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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 9/25/14 at 9:11 pm to BadLeroyDawg
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
1
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.
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