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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 9/23/13 at 4:03 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 9/23/13 at 4:03 am to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 23 September 1863
General William Starke Rosecrans was down in Chattanooga, but he was not out. His army, although badly and bloodily defeated at Chickamauga Creek, had still managed to retreat and establish strong enough fortifications that he was in no immediate danger--he just couldn’t leave. Today in Washington it was decided to detach the 11th and 12th Corps from the Army of the Potomac and send them to Rosecrans’ relief. The 11th in particular had been battered and demoralized first at Chancellorsville with an overwhelming defeat and then at Gettysburg during a costly victory, so a change of scenery seemed in order. In just two days, both corps were completely loaded-men, artillery, horses and supplies and all-into every railroad vehicle that could be borrowed, begged or commandeered, and southwest they went.
The blockade running steamer Phantom was chased ashore near Rich Inlet, North Carolina, by the Union gunboat Connecticut, and afterward deserted by her crew, who set her on fire before leaving; in the afternoon, men were sent on shore from the Connecticut, to destroy the boats of the steamer that had been drawn up on the beach. While in the act of destroying them, the men were attacked by a party of concealed Confederates, who succeeded in driving them back to the gunboat with a loss of one killed and one wounded.
Lieutenant General James Longstreet issued General Orders to his troops, congratulating them on the brilliant victory which had crowned their heroic and daring efforts at Chickamauga. As follows:
I. The Lieutenant General commanding expresses his congratulation to the brave troops of this command on the brilliant victory which has crowned their heroic efforts. The enemy, late so defiant and exulting, has been driven from his chosen positions with slaughter, and the loss of artillery, prisoners, arms, and colors. To this glorious result you have contributed no mean share. The gallant troops of the Army of Tennessee have once more exhibited that prowess that has ever illustrated the bloody battle holds of the West, and have fulfilled the high expectations that were entertained for them. Side by side with their brave comrades from Virginia they have breasted the wave of invasion and rolled it back. Soldiers! Much has been done, but not all. The fruits of your splendid victory are to be enjoyed. Tennessee and Kentucky, with their rolling fields and smiling valleys, are to be reclaimed to freedom and independence. You are to be the agent of their deliverance, and your task requires the same heroic fortitude, patience, and courage, always shown by you in the trying past. Your General looks to you for renewed exertions.
II. The Commanding General takes pleasure in publishing to his command the following names of soldiers who have distinguished themselves by the capture, each, of a stand of the enemy's colors: Private W. H. Barnett, Co. A, 21st Mississippi regiment, Humphries's brigade. Corp'l R. Conrad, Co. F, 21st Miss. regiment, Humphries's brigade. Corp'l J. F. M. Skinner, Co. G, 13th Miss. regiment, Humphries's brigade. Serg't L. E. Timmons, Co. I, 7th Florida regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private Oscar F. Honaker, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private W. F. Harris, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private W. W. Harris, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private Henderson Hylton, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade.
At around one o'clock this morning, a raid was made upon a telegraph office opposite Donaldsonville, Louisiana, by a band of Confederate partisan guerrillas, who captured and carried off fourteen men of the Fourteenth regiment of New York cavalry and the telegraph operator.
The English steamer Diamond, while attempting to run the blockade, was captured by the United States steamer Stettin, off St. Simon's Sound, Georgia.
A secret expedition from Beaufort, South Carolina, to the mainland, under Captain J. E. Bryant, of the Eighth Maine volunteers, and consisting of two companies of colored troops, the chaplain of Colonel Higginson's regiment, a telegraph operator, and a lieutenant of the Fourth South Carolina volunteers, returned with only partial success. The expedition started by order of General Gillmore, with the view, not of cutting the Confederate telegraph between Charleston and Savannah, but of attaching a wire and receiving their dispatches. Owing to the carelessness of the operator, the wire, instead of being hid behind the pole, was allowed to hang in plain sight, and was discovered by the passengers in the first passing train; not, however, until some very important messages had been received, and among others a telegram to the commander of the Southern troops in Savannah from General P.G.T. Beauregard, ordering all his forces to Charleston, to engage in an attack on Folly Island.
Chat Discussion
General William Starke Rosecrans was down in Chattanooga, but he was not out. His army, although badly and bloodily defeated at Chickamauga Creek, had still managed to retreat and establish strong enough fortifications that he was in no immediate danger--he just couldn’t leave. Today in Washington it was decided to detach the 11th and 12th Corps from the Army of the Potomac and send them to Rosecrans’ relief. The 11th in particular had been battered and demoralized first at Chancellorsville with an overwhelming defeat and then at Gettysburg during a costly victory, so a change of scenery seemed in order. In just two days, both corps were completely loaded-men, artillery, horses and supplies and all-into every railroad vehicle that could be borrowed, begged or commandeered, and southwest they went.
The blockade running steamer Phantom was chased ashore near Rich Inlet, North Carolina, by the Union gunboat Connecticut, and afterward deserted by her crew, who set her on fire before leaving; in the afternoon, men were sent on shore from the Connecticut, to destroy the boats of the steamer that had been drawn up on the beach. While in the act of destroying them, the men were attacked by a party of concealed Confederates, who succeeded in driving them back to the gunboat with a loss of one killed and one wounded.
Lieutenant General James Longstreet issued General Orders to his troops, congratulating them on the brilliant victory which had crowned their heroic and daring efforts at Chickamauga. As follows:
I. The Lieutenant General commanding expresses his congratulation to the brave troops of this command on the brilliant victory which has crowned their heroic efforts. The enemy, late so defiant and exulting, has been driven from his chosen positions with slaughter, and the loss of artillery, prisoners, arms, and colors. To this glorious result you have contributed no mean share. The gallant troops of the Army of Tennessee have once more exhibited that prowess that has ever illustrated the bloody battle holds of the West, and have fulfilled the high expectations that were entertained for them. Side by side with their brave comrades from Virginia they have breasted the wave of invasion and rolled it back. Soldiers! Much has been done, but not all. The fruits of your splendid victory are to be enjoyed. Tennessee and Kentucky, with their rolling fields and smiling valleys, are to be reclaimed to freedom and independence. You are to be the agent of their deliverance, and your task requires the same heroic fortitude, patience, and courage, always shown by you in the trying past. Your General looks to you for renewed exertions.
II. The Commanding General takes pleasure in publishing to his command the following names of soldiers who have distinguished themselves by the capture, each, of a stand of the enemy's colors: Private W. H. Barnett, Co. A, 21st Mississippi regiment, Humphries's brigade. Corp'l R. Conrad, Co. F, 21st Miss. regiment, Humphries's brigade. Corp'l J. F. M. Skinner, Co. G, 13th Miss. regiment, Humphries's brigade. Serg't L. E. Timmons, Co. I, 7th Florida regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private Oscar F. Honaker, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private W. F. Harris, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private W. W. Harris, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade. Private Henderson Hylton, Co. F, 54th Va. regiment, Triggs's brigade.
At around one o'clock this morning, a raid was made upon a telegraph office opposite Donaldsonville, Louisiana, by a band of Confederate partisan guerrillas, who captured and carried off fourteen men of the Fourteenth regiment of New York cavalry and the telegraph operator.
The English steamer Diamond, while attempting to run the blockade, was captured by the United States steamer Stettin, off St. Simon's Sound, Georgia.
A secret expedition from Beaufort, South Carolina, to the mainland, under Captain J. E. Bryant, of the Eighth Maine volunteers, and consisting of two companies of colored troops, the chaplain of Colonel Higginson's regiment, a telegraph operator, and a lieutenant of the Fourth South Carolina volunteers, returned with only partial success. The expedition started by order of General Gillmore, with the view, not of cutting the Confederate telegraph between Charleston and Savannah, but of attaching a wire and receiving their dispatches. Owing to the carelessness of the operator, the wire, instead of being hid behind the pole, was allowed to hang in plain sight, and was discovered by the passengers in the first passing train; not, however, until some very important messages had been received, and among others a telegram to the commander of the Southern troops in Savannah from General P.G.T. Beauregard, ordering all his forces to Charleston, to engage in an attack on Folly Island.
Chat Discussion
1
Posted on 9/24/13 at 4:41 am to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 24 September 1863
The ambitious effort to rescue General William Starke Rosecrans and the men of his Army of the Cumberland got into high gear today. The plan was to send the 11th and 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac to assist him. The impediment to it was, of course, that the Army of the Potomac was in northern Virginia, and Rosecrans and his men were essentially under siege in Chattanooga, Tennessee. To march the route would have been a bit time-consuming, so the plan was to send them by train. Today saw an unprecedented massing of rolling stock on the railroads of the North. The Federal possession of Nashville, a great rail center of the state, would make considerable difference in this effort.
General Robert E. Lee issued an order announcing to the Confederate army in Virginia, "...with profound gratitude to Almighty God, the victory achieved at Chickamauga by the army of Braxton Bragg," and calling upon his soldiers to "...emulate the heroic example of our brethren in the South, until the enemy shall be expelled from our borders, and peace and independence be secured."
Between eight and nine o'clock this morning a squad of twenty-one Southern partisan guerrillas made a raid at Wood Station Number Thirteen, on the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, Virginia, about twelve miles from the latter place, commandeering nine mules. Sergeant Highland, of Pennsylvania, who started off in the direction of the plunderers, was taken prisoner.
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation raising the blockade of the port of Alexandria, Virginia.
Chat Discussion
The ambitious effort to rescue General William Starke Rosecrans and the men of his Army of the Cumberland got into high gear today. The plan was to send the 11th and 12th Corps of the Army of the Potomac to assist him. The impediment to it was, of course, that the Army of the Potomac was in northern Virginia, and Rosecrans and his men were essentially under siege in Chattanooga, Tennessee. To march the route would have been a bit time-consuming, so the plan was to send them by train. Today saw an unprecedented massing of rolling stock on the railroads of the North. The Federal possession of Nashville, a great rail center of the state, would make considerable difference in this effort.
General Robert E. Lee issued an order announcing to the Confederate army in Virginia, "...with profound gratitude to Almighty God, the victory achieved at Chickamauga by the army of Braxton Bragg," and calling upon his soldiers to "...emulate the heroic example of our brethren in the South, until the enemy shall be expelled from our borders, and peace and independence be secured."
Between eight and nine o'clock this morning a squad of twenty-one Southern partisan guerrillas made a raid at Wood Station Number Thirteen, on the line of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, Virginia, about twelve miles from the latter place, commandeering nine mules. Sergeant Highland, of Pennsylvania, who started off in the direction of the plunderers, was taken prisoner.
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation raising the blockade of the port of Alexandria, Virginia.
Chat Discussion
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