Started By
Message
re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 9/8/14 at 8:28 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 9/8/14 at 8:28 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 9 September 1864
Officially, there had been a complete ban on all trading in commodities between the North and the South since very early in the War Between the States. In actual fact, like most embargoes, this ban succeeded only in artificially raising the price of commodities, particularly cotton. This resulted in profits so great that a clandestine exchange, particularly along the river systems of the Mississippi, was irresistible to many. The matter was becoming serious enough, both in terms of disrespect for the law and the lack of tariff revenue, to attract official attention. There was a meeting in Washington, DC, this afternoon between Union President Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet to discuss the complex issue of trading with the Confederates and drafting legalization of the enterprise so at least taxes could be collected. The administration was gradually allowing more commerce to take place.
Acting under orders from Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the 500-ton screw steamer USS Kanawha, under Lieutenant Commander Bushrod Bust Taylor, reinstituted the blockade of Brownsville, Texas. The blockade had been lifted in mid-February by Presidential proclamation, but on 15 August Secretary of State William Henry Seward had informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that it should be re-enforced once more because of the withdrawal of Union troops stationed in the area. Three days later, Welles directed Farragut to resume the blockade "...as early as practicable".
On 3 September the Admiral reported to Welles that: "I am now increasing the blockading force off the coast of Texas, the recent operations here now enabling me to spare vessels for that purpose." Farragut relayed the Department's message to his senior subordinate on the Texas coast, Commander Melancthon Brooks Woolsey, who on 8 September replied: "The Kanawha sailed hence last night with orders to blockade the Brazos Santiago (one of the points of approach to Brownsville). She also bore orders to the Aroostook to blockade the Rio Grande...the blockade of those places will be resumed from tomorrow morning (9th)." At this point in the War, Union strength at sea was such that specific ports like Brownsville could be reclosed as necessary, while at the same time the iron ring of the entire coastal blockade tightened.
As the conflict drew into its final stage, Southern authorities turned increasingly to blockade runners manned and financed by the Navy. These allowed the Confederacy to employ some of its excellent officers at sea and insured that entire cargoes brought in would be of direct benefit to the government. This morning, Commander John Newland Maffitt, one of the Confederacy's most successful and experienced captains, was detached from command of the CSS Albemarle and ordered to Wilmington, North Carolina, to command the new blockade runner Owl.
Federal expeditions began from Mobile Bay, Alabama; Fort Pike, Louisiana; and various points in Arkansas.
Officially, there had been a complete ban on all trading in commodities between the North and the South since very early in the War Between the States. In actual fact, like most embargoes, this ban succeeded only in artificially raising the price of commodities, particularly cotton. This resulted in profits so great that a clandestine exchange, particularly along the river systems of the Mississippi, was irresistible to many. The matter was becoming serious enough, both in terms of disrespect for the law and the lack of tariff revenue, to attract official attention. There was a meeting in Washington, DC, this afternoon between Union President Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet to discuss the complex issue of trading with the Confederates and drafting legalization of the enterprise so at least taxes could be collected. The administration was gradually allowing more commerce to take place.
Acting under orders from Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the 500-ton screw steamer USS Kanawha, under Lieutenant Commander Bushrod Bust Taylor, reinstituted the blockade of Brownsville, Texas. The blockade had been lifted in mid-February by Presidential proclamation, but on 15 August Secretary of State William Henry Seward had informed Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that it should be re-enforced once more because of the withdrawal of Union troops stationed in the area. Three days later, Welles directed Farragut to resume the blockade "...as early as practicable".
On 3 September the Admiral reported to Welles that: "I am now increasing the blockading force off the coast of Texas, the recent operations here now enabling me to spare vessels for that purpose." Farragut relayed the Department's message to his senior subordinate on the Texas coast, Commander Melancthon Brooks Woolsey, who on 8 September replied: "The Kanawha sailed hence last night with orders to blockade the Brazos Santiago (one of the points of approach to Brownsville). She also bore orders to the Aroostook to blockade the Rio Grande...the blockade of those places will be resumed from tomorrow morning (9th)." At this point in the War, Union strength at sea was such that specific ports like Brownsville could be reclosed as necessary, while at the same time the iron ring of the entire coastal blockade tightened.
As the conflict drew into its final stage, Southern authorities turned increasingly to blockade runners manned and financed by the Navy. These allowed the Confederacy to employ some of its excellent officers at sea and insured that entire cargoes brought in would be of direct benefit to the government. This morning, Commander John Newland Maffitt, one of the Confederacy's most successful and experienced captains, was detached from command of the CSS Albemarle and ordered to Wilmington, North Carolina, to command the new blockade runner Owl.
Federal expeditions began from Mobile Bay, Alabama; Fort Pike, Louisiana; and various points in Arkansas.
1
Posted on 9/9/14 at 8:22 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 10 September 1864
The Fawn was a relatively inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a small force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lieutenant Commander Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, North Carolina, determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.
Second report: An expedition from USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant Commander Earl English, landed at Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River, North Carolina, and seized several of the leading citizens for interrogation regarding the burning of the mail steamer Fawn on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal the night before. The naval landing party encountered little resistance at Elizabeth City, and succeeded in capturing 29 prisoners. English learned that the Fawn expedition had been led by members of CSS Albemarle's crew.
The USS Santiago de Cuba, Captain Oliver S. Glisson in charge, captured the blockade running steamer A. D. Vance at sea northeast of Wilmington with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Magnolia, under Acting Lieutenant William S. Cheesman, seized the steamer Matagorda at sea off Cape San Antonio, Cuba, with a cargo of cotton.
The Fawn was a relatively inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a small force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lieutenant Commander Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, North Carolina, determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.
Second report: An expedition from USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant Commander Earl English, landed at Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River, North Carolina, and seized several of the leading citizens for interrogation regarding the burning of the mail steamer Fawn on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal the night before. The naval landing party encountered little resistance at Elizabeth City, and succeeded in capturing 29 prisoners. English learned that the Fawn expedition had been led by members of CSS Albemarle's crew.
The USS Santiago de Cuba, Captain Oliver S. Glisson in charge, captured the blockade running steamer A. D. Vance at sea northeast of Wilmington with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Magnolia, under Acting Lieutenant William S. Cheesman, seized the steamer Matagorda at sea off Cape San Antonio, Cuba, with a cargo of cotton.
Posted on 9/10/14 at 7:59 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 11 September 1864
The wooden, side-wheel steamer USS Stockdale--Acting Lieutenant George Wiggen commanding--which had joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at New Orleans, 3 January 1864, set forth up the Fish River to Mobile Bay today, leading the tinclad USS Rodolph and the Army troop transport ship Planter, which was also towing a barge. Their destination: a sawmill up on the bay. The expedition arrived without incident, landed troops, and proceeded to confiscate Confederate equipment including 60,000 board feet of sawn lumber, the engine used to saw the logs, and some livestock. The problem came when the now heavily-loaded ships tried to get back down the river. Confederate troops lined the river as it began to grow dark. Shots were fired and trees were even felled into the water in an attempt to snag and stop the vessels. The military ships returned fire with the ship’s guns, the troops fired muskets, and the reinforced Rodolph smashed its way through the log blockades. All the boats returned safely.
Another report: Acting Lieutenant Wiggin led an expedition up Fish River at Mobile Bay to seize an engine used by Confederates in a sawmill and to assist Union soldiers in obtaining lumber. Tinclad USS Rodolph, Acting Lieutenant George D. Upham, and wooden side-wheeler USS Stockdale, Acting Master Spiro V. Bennis, with Wiggin embarked, convoyed Army transport Planter to Smith's mill, where they took the engine, 60,000 feet of lumber, and some livestock. Loading the lumber on board a barge in tow of Planter took almost until nightfall, and in the dusk of the return down-stream, Confederate riflemen took the ships under fire and felled trees ahead of them. The gun-boats returned the fire rapidly and Rodolph broke through the obstructions, enabling the remaining ships to pass downriver.
The USS Augusta Dinsmore, Acting Lieutenant Miner B. Crowell in charge, captured the schooner John off Velasco, Texas, with a cargo of cotton.
Union expeditions began at various points in Missouri. Another Federal undertaking began from Fort Rice in the Dakota Territory to relieve a settlers’ train.
The wooden, side-wheel steamer USS Stockdale--Acting Lieutenant George Wiggen commanding--which had joined the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at New Orleans, 3 January 1864, set forth up the Fish River to Mobile Bay today, leading the tinclad USS Rodolph and the Army troop transport ship Planter, which was also towing a barge. Their destination: a sawmill up on the bay. The expedition arrived without incident, landed troops, and proceeded to confiscate Confederate equipment including 60,000 board feet of sawn lumber, the engine used to saw the logs, and some livestock. The problem came when the now heavily-loaded ships tried to get back down the river. Confederate troops lined the river as it began to grow dark. Shots were fired and trees were even felled into the water in an attempt to snag and stop the vessels. The military ships returned fire with the ship’s guns, the troops fired muskets, and the reinforced Rodolph smashed its way through the log blockades. All the boats returned safely.
Another report: Acting Lieutenant Wiggin led an expedition up Fish River at Mobile Bay to seize an engine used by Confederates in a sawmill and to assist Union soldiers in obtaining lumber. Tinclad USS Rodolph, Acting Lieutenant George D. Upham, and wooden side-wheeler USS Stockdale, Acting Master Spiro V. Bennis, with Wiggin embarked, convoyed Army transport Planter to Smith's mill, where they took the engine, 60,000 feet of lumber, and some livestock. Loading the lumber on board a barge in tow of Planter took almost until nightfall, and in the dusk of the return down-stream, Confederate riflemen took the ships under fire and felled trees ahead of them. The gun-boats returned the fire rapidly and Rodolph broke through the obstructions, enabling the remaining ships to pass downriver.
The USS Augusta Dinsmore, Acting Lieutenant Miner B. Crowell in charge, captured the schooner John off Velasco, Texas, with a cargo of cotton.
Union expeditions began at various points in Missouri. Another Federal undertaking began from Fort Rice in the Dakota Territory to relieve a settlers’ train.
Posted on 9/11/14 at 9:05 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 12 September 1864
President Abraham Lincoln and General Hiram U. Grant had a common worry today: General Phillip Henry Sheridan in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It wasn’t that he was doing anything wrong; the problem was that he didn’t seem to be doing much of anything at all. To Lincoln this was a worry--he called it a “dead lock” in the Valley--because Sheridan was supposed to be catching up with General Jubal Early’s Confederate forces, which had been raiding and rampaging as far north as Pennsylvania for most of the summer.
Grant was heavily concerned about the situation too, with the additional personal complication that Sheridan was an old friend from the “western theater” who had been brought East and given an army at Grant’s personal recommendation. One factor neither seems to have allowed for was that Sheridan was a cavalryman, and had never actually commanded large numbers of foot soldiers before. Neither Sheridan's Union troops nor the Confederates under Early seemed to be making progress against each other around Winchester.
Early this morning, a Federal expedition began from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
President Abraham Lincoln and General Hiram U. Grant had a common worry today: General Phillip Henry Sheridan in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It wasn’t that he was doing anything wrong; the problem was that he didn’t seem to be doing much of anything at all. To Lincoln this was a worry--he called it a “dead lock” in the Valley--because Sheridan was supposed to be catching up with General Jubal Early’s Confederate forces, which had been raiding and rampaging as far north as Pennsylvania for most of the summer.
Grant was heavily concerned about the situation too, with the additional personal complication that Sheridan was an old friend from the “western theater” who had been brought East and given an army at Grant’s personal recommendation. One factor neither seems to have allowed for was that Sheridan was a cavalryman, and had never actually commanded large numbers of foot soldiers before. Neither Sheridan's Union troops nor the Confederates under Early seemed to be making progress against each other around Winchester.
Early this morning, a Federal expedition began from Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Posted on 9/12/14 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 13 September 1864
The Battle of Mobile Bay was over, but as in all such conflicts, the end of the shooting merely signified the beginning of a lengthy cleanup operation. The one in this case was particularly tricky, since the bay had been extensively loaded with “water torpedoes”, what would in later years be called floating mines. Admiral David G. Farragut chose, for reasons unknown, to have the cleanup of the main channel done by crews in small boats, rather than blowing them up at long-distance with the cannons of the gunboats. His objective may have been to conserve ammunition. In any case, as he wrote to Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles today, that over one hundred such mines had been dismantled and sunk. “This part of the channel is now believed to be clear....though beyond doubt many more were originally anchored here.” He was quite right about that part: overlooked mines would break free from their anchor chains, float downriver, and cause trouble for Union and civilian ships for months to come.
Another report: Rear Admiral Farragut's sailors continued to clear the main ship channel at Mobile Bay of torpedoes such as the one that bad sunk USS Tecumseh on 5 August. He reported to Secretary Welles that 22 torpedoes had been raised. He added: "This part of the channel is now believed to be clear, for, though beyond doubt many more were originally anchored here, report says they have sunk over one hundred to the bottom." Despite the Admiral's efforts, Union ships would be destroyed in the vicinity of Mobile Bay by torpedoes in the months to come.
President Abraham Lincoln favorably responded to a political overture, but made no policy statements.
A Federal expedition began from Morganza, Louisiana, including the Second Brigade, 1st Division, United States Colored Troops.
Sporadic skirmishing occurred throughout the day in the Shenandoah Valley.
The Battle of Mobile Bay was over, but as in all such conflicts, the end of the shooting merely signified the beginning of a lengthy cleanup operation. The one in this case was particularly tricky, since the bay had been extensively loaded with “water torpedoes”, what would in later years be called floating mines. Admiral David G. Farragut chose, for reasons unknown, to have the cleanup of the main channel done by crews in small boats, rather than blowing them up at long-distance with the cannons of the gunboats. His objective may have been to conserve ammunition. In any case, as he wrote to Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles today, that over one hundred such mines had been dismantled and sunk. “This part of the channel is now believed to be clear....though beyond doubt many more were originally anchored here.” He was quite right about that part: overlooked mines would break free from their anchor chains, float downriver, and cause trouble for Union and civilian ships for months to come.
Another report: Rear Admiral Farragut's sailors continued to clear the main ship channel at Mobile Bay of torpedoes such as the one that bad sunk USS Tecumseh on 5 August. He reported to Secretary Welles that 22 torpedoes had been raised. He added: "This part of the channel is now believed to be clear, for, though beyond doubt many more were originally anchored here, report says they have sunk over one hundred to the bottom." Despite the Admiral's efforts, Union ships would be destroyed in the vicinity of Mobile Bay by torpedoes in the months to come.
President Abraham Lincoln favorably responded to a political overture, but made no policy statements.
A Federal expedition began from Morganza, Louisiana, including the Second Brigade, 1st Division, United States Colored Troops.
Sporadic skirmishing occurred throughout the day in the Shenandoah Valley.
Posted on 9/13/14 at 8:25 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 14 September 1864
Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early was under pressure from all sides. Detached from General Robert Edward Lee’s army defending Petersburg, he was supposed to be raiding near Washington, DC, creating panic and a demand for Grant’s troops to be brought back North to defend the capital. This effort had not worked, and now Lee wanted him back to help with the siege defenses. Union General Phillip Henry Sheridan, a cavalry commander, had been brought in and given an army to encourage his departure as well. The only person who didn’t want Early to move South was...Jubal Early himself. He had tried sending back one corps, under General Richard Heron Anderson, but they had run into a large part of Sheridan's army so Anderson wisely withdrew back towards Early’s lines at Opequon Creek near Winchester, Virginia. Lee was becoming insistent, though, so today Early decided to try again at sending Anderson’s men South.
Another report: In the Shenandoah Valley, General Richard H. Anderson’s Confederate corps left Jubal Early’s army to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg. This seriously depleted Early’s force. Pressure increased on Philip Sheridan’s Federals to break Early’s hold on the Shenandoah and his threat to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
Skirmishing also occurred in West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Missouri.
Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early was under pressure from all sides. Detached from General Robert Edward Lee’s army defending Petersburg, he was supposed to be raiding near Washington, DC, creating panic and a demand for Grant’s troops to be brought back North to defend the capital. This effort had not worked, and now Lee wanted him back to help with the siege defenses. Union General Phillip Henry Sheridan, a cavalry commander, had been brought in and given an army to encourage his departure as well. The only person who didn’t want Early to move South was...Jubal Early himself. He had tried sending back one corps, under General Richard Heron Anderson, but they had run into a large part of Sheridan's army so Anderson wisely withdrew back towards Early’s lines at Opequon Creek near Winchester, Virginia. Lee was becoming insistent, though, so today Early decided to try again at sending Anderson’s men South.
Another report: In the Shenandoah Valley, General Richard H. Anderson’s Confederate corps left Jubal Early’s army to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg. This seriously depleted Early’s force. Pressure increased on Philip Sheridan’s Federals to break Early’s hold on the Shenandoah and his threat to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
Skirmishing also occurred in West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Missouri.
Posted on 9/14/14 at 9:10 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 15 September 1864
Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut had seen a very busy War Between the States. Right at the moment, he was probably wishing for greater haste from the Union postal authorities, because he had sent a letter 27 August to Navy Secretary Gideon Welles asking for a little time off from active service. Secretary Welles just received the dispatch today and it rather torpedoed his plans. Despite the fact that, as Farragut pointed out, he had been on duty for more than five years, with only one short furlough during that time, Welles had intended to assign him to command of the assault on Wilmington, North Carolina. In view of Farragut’s request Welles changed his strategy. He assigned Admiral David Dixon Porter to the job, who was actually Farragut’s adoptive brother.
Though the Union forces dominated Mobile Bay, the South still possessed a number of ships at Mobile itself. Farragut informed Welles that the CSS Nashville, an ironclad which, he said, had been waiting for her plating for at least 12 months, was now ready for service. Farragut described her as mounting "...six of their heaviest rifles and has heavier backing and greater speed than the Tennessee." Referring to the battle of Mobile Bay the month before, the Admiral added: "If she had gotten out fully equipped, the Rebels would have made a stronger fight on the 5th day of August. The Mobile defenses also counted on the casemated ironclads Tuscaloosa and Huntsville, "...covered with 4 inches of iron, but, I understand, very unmanageable..." and three gunboats. "I have them guarded," Farragut wrote, "by the two ironclads, the Winnebago and Chickasaw, and four of our gunboats."
Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut had seen a very busy War Between the States. Right at the moment, he was probably wishing for greater haste from the Union postal authorities, because he had sent a letter 27 August to Navy Secretary Gideon Welles asking for a little time off from active service. Secretary Welles just received the dispatch today and it rather torpedoed his plans. Despite the fact that, as Farragut pointed out, he had been on duty for more than five years, with only one short furlough during that time, Welles had intended to assign him to command of the assault on Wilmington, North Carolina. In view of Farragut’s request Welles changed his strategy. He assigned Admiral David Dixon Porter to the job, who was actually Farragut’s adoptive brother.
Though the Union forces dominated Mobile Bay, the South still possessed a number of ships at Mobile itself. Farragut informed Welles that the CSS Nashville, an ironclad which, he said, had been waiting for her plating for at least 12 months, was now ready for service. Farragut described her as mounting "...six of their heaviest rifles and has heavier backing and greater speed than the Tennessee." Referring to the battle of Mobile Bay the month before, the Admiral added: "If she had gotten out fully equipped, the Rebels would have made a stronger fight on the 5th day of August. The Mobile defenses also counted on the casemated ironclads Tuscaloosa and Huntsville, "...covered with 4 inches of iron, but, I understand, very unmanageable..." and three gunboats. "I have them guarded," Farragut wrote, "by the two ironclads, the Winnebago and Chickasaw, and four of our gunboats."
Posted on 9/15/14 at 9:41 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 16 September 1864
In the days before mechanical refrigeration, keeping ones' troops in food required some interesting logistics. Hardtack could be shipped and stored, but if the troops were to have beef one had to store it on the hoof. Confederate cavalry under Wade Hampton took advantage of superior Union stocks by staging a raid at Coggins' Point, Virginia, where they captured over 300 Federals and, more importantly, what they were guarding--a herd of some 2400 cattle. Getting them back to Petersburg would take several days and several skirmishes, but the food was desperately needed by the besieged forces there.
Another report: General Wade Hampton’s Confederate cavalry delivered a herd of cattle to General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia under siege at Petersburg. Hampton had raided Federal supply lines since 11 September, capturing 304 Federal prisoners and nearly 2,500 cattle consisting of almost two million pounds of beef for Lee’s hungry troops. This became known as the “beefsteak raid,” and Hampton’s cavalrymen were nicknamed the “cowboys.”
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory from Liverpool: "The loss of the Alabama occurred just at a time when the financial condition of the Navy Department began to improve and...I took immediate steps to look up a successor. I have now the satisfaction to inform you of the purchase of a fine composite ship, built for the Bombay trade, and just returned from her first voyage. She is 1,160 tons builder's measurement, classed A-1...frames, beams, etc., of iron, but planked from keel to gunwhale with East Indian teak...My broker has had her carefully examined by one of Lloyd's inspectors, who pronounced her a capital ship in every respect...The log of the ship shows her to be a fast sailor under canvas, for with screw up she has made 330 miles in 24 hours by observation." Bulloch was describing the steamer Sea King, a ship which would shortly become renowned as the raider the CSS Shenandoah. He also informed Mallory that contracts had been let for the torpedo boats which the Secretary had ordered two months before.
A boat expedition from the USS Arid, Acting Master James J. Russell in charge, captured over 4,000 pounds of cotton in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, Florida.
General Nathan Bedford Forrest and about 4,500 Confederate cavalrymen left Verona, Mississippi to raid Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal supply and communication lines in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee.
Generals Hiram U. Grant and Philip H. Sheridan conferred at Charles Town, West Virginia. Sheridan informed Grant that General Jubal Early’s Confederate army in the Shenandoah was depleted because a corps had been transferred to reinforce Confederates at Petersburg. Grant approved Sheridan’s plan to cut Early’s supply lines south of Winchester.
In the days before mechanical refrigeration, keeping ones' troops in food required some interesting logistics. Hardtack could be shipped and stored, but if the troops were to have beef one had to store it on the hoof. Confederate cavalry under Wade Hampton took advantage of superior Union stocks by staging a raid at Coggins' Point, Virginia, where they captured over 300 Federals and, more importantly, what they were guarding--a herd of some 2400 cattle. Getting them back to Petersburg would take several days and several skirmishes, but the food was desperately needed by the besieged forces there.
Another report: General Wade Hampton’s Confederate cavalry delivered a herd of cattle to General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia under siege at Petersburg. Hampton had raided Federal supply lines since 11 September, capturing 304 Federal prisoners and nearly 2,500 cattle consisting of almost two million pounds of beef for Lee’s hungry troops. This became known as the “beefsteak raid,” and Hampton’s cavalrymen were nicknamed the “cowboys.”
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory from Liverpool: "The loss of the Alabama occurred just at a time when the financial condition of the Navy Department began to improve and...I took immediate steps to look up a successor. I have now the satisfaction to inform you of the purchase of a fine composite ship, built for the Bombay trade, and just returned from her first voyage. She is 1,160 tons builder's measurement, classed A-1...frames, beams, etc., of iron, but planked from keel to gunwhale with East Indian teak...My broker has had her carefully examined by one of Lloyd's inspectors, who pronounced her a capital ship in every respect...The log of the ship shows her to be a fast sailor under canvas, for with screw up she has made 330 miles in 24 hours by observation." Bulloch was describing the steamer Sea King, a ship which would shortly become renowned as the raider the CSS Shenandoah. He also informed Mallory that contracts had been let for the torpedo boats which the Secretary had ordered two months before.
A boat expedition from the USS Arid, Acting Master James J. Russell in charge, captured over 4,000 pounds of cotton in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, Florida.
General Nathan Bedford Forrest and about 4,500 Confederate cavalrymen left Verona, Mississippi to raid Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal supply and communication lines in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee.
Generals Hiram U. Grant and Philip H. Sheridan conferred at Charles Town, West Virginia. Sheridan informed Grant that General Jubal Early’s Confederate army in the Shenandoah was depleted because a corps had been transferred to reinforce Confederates at Petersburg. Grant approved Sheridan’s plan to cut Early’s supply lines south of Winchester.
Posted on 9/16/14 at 8:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 17 September 1864
John Charles Fremont, known as the "Pathfinder" and, as former commander of the Union forces in St. Louis, Missouri, issuer of the 30 August, 1861 first Emancipation Proclamation of Slaves in the state, where he spent far more time fighting with Frank Blair, Jr. than marching to fight Sterling Price’s Confederates, performed a most noble deed today. He informed a committee of the Radical Republicans that he was declining their request to run for President in the primary against Abraham Lincoln. Although he regarded Lincoln as a complete failure (the fact that Lincoln had relieved him of command in St. Louis may have influenced this opinion), he disliked the Democrat, George B. McClellan, even more. McClellan’s victory, Fremont said, would result in “...separation or re-establishment [of the Union] with slavery...” still intact.
Second account: Savannah, Georgia, native and Radical Republican John C. Fremont, who was chosen as his party's first candidate for president in 1856, withdrew his candidacy for president this afternoon. Fremont still considered President Abraham Lincoln an abject failure, but he wanted to prevent a Republican Party--now called the National Union Party--split that would allow Democrat George B. McClellan to win the upcoming election. Behind the scenes, Radicals in Congress had indicated a willingness to facilitate Fremont’s withdrawal in exchange for assurances from Lincoln, such as dismissing cabinet members who opposed Radical policies. Fremont’s withdrawal, along with recent Federal military victories, unified the Republican/National Union Party and gave Lincoln strong momentum in the upcoming race.
In the Shenandoah Valley, two years to the day after the Battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek, General Jubal Early’s Confederates advanced along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from Stephenson’s Depot, just north of Winchester, toward Martinsburg. Early had less than 12,000 men to oppose over 40,000 Federals in three corps under General Philip Sheridan. Despite this handicap, Early had his forces dispersed and did not place his troops in better defensive positions with more adequate supply lines.
John Charles Fremont, known as the "Pathfinder" and, as former commander of the Union forces in St. Louis, Missouri, issuer of the 30 August, 1861 first Emancipation Proclamation of Slaves in the state, where he spent far more time fighting with Frank Blair, Jr. than marching to fight Sterling Price’s Confederates, performed a most noble deed today. He informed a committee of the Radical Republicans that he was declining their request to run for President in the primary against Abraham Lincoln. Although he regarded Lincoln as a complete failure (the fact that Lincoln had relieved him of command in St. Louis may have influenced this opinion), he disliked the Democrat, George B. McClellan, even more. McClellan’s victory, Fremont said, would result in “...separation or re-establishment [of the Union] with slavery...” still intact.
Second account: Savannah, Georgia, native and Radical Republican John C. Fremont, who was chosen as his party's first candidate for president in 1856, withdrew his candidacy for president this afternoon. Fremont still considered President Abraham Lincoln an abject failure, but he wanted to prevent a Republican Party--now called the National Union Party--split that would allow Democrat George B. McClellan to win the upcoming election. Behind the scenes, Radicals in Congress had indicated a willingness to facilitate Fremont’s withdrawal in exchange for assurances from Lincoln, such as dismissing cabinet members who opposed Radical policies. Fremont’s withdrawal, along with recent Federal military victories, unified the Republican/National Union Party and gave Lincoln strong momentum in the upcoming race.
In the Shenandoah Valley, two years to the day after the Battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek, General Jubal Early’s Confederates advanced along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from Stephenson’s Depot, just north of Winchester, toward Martinsburg. Early had less than 12,000 men to oppose over 40,000 Federals in three corps under General Philip Sheridan. Despite this handicap, Early had his forces dispersed and did not place his troops in better defensive positions with more adequate supply lines.
Posted on 9/17/14 at 8:52 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 18 September 1864
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was either a great believer in the power of positive thinking, or completely deluded this morning. The siege of Petersburg, Virginia, continued as it had for months, with no progress whatever being made to break it. The only major portion of the Army of Northern Virginia operating elsewhere, General Jubal Early’s cavalry force in the Shenandoah, was scattered and under pressure from General Phillip Sheridan’s large Union force. The far West had been lost since the fall of Vicksburg the summer before. Nevertheless, Davis sent a letter full of glowing optimism to a Confederate Congressman today, saying that he thought Atlanta could be retaken and “...Sherman’s army can be driven out of Georgia, perhaps be utterly destroyed.”
In the Shenandoah, Anderson's and Kershaw's Brigades leave the Valley on their way back to Lee. The balance of Early’s Confederates pulled back toward Bunker Hill, but his army is dangerously spread out. Learning of this, Sheridan moves his Federals toward Winchester, hoping to attack each Confederate division separately.
Federal expeditions began from Barrancas, Florida, Lexington, Missouri, and on the Cimarron River--Río de los Carneros Cimarrón--in the New Mexico Territory.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was either a great believer in the power of positive thinking, or completely deluded this morning. The siege of Petersburg, Virginia, continued as it had for months, with no progress whatever being made to break it. The only major portion of the Army of Northern Virginia operating elsewhere, General Jubal Early’s cavalry force in the Shenandoah, was scattered and under pressure from General Phillip Sheridan’s large Union force. The far West had been lost since the fall of Vicksburg the summer before. Nevertheless, Davis sent a letter full of glowing optimism to a Confederate Congressman today, saying that he thought Atlanta could be retaken and “...Sherman’s army can be driven out of Georgia, perhaps be utterly destroyed.”
In the Shenandoah, Anderson's and Kershaw's Brigades leave the Valley on their way back to Lee. The balance of Early’s Confederates pulled back toward Bunker Hill, but his army is dangerously spread out. Learning of this, Sheridan moves his Federals toward Winchester, hoping to attack each Confederate division separately.
Federal expeditions began from Barrancas, Florida, Lexington, Missouri, and on the Cimarron River--Río de los Carneros Cimarrón--in the New Mexico Territory.
Posted on 9/18/14 at 10:00 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 19 September 1864
For weeks Union President Abraham Lincoln had been pressing General Hiram U. Grant for action against General Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry force in the Shenandoah Valley. Grant had brought Phillip Sheridan from the West to abate the nuisance, but even Grant had been getting impatient with his protégé lately. Today Sheridan made his move. North of Winchester, Sheridan led the largest portion of his army around Berryville, Virginia, and struck. General Robert Rodes, CSA, was mortally wounded in the action, but the Confederate counterattack punched a hole in the Union line. Rather than retreating as was usual, Sheridan held, reformed, and struck again. A smaller part of Sheridan’s force circled around and struck General Breckinridge from the north.
Full report: While Early had his forces dispersed, raiding the B&O Railroad, Sheridan attacks west from Berryville, striking near Winchester, Virginia. Union delays from trying to move three army corps up narrow Berryville canyon give Early time to force march his scattered infantry and re-concentrate east of Winchester. The fight goes on all day. By late afternoon, Crook's two divisions outflank the main Confederate line on the north and Union cavalry overrun Early's line north of Winchester in a thundering saber charge, the largest of the war. Sustaining ruinous casualties, Early's line collapses and he retreats through Winchester from the largest battle in all three of the campaigns, taking up defensive positions twenty miles south at Fisher's Hill. Confederate General Robert Emmett Rodes, who led Stonewall Jackson's devastating surprise attack at the Battle of Chancellorsville, and Union Brigadier General David Allen Russell are killed within a short distance of each other as the fighting seesaws back and forth. Sheridan loses 5,000 men, about 12% of his army, while Early's casualties are 3,500, but these represent well over 29% of his small force. It was the bloodiest battle ever fought in the Shenandoah Valley.
George Smith Patton, Sr, the grandfather of World War II hero George S. Patton, was badly wounded and died 25 September. His younger brother, Waller Tazewell Patton, had been mortally wounded while leading his men as part of Kemper's Brigade towards the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge during Pickett's Charge. Part of his jaw had been ripped away by an artillery shell fragment. He died in a makeshift hospital at Pennsylvania College several weeks later. Their first cousin, Lewis B. Williams, Jr, commanded another Virginia regiment in Pickett's Division and was also mortally wounded that day. Both George and Waller Patton are buried in the Stonewall Cemetery, a part of Mount Hebron Cemetery. Four other brothers were officers in the Confederate States Army: John Mercer Patton, Isaac Patton, James F. Patton, and Hugh Mercer Patton.
Confederates under Acting Master John Yates Beall captured and burned the steamers Philo Parsons and Island Queen on Lake Erie. Captain Charles H. Cole, CSA, a Confederate secret agent in the Lake Erie region, conceived the plan and received the assistance of Jacob Thompson, Southern agent in Canada, and the daring Beall. The plan was for Cole to aid in the capture of the iron side-wheeler USS Michigan, which was then guarding the Confederate prisoners at Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio, by befriending her officers and attempting to bribe them. Beall was to approach with a captured steamer from the mouth of Sandusky Bay and board Michigan, after which the prisoners would be released and the whole force would embark on a guerrilla expedition along the lake. Beall and his 19 men came on board Philo Parsons as passengers but soon seized the steamer and took her to Middle Bass Island, on the way from Detroit to Sandusky. While there, Beall was approached by an unsuspecting steamer, Island Queen, which he quickly captured and burned. He then landed the passengers and cargoes of the two ships and proceeded with his improvised man-of-war to Sandusky. Meanwhile, Commander J. C. Carter of Michigan had discovered Cole's duplicity and had him arrested, along with his assistant in the plot. As Beall and his men approached Sandusky, the prearranged signals were not made. Confronted with uncertain circumstances and overwhelming odds, Beall and his men reluctantly but wisely abandoned their part in the plan and took Philo Parsons to Sandwich, Canada, where she was stripped and burned. The Confederates then dispersed.
Another account: John Y. Beall and fellow Confederate operatives captured the Federal steamer Philo Parsons and burned the Island Queen in an attack on Federal shipping on Lake Erie. Their main target was the USS Michigan, which carried Confederate prisoners of war. Michigan’s commander learned of a planned prisoner uprising and arrested the ringleader. Their plot foiled, Beall burned Philo Parsons at Old Sandwich Town, Canada and retreated.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, in a telegram to Commander John Newland Maffitt, gave his orders regarding the new Confederate-owned blockade runners: "It is of the first importance that our steamers should not fall into the enemy's hands. Apart from the specific loss sustained by the country in the capture of blockade runners, these vessels, lightly armed, now constitute the fleetest and most efficient part of his blockading force off Wilmington...As commanding officer of the Owl you will please devise and adopt thorough and efficient means for saving all hands and destroying the vessel and cargo whenever these measures may become necessary to prevent capture."
A boat expedition commanded by Acting Ensign Semon in USS Niphon, landed at Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina, to gain intelligence on the defenses of Wilmington and the strength of its garrison. In planning for the forthcoming assault on the defenses of Wilmington, Semon also learned that the raider CSS Tallahassee was at Wilmington, along with several blockade runners.
General Sterling Price and about 12,000 Confederates invaded Missouri in a desperate attempt to free the state from Union control. Federals skirmished with the advancing Confederates at Doniphan, in Ripley County, but could not stop them.
Confederates under Brigadier Generals Stand Watie and Richard M. Gano successfully raided a Federal wagon train at Cabin Creek in northeastern Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The Federals lost over 200 wagons, five ambulances, 40 horses, and over 1,200 mules. The Confederates captured an estimated $1.5 million worth of food, clothing, and other supplies intended for troops and refugee Native Americans at Fort Gibson.
Lincoln strongly urged General William T. Sherman to grant furloughs to Indiana soldiers in his army so they could go home and vote. Indiana was a crucial Republican state that did not allow absentee voting. Lincoln believed that although George McClellan was still highly popular among the troops, they would ultimately vote for their current Commander-in-Chief.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote to various Southern governors that “...harmony of action between the States and Confederate authorities is essential to the public welfare.” Davis urged the repeal of certain state laws requiring immigrants to either serve in the military or leave the state, arguing that such policies deprived the Confederacy of needed manpower. He suggested encouraging immigrants to serve in non-military capacities.
Federal naval forces bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor for the rest of the month, firing a total of 494 rounds.
A Federal expedition began from Natchez, Mississippi.
For weeks Union President Abraham Lincoln had been pressing General Hiram U. Grant for action against General Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry force in the Shenandoah Valley. Grant had brought Phillip Sheridan from the West to abate the nuisance, but even Grant had been getting impatient with his protégé lately. Today Sheridan made his move. North of Winchester, Sheridan led the largest portion of his army around Berryville, Virginia, and struck. General Robert Rodes, CSA, was mortally wounded in the action, but the Confederate counterattack punched a hole in the Union line. Rather than retreating as was usual, Sheridan held, reformed, and struck again. A smaller part of Sheridan’s force circled around and struck General Breckinridge from the north.
Full report: While Early had his forces dispersed, raiding the B&O Railroad, Sheridan attacks west from Berryville, striking near Winchester, Virginia. Union delays from trying to move three army corps up narrow Berryville canyon give Early time to force march his scattered infantry and re-concentrate east of Winchester. The fight goes on all day. By late afternoon, Crook's two divisions outflank the main Confederate line on the north and Union cavalry overrun Early's line north of Winchester in a thundering saber charge, the largest of the war. Sustaining ruinous casualties, Early's line collapses and he retreats through Winchester from the largest battle in all three of the campaigns, taking up defensive positions twenty miles south at Fisher's Hill. Confederate General Robert Emmett Rodes, who led Stonewall Jackson's devastating surprise attack at the Battle of Chancellorsville, and Union Brigadier General David Allen Russell are killed within a short distance of each other as the fighting seesaws back and forth. Sheridan loses 5,000 men, about 12% of his army, while Early's casualties are 3,500, but these represent well over 29% of his small force. It was the bloodiest battle ever fought in the Shenandoah Valley.
George Smith Patton, Sr, the grandfather of World War II hero George S. Patton, was badly wounded and died 25 September. His younger brother, Waller Tazewell Patton, had been mortally wounded while leading his men as part of Kemper's Brigade towards the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge during Pickett's Charge. Part of his jaw had been ripped away by an artillery shell fragment. He died in a makeshift hospital at Pennsylvania College several weeks later. Their first cousin, Lewis B. Williams, Jr, commanded another Virginia regiment in Pickett's Division and was also mortally wounded that day. Both George and Waller Patton are buried in the Stonewall Cemetery, a part of Mount Hebron Cemetery. Four other brothers were officers in the Confederate States Army: John Mercer Patton, Isaac Patton, James F. Patton, and Hugh Mercer Patton.
Confederates under Acting Master John Yates Beall captured and burned the steamers Philo Parsons and Island Queen on Lake Erie. Captain Charles H. Cole, CSA, a Confederate secret agent in the Lake Erie region, conceived the plan and received the assistance of Jacob Thompson, Southern agent in Canada, and the daring Beall. The plan was for Cole to aid in the capture of the iron side-wheeler USS Michigan, which was then guarding the Confederate prisoners at Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio, by befriending her officers and attempting to bribe them. Beall was to approach with a captured steamer from the mouth of Sandusky Bay and board Michigan, after which the prisoners would be released and the whole force would embark on a guerrilla expedition along the lake. Beall and his 19 men came on board Philo Parsons as passengers but soon seized the steamer and took her to Middle Bass Island, on the way from Detroit to Sandusky. While there, Beall was approached by an unsuspecting steamer, Island Queen, which he quickly captured and burned. He then landed the passengers and cargoes of the two ships and proceeded with his improvised man-of-war to Sandusky. Meanwhile, Commander J. C. Carter of Michigan had discovered Cole's duplicity and had him arrested, along with his assistant in the plot. As Beall and his men approached Sandusky, the prearranged signals were not made. Confronted with uncertain circumstances and overwhelming odds, Beall and his men reluctantly but wisely abandoned their part in the plan and took Philo Parsons to Sandwich, Canada, where she was stripped and burned. The Confederates then dispersed.
Another account: John Y. Beall and fellow Confederate operatives captured the Federal steamer Philo Parsons and burned the Island Queen in an attack on Federal shipping on Lake Erie. Their main target was the USS Michigan, which carried Confederate prisoners of war. Michigan’s commander learned of a planned prisoner uprising and arrested the ringleader. Their plot foiled, Beall burned Philo Parsons at Old Sandwich Town, Canada and retreated.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, in a telegram to Commander John Newland Maffitt, gave his orders regarding the new Confederate-owned blockade runners: "It is of the first importance that our steamers should not fall into the enemy's hands. Apart from the specific loss sustained by the country in the capture of blockade runners, these vessels, lightly armed, now constitute the fleetest and most efficient part of his blockading force off Wilmington...As commanding officer of the Owl you will please devise and adopt thorough and efficient means for saving all hands and destroying the vessel and cargo whenever these measures may become necessary to prevent capture."
A boat expedition commanded by Acting Ensign Semon in USS Niphon, landed at Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina, to gain intelligence on the defenses of Wilmington and the strength of its garrison. In planning for the forthcoming assault on the defenses of Wilmington, Semon also learned that the raider CSS Tallahassee was at Wilmington, along with several blockade runners.
General Sterling Price and about 12,000 Confederates invaded Missouri in a desperate attempt to free the state from Union control. Federals skirmished with the advancing Confederates at Doniphan, in Ripley County, but could not stop them.
Confederates under Brigadier Generals Stand Watie and Richard M. Gano successfully raided a Federal wagon train at Cabin Creek in northeastern Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The Federals lost over 200 wagons, five ambulances, 40 horses, and over 1,200 mules. The Confederates captured an estimated $1.5 million worth of food, clothing, and other supplies intended for troops and refugee Native Americans at Fort Gibson.
Lincoln strongly urged General William T. Sherman to grant furloughs to Indiana soldiers in his army so they could go home and vote. Indiana was a crucial Republican state that did not allow absentee voting. Lincoln believed that although George McClellan was still highly popular among the troops, they would ultimately vote for their current Commander-in-Chief.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote to various Southern governors that “...harmony of action between the States and Confederate authorities is essential to the public welfare.” Davis urged the repeal of certain state laws requiring immigrants to either serve in the military or leave the state, arguing that such policies deprived the Confederacy of needed manpower. He suggested encouraging immigrants to serve in non-military capacities.
Federal naval forces bombarded Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor for the rest of the month, firing a total of 494 rounds.
A Federal expedition began from Natchez, Mississippi.
Posted on 9/19/14 at 9:33 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 20 September 1864
General Phillip Sheridan finally had General Jubal Early’s Cavalry force on the run in the Shenandoah Valley. Following the Battle of Third Winchester, or Opequon Creek, yesterday, Early was moving “up” the valley, which due to the direction the river flows, meant moving South. The pursuit lasted through Middleton, Virginia, passing through Strasburg until they reached a spot called Fisher’s Hill. There Early’s men stopped. In response, Sheridan ordered his men, who were still north of the town, to halt and begin to entrench. In the early days of the War, it would have been unheard of for proud cavaliers of the Cavalry to dig ditches to fight in, but there had been some changes to tactics made in the past three and one half years.
Another report: In the Shenandoah, Philip Sheridan pursued Jubal Early, with fighting at Middletown, Strasburg, and Cedarville. By evening, Federals were fortifying on high ground north of Strasburg. Early was south of Strasburg on Fisher’s Hill, having narrowly escaped disaster.
In Missouri, Sterling Price’s Confederates captured Keytesville and then advanced on Fayette.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis left Richmond for Georgia to consult with officials on how best to regain Southern momentum. Davis also sought to assure Southerners that they were down, but not yet defeated.
Skirmishing in Georgia threatened General William T. Sherman’s tenuous supply lines.
Federals raided from Kentucky and eastern Tennessee into southwestern Virginia.
General Phillip Sheridan finally had General Jubal Early’s Cavalry force on the run in the Shenandoah Valley. Following the Battle of Third Winchester, or Opequon Creek, yesterday, Early was moving “up” the valley, which due to the direction the river flows, meant moving South. The pursuit lasted through Middleton, Virginia, passing through Strasburg until they reached a spot called Fisher’s Hill. There Early’s men stopped. In response, Sheridan ordered his men, who were still north of the town, to halt and begin to entrench. In the early days of the War, it would have been unheard of for proud cavaliers of the Cavalry to dig ditches to fight in, but there had been some changes to tactics made in the past three and one half years.
Another report: In the Shenandoah, Philip Sheridan pursued Jubal Early, with fighting at Middletown, Strasburg, and Cedarville. By evening, Federals were fortifying on high ground north of Strasburg. Early was south of Strasburg on Fisher’s Hill, having narrowly escaped disaster.
In Missouri, Sterling Price’s Confederates captured Keytesville and then advanced on Fayette.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis left Richmond for Georgia to consult with officials on how best to regain Southern momentum. Davis also sought to assure Southerners that they were down, but not yet defeated.
Skirmishing in Georgia threatened General William T. Sherman’s tenuous supply lines.
Federals raided from Kentucky and eastern Tennessee into southwestern Virginia.
Posted on 9/20/14 at 9:12 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 21 September 1864
The pursuit of General Jubal Early “up” the Shenandoah Valley continued today. Having resisted the move back to General Robert E. Lee in Petersburg for as long as he could, Early now was in a desperate race to do exactly that. The impediment was General Phillip Sheridan, who accomplished two things today. First, there was the fighting: Early had fortified Fisher’s Hill, and Sheridan had to advance slowly there. Additional actions took place at Strasburg, and at Front Royal, where the Confederates managed to keep Sheridan’s men out of the Luray Valley for one more day.
Union probes against Early's lines at Fisher's Hill show the position would be very costly to attack frontally. General George R. Crook proposes a flank march by his two divisions through the steep mountain terrain on the Confederate left flank. The plan is violently opposed by Sixth Corps Commander Horatio Wright but Sheridan, who was Crook's roommate at West Point, approves. After nightfall, Sheridan detached Crook and one corps to move around the left flank of Early.
Early's second in command, John Breckinridge, is ordered to leave the Valley to resume command of the Department of East Tennessee and Western Virginia.
Philip Sheridan became permanent commander of the Federal Middle Military District, including the Shenandoah Valley.
With Early damaged and pinned down, the Valley lay open to the Union. And because of Sherman's capture of Atlanta, President Abraham Lincoln's re-election now seemed assured. Sheridan would pull back slowly down the Valley and conducted a scorched earth campaign that would presage Sherman's March to the Sea in November. The goal was to deny the Confederacy the means of feeding its armies in Virginia, and Sheridan's army did so ruthlessly, burning crops, barns, mills, and factories.
Lincoln spoke with various political leaders and administration officials to gather support and gauge public opinion on the upcoming election.
The pursuit of General Jubal Early “up” the Shenandoah Valley continued today. Having resisted the move back to General Robert E. Lee in Petersburg for as long as he could, Early now was in a desperate race to do exactly that. The impediment was General Phillip Sheridan, who accomplished two things today. First, there was the fighting: Early had fortified Fisher’s Hill, and Sheridan had to advance slowly there. Additional actions took place at Strasburg, and at Front Royal, where the Confederates managed to keep Sheridan’s men out of the Luray Valley for one more day.
Union probes against Early's lines at Fisher's Hill show the position would be very costly to attack frontally. General George R. Crook proposes a flank march by his two divisions through the steep mountain terrain on the Confederate left flank. The plan is violently opposed by Sixth Corps Commander Horatio Wright but Sheridan, who was Crook's roommate at West Point, approves. After nightfall, Sheridan detached Crook and one corps to move around the left flank of Early.
Early's second in command, John Breckinridge, is ordered to leave the Valley to resume command of the Department of East Tennessee and Western Virginia.
Philip Sheridan became permanent commander of the Federal Middle Military District, including the Shenandoah Valley.
With Early damaged and pinned down, the Valley lay open to the Union. And because of Sherman's capture of Atlanta, President Abraham Lincoln's re-election now seemed assured. Sheridan would pull back slowly down the Valley and conducted a scorched earth campaign that would presage Sherman's March to the Sea in November. The goal was to deny the Confederacy the means of feeding its armies in Virginia, and Sheridan's army did so ruthlessly, burning crops, barns, mills, and factories.
Lincoln spoke with various political leaders and administration officials to gather support and gauge public opinion on the upcoming election.
Posted on 9/21/14 at 8:39 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 22 September 1864
The bloody, full scale battle in the Shenandoah Valley continued today. General Jubal Early’s Confederates held a rise known as Fisher’s Hill, with General Phillip Sheridan facing him there and down a creek called Tumbling Run from the heights of Strasburg with over 40,000 Union troops. The two battled for most of the day until late afternoon when Sheridan’s trap was sprung. He had sent a corps last night under General George R. Crook around the Confederate left, and at this moment Crook’s men attacked, taking the entrenchments on the flank and rear.
Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Staff Alexander Swift “Sandie” Pendleton, who had fought so well for General Thomas J. Jackson in this valley two years previously and already among the most respected staff officers in Robert E. Lee's army, was a casualty in the melee. Pendleton, trying to rally men streaming to the rear, was mortally wounded. He died the next day, less than a week before his twenty-fourth birthday. He is buried in Lexington, not far from the grave of Jackson.
Early’s men fled four miles further south before rallying. Numbering almost 12,000 a week ago the battles of Winchester and today at Fisher’s Hill had cut this number just about in half.
Upon learning that Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's health prevented him from accepting command of the forthcoming operations against Wilmington, North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles paid eloquent tribute to the Admiral and his accomplishments: "In accordance with the view of the Department and the universal wish of the country, the orders of the 5th instant (5 September 1864) were given to you; but a life so precious must not be thrown away by failing to heed the monitions which the greatest powers of physical endurance receive as a warning to rest. The country will again call upon you, perhaps, to put the finishing blow to the rebellion."
The distinguished Admiral's service in the War Between the States was over, but not before he had achieved a permanent place among the great naval heroes of all time. From New Orleans to Port Hudson to Mobile Bay, David Glasgow Farragut, first Admiral in the U.S. Navy, had shown the leadership, courage, intelligence, and devotion to duty which have ever since been shining examples for all who are privileged to serve the Nation at sea.
The bloody, full scale battle in the Shenandoah Valley continued today. General Jubal Early’s Confederates held a rise known as Fisher’s Hill, with General Phillip Sheridan facing him there and down a creek called Tumbling Run from the heights of Strasburg with over 40,000 Union troops. The two battled for most of the day until late afternoon when Sheridan’s trap was sprung. He had sent a corps last night under General George R. Crook around the Confederate left, and at this moment Crook’s men attacked, taking the entrenchments on the flank and rear.
Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Staff Alexander Swift “Sandie” Pendleton, who had fought so well for General Thomas J. Jackson in this valley two years previously and already among the most respected staff officers in Robert E. Lee's army, was a casualty in the melee. Pendleton, trying to rally men streaming to the rear, was mortally wounded. He died the next day, less than a week before his twenty-fourth birthday. He is buried in Lexington, not far from the grave of Jackson.
Early’s men fled four miles further south before rallying. Numbering almost 12,000 a week ago the battles of Winchester and today at Fisher’s Hill had cut this number just about in half.
Upon learning that Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's health prevented him from accepting command of the forthcoming operations against Wilmington, North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles paid eloquent tribute to the Admiral and his accomplishments: "In accordance with the view of the Department and the universal wish of the country, the orders of the 5th instant (5 September 1864) were given to you; but a life so precious must not be thrown away by failing to heed the monitions which the greatest powers of physical endurance receive as a warning to rest. The country will again call upon you, perhaps, to put the finishing blow to the rebellion."
The distinguished Admiral's service in the War Between the States was over, but not before he had achieved a permanent place among the great naval heroes of all time. From New Orleans to Port Hudson to Mobile Bay, David Glasgow Farragut, first Admiral in the U.S. Navy, had shown the leadership, courage, intelligence, and devotion to duty which have ever since been shining examples for all who are privileged to serve the Nation at sea.
Posted on 9/22/14 at 10:02 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 23 September 1864
The Blair family name runs through the history of the War Between the States on the Union side. Some of their efforts were military--Frank Blair Jr., was one of the best of those who achieved general’s rank without benefit of military training--but far more important was the family’s political activities. High on the list was the name of Montgomery Blair, wheeler-dealer, consummate behind-the-scenes politician and staunch ally of President Abraham Lincoln. His only official title was Postmaster General, a job he had filled well during a time when so much mail was in motion that a nationwide paper shortage occurred. But he was also a leader of the moderate faction of the Democratic Party, which made him anathema to the the Radical Republicans of the, present and only election, National Union Party. To pacify them, Lincoln was forced today to ask for Blair’s resignation. He gave it, gracefully.
Another account: President Lincoln dismissed Postmaster General Montgomery Blair from his cabinet. Blair was a War Democrat who opposed many Radical Republican policies, and Senator Zachariah Chandler of Michigan had informed Lincoln that if Blair was dismissed, Radical presidential candidate John C. Fremont would withdraw his candidacy and the Radicals would back Lincoln. Blair had offered to resign when Lincoln deemed it necessary, and Lincoln said, “...the time has come.”
The small side-wheeler USS Antelope, under Acting Master John Ross, struck a snag and sank in the Mississippi River below New Orleans.
Last evening, Federal General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant ordered a 100-gun salute fired into the Confederate lines under siege at Petersburg, Virginia. Grant wired Sheridan, “Keep on, and your good work will cause the fall of Richmond.”
Confederate President Jefferson Davis unexpectedly arrived in Macon, Georgia on a trip to assess the military situation there. Davis also sought to assure Southerners that they were not yet defeated. Addressing a refugee relief meeting, Davis said, “Friends are drawn together in adversity...Our cause is not lost. Sherman cannot keep up his long line of communication, and retreat, sooner or later, he must.” Davis said he would confer with Confederate General John Bell Hood about recovering Georgia, he called for army absentees to return to duty, and concluded, “Let no one despond.”
General Sterling Price’s Confederates continued their invasion of Missouri, fighting yesterday at Patterson and Sikeston, then today at Rocheport--a city in Boone County, Missouri.
In the Shenandoah, Jubal Early’s Confederates withdrew toward New Market as the cavalry fought rearguard action against Union pursuers at various points. Philip Sheridan did not order a full prosecution, believing his victories at Winchester and Fisher’s Hill had broken Confederate morale.
Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut assumed command of the Federal Department of the Gulf, headquartered in New Orleans.
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates continued raiding Federal supply lines in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee, fighting at Athens, Alabama.
This morning, William Thomas Overby and four other soldiers of Lieutenant Colonel John Singleton Mosby’s 43rd Virginia Cavalry were captured by Union cavalrymen a few miles south of Front Royal, Virginia, along with a 17-year-old boy, Henry Rhodes, who wanted to join the Confederates. Rhodes was not a soldier, but a local Front Royal citizen who after capture was taken near his home and shot down in sight of his mother. Overby was offered his freedom if he would reveal the headquarters of Mosby's Rangers. Refusing this, he was hanged without a trial within four hours of his capture. He was later posthumously awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor.
"Mosby will hang ten of you for every one of us" were Overby’s last words to his executioners before the rope tightened around his neck on Richardson’s Hill. Mosby blamed General George A. Custer and promised vengeance on Custer’s men. Near Berryville a month and a half later, on November 7, Mosby ordered the execution of seven captured Federals, most of them from Custer’s command, in retribution.
Summary: Offered his life in exchange for betraying his comrades. Refused and was hanged as a spy September 1864~ Born in Newnan, Georgia, Overby was one of the six Mosby's Men executed at Front Royal by orders of General George Custer on Friday, September 23rd, 1864. Overby and Love, were hung to a tree in sight of the town of Front Royal, and a paper pinned on the breast of one read: "Such is the fate of all of Mosby's gang." The remains of the Mosby's Ranger often called the "Nathan Hale of the Confederacy" lie once again in the soil of his native Georgia. William Thomas Overby was given a hero's reburial January 5, 1997, in Oakhill Cemetery in Newnan, Georgia.
The Blair family name runs through the history of the War Between the States on the Union side. Some of their efforts were military--Frank Blair Jr., was one of the best of those who achieved general’s rank without benefit of military training--but far more important was the family’s political activities. High on the list was the name of Montgomery Blair, wheeler-dealer, consummate behind-the-scenes politician and staunch ally of President Abraham Lincoln. His only official title was Postmaster General, a job he had filled well during a time when so much mail was in motion that a nationwide paper shortage occurred. But he was also a leader of the moderate faction of the Democratic Party, which made him anathema to the the Radical Republicans of the, present and only election, National Union Party. To pacify them, Lincoln was forced today to ask for Blair’s resignation. He gave it, gracefully.
Another account: President Lincoln dismissed Postmaster General Montgomery Blair from his cabinet. Blair was a War Democrat who opposed many Radical Republican policies, and Senator Zachariah Chandler of Michigan had informed Lincoln that if Blair was dismissed, Radical presidential candidate John C. Fremont would withdraw his candidacy and the Radicals would back Lincoln. Blair had offered to resign when Lincoln deemed it necessary, and Lincoln said, “...the time has come.”
The small side-wheeler USS Antelope, under Acting Master John Ross, struck a snag and sank in the Mississippi River below New Orleans.
Last evening, Federal General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant ordered a 100-gun salute fired into the Confederate lines under siege at Petersburg, Virginia. Grant wired Sheridan, “Keep on, and your good work will cause the fall of Richmond.”
Confederate President Jefferson Davis unexpectedly arrived in Macon, Georgia on a trip to assess the military situation there. Davis also sought to assure Southerners that they were not yet defeated. Addressing a refugee relief meeting, Davis said, “Friends are drawn together in adversity...Our cause is not lost. Sherman cannot keep up his long line of communication, and retreat, sooner or later, he must.” Davis said he would confer with Confederate General John Bell Hood about recovering Georgia, he called for army absentees to return to duty, and concluded, “Let no one despond.”
General Sterling Price’s Confederates continued their invasion of Missouri, fighting yesterday at Patterson and Sikeston, then today at Rocheport--a city in Boone County, Missouri.
In the Shenandoah, Jubal Early’s Confederates withdrew toward New Market as the cavalry fought rearguard action against Union pursuers at various points. Philip Sheridan did not order a full prosecution, believing his victories at Winchester and Fisher’s Hill had broken Confederate morale.
Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut assumed command of the Federal Department of the Gulf, headquartered in New Orleans.
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates continued raiding Federal supply lines in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee, fighting at Athens, Alabama.
This morning, William Thomas Overby and four other soldiers of Lieutenant Colonel John Singleton Mosby’s 43rd Virginia Cavalry were captured by Union cavalrymen a few miles south of Front Royal, Virginia, along with a 17-year-old boy, Henry Rhodes, who wanted to join the Confederates. Rhodes was not a soldier, but a local Front Royal citizen who after capture was taken near his home and shot down in sight of his mother. Overby was offered his freedom if he would reveal the headquarters of Mosby's Rangers. Refusing this, he was hanged without a trial within four hours of his capture. He was later posthumously awarded the Confederate Medal of Honor.
"Mosby will hang ten of you for every one of us" were Overby’s last words to his executioners before the rope tightened around his neck on Richardson’s Hill. Mosby blamed General George A. Custer and promised vengeance on Custer’s men. Near Berryville a month and a half later, on November 7, Mosby ordered the execution of seven captured Federals, most of them from Custer’s command, in retribution.
Summary: Offered his life in exchange for betraying his comrades. Refused and was hanged as a spy September 1864~ Born in Newnan, Georgia, Overby was one of the six Mosby's Men executed at Front Royal by orders of General George Custer on Friday, September 23rd, 1864. Overby and Love, were hung to a tree in sight of the town of Front Royal, and a paper pinned on the breast of one read: "Such is the fate of all of Mosby's gang." The remains of the Mosby's Ranger often called the "Nathan Hale of the Confederacy" lie once again in the soil of his native Georgia. William Thomas Overby was given a hero's reburial January 5, 1997, in Oakhill Cemetery in Newnan, Georgia.
Posted on 9/23/14 at 8:21 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 24 September 1864
Under command of Acting Master William T. Street, the wooden steamer USS Fuchsia, and side-wheelers Thomas Freeborn and Mercury proceeded to Milford Haven, Virginia, near which Confederates were believed to be preparing a number of boats to attack the blockading force at the mouth of the Piankatank River. Leaving Fuchsia and Thomas Freeborn at Milford Haven, Street took armed boats in tow of Mercury and proceeded up Stutt's Creek. Some three miles upstream a force of 40 sailors was landed, under Acting Master William A. Arthur and Acting Ensign Philip Sheridan. Four Confederate boats were destroyed, five were captured, and a fishery demolished. Though the Rappahannock River area was dominated by the Northern forces, Union ships had to be continually on the alert to prevent audacious Southern raids.
General Robert E. Lee wrote Secretary of War Seddon of another dilemma posed by the South's weakness at sea: "Since the fitting out of the privateer Tallahassee and her cruise from the port of Wilmington, the enemy's fleet of blockaders off that coast has been very much increased, and the dangers of running the blockade rendered much greater. The question arises whether it is of more importance to us to obtain supplies through that port or to prey upon the enemy's commerce by privateers sent from thence...It might be well therefore, if practicable, to divert
the enemy's attention from Wilmington Harbor and keep it open as long as possible as a port of entry. While it is open the energies...should be exerted...to get in two or three years' supplies so as to remove all apprehension on this score."
It was a time of rack and ruin in many parts of the country today. In the Shenandoah Valley, General Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry was staying just far enough ahead of General Phillip Sheridan’s pursuing Federals that no real battle could be fought. Sheridan’s men, therefore, spent their time burning barns, farms, fields, haystacks and anything else that could possibly be of use to the military forces of the Confederacy. When not doing this, they skirmished at Mount Jackson, New Market, Luray, and Timberville. Sheridan, believing the Confederate threat was ended, wrote to Hiram U. Grant, “Let the burning of the crops in the Valley be the end of this campaign, and let some of this army go elsewhere.” Grant agreed, and the Federals began destroying private crops from Staunton to Strasburg to prevent the region from feeding Confederate forces.
In Missouri, Sterling Price’s Confederate raiders committed similar depredations in Fayette, along with rumbles in Jackson and Farmington, Missouri.
Finally, Nathan Bedford Forrest leads his Confederate cavalry to a battle in Athens, Alabama, resulting in their capture of the Union fort there. During the march to Athens, Forrest had sent his 14th and 20th Tennessee Cavalry along with his brother, Jesse, to McDonald's Station--a cotton stop--and orders them to cut the rail lines of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the telegraph lines as well. Forrest continues approaching Fort Henderson from the southwest, and sends Colonel C.R. Barteau and the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry north of the female seminary.
Inside the fort, Union Colonel Wallace Campbell hears about fighting at McDonald's Station near Tanner. He thinks the Confederate force is Brigadier General P.D. Roddey, of Moulton, a man the Union fears almost as much as Forrest. Both can strike fast and slip away. He doesn't know the cavalry is Jesse Forrest's smaller unit. Campbell takes 100 men from the 110th Colored Infantry by train to the skirmish. His men run off Confederate cavalry tearing up the tracks. As the train travels backward to Athens, Campbell finds more Confederate cavalry burning the tracks to the north. The train forces its way through. The incident takes an hour.
In town, the Union army captures a Confederate physician named Dr. Latham, who boasts Forrest is coming with 10,000 to 12,000 men. Perhaps Forrest wanted the Yankees to capture Dr. Latham, so he could plant the seed that his force is more than double his actual number. A Union relief force from Decatur Junction, where the Memphis and Charleston Railroad intersects with the Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad, moves toward Athens on Friday afternoon, anticipating a fight.
Last night, Forrest arrived in Athens and placed eight cannons around the fort. In town, east of the fort, sporadic fighting breaks out, along with cordial greetings between Confederate and Union soldiers who bump into each other in the dark. Some Union soldiers who cannot get to the fort burn goods they think the Confederates might want. Near the courthouse, 2nd Lieutenant John Wesley Andes of the 2nd U.S. Tennessee Cavalry gets an opportunity to accomplish something the entire Union Army has wanted to do throughout the war: capture Forrest.
Andes sees Forrest's escort at the Maclin home about 7 p.m. Forrest is eating dinner with the family. Because it is dark, Andes identifies himself to Confederates outside the home as a member of the 2nd Tennessee. The Rebels think he means the 2nd Tennessee, Confederate cavalry, and do not stop him. Andes orders his men to surround Forrest's escort. Andes hesitates. He, too, heard rumors that Forrest may have more than 10,000 men and decides not to risk a fight. He finds his commander, Colonel William F. Prosser, but remains silent about Forrest's dinner. Prosser argues with Campbell, saying the entire army should sneak out of Athens before Saturday morning. Campbell refuses. Prosser, with the help of a black guide, leads his troops past the Rebels and back to Decatur Junction. Mary Fielding, 29, who is living at the Maclin home, peers out a window before 7 a.m. on Saturday and writes in her diary that one of Forrest's brigades "...seemed to go in all directions; marching, counter-marching, going first one way and then another." Forrest's antics have a purpose. He wants Campbell to think he has a massive force.
"Are there any Yankees in town this morning?" Confederate soldiers ask as they ride into Athens past Roswell Hine's home toward the courthouse. By now, the majority of Union soldiers are inside Fort Henderson.At first light, Forrest orders an artillery barrage. Campbell, who has two cannon, notes that none of the Confederate shells miss the fort. About 10 a.m., Forrest sends Major J.P. Strange under a flag of truce to demand surrender. Campbell assembles a council of war, which reviews Forrest's terms: white officers will go to prison camps and the Negroes to their masters. The council refuses surrender. Forrest proceeds with an artillery barrage. At 10:30 a.m., he sends Strange again to demand surrender. Campbell wants to buy time so relief forces from Decatur or Pulaski, Tennessee, can arrive. Forrest knows his troops are fighting relief troops from Decatur. Forrest plans to trick Campbell before relief forces arrive and asks Campbell to review his Confederate force.
Under command of Acting Master William T. Street, the wooden steamer USS Fuchsia, and side-wheelers Thomas Freeborn and Mercury proceeded to Milford Haven, Virginia, near which Confederates were believed to be preparing a number of boats to attack the blockading force at the mouth of the Piankatank River. Leaving Fuchsia and Thomas Freeborn at Milford Haven, Street took armed boats in tow of Mercury and proceeded up Stutt's Creek. Some three miles upstream a force of 40 sailors was landed, under Acting Master William A. Arthur and Acting Ensign Philip Sheridan. Four Confederate boats were destroyed, five were captured, and a fishery demolished. Though the Rappahannock River area was dominated by the Northern forces, Union ships had to be continually on the alert to prevent audacious Southern raids.
General Robert E. Lee wrote Secretary of War Seddon of another dilemma posed by the South's weakness at sea: "Since the fitting out of the privateer Tallahassee and her cruise from the port of Wilmington, the enemy's fleet of blockaders off that coast has been very much increased, and the dangers of running the blockade rendered much greater. The question arises whether it is of more importance to us to obtain supplies through that port or to prey upon the enemy's commerce by privateers sent from thence...It might be well therefore, if practicable, to divert
the enemy's attention from Wilmington Harbor and keep it open as long as possible as a port of entry. While it is open the energies...should be exerted...to get in two or three years' supplies so as to remove all apprehension on this score."
It was a time of rack and ruin in many parts of the country today. In the Shenandoah Valley, General Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry was staying just far enough ahead of General Phillip Sheridan’s pursuing Federals that no real battle could be fought. Sheridan’s men, therefore, spent their time burning barns, farms, fields, haystacks and anything else that could possibly be of use to the military forces of the Confederacy. When not doing this, they skirmished at Mount Jackson, New Market, Luray, and Timberville. Sheridan, believing the Confederate threat was ended, wrote to Hiram U. Grant, “Let the burning of the crops in the Valley be the end of this campaign, and let some of this army go elsewhere.” Grant agreed, and the Federals began destroying private crops from Staunton to Strasburg to prevent the region from feeding Confederate forces.
In Missouri, Sterling Price’s Confederate raiders committed similar depredations in Fayette, along with rumbles in Jackson and Farmington, Missouri.
Finally, Nathan Bedford Forrest leads his Confederate cavalry to a battle in Athens, Alabama, resulting in their capture of the Union fort there. During the march to Athens, Forrest had sent his 14th and 20th Tennessee Cavalry along with his brother, Jesse, to McDonald's Station--a cotton stop--and orders them to cut the rail lines of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the telegraph lines as well. Forrest continues approaching Fort Henderson from the southwest, and sends Colonel C.R. Barteau and the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry north of the female seminary.
Inside the fort, Union Colonel Wallace Campbell hears about fighting at McDonald's Station near Tanner. He thinks the Confederate force is Brigadier General P.D. Roddey, of Moulton, a man the Union fears almost as much as Forrest. Both can strike fast and slip away. He doesn't know the cavalry is Jesse Forrest's smaller unit. Campbell takes 100 men from the 110th Colored Infantry by train to the skirmish. His men run off Confederate cavalry tearing up the tracks. As the train travels backward to Athens, Campbell finds more Confederate cavalry burning the tracks to the north. The train forces its way through. The incident takes an hour.
In town, the Union army captures a Confederate physician named Dr. Latham, who boasts Forrest is coming with 10,000 to 12,000 men. Perhaps Forrest wanted the Yankees to capture Dr. Latham, so he could plant the seed that his force is more than double his actual number. A Union relief force from Decatur Junction, where the Memphis and Charleston Railroad intersects with the Tennessee and Alabama Central Railroad, moves toward Athens on Friday afternoon, anticipating a fight.
Last night, Forrest arrived in Athens and placed eight cannons around the fort. In town, east of the fort, sporadic fighting breaks out, along with cordial greetings between Confederate and Union soldiers who bump into each other in the dark. Some Union soldiers who cannot get to the fort burn goods they think the Confederates might want. Near the courthouse, 2nd Lieutenant John Wesley Andes of the 2nd U.S. Tennessee Cavalry gets an opportunity to accomplish something the entire Union Army has wanted to do throughout the war: capture Forrest.
Andes sees Forrest's escort at the Maclin home about 7 p.m. Forrest is eating dinner with the family. Because it is dark, Andes identifies himself to Confederates outside the home as a member of the 2nd Tennessee. The Rebels think he means the 2nd Tennessee, Confederate cavalry, and do not stop him. Andes orders his men to surround Forrest's escort. Andes hesitates. He, too, heard rumors that Forrest may have more than 10,000 men and decides not to risk a fight. He finds his commander, Colonel William F. Prosser, but remains silent about Forrest's dinner. Prosser argues with Campbell, saying the entire army should sneak out of Athens before Saturday morning. Campbell refuses. Prosser, with the help of a black guide, leads his troops past the Rebels and back to Decatur Junction. Mary Fielding, 29, who is living at the Maclin home, peers out a window before 7 a.m. on Saturday and writes in her diary that one of Forrest's brigades "...seemed to go in all directions; marching, counter-marching, going first one way and then another." Forrest's antics have a purpose. He wants Campbell to think he has a massive force.
"Are there any Yankees in town this morning?" Confederate soldiers ask as they ride into Athens past Roswell Hine's home toward the courthouse. By now, the majority of Union soldiers are inside Fort Henderson.At first light, Forrest orders an artillery barrage. Campbell, who has two cannon, notes that none of the Confederate shells miss the fort. About 10 a.m., Forrest sends Major J.P. Strange under a flag of truce to demand surrender. Campbell assembles a council of war, which reviews Forrest's terms: white officers will go to prison camps and the Negroes to their masters. The council refuses surrender. Forrest proceeds with an artillery barrage. At 10:30 a.m., he sends Strange again to demand surrender. Campbell wants to buy time so relief forces from Decatur or Pulaski, Tennessee, can arrive. Forrest knows his troops are fighting relief troops from Decatur. Forrest plans to trick Campbell before relief forces arrive and asks Campbell to review his Confederate force.
Posted on 9/23/14 at 8:25 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 24 September 1864 continued
Riding with Forrest, Campbell counts 24 cannon, not eight. After Campbell counts a cannon and rides on, Forrest's men move it to a new location. Forrest also has campfires lit throughout the countryside to make Campbell think his force is more than 4,500. During Campbell's review, a Colonel James Wheeler, no relation to General Joe Wheeler, rides up to Forrest and Campbell. "General Forrest...saluted him as General Wheeler, and asked how many men he had," writes Ruffin Coleman, a witness to the surrender. "Colonel Wheeler caught on instantly, and in a clear, ringing voice answered, '7,000!' " Campbell thinks General Joseph Wheeler of Lawrence County has his entire cavalry on site. Campbell relates this information to the war council, which still doesn't want to surrender. Campbell tells them, "The jig is up," and orders the flag lowered in surrender. Forrest captures 500 horses and 973 men. He burns the fort and marches his men toward his next objective, the Union fort in Elkmont at Sulphur Creek Trestle.
President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ohio Governor William Dennison to replace Montgomery Blair as postmaster general. Lincoln also approved a measure allowing the Federal purchase of products from states “...declared in insurrection.”
Riding with Forrest, Campbell counts 24 cannon, not eight. After Campbell counts a cannon and rides on, Forrest's men move it to a new location. Forrest also has campfires lit throughout the countryside to make Campbell think his force is more than 4,500. During Campbell's review, a Colonel James Wheeler, no relation to General Joe Wheeler, rides up to Forrest and Campbell. "General Forrest...saluted him as General Wheeler, and asked how many men he had," writes Ruffin Coleman, a witness to the surrender. "Colonel Wheeler caught on instantly, and in a clear, ringing voice answered, '7,000!' " Campbell thinks General Joseph Wheeler of Lawrence County has his entire cavalry on site. Campbell relates this information to the war council, which still doesn't want to surrender. Campbell tells them, "The jig is up," and orders the flag lowered in surrender. Forrest captures 500 horses and 973 men. He burns the fort and marches his men toward his next objective, the Union fort in Elkmont at Sulphur Creek Trestle.
President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ohio Governor William Dennison to replace Montgomery Blair as postmaster general. Lincoln also approved a measure allowing the Federal purchase of products from states “...declared in insurrection.”
Posted on 9/24/14 at 8:19 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 25 September 1864
General John Bell Hood’s devotion to the Confederate cause could not be questioned, as he had left a body part on seemingly every major battlefield which he had fought. Unfortunately, devotion, and even an arm and a leg, was not a substitute for adequate manpower, supplies, and command ability. Hood’s Army of Tennessee had been backing up for months now, and the final straw had been the retreat from Atlanta ahead of the massive, and now, unstoppable, army of General William T. Sherman.
Virtually every defeat Hood had ultimately blamed on a subordinate, for not attacking, not attacking with enough vigor, or attacking with vigor but not winning. The usual target of his ire was General William J. Hardee. Today the feud had escalated to such alarming proportions that President Jefferson Davis himself felt compelled to visit at Hood’s headquarters in Palmetto, Georgia, launching an attempt to mediate matters, as well as discuss the overall military situation. Hood would later ask Davis for permission to relieve Hardee as corps commander.
The USS Howquah, under Acting Lieutenant John W. Balch, USS Niphon, Acting Master Edmund Kemble in charge, and USS Governor Buckingham, piloted by Acting Lieutenant John MacDiarmid, chased ashore and destroyed the blockade running steamer Lynx off Wilmington with a cargo of cotton. The three Union screw steamers were fired upon by Lynx and by shore batteries; Balch reported: "...one 3 pounder percussion shell struck the main rail on the starboard bow, cutting it through, also striking the forward end of the 30-pounder pivot carriage, cutting the breech in two and disabling the carriage, glancing over, striking the main rail on the port side, and falling on the deck (I have the shot now on board). Fortunately this shell did not explode." The Lynx sustained several close-range broadsides and was run ashore in flames, where she continued to burn throughout the night until completely consumed.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Philip Sheridan’s Federals continued burning private property, crops killing livestock and committing other depredations against civilians. Staunton was virtually destroyed, and the railroad track to Waynesboro was completely demolished. Jubal Early’s Confederates withdrew into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates raided railroads and captured the Sulphur Branch Trestle in northern Alabama.
Sterling Price’s Confederates fought at Farmington and Huntsville, Missouri.
General John Bell Hood’s devotion to the Confederate cause could not be questioned, as he had left a body part on seemingly every major battlefield which he had fought. Unfortunately, devotion, and even an arm and a leg, was not a substitute for adequate manpower, supplies, and command ability. Hood’s Army of Tennessee had been backing up for months now, and the final straw had been the retreat from Atlanta ahead of the massive, and now, unstoppable, army of General William T. Sherman.
Virtually every defeat Hood had ultimately blamed on a subordinate, for not attacking, not attacking with enough vigor, or attacking with vigor but not winning. The usual target of his ire was General William J. Hardee. Today the feud had escalated to such alarming proportions that President Jefferson Davis himself felt compelled to visit at Hood’s headquarters in Palmetto, Georgia, launching an attempt to mediate matters, as well as discuss the overall military situation. Hood would later ask Davis for permission to relieve Hardee as corps commander.
The USS Howquah, under Acting Lieutenant John W. Balch, USS Niphon, Acting Master Edmund Kemble in charge, and USS Governor Buckingham, piloted by Acting Lieutenant John MacDiarmid, chased ashore and destroyed the blockade running steamer Lynx off Wilmington with a cargo of cotton. The three Union screw steamers were fired upon by Lynx and by shore batteries; Balch reported: "...one 3 pounder percussion shell struck the main rail on the starboard bow, cutting it through, also striking the forward end of the 30-pounder pivot carriage, cutting the breech in two and disabling the carriage, glancing over, striking the main rail on the port side, and falling on the deck (I have the shot now on board). Fortunately this shell did not explode." The Lynx sustained several close-range broadsides and was run ashore in flames, where she continued to burn throughout the night until completely consumed.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Philip Sheridan’s Federals continued burning private property, crops killing livestock and committing other depredations against civilians. Staunton was virtually destroyed, and the railroad track to Waynesboro was completely demolished. Jubal Early’s Confederates withdrew into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates raided railroads and captured the Sulphur Branch Trestle in northern Alabama.
Sterling Price’s Confederates fought at Farmington and Huntsville, Missouri.
Posted on 9/25/14 at 9:11 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 26 September 1864
Richmond, Virginia, lies on the James River. This is a wide waterway, easily navigated in most seasons--a virtual highway to the heart of the Confederate government. This point did not escape the Union military, and several attempts to use the river for attack had reached at least the planning stage. This point was well known to the Confederates as well though, and they had taken the precaution of fortifying a number of bluffs to prevent such a naval assault. This morning, however, began an effort to bypass these defenses. Union military--with primarily black refugees and contraband slaves known as “Union Property” making up the majority of the workforce--started construction on a canal. The Confederates were sufficiently worried about this to consider using gunboats to drive off the canal diggers.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis met late into last night with General John Bell Hood at Hood's Palmetto, Georgia, headquarters to discuss the recent misfortunes and reversals of the Army of Tennessee. Since Hood had first assumed command of the army in late July, he had launched an unsuccessful series of attacks on Union General William T. Sherman's forces, endured a month-long siege in Atlanta, and was finally forced to abandon the city. Now, Davis journeyed to Georgia to shore up the sagging morale of his commander and the troops.
The most pressing problem was dissent within the Confederate chain of command. Leading generals began feuding and pointing fingers to assign blame for the disastrous Atlanta campaign. Hood blamed General William Hardee, commander of one of Hood's three corps, for the loss of Atlanta, and Hardee demanded removal from Hood's authority. After conferring with Hood, Davis reassigned Hardee to the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Even though Hardee was the most able and senior corps commander, Davis had personally selected Hood to command the Army of Tennessee when he removed Joseph Johnston, and still refused to admit his mistake. Unfortunately for the Confederates, Hood would invade Tennessee in the late fall, and by Christmas he saw his once-grand army virtually destroyed on the fields at Franklin and Nashville.
On his return trip to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, Davis will give a speech at Columbia, South Carolina, in which he gushes about Hood's prospects. In doing so, he lets slip important information, saying that Hood's eye was set "...upon a point far beyond that where he was assailed by the enemy." Sherman read the quote in a newspaper a few days later and guessed, correctly, that Hood intended to move back into Tennessee to cut Sherman's supply lines. Sherman schemed his fall strategy accordingly, sending part of his army to deal with Hood while he took the rest across Georgia.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Federals and Confederates skirmished at various points. The Union forces pulled back, and Jubal Early began reorganizing his disheveled army. Confederate General Robert E. Lee sent Early reinforcements with a message: “It will require the greatest watchfulness, the greatest promptness, and the most untiring energy on your part to arrest the progress of the enemy in the present tide of success. I have given you all I can.” Early faced intense criticism in Richmond for his recent defeats.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates began targeting Union supply depots and battled near Pulaski, Tennessee.
Confederate General Sterling Price's attempt to retake Missouri finds his army moving northward toward St. Louis and engaging Union pickets near Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. Price's troops capture the fort within two days and scatter the Union defenders, but also suffer heavy losses. Going into the battle, the Confederate military fortunes were at an all-time low, and Price had hoped the mission would destabilize Missouri just prior to the fall elections and give new hope to the Confederate cause. He also hoped to capture one of the major cities in Missouri and secure supplies for his troops.
Price mounted his campaign from Pocahontas, Arkansas, and entered Missouri in mid-September. After encountering the Union pickets on 26 September, he would hurl his 12,000 troops at lightly defended Fort Davidson on the 27th. By the following day, the Confederates had driven the 1,400 Yankee defenders away, but the attack was costly. Some 1,000 of Price's troops were killed or wounded, and the Confederates gain little in the way of strategic value or political impact.
Union expeditions began from Natchez, Mississippi, as well as from Napoleonville, Louisiana.
Richmond, Virginia, lies on the James River. This is a wide waterway, easily navigated in most seasons--a virtual highway to the heart of the Confederate government. This point did not escape the Union military, and several attempts to use the river for attack had reached at least the planning stage. This point was well known to the Confederates as well though, and they had taken the precaution of fortifying a number of bluffs to prevent such a naval assault. This morning, however, began an effort to bypass these defenses. Union military--with primarily black refugees and contraband slaves known as “Union Property” making up the majority of the workforce--started construction on a canal. The Confederates were sufficiently worried about this to consider using gunboats to drive off the canal diggers.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis met late into last night with General John Bell Hood at Hood's Palmetto, Georgia, headquarters to discuss the recent misfortunes and reversals of the Army of Tennessee. Since Hood had first assumed command of the army in late July, he had launched an unsuccessful series of attacks on Union General William T. Sherman's forces, endured a month-long siege in Atlanta, and was finally forced to abandon the city. Now, Davis journeyed to Georgia to shore up the sagging morale of his commander and the troops.
The most pressing problem was dissent within the Confederate chain of command. Leading generals began feuding and pointing fingers to assign blame for the disastrous Atlanta campaign. Hood blamed General William Hardee, commander of one of Hood's three corps, for the loss of Atlanta, and Hardee demanded removal from Hood's authority. After conferring with Hood, Davis reassigned Hardee to the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Even though Hardee was the most able and senior corps commander, Davis had personally selected Hood to command the Army of Tennessee when he removed Joseph Johnston, and still refused to admit his mistake. Unfortunately for the Confederates, Hood would invade Tennessee in the late fall, and by Christmas he saw his once-grand army virtually destroyed on the fields at Franklin and Nashville.
On his return trip to the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, Davis will give a speech at Columbia, South Carolina, in which he gushes about Hood's prospects. In doing so, he lets slip important information, saying that Hood's eye was set "...upon a point far beyond that where he was assailed by the enemy." Sherman read the quote in a newspaper a few days later and guessed, correctly, that Hood intended to move back into Tennessee to cut Sherman's supply lines. Sherman schemed his fall strategy accordingly, sending part of his army to deal with Hood while he took the rest across Georgia.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Federals and Confederates skirmished at various points. The Union forces pulled back, and Jubal Early began reorganizing his disheveled army. Confederate General Robert E. Lee sent Early reinforcements with a message: “It will require the greatest watchfulness, the greatest promptness, and the most untiring energy on your part to arrest the progress of the enemy in the present tide of success. I have given you all I can.” Early faced intense criticism in Richmond for his recent defeats.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates began targeting Union supply depots and battled near Pulaski, Tennessee.
Confederate General Sterling Price's attempt to retake Missouri finds his army moving northward toward St. Louis and engaging Union pickets near Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. Price's troops capture the fort within two days and scatter the Union defenders, but also suffer heavy losses. Going into the battle, the Confederate military fortunes were at an all-time low, and Price had hoped the mission would destabilize Missouri just prior to the fall elections and give new hope to the Confederate cause. He also hoped to capture one of the major cities in Missouri and secure supplies for his troops.
Price mounted his campaign from Pocahontas, Arkansas, and entered Missouri in mid-September. After encountering the Union pickets on 26 September, he would hurl his 12,000 troops at lightly defended Fort Davidson on the 27th. By the following day, the Confederates had driven the 1,400 Yankee defenders away, but the attack was costly. Some 1,000 of Price's troops were killed or wounded, and the Confederates gain little in the way of strategic value or political impact.
Union expeditions began from Natchez, Mississippi, as well as from Napoleonville, Louisiana.
This post was edited on 9/26/14 at 5:02 am
Posted on 9/26/14 at 9:30 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 27 September 1864
There was fighting in quite a few places in Missouri today. Sterling Price’s invasion out of Arkansas, one of a number of attempts to “reclaim” the state for the Confederacy, was rolling along quite nicely. This morning, he launched an all-out assault on Fort Davidson, at Pilot Knob, Missouri. Twelve hundred Federal troops withstood the charge during the day; after nightfall their commander, Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, Jr. decided the position was untenable and secretly evacuated.
Further west, the partisan guerrilla William Anderson leads an attack on Centralia, Missouri. The guerilla band led by "Bloody Bill" sacks Centralia, killing 22 unarmed Union soldiers before slaughtering more than 100 pursuing Yankee troops.
The Civil War in Missouri and Kansas was rarely fought between regular armies in the field. It was carried out primarily by partisan bands of guerilla fighters, and the atrocities were nearly unmatched. In 1863, Confederate marauders had sacked Lawrence, Kansas, and killed 250 residents.
In the fall of 1864, partisan activity increased in anticipation of Confederate General Sterling Price's invasion of the state. On the evening of September 26, a band of 200 Confederate partisans gathered near Centralia, Missouri. The next morning, Anderson led 30 guerillas into town and began looting the tiny community and terrorizing the residents. Unionist congressmen William Rollins escaped execution only by giving a false name and hiding in a nearby hotel.
Meanwhile, a train from St. Louis was just pulling into the station. The engineer, who spotted Anderson's men destroying the town, tried to apply steam to keep the train moving. However, the brakeman, unaware of the raid, applied the brakes and brought the train to a halt. The guerillas took 150 prisoners from the train, which included 23 Union soldiers, and then set it on fire and opened its throttle; the flaming train sped away from the town. The soldiers were stripped and Anderson's men began firing on them, killing all but one within a few minutes. The surviving Yankee soldier was spared in exchange for a member of Anderson's company who had recently been captured.
That afternoon, a Union detachment commanded by Major A. V. E. Johnston arrived in Centralia to find the invaders had already vacated the town. Johnston left some troops to hold the tiny burgh, and then headed in the direction of Anderson's band. Little did he know he was riding right into a perfect trap: Johnston's men followed Rebel pickets into an open field, and the Southern partisans attacked from three sides. Johnston and his entire command were quickly annihilated. Anderson's men scalped and mutilated many of the bodies before moving back into Centralia and killing the remaining Federal soldiers. In all, the Southerners killed some 140 Yankee troops.
A month later, Anderson was killed attempting a similar attack near Albany, Missouri.
Acting Ensign Semon made his second reconnaissance expedition to Masonboro Inlet and Wilmington. Semon again gained important information concerning Confederate blockade runners, the defensive dispositions of forces in the area, and made arrangements to procure pilots for the operation against Wilmington. He learned for the first time that the CSS North Carolina, one of the ironclads built for the defense of Wilmington, had sunk at her pier at Smithville, her bottom eaten out by worms. North Carolina drew too much water to pass over the bars at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and had spent virtually her entire career at Smithville. Concerned about the state of Wilmington's defenses, Major General William Henry Chase Whiting wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory on 6 October: "It is men and guns that are wanted as well as the ships, not only to man the naval batteries now being substituted for the North Carolina and the Raleigh [beached on 7 May 1864], which were to defend the inner bars, but to guard or picket the entrance and river, a duty devolving upon the Navy, and for which there are neither forts nor vessels here." An additional ironclad was laid down but was never finished because of lack of armor.
The USS Arkansas, under Acting Lieutenant David Cate, captured the schooner Watchful in the Gulf of Mexico south of Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Watchful carried a cargo of lumber and arms.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates continued fighting at Pulaski, Tennessee.
There was fighting in quite a few places in Missouri today. Sterling Price’s invasion out of Arkansas, one of a number of attempts to “reclaim” the state for the Confederacy, was rolling along quite nicely. This morning, he launched an all-out assault on Fort Davidson, at Pilot Knob, Missouri. Twelve hundred Federal troops withstood the charge during the day; after nightfall their commander, Brigadier General Thomas Ewing, Jr. decided the position was untenable and secretly evacuated.
Further west, the partisan guerrilla William Anderson leads an attack on Centralia, Missouri. The guerilla band led by "Bloody Bill" sacks Centralia, killing 22 unarmed Union soldiers before slaughtering more than 100 pursuing Yankee troops.
The Civil War in Missouri and Kansas was rarely fought between regular armies in the field. It was carried out primarily by partisan bands of guerilla fighters, and the atrocities were nearly unmatched. In 1863, Confederate marauders had sacked Lawrence, Kansas, and killed 250 residents.
In the fall of 1864, partisan activity increased in anticipation of Confederate General Sterling Price's invasion of the state. On the evening of September 26, a band of 200 Confederate partisans gathered near Centralia, Missouri. The next morning, Anderson led 30 guerillas into town and began looting the tiny community and terrorizing the residents. Unionist congressmen William Rollins escaped execution only by giving a false name and hiding in a nearby hotel.
Meanwhile, a train from St. Louis was just pulling into the station. The engineer, who spotted Anderson's men destroying the town, tried to apply steam to keep the train moving. However, the brakeman, unaware of the raid, applied the brakes and brought the train to a halt. The guerillas took 150 prisoners from the train, which included 23 Union soldiers, and then set it on fire and opened its throttle; the flaming train sped away from the town. The soldiers were stripped and Anderson's men began firing on them, killing all but one within a few minutes. The surviving Yankee soldier was spared in exchange for a member of Anderson's company who had recently been captured.
That afternoon, a Union detachment commanded by Major A. V. E. Johnston arrived in Centralia to find the invaders had already vacated the town. Johnston left some troops to hold the tiny burgh, and then headed in the direction of Anderson's band. Little did he know he was riding right into a perfect trap: Johnston's men followed Rebel pickets into an open field, and the Southern partisans attacked from three sides. Johnston and his entire command were quickly annihilated. Anderson's men scalped and mutilated many of the bodies before moving back into Centralia and killing the remaining Federal soldiers. In all, the Southerners killed some 140 Yankee troops.
A month later, Anderson was killed attempting a similar attack near Albany, Missouri.
Acting Ensign Semon made his second reconnaissance expedition to Masonboro Inlet and Wilmington. Semon again gained important information concerning Confederate blockade runners, the defensive dispositions of forces in the area, and made arrangements to procure pilots for the operation against Wilmington. He learned for the first time that the CSS North Carolina, one of the ironclads built for the defense of Wilmington, had sunk at her pier at Smithville, her bottom eaten out by worms. North Carolina drew too much water to pass over the bars at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and had spent virtually her entire career at Smithville. Concerned about the state of Wilmington's defenses, Major General William Henry Chase Whiting wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory on 6 October: "It is men and guns that are wanted as well as the ships, not only to man the naval batteries now being substituted for the North Carolina and the Raleigh [beached on 7 May 1864], which were to defend the inner bars, but to guard or picket the entrance and river, a duty devolving upon the Navy, and for which there are neither forts nor vessels here." An additional ironclad was laid down but was never finished because of lack of armor.
The USS Arkansas, under Acting Lieutenant David Cate, captured the schooner Watchful in the Gulf of Mexico south of Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Watchful carried a cargo of lumber and arms.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates continued fighting at Pulaski, Tennessee.
Page 24 of 46
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News