re: 150 years ago this day...

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.