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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 6/18/14 at 9:06 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 6/18/14 at 9:06 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 19 June 1864
Captain Rafael Semmes and his ship, CSS Alabama, had been the bane of Union shipping world wide for almost two years. Badly in need of refit and resupply after uninterrupted action at sea for 534 of the 657 days of her life, she docked in Cherbourg, France. Even though the work was not yet done, the USS Kearsarge waited to engage her. Semmes loaded his guns and sailed out for the fateful meeting as crowds lined the shore to watch.
"The day being Sunday and the weather fine, a large concourse of people-many having come all the way from Paris collected on the heights above the town [Cherbourg], in the upper stories of such of the houses as commanded a view of the sea, and on the walls and fortifications of the harbor. Several French luggers employed as pilot-boats went out, and also an English steam-yacht, called the Deerhound. Everything being in readiness between nine and ten o'clock, we got underway, and proceeded to sea, through the western entrance of the harbor; the Couronne [French ironclad] following us. As we emerged from behind the mole, we discovered the Kearsarge at a distance of between six and seven miles from the land. She had been apprised or our intention of coming out that morning, and was awaiting us."
Alabama mounted 8 guns to Kearsarge's 7. Yet Captain Winslow of Kearsarge enjoyed a superiority in having two heavy 11 inch Dahlgren guns while Semmes had but one heavy gun, an 8 inch. Perhaps his greatest advantage was superior ammunition, since Alabama's had deteriorated significantly during her long cruise. Furthermore, Winslow had protected the sides of his ship and the vulnerable machinery by hanging heavy chains over the sides from topside to below the waterline.
The antagonists closed to about one and a half miles, when Semmes opened the action with a starboard broadside. Within minutes the firing became fierce from both ships as they fought starboard to starboard on a circular course. Lieutenant Sinclair, CSN, wrote: "Semmes would have chosen to bring about yard-arm quarters, fouling, and boarding, relying upon the superior physique of his crew to overbalance the superiority of numbers; but this was frustrated." Shot and shell from the heavier guns of Kearsarge crashed into Alabama's hull, while the Union sloop of war, her sides protected by the chain armor, suffered only minor damage. One shell from Alabama lodged in the Kearsarge's sternpost but failed to explode. "If it had exploded," wrote John M. McKenzie, who was only 16 years old at the time of the battle, "the Kearsarge would have gone to the bottom instead of the Alabama. But our ammunition was old and had lost its strength." Southern casualties were heavy as both sides fought valiantly. "After the lapse of about one hour and ten minutes," Semmes reported, "our ship was ascertained to be in a sinking condition, the enemy's shells having exploded in our side, and between decks, opening large apertures through which the water rushed with great rapidity. For some few minutes I had hopes of being able to reach the French coast, for which purpose I gave the ship all steam, and set such of the fore and aft sails as were available. The ship filled so rapidly, however, that before we had made much progress, the fires were extinguished in the furnaces, and we were evidently on the point of sinking. I now hauled down my colors to prevent the further destruction of life, and dispatched a boat to inform the enemy of our condition."
Alabama settled stern first and her bow raised high in the air as the waters of the English Channel closed over her. Boats from Kearsarge and French boats rescued the survivors. The English yacht Deerhound, owned by Mr. John Lancaster, picked up Semmes with 13 of his officers and 27 crew members and carried them to Southampton.
The spectacular career of the Confederacy's most famous raider was closed. Before her last battle Semmes reminded his men: "You have destroyed, and driven for protection under neutral flags, one-half of the enemy's commerce, which, at the beginning of the War, covered every sea.
Alabama had captured and burned at sea 55 Union merchantmen valued at over four and one-half million dollars, and had bonded 10 others to the value of 562 thousand dollars. Another prize, Conrad, was commissioned CSS Tuscaloosa, and herself struck at Northern shipping. Flag Officer Barron lamented: "It is true that we have lost our ship; the ubiquitous gallant Alabama is no more, but we have lost no honor."
Throughout the North, news of Alabama's end was greeted with jubilation and relief. Secretary Welles wrote: "I congratulate you for your good fortune in meeting the Alabama, which had so long avoided the fastest ships of the service...for the ability displayed in the contest you have the thanks of the Department...The battle was so brief, the victory so decisive, and the comparative results so striking that the country will be reminded of the brilliant actions of our infant Navy, which have been repeated and illustrated in this engagement...Our countrymen have reason to be satisfied that in this, as in every naval action of this unhappy war, neither the ships, the guns, nor the crews have deteriorated, but that they maintain the ability and continue the renown which have ever adorned our naval annals." Winslow received a vote of thanks from Congress, and was promoted to Commodore with his commission dated 19 June 1864, his victory day.
The Confederacy’s most dangerous commerce raider was destroyed in the most spectacular naval battle of the war. The Alabama had captured 65 ships and hundreds of Federal prisoners while traveling some 75,000 miles on the high seas. Union officials blamed the British for Alabama’s feats because the ship had been built in British harbors; after the War, the U.S. demanded that Britain pay $19 million in damages caused by British-built Confederate commerce raiders.
Over a 22 month period, the Alabama cruised the whaling grounds around the Azores, the shipping lanes along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., the Carribean, the Brazilian coast, along South Africa, the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, capturing 447 vessels, capturing 65 Union merchant vessels, and sinking the U.S.S. Hatteras. She was at sea for 534 of the 657 days of her life. During this time she took 2,000 prisoners with no loss of life. Until the engagement with the Kearsage she lost not one man to accident or disease aboard the ship.
Her captain was well qualified for the leadership, operational, logistic, and legal challenges of operating independently at sea with minimum external support. He had commanded three U.S. Navy ships, served as a Naval Staff Officer in the Mexican War, made a survey of Ship Island, served as Inspector of Provisions and Clothing at the Pensacola Navy Yard, and served on courts martial at Pensacola and Memphis. The ships commanded by Semmes included the USS Flirt and the USS Electra, both homeported at Pensacola. He had written two books on the Mexican War and served as Secretary of the Lighthouse Board in Washington, D.C.
"[Joshiah]Tatnall was a greater sailor than Nelson...Semmes was Tatnall's equal"-Captain John McIntosh Kell
Captain Rafael Semmes and his ship, CSS Alabama, had been the bane of Union shipping world wide for almost two years. Badly in need of refit and resupply after uninterrupted action at sea for 534 of the 657 days of her life, she docked in Cherbourg, France. Even though the work was not yet done, the USS Kearsarge waited to engage her. Semmes loaded his guns and sailed out for the fateful meeting as crowds lined the shore to watch.
"The day being Sunday and the weather fine, a large concourse of people-many having come all the way from Paris collected on the heights above the town [Cherbourg], in the upper stories of such of the houses as commanded a view of the sea, and on the walls and fortifications of the harbor. Several French luggers employed as pilot-boats went out, and also an English steam-yacht, called the Deerhound. Everything being in readiness between nine and ten o'clock, we got underway, and proceeded to sea, through the western entrance of the harbor; the Couronne [French ironclad] following us. As we emerged from behind the mole, we discovered the Kearsarge at a distance of between six and seven miles from the land. She had been apprised or our intention of coming out that morning, and was awaiting us."
Alabama mounted 8 guns to Kearsarge's 7. Yet Captain Winslow of Kearsarge enjoyed a superiority in having two heavy 11 inch Dahlgren guns while Semmes had but one heavy gun, an 8 inch. Perhaps his greatest advantage was superior ammunition, since Alabama's had deteriorated significantly during her long cruise. Furthermore, Winslow had protected the sides of his ship and the vulnerable machinery by hanging heavy chains over the sides from topside to below the waterline.
The antagonists closed to about one and a half miles, when Semmes opened the action with a starboard broadside. Within minutes the firing became fierce from both ships as they fought starboard to starboard on a circular course. Lieutenant Sinclair, CSN, wrote: "Semmes would have chosen to bring about yard-arm quarters, fouling, and boarding, relying upon the superior physique of his crew to overbalance the superiority of numbers; but this was frustrated." Shot and shell from the heavier guns of Kearsarge crashed into Alabama's hull, while the Union sloop of war, her sides protected by the chain armor, suffered only minor damage. One shell from Alabama lodged in the Kearsarge's sternpost but failed to explode. "If it had exploded," wrote John M. McKenzie, who was only 16 years old at the time of the battle, "the Kearsarge would have gone to the bottom instead of the Alabama. But our ammunition was old and had lost its strength." Southern casualties were heavy as both sides fought valiantly. "After the lapse of about one hour and ten minutes," Semmes reported, "our ship was ascertained to be in a sinking condition, the enemy's shells having exploded in our side, and between decks, opening large apertures through which the water rushed with great rapidity. For some few minutes I had hopes of being able to reach the French coast, for which purpose I gave the ship all steam, and set such of the fore and aft sails as were available. The ship filled so rapidly, however, that before we had made much progress, the fires were extinguished in the furnaces, and we were evidently on the point of sinking. I now hauled down my colors to prevent the further destruction of life, and dispatched a boat to inform the enemy of our condition."
Alabama settled stern first and her bow raised high in the air as the waters of the English Channel closed over her. Boats from Kearsarge and French boats rescued the survivors. The English yacht Deerhound, owned by Mr. John Lancaster, picked up Semmes with 13 of his officers and 27 crew members and carried them to Southampton.
The spectacular career of the Confederacy's most famous raider was closed. Before her last battle Semmes reminded his men: "You have destroyed, and driven for protection under neutral flags, one-half of the enemy's commerce, which, at the beginning of the War, covered every sea.
Alabama had captured and burned at sea 55 Union merchantmen valued at over four and one-half million dollars, and had bonded 10 others to the value of 562 thousand dollars. Another prize, Conrad, was commissioned CSS Tuscaloosa, and herself struck at Northern shipping. Flag Officer Barron lamented: "It is true that we have lost our ship; the ubiquitous gallant Alabama is no more, but we have lost no honor."
Throughout the North, news of Alabama's end was greeted with jubilation and relief. Secretary Welles wrote: "I congratulate you for your good fortune in meeting the Alabama, which had so long avoided the fastest ships of the service...for the ability displayed in the contest you have the thanks of the Department...The battle was so brief, the victory so decisive, and the comparative results so striking that the country will be reminded of the brilliant actions of our infant Navy, which have been repeated and illustrated in this engagement...Our countrymen have reason to be satisfied that in this, as in every naval action of this unhappy war, neither the ships, the guns, nor the crews have deteriorated, but that they maintain the ability and continue the renown which have ever adorned our naval annals." Winslow received a vote of thanks from Congress, and was promoted to Commodore with his commission dated 19 June 1864, his victory day.
The Confederacy’s most dangerous commerce raider was destroyed in the most spectacular naval battle of the war. The Alabama had captured 65 ships and hundreds of Federal prisoners while traveling some 75,000 miles on the high seas. Union officials blamed the British for Alabama’s feats because the ship had been built in British harbors; after the War, the U.S. demanded that Britain pay $19 million in damages caused by British-built Confederate commerce raiders.
Over a 22 month period, the Alabama cruised the whaling grounds around the Azores, the shipping lanes along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., the Carribean, the Brazilian coast, along South Africa, the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, capturing 447 vessels, capturing 65 Union merchant vessels, and sinking the U.S.S. Hatteras. She was at sea for 534 of the 657 days of her life. During this time she took 2,000 prisoners with no loss of life. Until the engagement with the Kearsage she lost not one man to accident or disease aboard the ship.
Her captain was well qualified for the leadership, operational, logistic, and legal challenges of operating independently at sea with minimum external support. He had commanded three U.S. Navy ships, served as a Naval Staff Officer in the Mexican War, made a survey of Ship Island, served as Inspector of Provisions and Clothing at the Pensacola Navy Yard, and served on courts martial at Pensacola and Memphis. The ships commanded by Semmes included the USS Flirt and the USS Electra, both homeported at Pensacola. He had written two books on the Mexican War and served as Secretary of the Lighthouse Board in Washington, D.C.
"[Joshiah]Tatnall was a greater sailor than Nelson...Semmes was Tatnall's equal"-Captain John McIntosh Kell
1
Posted on 6/18/14 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 19 June 1864 (continued)
David Hunter’s Federals withdrew from the Shenandoah and moved back into the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia. Hunter had succeeded in pushing all the way to Lynchburg and prompting Robert E. Lee to dispatch Jubal Early to stop him. But Hunter had failed in joining with Phil Sheridan’s cavalry, and his retreat left the Shenandoah wide open for Early to launch a northern offensive.
Being virtually surrounded and outnumbered by over two-to-one, Lee’s Confederates desperately continued digging entrenchments around Petersburg.
In Georgia, William Sherman discovered Joseph Johnston’s new defensive line and advanced to test it despite rain and mud.
David Hunter’s Federals withdrew from the Shenandoah and moved back into the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia. Hunter had succeeded in pushing all the way to Lynchburg and prompting Robert E. Lee to dispatch Jubal Early to stop him. But Hunter had failed in joining with Phil Sheridan’s cavalry, and his retreat left the Shenandoah wide open for Early to launch a northern offensive.
Being virtually surrounded and outnumbered by over two-to-one, Lee’s Confederates desperately continued digging entrenchments around Petersburg.
In Georgia, William Sherman discovered Joseph Johnston’s new defensive line and advanced to test it despite rain and mud.
Posted on 6/19/14 at 9:29 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 20 June 1864
General John Hunt Morgan, CSA, was the scourge of Union-held areas in Kentucky, riding out of Tennessee. On one recent foray he had had several men captured. These were transferred today to the Federal prisoner-of-war camp at Rock Island Barracks in the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois. One of these prisoners, Private James P. Gold, spent the rest of the war there because he refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Union. He lived until 1934, one of the last few veterans of the great War Between the States.
The side-wheelers USS Morse, under Lieutenant Commander Babcock, and USS Cactus, Acting Master Newell Graham in charge, dislodged Confederate batteries which had opened fire on Army supply wagon trains near White Mouse, Virginia. Rear Admiral Samuel Lee reported: "Deserters afterwards reported that a force estimated at 10,000 of Wade Hampton's and Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry intended at-tacking our trains, but were deterred from the attempt by the fire of the gunboats." For three weeks Babcock had supported the Army at White Mouse. The Admiral noted: "I should not fail to call attention to the hearty, efficient, and successful service which Lieutenant Commander Babcock has rendered to the Army in opening and protecting its communications and in repelling the assaults of the enemy." Next day, the USS Shokokon, piloted by Acting Master William B. Sheldon, similarly dispersed an attack on the Union transport Eliza Hancox at Cumberland Point, Virginia.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory wrote Flag Officer Samuel Barron in Paris: "I am surprised at the expression of your opinion that a battery for a certain vessel can not be purchased in England, because her laws permit the exportation of guns and ordnance stores daily, and no system of espionage, it would seem, could prevent their shipment for one port and their being landed at another, or placed at another on board the ship awaiting them. Could they not be shipped for any port in the United States, in the Mediterranean, China, Brazil, or Austria, and carried to a given rendezvous? They will involve the charter of a steamer, or other vessel, and be thereby expensive; but such expense is not to be compared for a moment with the risks of her attempting, unarmed, to reach the Confederacy, watched as she is." The procedure suggested by Mallory had been used successfully by the Confederacy before, notably in the case of the CSS Alabama.
In Georgia, William T. Sherman’s Federals continued probing Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate defenses at the mountains and hills around Kennesaw. Fighting erupted at various points along the lines.
David "Black Dave" Hunter’s Federals skirmished as they continued their hurried retreat, withdrawing en masse from the Shenandoah Valley.
President Abraham Lincoln left Washington with son Tad and Assistant Navy Secretary Gustavus Fox to visit the Army of the Potomac on the James River. Before leaving, he again urged the Ohio governor to watch prominent Copperhead Clement Laird Vallandigham closely and “...arrest all implicated...” if Vallandigham resumed organizing War protests.
Union expeditions began from the White River and Lewisville, Arkansas; Cassville, Missouri; and Batchelder’s Creek near New Bern, North Carolina.
General John Hunt Morgan, CSA, was the scourge of Union-held areas in Kentucky, riding out of Tennessee. On one recent foray he had had several men captured. These were transferred today to the Federal prisoner-of-war camp at Rock Island Barracks in the Mississippi River between Iowa and Illinois. One of these prisoners, Private James P. Gold, spent the rest of the war there because he refused to take the oath of loyalty to the Union. He lived until 1934, one of the last few veterans of the great War Between the States.
The side-wheelers USS Morse, under Lieutenant Commander Babcock, and USS Cactus, Acting Master Newell Graham in charge, dislodged Confederate batteries which had opened fire on Army supply wagon trains near White Mouse, Virginia. Rear Admiral Samuel Lee reported: "Deserters afterwards reported that a force estimated at 10,000 of Wade Hampton's and Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry intended at-tacking our trains, but were deterred from the attempt by the fire of the gunboats." For three weeks Babcock had supported the Army at White Mouse. The Admiral noted: "I should not fail to call attention to the hearty, efficient, and successful service which Lieutenant Commander Babcock has rendered to the Army in opening and protecting its communications and in repelling the assaults of the enemy." Next day, the USS Shokokon, piloted by Acting Master William B. Sheldon, similarly dispersed an attack on the Union transport Eliza Hancox at Cumberland Point, Virginia.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory wrote Flag Officer Samuel Barron in Paris: "I am surprised at the expression of your opinion that a battery for a certain vessel can not be purchased in England, because her laws permit the exportation of guns and ordnance stores daily, and no system of espionage, it would seem, could prevent their shipment for one port and their being landed at another, or placed at another on board the ship awaiting them. Could they not be shipped for any port in the United States, in the Mediterranean, China, Brazil, or Austria, and carried to a given rendezvous? They will involve the charter of a steamer, or other vessel, and be thereby expensive; but such expense is not to be compared for a moment with the risks of her attempting, unarmed, to reach the Confederacy, watched as she is." The procedure suggested by Mallory had been used successfully by the Confederacy before, notably in the case of the CSS Alabama.
In Georgia, William T. Sherman’s Federals continued probing Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate defenses at the mountains and hills around Kennesaw. Fighting erupted at various points along the lines.
David "Black Dave" Hunter’s Federals skirmished as they continued their hurried retreat, withdrawing en masse from the Shenandoah Valley.
President Abraham Lincoln left Washington with son Tad and Assistant Navy Secretary Gustavus Fox to visit the Army of the Potomac on the James River. Before leaving, he again urged the Ohio governor to watch prominent Copperhead Clement Laird Vallandigham closely and “...arrest all implicated...” if Vallandigham resumed organizing War protests.
Union expeditions began from the White River and Lewisville, Arkansas; Cassville, Missouri; and Batchelder’s Creek near New Bern, North Carolina.
Posted on 6/20/14 at 9:16 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 21 June 1864
Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant had a busy day today. First he met with Major General George Meade and the two settled plans for the use of cavalry to disrupt the Confederate railroads that were not already in Union hands. They also decided to extend the lines to the left, and keep extending, if necessary, until they encircled the town. Then he had to scurry off to meet his commander-in-chief, who had arrived at City Point by ship, and take him on a tour of the lines on horseback.
Grant ordered Federal cavalry to scout lines and Federal troops to extend the siege lines left toward the Appomattox River, west of Petersburg. The goal was to form a semicircle of trenches south of the city with both ends anchored on the bending Appomattox.
President Abraham Lincoln visited Grant and other Federal officers at Grant’s new headquarters at City Point on the James River. Lincoln hoped the visit would ease his concerns about the costly Virginia campaign with over fifty thousand Union casualties. The men visited aboard the steamer Baltimore before Grant escorted Lincoln on a horseback tour of the Petersburg lines.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut viewed the forthcoming operation at Mobile Bay both as an event of tactical and strategic importance and as an encounter which would pit the new against the old in naval warfare. Reflecting on the relative strengths of his own and Admiral Franklin Buchanan's fleet at Mobile, he wrote: "This question has to be settled, iron versus wood; and there never was a better chance to settle the question of the seagoing qualities of ironclad ships."
A joint Confederate Army-Navy long range bombardment opened on the Union squadron in the James River at Trent's and Varina Reaches. The Confederate ships, commanded by Flag Officer Mitchell in the ironclad flagship Virginia II, included the ironclad ram CSS Fredericksburg, Commander Rootes in charge; the 166-ton gunboats Hampton, Lieutenant John S. Maury commanding, Nansemond, under Lieutenant Charles W. Hayes, and Drewry, commanded by Lieutenant William H. Hall; the small steamer Roanoke, Lieutenant Mortimer M. Beton in charge, and 85-ton tug Beaufort, Lieutenant Joseph Gardner piloting. The ironclad ram CSS Richmond, commanded by Lieutenant W. H. Parker, initially intended to join in the bombardment, but suffered a casualty getting underway and had to be towed upriver to a position near the obstructions below Richmond. An engine failure in Virginia II could not be repaired until afternoon, when it was too late to move farther downstream to engage at more effective range. The Union gunboats and monitors concentrated their fire on the Army shore batteries during the exchange; neither fleet suffered serious damage.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis reluctantly accepted the resignation of Treasury Secretary Christopher Memminger, telling him, “I knew of the extreme difficulty of conducting the Treasury Department during the pending struggle.” Memminger had been intensely criticized for imposing economic policies that harmed the Confederacy. Federal military, however, success played a larger role in disrupting the southern economy.
In Georgia, General Joseph E. Johnston responded to heavy Federal pressure on his left by shifting General John Bell Hood’s corps to that area of the defensive line.
Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant had a busy day today. First he met with Major General George Meade and the two settled plans for the use of cavalry to disrupt the Confederate railroads that were not already in Union hands. They also decided to extend the lines to the left, and keep extending, if necessary, until they encircled the town. Then he had to scurry off to meet his commander-in-chief, who had arrived at City Point by ship, and take him on a tour of the lines on horseback.
Grant ordered Federal cavalry to scout lines and Federal troops to extend the siege lines left toward the Appomattox River, west of Petersburg. The goal was to form a semicircle of trenches south of the city with both ends anchored on the bending Appomattox.
President Abraham Lincoln visited Grant and other Federal officers at Grant’s new headquarters at City Point on the James River. Lincoln hoped the visit would ease his concerns about the costly Virginia campaign with over fifty thousand Union casualties. The men visited aboard the steamer Baltimore before Grant escorted Lincoln on a horseback tour of the Petersburg lines.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut viewed the forthcoming operation at Mobile Bay both as an event of tactical and strategic importance and as an encounter which would pit the new against the old in naval warfare. Reflecting on the relative strengths of his own and Admiral Franklin Buchanan's fleet at Mobile, he wrote: "This question has to be settled, iron versus wood; and there never was a better chance to settle the question of the seagoing qualities of ironclad ships."
A joint Confederate Army-Navy long range bombardment opened on the Union squadron in the James River at Trent's and Varina Reaches. The Confederate ships, commanded by Flag Officer Mitchell in the ironclad flagship Virginia II, included the ironclad ram CSS Fredericksburg, Commander Rootes in charge; the 166-ton gunboats Hampton, Lieutenant John S. Maury commanding, Nansemond, under Lieutenant Charles W. Hayes, and Drewry, commanded by Lieutenant William H. Hall; the small steamer Roanoke, Lieutenant Mortimer M. Beton in charge, and 85-ton tug Beaufort, Lieutenant Joseph Gardner piloting. The ironclad ram CSS Richmond, commanded by Lieutenant W. H. Parker, initially intended to join in the bombardment, but suffered a casualty getting underway and had to be towed upriver to a position near the obstructions below Richmond. An engine failure in Virginia II could not be repaired until afternoon, when it was too late to move farther downstream to engage at more effective range. The Union gunboats and monitors concentrated their fire on the Army shore batteries during the exchange; neither fleet suffered serious damage.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis reluctantly accepted the resignation of Treasury Secretary Christopher Memminger, telling him, “I knew of the extreme difficulty of conducting the Treasury Department during the pending struggle.” Memminger had been intensely criticized for imposing economic policies that harmed the Confederacy. Federal military, however, success played a larger role in disrupting the southern economy.
In Georgia, General Joseph E. Johnston responded to heavy Federal pressure on his left by shifting General John Bell Hood’s corps to that area of the defensive line.
Posted on 6/21/14 at 9:51 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 22 June 1864
It was no surprise to Robert E. Lee that Hiram U. Grant’s plan was to encircle Petersburg and capture the railroads. Grant’s next logical target was the Petersburg-Weldon line, and Lee had the counterstroke ready. He sent A. P. Hill’s Corps to intercept, and Hill fell upon the lines of the Federal Second Corps as they marched. Their new commander, David Birney, had been in the job only a few days since Hancock’s wound had reopened and disabled him. His men were driven back from Jerusalem Plank Road in disorder, with over 1700 taken prisoner.
Another report: The Battle of Globe Tavern occurred outside Petersburg, as Grant ordered a Federal attack where the Weldon Railroad delivered supplies from Wilmington, North Carolina and the South Side Railroad delivered supplies from Lynchburg in the Shenandoah. As Federals destroyed tracks west of Petersburg, General A.P. Hill’s Confederate corps positioned itself between two Federal units and pushed them back, taking 1,700 prisoners. This kept the Weldon Railroad in Confederate hands and prevented the Federal line from extending west.
Meanwhile, two Federal cavalry divisions headed toward Burkeville to disrupt the South Side Railroad. They were nearly annihilated, but Federals destroyed some 60 miles of track that took the Confederates substantial time to repair.
The iron screw-steamer USS Calypso, Acting Master Frederick D. Stuart in charge, and the wooden side wheeler USS Nansemond, piloted by Acting Ensign James H. Porter, began transporting and supporting an Army expedition in the vicinity of New River, North Carolina on 20 June. The object was to cut the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, but Confederates had learned of the attempt and, taking up defensive positions in strength, compelled the Union troops to withdraw under cover of the ships' guns.
President Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief Grant steamed up the James River to meet with General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler commanding the Federal Army of the James and Admiral Samuel Lee commanding the naval squadron. Lincoln left for Washington this afternoon.
Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan assumed command of the Confederate Department of Western Virginia and Eastern Tennessee.
In Georgia, John Bell Hood’s Confederates launched a strong attack near Zion Church and Culp’s Farm, but Federals ultimately repulsed the drive.
The USS Lexington, under Acting Ensign Henry Booby, withstood a surprise Confederate strike on White River Station, Arkansas, and forced the attacking Confederate troops to withdraw.
It was no surprise to Robert E. Lee that Hiram U. Grant’s plan was to encircle Petersburg and capture the railroads. Grant’s next logical target was the Petersburg-Weldon line, and Lee had the counterstroke ready. He sent A. P. Hill’s Corps to intercept, and Hill fell upon the lines of the Federal Second Corps as they marched. Their new commander, David Birney, had been in the job only a few days since Hancock’s wound had reopened and disabled him. His men were driven back from Jerusalem Plank Road in disorder, with over 1700 taken prisoner.
Another report: The Battle of Globe Tavern occurred outside Petersburg, as Grant ordered a Federal attack where the Weldon Railroad delivered supplies from Wilmington, North Carolina and the South Side Railroad delivered supplies from Lynchburg in the Shenandoah. As Federals destroyed tracks west of Petersburg, General A.P. Hill’s Confederate corps positioned itself between two Federal units and pushed them back, taking 1,700 prisoners. This kept the Weldon Railroad in Confederate hands and prevented the Federal line from extending west.
Meanwhile, two Federal cavalry divisions headed toward Burkeville to disrupt the South Side Railroad. They were nearly annihilated, but Federals destroyed some 60 miles of track that took the Confederates substantial time to repair.
The iron screw-steamer USS Calypso, Acting Master Frederick D. Stuart in charge, and the wooden side wheeler USS Nansemond, piloted by Acting Ensign James H. Porter, began transporting and supporting an Army expedition in the vicinity of New River, North Carolina on 20 June. The object was to cut the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, but Confederates had learned of the attempt and, taking up defensive positions in strength, compelled the Union troops to withdraw under cover of the ships' guns.
President Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief Grant steamed up the James River to meet with General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler commanding the Federal Army of the James and Admiral Samuel Lee commanding the naval squadron. Lincoln left for Washington this afternoon.
Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan assumed command of the Confederate Department of Western Virginia and Eastern Tennessee.
In Georgia, John Bell Hood’s Confederates launched a strong attack near Zion Church and Culp’s Farm, but Federals ultimately repulsed the drive.
The USS Lexington, under Acting Ensign Henry Booby, withstood a surprise Confederate strike on White River Station, Arkansas, and forced the attacking Confederate troops to withdraw.
Posted on 6/22/14 at 8:43 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 23 June 1864
General David "Black Dave" Hunter, USA, was possibly the most hated man in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia at this time. Foreshadowing the tactics that William T. Sherman would demonstrate in Georgia and South Carolina, he had conducted a campaign of scorched earth and thorough wreckage of everything in his path, making less distinction than usual, and at times no distinction, between military and civilian targets. Now that Jubal Early’s army was in hot and furious pursuit, Hunter--for the first time facing armed opposition in force-- was rapidly withdrawing towards West Virginia. Stopping at Sweet Sulphur Springs, Hunter wanted to burn a famous hotel located there, but was talked out of it by his staff.
The USS Tecumseh, Commander Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven in charge, was ordered to proceed to sea "...as soon as practicable..." by Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee. The monitor, departing the James River where she had been on duty since April, was to deploy under secret orders that were not to be opened until "...you discharge your pilot." Unknowingly, the Tecumseh was beginning her last operation.
Lieutenant William Barker Cushing, with Acting Ensign J. E. Jones, Acting Master's Mate William L. Howorth and fifteen men, all from the USS Monticello, reconnoitered up Cape Fear River to within 3 miles of Wilmington, North Carolina. They rowed past the batteries guarding the western bar on the night of the 23rd, and despite three narrow escapes pulled safely ashore below Wilmington as day dawned on the 24th. The expedition had begun as an attempt to gain information about the CSS Raleigh, which Cushing was unaware had been wrecked after the engagement on 6 May. He learned that the ram had been "...indeed, destroyed, and nothing now remains of her above water."
Cushing also gained much other valuable information. The CSS Yadkin, 300-ton flagship of Flag Officer William F. Lynch, "...mounted only two guns, did not seem to have many men." The ironclad sloop CSS North Carolina was at anchor off Wilmington; she "...would not stand long against a monitor." His report continued: "Nine steamers passed in all, three of them being fine, large blockade runners." The scouting detachment captured a fishing party and a mail courier, gaining valuable intelligence on river obstructions and fortifications. That night, the expedition returned to the blockading fleet, after being detected and hotly pursued in the harbor. Only Cushing's ingenuity enabled the Union sailors to throw the Confederates off the track and cross the bar to safety. As late as the 28th, Confederates were still searching the harbor area for the raiders.
Cushing, who received a letter of commendation for his action from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, called special attention to his officers, Jones and Howorth ("whom I select because of their uniform enterprise and bravery"), and singled out David Warren, coxswain, William Wright, yeoman, and John Sullivan, seaman, who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their part in the expedition. Rear Admiral David D. Porter later wrote: "There was not a more daring adventure than this in the whole course of the war. There were ninety-nine chances in a hundred that Cushing and his party would be killed or captured, but throughout all his daring scheme there seemed to be a method, and, though criticised as rash and ill-judged, Cushing returned unscathed from his frequent expeditions, with much important information. In this instance it was a great source of satisfaction to the blockading vessels to learn that the 'Raleigh' was destroyed, and that the other ironclad ram was not considered fit to cross the bar."
General David "Black Dave" Hunter, USA, was possibly the most hated man in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia at this time. Foreshadowing the tactics that William T. Sherman would demonstrate in Georgia and South Carolina, he had conducted a campaign of scorched earth and thorough wreckage of everything in his path, making less distinction than usual, and at times no distinction, between military and civilian targets. Now that Jubal Early’s army was in hot and furious pursuit, Hunter--for the first time facing armed opposition in force-- was rapidly withdrawing towards West Virginia. Stopping at Sweet Sulphur Springs, Hunter wanted to burn a famous hotel located there, but was talked out of it by his staff.
The USS Tecumseh, Commander Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven in charge, was ordered to proceed to sea "...as soon as practicable..." by Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee. The monitor, departing the James River where she had been on duty since April, was to deploy under secret orders that were not to be opened until "...you discharge your pilot." Unknowingly, the Tecumseh was beginning her last operation.
Lieutenant William Barker Cushing, with Acting Ensign J. E. Jones, Acting Master's Mate William L. Howorth and fifteen men, all from the USS Monticello, reconnoitered up Cape Fear River to within 3 miles of Wilmington, North Carolina. They rowed past the batteries guarding the western bar on the night of the 23rd, and despite three narrow escapes pulled safely ashore below Wilmington as day dawned on the 24th. The expedition had begun as an attempt to gain information about the CSS Raleigh, which Cushing was unaware had been wrecked after the engagement on 6 May. He learned that the ram had been "...indeed, destroyed, and nothing now remains of her above water."
Cushing also gained much other valuable information. The CSS Yadkin, 300-ton flagship of Flag Officer William F. Lynch, "...mounted only two guns, did not seem to have many men." The ironclad sloop CSS North Carolina was at anchor off Wilmington; she "...would not stand long against a monitor." His report continued: "Nine steamers passed in all, three of them being fine, large blockade runners." The scouting detachment captured a fishing party and a mail courier, gaining valuable intelligence on river obstructions and fortifications. That night, the expedition returned to the blockading fleet, after being detected and hotly pursued in the harbor. Only Cushing's ingenuity enabled the Union sailors to throw the Confederates off the track and cross the bar to safety. As late as the 28th, Confederates were still searching the harbor area for the raiders.
Cushing, who received a letter of commendation for his action from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, called special attention to his officers, Jones and Howorth ("whom I select because of their uniform enterprise and bravery"), and singled out David Warren, coxswain, William Wright, yeoman, and John Sullivan, seaman, who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their part in the expedition. Rear Admiral David D. Porter later wrote: "There was not a more daring adventure than this in the whole course of the war. There were ninety-nine chances in a hundred that Cushing and his party would be killed or captured, but throughout all his daring scheme there seemed to be a method, and, though criticised as rash and ill-judged, Cushing returned unscathed from his frequent expeditions, with much important information. In this instance it was a great source of satisfaction to the blockading vessels to learn that the 'Raleigh' was destroyed, and that the other ironclad ram was not considered fit to cross the bar."
Posted on 6/23/14 at 8:17 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 24 June 1864
A few days ago the cavalrymen of General Phillip Sheridan had captured an immense train of wagons, one of the last objectives of the Confederate raid on the North that stood a good chance of success. The Southerners were not letting go of the desperately needed supplies without a fight, and today one was fought, near a place called St. Mary’s Church. The attack was fierce, and the need to protect the trains made it difficult for the Federals to fight freely. At the end of the day, they had to disengage and try to withdraw to return to the Army of the Potomac outside Petersburg, but they still had possession of the wagons and food.
The USS Queen City, Acting Master Michael Hickey, lying at anchor off Clarendon, Arkansas, on the White River, was attacked and destroyed in the early morning hours by two regiments of Joseph Orville "Jo" Shelby’s Confederate cavalry supported by artillery. The 210-ton wooden paddle-wheeler, taken by surprise, was disabled immediately, and Hickey surrendered her. Lieutenant Bache, piloting the USS Tyler, attempted to retake the ship, but when within a few miles of the location "...heard two successive reports, which proved subsequently to have been the unfortunate Queen City blowing up. Shelby, hearing us coming, had destroyed her."
Bache proceeded with the wooden steamers Tyler, USS Fawn, under Acting Master John R. Grace, and USS Naumkeag, Acting Master John Rogers in charge, to Clarendon, where he engaged the Confederate battery hotly for forty-five minutes. Naumkeag succeeded in recapturing one howitzer and several crewmen from the Queen City as the Confederates fell back from the riverbank.
Delegates to the Maryland constitutional convention approved abolishing slavery in the state this morning. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 attempted to free slaves in the Confederate States--where Federal authorities no control--but not in the Union States, like Maryland, where they did.
Indeed, Maryland's Constitution of 1851 had forbidden passage of "...any law abolishing the relation of master or slave, as it now exists in this State". To end slavery, Maryland had to write a new constitution.
Governor Augustus W. Bradford, in his annual message of 1864 to the General Assembly, sought passage of a constitutional convention bill. The predominantly Unionist legislature promptly complied, and the electorate approved the call for a convention
The Confederate flag over Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor was replaced under heavy Federal bombardment.
A few days ago the cavalrymen of General Phillip Sheridan had captured an immense train of wagons, one of the last objectives of the Confederate raid on the North that stood a good chance of success. The Southerners were not letting go of the desperately needed supplies without a fight, and today one was fought, near a place called St. Mary’s Church. The attack was fierce, and the need to protect the trains made it difficult for the Federals to fight freely. At the end of the day, they had to disengage and try to withdraw to return to the Army of the Potomac outside Petersburg, but they still had possession of the wagons and food.
The USS Queen City, Acting Master Michael Hickey, lying at anchor off Clarendon, Arkansas, on the White River, was attacked and destroyed in the early morning hours by two regiments of Joseph Orville "Jo" Shelby’s Confederate cavalry supported by artillery. The 210-ton wooden paddle-wheeler, taken by surprise, was disabled immediately, and Hickey surrendered her. Lieutenant Bache, piloting the USS Tyler, attempted to retake the ship, but when within a few miles of the location "...heard two successive reports, which proved subsequently to have been the unfortunate Queen City blowing up. Shelby, hearing us coming, had destroyed her."
Bache proceeded with the wooden steamers Tyler, USS Fawn, under Acting Master John R. Grace, and USS Naumkeag, Acting Master John Rogers in charge, to Clarendon, where he engaged the Confederate battery hotly for forty-five minutes. Naumkeag succeeded in recapturing one howitzer and several crewmen from the Queen City as the Confederates fell back from the riverbank.
Delegates to the Maryland constitutional convention approved abolishing slavery in the state this morning. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 attempted to free slaves in the Confederate States--where Federal authorities no control--but not in the Union States, like Maryland, where they did.
Indeed, Maryland's Constitution of 1851 had forbidden passage of "...any law abolishing the relation of master or slave, as it now exists in this State". To end slavery, Maryland had to write a new constitution.
Governor Augustus W. Bradford, in his annual message of 1864 to the General Assembly, sought passage of a constitutional convention bill. The predominantly Unionist legislature promptly complied, and the electorate approved the call for a convention
The Confederate flag over Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor was replaced under heavy Federal bombardment.
Posted on 6/24/14 at 9:09 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 25 June 1864
No one set out to construct a crater, of course, but today the digging began on what seemed like a brilliant plan to break through the defenses around Petersburg, the last stand of the Confederate armies in the Eastern Theater. The idea was simple: among the Union army were a great many men who in civilian life had been miners, ditch diggers, and other experts in excavation. They would dig a tunnel underneath the lines which were far too lethal to come near at ground level.
After the initial attacks on Petersburg by Union forces ended on 18 June, a portion of the IX Corps picket line, built under fire, was established only four hundred feet from Elliot's Salient, part of the main Confederate line. The Federals decided to construct and explode a mine underneath the salient in an attempt to surprise and overwhelm the Confederates and seize the heights above Petersburg and thereby shorten the siege.
Things were almost as hazardous in the West, where, as one soldier put it in his diary, “Slowly but surely Sherman was weaving a web of fate which would place the rebel army in his power, but it was a fearful sacrifice.” The objective was called Kennesaw Mountain on the maps.
No one set out to construct a crater, of course, but today the digging began on what seemed like a brilliant plan to break through the defenses around Petersburg, the last stand of the Confederate armies in the Eastern Theater. The idea was simple: among the Union army were a great many men who in civilian life had been miners, ditch diggers, and other experts in excavation. They would dig a tunnel underneath the lines which were far too lethal to come near at ground level.
After the initial attacks on Petersburg by Union forces ended on 18 June, a portion of the IX Corps picket line, built under fire, was established only four hundred feet from Elliot's Salient, part of the main Confederate line. The Federals decided to construct and explode a mine underneath the salient in an attempt to surprise and overwhelm the Confederates and seize the heights above Petersburg and thereby shorten the siege.
Things were almost as hazardous in the West, where, as one soldier put it in his diary, “Slowly but surely Sherman was weaving a web of fate which would place the rebel army in his power, but it was a fearful sacrifice.” The objective was called Kennesaw Mountain on the maps.
Posted on 6/25/14 at 9:04 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 26 June 1864
General Jubal Early’s almost 14,000 men reached Staunton, Virginia this morning. Early’s goals, previously given him by Robert E. Lee, were to repel the forces under General David "Black Dave" Hunter threatening Lynchburg, and if possible to strike a decisive blow. He was instructed, if success justified it and he had the opportunity, to follow Hunter into Maryland. The Valley would then be freed of the presence of Union forces. Then, by threatening either Washington or Baltimore, Lee hoped that Hiram U. Grant would be compelled to weaken his position by detaching troops to deal with that threat, or that he might be forced to attack the Confederates in their strong defensive positions around Petersburg. There might be other collateral results such as the obtaining of military supplies and stores which would warrant the movement, if successful.
What Lee decided to do, however, was more than just protect the rear area. He decided to send a third of his infantry westward with four goals: defeat Hunter, clear the Shenandoah Valley of Union troops, threaten Washington, and collect military supplies or other collateral results. Another impact would be the political impact such a movement would likely have on the North, especially with the upcoming presidential election. The obvious choice was to use the Second Corps, commanded by Early. Being Thomas J. Jackson’s old corps, they were familiar with the Valley, having fought three different Union armies there in 1862, and many of the troops were from that area. Early was a proven commander who could be trusted.
Jubal Early was 47 years old, having graduated from West Point in the Class of 1837. Shortly after that he resigned and became a lawyer and politician before the War. He had opposed secession, but when Virginia seceded he followed with it, volunteered, and joined the Confederate Army. He worked his way up in various command posts and had been involved in all the fighting of the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 to 1864. He assumed command of the Second Corps in May 1864 following the Battle of Spotsylvania. He was very quick-tempered, witty, and profane. Being stooped by arthritis and looking much older than his 47 years, Lee called him, “My Bad Old Man.”
General Phillip Sheridan had captured a supply depot at White House, Virginia, north of the James River, and loaded the booty onto wagons. Ever since, he had been pursued by the Confederate cavalry, desperate to recover the irreplaceable goods to sustain the siege of Petersburg. They had crossed the Chickahominy River under fire, and been harassed daily along the route. Things became safer today as they neared the main body of the Army of the Potomac. They recrossed the James by loading the wagons onto ferryboats at a place then called Couthard’s Landing.
The USS Norfolk Packet, Acting Ensign George W. Wood in charge, captured the sloop Sarah Mary off Mosquito Inlet, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The Confederate flag over Fort Sumter was replaced again under heavy Federal bombardment.
General Jubal Early’s almost 14,000 men reached Staunton, Virginia this morning. Early’s goals, previously given him by Robert E. Lee, were to repel the forces under General David "Black Dave" Hunter threatening Lynchburg, and if possible to strike a decisive blow. He was instructed, if success justified it and he had the opportunity, to follow Hunter into Maryland. The Valley would then be freed of the presence of Union forces. Then, by threatening either Washington or Baltimore, Lee hoped that Hiram U. Grant would be compelled to weaken his position by detaching troops to deal with that threat, or that he might be forced to attack the Confederates in their strong defensive positions around Petersburg. There might be other collateral results such as the obtaining of military supplies and stores which would warrant the movement, if successful.
What Lee decided to do, however, was more than just protect the rear area. He decided to send a third of his infantry westward with four goals: defeat Hunter, clear the Shenandoah Valley of Union troops, threaten Washington, and collect military supplies or other collateral results. Another impact would be the political impact such a movement would likely have on the North, especially with the upcoming presidential election. The obvious choice was to use the Second Corps, commanded by Early. Being Thomas J. Jackson’s old corps, they were familiar with the Valley, having fought three different Union armies there in 1862, and many of the troops were from that area. Early was a proven commander who could be trusted.
Jubal Early was 47 years old, having graduated from West Point in the Class of 1837. Shortly after that he resigned and became a lawyer and politician before the War. He had opposed secession, but when Virginia seceded he followed with it, volunteered, and joined the Confederate Army. He worked his way up in various command posts and had been involved in all the fighting of the Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 to 1864. He assumed command of the Second Corps in May 1864 following the Battle of Spotsylvania. He was very quick-tempered, witty, and profane. Being stooped by arthritis and looking much older than his 47 years, Lee called him, “My Bad Old Man.”
General Phillip Sheridan had captured a supply depot at White House, Virginia, north of the James River, and loaded the booty onto wagons. Ever since, he had been pursued by the Confederate cavalry, desperate to recover the irreplaceable goods to sustain the siege of Petersburg. They had crossed the Chickahominy River under fire, and been harassed daily along the route. Things became safer today as they neared the main body of the Army of the Potomac. They recrossed the James by loading the wagons onto ferryboats at a place then called Couthard’s Landing.
The USS Norfolk Packet, Acting Ensign George W. Wood in charge, captured the sloop Sarah Mary off Mosquito Inlet, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The Confederate flag over Fort Sumter was replaced again under heavy Federal bombardment.
Posted on 6/27/14 at 4:35 am to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 27 June 1864
It may have been an attempt by Major General William T. Sherman to escape the accusation that he was a “sidler”, a flanker, one who would rather defeat his enemies by maneuver than headlong combat. Whatever the reasons, this morning saw the assault of the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of the Tennessee, under Sherman’s command, on the much smaller unit of the Confederate defenders at Big and Little Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. The Southern forces were dug in and well supplied. There was even a third Union force, the Army of the Ohio, that hit the Confederate left flank. Federals advanced on several positions, including a salient that became known as the “Dead Angle.” The Confederates easily repulsed the attacks, winning the largest battle of the campaign thus far. It was all in vain. Federals suffered 2,051 casualties in killed or wounded. while Confederates lost just 442. It was Sherman’s worst defeat, and a Southern victory so encouraging that generations later parents still named their sons Kennesaw Mountain, including one baseball commissioner. Sherman was highly criticized for this ill-conceived attack.
Sherman's troops bombarded the Confederate positions at nine o'clock on the morning of June 27 and then advanced along the base of Kennesaw Mountain. The Confederates easily repulsed this diversionary attack. Meanwhile, rough terrain and a stubborn defense stymied the Union assault at Pigeon Hill, which sputtered out after a couple of hours. At Cheatham Hill, the heaviest fighting occurred along a salient stretch in the Confederate line dubbed "Dead Angle" by Confederate defenders. Union troops made a desperate effort to storm the Confederate trenches. However, as elsewhere, the rough terrain and intense Confederate fire combined to defeat the Union army. Within hours, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was over, one of the bloodiest single days in the campaign for Atlanta.
Sherman had no shame. Garnered from letters to his wife, some of his own words that illustrate his maniacal lust for blood. In one missive he said of Southerners: "The government of the U.S. has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war--to take their lives, their homes, their land, their everything...war is simply unrestrained by the Constitution...why death is mercy, and the quicker he or she is disposed of the better...Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources..."
And again to his wife he wrote from north Georgia, “I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash.”
The USS Proteus, under Commander Robert W. Shufeldt, seized the British blockade running steamer Jupiter just northwest of Man-of-War Cay, Bahamas. Her cargo had been thrown overboard.
The USS Nipsic, Lieutenant Commander Alexander F. Crosman in charge, captured the sloop Julia off Sapelo Sound, Georgia, with a cargo of salt.
President Abraham Lincoln formally accepted the National Union Party’s presidential nomination today.
The Confederate flag over Fort Sumter was replaced once again under the day long Federal bombardment.
A Federal expedition began from Brownsville, Arkansas.
It may have been an attempt by Major General William T. Sherman to escape the accusation that he was a “sidler”, a flanker, one who would rather defeat his enemies by maneuver than headlong combat. Whatever the reasons, this morning saw the assault of the Army of the Cumberland and the Army of the Tennessee, under Sherman’s command, on the much smaller unit of the Confederate defenders at Big and Little Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. The Southern forces were dug in and well supplied. There was even a third Union force, the Army of the Ohio, that hit the Confederate left flank. Federals advanced on several positions, including a salient that became known as the “Dead Angle.” The Confederates easily repulsed the attacks, winning the largest battle of the campaign thus far. It was all in vain. Federals suffered 2,051 casualties in killed or wounded. while Confederates lost just 442. It was Sherman’s worst defeat, and a Southern victory so encouraging that generations later parents still named their sons Kennesaw Mountain, including one baseball commissioner. Sherman was highly criticized for this ill-conceived attack.
Sherman's troops bombarded the Confederate positions at nine o'clock on the morning of June 27 and then advanced along the base of Kennesaw Mountain. The Confederates easily repulsed this diversionary attack. Meanwhile, rough terrain and a stubborn defense stymied the Union assault at Pigeon Hill, which sputtered out after a couple of hours. At Cheatham Hill, the heaviest fighting occurred along a salient stretch in the Confederate line dubbed "Dead Angle" by Confederate defenders. Union troops made a desperate effort to storm the Confederate trenches. However, as elsewhere, the rough terrain and intense Confederate fire combined to defeat the Union army. Within hours, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was over, one of the bloodiest single days in the campaign for Atlanta.
Sherman had no shame. Garnered from letters to his wife, some of his own words that illustrate his maniacal lust for blood. In one missive he said of Southerners: "The government of the U.S. has any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war--to take their lives, their homes, their land, their everything...war is simply unrestrained by the Constitution...why death is mercy, and the quicker he or she is disposed of the better...Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources..."
And again to his wife he wrote from north Georgia, “I begin to regard the death and mangling of a couple thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning dash.”
The USS Proteus, under Commander Robert W. Shufeldt, seized the British blockade running steamer Jupiter just northwest of Man-of-War Cay, Bahamas. Her cargo had been thrown overboard.
The USS Nipsic, Lieutenant Commander Alexander F. Crosman in charge, captured the sloop Julia off Sapelo Sound, Georgia, with a cargo of salt.
President Abraham Lincoln formally accepted the National Union Party’s presidential nomination today.
The Confederate flag over Fort Sumter was replaced once again under the day long Federal bombardment.
A Federal expedition began from Brownsville, Arkansas.
Posted on 6/27/14 at 8:23 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 28 June 1864
On most of the military fronts it was a day of mopping up, mourning the dead and caring for the wounded, of which there were a great number around Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. Major General William T. Sherman had launched an unadvised, headlong frontal assault on a well prepared, fortified and entrenched position, which had failed as miserably as most such attacks had and did. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston took advantage of the Yankees licking their wounds and began preparing new defenses along the Chattahoochee River, behind the Kennesaw Mountain line.
The Federal survivors huddled in a depression on the side of the hill. Because the Southerners had not entrenched on the military crest, the Northern soldiers lay just below the line of fire. But they were trapped in no man's land; they could neither advance nor retreat.
For the next five days, the “Dead Angle” became home for these men, many of them wounded. A truce two days after the battle afforded both sides a chance to bury their dead; dirt covered far more bodies in blue than gray.
In his post-battle report, Union Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis--the Northerner with a most Southern name--praised the efforts of his division, citing his men’s “...courage and discipline...,” as well as “...the determined manner in which they clung to the works afterward, and the noble physical endurance...” that he proclaimed “...have never been exceeded in modern soldiery.”
Two of the South’s best fighters, Major Generals Patrick Cleburne and Benjamin Cheatham, had occupied the works in the Confederate center. One of their unnamed Confederate soldiers summed the day up thusly, “We simply did our duty and no man shirked.”
In Washington, DC, President Abraham Lincoln complied with a formality and signed a bill repealing the Fugitive Slave Acts. These laws, which allowed slave hunters to go into even free states in search of the wanderers, had been one of the underlying factors in bringing about the War.
General Jubal Early’s Confederates advanced northward down the Shenandoah Valley, with Major General David "Black Dave" Hunter's Federals still in a northwest retreat, causing great concern and consternation among Washington officials.
On most of the military fronts it was a day of mopping up, mourning the dead and caring for the wounded, of which there were a great number around Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. Major General William T. Sherman had launched an unadvised, headlong frontal assault on a well prepared, fortified and entrenched position, which had failed as miserably as most such attacks had and did. Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston took advantage of the Yankees licking their wounds and began preparing new defenses along the Chattahoochee River, behind the Kennesaw Mountain line.
The Federal survivors huddled in a depression on the side of the hill. Because the Southerners had not entrenched on the military crest, the Northern soldiers lay just below the line of fire. But they were trapped in no man's land; they could neither advance nor retreat.
For the next five days, the “Dead Angle” became home for these men, many of them wounded. A truce two days after the battle afforded both sides a chance to bury their dead; dirt covered far more bodies in blue than gray.
In his post-battle report, Union Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis--the Northerner with a most Southern name--praised the efforts of his division, citing his men’s “...courage and discipline...,” as well as “...the determined manner in which they clung to the works afterward, and the noble physical endurance...” that he proclaimed “...have never been exceeded in modern soldiery.”
Two of the South’s best fighters, Major Generals Patrick Cleburne and Benjamin Cheatham, had occupied the works in the Confederate center. One of their unnamed Confederate soldiers summed the day up thusly, “We simply did our duty and no man shirked.”
In Washington, DC, President Abraham Lincoln complied with a formality and signed a bill repealing the Fugitive Slave Acts. These laws, which allowed slave hunters to go into even free states in search of the wanderers, had been one of the underlying factors in bringing about the War.
General Jubal Early’s Confederates advanced northward down the Shenandoah Valley, with Major General David "Black Dave" Hunter's Federals still in a northwest retreat, causing great concern and consternation among Washington officials.
This post was edited on 6/27/14 at 8:24 pm
Posted on 6/29/14 at 6:09 am to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 29 June 1864
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain two days ago had been a severe loss for General William T. Sherman. Thinking he could duplicate his success at Missionary Ridge, Sherman had sent repeated charges against Johnston’s well entrenched troops, and been rudely repulsed every time. Finally acknowledging defeat, Sherman’s men today continued to gather in the wounded and bury the dead. The plan for the march on Atlanta, although delayed by the loss of 2500 more casualties, was still in the cards.
The converted ferryboat USS Hunchback, Lieutenant Joseph P. Fyffe in charge, supported by the single turreted monitor USS Saugus, under Commander Edmund R. Colhoun, bombarded the Confederate batteries at Deep Bottom on the James River and caused their eventual removal. Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee reported: "The importance of holding our position at Deep Bottom is obvious. Without doing so our communications are cut there, and our wooden vessels can not remain above that point, and the monitors would be alone and exposed to the enemy's light torpedo craft from above and out of Four Mile Creek. The enemy could then plant torpedoes there to prevent the monitors passing by for supplies."
The First Battle of Ream’s Station occurred outside Petersburg, as Federals attempting to extend their lines westward and raiding Southern railways were surprised by Confederates blocking their path. The Federals were almost completely surrounded before abandoning their artillery and supply wagons and fighting back to the main army line. Each side lost about 600 men.
Early this morning, Brigadier General August Kautz’s division reached Reams Station on the Weldon Railroad, which was thought to be held by Union infantry. Instead, Kautz found the road barred by Major General William Mahone’s Confederate infantry division. Major General James H. Wilson’s division, fighting against elements of William H. F. “Rooney” Lee’s cavalry, joined Kautz’s near Reams Station, where they were virtually surrounded. About noon, Mahone’s infantry assaulted their front while Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry division threatened the Union left flank. The raiders burned their wagons and abandoned their artillery. Separated by the Confederate attacks, Wilson and his men cut their way through and fled south on the Stage Road to cross Nottoway River, while Kautz went cross-country, reaching Federal lines at Petersburg about dark. Wilson continued east to the Blackwater River before turning north, eventually reaching Union lines at Light House Point on July 2. The Wilson-Kautz raid tore up more than 60 miles of track, temporarily disrupting rail traffic into Petersburg, but at a great cost to the Yankees in men and mounts.
Another report: In late June 1864, a Union division under the command of Brigadier General August V. Kautz moved into southern Virginia where they began destroying sections of the Weldon Railroad as part of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign. This morning, the division reached Ream’s Station south of Petersburg on the Weldon Railroad, which was thought to be held by Union infantry. Instead, Kautz found the road barred by Mahone’s Confederate infantry division. Major General James H. Wilson’s division, fighting against elements of William H.F. “Rooney” Lee’s cavalry, joined Kautz’s near Ream’s Station, where they were virtually surrounded.
Around noon, Mahone led Confederate infantry against the Union front while cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee attacked the Union left flank. The fierce assault split the Union forces. Wilson and Kautz were forced to withdraw quickly, burning their supply wagons and abandoning their artillery.
Separated by the Confederate attacks, Wilson and his men cut their way through and retreated southwest on the Stage Road to cross the Nottoway River. Meanwhile, Kautz headed south and east cross-country, reaching Federal lines at Petersburg about dark. Wilson continued east to the Blackwater River before turning north, eventually reaching Union lines at Light House Point on July 2. The Wilson-Kautz raid tore up more than 60 miles of track, temporarily disrupting rail traffic into Petersburg, but at a great cost in men and mounts.
President Jefferson Davis informed Georgia Governor Joseph Brown that he had sent General Joseph E. Johnston “...all available reinforcements, detaching troops even from points that remain exposed to the enemy.”
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain two days ago had been a severe loss for General William T. Sherman. Thinking he could duplicate his success at Missionary Ridge, Sherman had sent repeated charges against Johnston’s well entrenched troops, and been rudely repulsed every time. Finally acknowledging defeat, Sherman’s men today continued to gather in the wounded and bury the dead. The plan for the march on Atlanta, although delayed by the loss of 2500 more casualties, was still in the cards.
The converted ferryboat USS Hunchback, Lieutenant Joseph P. Fyffe in charge, supported by the single turreted monitor USS Saugus, under Commander Edmund R. Colhoun, bombarded the Confederate batteries at Deep Bottom on the James River and caused their eventual removal. Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee reported: "The importance of holding our position at Deep Bottom is obvious. Without doing so our communications are cut there, and our wooden vessels can not remain above that point, and the monitors would be alone and exposed to the enemy's light torpedo craft from above and out of Four Mile Creek. The enemy could then plant torpedoes there to prevent the monitors passing by for supplies."
The First Battle of Ream’s Station occurred outside Petersburg, as Federals attempting to extend their lines westward and raiding Southern railways were surprised by Confederates blocking their path. The Federals were almost completely surrounded before abandoning their artillery and supply wagons and fighting back to the main army line. Each side lost about 600 men.
Early this morning, Brigadier General August Kautz’s division reached Reams Station on the Weldon Railroad, which was thought to be held by Union infantry. Instead, Kautz found the road barred by Major General William Mahone’s Confederate infantry division. Major General James H. Wilson’s division, fighting against elements of William H. F. “Rooney” Lee’s cavalry, joined Kautz’s near Reams Station, where they were virtually surrounded. About noon, Mahone’s infantry assaulted their front while Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry division threatened the Union left flank. The raiders burned their wagons and abandoned their artillery. Separated by the Confederate attacks, Wilson and his men cut their way through and fled south on the Stage Road to cross Nottoway River, while Kautz went cross-country, reaching Federal lines at Petersburg about dark. Wilson continued east to the Blackwater River before turning north, eventually reaching Union lines at Light House Point on July 2. The Wilson-Kautz raid tore up more than 60 miles of track, temporarily disrupting rail traffic into Petersburg, but at a great cost to the Yankees in men and mounts.
Another report: In late June 1864, a Union division under the command of Brigadier General August V. Kautz moved into southern Virginia where they began destroying sections of the Weldon Railroad as part of the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign. This morning, the division reached Ream’s Station south of Petersburg on the Weldon Railroad, which was thought to be held by Union infantry. Instead, Kautz found the road barred by Mahone’s Confederate infantry division. Major General James H. Wilson’s division, fighting against elements of William H.F. “Rooney” Lee’s cavalry, joined Kautz’s near Ream’s Station, where they were virtually surrounded.
Around noon, Mahone led Confederate infantry against the Union front while cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee attacked the Union left flank. The fierce assault split the Union forces. Wilson and Kautz were forced to withdraw quickly, burning their supply wagons and abandoning their artillery.
Separated by the Confederate attacks, Wilson and his men cut their way through and retreated southwest on the Stage Road to cross the Nottoway River. Meanwhile, Kautz headed south and east cross-country, reaching Federal lines at Petersburg about dark. Wilson continued east to the Blackwater River before turning north, eventually reaching Union lines at Light House Point on July 2. The Wilson-Kautz raid tore up more than 60 miles of track, temporarily disrupting rail traffic into Petersburg, but at a great cost in men and mounts.
President Jefferson Davis informed Georgia Governor Joseph Brown that he had sent General Joseph E. Johnston “...all available reinforcements, detaching troops even from points that remain exposed to the enemy.”
Posted on 6/29/14 at 8:59 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 30 June 1864
Salmon Portland Chase, Secretary of the Treasury for the United States and a constant source of conflict over the conduct of the War, had submitted his resignation numerous times in the past during arguments with President Abraham Lincoln. Imagine his surprise today when Lincoln finally accepted it. “You and I,” Lincoln said, “have reached a point of mutual embarrassment in our official relation which it seems cannot be overcome...consistently with he public service.” Chase went off to sulk with the Radical Republicans who wanted him for President.
Chase implemented a unified nationwide banking system with the National Banking Act, and devised the idea of utilizing paper currency to function as war notes. The "greenback" bills, which came in various denominations, became the basis for the federal paper money system that Americans use today. In order to collect taxes to finance the government's war effort, he also established the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which later became known as the Internal Revenue Service. Chase served as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States and presided over the Senate trial of Andrew Johnson during the President's impeachment proceedings.
Immediately upon returning to command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Rear Admiral David G. Farragut moved to obtain monitors for the inevitable engagement with the CSS Tennessee in Mobile Bay. Earlier in June Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles had written to Rear Admiral David D. Porter of the matter: "It is of the greatest importance that some of the new ironclads building on the Mississippi should be sent without fail to Rear Admiral Farragut. Are not some of them ready? If not, can you not hurry them forward?" Porter responded that the light-draft monitors USS Winnebago and Chickasaw were completed, and this date issued orders for the two vessels, which were to play an important part in the Battle of Mobile Bay, to report to Farragut at New Orleans.
Acting Ensign Edward H. Watkeys, commanding a launch from the USS Roebuck, captured the sloop Last Resort off Indian River Inlet, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Glasgow, under Acting Master Nehemiah Mayo Dyer, forced the blockade running steamer Ivanhoe to run aground near Fort Morgan at Mobile Bay. Because the steamer was protected by the fort's guns, Rear Admiral David G. Farragut attempted at first to destroy her by long-range fire from the USS Metacomet and Monongahela. When this proved unsuccessful, Farragut authorized his Flag Lieutenant, J. Crittenden Watson, to lead a boat expedition to burn Ivanhoe. Under the cover of darkness and the ready guns on board the USS Metacomet and Kennebec, Watson led four boats directly to the grounded steamer and fired her in two places shortly after midnight 6 July. Farragut wrote: "The admiral commanding has much pleasure in announcing to the fleet, what was anxiously looked for last night by hundreds, the destruction of the blockade runner ashore under the Rebel batteries by an expedition of boats...the entire conduct of the expedition was marked by a promptness and energy which shows what may be expected of such officers and men on similar occasions."
Salmon Portland Chase, Secretary of the Treasury for the United States and a constant source of conflict over the conduct of the War, had submitted his resignation numerous times in the past during arguments with President Abraham Lincoln. Imagine his surprise today when Lincoln finally accepted it. “You and I,” Lincoln said, “have reached a point of mutual embarrassment in our official relation which it seems cannot be overcome...consistently with he public service.” Chase went off to sulk with the Radical Republicans who wanted him for President.
Chase implemented a unified nationwide banking system with the National Banking Act, and devised the idea of utilizing paper currency to function as war notes. The "greenback" bills, which came in various denominations, became the basis for the federal paper money system that Americans use today. In order to collect taxes to finance the government's war effort, he also established the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which later became known as the Internal Revenue Service. Chase served as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States and presided over the Senate trial of Andrew Johnson during the President's impeachment proceedings.
Immediately upon returning to command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, Rear Admiral David G. Farragut moved to obtain monitors for the inevitable engagement with the CSS Tennessee in Mobile Bay. Earlier in June Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles had written to Rear Admiral David D. Porter of the matter: "It is of the greatest importance that some of the new ironclads building on the Mississippi should be sent without fail to Rear Admiral Farragut. Are not some of them ready? If not, can you not hurry them forward?" Porter responded that the light-draft monitors USS Winnebago and Chickasaw were completed, and this date issued orders for the two vessels, which were to play an important part in the Battle of Mobile Bay, to report to Farragut at New Orleans.
Acting Ensign Edward H. Watkeys, commanding a launch from the USS Roebuck, captured the sloop Last Resort off Indian River Inlet, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Glasgow, under Acting Master Nehemiah Mayo Dyer, forced the blockade running steamer Ivanhoe to run aground near Fort Morgan at Mobile Bay. Because the steamer was protected by the fort's guns, Rear Admiral David G. Farragut attempted at first to destroy her by long-range fire from the USS Metacomet and Monongahela. When this proved unsuccessful, Farragut authorized his Flag Lieutenant, J. Crittenden Watson, to lead a boat expedition to burn Ivanhoe. Under the cover of darkness and the ready guns on board the USS Metacomet and Kennebec, Watson led four boats directly to the grounded steamer and fired her in two places shortly after midnight 6 July. Farragut wrote: "The admiral commanding has much pleasure in announcing to the fleet, what was anxiously looked for last night by hundreds, the destruction of the blockade runner ashore under the Rebel batteries by an expedition of boats...the entire conduct of the expedition was marked by a promptness and energy which shows what may be expected of such officers and men on similar occasions."
Posted on 6/30/14 at 8:24 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 1 July 1864
It had been quite a shock to all the capital community, insiders and out, yesterday when Union President Abraham Lincoln had finally accepted the resignation of Secretary of the Treasury, powerful politician and presidential hopeful Salmon Portland Chase. Chase had submitted these resignations so many times before, to emphasize one point or another, that he and the "Powers that Be" about fell down in shock when Lincoln finally took him up on it. This morning, Lincoln nominated William Pitt Fessenden of Maine as Chase’s replacement in the Treasury post. Fessenden had long experience in the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate, and was reluctant to give up this post for a Cabinet job. It was fortunate that he accepted, as the Treasury Department was a mess under Chase’s management, and improved greatly under his successor. Fessenden had served on the Senate Finance Committee and, like most Republicans, supported higher taxes and opposed inflation. This was no minor matter for a nation in such financial chaos as a Civil War creates.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote President Jefferson Davis that due to a shortage of mechanics the ordnance works at Selma, Alabama, could not "...make more than one gun in a week, whereas with a proper number of mechanics it could manufacture with carriages and equipments complete, three in a week, and in a few months one every day. Shortage of skilled craftsmen was a handicap the South could never overcome. The manpower and material shortages at Selma specifically crippled the progress of the ironclad squadron Admiral Buchanan was desperately trying to develop in Mobile Bay. Only the ram Tennessee was ready when the critical moment arrived on 5 August.
The CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, captured and burned the bark Harriet Stevens at sea southwest of Bermuda with a cargo of lumber, cement, and gum opium; Morris sent the opium to Savannah in a blockade runner for hospital use.
The USS Merrimac, under Acting Lieutenant W. Budd, captured the blockade running sloop Henrietta at sea west of Tampa, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
Major General Irvin McDowell was appointed to command the Federal Department of the Pacific.
President Lincoln signed the Internal Revenue Act of 1864 into law. This raised Federal income taxes and import tariffs, and also imposed taxes on items such as matches and photographs. These taxes were considered an emergency wartime measure.
In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, General Jubal Early’s Confederate Army of the Valley continued advancing northward and yesterday arrived at New Market. They were only a day away from being the subject of an urgent telegram from Major General Franz Sigel to Washington, DC, advising of their presence.
It had been quite a shock to all the capital community, insiders and out, yesterday when Union President Abraham Lincoln had finally accepted the resignation of Secretary of the Treasury, powerful politician and presidential hopeful Salmon Portland Chase. Chase had submitted these resignations so many times before, to emphasize one point or another, that he and the "Powers that Be" about fell down in shock when Lincoln finally took him up on it. This morning, Lincoln nominated William Pitt Fessenden of Maine as Chase’s replacement in the Treasury post. Fessenden had long experience in the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate, and was reluctant to give up this post for a Cabinet job. It was fortunate that he accepted, as the Treasury Department was a mess under Chase’s management, and improved greatly under his successor. Fessenden had served on the Senate Finance Committee and, like most Republicans, supported higher taxes and opposed inflation. This was no minor matter for a nation in such financial chaos as a Civil War creates.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote President Jefferson Davis that due to a shortage of mechanics the ordnance works at Selma, Alabama, could not "...make more than one gun in a week, whereas with a proper number of mechanics it could manufacture with carriages and equipments complete, three in a week, and in a few months one every day. Shortage of skilled craftsmen was a handicap the South could never overcome. The manpower and material shortages at Selma specifically crippled the progress of the ironclad squadron Admiral Buchanan was desperately trying to develop in Mobile Bay. Only the ram Tennessee was ready when the critical moment arrived on 5 August.
The CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, captured and burned the bark Harriet Stevens at sea southwest of Bermuda with a cargo of lumber, cement, and gum opium; Morris sent the opium to Savannah in a blockade runner for hospital use.
The USS Merrimac, under Acting Lieutenant W. Budd, captured the blockade running sloop Henrietta at sea west of Tampa, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
Major General Irvin McDowell was appointed to command the Federal Department of the Pacific.
President Lincoln signed the Internal Revenue Act of 1864 into law. This raised Federal income taxes and import tariffs, and also imposed taxes on items such as matches and photographs. These taxes were considered an emergency wartime measure.
In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, General Jubal Early’s Confederate Army of the Valley continued advancing northward and yesterday arrived at New Market. They were only a day away from being the subject of an urgent telegram from Major General Franz Sigel to Washington, DC, advising of their presence.
This post was edited on 7/1/14 at 3:48 am
Posted on 7/1/14 at 9:05 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 2 July 1864
Harper’s Ferry, at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and at the bottom of steep bluffs, is also where Maryland, Virginia and the newly created state of West Virginia come together. It was fought over repeatedly and changed hands more than once. It was under threat again today from the forces of General Jubal Early, where they had little Federal opposition. The Confederate general, head of virtually the only remaining Rebel force in the East able to move freely, was in Winchester today. There was skirmishing on Bolivar Heights.
The USS Keystone State, under Commander Peirce Crosby, captured the blockade running British steamer Rouen at sea off Wilmington, North Carolina. The steamer had thrown her cargo of cotton overboard during the four hour chase, and was not brought to until Keystone had fired 22 shots at her, "...all of them falling quite near and some directly over her."
The single-turreted monitors USS Lehigh, Lieutenant Commander Alexander Alderman Semmes piloting, USS Montauk, Lieutenant Commander A. W. Johnson in charge, and other ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron supported Army troops in a demonstration up the Stono River, South Carolina. Hearing that Confederate forces were about to move against the blockaders off Charleston, Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren and Major General John Gray Foster planned a diversionary expedition up the Stono River, in-tending to cut the important Charleston-Savannah railroad. Union monitors and gunboats shelled Confederate works on both sides of the river with telling effect in support of movements ashore. Brigadier General Alexander Schimmelfennig, troop commander, reported to Dahlgren on 6 July: "I take pleasure in informing you of the excellent practice by your gunboats and monitors on Stono River yesterday. They drove the enemy out of his rifle pits and prevented him from erecting an earthwork which he had commenced. As I shall probably have to occupy that line again before long, this fire of your monitors will undoubtedly save many lives on our side, for which I desire to express to them my thanks." Dahlgren's vessels later effectively covered the Army withdrawal from the Stono River.
In Georgia, General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate Army of Tennessee withdrew from Kennesaw Mountain to previously prepared defenses near Marietta. Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the West was shifting around Johnston’s left flank to approach the vital industrial city of Atlanta, and Johnston’s position at Kennesaw was no longer tenable.
Harper’s Ferry, at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and at the bottom of steep bluffs, is also where Maryland, Virginia and the newly created state of West Virginia come together. It was fought over repeatedly and changed hands more than once. It was under threat again today from the forces of General Jubal Early, where they had little Federal opposition. The Confederate general, head of virtually the only remaining Rebel force in the East able to move freely, was in Winchester today. There was skirmishing on Bolivar Heights.
The USS Keystone State, under Commander Peirce Crosby, captured the blockade running British steamer Rouen at sea off Wilmington, North Carolina. The steamer had thrown her cargo of cotton overboard during the four hour chase, and was not brought to until Keystone had fired 22 shots at her, "...all of them falling quite near and some directly over her."
The single-turreted monitors USS Lehigh, Lieutenant Commander Alexander Alderman Semmes piloting, USS Montauk, Lieutenant Commander A. W. Johnson in charge, and other ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron supported Army troops in a demonstration up the Stono River, South Carolina. Hearing that Confederate forces were about to move against the blockaders off Charleston, Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren and Major General John Gray Foster planned a diversionary expedition up the Stono River, in-tending to cut the important Charleston-Savannah railroad. Union monitors and gunboats shelled Confederate works on both sides of the river with telling effect in support of movements ashore. Brigadier General Alexander Schimmelfennig, troop commander, reported to Dahlgren on 6 July: "I take pleasure in informing you of the excellent practice by your gunboats and monitors on Stono River yesterday. They drove the enemy out of his rifle pits and prevented him from erecting an earthwork which he had commenced. As I shall probably have to occupy that line again before long, this fire of your monitors will undoubtedly save many lives on our side, for which I desire to express to them my thanks." Dahlgren's vessels later effectively covered the Army withdrawal from the Stono River.
In Georgia, General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate Army of Tennessee withdrew from Kennesaw Mountain to previously prepared defenses near Marietta. Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the West was shifting around Johnston’s left flank to approach the vital industrial city of Atlanta, and Johnston’s position at Kennesaw was no longer tenable.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 8:55 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 3 July 1864
Major General William Tecumseh Sherman had tried a frontal assault on Kennesaw Mountain and suffered a very thorough defeat. This morning, he reverted to one of his more accustomed style of tactics, which was to maneuver in an attempt to outflank his opponent. Said opponent today was General Joseph Eggleston Johnston, who had passed through Marietta, Georgia, to establish a new line anchored on Nickajack Creek. Johnston’s cavalry kept up harassment behind the lines at Kingston, Ruff’s Mills and Sweetwater Bridge.
General Jubal Early’s Confederates entered Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, as a small Federal force under General Franz Sigel quickly withdrew across the Potomac River. Northern citizens began panicking, and concern grew to worry in Washington, DC.
In Charleston Harbor, a Federal attempt to capture Fort Johnson from Morris Island failed, with 140 Federals captured. Also, about 5,500 Federals landed on James Island and pushed the outnumbered Confederate defenders back.
Major General William Tecumseh Sherman had tried a frontal assault on Kennesaw Mountain and suffered a very thorough defeat. This morning, he reverted to one of his more accustomed style of tactics, which was to maneuver in an attempt to outflank his opponent. Said opponent today was General Joseph Eggleston Johnston, who had passed through Marietta, Georgia, to establish a new line anchored on Nickajack Creek. Johnston’s cavalry kept up harassment behind the lines at Kingston, Ruff’s Mills and Sweetwater Bridge.
General Jubal Early’s Confederates entered Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, as a small Federal force under General Franz Sigel quickly withdrew across the Potomac River. Northern citizens began panicking, and concern grew to worry in Washington, DC.
In Charleston Harbor, a Federal attempt to capture Fort Johnson from Morris Island failed, with 140 Federals captured. Also, about 5,500 Federals landed on James Island and pushed the outnumbered Confederate defenders back.
Posted on 7/3/14 at 8:55 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 4 July 1864
As Hiram U. Grant continued to grind away at Robert E. Lee’s forces around Petersburg, the work in Washington, DC, was beginning on how to go about re-integrating the South into the Federal nation. The word “Reconstruction” began to be in use around this time, and virtually nobody agreed about how it should be accomplished. Abraham Lincoln was being very judicious in releasing the details of his plans, which were surprisingly conciliatory to what was, after all, a potentially conquered nation. It was less the Democrats giving him trouble than the members of his own party, known as the Radical Republicans, including the more fanatical abolitionists. Lincoln today pocket-vetoed a measure called the Wade-Davis bill, which would have barred any man who had ever borne arms against the Union from voting or holding office. Essentially the debate was over whether Congress or the President would control the rebuilding process.
The USS Hastings, under Acting Lieutenant J. S. Watson, engaged Confederate sharpshooters on the White River above St. Charles, Arkansas. Lieutenant Commander Samuel L. Phelps, embarked in the 300-ton, 8-gun Hastings, commented in his report to Rear Admiral David D. Porter: "I had been at a loss to know how we should celebrate the Fourth, being underway and having so much of a convoy in charge, but this attack occurring about noon furnished the opportunity of at once punishing the enemy and celebrating the day by firing cannon. "It had been a year before, on 4 July 1863, that Union forces had commemorated Independence Day with decisive victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the latter pivoting on the Union Navy. With control of the Western waters assured, the North was certain of victory."
The USS Magnolia, Acting Lieutenant William S. Cheesman in charge, captured three boats at sea several hundred miles east of Florida with a small cargo of cotton and turpentine. The intrepid Southern boatmen had been at sea for some 40 days attempting to reach Nassau. The attempt to run the blockade in small boats, powered by sail and oars, was an extreme measure even for the South's struggling economy.
The first session of the Thirty-Eighth Federal Congress adjourned. President Lincoln signed several bills into law, including establishing public lands in the Pacific Northwest for railroad and telegraph lines to Puget Sound; incorporating the Northern Pacific Railroad; opening land for settlement from Lake Superior to the Pacific; establishing an Immigration Commission and encouraging immigrants by guaranteeing them a 12-month labor contract; and repealing certain provisions of the Enrollment Act.
Lincoln refused to sign the controversial Wade-Davis Reconstruction Bill, which required 50 percent of a seceded state’s voters to swear allegiance to the U.S. before calling a convention to reconstruct the state under a new constitution that outlawed slavery. The bill also provided suffrage to adult black men in seceded states while prohibiting voting rights for Confederates. Lincoln believed this bill was improperly dictatorial and declared that such a measure would interfere with reconstruction efforts currently underway in Louisiana and Arkansas.
In Georgia, General William T. Sherman’s right flank (General James McPherson’s Federal Army of the Tennessee) skirted around the Confederate left at Smyrna and reached the Chattahoochee River. General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates were forced to withdraw to another line of previously prepared defenses along the river.
General Jubal Early’s Confederates operated in and around Harper’s Ferry in preparation for crossing the Potomac River and invading the North.
As Hiram U. Grant continued to grind away at Robert E. Lee’s forces around Petersburg, the work in Washington, DC, was beginning on how to go about re-integrating the South into the Federal nation. The word “Reconstruction” began to be in use around this time, and virtually nobody agreed about how it should be accomplished. Abraham Lincoln was being very judicious in releasing the details of his plans, which were surprisingly conciliatory to what was, after all, a potentially conquered nation. It was less the Democrats giving him trouble than the members of his own party, known as the Radical Republicans, including the more fanatical abolitionists. Lincoln today pocket-vetoed a measure called the Wade-Davis bill, which would have barred any man who had ever borne arms against the Union from voting or holding office. Essentially the debate was over whether Congress or the President would control the rebuilding process.
The USS Hastings, under Acting Lieutenant J. S. Watson, engaged Confederate sharpshooters on the White River above St. Charles, Arkansas. Lieutenant Commander Samuel L. Phelps, embarked in the 300-ton, 8-gun Hastings, commented in his report to Rear Admiral David D. Porter: "I had been at a loss to know how we should celebrate the Fourth, being underway and having so much of a convoy in charge, but this attack occurring about noon furnished the opportunity of at once punishing the enemy and celebrating the day by firing cannon. "It had been a year before, on 4 July 1863, that Union forces had commemorated Independence Day with decisive victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the latter pivoting on the Union Navy. With control of the Western waters assured, the North was certain of victory."
The USS Magnolia, Acting Lieutenant William S. Cheesman in charge, captured three boats at sea several hundred miles east of Florida with a small cargo of cotton and turpentine. The intrepid Southern boatmen had been at sea for some 40 days attempting to reach Nassau. The attempt to run the blockade in small boats, powered by sail and oars, was an extreme measure even for the South's struggling economy.
The first session of the Thirty-Eighth Federal Congress adjourned. President Lincoln signed several bills into law, including establishing public lands in the Pacific Northwest for railroad and telegraph lines to Puget Sound; incorporating the Northern Pacific Railroad; opening land for settlement from Lake Superior to the Pacific; establishing an Immigration Commission and encouraging immigrants by guaranteeing them a 12-month labor contract; and repealing certain provisions of the Enrollment Act.
Lincoln refused to sign the controversial Wade-Davis Reconstruction Bill, which required 50 percent of a seceded state’s voters to swear allegiance to the U.S. before calling a convention to reconstruct the state under a new constitution that outlawed slavery. The bill also provided suffrage to adult black men in seceded states while prohibiting voting rights for Confederates. Lincoln believed this bill was improperly dictatorial and declared that such a measure would interfere with reconstruction efforts currently underway in Louisiana and Arkansas.
In Georgia, General William T. Sherman’s right flank (General James McPherson’s Federal Army of the Tennessee) skirted around the Confederate left at Smyrna and reached the Chattahoochee River. General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederates were forced to withdraw to another line of previously prepared defenses along the river.
General Jubal Early’s Confederates operated in and around Harper’s Ferry in preparation for crossing the Potomac River and invading the North.
Posted on 7/3/14 at 9:06 pm to BadLeroyDawg
I feel like I could drop a random porn link in this thread and nobody would notice
Posted on 7/3/14 at 9:18 pm to deltaland
Ha. I just wander what he'll post on April 10th of next year.
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