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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 12/17/13 at 8:09 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 12/17/13 at 8:09 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 18 December 1863
Aside from a few confusing months in early 1861, Missouri had always been a state firmly in Union hands. It had, however, in the time since, probably caused more defeats and debacles for Union military men than three openly Confederate states combined. The problem was politics: a Union general would be assigned to be military administrator of the district, and would then be plunged into the morass of backbiting and infighting that was Missouri--particularly St. Louis--power struggles. This was not a situation which could be solved with musketry, and none of the generals handled it well. The latest victim was General John M. Schofield. President Abraham Lincoln had been receiving a steady stream of complaints about his performance in St. Louis, and today wrote to Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton that perhaps it was time for Schofield to be relieved. To spare Schofield’s feelings he would get a promotion to major general; the next sacrificial lamb, Lincoln proposed, perhaps should be the long-suffering General William Rosecrans.
The Richmond Dispatch of this morning contained the following:
We can assure such members of the Confederate Congress as feel disposed at this decisive crisis in the national affairs to give undue prominence to querulous complaints and denunciations of the government, that they do not represent the public sentiment of the country — nay, so far from that, they are arousing in the minds of a people whose salvation depends upon the harmony and cooperation of all the public servants, deep and stern dissatisfaction.
At this solemn moment, when every patriot should be willing to postpone all minor differences to a period when the enemy shall not be thundering at the gates, the country has a right to demand that the voice of faction shall be hushed, and that every man shall smother his private griefs, and give his heart and hand to the common salvation.
We are all embarked in the same vessel, we are all tossing upon the same stormy sea, and, in the event of shipwreck, none has as much to lose as the officers of the ship, and especially the man whom we have ourselves called to the quarterdeck, and who has every conceivable motive to do the utmost for our preservation that human wisdom and energy can accomplish.
Would to heaven that, for a time at least, till this hour of imminent peril be passed, the voice of dissension and discord could be hushed, and the counsels of patriotism and prudence govern the pulsations of every heart, and the utterance of every lip. We can assure Congress, that nothing so disheartens the true friends of the country as the fault-finding abuse heaped upon the public servants, at a time when we should all be engaged in beating back the public enemy.
It would be mournful enough that our cause should be borne down by our vile and dastardly foes, but a far deeper humiliation, an unspeakable disgrace, that it should perish by our own hands. But the people will not let it perish either by the hands of indiscreet friends or open foes, and we warn them both to stand clear of an avalanche which will inevitably fall upon their own heads.
Captain Leeper, commanding Federal scouts in southeast Missouri, overtook three partisan guerrillas, belonging to Reeve's band, near Black River, and succeeded in killing the entire party.
A fight took place at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, between a party of guerrillas, under William Clarke Quantrell, and six hundred Federal troops, belonging to the Indian brigade, commanded by Colonel Phillips. The engagement lasted over five hours, and resulted in the retreat of the guerrillas.
The chaplains of General Robert Edward Lee's Army of Northern Virginia held a meeting at Orange Court House, Virginia, today. Most interesting reports were made, showing a high state of religious feeling throughout the army. The great success of the army is due to the religious element which reaches every corner of it; whilst, on the other hand, I am very much disposed to fear, from what I have been told by officers who have served in the army of Tennessee, that the lack of success of that army is due, in a large measure, to the want of religious influence upon the troops.--Richmond Dispatch.
In the Virginia House of Delegates, Mr. Hutcheson offered a series of resolutions deprecating the Amnesty Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln as “...degrading to freemen, that, having calmly counted the cost and weight, the dangers and difficulties, necessary for the achievement of the rights and independence they covet, the people of the Old Dominion spurn with contempt the proffered pardon and amnesty.”
Five military executions for desertion took place in the respective divisions to which they belonged, in the Army of the Potomac.
Commodore Gershom Jaques Van Brunt, of the United States Navy, died at Dedham, Massachusetts.
Aside from a few confusing months in early 1861, Missouri had always been a state firmly in Union hands. It had, however, in the time since, probably caused more defeats and debacles for Union military men than three openly Confederate states combined. The problem was politics: a Union general would be assigned to be military administrator of the district, and would then be plunged into the morass of backbiting and infighting that was Missouri--particularly St. Louis--power struggles. This was not a situation which could be solved with musketry, and none of the generals handled it well. The latest victim was General John M. Schofield. President Abraham Lincoln had been receiving a steady stream of complaints about his performance in St. Louis, and today wrote to Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton that perhaps it was time for Schofield to be relieved. To spare Schofield’s feelings he would get a promotion to major general; the next sacrificial lamb, Lincoln proposed, perhaps should be the long-suffering General William Rosecrans.
The Richmond Dispatch of this morning contained the following:
We can assure such members of the Confederate Congress as feel disposed at this decisive crisis in the national affairs to give undue prominence to querulous complaints and denunciations of the government, that they do not represent the public sentiment of the country — nay, so far from that, they are arousing in the minds of a people whose salvation depends upon the harmony and cooperation of all the public servants, deep and stern dissatisfaction.
At this solemn moment, when every patriot should be willing to postpone all minor differences to a period when the enemy shall not be thundering at the gates, the country has a right to demand that the voice of faction shall be hushed, and that every man shall smother his private griefs, and give his heart and hand to the common salvation.
We are all embarked in the same vessel, we are all tossing upon the same stormy sea, and, in the event of shipwreck, none has as much to lose as the officers of the ship, and especially the man whom we have ourselves called to the quarterdeck, and who has every conceivable motive to do the utmost for our preservation that human wisdom and energy can accomplish.
Would to heaven that, for a time at least, till this hour of imminent peril be passed, the voice of dissension and discord could be hushed, and the counsels of patriotism and prudence govern the pulsations of every heart, and the utterance of every lip. We can assure Congress, that nothing so disheartens the true friends of the country as the fault-finding abuse heaped upon the public servants, at a time when we should all be engaged in beating back the public enemy.
It would be mournful enough that our cause should be borne down by our vile and dastardly foes, but a far deeper humiliation, an unspeakable disgrace, that it should perish by our own hands. But the people will not let it perish either by the hands of indiscreet friends or open foes, and we warn them both to stand clear of an avalanche which will inevitably fall upon their own heads.
Captain Leeper, commanding Federal scouts in southeast Missouri, overtook three partisan guerrillas, belonging to Reeve's band, near Black River, and succeeded in killing the entire party.
A fight took place at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, between a party of guerrillas, under William Clarke Quantrell, and six hundred Federal troops, belonging to the Indian brigade, commanded by Colonel Phillips. The engagement lasted over five hours, and resulted in the retreat of the guerrillas.
The chaplains of General Robert Edward Lee's Army of Northern Virginia held a meeting at Orange Court House, Virginia, today. Most interesting reports were made, showing a high state of religious feeling throughout the army. The great success of the army is due to the religious element which reaches every corner of it; whilst, on the other hand, I am very much disposed to fear, from what I have been told by officers who have served in the army of Tennessee, that the lack of success of that army is due, in a large measure, to the want of religious influence upon the troops.--Richmond Dispatch.
In the Virginia House of Delegates, Mr. Hutcheson offered a series of resolutions deprecating the Amnesty Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln as “...degrading to freemen, that, having calmly counted the cost and weight, the dangers and difficulties, necessary for the achievement of the rights and independence they covet, the people of the Old Dominion spurn with contempt the proffered pardon and amnesty.”
Five military executions for desertion took place in the respective divisions to which they belonged, in the Army of the Potomac.
Commodore Gershom Jaques Van Brunt, of the United States Navy, died at Dedham, Massachusetts.
1
Posted on 12/18/13 at 8:59 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 19 December 1863
It may not sound like much of an accomplishment. Certainly few theses were ever written on it, and absolutely no military songs or marches ever were aired in honor of this voyage of the USS Restless. But her captain, Acting Master W.R. Browne, had his assignment and pursued his enemy relentlessly: the salt suppliers of St. Andrew’s Bay, Florida. He had been on this mission for some weeks all along the Florida shore, and had achieved quite a bit of demolition, and today even Browne may have been startled when he sat down to write up his official report. Articles destroyed included “within the past 10 days 290 saltworks, 33 covered wagons, 12 flatboats, 2 sloops (five tons each), 6 ox carts, 4000 bushels of salt, 268 buildings at the different saltworks, 529 iron kettles averaging 150 gallons each, 105 iron boilers for boiling brine.” And, he added, “it is believed that the enemy destroyed as many more to prevent us from doing so.”
Another report: An expedition under Acting Master W. R. Browne, comprising the USS Restless, Bloomer, and Caroline, proceeded up St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, to continue the destruction of Confederate salt works. A landing party went ashore under Bloomer's guns and destroyed those works not already demolished by the Southerners when reports of the naval party were received. Browne was able to report that he had "...cleared the three arms of this extensive bay of salt works...Within the past ten days," he added, "290 salt works, 33 covered wagons, 12 flatboats, two sloops (3 ton each) 6 ox carts, 4,000 bushels of salt, 268 buildings at the different salt works, 529 iron kettles averaging 150 gallons each, 103 iron boilers for boiling brine [were destroyed], and it is believed that the enemy destroyed as many more to prevent us from doing so."
Mrs. Patterson Allan, charged with carrying on a treasonable correspondence with persons in the North, was arraigned before Commissioner Watson, at Richmond, Virginia. The letter which she was charged with writing, was enclosed in a box, and directed to Reverend Morgan Dix; both were then placed in a buff envelope, and addressed to Miss H. Harris, New York.
Captain George Washington Alexander--commandant at Castle Thunder, a Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia--was relieved from command at that point, and confined to his quarters, under arrest, charged with malfeasance in office. It was alleged that he extorted large sums of money from prisoners confined in that institution, by promising to use his influence for their benefit, and in some cases permitting the prisoners to go at large, upon paying him large sums of money. He was also charged with trading largely in greenbacks.
Colonel A. D. Streight, and his Adjutant, Lieutenant Reed, in attempting to escape from Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia, were detected, and “put in the dungeon.”
Major General Hiram U. Grant arrived at Nashville, Tennessee.
It may not sound like much of an accomplishment. Certainly few theses were ever written on it, and absolutely no military songs or marches ever were aired in honor of this voyage of the USS Restless. But her captain, Acting Master W.R. Browne, had his assignment and pursued his enemy relentlessly: the salt suppliers of St. Andrew’s Bay, Florida. He had been on this mission for some weeks all along the Florida shore, and had achieved quite a bit of demolition, and today even Browne may have been startled when he sat down to write up his official report. Articles destroyed included “within the past 10 days 290 saltworks, 33 covered wagons, 12 flatboats, 2 sloops (five tons each), 6 ox carts, 4000 bushels of salt, 268 buildings at the different saltworks, 529 iron kettles averaging 150 gallons each, 105 iron boilers for boiling brine.” And, he added, “it is believed that the enemy destroyed as many more to prevent us from doing so.”
Another report: An expedition under Acting Master W. R. Browne, comprising the USS Restless, Bloomer, and Caroline, proceeded up St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, to continue the destruction of Confederate salt works. A landing party went ashore under Bloomer's guns and destroyed those works not already demolished by the Southerners when reports of the naval party were received. Browne was able to report that he had "...cleared the three arms of this extensive bay of salt works...Within the past ten days," he added, "290 salt works, 33 covered wagons, 12 flatboats, two sloops (3 ton each) 6 ox carts, 4,000 bushels of salt, 268 buildings at the different salt works, 529 iron kettles averaging 150 gallons each, 103 iron boilers for boiling brine [were destroyed], and it is believed that the enemy destroyed as many more to prevent us from doing so."
Mrs. Patterson Allan, charged with carrying on a treasonable correspondence with persons in the North, was arraigned before Commissioner Watson, at Richmond, Virginia. The letter which she was charged with writing, was enclosed in a box, and directed to Reverend Morgan Dix; both were then placed in a buff envelope, and addressed to Miss H. Harris, New York.
Captain George Washington Alexander--commandant at Castle Thunder, a Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia--was relieved from command at that point, and confined to his quarters, under arrest, charged with malfeasance in office. It was alleged that he extorted large sums of money from prisoners confined in that institution, by promising to use his influence for their benefit, and in some cases permitting the prisoners to go at large, upon paying him large sums of money. He was also charged with trading largely in greenbacks.
Colonel A. D. Streight, and his Adjutant, Lieutenant Reed, in attempting to escape from Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia, were detected, and “put in the dungeon.”
Major General Hiram U. Grant arrived at Nashville, Tennessee.
This post was edited on 12/19/13 at 7:09 am
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