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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 12/11/13 at 7:57 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 12/11/13 at 7:57 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 12 December 1863
Smoke still rose this morning from the charred wood that until yesterday had been a large salt works in St. Andrew’s Bay, Florida. Acting Master W.R. Browne of the USS Restless, along with two other ships, had found the outpost and launched an attack on it. Artillery fire hit one of the houses of the workers, and wind had spread the flames until nearly the whole compound was incinerated. Brown wrote in his report, “It was in fact a complete village...employing many hands and 16 ox and mule teams constantly to haul salt to Eufaula Sound and from thence conveyed to Montgomery, at which place it is selling at fabulous prices--$40 and $50 per bushel.” The operation included 22 large steam boilers and 300 kettles averaging 200 gallons each, used to evaporate sea water to harvest the salt. The 2000 bushels found were returned to the sea from whence they had come.
General Eliakim Parker Scammon attacked General John Echols at Lewisburg, West Virginia, routing him effectually, killing and wounding quite a number of the Rebels, and capturing many prisoners. This report was filed under General Benjamin Franklin Kelley's dispatch.
Smoke still rose this morning from the charred wood that until yesterday had been a large salt works in St. Andrew’s Bay, Florida. Acting Master W.R. Browne of the USS Restless, along with two other ships, had found the outpost and launched an attack on it. Artillery fire hit one of the houses of the workers, and wind had spread the flames until nearly the whole compound was incinerated. Brown wrote in his report, “It was in fact a complete village...employing many hands and 16 ox and mule teams constantly to haul salt to Eufaula Sound and from thence conveyed to Montgomery, at which place it is selling at fabulous prices--$40 and $50 per bushel.” The operation included 22 large steam boilers and 300 kettles averaging 200 gallons each, used to evaporate sea water to harvest the salt. The 2000 bushels found were returned to the sea from whence they had come.
General Eliakim Parker Scammon attacked General John Echols at Lewisburg, West Virginia, routing him effectually, killing and wounding quite a number of the Rebels, and capturing many prisoners. This report was filed under General Benjamin Franklin Kelley's dispatch.
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Posted on 12/12/13 at 8:43 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 13 December 1863
This time of year most armies were in winter camp or heading for them. This did not, however, mean that complete peace prevailed upon the land. Actions happened at Hurricane Bridge in West Virginia; on Powell’s River near Stickleyville in Virginia, along with others at Strasburg and Germantown there. Ringgold, Georgia, saw some action as General James Longstreet’s Corps continued moving for winter camp, and just plain old random fights occurred at Meriwether’s Ferry on Bayou Boeuf, Arkansas.
What should have been a routine family visit in Washington, D.C., was complicated by great hostility, although no gunfire: Mary Todd Lincoln received her sister for a visit at the White House. The complicating factor was that her sister-actually half-sister-Emilie Todd Helm, was the widow of General Benjamin Hardin Helm, officer in the Confederate States of America Army of Tennessee.
In January 1863, Helm was given command of the First Kentucky Brigade, commonly known as the "Orphan Brigade"; since Kentucky never left the Union, these men were considered "orphans" because they could not return to their home state. There were actually demands that Mrs. Helm swear the loyalty oath before being allowed to visit her relatives. When protests were lodged against a "Rebel" being in the White House, the President replied, “Mrs. Lincoln and I will allow anyone we choose to visit us in the White House.”
At 9:30 am on September 20, 1863, the divisions of Generals John C. Breckinridge and Patrick Cleburne were ordered to move forward. Helm's brigade and the others in Breckinridge's division drove hard into the Federals' left. General Cleburne's division, which was intended to strike near the center of the line, was delayed by heavy fire from Union soldiers, leaving the left flank unguarded. Repeated attempts to overwhelm the Federals were in vain, though some of Helm's Kentuckians managed to reach within about 39 yards of the Federal line.
In less than an hour of the order given to advance, fully one third of the Orphan Brigade had been lost. The remainder of Helm's men clashed with the well-fortified Union line. A sharpshooter from the 15th Kentucky Union Infantry shot Helm in the chest. Bleeding profusely, he remained in the saddle a few moments before toppling to the ground. Helm was carried off the battlefield and surgeons immediately realized his wounds were fatal. Helm clung to life for several hours. Knowing that his health was deteriorating, he asked who had won the battle. When assured that the Confederates had carried the day, he muttered: "Victory!, Victory!, Victory!". On September 21, 1863, General Helm succumbed to his wounds.
Major General Hiram U. Grant, from his headquarters at Chattanooga, Tennessee, issued general orders concerning the property of secessionists in his department. Corps commanders were directed to immediately seize, or cause to be seized, all county records and documents showing titles and claims to property within the revolted States, in their respective districts, and to hold the same until they could be delivered to an authorized tax commissioner of the United States. No regard for the Constitution and Bill of Rights' Fourth and Fifth Amendments was considered.
This time of year most armies were in winter camp or heading for them. This did not, however, mean that complete peace prevailed upon the land. Actions happened at Hurricane Bridge in West Virginia; on Powell’s River near Stickleyville in Virginia, along with others at Strasburg and Germantown there. Ringgold, Georgia, saw some action as General James Longstreet’s Corps continued moving for winter camp, and just plain old random fights occurred at Meriwether’s Ferry on Bayou Boeuf, Arkansas.
What should have been a routine family visit in Washington, D.C., was complicated by great hostility, although no gunfire: Mary Todd Lincoln received her sister for a visit at the White House. The complicating factor was that her sister-actually half-sister-Emilie Todd Helm, was the widow of General Benjamin Hardin Helm, officer in the Confederate States of America Army of Tennessee.
In January 1863, Helm was given command of the First Kentucky Brigade, commonly known as the "Orphan Brigade"; since Kentucky never left the Union, these men were considered "orphans" because they could not return to their home state. There were actually demands that Mrs. Helm swear the loyalty oath before being allowed to visit her relatives. When protests were lodged against a "Rebel" being in the White House, the President replied, “Mrs. Lincoln and I will allow anyone we choose to visit us in the White House.”
At 9:30 am on September 20, 1863, the divisions of Generals John C. Breckinridge and Patrick Cleburne were ordered to move forward. Helm's brigade and the others in Breckinridge's division drove hard into the Federals' left. General Cleburne's division, which was intended to strike near the center of the line, was delayed by heavy fire from Union soldiers, leaving the left flank unguarded. Repeated attempts to overwhelm the Federals were in vain, though some of Helm's Kentuckians managed to reach within about 39 yards of the Federal line.
In less than an hour of the order given to advance, fully one third of the Orphan Brigade had been lost. The remainder of Helm's men clashed with the well-fortified Union line. A sharpshooter from the 15th Kentucky Union Infantry shot Helm in the chest. Bleeding profusely, he remained in the saddle a few moments before toppling to the ground. Helm was carried off the battlefield and surgeons immediately realized his wounds were fatal. Helm clung to life for several hours. Knowing that his health was deteriorating, he asked who had won the battle. When assured that the Confederates had carried the day, he muttered: "Victory!, Victory!, Victory!". On September 21, 1863, General Helm succumbed to his wounds.
Major General Hiram U. Grant, from his headquarters at Chattanooga, Tennessee, issued general orders concerning the property of secessionists in his department. Corps commanders were directed to immediately seize, or cause to be seized, all county records and documents showing titles and claims to property within the revolted States, in their respective districts, and to hold the same until they could be delivered to an authorized tax commissioner of the United States. No regard for the Constitution and Bill of Rights' Fourth and Fifth Amendments was considered.
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