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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 10/19/14 at 7:54 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 10/19/14 at 7:54 am to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 19 October 1864
As the pursuit continued in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, things had gone pretty much all Phillip Sheridan’s way. He had chased the Confederate cavalry of Jubal Early around the landscape, whittling down his numbers with each encounter. Early did what seemed logical today: he attacked the encamped Federals so early in the morning that many were overrun and captured still in their tents and underwear. Unfortunately after initial successes, some of the Confederate men stopped to loot the deserted camps. In the afternoon Sheridan, who had been in Washington, DC, returned, reorganized, and counterattacked, driving the Southerners back to Fisher’s Hill with heavy losses.
Full report: The Battle of Cedar Creek erupted at 5 a.m. when Confederates attacked the Federal right and left simultaneously; many Federals were still asleep when the attack began. The Federals slowly withdrew as Confederates wasted time looting camps. Philip Sheridan returned from Washington and urged his men to counterattack. When the men cheered him, Sheridan yelled, “God damn you! Don’t cheer me, fight!” The Federals rallied near Middletown.
By 4 p.m., the Federals drove off the much smaller force of tired Confederates, as Jubal Early’s entire line virtually crumbled. The retreat soon became a rout. Federals suffered 5,665 casualties while Confederates lost 2,910, including Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, who is mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek being shot through both of his lungs and captured. The Union loses Brigadier General Daniel Davidson Bidwell, and Brigadier General Charles Russell Lowell. Sheridan would become a northern hero. Jubal Early wrote to General Robert E. Lee, “I found it impossible to rally the troops...The rout was as thorough and disgraceful as ever happened to our army...If you think that the interests of the service would be promoted by a change of commanders, I beg you will have no hesitation.” Early withdrew to New Market, where his army gradually dispersed.
Sterling Price’s Confederates pushed James G. Blunt’s Federals at Lexington back to the Little Blue River in Missouri.
Sea King, the sleek, fast ship Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch had obtained for the Confederate cause in England, rendezvoused with the tender Laurel north of the island of Las Desertas in the Madeiras. Sea King was sold to the Confederate States and renamed the CSS Shenandoah, after which guns, powder, supplies, and crewmembers from Laurel were loaded. Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, who had sailed from England in the Laurel, assumed command of the cruiser and remarked: "Each of us asked himself instinctively, what great adventures shall we meet in her? What will be her ultimate fate?" Shenandoah, one of Bulloch's greatest successes, was destined to become one of the most effective commerce raiders of the war and the last warship to sail under the Confederate flag, the only Confederate cruiser to circumnavigate the globe and ultimately the last to surrender on 6 November, 1865.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals this morning: Alfred Gibbs, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Charles Russell Lowell, and William Henry Powell.
A skirmish took place in Crawford County, Arkansas, with partisan guerrillas attacking local Union militia men, causing many casualties.
The USS Mobile, under Acting Lieutenant Giraud, captured the schooner Emily off San Luis Pass, Texas, with a cargo of 150 bales of cotton.
Lieutenant Bennett H. Young and 21 Confederate raiders attacked St. Albans, Vermont, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The group robbed the town’s three banks of a total of $208,000. They rounded up the town residents, killing one and wounding another before fleeing back into Canada. Canadian authorities arrested Young and 12 raiders but refused to extradite them to the U.S. because of Canada’s neutrality. About $75,000 was recovered. Nobody stood trial for the raid, which was the northernmost land action of the war.
Second report: In the northernmost land event that could be considered part of the War Between the States, a group of some 25 Confederate sympathizers slipped across the border from Canada into St. Albans, Vermont, planning to burn several towns and rob banks for funds for the cause. They got away with some $200,000 before townsfolk organized resistance and chased them back to Canada where they were arrested. Only $75,000 of the stolen money, however, was recovered.
Marylanders in Washington orchestrated a serenade to President Abraham Lincoln in support of their new state constitution. Lincoln addressed both the news and rumors that Democrats planned to immediately seize control of the Federal government if they won the upcoming elections: “Most heartily do I congratulate you, and Maryland, and the nation, and the world, upon the event...I am struggling to maintain government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates left Corinth, Mississippi, in an attempt to cooperate with John Bell Hood’s move to Alabama and Tennessee.
As the pursuit continued in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, things had gone pretty much all Phillip Sheridan’s way. He had chased the Confederate cavalry of Jubal Early around the landscape, whittling down his numbers with each encounter. Early did what seemed logical today: he attacked the encamped Federals so early in the morning that many were overrun and captured still in their tents and underwear. Unfortunately after initial successes, some of the Confederate men stopped to loot the deserted camps. In the afternoon Sheridan, who had been in Washington, DC, returned, reorganized, and counterattacked, driving the Southerners back to Fisher’s Hill with heavy losses.
Full report: The Battle of Cedar Creek erupted at 5 a.m. when Confederates attacked the Federal right and left simultaneously; many Federals were still asleep when the attack began. The Federals slowly withdrew as Confederates wasted time looting camps. Philip Sheridan returned from Washington and urged his men to counterattack. When the men cheered him, Sheridan yelled, “God damn you! Don’t cheer me, fight!” The Federals rallied near Middletown.
By 4 p.m., the Federals drove off the much smaller force of tired Confederates, as Jubal Early’s entire line virtually crumbled. The retreat soon became a rout. Federals suffered 5,665 casualties while Confederates lost 2,910, including Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, who is mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek being shot through both of his lungs and captured. The Union loses Brigadier General Daniel Davidson Bidwell, and Brigadier General Charles Russell Lowell. Sheridan would become a northern hero. Jubal Early wrote to General Robert E. Lee, “I found it impossible to rally the troops...The rout was as thorough and disgraceful as ever happened to our army...If you think that the interests of the service would be promoted by a change of commanders, I beg you will have no hesitation.” Early withdrew to New Market, where his army gradually dispersed.
Sterling Price’s Confederates pushed James G. Blunt’s Federals at Lexington back to the Little Blue River in Missouri.
Sea King, the sleek, fast ship Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch had obtained for the Confederate cause in England, rendezvoused with the tender Laurel north of the island of Las Desertas in the Madeiras. Sea King was sold to the Confederate States and renamed the CSS Shenandoah, after which guns, powder, supplies, and crewmembers from Laurel were loaded. Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, who had sailed from England in the Laurel, assumed command of the cruiser and remarked: "Each of us asked himself instinctively, what great adventures shall we meet in her? What will be her ultimate fate?" Shenandoah, one of Bulloch's greatest successes, was destined to become one of the most effective commerce raiders of the war and the last warship to sail under the Confederate flag, the only Confederate cruiser to circumnavigate the globe and ultimately the last to surrender on 6 November, 1865.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals this morning: Alfred Gibbs, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Charles Russell Lowell, and William Henry Powell.
A skirmish took place in Crawford County, Arkansas, with partisan guerrillas attacking local Union militia men, causing many casualties.
The USS Mobile, under Acting Lieutenant Giraud, captured the schooner Emily off San Luis Pass, Texas, with a cargo of 150 bales of cotton.
Lieutenant Bennett H. Young and 21 Confederate raiders attacked St. Albans, Vermont, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The group robbed the town’s three banks of a total of $208,000. They rounded up the town residents, killing one and wounding another before fleeing back into Canada. Canadian authorities arrested Young and 12 raiders but refused to extradite them to the U.S. because of Canada’s neutrality. About $75,000 was recovered. Nobody stood trial for the raid, which was the northernmost land action of the war.
Second report: In the northernmost land event that could be considered part of the War Between the States, a group of some 25 Confederate sympathizers slipped across the border from Canada into St. Albans, Vermont, planning to burn several towns and rob banks for funds for the cause. They got away with some $200,000 before townsfolk organized resistance and chased them back to Canada where they were arrested. Only $75,000 of the stolen money, however, was recovered.
Marylanders in Washington orchestrated a serenade to President Abraham Lincoln in support of their new state constitution. Lincoln addressed both the news and rumors that Democrats planned to immediately seize control of the Federal government if they won the upcoming elections: “Most heartily do I congratulate you, and Maryland, and the nation, and the world, upon the event...I am struggling to maintain government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates left Corinth, Mississippi, in an attempt to cooperate with John Bell Hood’s move to Alabama and Tennessee.
1
Posted on 10/19/14 at 2:36 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 20 October 1864
Sterling Price had been fighting to liberate Missouri from invading Union hands since the beginning of the War. His final excursion had been going on for a month now, and was having no greater success than the previous ones, in large part because occupied and garrisoned Missouri seemed to have no great desire for such liberation. Price expected to lead his army in and grow it by a flood of recruits. Since nearly every man in Missouri eligible for army service was already serving, on one side or the other, this did not occur. This morning, Price was in Lexington, on the banks of the Missouri River. He had Alfred Pleasanton’s heavy cavalry behind him, Andrew Jackson Smith’s infantry on his left and Samuel Curtis’ men up ahead. The river, on the right of his course, was essentially the only direction from which shot and shell were not flying. Another fight occurs at Dover, Missouri, as Confederate Major General Sterling Price is becoming increasingly alarmed at the presence of Union Calvary forces under Major General Alfred Pleasonton, the Army of the Border under Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, and troops under Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Smith as they seem to be coalescing, surrounding and hemming him in.
Even in the midst of blockade duty afloat, Union sailors were able to vote in the presidential election. Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren ordered Acting Master John K. Crosby, piloting the USS Harvest Moon to "...proceed with the USS Harvest Moon under your command to Savannah River, Wassaw, Ossabaw, Sapelo, and Doboy [Sounds], and communicate with the vessels there, in order to collect the 'sailors' votes already distributed for that purpose. A number of ballots will be given you, in order to enable the men to vote."
A boat expedition under Acting Master George E. Hill, from the USS Stars and Stripes, ascended the Ocklockonee River in Western Florida and destroyed an extensive Confederate fishery on Marsh's Island, capturing a detachment of soldiers assigned to guard the works. In small and large operations, assault from the sea continued to destroy the South's resources.
Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, dies from wounds this afternoon received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia.
George Washington Custis Lee, the eldest son of Robert Edward Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee, is today appointed Major General.
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, whose wounding at Jerusalem Plank Road during the siege of Petersburg cost him two of his fingers and was the probable cause for his nickname--"Bad Hand", is appointed Brigadier General.
Another series of small battle breaks out at Fisher's Hill, Virginia, as Lieutenant General Jubal Early retreats southward with the last remnants of Confederate opposition in the Shenandoah Valley.
Skirmishes today near Memphis, Tennessee, at Blue Pond and Little River, Alabama, Waterloo, Louisiana, and in Benton County, Arkansas.
The Plains Indian attack settlements around the Platte Valley, near Alkali Station, in the Nebraska Territory.
This afternoon, President Abraham Lincoln officially sets the last Thursday in November to be forever celebrated as "Thanksgiving."
Sterling Price had been fighting to liberate Missouri from invading Union hands since the beginning of the War. His final excursion had been going on for a month now, and was having no greater success than the previous ones, in large part because occupied and garrisoned Missouri seemed to have no great desire for such liberation. Price expected to lead his army in and grow it by a flood of recruits. Since nearly every man in Missouri eligible for army service was already serving, on one side or the other, this did not occur. This morning, Price was in Lexington, on the banks of the Missouri River. He had Alfred Pleasanton’s heavy cavalry behind him, Andrew Jackson Smith’s infantry on his left and Samuel Curtis’ men up ahead. The river, on the right of his course, was essentially the only direction from which shot and shell were not flying. Another fight occurs at Dover, Missouri, as Confederate Major General Sterling Price is becoming increasingly alarmed at the presence of Union Calvary forces under Major General Alfred Pleasonton, the Army of the Border under Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, and troops under Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Smith as they seem to be coalescing, surrounding and hemming him in.
Even in the midst of blockade duty afloat, Union sailors were able to vote in the presidential election. Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren ordered Acting Master John K. Crosby, piloting the USS Harvest Moon to "...proceed with the USS Harvest Moon under your command to Savannah River, Wassaw, Ossabaw, Sapelo, and Doboy [Sounds], and communicate with the vessels there, in order to collect the 'sailors' votes already distributed for that purpose. A number of ballots will be given you, in order to enable the men to vote."
A boat expedition under Acting Master George E. Hill, from the USS Stars and Stripes, ascended the Ocklockonee River in Western Florida and destroyed an extensive Confederate fishery on Marsh's Island, capturing a detachment of soldiers assigned to guard the works. In small and large operations, assault from the sea continued to destroy the South's resources.
Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, dies from wounds this afternoon received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia.
George Washington Custis Lee, the eldest son of Robert Edward Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee, is today appointed Major General.
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, whose wounding at Jerusalem Plank Road during the siege of Petersburg cost him two of his fingers and was the probable cause for his nickname--"Bad Hand", is appointed Brigadier General.
Another series of small battle breaks out at Fisher's Hill, Virginia, as Lieutenant General Jubal Early retreats southward with the last remnants of Confederate opposition in the Shenandoah Valley.
Skirmishes today near Memphis, Tennessee, at Blue Pond and Little River, Alabama, Waterloo, Louisiana, and in Benton County, Arkansas.
The Plains Indian attack settlements around the Platte Valley, near Alkali Station, in the Nebraska Territory.
This afternoon, President Abraham Lincoln officially sets the last Thursday in November to be forever celebrated as "Thanksgiving."
This post was edited on 10/20/14 at 6:56 am
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