepted the offer. His previous refusal to exchange prisoners had been intended to cut down Southern manpower even further. He might have changed his position now that returning prisoners of war seemed unlikely to stop the Confederacy’s imminent defeat.
In detail: Today the Confederate Congress agrees to continue prisoner exchanges, opening a process that had operated only sporadically for three years.
In the first year of the War Between the States, prisoner exchanges were conducted primarily between field generals on an ad hoc basis. The Union was reluctant to enter any formal agreements, fearing that it would legitimize the Confederate government. But the issue became more important as the campaigns escalated in 1862. In July 1862, Union General John Dix and Confederate General Daniel H. Hill reached an agreement in which each soldier was assigned a value according to rank. For example, one private was worth another private; corporals and sergeants were worth two privates; and lieutenants were worth three privates. A commanding general was worth 60 privates. Under this system, thousands of soldiers were exchanged rather than languishing in prisons like those in Richmond, Virginia, or Elmira, New York.
The system was really a gentlemen's agreement, relying on the trust of each side. It initially broke down in 1862 when Confederates refused to exchange black Union soldiers. From 1862 to 1865, prisoner exchanges were rare. When they did happen, it was usually because two local commanders came to a workable agreement. The result of the breakdown was the swelling of prisoner-of-war camps in both the North and South. The most notorious of all the camps besides Elmira were Andersonville, in Georgia, and Douglas, in Chicago.
Though the prisoner exchanges were finally resumed, the end of the War was so close that it did not make much difference.
Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest assumed command of the Confederate District of Mississippi, East Louisiana and West Tennessee. Forrest had just three cavalry divisions to defend this region.
Skirmishing occurred at Fayetteville, Arkansas and also at Bayou Goula, between White Castle and Plaquemine, Louisiana. A Federal expedition began from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and travelled to Eleven Points River, Arkansas.
President Abraham Lincoln sent a telegraph to Vice-President-elect Andrew Johnson at Nashville, instructing Johnson to be in Washington for the March 4 inauguration ceremony.
President Jefferson Davis conferred with Vice President Alexander Stephens for the first time since the Confederate government moved to Richmond in 1861. Davis showed him Lincoln’s letter from 18 January and asked his opinion. Stephens, an old friend of Lincoln’s, advised Davis to form a peace commission, "...at least so far as to obtain if possible a conference on the subject."
Flag Officer John K. Mitchell's James River Squadron launched its downstream assault late last evening with high hopes in Richmond that victory afloat would turn the tide ashore. The Union squadron defending Major General William T. Sherman commenced his March to the north from Savannah while the ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron operated in the rivers in the proximity of his army. These naval operations served to protect Sherman's army and simultaneously forced the Confederate commanders to spread thin their remaining forces. Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren reported to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles the deployment of the naval vessels supporting the advance of Sherman's men: "I have the Dai Ching and a tug in the Combahee to assist the move at that ferry. The Sonoma is in the North Edisto, and the Pawnee leaves at early light with a tug for the Ashepoo, where a battery and obstructions are reported. The orders of all are to drive in the Rebel pickets and knock down his batteries where they can be reached. The Tuscarora, Mingoe, State of Georgia, and Nipsic are at Georgetown, with orders to prevent the erection there of any batteries. The Pontiac is in the Savannah River at Purysburg, advancing with General Sherman's extreme left. The demonstrations desired by General Sherman at Charleston may be said to be begun by the collection there of so many ironclads."
Brevetted Major General Orlando B. Wilcox, USA, is placed in temporary command of the Ninth US Army Corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
The Congress of the Confederate States of America offered again to exchange prisoners with the Federals. This time, however, Union Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant tentatively accepted the offer. His previous refusal to exchange prisoners had been intended to cut down Southern manpower even further. He might have changed his position now that returning prisoners of war seemed unlikely to stop the Confederacy’s imminent defeat.
In detail: Today the Confederate Congress agrees to continue prisoner exchanges, opening a process that had operated only sporadically for three years.
In the first year of the War Between the States, prisoner exchanges were conducted primarily between field generals on an ad hoc basis. The Union was reluctant to enter any formal agreements, fearing that it would legitimize the Confederate government. But the issue became more important as the campaigns escalated in 1862. In July 1862, Union General John Dix and Confederate General Daniel H. Hill reached an agreement in which each soldier was assigned a value according to rank. For example, one private was worth another private; corporals and sergeants were worth two privates; and lieutenants were worth three privates. A commanding general was worth 60 privates. Under this system, thousands of soldiers were exchanged rather than languishing in prisons like those in Richmond, Virginia, or Elmira, New York.
The system was really a gentlemen's agreement, relying on the trust of each side. It initially broke down in 1862 when Confederates refused to exchange black Union soldiers. From 1862 to 1865, prisoner exchanges were rare. When they did happen, it was usually because two local commanders came to a workable agreement. The result of the breakdown was the swelling of prisoner-of-war camps in both the North and South. The most notorious of all the camps besides Elmira were Andersonville, in Georgia, and Douglas, in Chicago.
Though the prisoner exchanges were finally resumed, the end of the War was so close that it did not make much difference.
Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest assumed command of the Confederate District of Mississippi, East Louisiana and West Tennessee. Forrest had just three cavalry divisions to defend this region.
Skirmishing occurred at Fayetteville, Arkansas and also at Bayou Goula, between White Castle and Plaquemine, Louisiana. A Federal expedition began from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and travelled to Eleven Points River, Arkansas.
President Abraham Lincoln sent a telegraph to Vice-President-elect Andrew Johnson at Nashville, instructing Johnson to be in Washington for the March 4 inauguration ceremony.
President Jefferson Davis conferred with Vice President Alexander Stephens for the first time since the Confederate government moved to Richmond in 1861. Davis showed him Lincoln’s letter from 18 January and asked his opinion. Stephens, an old friend of Lincoln’s, advised Davis to form a peace commission, "...at least so far as to obtain if possible a conference on the subject."
Flag Officer John K. Mitchell's James River Squadron launched its downstream assault late last evening with high hopes in Richmond that victory afloat would turn the tide ashore. The Union squadron defending Major General William T. Sherman commenced his March to the north from Savannah while the ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron operated in the rivers in the proximity of his army. These naval operations served to protect Sherman's army and simultaneously forced the Confederate commanders to spread thin their remaining forces. Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren reported to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles the deployment of the naval vessels supporting the advance of Sherman's men: "I have the Dai Ching and a tug in the Combahee to assist the move at that ferry. The Sonoma is in the North Edisto, and the Pawnee leaves at early light with a tug for the Ashepoo, where a battery and obstructions are reported. The orders of all are to drive in the Rebel pickets and knock down his batteries where they can be reached. The Tuscarora, Mingoe, State of Georgia, and Nipsic are at Georgetown, with orders to prevent the erection there of any batteries. The Pontiac is in the Savannah River at Purysburg, advancing with General Sherman's extreme left. The demonstrations desired by General Sherman at Charleston may be said to be begun by the collection there of so many ironclads."
Brevetted Major General Orlando B. Wilcox, USA, is placed in temporary command of the Ninth US Army Corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
This post was edited on 1/24/15 at 6:16 am
1
Posted on 1/24/15 at 10:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 25 January 1865
The successful Confederate commerce raiding cruiser, CSS Shenandoah, arrives at Melbourne, Australia, for repairs and provisions and later left for the northern Pacific to harass Federal whaling and fishing fleets.
Full report: The CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, put into Melbourne for repairs and provisions 108 days out of England. Although the cruiser had taken no prizes for four weeks and remained considerably undermanned, Waddell reported that the berthing spaces would accommodate 150 men comfortably but that he had only 51 crew men on board-the Lieutenant promptly wrote Flag Officer Barton in Paris: "I am getting along boldly and cheerfully," To Secretary Mallory he reported: "...when I have done all that which you have directed me to do I shall be better able to decide what ought to be done with the Shenandoah. I shall keep her afloat as long as she is, in my opinion, serviceable." Without the dry docking and machinery repairs accomplished at Melbourne, Waddell would not have been able to carry out his mission against American whalers in the Pacific.
Captain Thomas Jefferson Page, a grandson of a writer of the Declaration of Independence, reported that the CSS Stonewall was now at sea off the coast of France and wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory: "You must not expect too much of me; I fear that the power and effect of this vessel have been too much exaggerated. We will do our best."
A skirmish took place near Simpsonville, in Shelby County, Kentucky, where the Union cattle guard composed of Negro soldiers are attacked by Confederate partisans with the Yankees losing a large number of killed and wounded, as well as the bovines.
Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals scouted from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River, South Carolina, in order: "...to amuse the enemy."
A Union expedition travelled from Irish Bottom to Evans' Island, Tennessee, in an attempt to secure beef cattle. The river was so full of ice, however, that the Yankees could not get them off the island.
A skirmish occurred near Powhatan, Virginia, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Shortly after dawn, a boarding party from the USS Tristram Shandy, under Acting Lieutenant Francis M. Green, seized the blockade running steamer Blenheim just inside the bar at New Inlet, North Carolina. Blenheim had run into the approach to Wilmington unaware that Federal forces now controlled the area and anchored off the Mound battery. "At the time of boarding," Green reported, "they were endeavoring to get the vessel underway." Blenheim was the third prize to be lured into Union hands by the Confederate range lights at the Mound which Rear Admiral David D. Porter had kept burning.
President Jefferson Davis summoned John A. Campbell, Robert Hunter, and Vice President Alexander Stephens to inform them that they had been chosen to be peace commissioners, despite Stephens' protest against being included in the mission. Campbell was a former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Confederate Assistant Secretary of War (the highest ranking member of the U.S. government to join the Confederacy), Hunter was the Confederate Senate pro tem and former Confederate Secretary of State as well as U.S. Senator, and Stephens was a former U.S. Congressman.
Davis issued the commissioners instructions: "In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln...you are requested to proceed to Washington City for an informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries."
The successful Confederate commerce raiding cruiser, CSS Shenandoah, arrives at Melbourne, Australia, for repairs and provisions and later left for the northern Pacific to harass Federal whaling and fishing fleets.
Full report: The CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, put into Melbourne for repairs and provisions 108 days out of England. Although the cruiser had taken no prizes for four weeks and remained considerably undermanned, Waddell reported that the berthing spaces would accommodate 150 men comfortably but that he had only 51 crew men on board-the Lieutenant promptly wrote Flag Officer Barton in Paris: "I am getting along boldly and cheerfully," To Secretary Mallory he reported: "...when I have done all that which you have directed me to do I shall be better able to decide what ought to be done with the Shenandoah. I shall keep her afloat as long as she is, in my opinion, serviceable." Without the dry docking and machinery repairs accomplished at Melbourne, Waddell would not have been able to carry out his mission against American whalers in the Pacific.
Captain Thomas Jefferson Page, a grandson of a writer of the Declaration of Independence, reported that the CSS Stonewall was now at sea off the coast of France and wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory: "You must not expect too much of me; I fear that the power and effect of this vessel have been too much exaggerated. We will do our best."
A skirmish took place near Simpsonville, in Shelby County, Kentucky, where the Union cattle guard composed of Negro soldiers are attacked by Confederate partisans with the Yankees losing a large number of killed and wounded, as well as the bovines.
Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals scouted from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River, South Carolina, in order: "...to amuse the enemy."
A Union expedition travelled from Irish Bottom to Evans' Island, Tennessee, in an attempt to secure beef cattle. The river was so full of ice, however, that the Yankees could not get them off the island.
A skirmish occurred near Powhatan, Virginia, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Shortly after dawn, a boarding party from the USS Tristram Shandy, under Acting Lieutenant Francis M. Green, seized the blockade running steamer Blenheim just inside the bar at New Inlet, North Carolina. Blenheim had run into the approach to Wilmington unaware that Federal forces now controlled the area and anchored off the Mound battery. "At the time of boarding," Green reported, "they were endeavoring to get the vessel underway." Blenheim was the third prize to be lured into Union hands by the Confederate range lights at the Mound which Rear Admiral David D. Porter had kept burning.
President Jefferson Davis summoned John A. Campbell, Robert Hunter, and Vice President Alexander Stephens to inform them that they had been chosen to be peace commissioners, despite Stephens' protest against being included in the mission. Campbell was a former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Confederate Assistant Secretary of War (the highest ranking member of the U.S. government to join the Confederacy), Hunter was the Confederate Senate pro tem and former Confederate Secretary of State as well as U.S. Senator, and Stephens was a former U.S. Congressman.
Davis issued the commissioners instructions: "In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln...you are requested to proceed to Washington City for an informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries."
Posted on 1/25/15 at 1:18 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Conclusions...Jefferson Davis was not a wartime President.He was an idiot. Braxton Bragg was an idiot. And he was a good friend of Davis. John Pemberton was another good friend of Davis. And he was another idiot.
Robert E.Lee should have been President of the Confederacy, and James Longstreet should have commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. Instead of being a corps commander Stonewall Jackson should have been in command in the West.
Things might have been very different.
Robert E.Lee should have been President of the Confederacy, and James Longstreet should have commanded the Army of Northern Virginia. Instead of being a corps commander Stonewall Jackson should have been in command in the West.
Things might have been very different.
Posted on 1/25/15 at 3:22 pm to antibarner
Interesting commentary, antibarner. Got time for a rebuttal? If Jefferson Davis was not elected President, it's likely the new nation's chief executive would've been Robert Toombs. Seems Confederate leaders rejected Toombs because of a perceived drinking problem. He had no diplomatic skills but Davis chose him as the Secretary of State. Toombs was the only member of Davis' administration to voice reservations about the attack on Fort Sumter. After reading Lincoln's letter to the governor of South Carolina, Toombs said memorably: "Mr. President, at this time it is suicide, murder, and will lose us every friend at the North. You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountain to ocean, and legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary; it puts us in the wrong; it is fatal."
Virtually no one but a Bragg relative could argue your second point.
As for Pemberton, he was promoted to lieutenant general in October of 1862 and assigned command of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana. With orders to hold Vicksburg at all costs, Pemberton expended a great deal of energy revamping its defenses, as well as improving defenses along the Mississippi River. In spite of these efforts—and Union defeats at Holly Springs and Chickasaw Bluffs—there was little Pemberton could do in the face of the impending Union attack on Vicksburg. To make matters worse, General Joseph E. Johnston reassigned Pemberton's cavalry to the Army of Tennessee. So in May '63, when General Hiram U. Grant's campaign to take the city began in earnest, Pemberton was deprived of vital intelligence about his enemy's whereabouts. Poor communication and lack of coordination with Johnston, as well as the Pemberton's own tactical errors, would lead to defeats at Champion Hill and Big Black River Bridge, so Pemberton was forced to back into the aforementioned Vicksburg defenses. Two failed attempts to take the city by direct assault demonstrated the strength of Vicksburg's protection and compelled Grant to lay siege to the city. Despite his constant pleas to Johnston for aid, Pemberton was completely isolated. Eventually, lack of supplies and starvation took their toll.
Robert E. Lee had no political aspirations, and only took command in June of 1862 when Johnston was severely wounded at Seven Pines. Davis took the opportunity to place his military advisor, Lee, in charge of what would eventually become the Army of Northern Virginia.
I personally like James Longstreet as a corps commander, although people with ancestors who got butchered at Knoxville in late 1863 might disagree. I like his second wife, Helen Dortch, even better.
As for my favorite Confederate commander in the Eastern theatre, Thomas J. Jackson, he was best as the hammer to Lee's anvil, IMVHO. Together they were virtually unbeatable regardless of the odds.
The winning of the West likely hinged on Albert S. Johnston not bleeding to death the first day at Shiloh without his surgeon to provide a tourniquet. Grant probably gets his tail kicked that afternoon with Johnston commanding and keeping the pressure on. He might have been the best overall general the South had in any theater.
After much study, I think the outcome of the War hinged on three factors. 1) The Union Navy was critical at almost every engagement where there was a navigable waterway and kept the pressure on by shutting out Southern shipping for badly needed supplies. 2) Virginian George H. Thomas batting almost 1.000 for the Yankees in battle. 3) John Bell Hood being the primary battlefield factor in Lincoln's reelection by losing Atlanta so quickly and later allowing Schofield to escape the trap his Army of Tennessee had set.
Virtually no one but a Bragg relative could argue your second point.
As for Pemberton, he was promoted to lieutenant general in October of 1862 and assigned command of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana. With orders to hold Vicksburg at all costs, Pemberton expended a great deal of energy revamping its defenses, as well as improving defenses along the Mississippi River. In spite of these efforts—and Union defeats at Holly Springs and Chickasaw Bluffs—there was little Pemberton could do in the face of the impending Union attack on Vicksburg. To make matters worse, General Joseph E. Johnston reassigned Pemberton's cavalry to the Army of Tennessee. So in May '63, when General Hiram U. Grant's campaign to take the city began in earnest, Pemberton was deprived of vital intelligence about his enemy's whereabouts. Poor communication and lack of coordination with Johnston, as well as the Pemberton's own tactical errors, would lead to defeats at Champion Hill and Big Black River Bridge, so Pemberton was forced to back into the aforementioned Vicksburg defenses. Two failed attempts to take the city by direct assault demonstrated the strength of Vicksburg's protection and compelled Grant to lay siege to the city. Despite his constant pleas to Johnston for aid, Pemberton was completely isolated. Eventually, lack of supplies and starvation took their toll.
Robert E. Lee had no political aspirations, and only took command in June of 1862 when Johnston was severely wounded at Seven Pines. Davis took the opportunity to place his military advisor, Lee, in charge of what would eventually become the Army of Northern Virginia.
I personally like James Longstreet as a corps commander, although people with ancestors who got butchered at Knoxville in late 1863 might disagree. I like his second wife, Helen Dortch, even better.
As for my favorite Confederate commander in the Eastern theatre, Thomas J. Jackson, he was best as the hammer to Lee's anvil, IMVHO. Together they were virtually unbeatable regardless of the odds.
The winning of the West likely hinged on Albert S. Johnston not bleeding to death the first day at Shiloh without his surgeon to provide a tourniquet. Grant probably gets his tail kicked that afternoon with Johnston commanding and keeping the pressure on. He might have been the best overall general the South had in any theater.
After much study, I think the outcome of the War hinged on three factors. 1) The Union Navy was critical at almost every engagement where there was a navigable waterway and kept the pressure on by shutting out Southern shipping for badly needed supplies. 2) Virginian George H. Thomas batting almost 1.000 for the Yankees in battle. 3) John Bell Hood being the primary battlefield factor in Lincoln's reelection by losing Atlanta so quickly and later allowing Schofield to escape the trap his Army of Tennessee had set.
Posted on 1/25/15 at 9:09 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 26 January 1865
The USS Dai Ching, Lieutenant Commander James C. Chaplin, operating, on the right flank of General W. T. Sherman's army in the Combahee River, ran aground while engaging Confederate batteries. After a seven hour battle, and only after all her guns were out of operation, the Dai Ching was abandoned and fired by her crew. The tug USS Clover, Acting Ensign Franklin S. Leach in charge, which had been in company with the Dai Ching, captured the blockade running schooner Coquette with a cargo of cotton.
A skirmish occurred at Paint Rock, Alabama.
Federal troops scout from Pine Bluff toward Camden and Monticello, Arkansas, with several skirmishes against small groups of partisan guerrillas, as both sides leave men lying on the ground in lasting peaceful serenity.
A Union expedition travels from Plaquemine to Parks, Louisiana, with a skirmish taking place at Parks.
Another skirmish breaks out near Pocotaligo, South Carolina, with Major General William T. Sherman's Union troops against Confederate partisans.
A Federal expedition reconnoiters from Memphis, Tennessee, into Southeastern Arkansas and Northeastern Louisiana, as the Yankees lay waste to vast amounts of Confederate provisions, food, and supplies, including the capture of the Southern transport, Jim Barkman, that was loading corn for the Confederates at Camden.
The Confederate picket boat Hornet was sunk and Lieutenant Aeneas Armstrong, CSN, was drowned as a result of the collision between the Hornet and the steamer Allison on the James River.
The USS Dai Ching, Lieutenant Commander James C. Chaplin, operating, on the right flank of General W. T. Sherman's army in the Combahee River, ran aground while engaging Confederate batteries. After a seven hour battle, and only after all her guns were out of operation, the Dai Ching was abandoned and fired by her crew. The tug USS Clover, Acting Ensign Franklin S. Leach in charge, which had been in company with the Dai Ching, captured the blockade running schooner Coquette with a cargo of cotton.
A skirmish occurred at Paint Rock, Alabama.
Federal troops scout from Pine Bluff toward Camden and Monticello, Arkansas, with several skirmishes against small groups of partisan guerrillas, as both sides leave men lying on the ground in lasting peaceful serenity.
A Union expedition travels from Plaquemine to Parks, Louisiana, with a skirmish taking place at Parks.
Another skirmish breaks out near Pocotaligo, South Carolina, with Major General William T. Sherman's Union troops against Confederate partisans.
A Federal expedition reconnoiters from Memphis, Tennessee, into Southeastern Arkansas and Northeastern Louisiana, as the Yankees lay waste to vast amounts of Confederate provisions, food, and supplies, including the capture of the Southern transport, Jim Barkman, that was loading corn for the Confederates at Camden.
The Confederate picket boat Hornet was sunk and Lieutenant Aeneas Armstrong, CSN, was drowned as a result of the collision between the Hornet and the steamer Allison on the James River.
Posted on 1/26/15 at 8:18 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 27 January 1865
In Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee pointed out to officials in Richmond that there was an “alarming” frequency of desertion in the army, that the rations were too meager and that the Commissary Department could do a much better job in supplying the Army of Northern Virginia.
Thomas John Wood, USA, is appointed Major General.
Charles Camp Doolittle, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Skirmishing occurs at Elrod's Tanyard, DeKalb County, Alabama, with Confederate partisans, as the 18th US Colored Infantry lose several men as they travel from Bridgeport, Alabama, aboard the US transport, Bridgeport, and encounter guerrillas.
A Federal expedition from Fort Pinney aboard the Union gunboat, No. 28, to Kimball's Plantation, Arkansas, where because Mrs. Kimball lied about her husband's whereabouts (he was hiding under the floorboards), the Yankees burn their plantation to the ground.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA, is assigned to the command of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana.
Skirmishing in South Carolina was limited to Ennis’ Cross Roads.
Major General Gouverneur K. Warren, USA, resumes the command of the Fifth US Army Corps, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
The Federals capture and refloat the Confederate torpedo boat, Scorpion, on the James River, below Richmond, Virginia. After dark, a launch commanded by Acting Ensign Thomas Morgan from the USS Eutaw proceeded up the James River past the obstructions at Trent's Reach and captured the CSS Scorpion. The torpedo boat had run aground during the Confederate attempt to steam downriver on the 23rd and 24th and had been abandoned after Union mortar fire destroyed the CSS Drewry which was similarly stranded nearby. Morgan reported: "Finding her hard aground, I immediately proceeded to get her afloat and succeeded in doing so, and repassed the obstruction on my return to the fleet about 10:30 p.m." Scorpion was found to be little damaged by the explosion of Drewry, contrary to Confederate estimates, and Chief Engineer Alexander Henderson, who examined her, reported approvingly: "...she has fair speed for a boat of her kind, and is well adapted for the purpose for which she was built." The Scorpion was reported to be 46 feet in length, 6 feet 3 inches beam, and 3 feet 9 inches in depth.
A tremendous fire devastated Savannah, Georgia, which was under Federal military occupation. The fire lasted 18 hours and destroyed over 200 homes. Federals and Confederates blamed each other for starting the blaze, which caused much resentment among the residents.
In Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee pointed out to officials in Richmond that there was an “alarming” frequency of desertion in the army, that the rations were too meager and that the Commissary Department could do a much better job in supplying the Army of Northern Virginia.
Thomas John Wood, USA, is appointed Major General.
Charles Camp Doolittle, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Skirmishing occurs at Elrod's Tanyard, DeKalb County, Alabama, with Confederate partisans, as the 18th US Colored Infantry lose several men as they travel from Bridgeport, Alabama, aboard the US transport, Bridgeport, and encounter guerrillas.
A Federal expedition from Fort Pinney aboard the Union gunboat, No. 28, to Kimball's Plantation, Arkansas, where because Mrs. Kimball lied about her husband's whereabouts (he was hiding under the floorboards), the Yankees burn their plantation to the ground.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA, is assigned to the command of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana.
Skirmishing in South Carolina was limited to Ennis’ Cross Roads.
Major General Gouverneur K. Warren, USA, resumes the command of the Fifth US Army Corps, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
The Federals capture and refloat the Confederate torpedo boat, Scorpion, on the James River, below Richmond, Virginia. After dark, a launch commanded by Acting Ensign Thomas Morgan from the USS Eutaw proceeded up the James River past the obstructions at Trent's Reach and captured the CSS Scorpion. The torpedo boat had run aground during the Confederate attempt to steam downriver on the 23rd and 24th and had been abandoned after Union mortar fire destroyed the CSS Drewry which was similarly stranded nearby. Morgan reported: "Finding her hard aground, I immediately proceeded to get her afloat and succeeded in doing so, and repassed the obstruction on my return to the fleet about 10:30 p.m." Scorpion was found to be little damaged by the explosion of Drewry, contrary to Confederate estimates, and Chief Engineer Alexander Henderson, who examined her, reported approvingly: "...she has fair speed for a boat of her kind, and is well adapted for the purpose for which she was built." The Scorpion was reported to be 46 feet in length, 6 feet 3 inches beam, and 3 feet 9 inches in depth.
A tremendous fire devastated Savannah, Georgia, which was under Federal military occupation. The fire lasted 18 hours and destroyed over 200 homes. Federals and Confederates blamed each other for starting the blaze, which caused much resentment among the residents.
Posted on 1/26/15 at 8:20 pm to BadLeroyDawg
quote:
Federals and Confederates blamed each other for starting the blaze
He said, she said...
Posted on 1/27/15 at 5:00 am to TbirdSpur2010
Yep, TbirdSpur, and they're still debating who "actually" burned Atlanta too. Right sure the Savannah residents still left were not burning down their homes in the middle of winter. Damned Yankees.
Posted on 1/27/15 at 8:17 am to BadLeroyDawg
Looter vs Looter IMO.
I love this thread btw!
I love this thread btw!
Posted on 1/27/15 at 10:11 am to DawgSmoke
Thanks DawgSmoke! True dat on Looter vs Looter, although they were referred to by the Southerners as "Bummers" for obvious reasons. Interesting thread for our Texas brethren below one Chatter posted on another site.
Shannon's Scouts
By late January 1865, the death knell was tolling loudly for the Confederacy. It was a month after the fall of Savannah, Ga., the finale to Union Gen. William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. On Jan. 21, as his army rested in Savannah, Sherman penned a letter to Gen. James H. Wilson, commander of the federal cavalry. Using his typically brash and cocksure language, Sherman congratulated Wilson and himself on the success of the march. "I Knocked daylight through Georgia, and in retreating south like a sensible man I gathered up some plunder and walked into this beautiful City," Sherman wrote, "whilst you & Thomas gave Hood & Forest a taste of what they have to Expect by trying to meddle with our Conquered Territory."
The two Union generals were already preparing the second phase of their master plan: the Carolinas Campaign. Sherman would march north through North and South Carolina, while Wilson would sweep west across Alabama. They intended to combine forces with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's armies in Virginia and finally face Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Petersburg, Va. But while the Confederates were still staggering from their losses in Georgia and might have felt the noose tightening, they didn't plan on acquiescing to Sherman. They had a few final tricks in mind.
If the Confederates couldn't defeat the Union armies head to head, they still could fall back on the sort of fast-moving cavalry tactics at which they had so often excelled. Rebel commanders ordered Capt. Alexander May Shannon to gather an elite group of 20 to 30 men from a crack Texas cavalry regiment to go on high-risk scouting missions around Sherman's forces - if not to defeat them, then at least to slow and weaken them before they got to Grant.
The Eighth Texas Cavalry, better known as Terry's Texas Rangers, was already revered by the Confederacy and vilified by the Union. The Rangers were often referred to as a "shock troop," an outfit designed to lead stealth attacks. The regiment went on secret missions, often cloaked in blue overcoats, destroyed railway and telegraph lines, dipped behind enemy lines and gunned down Yankees at close range. They often led at the front and then covered the rear of the main force, the first and last line of offense and defense.
The Rangers were frequently given the dirty work other soldiers couldn't stomach - and they didn't take many prisoners. Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, often cited as one of the early founders of the Ku Klux Klan, once suggested that an outnumbered Union regiment surrender because "he had five hundred Texas Rangers he couldn't control in a fight."
Captain Shannon was the ideal commander to lead the Rangers' scouting group, which was nicknamed "Shannon's Scouts." The 26-year-old was aggressive, shrewd and fearless. He also understood how to conduct covert reconnaissance assignments. Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood often sent Shannon and his scouts inside enemy lines, collecting intelligence and attacking Yankees caught ransacking Southern homes.
"Shannon's Scouts" followed Sherman across Georgia and through the Carolinas in January 1865. They ran raids on his units and gathered valuable troop information. One of their main goals was to unhinge Sherman's "bummers" - a nickname given to the general's foraging teams that requisitioned food from Southern homes. They became notorious for looting and vandalizing. Shannon's Scouts sought revenge.
Shannon was to attack any federal troops they encountered; if the scouts were overpowered and couldn't retreat, they would separate and hide. They would even try to go on the offensive and capture any federal stragglers.
They were frequently outgunned and outnumbered, but astonishingly successful. They captured scores of Yankees; at one point a group of 15 guarded more than 100 Union prisoners. They would arm citizens with the prisoners' weapons so the scouts could move on. Once, they even handed over guns to schoolboys and asked them to take the prisoners to Macon, Ga., which remained in rebel territory.
One scout, Robert Leander Dunman, later described how he and 17 others ran across a brigade of hundreds of federals. "We were quite as much surprised as they were," Dunman wrote in a letter to his family, "but rather than let them discover our weakness in number, we began yelling and shooting as we came, making enough noise and bedlam for several times our number … they evidently thought the entire Confederate army was after them, for they started to run."
As the Union thundered through the Carolinas, the Scouts became increasingly aggressive. Federal soldiers frequently accused Shannon's Scouts of murdering prisoners after they had surrendered. General Sherman went into a fury when more than two dozen of his men were slaughtered, with a message left on their bodies. "It is officially reported to me that our foraging parties are murdered after capture and labeled 'Death to all foragers,'" Sherman wrote in a letter to Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton. "One instance of a lieutenant and seven men near Chesterville; I have ordered a similar number of prisoners in our hands to be disposed of in like manner."
General Hampton assured Sherman that if he dared execute any rebel prisoners that the Confederacy would kill twice as many federal men. Union Gen. Judson Kilpatrick blamed Shannon's Scouts for the murders. Kilpatrick even offered $5,000 for Shannon's capture, a reward that was never collected.
No one knows exactly how many soldiers Shannon's men killed or captured, though he claimed his team assassinated almost 500 men during the March to the Sea.
When Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, orders to surrender went out to all Confederate troops. But Shannon's Scouts refused; instead, they scattered. Shannon himself stayed loyal to the Confederate government, and was assigned to escort the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, on his escape from Richmond, Va. Davis was caught before Shannon could reach him.
After the war Shannon returned to his ranch on the San Antonio River in Karnes County but soon entered the insurance business with John B. Hood in New Orleans in 1869. When the business prospered and grew, he moved to Galveston to take charge of its Texas branch. There he met and married Clara Viola Scott, the daughter of Maj. William Bibb and Bettie (Murphy) Scott, on February 21, 1872. She was the granddaughter of Gen John B. Scott, cofounder of Montgomery, Alabama, and John H. Murphy, fourth governor of Alabama. They had seven children. In 1880 Shannon was engaged in government contract work, employing as many as 300 men building jetties and other public works. He also had a line of barges and tugs employing another sixteen men. In 1886 he issued a proposal to build a Galveston seawall. But the proposal failed. Four years later the city was destroyed by the great hurricane of 1900.
In 1890 Shannon became general manager of the Galveston and Western Railway; in 1891 he chartered the Galveston Jetty Railroad; in 1893 he became postmaster of Galveston. He became a Mason in May 1860 and was active as such thereafter. In politics he was a Democrat. He died on October 26, 1906, in Galveston and was buried in the Episcopal Cemetery.
Shannon's Scouts
By late January 1865, the death knell was tolling loudly for the Confederacy. It was a month after the fall of Savannah, Ga., the finale to Union Gen. William T. Sherman's March to the Sea. On Jan. 21, as his army rested in Savannah, Sherman penned a letter to Gen. James H. Wilson, commander of the federal cavalry. Using his typically brash and cocksure language, Sherman congratulated Wilson and himself on the success of the march. "I Knocked daylight through Georgia, and in retreating south like a sensible man I gathered up some plunder and walked into this beautiful City," Sherman wrote, "whilst you & Thomas gave Hood & Forest a taste of what they have to Expect by trying to meddle with our Conquered Territory."
The two Union generals were already preparing the second phase of their master plan: the Carolinas Campaign. Sherman would march north through North and South Carolina, while Wilson would sweep west across Alabama. They intended to combine forces with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's armies in Virginia and finally face Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Petersburg, Va. But while the Confederates were still staggering from their losses in Georgia and might have felt the noose tightening, they didn't plan on acquiescing to Sherman. They had a few final tricks in mind.
If the Confederates couldn't defeat the Union armies head to head, they still could fall back on the sort of fast-moving cavalry tactics at which they had so often excelled. Rebel commanders ordered Capt. Alexander May Shannon to gather an elite group of 20 to 30 men from a crack Texas cavalry regiment to go on high-risk scouting missions around Sherman's forces - if not to defeat them, then at least to slow and weaken them before they got to Grant.
The Eighth Texas Cavalry, better known as Terry's Texas Rangers, was already revered by the Confederacy and vilified by the Union. The Rangers were often referred to as a "shock troop," an outfit designed to lead stealth attacks. The regiment went on secret missions, often cloaked in blue overcoats, destroyed railway and telegraph lines, dipped behind enemy lines and gunned down Yankees at close range. They often led at the front and then covered the rear of the main force, the first and last line of offense and defense.
The Rangers were frequently given the dirty work other soldiers couldn't stomach - and they didn't take many prisoners. Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, often cited as one of the early founders of the Ku Klux Klan, once suggested that an outnumbered Union regiment surrender because "he had five hundred Texas Rangers he couldn't control in a fight."
Captain Shannon was the ideal commander to lead the Rangers' scouting group, which was nicknamed "Shannon's Scouts." The 26-year-old was aggressive, shrewd and fearless. He also understood how to conduct covert reconnaissance assignments. Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood often sent Shannon and his scouts inside enemy lines, collecting intelligence and attacking Yankees caught ransacking Southern homes.
"Shannon's Scouts" followed Sherman across Georgia and through the Carolinas in January 1865. They ran raids on his units and gathered valuable troop information. One of their main goals was to unhinge Sherman's "bummers" - a nickname given to the general's foraging teams that requisitioned food from Southern homes. They became notorious for looting and vandalizing. Shannon's Scouts sought revenge.
Shannon was to attack any federal troops they encountered; if the scouts were overpowered and couldn't retreat, they would separate and hide. They would even try to go on the offensive and capture any federal stragglers.
They were frequently outgunned and outnumbered, but astonishingly successful. They captured scores of Yankees; at one point a group of 15 guarded more than 100 Union prisoners. They would arm citizens with the prisoners' weapons so the scouts could move on. Once, they even handed over guns to schoolboys and asked them to take the prisoners to Macon, Ga., which remained in rebel territory.
One scout, Robert Leander Dunman, later described how he and 17 others ran across a brigade of hundreds of federals. "We were quite as much surprised as they were," Dunman wrote in a letter to his family, "but rather than let them discover our weakness in number, we began yelling and shooting as we came, making enough noise and bedlam for several times our number … they evidently thought the entire Confederate army was after them, for they started to run."
As the Union thundered through the Carolinas, the Scouts became increasingly aggressive. Federal soldiers frequently accused Shannon's Scouts of murdering prisoners after they had surrendered. General Sherman went into a fury when more than two dozen of his men were slaughtered, with a message left on their bodies. "It is officially reported to me that our foraging parties are murdered after capture and labeled 'Death to all foragers,'" Sherman wrote in a letter to Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton. "One instance of a lieutenant and seven men near Chesterville; I have ordered a similar number of prisoners in our hands to be disposed of in like manner."
General Hampton assured Sherman that if he dared execute any rebel prisoners that the Confederacy would kill twice as many federal men. Union Gen. Judson Kilpatrick blamed Shannon's Scouts for the murders. Kilpatrick even offered $5,000 for Shannon's capture, a reward that was never collected.
No one knows exactly how many soldiers Shannon's men killed or captured, though he claimed his team assassinated almost 500 men during the March to the Sea.
When Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, orders to surrender went out to all Confederate troops. But Shannon's Scouts refused; instead, they scattered. Shannon himself stayed loyal to the Confederate government, and was assigned to escort the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, on his escape from Richmond, Va. Davis was caught before Shannon could reach him.
After the war Shannon returned to his ranch on the San Antonio River in Karnes County but soon entered the insurance business with John B. Hood in New Orleans in 1869. When the business prospered and grew, he moved to Galveston to take charge of its Texas branch. There he met and married Clara Viola Scott, the daughter of Maj. William Bibb and Bettie (Murphy) Scott, on February 21, 1872. She was the granddaughter of Gen John B. Scott, cofounder of Montgomery, Alabama, and John H. Murphy, fourth governor of Alabama. They had seven children. In 1880 Shannon was engaged in government contract work, employing as many as 300 men building jetties and other public works. He also had a line of barges and tugs employing another sixteen men. In 1886 he issued a proposal to build a Galveston seawall. But the proposal failed. Four years later the city was destroyed by the great hurricane of 1900.
In 1890 Shannon became general manager of the Galveston and Western Railway; in 1891 he chartered the Galveston Jetty Railroad; in 1893 he became postmaster of Galveston. He became a Mason in May 1860 and was active as such thereafter. In politics he was a Democrat. He died on October 26, 1906, in Galveston and was buried in the Episcopal Cemetery.
Posted on 1/27/15 at 9:47 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 28 January 1865
Southern pressure for reconciliation compels Confederate President Jefferson Davis to officially name three commissioners to hold informal talks and further discuss potential peace overtures with Union authorities as a result of the visits and various meetings of Francis Preston Blair Sr., to Richmond. The Confederate commissioners appointed for the task were Vice President Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter of Virginia, and former U.S. Supreme Court justice John Archibald Campbell. Davis would instruct them, "In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln...you are requested to proceed to Washington City for informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries."
Confederate Secretary of War James Alexander Seddon formally recommends to Davis that General Robert Edward Lee be appointed General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies by the act of Confederate Congress that had been approved on January 23.
In South Carolina, a skirmish takes place on the Combahee River, with Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union forces.
The unsuccessful Confederate attack on the United States Steamer, Octorara, while in Mobile Bay, Alabama, by the torpedo boat St. Patrick occurs this morning; the torpedo failing to explode on contact. Amid a rain of Union shelling, the St. Patrick safely withdraws, to attempt this courageous endeavor another day.
Naval report: The Confederate torpedo boat St. Patrick, commanded by Lieutenant John T. Walker, struck the USS Octorara, Lieutenant Commander William W. Low, off Mobile Bay but her spar torpedo failed to explode. Although attacked by ship guns and small arms, Walker was able to bring St. Patrick safely back under the Mobile batteries.
Federal operations commence against Indians on the Upper Arkansas, with a skirmish at Fort Zarah, Kansas, as the Indians attack a Yankee party cutting fire wood.
An action unwinds at Athens, Tennessee, as the Yankees prevent the attacking Confederates from capturing the town; the Federals, however, lose at least 20 men as prisoners to the Rebels in the process.
A Union expedition travels from Strawberry Plains to Clinch Mountain, Tennessee, with a skirmish with partisan guerrillas.
Federals operated against Native Americans in Kansas. Another Union expedition begins from Bayou Goula, Louisiana.
The USS Mattabesett, under Commander John C. Febiger, dispatched the USS Valley City to Colerain, North Carolina, on the Chowan River to protect an encampment of Union troops there.
Southern pressure for reconciliation compels Confederate President Jefferson Davis to officially name three commissioners to hold informal talks and further discuss potential peace overtures with Union authorities as a result of the visits and various meetings of Francis Preston Blair Sr., to Richmond. The Confederate commissioners appointed for the task were Vice President Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter of Virginia, and former U.S. Supreme Court justice John Archibald Campbell. Davis would instruct them, "In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln...you are requested to proceed to Washington City for informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries."
Confederate Secretary of War James Alexander Seddon formally recommends to Davis that General Robert Edward Lee be appointed General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies by the act of Confederate Congress that had been approved on January 23.
In South Carolina, a skirmish takes place on the Combahee River, with Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union forces.
The unsuccessful Confederate attack on the United States Steamer, Octorara, while in Mobile Bay, Alabama, by the torpedo boat St. Patrick occurs this morning; the torpedo failing to explode on contact. Amid a rain of Union shelling, the St. Patrick safely withdraws, to attempt this courageous endeavor another day.
Naval report: The Confederate torpedo boat St. Patrick, commanded by Lieutenant John T. Walker, struck the USS Octorara, Lieutenant Commander William W. Low, off Mobile Bay but her spar torpedo failed to explode. Although attacked by ship guns and small arms, Walker was able to bring St. Patrick safely back under the Mobile batteries.
Federal operations commence against Indians on the Upper Arkansas, with a skirmish at Fort Zarah, Kansas, as the Indians attack a Yankee party cutting fire wood.
An action unwinds at Athens, Tennessee, as the Yankees prevent the attacking Confederates from capturing the town; the Federals, however, lose at least 20 men as prisoners to the Rebels in the process.
A Union expedition travels from Strawberry Plains to Clinch Mountain, Tennessee, with a skirmish with partisan guerrillas.
Federals operated against Native Americans in Kansas. Another Union expedition begins from Bayou Goula, Louisiana.
The USS Mattabesett, under Commander John C. Febiger, dispatched the USS Valley City to Colerain, North Carolina, on the Chowan River to protect an encampment of Union troops there.
Posted on 1/28/15 at 8:53 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 29 January 1865
Skirmishing occurs at Robertsville, South Carolina; at Danville, Kentucky, where partisan guerrillas, dressed in Union garb, enter the town, rob the citizens and a boot store, and leave on the Perryville Pike at 11:15 a.m.; and near Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where about 5 miles west of Harrodsburg, a large Union force overtakes almost 40 guerrillas, killing and capturing 12.
There was considerable interest in where and how Union Major General William T. Sherman would move his forces when he got rolling in South Carolina, and whether there was any hope for a successful peace process between Federal and Confederate officials. The three Southern peace envoys entered Union lines at Petersburg under a flag of truce. Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord, the ranking Federal commander, met the envoys and followed his War Department instructions to keep them detained at the front lines due to their unexpected arrival.
Federal scouts travel from Bayou Goula to Grand River, Louisiana, with a skirmish at Richland Plantation.
Skirmishing occurs at Robertsville, South Carolina; at Danville, Kentucky, where partisan guerrillas, dressed in Union garb, enter the town, rob the citizens and a boot store, and leave on the Perryville Pike at 11:15 a.m.; and near Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where about 5 miles west of Harrodsburg, a large Union force overtakes almost 40 guerrillas, killing and capturing 12.
There was considerable interest in where and how Union Major General William T. Sherman would move his forces when he got rolling in South Carolina, and whether there was any hope for a successful peace process between Federal and Confederate officials. The three Southern peace envoys entered Union lines at Petersburg under a flag of truce. Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord, the ranking Federal commander, met the envoys and followed his War Department instructions to keep them detained at the front lines due to their unexpected arrival.
Federal scouts travel from Bayou Goula to Grand River, Louisiana, with a skirmish at Richland Plantation.
Posted on 1/29/15 at 9:45 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 30 January 1865
President Abraham Lincoln finally issues a pass for the three Confederate commissioners to go through Union military lines to Fort Monroe, Virginia. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton sends a messenger to inform the peace envoys to await further word about the talks.
Federal Major General John Pope is assigned to command the newly created Military Division of the Missouri, consisting of the combined Departments of Missouri and the Northwest. The Department of Kansas is merged into the new bureaucracy. Major General Samuel R. Curtis had been transferred to command the Department of the Northwest.
A skirmish broke out 3 miles east of Chaplintown, Kentucky, with partisan guerrillas.
A Federal expedition travels from Thibodeaux to Lake Verret and Bayou Planton, Louisiana, with a skirmish commencing near Lake Verret.
Skirmishing occurs in Lafayette County, located in the western portion of the state of Missouri.
Another skirmish breaks out near Lawtonville, South Carolina.
Federals scout to Long Bridge and Bottom's Bridge, Virginia, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Returning from an afternoon reconnaissance of King's Creek, Virginia, Acting Ensign James H. Kerens of the USS Henry Brinker, and his two boat crews "...discovered 5 men, who, upon seeing us, immediately fled." His suspicions aroused, Kerens determined to return under cover of darkness to search the vicinity. That night he and two boat crews returned to the mouth of King's Creek and, after more than an hour of careful searching, found "...two very suspicious looking mounds..." Removing the earth Kerens found two galvanic batteries and torpedoes, each containing some 150 pounds of powder. Acting Third Assistant Engineer Henry M. Hutchinson and Landsman John McKenna cut the connections from the batteries to the torpedoes and the weapons were safely removed and taken on board the Henry Brinker. Risk of life in little heralded acts such as this happened throughout the war.
The USS Cherokee, under Acting Lieutenant William E. Dennison, exchanged gunfire with Confederate troops at Half Moon Battery, Cape Fear, North Carolina. Earlier in the month, 19 January, USS Governor Buckingham, Acting Lieutenant John MacDiarmid in charge, opened on the battery in support of Army efforts ashore to clear the area of Confederates following the fall of Fort Fisher.
President Abraham Lincoln finally issues a pass for the three Confederate commissioners to go through Union military lines to Fort Monroe, Virginia. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton sends a messenger to inform the peace envoys to await further word about the talks.
Federal Major General John Pope is assigned to command the newly created Military Division of the Missouri, consisting of the combined Departments of Missouri and the Northwest. The Department of Kansas is merged into the new bureaucracy. Major General Samuel R. Curtis had been transferred to command the Department of the Northwest.
A skirmish broke out 3 miles east of Chaplintown, Kentucky, with partisan guerrillas.
A Federal expedition travels from Thibodeaux to Lake Verret and Bayou Planton, Louisiana, with a skirmish commencing near Lake Verret.
Skirmishing occurs in Lafayette County, located in the western portion of the state of Missouri.
Another skirmish breaks out near Lawtonville, South Carolina.
Federals scout to Long Bridge and Bottom's Bridge, Virginia, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Returning from an afternoon reconnaissance of King's Creek, Virginia, Acting Ensign James H. Kerens of the USS Henry Brinker, and his two boat crews "...discovered 5 men, who, upon seeing us, immediately fled." His suspicions aroused, Kerens determined to return under cover of darkness to search the vicinity. That night he and two boat crews returned to the mouth of King's Creek and, after more than an hour of careful searching, found "...two very suspicious looking mounds..." Removing the earth Kerens found two galvanic batteries and torpedoes, each containing some 150 pounds of powder. Acting Third Assistant Engineer Henry M. Hutchinson and Landsman John McKenna cut the connections from the batteries to the torpedoes and the weapons were safely removed and taken on board the Henry Brinker. Risk of life in little heralded acts such as this happened throughout the war.
The USS Cherokee, under Acting Lieutenant William E. Dennison, exchanged gunfire with Confederate troops at Half Moon Battery, Cape Fear, North Carolina. Earlier in the month, 19 January, USS Governor Buckingham, Acting Lieutenant John MacDiarmid in charge, opened on the battery in support of Army efforts ashore to clear the area of Confederates following the fall of Fort Fisher.
Posted on 1/30/15 at 10:30 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday 31, January 1865
Confederate President Jefferson Davis recommended to the Confederate Senate, which it promptly approved, the appointment of General Robert E. Lee as General-in-Chief of the Confederate Armies. The measure came too late, however, to have any real effect as Lee continued primarily as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee wrote to Davis, "I am indebted alone to the kindness of His Excellency the President for my nomination to this high and arduous office," and thanked Davis for "your indulgence and kind consideration...If I can relieve you from a portion of the constant labor and anxiety which presses upon you, I shall be more than compensated for any present burdens." The measure came too late to affect the war’s outcome.
President Abraham Lincoln issued instructions for Secretary of State William H. Seward to travel to Fort Monroe, Virginia, to confer with the three Confederate commissioners. Lincoln was willing to confer on restoration of the national authority throughout all states but would not recede from his position on eventual abolition of slavery and would only treat the problem as that of one nation, and that there would be no cessation of hostilities other than an end to the War and disbandment of hostile forces.
Second report: President Lincoln sent Secretary of State William H. Seward to talk with the Confederate peace envoys at Fort Monroe. Lincoln instructed Seward to confer with the envoys "...on the basis of my letter to F.P. Blair, Esq., on Jan. 18, 1865." Seward was to demand three conditions for peace: "The restoration of the national authority...No receding, by the Executive of the United States on the Slavery question...No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war." The Confederate envoys had been instructed by President Davis to oppose abolition and Union restoration. Since the envoys had arrived at Petersburg two days ago, Federal General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant had returned from an inspection in North Carolina and given them safe conduct through the Federal lines, quartering them on the steamship Mary Martin near his City Point headquarters.
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. House of Representatives passed by two-thirds the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery. The vote was 119 in favor, 56 opposed and 8 abstentions. Since the U.S. Senate had already approved the measure, it now reverted to the non-seceded border and northern states for ratification.
Second account: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. Heated debate had occurred throughout this month; Republicans argued that slavery was morally wrong, while Democrats argued that the amendment would compromise the sanctity of states’ rights and upset the balance of power between the federal and state governments guaranteed in the Constitution.
Five Democrats changed their votes from rejection to approval, and they were politically rewarded by the Lincoln administration. The spectators in the galleries cheered the vote and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered a 100-gun salute fired to commemorate the event. State legislatures soon began debating and voting on the amendment’s ratification.
Full report: On this day in 1865, the U.S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in America. The amendment read, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
When the War Between the States began, President Abraham Lincoln's professed goal was the restoration of the Union. But early in the War, the Union began allowing escaped slaves to serve as "contraband" labor, rather than returning them to their owners, so Southern slavery drastically declined wherever the Union army was victorious. In September 1862, Lincoln issued an emancipation proclamation, hypothetically freeing all slaves in areas that were still in rebellion against the Union, but none in states that supported the North, or any captured Southern territory. This measure opened heated debates of what to do about slavery in border states that had not seceded or in areas that had been occupied by the Union before the proclamation.
In 1864, an amendment abolishing slavery had passed the U.S. Senate but died in the House, as Democrats rallied in the name of states' rights. The election of 1864 brought Lincoln back to the White House along with significant Republican majorities in both houses, so it appeared the amendment was headed for passage when the new Congress convened in March 1865. Lincoln preferred that the amendment receive bipartisan support--some Democrats indicated support for the measure, but many still resisted. The amendment passed 119 to 56, seven votes above the necessary two-thirds majority. Several Democrats abstained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, which came in December 1865. With the passage of the amendment, the institution that had indelibly shaped American history was eradicated.
President Davis informed Robert E. Lee that troops were being pulled from the Trans-Mississippi District to oppose William T. Sherman’s Federals and, since Congress had not adopted his manpower recommendations, Davis asked Lee for suggestions "...in this, our hour of necessity..."
A skirmish occurs 2 miles south of Oxford, Kansas, with a group of partisan guerrillas.
A Union expedition travels from Fort Pike to Bayou Bonfouca, Louisiana, and skirmishes near Slidell.
A Federal expedition from Morganza aboard the sloop, Rosetta, to New Roads, Louisiana, where a band of Confederates fire into the sloop; the Yankees suffer no casualties and are able to stop the Rebels from capturing and burning the schooner, Perserverance, which is loaded with lumber.
The Department of North Carolina is constituted, to consist of the State of North Carolina, and Major General John M. Schofield, USA, is assigned to its command.
Major General David S. Stanley, USA, assumes the command of the 4th US Army Corps, during the operations in North Alabama and East Tennessee.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis recommended to the Confederate Senate, which it promptly approved, the appointment of General Robert E. Lee as General-in-Chief of the Confederate Armies. The measure came too late, however, to have any real effect as Lee continued primarily as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee wrote to Davis, "I am indebted alone to the kindness of His Excellency the President for my nomination to this high and arduous office," and thanked Davis for "your indulgence and kind consideration...If I can relieve you from a portion of the constant labor and anxiety which presses upon you, I shall be more than compensated for any present burdens." The measure came too late to affect the war’s outcome.
President Abraham Lincoln issued instructions for Secretary of State William H. Seward to travel to Fort Monroe, Virginia, to confer with the three Confederate commissioners. Lincoln was willing to confer on restoration of the national authority throughout all states but would not recede from his position on eventual abolition of slavery and would only treat the problem as that of one nation, and that there would be no cessation of hostilities other than an end to the War and disbandment of hostile forces.
Second report: President Lincoln sent Secretary of State William H. Seward to talk with the Confederate peace envoys at Fort Monroe. Lincoln instructed Seward to confer with the envoys "...on the basis of my letter to F.P. Blair, Esq., on Jan. 18, 1865." Seward was to demand three conditions for peace: "The restoration of the national authority...No receding, by the Executive of the United States on the Slavery question...No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war." The Confederate envoys had been instructed by President Davis to oppose abolition and Union restoration. Since the envoys had arrived at Petersburg two days ago, Federal General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant had returned from an inspection in North Carolina and given them safe conduct through the Federal lines, quartering them on the steamship Mary Martin near his City Point headquarters.
In Washington, D.C., the U.S. House of Representatives passed by two-thirds the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery. The vote was 119 in favor, 56 opposed and 8 abstentions. Since the U.S. Senate had already approved the measure, it now reverted to the non-seceded border and northern states for ratification.
Second account: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. Heated debate had occurred throughout this month; Republicans argued that slavery was morally wrong, while Democrats argued that the amendment would compromise the sanctity of states’ rights and upset the balance of power between the federal and state governments guaranteed in the Constitution.
Five Democrats changed their votes from rejection to approval, and they were politically rewarded by the Lincoln administration. The spectators in the galleries cheered the vote and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered a 100-gun salute fired to commemorate the event. State legislatures soon began debating and voting on the amendment’s ratification.
Full report: On this day in 1865, the U.S. House of Representatives passes the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in America. The amendment read, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
When the War Between the States began, President Abraham Lincoln's professed goal was the restoration of the Union. But early in the War, the Union began allowing escaped slaves to serve as "contraband" labor, rather than returning them to their owners, so Southern slavery drastically declined wherever the Union army was victorious. In September 1862, Lincoln issued an emancipation proclamation, hypothetically freeing all slaves in areas that were still in rebellion against the Union, but none in states that supported the North, or any captured Southern territory. This measure opened heated debates of what to do about slavery in border states that had not seceded or in areas that had been occupied by the Union before the proclamation.
In 1864, an amendment abolishing slavery had passed the U.S. Senate but died in the House, as Democrats rallied in the name of states' rights. The election of 1864 brought Lincoln back to the White House along with significant Republican majorities in both houses, so it appeared the amendment was headed for passage when the new Congress convened in March 1865. Lincoln preferred that the amendment receive bipartisan support--some Democrats indicated support for the measure, but many still resisted. The amendment passed 119 to 56, seven votes above the necessary two-thirds majority. Several Democrats abstained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification, which came in December 1865. With the passage of the amendment, the institution that had indelibly shaped American history was eradicated.
President Davis informed Robert E. Lee that troops were being pulled from the Trans-Mississippi District to oppose William T. Sherman’s Federals and, since Congress had not adopted his manpower recommendations, Davis asked Lee for suggestions "...in this, our hour of necessity..."
A skirmish occurs 2 miles south of Oxford, Kansas, with a group of partisan guerrillas.
A Union expedition travels from Fort Pike to Bayou Bonfouca, Louisiana, and skirmishes near Slidell.
A Federal expedition from Morganza aboard the sloop, Rosetta, to New Roads, Louisiana, where a band of Confederates fire into the sloop; the Yankees suffer no casualties and are able to stop the Rebels from capturing and burning the schooner, Perserverance, which is loaded with lumber.
The Department of North Carolina is constituted, to consist of the State of North Carolina, and Major General John M. Schofield, USA, is assigned to its command.
Major General David S. Stanley, USA, assumes the command of the 4th US Army Corps, during the operations in North Alabama and East Tennessee.
Posted on 1/31/15 at 9:13 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 1 February 1865
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals began crossing the Savannah River into South Carolina. The two-pronged advance was to feint toward Charleston while actually targeting the state capital of Columbia. Opposing the Federals was a makeshift Confederate force of state militia, volunteers, and tired veterans under Lieutenant General William J. Hardee. The Confederate Army of Tennessee, now in Alabama, was also being rushed to help. Despite encountering heavier resistance and winter rains than in Georgia, Sherman’s men still advanced an average of 10 miles per day.
Second report: Skirmishes break out around Whippy Swamp Creek and near Hickory Hill, South Carolina, as Union Major General William T. Sherman proceeds into South Carolina with only minor obstruction by Lieutenant General William J. Hardee, as he awaits reinforcements from the Army of Tennessee, on its way from Tupelo, Mississippi.
Stephen Thomas, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Major General John Bankhead Magruder, CSA, assumes the command of the District of Arkansas.
Union naval operations continued against Confederate salt-works as a boat expedition from the USS Midnight, under Acting Master John C. Wells, landed and destroyed salt works "...of 13,615 boiling capacity..." at St. Andrews Bay, Florida. The making of salt from seawater became a major industry in Florida during the Civil War as salt was a critical commodity in the Confederate war effort. Large quantities were needed for preserving meat, fish, butter, and other perishable foods, as well as for curing hides. Federal warships continuously destroyed salt works along the coasts of Florida. The expedition led by Wells was the finale in the Union Navy's effective restriction of this vital Confederate industry.
Federal operations commenced against Indians in the vicinity of Fort Boise, in the Idaho Territory, with a skirmish near the Bruneau Valley.
Federals scout against partisan guerrillas from Warrensburg to Tabo Creek, Dover, Oaklin Church, and Davis Creek, Missouri.
Another Union expedition scouts from Warrensburg to Wagon Knob, Big Grove, Greenton, and Texas Prairie, Missouri, also against partisan guerrillas. The Federals are getting the upper hand in these parts, as they visit various guerrilla homes, finding women with their flock of children at each place; the men with their older sons having fled to the thick bushes.
A battle begins in McLemore's Cove, Tennessee, in the vicinity of Ringgold, as the Federals attack and smash a Confederate camp.
Brevetted Brigadier General William W. Morris, USA, is placed in temporary command of the Middle Department, Virginia.
Again bowing to political pressure, President Jefferson Davis reluctantly accepts the resignation of Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon, who had faced intense criticism throughout the South during his tenure. A Virginia delegation had demanded the removal of all cabinet members, but Davis upheld his right to select his own cabinet. Seddon, a Virginian, took offense with his fellow Virginians grouping him with all other cabinet members in whom they had no confidence. Replacing Seddon was former U.S. Vice President and Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge.
The troops in the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, continue to suffer from the harsh winter weather as a massive Canadian cold front threatens to freeze over the James River.
Early today, Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant received a cipher from President Abraham Lincoln regarding the Confederate peace envoys: "Let nothing which is transpiring, change, hinder, or delay your Military movements, or plans." Later, a War Department messenger arrived at City Point and informed the envoys they would not be allowed to negotiate until they acknowledge the Confederacy was not an independent country. Grant, however, intervened and requested that U.S. officials talk with the envoys because "...their intentions are good and their desire sincere to restore peace and union..." On his own authority, Grant told the envoys he would send them to Fort Monroe to talk with Secretary of State Seward tomorrow.
President Lincoln signs a congressional joint resolution submitting the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the state legislatures for ratification. Illinois became the first state to ratify the amendment. Lincoln spoke to a crowd serenading him at the White House: "The occasion was one of congratulation to the country and to the whole world. But there is a task yet before us–to go forward and consummate by the votes of the States that which Congress so nobly began...this amendment is a King’s cure for all the evils. It winds the whole thing up."
U.S. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase admits attorney John S. Rock to practice before the Supreme Court, making Rock the first black man to do so.
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals began crossing the Savannah River into South Carolina. The two-pronged advance was to feint toward Charleston while actually targeting the state capital of Columbia. Opposing the Federals was a makeshift Confederate force of state militia, volunteers, and tired veterans under Lieutenant General William J. Hardee. The Confederate Army of Tennessee, now in Alabama, was also being rushed to help. Despite encountering heavier resistance and winter rains than in Georgia, Sherman’s men still advanced an average of 10 miles per day.
Second report: Skirmishes break out around Whippy Swamp Creek and near Hickory Hill, South Carolina, as Union Major General William T. Sherman proceeds into South Carolina with only minor obstruction by Lieutenant General William J. Hardee, as he awaits reinforcements from the Army of Tennessee, on its way from Tupelo, Mississippi.
Stephen Thomas, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Major General John Bankhead Magruder, CSA, assumes the command of the District of Arkansas.
Union naval operations continued against Confederate salt-works as a boat expedition from the USS Midnight, under Acting Master John C. Wells, landed and destroyed salt works "...of 13,615 boiling capacity..." at St. Andrews Bay, Florida. The making of salt from seawater became a major industry in Florida during the Civil War as salt was a critical commodity in the Confederate war effort. Large quantities were needed for preserving meat, fish, butter, and other perishable foods, as well as for curing hides. Federal warships continuously destroyed salt works along the coasts of Florida. The expedition led by Wells was the finale in the Union Navy's effective restriction of this vital Confederate industry.
Federal operations commenced against Indians in the vicinity of Fort Boise, in the Idaho Territory, with a skirmish near the Bruneau Valley.
Federals scout against partisan guerrillas from Warrensburg to Tabo Creek, Dover, Oaklin Church, and Davis Creek, Missouri.
Another Union expedition scouts from Warrensburg to Wagon Knob, Big Grove, Greenton, and Texas Prairie, Missouri, also against partisan guerrillas. The Federals are getting the upper hand in these parts, as they visit various guerrilla homes, finding women with their flock of children at each place; the men with their older sons having fled to the thick bushes.
A battle begins in McLemore's Cove, Tennessee, in the vicinity of Ringgold, as the Federals attack and smash a Confederate camp.
Brevetted Brigadier General William W. Morris, USA, is placed in temporary command of the Middle Department, Virginia.
Again bowing to political pressure, President Jefferson Davis reluctantly accepts the resignation of Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon, who had faced intense criticism throughout the South during his tenure. A Virginia delegation had demanded the removal of all cabinet members, but Davis upheld his right to select his own cabinet. Seddon, a Virginian, took offense with his fellow Virginians grouping him with all other cabinet members in whom they had no confidence. Replacing Seddon was former U.S. Vice President and Confederate Major General John C. Breckinridge.
The troops in the trenches around Petersburg, Virginia, continue to suffer from the harsh winter weather as a massive Canadian cold front threatens to freeze over the James River.
Early today, Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant received a cipher from President Abraham Lincoln regarding the Confederate peace envoys: "Let nothing which is transpiring, change, hinder, or delay your Military movements, or plans." Later, a War Department messenger arrived at City Point and informed the envoys they would not be allowed to negotiate until they acknowledge the Confederacy was not an independent country. Grant, however, intervened and requested that U.S. officials talk with the envoys because "...their intentions are good and their desire sincere to restore peace and union..." On his own authority, Grant told the envoys he would send them to Fort Monroe to talk with Secretary of State Seward tomorrow.
President Lincoln signs a congressional joint resolution submitting the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to the state legislatures for ratification. Illinois became the first state to ratify the amendment. Lincoln spoke to a crowd serenading him at the White House: "The occasion was one of congratulation to the country and to the whole world. But there is a task yet before us–to go forward and consummate by the votes of the States that which Congress so nobly began...this amendment is a King’s cure for all the evils. It winds the whole thing up."
U.S. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase admits attorney John S. Rock to practice before the Supreme Court, making Rock the first black man to do so.
Posted on 2/1/15 at 9:12 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 2 February 1865
Having failed to pass the obstructions at Trent's Reach in order to attack the Union supply base at City Point, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell confronts another kind of difficulty in maintaining communications with his own capital at Richmond. In the bitter cold the James River begins to freeze over and the ice threatens the Wilton Bridge. This morning, Mitchell ordered the CSS Beaufort, commanded by Lieutenant Joseph W. Alexander, to break up the ice near the bridge and remain near it "...to insure its safety." Two days later, Mitchell noted that the CSS Torpedo was of special importance because "...she is now the only boat in connection with the Beaufort (that is crippled) that we can use to protect the Wilton Bridge from ice and to keep open our communication with the city."
Federal operations continued against Indian tribes on the North Platte River in the Colorado and Nebraska Territories.
Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota Indians attack the Overland Stage Station at Julesburg, in the Colorado Territory, and burn it to the ground.
Skirmishing breaks out on Saint John's River, Florida, with the against Union Naval operations attempting to destroy the Confederate salt works there.
Rhode Island becomes the second and Michigan becomes the third northern state to ratify the 13th amendment abolishing slavery.
More skirmishing occurs at Barker's Mill, Whippy Swamp, South Carolina, as Lieutenant General William J. Hardee uses all available Confederate cavalry in an attempt to hinder Major General William T. Sherman's advance into the Carolinas.
Skirmishes break out at Duck Branch, near Lopers Crossroads, and at Lawtonville, South Carolina. Fighting also takes place at Broxton and Rivers' Bridges, on the Big Salkehatchie River, South Carolina.
Major General John G. Parke, USA, resumes the command of the Ninth US Army Corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
President Abraham Lincoln travels from Washington, DC, to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and joins his Secretary of State, William H. Seward, aboard the River Queen, where they plan to meet with the Confederate peace delegation the next day.
THe USS Pinola, Lieutenant Commander Henry Erben in charge, captures the blockade running British schooner Ben Willis at sea in the Gulf of Mexico with a cargo of cotton.
Having failed to pass the obstructions at Trent's Reach in order to attack the Union supply base at City Point, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell confronts another kind of difficulty in maintaining communications with his own capital at Richmond. In the bitter cold the James River begins to freeze over and the ice threatens the Wilton Bridge. This morning, Mitchell ordered the CSS Beaufort, commanded by Lieutenant Joseph W. Alexander, to break up the ice near the bridge and remain near it "...to insure its safety." Two days later, Mitchell noted that the CSS Torpedo was of special importance because "...she is now the only boat in connection with the Beaufort (that is crippled) that we can use to protect the Wilton Bridge from ice and to keep open our communication with the city."
Federal operations continued against Indian tribes on the North Platte River in the Colorado and Nebraska Territories.
Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota Indians attack the Overland Stage Station at Julesburg, in the Colorado Territory, and burn it to the ground.
Skirmishing breaks out on Saint John's River, Florida, with the against Union Naval operations attempting to destroy the Confederate salt works there.
Rhode Island becomes the second and Michigan becomes the third northern state to ratify the 13th amendment abolishing slavery.
More skirmishing occurs at Barker's Mill, Whippy Swamp, South Carolina, as Lieutenant General William J. Hardee uses all available Confederate cavalry in an attempt to hinder Major General William T. Sherman's advance into the Carolinas.
Skirmishes break out at Duck Branch, near Lopers Crossroads, and at Lawtonville, South Carolina. Fighting also takes place at Broxton and Rivers' Bridges, on the Big Salkehatchie River, South Carolina.
Major General John G. Parke, USA, resumes the command of the Ninth US Army Corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
President Abraham Lincoln travels from Washington, DC, to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and joins his Secretary of State, William H. Seward, aboard the River Queen, where they plan to meet with the Confederate peace delegation the next day.
THe USS Pinola, Lieutenant Commander Henry Erben in charge, captures the blockade running British schooner Ben Willis at sea in the Gulf of Mexico with a cargo of cotton.
Posted on 2/2/15 at 8:47 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 3 February 1865
Five men sat in the salon of the River Queen in Hampton Roads off of Fort Monroe, Virginia, discussing the joint fates of the United States and Confederate States of America. On one side, President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward; the other side featured Vice President Alexander Stephens, Former United States Speaker of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senator Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter of Virginia, and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John A. Campbell. The terms of resolution by the United States were for unconditional submission. The Confederate commissioners reported back to President Jefferson Davis, effectively ending the only real effort at peace that was made before surrender occurred months later at a heavier price in dollars and men.
Another account: President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward met with the three Confederate envoys without secretaries in the salon of River Queen off Hampton Roads, Virginia. The men shared memories of each other before the War, and then Lincoln provided his three conditions for peace. The envoys suggested joining forces to expel the French from Mexico, but Lincoln insisted that no alliance could be made with the Confederacy because his administration did not recognize it as a sovereign country. Lincoln also refused calling an armistice unless the Southern States returned to the Union.
Lincoln promised lenient terms if the Confederacy surrendered, including the liberal issuance of pardons. Regarding slavery, Lincoln insisted that the Thirteenth Amendment would not be withdrawn from state ratification, but he suggested compensating slaveholders for their loss up to 15 percent of the slaves’ 1860 value, which was about $400 million. Although the four-hour meeting was cordial, the Confederates refused Lincoln’s terms and the talks ended with no agreements made.
Maryland, New York and West Virginia ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, bringing the total number of states to six.
Skirmishing at Ladd's House, Hog Jaw Valley, Alabama, with guerrillas, who retreat into the mountains.
Federals track the party of Indians suspected of being Kiowas and Comanches, from Fort Larned to South Fork of Pawnee Creek and Buckner's Branch, Kansas.
The Confederate District of North Mississippi and West Tennessee is formed, and Brigadier General Marcus J. Wright is assigned to its command.
The Confederate District of South Mississippi and East Tennessee is formed, and Brigadier General Wirt Adams is assigned to its command.
The detachment Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Union Major General Andrew J. Smith is ordered from the Department of the Cumberland to the Military Division of West Mississippi, as is the 7th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi.
Federals scout in LaFayette County, Missouri, killing partisan guerrillas.
Major General William T. Sherman’s Union right wing advanced through swamps along the Salkehatchie River in South Carolina, with an action at Rivers Bridge, clearing Confederate defenders along the way. Skirmishes occurred at Dillingham's Cross Roads, or Duck Branch.
An action commenced near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where a Confederate force derails a train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In a fit of rage, the commanding Union officer accuses the Lieutenant in charge of dereliction of duty, if not drunk then full of opium all the time, and feels it would be a waste of time to court martial him, and so suggests a quick solution; hanging him.
Flag Officer William W. Hunter reported to the Confederate Navy Department that he was ordering the CSS Macon, under Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, and the CSS Sampson, Lieutenant William W. Carnes in charge, to turn over their ammunition to the Confederate Army at Augusta, Georgia. The shallow upper Savannah River made it impossible to use the vessels effectively in the defense of the city against the threatened attack by General Sherman's army which was working northward from Savannah. Sherman had spent January in Savannah preparing for the March to North Carolina and ensuring that he would have the necessary support from the sea coast. After preparatory combined operations, in which Rear Admiral Dahlgren lost the USS Dai Ching to gunfire and subjected other gunboats to the threat of the ever-present torpedoes in shallow river and coastal waters, Sherman crossed the Savannah River and on 1 February continued his March. When Savannah fell, Hunter had brought Macon and Sampson upriver with difficulty, determined to fight them as long as possible. Now, however, he had run out of navigable water.
To speed the collapse of the faltering South, another giant thrust gathered from the sea off Wilmington. During the lull before the planned spring assault on Richmond when the road conditions improved, General Grant came down to confer with Rear Admiral Porter, his old Vicksburg shipmate. The General had spent several hours on board the flagship, Malvern, on 28 January where plans took shape for the push into North Carolina up the Cape Fear River as Sherman Marched inland parallel to the coast. When Grant returned to Virginia he quickly dispatched General Schofield by sea with an army which, with the big guns of the fleet, would be large enough to push on to Wilmington. This date, Porter, in the USS Shawmut preparing for the campaign, engaged Fort Anderson to test the strength of the Confederate defenses on the west bank of the Cape Fear which guarded the approach to Wilmington.
From City Point, Virginia, General Grant requested the Navy to keep two or three vessels patrolling between Cape Henry and the Cape Fear River during the transit of General Schofield's Twenty-Third Army Corps. The Corps was embarking from Annapolis, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia, for North Carolina to participate in the attack on Wilmington. "It is barely possible," Grant wrote, "for one of the enemy's privateers to be met on that route and do us great injury." Two steamers were stationed as requested to protect the troop transports.
In anticipation of the movement on Wilmington, Porter wrote Dahlgren requesting that the monitors lie had dispatched to Charleston after the fall of Fort Fisher be returned for duty on the Cape Fear River. Although each squadron commander wanted the sturdy warships to spearhead his own efforts, Dahlgren prevailed in his belief that his problem was the greater before the heavily fortified Charleston Harbor. Thus Porter had to plan on the services of only the USS Montauk, the lone monitor he had retained.
Monitors, with their big guns and massive armor, appealed more to naval and military commanders for fighting forts than they did to many of their crews. An officer on board the USS Canonicus had written earlier: "I will never again go to sea in a monitor. I have suffered more in mind and body since this affair commenced than I will suffer again if I can help it. No glory, no promotion can ever pay for it."
Brigadier General John P. Hatch, one of General Sherman's subordinates, turned to Dahlgren for naval assistance: "If you can spare a tug or two launches, to cruise in upper Broad River during the stay of this command near here [Pocotaligo, South Carolina], it would be of service to us. Night before last three of our boats were stolen, and I fear some scamps in the vicinity of Boyd's Neck or Bee's Creek are preparing to attempt to capture some of our transports."
The USS Matthew Vassar, under Acting Master George F. Hill, captured the blockade running schooner John Hale off St. Marks, Florida, with a cargo including lead, blankets, and rope.
Five men sat in the salon of the River Queen in Hampton Roads off of Fort Monroe, Virginia, discussing the joint fates of the United States and Confederate States of America. On one side, President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William H. Seward; the other side featured Vice President Alexander Stephens, Former United States Speaker of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senator Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter of Virginia, and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John A. Campbell. The terms of resolution by the United States were for unconditional submission. The Confederate commissioners reported back to President Jefferson Davis, effectively ending the only real effort at peace that was made before surrender occurred months later at a heavier price in dollars and men.
Another account: President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward met with the three Confederate envoys without secretaries in the salon of River Queen off Hampton Roads, Virginia. The men shared memories of each other before the War, and then Lincoln provided his three conditions for peace. The envoys suggested joining forces to expel the French from Mexico, but Lincoln insisted that no alliance could be made with the Confederacy because his administration did not recognize it as a sovereign country. Lincoln also refused calling an armistice unless the Southern States returned to the Union.
Lincoln promised lenient terms if the Confederacy surrendered, including the liberal issuance of pardons. Regarding slavery, Lincoln insisted that the Thirteenth Amendment would not be withdrawn from state ratification, but he suggested compensating slaveholders for their loss up to 15 percent of the slaves’ 1860 value, which was about $400 million. Although the four-hour meeting was cordial, the Confederates refused Lincoln’s terms and the talks ended with no agreements made.
Maryland, New York and West Virginia ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, bringing the total number of states to six.
Skirmishing at Ladd's House, Hog Jaw Valley, Alabama, with guerrillas, who retreat into the mountains.
Federals track the party of Indians suspected of being Kiowas and Comanches, from Fort Larned to South Fork of Pawnee Creek and Buckner's Branch, Kansas.
The Confederate District of North Mississippi and West Tennessee is formed, and Brigadier General Marcus J. Wright is assigned to its command.
The Confederate District of South Mississippi and East Tennessee is formed, and Brigadier General Wirt Adams is assigned to its command.
The detachment Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Union Major General Andrew J. Smith is ordered from the Department of the Cumberland to the Military Division of West Mississippi, as is the 7th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi.
Federals scout in LaFayette County, Missouri, killing partisan guerrillas.
Major General William T. Sherman’s Union right wing advanced through swamps along the Salkehatchie River in South Carolina, with an action at Rivers Bridge, clearing Confederate defenders along the way. Skirmishes occurred at Dillingham's Cross Roads, or Duck Branch.
An action commenced near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where a Confederate force derails a train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In a fit of rage, the commanding Union officer accuses the Lieutenant in charge of dereliction of duty, if not drunk then full of opium all the time, and feels it would be a waste of time to court martial him, and so suggests a quick solution; hanging him.
Flag Officer William W. Hunter reported to the Confederate Navy Department that he was ordering the CSS Macon, under Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, and the CSS Sampson, Lieutenant William W. Carnes in charge, to turn over their ammunition to the Confederate Army at Augusta, Georgia. The shallow upper Savannah River made it impossible to use the vessels effectively in the defense of the city against the threatened attack by General Sherman's army which was working northward from Savannah. Sherman had spent January in Savannah preparing for the March to North Carolina and ensuring that he would have the necessary support from the sea coast. After preparatory combined operations, in which Rear Admiral Dahlgren lost the USS Dai Ching to gunfire and subjected other gunboats to the threat of the ever-present torpedoes in shallow river and coastal waters, Sherman crossed the Savannah River and on 1 February continued his March. When Savannah fell, Hunter had brought Macon and Sampson upriver with difficulty, determined to fight them as long as possible. Now, however, he had run out of navigable water.
To speed the collapse of the faltering South, another giant thrust gathered from the sea off Wilmington. During the lull before the planned spring assault on Richmond when the road conditions improved, General Grant came down to confer with Rear Admiral Porter, his old Vicksburg shipmate. The General had spent several hours on board the flagship, Malvern, on 28 January where plans took shape for the push into North Carolina up the Cape Fear River as Sherman Marched inland parallel to the coast. When Grant returned to Virginia he quickly dispatched General Schofield by sea with an army which, with the big guns of the fleet, would be large enough to push on to Wilmington. This date, Porter, in the USS Shawmut preparing for the campaign, engaged Fort Anderson to test the strength of the Confederate defenses on the west bank of the Cape Fear which guarded the approach to Wilmington.
From City Point, Virginia, General Grant requested the Navy to keep two or three vessels patrolling between Cape Henry and the Cape Fear River during the transit of General Schofield's Twenty-Third Army Corps. The Corps was embarking from Annapolis, Maryland, and Alexandria, Virginia, for North Carolina to participate in the attack on Wilmington. "It is barely possible," Grant wrote, "for one of the enemy's privateers to be met on that route and do us great injury." Two steamers were stationed as requested to protect the troop transports.
In anticipation of the movement on Wilmington, Porter wrote Dahlgren requesting that the monitors lie had dispatched to Charleston after the fall of Fort Fisher be returned for duty on the Cape Fear River. Although each squadron commander wanted the sturdy warships to spearhead his own efforts, Dahlgren prevailed in his belief that his problem was the greater before the heavily fortified Charleston Harbor. Thus Porter had to plan on the services of only the USS Montauk, the lone monitor he had retained.
Monitors, with their big guns and massive armor, appealed more to naval and military commanders for fighting forts than they did to many of their crews. An officer on board the USS Canonicus had written earlier: "I will never again go to sea in a monitor. I have suffered more in mind and body since this affair commenced than I will suffer again if I can help it. No glory, no promotion can ever pay for it."
Brigadier General John P. Hatch, one of General Sherman's subordinates, turned to Dahlgren for naval assistance: "If you can spare a tug or two launches, to cruise in upper Broad River during the stay of this command near here [Pocotaligo, South Carolina], it would be of service to us. Night before last three of our boats were stolen, and I fear some scamps in the vicinity of Boyd's Neck or Bee's Creek are preparing to attempt to capture some of our transports."
The USS Matthew Vassar, under Acting Master George F. Hill, captured the blockade running schooner John Hale off St. Marks, Florida, with a cargo including lead, blankets, and rope.
Posted on 2/3/15 at 9:06 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 4 February 1865
President Abraham Lincoln returned to Washington from the unsuccessful Hampton Roads conference and reported to the Cabinet. He again told Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant through Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that nothing should cause any change or delay of Grant’s military operations; "...nothing transpired, or transpiring with the three gentlemen from Richmond, is to cause any change hindrance or delay, of your military plans or operations."
Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal left wing struggled to cross the Savannah River, with fighting along the way. Skirmishing occurred at Angley’s Post Office and Buford’s Bridge in South Carolina.
Discouraged by Federal advances into South Carolina, Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote to General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard at Augusta, Georgia that things were worse than he expected and that Beauregard should take overall command in Georgia and concentrate as many troops as possible.
Robert Lowry, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Union Major General John Pope assumed command of the Military Division of the Missouri.
Actions break out with natives at Mud Springs, a telegraph station 105 miles east of Fort Laramie, in the Nebraska Territory, where the Indians attack this outpost.
A Federal expedition travels from Winchester, Virginia, to Moorefield, West Virginia, where the Cavalry forces continue to spar with each other.
The USS Wamsutta, under Acting Master Charles W. Lee, and USS Potomska Acting Master F. M. Montell in charge, sighted an unidentified blockade runner aground near Breach Inlet, South Carolina,"...on being discovered, the runner's crew fired and abandoned her."
A boat expedition under Lieutenant Commander Cushing, from the USS Monticello, proceeded up Little River, South Carolina, placing the small town of All Saints Parish under guard and capturing a number of Confederate soldiers. On the 5th Cushing destroyed some $15,000 worth of cotton.
The next day he sent two boat crews under Acting Master Charles A. Pettit to Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina, where they surprised a small force of Confederates collecting provisions for the troops at Fort Anderson below Wilmington. Six of the soldiers were taken prisoner and the stores they had gathered were destroyed. The Southerners reported that troops previously stationed at Shallotte Inlet had been ordered to Fort Anderson; there the South hoped to stall the Army-Navy movement on Wilmington.
President Abraham Lincoln returned to Washington from the unsuccessful Hampton Roads conference and reported to the Cabinet. He again told Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant through Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that nothing should cause any change or delay of Grant’s military operations; "...nothing transpired, or transpiring with the three gentlemen from Richmond, is to cause any change hindrance or delay, of your military plans or operations."
Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal left wing struggled to cross the Savannah River, with fighting along the way. Skirmishing occurred at Angley’s Post Office and Buford’s Bridge in South Carolina.
Discouraged by Federal advances into South Carolina, Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote to General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard at Augusta, Georgia that things were worse than he expected and that Beauregard should take overall command in Georgia and concentrate as many troops as possible.
Robert Lowry, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Union Major General John Pope assumed command of the Military Division of the Missouri.
Actions break out with natives at Mud Springs, a telegraph station 105 miles east of Fort Laramie, in the Nebraska Territory, where the Indians attack this outpost.
A Federal expedition travels from Winchester, Virginia, to Moorefield, West Virginia, where the Cavalry forces continue to spar with each other.
The USS Wamsutta, under Acting Master Charles W. Lee, and USS Potomska Acting Master F. M. Montell in charge, sighted an unidentified blockade runner aground near Breach Inlet, South Carolina,"...on being discovered, the runner's crew fired and abandoned her."
A boat expedition under Lieutenant Commander Cushing, from the USS Monticello, proceeded up Little River, South Carolina, placing the small town of All Saints Parish under guard and capturing a number of Confederate soldiers. On the 5th Cushing destroyed some $15,000 worth of cotton.
The next day he sent two boat crews under Acting Master Charles A. Pettit to Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina, where they surprised a small force of Confederates collecting provisions for the troops at Fort Anderson below Wilmington. Six of the soldiers were taken prisoner and the stores they had gathered were destroyed. The Southerners reported that troops previously stationed at Shallotte Inlet had been ordered to Fort Anderson; there the South hoped to stall the Army-Navy movement on Wilmington.
Posted on 2/4/15 at 8:54 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 5 February 1865
This morning, the Battle of Dabney's Mill (also known as Hatcher's Run) began as Union and Confederate forces around Petersburg, Virginia, begin a three-day battle that produces over 3,000 casualties but ends with no significant advantage for either side.
Dabney's Mill was another attempt by Union General Hiram U. Grant to break the siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. In 1864, Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee pounded each other as they wheeled south around the cities. After a month of heavy battling that produced the highest casualty rates of the war, Grant and Lee settled into trenches around Petersburg. These lines eventually stretched 25 miles to Richmond, and the stalemate continued for 10 months. Periodically, Grant mounted offensives either to break through Lee's lines or envelope the ends. In June, August, and October, these moves failed to extricate the Confederates from their trenches.
Now, Grant sent cavalry under General David Gregg to capture a road that carried supplies from Hicksford, Virginia, into Petersburg. Today, on 5 February, Gregg moved and captured a few wagons along his objective, the Boydton Plank Road. He found little else, so he pulled back toward the rest of the Union Army. Yankee infantry under General Gouverneur K. Warren also moved forward and probed the area at the end of the Confederate's Petersburg line. The Rebels responded by moving troops into the area. Skirmishes erupted that evening and the fighting continued for two more days as each side maneuvered for an advantage. The fighting surged back and forth around Dabney's Mill, but the Yankees were never able to penetrate the Confederate lines. The Union suffered some 2,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, while the Confederates lost about 1,000. The battle did extend the Petersburg line a few miles to further stretch Lee's thin lines, but the stalemate continued for six more weeks before Grant's forces finally sent Lee racing west with the remnants of his army. The chase ended in April 1865 when Lee would surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Another report: The Battle of Hatcher’s Run began outside Petersburg, Virginia, when portions of the Union Army of the Potomac advanced--as Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant ordered the Second and Fifth Corps, along with cavalry--toward the Boydton Plank Road and Hatcher’s Run in a further effort to extend their siege lines southwest of Petersburg and weaken the already strained defensive positions of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate defenses. The Southerners moved troops into the vicinity but could only do little against the stronger Federal infantry and cavalry units at Hatcher’s Run. At church in Petersburg, Lee was informed that President Davis would appoint him to become Confederate general-in-chief tomorrow.
In South Carolina, skirmishing occurred at Duncanville and Combahee Ferry, as Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s four corps continued to cross the various streams and swamps of the southern part of the state.
In a cabinet meeting, President Abraham Lincoln introduced a plan to offer $400 million to the Confederate states if they stopped resisting Federal authority by April 1 and accepted the permanent abolition of slavery; the money would be used to compensate slaveholders for their loss. Cabinet members unanimously opposed this plan; Secretary of War Edwin Stanton argued that it was wasteful and unnecessary since the slaves had already been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Treasury Secretary William P. Fessenden asserted that the War must end by force of arms, not by bribing the enemy to quit. Disappointed, Lincoln relented and wrote on the back of the plan’s manuscript, “Feb. 5, 1865. Today these papers, which explain themselves, were drawn up and submitted to the Cabinet and unanimously disapproved by them. A. Lincoln.”
This morning, the Battle of Dabney's Mill (also known as Hatcher's Run) began as Union and Confederate forces around Petersburg, Virginia, begin a three-day battle that produces over 3,000 casualties but ends with no significant advantage for either side.
Dabney's Mill was another attempt by Union General Hiram U. Grant to break the siege of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. In 1864, Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee pounded each other as they wheeled south around the cities. After a month of heavy battling that produced the highest casualty rates of the war, Grant and Lee settled into trenches around Petersburg. These lines eventually stretched 25 miles to Richmond, and the stalemate continued for 10 months. Periodically, Grant mounted offensives either to break through Lee's lines or envelope the ends. In June, August, and October, these moves failed to extricate the Confederates from their trenches.
Now, Grant sent cavalry under General David Gregg to capture a road that carried supplies from Hicksford, Virginia, into Petersburg. Today, on 5 February, Gregg moved and captured a few wagons along his objective, the Boydton Plank Road. He found little else, so he pulled back toward the rest of the Union Army. Yankee infantry under General Gouverneur K. Warren also moved forward and probed the area at the end of the Confederate's Petersburg line. The Rebels responded by moving troops into the area. Skirmishes erupted that evening and the fighting continued for two more days as each side maneuvered for an advantage. The fighting surged back and forth around Dabney's Mill, but the Yankees were never able to penetrate the Confederate lines. The Union suffered some 2,000 men killed, wounded, or captured, while the Confederates lost about 1,000. The battle did extend the Petersburg line a few miles to further stretch Lee's thin lines, but the stalemate continued for six more weeks before Grant's forces finally sent Lee racing west with the remnants of his army. The chase ended in April 1865 when Lee would surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Another report: The Battle of Hatcher’s Run began outside Petersburg, Virginia, when portions of the Union Army of the Potomac advanced--as Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant ordered the Second and Fifth Corps, along with cavalry--toward the Boydton Plank Road and Hatcher’s Run in a further effort to extend their siege lines southwest of Petersburg and weaken the already strained defensive positions of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate defenses. The Southerners moved troops into the vicinity but could only do little against the stronger Federal infantry and cavalry units at Hatcher’s Run. At church in Petersburg, Lee was informed that President Davis would appoint him to become Confederate general-in-chief tomorrow.
In South Carolina, skirmishing occurred at Duncanville and Combahee Ferry, as Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s four corps continued to cross the various streams and swamps of the southern part of the state.
In a cabinet meeting, President Abraham Lincoln introduced a plan to offer $400 million to the Confederate states if they stopped resisting Federal authority by April 1 and accepted the permanent abolition of slavery; the money would be used to compensate slaveholders for their loss. Cabinet members unanimously opposed this plan; Secretary of War Edwin Stanton argued that it was wasteful and unnecessary since the slaves had already been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Treasury Secretary William P. Fessenden asserted that the War must end by force of arms, not by bribing the enemy to quit. Disappointed, Lincoln relented and wrote on the back of the plan’s manuscript, “Feb. 5, 1865. Today these papers, which explain themselves, were drawn up and submitted to the Cabinet and unanimously disapproved by them. A. Lincoln.”
This post was edited on 2/4/15 at 9:08 pm
Posted on 2/5/15 at 8:16 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 6 February 1865
President Jefferson Davis names Major General John C. Breckinridge--the former U.S. vice president--as Confederate Secretary of War, replacing James A. Seddon. The Senate approves the appointment the same morning.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee receives his orders to assume the duties as General-in-Chief of the Armies, as provided for by the Act of the Southern Congress and signed by Davis. While important posts, these two appointments came too late in the war to have much of a bearing on its outcome.
On the Petersburg, Virginia, front, fighting at Hatcher’s Run continued and increased as Confederates rallied to stop yesterday’s Union advance, although Federals retained control of the Boydton Plank Road. Confederate reinforcements, however, prevented them from reaching their main objective--Hatcher’s Run. Confederate Brigadier General John Pegram, age 33, commanding a Rebel division, was mortally wounded by a minie ball through his heart while trying to halt the Yankee advance, leading his troops against the Union positions of Major General Gouverneur K. Warren's Fifth US Army Corp.
His grandfather and namesake, John Pegram, had been a major general, commanding all Virginia forces during the War of 1812. His father, James Pegram, was a prominent attorney, militia brigadier general, and bank president in Richmond. Pegram, appointed to the United States Military Academy in 1850, graduated from West Point in 1854 ranking tenth in his class; a group which included future Major General J.E.B. Stuart. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the dragoons, serving in various posts in the West before resigning his commission at the start of the War for Southern Independence. Pegram then received an appointment as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army.
Sent to fight in western Virginia during the summer of 1861, he was captured by General George McClellan's men at the Battle of Rich Mountain. His regiment was part of the brigade of Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett and served in western Virginia fighting Union troops under Major General George B. McClellan. In August, cut off from Garnett's main body during the Battle of Rich Mountain, Pegram controversially surrendered his entire regiment to the Federals. His men were immediately paroled, but Pegram was imprisoned for six months in Fortress Monroe and finally exchanged in April 1862 and sent to serve with General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard in Mississippi. He fought in Tennessee and Kentucky and ultimately earned a promotion to brigadier general. After the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, Pegram was transferred to General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, but recovered to fight with General Jubal Early during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in the summer of 1864. That fall, he was sent to defend his native city of Petersburg.
On January 19, 1865, Pegram had married Hetty Cary, a prominent Richmond socialite. Even in the gloom of the ongoing siege, the ceremony was a grand affair attended by nearly all of the high-ranking Confederates, including President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina. One onlooker said of the bride that the "...happy gleam of her beautiful brown eyes seemed to defy all sorrow." Just three weeks later, Pegram's body was returned to the same church, St. Paul's Episcopal, and his young widow knelt beside his coffin as the minister who married them presided over the general's funeral.
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal troops fought at various points against Confederates trying to delay the advance at Fishburn’s Plantation near Lanes Bridge on the Little Salkehatchie River, at Cowpens Ford, and at Barnwell, South Carolina.
Federal operations commence in Ozark County, Missouri, as the Yankees attempt to remove yet another partisan guerrilla from the area.
An affair occurred at Corn's Farm, in Franklin County, North Carolina, 12 miles from Hillsborough, as a Confederate is shot as he tried to flee from the Corn's barn where he had been sleeping for the night.
Federals scout from Fairfax Court House to Brentsville, Virginia, where the Yankees have a hard time crossing Bull Run Creek as it is frozen over.
Major General Edward O.C. Ord, USA, is assigned to the command of the Department of Virginia, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote General Braxton Bragg in Wilmington that Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter had advised him that a new Confederate vessel could be completed within 90 days. Machinery for the ship was available in Columbus, Georgia, but Mallory sought assurance from the General that Wilmington would be held long enough for machinery to be transported and the ship built so that it could get into action. On the 8th Bragg replied: "This place will be held so long as our means enable us. There is no indication of any movement against it, and our means of defense are improving." However, Rear Admiral Porter and General Grant had other plans; Wilmington would be evacuated exactly two weeks later.
A joint Army-Navy expedition up Pagan and Jones Creeks, off James River, Virginia, captured a Confederate torpedo boat, a torpedo containing some 75 pounds of powder, and Master William A. Hines, CSN. Hines had led an expedition late in 1864 that destroyed the tug Lizzie Freeman off Pagan Creek. The naval force, consisting of eight cutters and two launches conveying 150 troops, was commanded by Lieutenant George W. Wood of USS Roanoke.
Rear Admiral Porter, having received intelligence that a new Confederate ram was near completion at a shipyard on the Roanoke River and would soon enter Albemarle Sound, ordered Commander William H. Macomb, commanding the squadron in the Sound, to make every preparation to destroy her when she came down to Roanoke. Porter directed Macomb to fit a spar "...to the bow of every gunboat and tug, with a torpedo on it, and run at the ram, all together. No matter how many of your vessels get sunk, one or the other of them will sink the ram if the torpedo is coolly exploded. Have your large rowboats fitted with torpedoes also, and...put your large vessels alongside of bet, let the launches and small torpedo boats run in and sink her. You can sling a good sized anchor to an outrigger spar, and let it go on her deck, and by letting go your own anchor keep her from getting away until other vessels pile in on her. Five or six steamers getting alongside of a ram could certainly take her by boarding. If you can get on board of her, knock a hole in her smokestack with axes, or fire a howitzer through it, and drop shrapnel down into the furnaces...Set torpedoes in the river at night, so that no one will know where they are. Obstruct the river above Plymouth, and get what guns are there to command the approaches. Get a net or two across the river, with large meshes, so that when the tam comes down the net will clog her propeller...It is strange if we, with all our resources, can not extinguish a Rebel tam." With the South struggling to complete ironclads one by one, the North was able to bring massive strength to bear against each potential threat. However, if the Confederacy had been able to import machinery and iron freely, she would have completed a number of effective ironclad warships that could have changed the whole complexion of the War.
President Jefferson Davis names Major General John C. Breckinridge--the former U.S. vice president--as Confederate Secretary of War, replacing James A. Seddon. The Senate approves the appointment the same morning.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee receives his orders to assume the duties as General-in-Chief of the Armies, as provided for by the Act of the Southern Congress and signed by Davis. While important posts, these two appointments came too late in the war to have much of a bearing on its outcome.
On the Petersburg, Virginia, front, fighting at Hatcher’s Run continued and increased as Confederates rallied to stop yesterday’s Union advance, although Federals retained control of the Boydton Plank Road. Confederate reinforcements, however, prevented them from reaching their main objective--Hatcher’s Run. Confederate Brigadier General John Pegram, age 33, commanding a Rebel division, was mortally wounded by a minie ball through his heart while trying to halt the Yankee advance, leading his troops against the Union positions of Major General Gouverneur K. Warren's Fifth US Army Corp.
His grandfather and namesake, John Pegram, had been a major general, commanding all Virginia forces during the War of 1812. His father, James Pegram, was a prominent attorney, militia brigadier general, and bank president in Richmond. Pegram, appointed to the United States Military Academy in 1850, graduated from West Point in 1854 ranking tenth in his class; a group which included future Major General J.E.B. Stuart. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and assigned to the dragoons, serving in various posts in the West before resigning his commission at the start of the War for Southern Independence. Pegram then received an appointment as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army.
Sent to fight in western Virginia during the summer of 1861, he was captured by General George McClellan's men at the Battle of Rich Mountain. His regiment was part of the brigade of Brigadier General Robert S. Garnett and served in western Virginia fighting Union troops under Major General George B. McClellan. In August, cut off from Garnett's main body during the Battle of Rich Mountain, Pegram controversially surrendered his entire regiment to the Federals. His men were immediately paroled, but Pegram was imprisoned for six months in Fortress Monroe and finally exchanged in April 1862 and sent to serve with General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard in Mississippi. He fought in Tennessee and Kentucky and ultimately earned a promotion to brigadier general. After the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, Pegram was transferred to General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. He was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, but recovered to fight with General Jubal Early during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in the summer of 1864. That fall, he was sent to defend his native city of Petersburg.
On January 19, 1865, Pegram had married Hetty Cary, a prominent Richmond socialite. Even in the gloom of the ongoing siege, the ceremony was a grand affair attended by nearly all of the high-ranking Confederates, including President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina. One onlooker said of the bride that the "...happy gleam of her beautiful brown eyes seemed to defy all sorrow." Just three weeks later, Pegram's body was returned to the same church, St. Paul's Episcopal, and his young widow knelt beside his coffin as the minister who married them presided over the general's funeral.
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal troops fought at various points against Confederates trying to delay the advance at Fishburn’s Plantation near Lanes Bridge on the Little Salkehatchie River, at Cowpens Ford, and at Barnwell, South Carolina.
Federal operations commence in Ozark County, Missouri, as the Yankees attempt to remove yet another partisan guerrilla from the area.
An affair occurred at Corn's Farm, in Franklin County, North Carolina, 12 miles from Hillsborough, as a Confederate is shot as he tried to flee from the Corn's barn where he had been sleeping for the night.
Federals scout from Fairfax Court House to Brentsville, Virginia, where the Yankees have a hard time crossing Bull Run Creek as it is frozen over.
Major General Edward O.C. Ord, USA, is assigned to the command of the Department of Virginia, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote General Braxton Bragg in Wilmington that Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter had advised him that a new Confederate vessel could be completed within 90 days. Machinery for the ship was available in Columbus, Georgia, but Mallory sought assurance from the General that Wilmington would be held long enough for machinery to be transported and the ship built so that it could get into action. On the 8th Bragg replied: "This place will be held so long as our means enable us. There is no indication of any movement against it, and our means of defense are improving." However, Rear Admiral Porter and General Grant had other plans; Wilmington would be evacuated exactly two weeks later.
A joint Army-Navy expedition up Pagan and Jones Creeks, off James River, Virginia, captured a Confederate torpedo boat, a torpedo containing some 75 pounds of powder, and Master William A. Hines, CSN. Hines had led an expedition late in 1864 that destroyed the tug Lizzie Freeman off Pagan Creek. The naval force, consisting of eight cutters and two launches conveying 150 troops, was commanded by Lieutenant George W. Wood of USS Roanoke.
Rear Admiral Porter, having received intelligence that a new Confederate ram was near completion at a shipyard on the Roanoke River and would soon enter Albemarle Sound, ordered Commander William H. Macomb, commanding the squadron in the Sound, to make every preparation to destroy her when she came down to Roanoke. Porter directed Macomb to fit a spar "...to the bow of every gunboat and tug, with a torpedo on it, and run at the ram, all together. No matter how many of your vessels get sunk, one or the other of them will sink the ram if the torpedo is coolly exploded. Have your large rowboats fitted with torpedoes also, and...put your large vessels alongside of bet, let the launches and small torpedo boats run in and sink her. You can sling a good sized anchor to an outrigger spar, and let it go on her deck, and by letting go your own anchor keep her from getting away until other vessels pile in on her. Five or six steamers getting alongside of a ram could certainly take her by boarding. If you can get on board of her, knock a hole in her smokestack with axes, or fire a howitzer through it, and drop shrapnel down into the furnaces...Set torpedoes in the river at night, so that no one will know where they are. Obstruct the river above Plymouth, and get what guns are there to command the approaches. Get a net or two across the river, with large meshes, so that when the tam comes down the net will clog her propeller...It is strange if we, with all our resources, can not extinguish a Rebel tam." With the South struggling to complete ironclads one by one, the North was able to bring massive strength to bear against each potential threat. However, if the Confederacy had been able to import machinery and iron freely, she would have completed a number of effective ironclad warships that could have changed the whole complexion of the War.
Page 34 of 46
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News