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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 9/27/14 at 8:22 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 9/27/14 at 8:22 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 28 September 1864
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter had not wanted to command the Union “brown-water” forces on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Like most regular Navy men, his great preference was for “blue-water” ocean warfare. Today, he finally got his wish to transfer to command of the blockade and attack forces off Wilmington, North Carolina. He gave a farewell message to the men he was leaving: “When I first assumed command of this squadron the Mississippi was in possession of the Rebels from Memphis to New Orleans, a distance of 800 miles, and over 1,000 miles of tributaries were closed to us, embracing a territory larger than some of the kingdoms of Europe. Our commerce is now successfully, if not quietly, transported on the broad Mississippi from one end to the other.” Porter was greatly admired by his men.
Another report: Rear Admiral Porter, on his detachment from command of the Mississippi Squadron, wrote a farewell to his officers and men, in which he reflected on the far-reaching accomplishments of naval power on the western waters: "When I first assumed command of this squadron the Mississippi was in possession of the Rebels from Memphis to New Orleans, a distance of 800 miles, and over 1,000 miles of tributaries were closed against us, embracing a territory larger than some of the kingdoms of Europe. Our commerce is now successfully, if not quietly, transported on the broad Mississippi from one end to the other, and the same may almost be said with regard to its tributaries." Porter, who was to be relieved by Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee, soon proceeded to Hampton Roads, assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and turned his attention to the reduction of Wilmington.
In Missouri, Sterling Price’s Confederates continued advancing after forcing the garrison at Fort Davidson to flee last night. They fought in Polk County and Caledonia, and concern quickly grew in St. Louis.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis wired General John Bell Hood, permitting Hood to relieve General William Hardee as corps commander. Hardee was given command of the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Davis also considered creating an overall Western Department with General P.G.T. Beauregard in command.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Philip Sheridan’s Federals withdrew toward Harrisonburg as they fought lightly with Jubal Early’s retreating Confederates.
Other skirmishing occurred in Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter had not wanted to command the Union “brown-water” forces on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Like most regular Navy men, his great preference was for “blue-water” ocean warfare. Today, he finally got his wish to transfer to command of the blockade and attack forces off Wilmington, North Carolina. He gave a farewell message to the men he was leaving: “When I first assumed command of this squadron the Mississippi was in possession of the Rebels from Memphis to New Orleans, a distance of 800 miles, and over 1,000 miles of tributaries were closed to us, embracing a territory larger than some of the kingdoms of Europe. Our commerce is now successfully, if not quietly, transported on the broad Mississippi from one end to the other.” Porter was greatly admired by his men.
Another report: Rear Admiral Porter, on his detachment from command of the Mississippi Squadron, wrote a farewell to his officers and men, in which he reflected on the far-reaching accomplishments of naval power on the western waters: "When I first assumed command of this squadron the Mississippi was in possession of the Rebels from Memphis to New Orleans, a distance of 800 miles, and over 1,000 miles of tributaries were closed against us, embracing a territory larger than some of the kingdoms of Europe. Our commerce is now successfully, if not quietly, transported on the broad Mississippi from one end to the other, and the same may almost be said with regard to its tributaries." Porter, who was to be relieved by Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee, soon proceeded to Hampton Roads, assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and turned his attention to the reduction of Wilmington.
In Missouri, Sterling Price’s Confederates continued advancing after forcing the garrison at Fort Davidson to flee last night. They fought in Polk County and Caledonia, and concern quickly grew in St. Louis.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis wired General John Bell Hood, permitting Hood to relieve General William Hardee as corps commander. Hardee was given command of the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Davis also considered creating an overall Western Department with General P.G.T. Beauregard in command.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Philip Sheridan’s Federals withdrew toward Harrisonburg as they fought lightly with Jubal Early’s retreating Confederates.
Other skirmishing occurred in Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
1
Posted on 9/28/14 at 9:06 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 29 September 1864
After a time of little action, the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, fairly exploded into action today. A double-pronged Federal assault started with General George Meade and more than 16,000 members of the Army of the Potomac making a move to lengthen the lines further south around the town, starting at a place called Peeble’s Farm. The aim of their maneuvers was to reach the South Side Railroad, another of the vital supply links to Petersburg and Richmond. On the other end of the line, the 10th and 18th Corps, under Generals David Bell Birney and Edward Otho Cresap Ord, looped north of the James to the outer defenses of Richmond. They captured Fort Harrison and with a change of flags turned it from a Confederate fort to a Federal one. Assaults on Fort Gilmer, however, were not nearly as successful for the Union.
Full report: On this day in 1864, Union General Hiram U. Grant attempts to break the stalemate around Richmond and Petersburg (25 miles south of Richmond) by attacking two points along the defenses of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The assault against Richmond, called the Battle of New Market Heights, and the assault against Petersburg, known as the Battle of Poplar Springs Church (or Peeble's Farm), were both failures. However, they did succeed in keeping pressure on Lee and prevented him from sending reinforcements to the beleaguered Confederate General Jubal Early, who was desperately fighting against General Philip Sheridan's overwhelming forces in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
Grant selected General Benjamin Butler's Army of the James to make the attack on New Market Heights. Butler had carefully scouted the network of Confederate fortifications and, after determining that there were weaknesses in Lee's lines, he instructed General Edward Ord to strike at Fort Harrison, a stronghold in the network, and ordered General David Birney to attack New Market Heights.
Birney began the assault, sending a division of Negro soldiers against New Market Heights. Butler proved correct about the weakness of the Richmond defenses, which were significantly undermanned since most of Lee's force was protecting Petersburg. The 1,800 Confederate defenders of New Market Heights soon realized the full scale Yankee attack threatened to overrun their position. After a brief battle, they re-entrenched closer to Richmond. At nearby Fort Harrison, Ord's troops swarmed over the walls of the fort and scattered the almost 800 inexperienced defenders.
Despite the initial success, the Union attack became bogged down. The leading units of the attack suffered significant casualties, including many officers. The Confederate defenses were deep, and the Yankees soon faced another set of fortifications. Butler instructed his men to secure the captured territory before renewing the attack. That night, Lee moved several brigades from Petersburg for an unsuccessful counterattack on 30 September.
In the end, Union soldiers bent the Richmond defenses but could not break them. Yankee casualties totaled approximately 3,300 of the 20,000 troops engaged, while the Confederates lost around 2,000 of 11,000 engaged. The stalemate would continue until the following spring.
The Steamer Roanoke, bound for New York from Havana, was captured by Confederates under Acting Master John C. Braine, CSN, just off the Cuban coast. Braine's actions caused the Richmond government concern and embarrassment, since his expedition was organized and carried out from the neutral port of Havana. The resourceful and audacious Braine had outlined his idea to Secretary Stephen Russell Mallory earlier in the year, and the Secretary had given his approval, with the stipulation that neutral rights were to be strictly observed. With that understanding, Braine was commissioned a temporary Acting Master. Instead of boarding the vessel as a passenger in New York, however, he chose to capture her on the Havana end of the voyage. With a small group of Confederates, he was able to overwhelm the ship's officers and take over the ship, steering her for Bermuda. After attempting to smuggle supplies and coal from that island, albeit unsuccessfully, he determined that the fine steamer could not be brought through the blockade to the Confederacy and she was burned off Bermuda. Braine was held by the British but subsequently released, and was to be heard from yet again.
After a time of little action, the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, fairly exploded into action today. A double-pronged Federal assault started with General George Meade and more than 16,000 members of the Army of the Potomac making a move to lengthen the lines further south around the town, starting at a place called Peeble’s Farm. The aim of their maneuvers was to reach the South Side Railroad, another of the vital supply links to Petersburg and Richmond. On the other end of the line, the 10th and 18th Corps, under Generals David Bell Birney and Edward Otho Cresap Ord, looped north of the James to the outer defenses of Richmond. They captured Fort Harrison and with a change of flags turned it from a Confederate fort to a Federal one. Assaults on Fort Gilmer, however, were not nearly as successful for the Union.
Full report: On this day in 1864, Union General Hiram U. Grant attempts to break the stalemate around Richmond and Petersburg (25 miles south of Richmond) by attacking two points along the defenses of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The assault against Richmond, called the Battle of New Market Heights, and the assault against Petersburg, known as the Battle of Poplar Springs Church (or Peeble's Farm), were both failures. However, they did succeed in keeping pressure on Lee and prevented him from sending reinforcements to the beleaguered Confederate General Jubal Early, who was desperately fighting against General Philip Sheridan's overwhelming forces in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.
Grant selected General Benjamin Butler's Army of the James to make the attack on New Market Heights. Butler had carefully scouted the network of Confederate fortifications and, after determining that there were weaknesses in Lee's lines, he instructed General Edward Ord to strike at Fort Harrison, a stronghold in the network, and ordered General David Birney to attack New Market Heights.
Birney began the assault, sending a division of Negro soldiers against New Market Heights. Butler proved correct about the weakness of the Richmond defenses, which were significantly undermanned since most of Lee's force was protecting Petersburg. The 1,800 Confederate defenders of New Market Heights soon realized the full scale Yankee attack threatened to overrun their position. After a brief battle, they re-entrenched closer to Richmond. At nearby Fort Harrison, Ord's troops swarmed over the walls of the fort and scattered the almost 800 inexperienced defenders.
Despite the initial success, the Union attack became bogged down. The leading units of the attack suffered significant casualties, including many officers. The Confederate defenses were deep, and the Yankees soon faced another set of fortifications. Butler instructed his men to secure the captured territory before renewing the attack. That night, Lee moved several brigades from Petersburg for an unsuccessful counterattack on 30 September.
In the end, Union soldiers bent the Richmond defenses but could not break them. Yankee casualties totaled approximately 3,300 of the 20,000 troops engaged, while the Confederates lost around 2,000 of 11,000 engaged. The stalemate would continue until the following spring.
The Steamer Roanoke, bound for New York from Havana, was captured by Confederates under Acting Master John C. Braine, CSN, just off the Cuban coast. Braine's actions caused the Richmond government concern and embarrassment, since his expedition was organized and carried out from the neutral port of Havana. The resourceful and audacious Braine had outlined his idea to Secretary Stephen Russell Mallory earlier in the year, and the Secretary had given his approval, with the stipulation that neutral rights were to be strictly observed. With that understanding, Braine was commissioned a temporary Acting Master. Instead of boarding the vessel as a passenger in New York, however, he chose to capture her on the Havana end of the voyage. With a small group of Confederates, he was able to overwhelm the ship's officers and take over the ship, steering her for Bermuda. After attempting to smuggle supplies and coal from that island, albeit unsuccessfully, he determined that the fine steamer could not be brought through the blockade to the Confederacy and she was burned off Bermuda. Braine was held by the British but subsequently released, and was to be heard from yet again.
Posted on 9/28/14 at 9:36 pm to BadLeroyDawg
These are interesting and highly detailed posts. What is the source of this historical account?
Not debating, but I would like to know the sources of the posting.
Not debating, but I would like to know the sources of the posting.
Posted on 9/29/14 at 9:28 pm to Pavoloco83
Several, Pavoloco. Mainly Chronologies from the Army & Navy; soldiers' letters & diaries; info from history websites, the Civil War Trust and National Park Service; and my 30+ year old Civil War Almanac. Needless to say, I find discrepancies in casualty counts, place names, proper names, etc almost weekly.
Posted on 9/30/14 at 5:16 am to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 30 September 1864
The Battle of Peebles Farm, as it came to be known, continued where it left off yesterday on the south end of the Petersburg lines. General Gouverneur Kemble Warren’s Fifth Corps did well at first and headed for Poplar Springs Church with the Ninth Corps close behind. Progress stalled when they encountered General A. P. Hill’s men, and the Federals entrenched at the charmingly named Squirrel Level Road. At the other end of the line the Federals had taken Fort Harrison yesterday and turned it into a Union establishment. General Robert Edward Lee ordered a desperate attempt to retake the fort, but it could not be done. The Southerners withdrew to new lines, closer to Richmond.
Full report: The Battle of Poplar Springs Church, or Peebles Farm, came after more than three months of trench warfare, a precursor to what the world would see in the early 20th century during WWI. Union commander General Hiram U. Grant and Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee had fought a costly and fast-moving campaign in the spring--Grant suffering around 60,000 casualties--but by June they had settled into trenches around Petersburg. The lines extended a full 25 miles north to Richmond. Grant had made sporadic attacks to break the stalemate, and this battle was yet another attempt to drive Lee's men from the trenches.
The attack coincided with a Federal assault at New Market Heights, near Richmond. The day before, Union forces had captured two strongholds in the Richmond defense system, but were unable to penetrate any further. A Confederate counterattack on September 30 failed to recapture the positions.
Grant hoped that launching a strike around the same time at the other end of the line would keep Lee from sending reinforcements to both locations. On September 30, four divisions from Generals Gouverneur K. Warren's and John G. Parke's corps struck a Rebel redoubt (an earthen fortress) at Poplar Springs Church that was easily captured along with a section of trenches. But Confederate General Ambrose P. Hill, in charge of the Petersburg defenses, was able to bring two divisions from other parts of his line to stop the Yankees, and a counterattack prevented the loss of any more territory. The Yankees would try again on October 1, but would be unsuccessful.
The Union lost over 2,800 troops, including nearly 1,300 captured during the Confederate counterattack. Lee's army suffered only 1,300 casualties, but they were much more difficult for him to replace. The Southside Railroad, the object of the attack, was still in Confederate hands, and the armies settled back into their trenches.
The USS Niphon, under Acting Master Kemble, forced the blockade running British steamer Night Hawk aground off Fort Fisher and burned her. Late on 29 September, Niphon fired upon Night Hawk as she attempted to run into New Inlet, and observed her go aground. A boat crew led by Acting Ensign Semon boarded the steamer, and under the fire of Fort Fisher set her ablaze and brought off the crew as prisoners. Ensign Semon's conduct on this occasion became the subject of a diplomatic note from the British Ambassador, the latter alleging cruel treatment of the officers of Night Hawk and a premature burning of the ship. Semon was subsequently cleared of all implications of misconduct by a court of inquiry.
October Ships of the Confederate James River Squadron, commanded by Flag Officer Mitchell, supported Southern troops in attacks against Fort Harrison, as well as Chaffin's Farm, James River, Virginia. Though the Confederates failed to retake Fort Harrison, with the aid of heavy fire from Mitchell's ships, they prevented Union soldiers from capturing Chaffin's Bluff.
The Battle of Peebles Farm, as it came to be known, continued where it left off yesterday on the south end of the Petersburg lines. General Gouverneur Kemble Warren’s Fifth Corps did well at first and headed for Poplar Springs Church with the Ninth Corps close behind. Progress stalled when they encountered General A. P. Hill’s men, and the Federals entrenched at the charmingly named Squirrel Level Road. At the other end of the line the Federals had taken Fort Harrison yesterday and turned it into a Union establishment. General Robert Edward Lee ordered a desperate attempt to retake the fort, but it could not be done. The Southerners withdrew to new lines, closer to Richmond.
Full report: The Battle of Poplar Springs Church, or Peebles Farm, came after more than three months of trench warfare, a precursor to what the world would see in the early 20th century during WWI. Union commander General Hiram U. Grant and Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee had fought a costly and fast-moving campaign in the spring--Grant suffering around 60,000 casualties--but by June they had settled into trenches around Petersburg. The lines extended a full 25 miles north to Richmond. Grant had made sporadic attacks to break the stalemate, and this battle was yet another attempt to drive Lee's men from the trenches.
The attack coincided with a Federal assault at New Market Heights, near Richmond. The day before, Union forces had captured two strongholds in the Richmond defense system, but were unable to penetrate any further. A Confederate counterattack on September 30 failed to recapture the positions.
Grant hoped that launching a strike around the same time at the other end of the line would keep Lee from sending reinforcements to both locations. On September 30, four divisions from Generals Gouverneur K. Warren's and John G. Parke's corps struck a Rebel redoubt (an earthen fortress) at Poplar Springs Church that was easily captured along with a section of trenches. But Confederate General Ambrose P. Hill, in charge of the Petersburg defenses, was able to bring two divisions from other parts of his line to stop the Yankees, and a counterattack prevented the loss of any more territory. The Yankees would try again on October 1, but would be unsuccessful.
The Union lost over 2,800 troops, including nearly 1,300 captured during the Confederate counterattack. Lee's army suffered only 1,300 casualties, but they were much more difficult for him to replace. The Southside Railroad, the object of the attack, was still in Confederate hands, and the armies settled back into their trenches.
The USS Niphon, under Acting Master Kemble, forced the blockade running British steamer Night Hawk aground off Fort Fisher and burned her. Late on 29 September, Niphon fired upon Night Hawk as she attempted to run into New Inlet, and observed her go aground. A boat crew led by Acting Ensign Semon boarded the steamer, and under the fire of Fort Fisher set her ablaze and brought off the crew as prisoners. Ensign Semon's conduct on this occasion became the subject of a diplomatic note from the British Ambassador, the latter alleging cruel treatment of the officers of Night Hawk and a premature burning of the ship. Semon was subsequently cleared of all implications of misconduct by a court of inquiry.
October Ships of the Confederate James River Squadron, commanded by Flag Officer Mitchell, supported Southern troops in attacks against Fort Harrison, as well as Chaffin's Farm, James River, Virginia. Though the Confederates failed to retake Fort Harrison, with the aid of heavy fire from Mitchell's ships, they prevented Union soldiers from capturing Chaffin's Bluff.
Posted on 9/30/14 at 5:29 am to BadLeroyDawg
quote:
The Battle of Poplar Springs Church, or Peebles Farm, came after more than three months of trench warfare, a precursor to what the world would see in the early 20th century during WWI
Very interesting
Posted on 9/30/14 at 2:58 pm to TbirdSpur2010
Gracias on the response, ThirdSpur. This was the first truly Modern Day War, not just because of that, but also the use of Hot Air Balloons for recon, first Concentration Camps as with the Roswell Mill workers, massed use of Rifled Infantry and Repeating Rifles, targeting Civilian populations of Women and Children, Submarine Warfare, Telegraphing of Orders, Movement of huge numbers of Troops by Rail, long term POW camps, Photojournalism, Steam and Ironclad War Ships and Rapid-Fire Weapons like the Gatling gun, as well as a war that depended on Heavy Industry for both sides and where the Industry itself would be targeted for destruction.
History is never past, just a continuum...
History is never past, just a continuum...
Posted on 9/30/14 at 9:24 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 1 October 1864
Mrs. Rose O’Neal Greenhow is a relatively famous person of the War Between the States years, about whom relatively little is known. She was arrested on several occasions over the course of the war, on a number of charges or none at all. The actual offense of which she was suspected was espionage, but to try a woman on a capital charge would have brought on an inglorious uproar. She was deported several times to the South, and had finally gone on a mission to Europe garnering support for the Southern cause. She was returning this afternoon when her ship, the British blockade runner Condor, ran aground while being pursued by the USS Niphon outside New Inlet, North Carolina. Carrying papers and a reputed $2000 in British gold in a bag around her neck, she demanded to be put ashore in a small boat. The boat capsized in the surf and, pulled under by the gold, Mrs. Greenhow was drowned.
Another report: At the beginning of the war, Maryland native Rose O'Neal Greenhow lived in Washington, D.C., with her four children. Her deceased husband was wealthy and well connected in the capital, and Greenhow used her influence to aid the Southern cause. Working with Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Jordan, she established an elaborate spy network in Washington. The effectiveness of the operation was soon demonstrated when Greenhow received information concerning the movements of General Irvin McDowell's army shortly before the Battle of First Manassas in July 1861. A female courier carried messages from Greenhow to Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard at his Fairfax, Virginia, headquarters. Beauregard later testified that because of the gained intelligence, he requested extra troops from General Joseph Johnston's nearby command, helping the Confederates score a dramatic victory against the Yankees in the first major battle of the war. Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent Greenhow a letter of appreciation the day after the battle.
Federal authorities soon learned of the security leaks, and the trail led to Greenhow's residence. She was placed under house arrest, and other suspected female spies were soon arrested and joined her there. The house, nicknamed "Fort Greenhow," still managed to produce information for the Rebels. When her good friend, Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson, visited Greenhow, he carelessly provided important intelligence that Greenhow slipped to her operatives. After five months, she and her youngest daughter, "Little Rose," were transferred to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington. She was incarcerated until June 1862, when she went into exile in the South.
Greenhow and Little Rose spent the next two years in England. Greenhow penned a memoir titled My Imprisonment and traveled to England and France, drumming up support for the Southern cause. She then decided to return to the Confederacy to contribute more directly to the war effort. Greenhow and her daughter were on board the British blockade-runner Condor when it was intercepted by the U.S.S. Niphon off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The Yankee ship ran Condor aground near Forth Fischer. Greenhow was carrying Confederate dispatches and $2,000 in gold. Insisting that she be taken ashore, she boarded a small lifeboat that overturned in the rough surf. The weight of the gold pulled her under, and her body washed ashore the next morning. Greenhow was given a hero's funeral and buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina, her body wrapped in the Confederate flag.
Naval report: The USS Niphon, under Acting Master Edmund Kemble, ran the British blockade runner Condor aground off New Inlet, North Carolina. The Niphon was prevented from destroying the steamer by intense fire from Fort Fisher. Among the passengers on board Condor was one of the most famous Confederate agents of the war, Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Mrs. Greenhow, fearful of being captured on the grounded runner with her important dispatches, set out in a boat for shore, but the craft overturned in the heavy surf. The crew managed to get ashore, but the woman, weighted down by $2,000 in British gold in a pouch around her neck, drowned.
Major General John G. Walker, CSA, reported to the Confederate States War Department that 10 sailors and marines under Captain W. F. Brown, CSMC, and Lieutenant Marcus J. Beebee, CSN, had disguised themselves as passengers on board the steamer Ike Davis and had captured her off Brazos, Texas. After overpowering the crew and imprisoning them below, the Confederates took Ike Davis into Matagorda Bay, Texas.
This morning at Peebles' Farm, Federals repulsed a Confederate counterattack directed by Lieutenant General A.P. Hill. Reinforced by Major General Gershom Mott’s division, the Yankees would resume their advance on the 2nd, capture Fort MacRae which was lightly defended, and extend their left flank to the vicinity of Peebles’ and Pegram’s Farms. With these limited successes, Meade will then suspend the offensive. A new line is entrenched from the Federal works on Weldon Railroad to Pegram’s Farm.
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates battled at Athens and Huntsville in Alabama, then captured blockhouses at Carter’s Creek Station, Tennessee.
General Sterling Price’s Southerners fought near Union, Franklin, and Lake Springs in Missouri.
Mrs. Rose O’Neal Greenhow is a relatively famous person of the War Between the States years, about whom relatively little is known. She was arrested on several occasions over the course of the war, on a number of charges or none at all. The actual offense of which she was suspected was espionage, but to try a woman on a capital charge would have brought on an inglorious uproar. She was deported several times to the South, and had finally gone on a mission to Europe garnering support for the Southern cause. She was returning this afternoon when her ship, the British blockade runner Condor, ran aground while being pursued by the USS Niphon outside New Inlet, North Carolina. Carrying papers and a reputed $2000 in British gold in a bag around her neck, she demanded to be put ashore in a small boat. The boat capsized in the surf and, pulled under by the gold, Mrs. Greenhow was drowned.
Another report: At the beginning of the war, Maryland native Rose O'Neal Greenhow lived in Washington, D.C., with her four children. Her deceased husband was wealthy and well connected in the capital, and Greenhow used her influence to aid the Southern cause. Working with Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Jordan, she established an elaborate spy network in Washington. The effectiveness of the operation was soon demonstrated when Greenhow received information concerning the movements of General Irvin McDowell's army shortly before the Battle of First Manassas in July 1861. A female courier carried messages from Greenhow to Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard at his Fairfax, Virginia, headquarters. Beauregard later testified that because of the gained intelligence, he requested extra troops from General Joseph Johnston's nearby command, helping the Confederates score a dramatic victory against the Yankees in the first major battle of the war. Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent Greenhow a letter of appreciation the day after the battle.
Federal authorities soon learned of the security leaks, and the trail led to Greenhow's residence. She was placed under house arrest, and other suspected female spies were soon arrested and joined her there. The house, nicknamed "Fort Greenhow," still managed to produce information for the Rebels. When her good friend, Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson, visited Greenhow, he carelessly provided important intelligence that Greenhow slipped to her operatives. After five months, she and her youngest daughter, "Little Rose," were transferred to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington. She was incarcerated until June 1862, when she went into exile in the South.
Greenhow and Little Rose spent the next two years in England. Greenhow penned a memoir titled My Imprisonment and traveled to England and France, drumming up support for the Southern cause. She then decided to return to the Confederacy to contribute more directly to the war effort. Greenhow and her daughter were on board the British blockade-runner Condor when it was intercepted by the U.S.S. Niphon off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The Yankee ship ran Condor aground near Forth Fischer. Greenhow was carrying Confederate dispatches and $2,000 in gold. Insisting that she be taken ashore, she boarded a small lifeboat that overturned in the rough surf. The weight of the gold pulled her under, and her body washed ashore the next morning. Greenhow was given a hero's funeral and buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina, her body wrapped in the Confederate flag.
Naval report: The USS Niphon, under Acting Master Edmund Kemble, ran the British blockade runner Condor aground off New Inlet, North Carolina. The Niphon was prevented from destroying the steamer by intense fire from Fort Fisher. Among the passengers on board Condor was one of the most famous Confederate agents of the war, Mrs. Rose O'Neal Greenhow. Mrs. Greenhow, fearful of being captured on the grounded runner with her important dispatches, set out in a boat for shore, but the craft overturned in the heavy surf. The crew managed to get ashore, but the woman, weighted down by $2,000 in British gold in a pouch around her neck, drowned.
Major General John G. Walker, CSA, reported to the Confederate States War Department that 10 sailors and marines under Captain W. F. Brown, CSMC, and Lieutenant Marcus J. Beebee, CSN, had disguised themselves as passengers on board the steamer Ike Davis and had captured her off Brazos, Texas. After overpowering the crew and imprisoning them below, the Confederates took Ike Davis into Matagorda Bay, Texas.
This morning at Peebles' Farm, Federals repulsed a Confederate counterattack directed by Lieutenant General A.P. Hill. Reinforced by Major General Gershom Mott’s division, the Yankees would resume their advance on the 2nd, capture Fort MacRae which was lightly defended, and extend their left flank to the vicinity of Peebles’ and Pegram’s Farms. With these limited successes, Meade will then suspend the offensive. A new line is entrenched from the Federal works on Weldon Railroad to Pegram’s Farm.
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates battled at Athens and Huntsville in Alabama, then captured blockhouses at Carter’s Creek Station, Tennessee.
General Sterling Price’s Southerners fought near Union, Franklin, and Lake Springs in Missouri.
Posted on 9/30/14 at 9:42 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Your commitment to this is impressive. I enjoy it.
Posted on 10/1/14 at 9:14 pm to UMRealist
Glad you do, UMRealist. Thanks!
Posted on 10/1/14 at 9:15 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 2 October 1864
Confederates from the Army of Tennessee reached Federal Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s supply line and skirmishes ensued at Big Shanty and Kennesaw Water Tank, Georgia, where Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s men broke the Western & Atlantic Railroad and interrupted the Federal link between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The Southerners did quite a number on the tracks, ripping them up and in some cases turning them into “Lincoln bow ties.” The method for this procedure was to build a roaring fire and lay the rails on top of it until the metal began to melt and soften. Then the rails would be taken to the nearest tree and hastily wrapped around it and left to cool. The resulting product could not be simply spiked back into place and a new rail would have to be obtained. Other action in the area occurred near Fairburn at Shadna Church and Westbrook's, at the crossing of Flat Rock and McDonough Roads, Sand Mountain and around Powder Springs at the Sweet Water and Noyes' Creeks.
The Battle of Peebles’ Farm ended as Confederates withdrew to their entrenchments and Federals seized control of the contested ground. This enabled the Federal Army of the Potomac to extend its siege lines another three miles west toward the Appomattox River.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates skirmished near Columbia, Tennessee.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates occupied Washington on the Missouri River, some 50 miles west of St. Louis.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis met with General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the hero of Fort Sumter and First Manassas, and gave him command of the Military Division of the West. This encompassed the Department of Tennessee under John Bell Hood and the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana under General Richard Taylor. Beauregard was only permitted to direct field operations if he was personally present.
Southwestern Virginia was important to the Confederacy though few battles were fought there. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad ran through the region, connecting the eastern and western theaters of operation. Additionally, salt and lead mines located in the area were vital to the Southern war effort. In September 1864, Union General Alvan Gillem planned a raid from his base in eastern Tennessee. He requested the assistance of General Stephen Burbridge, head of the District of Kentucky. Burbridge thwarted Gillem's plan by requesting permission from Union army Chief of Staff General Henry Halleck to launch an expedition toward Saltville from Kentucky while Gillem threatened the area from the southeast.
With nearly 8,000 soldiers, the two Union forces converged on the area; the Confederates had barely 1,000 men to stop them. Some of those were used to slow Gillem's advance, but only a few hundred men under the command of Colonel Henry Giltner were available to face Burbridge. On October 1, Giltner had delayed the Yankees at Clinch Mountain, but by this morning the Yankees had reached the outskirts of Saltville. Confederate General John Williams arrived just in time with cavalry reinforcements, and Burbridge suddenly faced more than 2,500 Rebels. The determined Confederates dug in and repulsed a series of attacks. By nightfall, Burbridge's men were running low on ammunition. The Yankees withdrew during the night, and the Confederates pursued them to the Kentucky border. The glory of the victory was tarnished, however, when the Confederates massacred Union soldiers from the 5th and 6th Colored Cavalry.
The Union suffered 329 men killed, wounded, or missing at Saltville, while the Confederates lost 190 men. It was a stunning victory for the Confederates, since they were vastly outnumbered. Winning the Battle of Saltville, however, did little to delay the collapse of the Confederacy, which was complete just over six months later.
Confederates from the Army of Tennessee reached Federal Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s supply line and skirmishes ensued at Big Shanty and Kennesaw Water Tank, Georgia, where Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s men broke the Western & Atlantic Railroad and interrupted the Federal link between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The Southerners did quite a number on the tracks, ripping them up and in some cases turning them into “Lincoln bow ties.” The method for this procedure was to build a roaring fire and lay the rails on top of it until the metal began to melt and soften. Then the rails would be taken to the nearest tree and hastily wrapped around it and left to cool. The resulting product could not be simply spiked back into place and a new rail would have to be obtained. Other action in the area occurred near Fairburn at Shadna Church and Westbrook's, at the crossing of Flat Rock and McDonough Roads, Sand Mountain and around Powder Springs at the Sweet Water and Noyes' Creeks.
The Battle of Peebles’ Farm ended as Confederates withdrew to their entrenchments and Federals seized control of the contested ground. This enabled the Federal Army of the Potomac to extend its siege lines another three miles west toward the Appomattox River.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates skirmished near Columbia, Tennessee.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates occupied Washington on the Missouri River, some 50 miles west of St. Louis.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis met with General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the hero of Fort Sumter and First Manassas, and gave him command of the Military Division of the West. This encompassed the Department of Tennessee under John Bell Hood and the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana under General Richard Taylor. Beauregard was only permitted to direct field operations if he was personally present.
Southwestern Virginia was important to the Confederacy though few battles were fought there. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad ran through the region, connecting the eastern and western theaters of operation. Additionally, salt and lead mines located in the area were vital to the Southern war effort. In September 1864, Union General Alvan Gillem planned a raid from his base in eastern Tennessee. He requested the assistance of General Stephen Burbridge, head of the District of Kentucky. Burbridge thwarted Gillem's plan by requesting permission from Union army Chief of Staff General Henry Halleck to launch an expedition toward Saltville from Kentucky while Gillem threatened the area from the southeast.
With nearly 8,000 soldiers, the two Union forces converged on the area; the Confederates had barely 1,000 men to stop them. Some of those were used to slow Gillem's advance, but only a few hundred men under the command of Colonel Henry Giltner were available to face Burbridge. On October 1, Giltner had delayed the Yankees at Clinch Mountain, but by this morning the Yankees had reached the outskirts of Saltville. Confederate General John Williams arrived just in time with cavalry reinforcements, and Burbridge suddenly faced more than 2,500 Rebels. The determined Confederates dug in and repulsed a series of attacks. By nightfall, Burbridge's men were running low on ammunition. The Yankees withdrew during the night, and the Confederates pursued them to the Kentucky border. The glory of the victory was tarnished, however, when the Confederates massacred Union soldiers from the 5th and 6th Colored Cavalry.
The Union suffered 329 men killed, wounded, or missing at Saltville, while the Confederates lost 190 men. It was a stunning victory for the Confederates, since they were vastly outnumbered. Winning the Battle of Saltville, however, did little to delay the collapse of the Confederacy, which was complete just over six months later.
Posted on 10/2/14 at 8:20 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 3 October 1864
General William T. Sherman had planned his campaign “from Atlanta to the sea” on the assumption that his army would live largely off the land and not be too dependent on supply from the rear. He had not expected to be cut off entirely, however, as was very close to happening today. The Army of Tennessee was sitting rudely on the rails of the Chattanooga-Atlanta railroad line, and they were proceeding to demolish it even further. John Bell Hood’s forces also took possession of the hamlets of Big Shanty and Kennesaw Water Tank, which in theory were supposed to be firmly in Union hands. Vexed, Sherman finally ordered Major General General George H. Thomas' Union Army of the Cumberland back to Nashville to defend against this harassment by Hood, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Joseph Wheeler in his rear.
Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of the famous raider CSS Alabama, embarked from England in the steamer Tasmanian for Havana, from where he hoped to return to the Confederacy and report to President Jefferson Davis for further assignment. The gallant Captain later recalled: "I considered my career upon the high seas closed by the loss of my ship, and had so informed Commodore Barron, who was our Chief of Bureau in Paris." While his most celebrated deeds were behind him, Semmes was to play an able part in the final naval efforts of the Confederacy.
A Federal expedition skirmished from Morganza to Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
President Jefferson Davis received a warm welcome upon arriving in Columbia, South Carolina. Addressing the crowd, Davis expressed optimism: “(Hood’s) eye is now fixed upon a point far beyond that where he was assailed by the enemy...And if but a half, nay, one-fourth, of the men to whom the service has a right, will give him their strength, I see no chance for Sherman to escape from a defeat or a disgraceful retreat.”
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates operated west of St. Louis around Miller's Station, along the Missouri River, as Federal resistance to Price’s advance increased. Elements of his forces skirmished at Hermann, Missouri.
Skirmishing occurred near Mount Elba, Arkansas, as well as in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign at North River and Mount Jackson in Virginia.
General William T. Sherman had planned his campaign “from Atlanta to the sea” on the assumption that his army would live largely off the land and not be too dependent on supply from the rear. He had not expected to be cut off entirely, however, as was very close to happening today. The Army of Tennessee was sitting rudely on the rails of the Chattanooga-Atlanta railroad line, and they were proceeding to demolish it even further. John Bell Hood’s forces also took possession of the hamlets of Big Shanty and Kennesaw Water Tank, which in theory were supposed to be firmly in Union hands. Vexed, Sherman finally ordered Major General General George H. Thomas' Union Army of the Cumberland back to Nashville to defend against this harassment by Hood, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Joseph Wheeler in his rear.
Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of the famous raider CSS Alabama, embarked from England in the steamer Tasmanian for Havana, from where he hoped to return to the Confederacy and report to President Jefferson Davis for further assignment. The gallant Captain later recalled: "I considered my career upon the high seas closed by the loss of my ship, and had so informed Commodore Barron, who was our Chief of Bureau in Paris." While his most celebrated deeds were behind him, Semmes was to play an able part in the final naval efforts of the Confederacy.
A Federal expedition skirmished from Morganza to Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
President Jefferson Davis received a warm welcome upon arriving in Columbia, South Carolina. Addressing the crowd, Davis expressed optimism: “(Hood’s) eye is now fixed upon a point far beyond that where he was assailed by the enemy...And if but a half, nay, one-fourth, of the men to whom the service has a right, will give him their strength, I see no chance for Sherman to escape from a defeat or a disgraceful retreat.”
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates operated west of St. Louis around Miller's Station, along the Missouri River, as Federal resistance to Price’s advance increased. Elements of his forces skirmished at Hermann, Missouri.
Skirmishing occurred near Mount Elba, Arkansas, as well as in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign at North River and Mount Jackson in Virginia.
Posted on 10/3/14 at 9:40 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 4 October 1864
Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, CSA, had experienced his difficulties with pitched battles, either losing most of them or withdrawing from outflanked positions before fighting even began. He was finally having success with his mission to slow Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march across the South by attacking his garrisons in the rear. Hood’s men were in firm control of the Chattanooga-Atlanta Railroad lines, and skirmishing was taking place at Moon’s Station, Lost Mountain and Acworth. Sherman was getting reports pleading for relief, and today he decided to provide it. Leaving only one corps to hold Atlanta, he started back up the line to deal with Hood. He established new headquarters at Kennesaw Mountain and got to work.
The CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, arrived in Bahia, Brazil, for provisions and coal. Within only three days, the Florida's brilliant career as a commerce raider would be closed.
A Federal reconnaissance started from Little Rock toward Monticello and eventually to Mount Elba, Arkansas.
Skirmishes broke out at and near Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
A Federal expedition travelled from Natchez to Woodville, Mississippi, and faced skirmishes along the way.
Skirmishes occurred near Memphis, Tennessee, and at Salem, Virginia.
President Abraham Lincoln's Cabinet welcomes the recently appointed Postmaster General of the Union, William Dennison, replacing Montgomery Blair.
Confederate partisans destroyed the lighthouse at the entrance from Albemarle to Croatan Sound, North Carolina. Commander William H. Macomb, piloting the USS Shamrock, reported: "It was blown up and afterwards set on fire so as to make the destruction complete."
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates began withdrawing from the St. Louis area due to increased Federal resistance; fighting occurred near Richwoods.
Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, CSA, had experienced his difficulties with pitched battles, either losing most of them or withdrawing from outflanked positions before fighting even began. He was finally having success with his mission to slow Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march across the South by attacking his garrisons in the rear. Hood’s men were in firm control of the Chattanooga-Atlanta Railroad lines, and skirmishing was taking place at Moon’s Station, Lost Mountain and Acworth. Sherman was getting reports pleading for relief, and today he decided to provide it. Leaving only one corps to hold Atlanta, he started back up the line to deal with Hood. He established new headquarters at Kennesaw Mountain and got to work.
The CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, arrived in Bahia, Brazil, for provisions and coal. Within only three days, the Florida's brilliant career as a commerce raider would be closed.
A Federal reconnaissance started from Little Rock toward Monticello and eventually to Mount Elba, Arkansas.
Skirmishes broke out at and near Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
A Federal expedition travelled from Natchez to Woodville, Mississippi, and faced skirmishes along the way.
Skirmishes occurred near Memphis, Tennessee, and at Salem, Virginia.
President Abraham Lincoln's Cabinet welcomes the recently appointed Postmaster General of the Union, William Dennison, replacing Montgomery Blair.
Confederate partisans destroyed the lighthouse at the entrance from Albemarle to Croatan Sound, North Carolina. Commander William H. Macomb, piloting the USS Shamrock, reported: "It was blown up and afterwards set on fire so as to make the destruction complete."
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates began withdrawing from the St. Louis area due to increased Federal resistance; fighting occurred near Richwoods.
Posted on 10/4/14 at 10:40 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 5 October 1864
The Army of Tennessee under Major General Samuel Gibbs French was locked in mortal combat with the Federal garrison under Brigadier General John Murray Corse at the railroad pass at Allatoona, Georgia. With about 2000 men on each side, the fighting was so fierce that the casualty rates were appalling: 706 Union and almost 800 Confederates were killed or wounded, about 40% of all troops involved. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman could see the smoke of the battle from his headquarters on Kennesaw Mountain, 18 miles away. At the end of the day, French received a report that a message had come to Corse from Sherman to hold on because a large relief force was coming to hit French in the rear. The report was false but French could not know this, and consequently pulled out. An evangelist, Philip Paul Bliss, on hearing the story of this battle wrote a hymn, “Hold the Fort, For We Are Coming” which was popular for decades after the War.
Full report: After losing the city of Atlanta, Confederate General John Bell Hood this morning attacks Union General William T. Sherman's supply line at Allatoona Pass, Georgia. Hood's men could not take the Union stronghold, and they were ultimately forced to retreat into Alabama.
Hood took charge of the Confederate army in late July 1864, replacing the defensive-minded Joseph Eggleston Johnston. Confederate President Jefferson Davis had been frustrated with Johnston's constant retreating against a force more than two and one-half times his own army, so he appointed Hood, who was known for his aggressive style. Hood immediately attacked Sherman's much larger army three times: at Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and Ezra Church. All of the attacks were unsuccessful, and they almost completely destroyed the Confederate army's offensive capabilities.
After evacuating Atlanta in early September 1864, Hood planned to draw Sherman back northward. Hood did not have the troop strength to move against Sherman, so he swung west of Atlanta and moved against the railroad that supplied the Yankee army from Chattanooga, Tennessee. At first, this worked well. Retracing Sherman's advance on Atlanta, Hood's men began to tear up the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Starting on September 29, the Rebels destroyed eight miles of track and captured 600 prisoners. Hood sent General Alexander Stewart's corps to secure Allatoona, site of a large Federal supply depot.
Sherman realized the threat to his lines and dispatched a brigade under General John Corse to secure the area. Corse's 2,000 men arrived at Allatoona before one of Stewart's divisions, led by Samuel French, attacked on October 5. French also had about 2,000 troops, but the Yankees overcame any difference with their new Henry repeating rifles. French attacked and pushed the Federals back at first, but Allatoona was easily defended. By midday, French realized that he could not take the depot. He withdrew and rejoined Hood's army. French lost 897 men, while the Union lost 706. Realizing that his army was in no shape to fight, Hood took his force west into Alabama. In November, he would invade Tennessee.
The USS Mobile, under Acting Lieutenant Pierre Giraud, seized the blockade running British schooner Annie Virdon south of Velasco, Texas, with a cargo of cotton.
A boat expedition commanded by Acting Ensign Henry Eason, from the USS Restless, destroyed large salt works on St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, along with 150 buildings used to house the compound and its employees. Salt works, providing as they did both a foodstuff and an invaluable preservative, were a constant target for fast-hitting Union boat expeditions aimed at drying up the source of intended supplies for Southern armies.
President Jefferson Davis addressed a crowd in Augusta, Georgia, accompanied by Generals Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, William Joseph Hardee, and others. Davis said, “Never before was I so confident that energy, harmony, and determination would rid the country of its enemy and give to the women of the land that peace their good deeds have so well deserved… we must beat Sherman, we must march into Tennessee… we must push the enemy back to the banks of the Ohio.”
In Indiana, Federal military authorities arrested Lambdin Purdy Milligan for conspiring against the United States, giving aid and comfort to the Confederates, and inciting insurrection. A military tribunal unlawfully convicted Milligan in December and sentenced him to death in June 1865. He was granted a presidential reprieve, and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Ex Parte Milligan (1866) that military authorities had no right to try civilians outside the actual theater of war.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates fought along the Osage River in Missouri.
President Lincoln conferred with navy officials about naval prisoners. Lincoln’s secretary John Nicolay headed west to gauge election prospects in Missouri.
Federals operated near Tunica Landing and Natchez, Mississippi.
Skirmishes occurred at Alexander's Creek, near St. Francisville and at Atchafalaya, Louisiana.
A Union expedition originated from Baton Rouge, to Clinton, Greensburg, Osyka, and Camp Moore, Louisiana, where the Federals capture 4,000 pounds of bacon, 12 barrels of whiskey, 100 dozen pairs of boots and shoes, 2,000 pounds of salt, and other materiel.
Lieutenant General Hardee assumes command of the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as he and Lieutenant General John Bell Hood could not get along, and so are separated by President Davis.
The Army of Tennessee under Major General Samuel Gibbs French was locked in mortal combat with the Federal garrison under Brigadier General John Murray Corse at the railroad pass at Allatoona, Georgia. With about 2000 men on each side, the fighting was so fierce that the casualty rates were appalling: 706 Union and almost 800 Confederates were killed or wounded, about 40% of all troops involved. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman could see the smoke of the battle from his headquarters on Kennesaw Mountain, 18 miles away. At the end of the day, French received a report that a message had come to Corse from Sherman to hold on because a large relief force was coming to hit French in the rear. The report was false but French could not know this, and consequently pulled out. An evangelist, Philip Paul Bliss, on hearing the story of this battle wrote a hymn, “Hold the Fort, For We Are Coming” which was popular for decades after the War.
Full report: After losing the city of Atlanta, Confederate General John Bell Hood this morning attacks Union General William T. Sherman's supply line at Allatoona Pass, Georgia. Hood's men could not take the Union stronghold, and they were ultimately forced to retreat into Alabama.
Hood took charge of the Confederate army in late July 1864, replacing the defensive-minded Joseph Eggleston Johnston. Confederate President Jefferson Davis had been frustrated with Johnston's constant retreating against a force more than two and one-half times his own army, so he appointed Hood, who was known for his aggressive style. Hood immediately attacked Sherman's much larger army three times: at Peachtree Creek, Atlanta and Ezra Church. All of the attacks were unsuccessful, and they almost completely destroyed the Confederate army's offensive capabilities.
After evacuating Atlanta in early September 1864, Hood planned to draw Sherman back northward. Hood did not have the troop strength to move against Sherman, so he swung west of Atlanta and moved against the railroad that supplied the Yankee army from Chattanooga, Tennessee. At first, this worked well. Retracing Sherman's advance on Atlanta, Hood's men began to tear up the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Starting on September 29, the Rebels destroyed eight miles of track and captured 600 prisoners. Hood sent General Alexander Stewart's corps to secure Allatoona, site of a large Federal supply depot.
Sherman realized the threat to his lines and dispatched a brigade under General John Corse to secure the area. Corse's 2,000 men arrived at Allatoona before one of Stewart's divisions, led by Samuel French, attacked on October 5. French also had about 2,000 troops, but the Yankees overcame any difference with their new Henry repeating rifles. French attacked and pushed the Federals back at first, but Allatoona was easily defended. By midday, French realized that he could not take the depot. He withdrew and rejoined Hood's army. French lost 897 men, while the Union lost 706. Realizing that his army was in no shape to fight, Hood took his force west into Alabama. In November, he would invade Tennessee.
The USS Mobile, under Acting Lieutenant Pierre Giraud, seized the blockade running British schooner Annie Virdon south of Velasco, Texas, with a cargo of cotton.
A boat expedition commanded by Acting Ensign Henry Eason, from the USS Restless, destroyed large salt works on St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, along with 150 buildings used to house the compound and its employees. Salt works, providing as they did both a foodstuff and an invaluable preservative, were a constant target for fast-hitting Union boat expeditions aimed at drying up the source of intended supplies for Southern armies.
President Jefferson Davis addressed a crowd in Augusta, Georgia, accompanied by Generals Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, William Joseph Hardee, and others. Davis said, “Never before was I so confident that energy, harmony, and determination would rid the country of its enemy and give to the women of the land that peace their good deeds have so well deserved… we must beat Sherman, we must march into Tennessee… we must push the enemy back to the banks of the Ohio.”
In Indiana, Federal military authorities arrested Lambdin Purdy Milligan for conspiring against the United States, giving aid and comfort to the Confederates, and inciting insurrection. A military tribunal unlawfully convicted Milligan in December and sentenced him to death in June 1865. He was granted a presidential reprieve, and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Ex Parte Milligan (1866) that military authorities had no right to try civilians outside the actual theater of war.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates fought along the Osage River in Missouri.
President Lincoln conferred with navy officials about naval prisoners. Lincoln’s secretary John Nicolay headed west to gauge election prospects in Missouri.
Federals operated near Tunica Landing and Natchez, Mississippi.
Skirmishes occurred at Alexander's Creek, near St. Francisville and at Atchafalaya, Louisiana.
A Union expedition originated from Baton Rouge, to Clinton, Greensburg, Osyka, and Camp Moore, Louisiana, where the Federals capture 4,000 pounds of bacon, 12 barrels of whiskey, 100 dozen pairs of boots and shoes, 2,000 pounds of salt, and other materiel.
Lieutenant General Hardee assumes command of the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as he and Lieutenant General John Bell Hood could not get along, and so are separated by President Davis.
This post was edited on 10/5/14 at 6:34 am
Posted on 10/5/14 at 9:21 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 6 October 1864
When General Hiram U. Grant needed a man to solidify the Union hold on the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, he had sent back to the Western Theater for a man he could count on: Phil Sheridan. Sheridan, however, was an infantry commander, not a cavalryman, so when he had to become one he surrounded himself with the best the Regular Cavalry had to offer. One such man proved his worth today. Confederate forces under General Jubal Early had been pretty much on the retreat since the battles of Winchester and Fisher Hill, but they were by no means defeated. The forces of Thomas Lafayette (Tex) Rosser attacked two regiments under George Armstrong Custer at Brock’s Gap. The two were former West Point classmates and close personal friends. Although surprised, Custer’s men eventually managed to fend off the attack. It was a disconcerting reminder that this project would be a long one.
Another report: Brock’s Gap is located in the Shenandoah Valley, and in the fall of 1864 the area was a hot prize between the two armies. Union General Philip Sheridan was burning his way down the valley, hitting farms, towns and crops in the field. The soldiers of the “Laurel Brigade" under the command of Rosser, wished to remove the threat of these troops. They caught up with Sheridan’s rear, being lead by Custer on 6th October 1864 near Brock’s Gap. Custer was able, with the help of artillery to hold a hill, until dark fell and allowed Custer’s men to retreat.
Acting Master Charles W. Lee, of the USS Wamsutta, reported that the blockade running steamer Constance had run aground and sunk near Long Island in Charleston Harbor while trying to enter the port. Lee wrote: "...as she is completely submerged in about 3 fathoms water I could ascertain nothing about her except that she is a Clyde-built vessel, of the class of the Mary Bowers, and was evidently bound in."
More action continued at Florence, Alabama, between Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Major General William T. Sherman's rear guard.
Skirmishing occurs in Cole County, Missouri, as Major General Sterling Price, CSA, continues moving away from St. Louis.
Fighting broke out at Kingsport, Tennessee, with Major General Stephen A. Burbridge's troops. Burbridge, a Georgetown, Kentucky, native, was a controversial Union commander during the War who was known as “Butcher” Burbridge or the “Butcher of Kentucky.” He had attended Georgetown College and the Kentucky Military Institute, then became a lawyer. When the War broke out, he formed his own Federal regiment and officially joined the army as a colonel.
After participating in several campaigns, including the successful final Battle of Cynthiana against John Hunt Morgan, Burbridge, in June 1864, was given command over the state of Kentucky to deal with the growing problem of Confederate partisan guerrilla campaigns. This began an extended period of military siege that would last through early 1865, beginning with martial law authorized by President Abraham Lincoln.
On 16 July 1864, Burbridge issued Order No. 59 which declared: "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages." During Burbridge's service in Kentucky, he directed the execution and imprisonment of numerous people, including public figures, on charges of treason and other high crimes, many of which were baseless. While continuing in charge of Kentucky, Burbridge, in October 1864, led Union assaults against the salt works near the town of Saltville, Virginia. He controversially led black troops into a battle that ultimately failed. Wounded troops left behind were killed by Confederate soldiers, with special ire directed toward Burbridge's black troops.
To ensure Lincoln’s re-election, Burbridge tampered with returns in Kentucky and arrested candidates and campaign participants he considered objectionable as well as people he thought might vote for someone other than Lincoln. Lieutenant Governor Richard Taylor Jacob and Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joshua Bullitt were among those arrested and taken away. Despite Burbridge's efforts, George B. McClellan won the state by a wide margin, although Lincoln was ultimately re-elected. After a falling out with Governor Thomas E. Bramlette, including an attempt to take control of Bramlette's troops and arms, Burbridge was dismissed from his role of overseeing operations in Kentucky. He resigned from the army soon thereafter. Burbridge finally left Kentucky in 1867 and died in Brooklyn, New York, 2 December 1894. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
When General Hiram U. Grant needed a man to solidify the Union hold on the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, he had sent back to the Western Theater for a man he could count on: Phil Sheridan. Sheridan, however, was an infantry commander, not a cavalryman, so when he had to become one he surrounded himself with the best the Regular Cavalry had to offer. One such man proved his worth today. Confederate forces under General Jubal Early had been pretty much on the retreat since the battles of Winchester and Fisher Hill, but they were by no means defeated. The forces of Thomas Lafayette (Tex) Rosser attacked two regiments under George Armstrong Custer at Brock’s Gap. The two were former West Point classmates and close personal friends. Although surprised, Custer’s men eventually managed to fend off the attack. It was a disconcerting reminder that this project would be a long one.
Another report: Brock’s Gap is located in the Shenandoah Valley, and in the fall of 1864 the area was a hot prize between the two armies. Union General Philip Sheridan was burning his way down the valley, hitting farms, towns and crops in the field. The soldiers of the “Laurel Brigade" under the command of Rosser, wished to remove the threat of these troops. They caught up with Sheridan’s rear, being lead by Custer on 6th October 1864 near Brock’s Gap. Custer was able, with the help of artillery to hold a hill, until dark fell and allowed Custer’s men to retreat.
Acting Master Charles W. Lee, of the USS Wamsutta, reported that the blockade running steamer Constance had run aground and sunk near Long Island in Charleston Harbor while trying to enter the port. Lee wrote: "...as she is completely submerged in about 3 fathoms water I could ascertain nothing about her except that she is a Clyde-built vessel, of the class of the Mary Bowers, and was evidently bound in."
More action continued at Florence, Alabama, between Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Major General William T. Sherman's rear guard.
Skirmishing occurs in Cole County, Missouri, as Major General Sterling Price, CSA, continues moving away from St. Louis.
Fighting broke out at Kingsport, Tennessee, with Major General Stephen A. Burbridge's troops. Burbridge, a Georgetown, Kentucky, native, was a controversial Union commander during the War who was known as “Butcher” Burbridge or the “Butcher of Kentucky.” He had attended Georgetown College and the Kentucky Military Institute, then became a lawyer. When the War broke out, he formed his own Federal regiment and officially joined the army as a colonel.
After participating in several campaigns, including the successful final Battle of Cynthiana against John Hunt Morgan, Burbridge, in June 1864, was given command over the state of Kentucky to deal with the growing problem of Confederate partisan guerrilla campaigns. This began an extended period of military siege that would last through early 1865, beginning with martial law authorized by President Abraham Lincoln.
On 16 July 1864, Burbridge issued Order No. 59 which declared: "Whenever an unarmed Union citizen is murdered, four guerrillas will be selected from the prison and publicly shot to death at the most convenient place near the scene of the outrages." During Burbridge's service in Kentucky, he directed the execution and imprisonment of numerous people, including public figures, on charges of treason and other high crimes, many of which were baseless. While continuing in charge of Kentucky, Burbridge, in October 1864, led Union assaults against the salt works near the town of Saltville, Virginia. He controversially led black troops into a battle that ultimately failed. Wounded troops left behind were killed by Confederate soldiers, with special ire directed toward Burbridge's black troops.
To ensure Lincoln’s re-election, Burbridge tampered with returns in Kentucky and arrested candidates and campaign participants he considered objectionable as well as people he thought might vote for someone other than Lincoln. Lieutenant Governor Richard Taylor Jacob and Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joshua Bullitt were among those arrested and taken away. Despite Burbridge's efforts, George B. McClellan won the state by a wide margin, although Lincoln was ultimately re-elected. After a falling out with Governor Thomas E. Bramlette, including an attempt to take control of Bramlette's troops and arms, Burbridge was dismissed from his role of overseeing operations in Kentucky. He resigned from the army soon thereafter. Burbridge finally left Kentucky in 1867 and died in Brooklyn, New York, 2 December 1894. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Posted on 10/6/14 at 9:22 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 7 October 1864
Second only to Captain Raphael Semmes' CSS Alabama in fame was her sister ship, the Confederate commerce raider CSS Florida. Both built in Liverpool, they had gone their separate ways and after taking 37 prizes in her career, Florida pulled into Bahia, Brazil for resupply and refueling. Close on her heels was Commander Napoleon Collins and the USS Wachusett, who had been seeking them for months. Collins sent a message to Florida’s captain, Lieutenant Charles Morris, daring him to come out of the neutral harbor and fight. Morris declined, and Brazilian authorities ordered both ships to maintain the peace in Brazilian waters. Collins ignored this, steamed in and rammed Florida while Morris and most of her crew were ashore. Damaged but not sinking, Florida was surrendered after both ships exchanged cannon fire. This infuriated the Brazilians, who turned their harbor guns on the Wachusett as she steamed away with Florida in tow to Hampton Roads, Va.
Another report: The USS Wachusett, under Commander Napoleon Collins, illegally captured the CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, in Bahia Harbor, Brazil, and towed her out to sea. Collins, who had been scouring the sea lanes for the Confederate raider for many months, saw her enter Bahia on 4 October and anchored close by the next morning. Collins offered to meet Morris outside the harbor in a ship duel, but the Confederate captain wisely declined. The Brazilian authorities, recognizing the explosiveness of the situation, exacted promises from both Lieutenant Morris and the U.S. Consul, Thomas Wilson, that no attacks would be made in Brazilian waters. Collins was not to allow the elusive Florida to escape, however, and plans were laid to attack her shortly after midnight on the 7th. At 3 a.m. he slipped his cable, steamed past the Brazilian gunboat anchored between his ship and Florida, and rammed the famous raider on her starboard quarter. After a brief exchange of cannon fire, Lieutenant Porter, commanding the Florida in Morris's absence, surrendered the ship. By this time the harbor was alive, and as Wachusett towed her long-sought prize to sea, the coastal fort opened fire on her.
Collins' actions, though cheered in the North where the Florida was a household name because of her continued "depredations", were in violation of international law, and prompt disavowal of them was made by Secretary of State William Henry Seward. The Florida was taken to Hampton Roads, arriving there on 12 November. She was ordered returned to the Brazilian Government, but before she could be made ready for sea she mysteriously sank. Commander Collins was court-martialed and ordered to be dismissed from the naval service. At the trial, the dauntless captain admitted his actions had violated international law, offering in his defense only the following statement: "I respectfully request that it may be entered on the records of the court as my defense that the capture of the Florida was for the public good."
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles concurred, especially in view of the vast damage done by the CSS Florida to Union commerce, and, restored Collins to his command. The furor over the capture, however, did not die down. At length, to further satisfy Brazil, a 21-gun salute as an "amende honorable" was fired by USS Nipsic in Bahia Harbor, 23 July 1866.
The USS Aster, Acting Master Samuel Hall in charge, chased the blockade runner Annie ashore at New Inlet, North Carolina, under the guns of Fort Fisher, but the 285-ton wooden steamer ran aground herself and was destroyed to prevent capture. The USS Niphon, piloted by Acting Master Kemble, rescued Hall and his men and, under a hail of fire from Confederate batteries, towed out USS Berberry, which had become disabled trying to pull Aster off the shoal.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates continued their Missouri invasion, fighting near the state capital of Jefferson City. They also skirmished at Moreau Creek and around Tyler's Mills in Big River, Missouri.
Union soldiers and Native Americans clashed at Elk Creek, in the Nebraska Territory.
A Confederate attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond, Virginia, is thwarted when Union troops turn back General Robert E. Lee's assault at the Battle of Darbytown.
In the summer of 1864, the campaign between Lee and Union General Ulysses S. Grant ground to a halt at Petersburg, 25 miles south of Richmond. The two great armies settled into trenches for a siege, and the lines soon extended all the way back to Richmond. Grant periodically attacked portions of the Rebel defenses but was not successful. On September 29, Union forces captured part of Richmond's outer defense at the Battle of New Market Heights. Although Richmond was still safely in Confederate hands, Lee was concerned about the new position of the Yankee troops.
Lee sent two divisions under Generals Charles Field and Robert Hoke to move around the end of the Union line. Lee hoped that the Federal flank could be turned and the Confederates could regain the defensive works lost the week before. On the morning of October 7, the Confederates moved down Darbytown Road and around the Union right flank and attacked 1,700 cavalrymen. The assault sent the Yankees into a quick retreat. The Confederates captured eight cannons and drove the Union troops into the breastworks of General Alfred Terry. Alerted to the advancing Confederates, Terry summoned reinforcements to his position. By the time the Confederates worked their way through the thick foliage, they faced a strong Union force. Lee ordered an attack anyway. Brigades advanced one at a time, and the Yankee artillery tore the lines apart. By the afternoon, the Confederates withdrew to their original position. They lost 700 men while the Yankees lost only 400, and no ground was gained. Lee did not make another attempt to regain the lost works and focused instead on setting up defenses closer to Richmond. Brigadier General John Gregg, CSA, is mortally wounded in the action while attempting to push back the Federal troops on the Darbytown Road.
Another battle occurred at Dallas, Georgia, with Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederates against Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Federals, as Hood begins to move his army toward Alabama.
Federal operations began in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the vicinity of Sandy Springs, Barnesville, Middlebrook and Mechanicsville against a small roving band of Confederate partisan guerrillas in the area.
Sporadic skirmishes broke out between the forces of Generals Jubal Early and Philip Sheridan on the Black Road near Strasburg and at Columbia Furnace, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley.
Second only to Captain Raphael Semmes' CSS Alabama in fame was her sister ship, the Confederate commerce raider CSS Florida. Both built in Liverpool, they had gone their separate ways and after taking 37 prizes in her career, Florida pulled into Bahia, Brazil for resupply and refueling. Close on her heels was Commander Napoleon Collins and the USS Wachusett, who had been seeking them for months. Collins sent a message to Florida’s captain, Lieutenant Charles Morris, daring him to come out of the neutral harbor and fight. Morris declined, and Brazilian authorities ordered both ships to maintain the peace in Brazilian waters. Collins ignored this, steamed in and rammed Florida while Morris and most of her crew were ashore. Damaged but not sinking, Florida was surrendered after both ships exchanged cannon fire. This infuriated the Brazilians, who turned their harbor guns on the Wachusett as she steamed away with Florida in tow to Hampton Roads, Va.
Another report: The USS Wachusett, under Commander Napoleon Collins, illegally captured the CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Manigault Morris, in Bahia Harbor, Brazil, and towed her out to sea. Collins, who had been scouring the sea lanes for the Confederate raider for many months, saw her enter Bahia on 4 October and anchored close by the next morning. Collins offered to meet Morris outside the harbor in a ship duel, but the Confederate captain wisely declined. The Brazilian authorities, recognizing the explosiveness of the situation, exacted promises from both Lieutenant Morris and the U.S. Consul, Thomas Wilson, that no attacks would be made in Brazilian waters. Collins was not to allow the elusive Florida to escape, however, and plans were laid to attack her shortly after midnight on the 7th. At 3 a.m. he slipped his cable, steamed past the Brazilian gunboat anchored between his ship and Florida, and rammed the famous raider on her starboard quarter. After a brief exchange of cannon fire, Lieutenant Porter, commanding the Florida in Morris's absence, surrendered the ship. By this time the harbor was alive, and as Wachusett towed her long-sought prize to sea, the coastal fort opened fire on her.
Collins' actions, though cheered in the North where the Florida was a household name because of her continued "depredations", were in violation of international law, and prompt disavowal of them was made by Secretary of State William Henry Seward. The Florida was taken to Hampton Roads, arriving there on 12 November. She was ordered returned to the Brazilian Government, but before she could be made ready for sea she mysteriously sank. Commander Collins was court-martialed and ordered to be dismissed from the naval service. At the trial, the dauntless captain admitted his actions had violated international law, offering in his defense only the following statement: "I respectfully request that it may be entered on the records of the court as my defense that the capture of the Florida was for the public good."
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles concurred, especially in view of the vast damage done by the CSS Florida to Union commerce, and, restored Collins to his command. The furor over the capture, however, did not die down. At length, to further satisfy Brazil, a 21-gun salute as an "amende honorable" was fired by USS Nipsic in Bahia Harbor, 23 July 1866.
The USS Aster, Acting Master Samuel Hall in charge, chased the blockade runner Annie ashore at New Inlet, North Carolina, under the guns of Fort Fisher, but the 285-ton wooden steamer ran aground herself and was destroyed to prevent capture. The USS Niphon, piloted by Acting Master Kemble, rescued Hall and his men and, under a hail of fire from Confederate batteries, towed out USS Berberry, which had become disabled trying to pull Aster off the shoal.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederates continued their Missouri invasion, fighting near the state capital of Jefferson City. They also skirmished at Moreau Creek and around Tyler's Mills in Big River, Missouri.
Union soldiers and Native Americans clashed at Elk Creek, in the Nebraska Territory.
A Confederate attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond, Virginia, is thwarted when Union troops turn back General Robert E. Lee's assault at the Battle of Darbytown.
In the summer of 1864, the campaign between Lee and Union General Ulysses S. Grant ground to a halt at Petersburg, 25 miles south of Richmond. The two great armies settled into trenches for a siege, and the lines soon extended all the way back to Richmond. Grant periodically attacked portions of the Rebel defenses but was not successful. On September 29, Union forces captured part of Richmond's outer defense at the Battle of New Market Heights. Although Richmond was still safely in Confederate hands, Lee was concerned about the new position of the Yankee troops.
Lee sent two divisions under Generals Charles Field and Robert Hoke to move around the end of the Union line. Lee hoped that the Federal flank could be turned and the Confederates could regain the defensive works lost the week before. On the morning of October 7, the Confederates moved down Darbytown Road and around the Union right flank and attacked 1,700 cavalrymen. The assault sent the Yankees into a quick retreat. The Confederates captured eight cannons and drove the Union troops into the breastworks of General Alfred Terry. Alerted to the advancing Confederates, Terry summoned reinforcements to his position. By the time the Confederates worked their way through the thick foliage, they faced a strong Union force. Lee ordered an attack anyway. Brigades advanced one at a time, and the Yankee artillery tore the lines apart. By the afternoon, the Confederates withdrew to their original position. They lost 700 men while the Yankees lost only 400, and no ground was gained. Lee did not make another attempt to regain the lost works and focused instead on setting up defenses closer to Richmond. Brigadier General John Gregg, CSA, is mortally wounded in the action while attempting to push back the Federal troops on the Darbytown Road.
Another battle occurred at Dallas, Georgia, with Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's Confederates against Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Federals, as Hood begins to move his army toward Alabama.
Federal operations began in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the vicinity of Sandy Springs, Barnesville, Middlebrook and Mechanicsville against a small roving band of Confederate partisan guerrillas in the area.
Sporadic skirmishes broke out between the forces of Generals Jubal Early and Philip Sheridan on the Black Road near Strasburg and at Columbia Furnace, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley.
Posted on 10/8/14 at 4:48 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 8 October 1864
A lovely new steamship departed the docks of London today, the name Sea King painted on her stern and printed on her papers. Another vessel, the S.S. Laurel departed the same docks at the same time. They both just happened to be bound for Madeira Island in the mid-Atlantic. There some sleight-of-hand would take place. Passengers on the Laurel included Lt. James I. Waddell of the Confederate States Navy and a large number of seamen in the same employ. Cargo on the Laurel included a large number of un-mounted guns, gunpowder suitable for Navy cannons, and other provisions for a long sea voyage. In Madeira a swap would be made, with Waddell and his erstwhile co-passengers taking charge of the Sea King and mounting the cannons on her decks and stocking her with the provisions. The last act would be to change her name, and the last great Confederate commerce raider, Shenandoah, would be in business.
Second account: The steamer Sea King sailed from London under merchant captain G. H. Corbett to rendezvous with the S.S. Laurel at Madeira. Sea King carried a number of Confederate officers including Lieutenant William C. Whittle; Laurel put to sea later the same day carrying Lieutenant James I. Waddell, who, when the rendezvous was effected, would take command of Sea King and commission her as the CSS Shenandoah. Laurel also carried the armaments and supplies that would sustain Shenandoah on her long voyage as a Confederate raider. Commander Bulloch later reported Shenandoah's "safe departure" and "that the entire expedition is far away at sea, beyond the reach of interference of any United States authority in Europe..."
Steam Picket Boat No. 2, under Acting Ensign Andrew Stockholm, was captured by Confederate troops in Wicomico Bay, Virginia. The boat was one of two purchased by Lieutenant Cushing in New York for the expedition against the CSS Albemarle, and was en route in company with Picket Boat No. 1 to Fortress Monroe. Mechanical troubles forced No. 2 ashore for repairs, and while these were in progress, with No. 1 continuing ahead, Stockholm and his men were attacked by a body of guerrillas. He reported: "I immediately returned their fire, and fought them until I had expended my last cartridge, previous to which I had slipped my cable, and in trying to get out of the enemy's reach, grounded on a sand bar." Stockholm succeeded in burning the boat and destroying his supplies before he and his men were captured. Lieutenant Cushing was highly indignant at what he considered the unnecessary loss of one of his boats, and later wrote of it: "This was a great misfortune and I have never understood how so stupid a thing could have happened. I forget the name of the volunteer ensign to whose care it was intrusted, but am pleased to know that he was taken prisoner. I trust that his bed was not of down or his food that of princes while in rebel hands."
Confederate Flag Officer John K. Mitchell wrote Secretary Stephen R. Mallory regarding the enlistment of Union deserters for duty with the James River Squadron: "I beg that no more deserters from the enemy be sent to the squadron in future, for they are apt not only to desert themselves, but induce others to do so who might otherwise continue loyal. The fidelity of no man can be relied upon who has ever proved a traitor to any flag he has engaged to serve under. They form a dangerous element on board a ship." The difficulty of procuring qualified and competent officers and men to man the ships of the James River Squadron was to continue to the end of the War.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate expeditionary force continued fighting near Jefferson City, as well as skirmished in Barry County, Missouri.
A large body of Union troops confiscate the Confederate mail and recapture several Union flags, near Saint Joseph, on the west side of the Mississippi River, Louisiana.
The Federal reconnaissance on the Vaughan and Squirrel Level Roads commenced near Petersburg, in the Richmond, Virginia, Campaign.
A lovely new steamship departed the docks of London today, the name Sea King painted on her stern and printed on her papers. Another vessel, the S.S. Laurel departed the same docks at the same time. They both just happened to be bound for Madeira Island in the mid-Atlantic. There some sleight-of-hand would take place. Passengers on the Laurel included Lt. James I. Waddell of the Confederate States Navy and a large number of seamen in the same employ. Cargo on the Laurel included a large number of un-mounted guns, gunpowder suitable for Navy cannons, and other provisions for a long sea voyage. In Madeira a swap would be made, with Waddell and his erstwhile co-passengers taking charge of the Sea King and mounting the cannons on her decks and stocking her with the provisions. The last act would be to change her name, and the last great Confederate commerce raider, Shenandoah, would be in business.
Second account: The steamer Sea King sailed from London under merchant captain G. H. Corbett to rendezvous with the S.S. Laurel at Madeira. Sea King carried a number of Confederate officers including Lieutenant William C. Whittle; Laurel put to sea later the same day carrying Lieutenant James I. Waddell, who, when the rendezvous was effected, would take command of Sea King and commission her as the CSS Shenandoah. Laurel also carried the armaments and supplies that would sustain Shenandoah on her long voyage as a Confederate raider. Commander Bulloch later reported Shenandoah's "safe departure" and "that the entire expedition is far away at sea, beyond the reach of interference of any United States authority in Europe..."
Steam Picket Boat No. 2, under Acting Ensign Andrew Stockholm, was captured by Confederate troops in Wicomico Bay, Virginia. The boat was one of two purchased by Lieutenant Cushing in New York for the expedition against the CSS Albemarle, and was en route in company with Picket Boat No. 1 to Fortress Monroe. Mechanical troubles forced No. 2 ashore for repairs, and while these were in progress, with No. 1 continuing ahead, Stockholm and his men were attacked by a body of guerrillas. He reported: "I immediately returned their fire, and fought them until I had expended my last cartridge, previous to which I had slipped my cable, and in trying to get out of the enemy's reach, grounded on a sand bar." Stockholm succeeded in burning the boat and destroying his supplies before he and his men were captured. Lieutenant Cushing was highly indignant at what he considered the unnecessary loss of one of his boats, and later wrote of it: "This was a great misfortune and I have never understood how so stupid a thing could have happened. I forget the name of the volunteer ensign to whose care it was intrusted, but am pleased to know that he was taken prisoner. I trust that his bed was not of down or his food that of princes while in rebel hands."
Confederate Flag Officer John K. Mitchell wrote Secretary Stephen R. Mallory regarding the enlistment of Union deserters for duty with the James River Squadron: "I beg that no more deserters from the enemy be sent to the squadron in future, for they are apt not only to desert themselves, but induce others to do so who might otherwise continue loyal. The fidelity of no man can be relied upon who has ever proved a traitor to any flag he has engaged to serve under. They form a dangerous element on board a ship." The difficulty of procuring qualified and competent officers and men to man the ships of the James River Squadron was to continue to the end of the War.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate expeditionary force continued fighting near Jefferson City, as well as skirmished in Barry County, Missouri.
A large body of Union troops confiscate the Confederate mail and recapture several Union flags, near Saint Joseph, on the west side of the Mississippi River, Louisiana.
The Federal reconnaissance on the Vaughan and Squirrel Level Roads commenced near Petersburg, in the Richmond, Virginia, Campaign.
Posted on 10/8/14 at 9:14 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 9 October 1864
The campaign to run the Confederate cavalry force of General Jubal Early out of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia continued apace today. General Phillip Sheridan delegated the job to a couple of soldiers reasonably well-known in their own right: Wesley Merritt and George Armstrong Custer. Under overall command of General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, they attacked and then pursued men under Confederate Confederate Major General Thomas Rosser and Brigadier General Lunsford Lomax for several miles, capturing some 300 prisoners. Federal losses for the day were reported as only 9 killed and 48 wounded. The pursuit continued.
Full report: Confederate General Jubal Early's force had been operating in and around the Shenandoah area for four months. Early's summer campaign caught the attention of Union General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant, who was laying siege to Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. Grant was determined to neutralize Early and secure the Shenandoah for the North. He dispatched one of his best generals, Philip Sheridan, to pursue the Rebels there.
Sheridan took command in August 1864 but spent over a month gathering his force before moving against Early. He quickly turned the tables on the Confederates, scoring major victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill in September. Early's battered force sought refuge in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, while Sheridan began systematically destroying the Shenandoah's rich agricultural resources. Sheridan used his cavalry, under the command of General Alfred Torbert, to guard the foot soldiers as they burned farms and mills and slaughtered livestock. Confederate cavalry chief General Thomas Rosser nipped at the heels of the marauding Yankee force, but Torbert refused to allow his generals, George Custer and Wesley Merritt, to counterattack. He insisted they continue to stick close to the Union infantry. Sheridan heard of this and demanded that Torbert attack.
At dawn on October 9, Custer and Merritt and their respective forces attacked the two wings of the Confederate cavalry. Merritt's 3,500 Yankees overwhelmed General Lunsford Lomax's 1,500 troopers, but Custer had more difficulty. His 2,500 men faced 3,000 men under the command of Rosser, who was, coincidentally, a close friend of Custer's at West Point before the war. Custer observed that the Rebels were protected by the high bank of Tom's Creek, so he sent three of his regiments around Rosser's flank. Both groups of Confederates broke in retreat. The Yankees pursued the defeated Confederates for over 20 miles, a flight called the Woodstock Races. The chase ended only when the Confederates reached the safety of Early's infantry.
The Yankees captured 350 men, 11 artillery pieces, and all of the cavalry's wagons and ambulances. Nine Union troopers were killed, and 48 were wounded. It was the most complete victory of Union cavalry in the eastern theater during the entire War.
A Confederate battery near Freeman's Wharf, Mobile Bay, opened fire on the side-wheeler USS Sebago, under Lieutenant Commander Fitzhugh, which was guarding the approaches to Mobile. "There was no evidence of earthworks when these guns were fired," Fitzhugh reported; "they were so masked as to make them difficult to be seen." Sebago returned the Confederate fire for an hour, sustaining five casualties.
There were several skirmishes near Van Wert, Georgia, over a two day period, as well as at Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate expeditionary force continued fighting at Boonville, California, and Russellville, Missouri. All three towns were captured by the Southerners.
Federals scout in Saint Francois County, Missouri, and skirmish with partisan guerrillas.
The campaign to run the Confederate cavalry force of General Jubal Early out of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia continued apace today. General Phillip Sheridan delegated the job to a couple of soldiers reasonably well-known in their own right: Wesley Merritt and George Armstrong Custer. Under overall command of General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, they attacked and then pursued men under Confederate Confederate Major General Thomas Rosser and Brigadier General Lunsford Lomax for several miles, capturing some 300 prisoners. Federal losses for the day were reported as only 9 killed and 48 wounded. The pursuit continued.
Full report: Confederate General Jubal Early's force had been operating in and around the Shenandoah area for four months. Early's summer campaign caught the attention of Union General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant, who was laying siege to Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. Grant was determined to neutralize Early and secure the Shenandoah for the North. He dispatched one of his best generals, Philip Sheridan, to pursue the Rebels there.
Sheridan took command in August 1864 but spent over a month gathering his force before moving against Early. He quickly turned the tables on the Confederates, scoring major victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill in September. Early's battered force sought refuge in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, while Sheridan began systematically destroying the Shenandoah's rich agricultural resources. Sheridan used his cavalry, under the command of General Alfred Torbert, to guard the foot soldiers as they burned farms and mills and slaughtered livestock. Confederate cavalry chief General Thomas Rosser nipped at the heels of the marauding Yankee force, but Torbert refused to allow his generals, George Custer and Wesley Merritt, to counterattack. He insisted they continue to stick close to the Union infantry. Sheridan heard of this and demanded that Torbert attack.
At dawn on October 9, Custer and Merritt and their respective forces attacked the two wings of the Confederate cavalry. Merritt's 3,500 Yankees overwhelmed General Lunsford Lomax's 1,500 troopers, but Custer had more difficulty. His 2,500 men faced 3,000 men under the command of Rosser, who was, coincidentally, a close friend of Custer's at West Point before the war. Custer observed that the Rebels were protected by the high bank of Tom's Creek, so he sent three of his regiments around Rosser's flank. Both groups of Confederates broke in retreat. The Yankees pursued the defeated Confederates for over 20 miles, a flight called the Woodstock Races. The chase ended only when the Confederates reached the safety of Early's infantry.
The Yankees captured 350 men, 11 artillery pieces, and all of the cavalry's wagons and ambulances. Nine Union troopers were killed, and 48 were wounded. It was the most complete victory of Union cavalry in the eastern theater during the entire War.
A Confederate battery near Freeman's Wharf, Mobile Bay, opened fire on the side-wheeler USS Sebago, under Lieutenant Commander Fitzhugh, which was guarding the approaches to Mobile. "There was no evidence of earthworks when these guns were fired," Fitzhugh reported; "they were so masked as to make them difficult to be seen." Sebago returned the Confederate fire for an hour, sustaining five casualties.
There were several skirmishes near Van Wert, Georgia, over a two day period, as well as at Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate expeditionary force continued fighting at Boonville, California, and Russellville, Missouri. All three towns were captured by the Southerners.
Federals scout in Saint Francois County, Missouri, and skirmish with partisan guerrillas.
This post was edited on 10/9/14 at 5:07 am
Posted on 10/9/14 at 10:37 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 10 October 1864
A year to the day after William T. Sherman had his difficulties on the waters of the Western theater, another group of Union men found themselves in an even more dire situation. A group of gunboats were offloading troops at Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River. Suddenly there was the sound of cannon fire and the men and ships were under a blistering cross fire from hidden Confederate shore batteries. The transports Aurora and Kenton were hit almost at once and began to drift downstream out of control. Lieutenant King, captain of the USS Key West and commander of the expedition, ordered another vessel, the Undine, to follow and corral the stray ships. King remained behind to evacuate the men who had already gone ashore, and to cover the escape of the lightly-armed and armored USS Pekin.
Second account: The USS Key West, under Acting Lieutenant King, and the USS Undine, Acting Master Bryant in charge, in company with transports City of Pekin, Kenton, and Aurora, were surprised by Confederate shore batteries off Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River, and after a severe engagement, were forced to retire downriver. The combined operation to take Eastport was designed to secure the river at that point against the crossing of General Forrest's cavalry and provide an outpost against the threatened advance of Confederate General Hood from the East. Departing Clifton, Tennessee, on 9 October with the gunboats in the van, the force steamed up the river and cautiously approached Eastport. Finding no evidence of the Southerners, the Federal troops began to land. Suddenly, masked batteries on both sides of the river opened a severe crossfire, immediately disabling transports Aurora and Kenton and causing widespread confusion among the troops. Key West and Undine, both steamers of about 200 tons, engaged the batteries hotly. Seeing the two disabled transports drifting downstream out of control, Lieutenant King ordered Undine to follow them, while he stayed at Eastport to cover City of Pekin as troops re-embarked and to escort her downstream in retreat.
The USS Montgomery, piloted by Lieutenant Faucon, captured the blockade running British steamer Bat near Wilmington with a cargo of coal and machinery.
General Philip Sheridan established positions near Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg. Believing he had suppressed Confederate resistance in the Valley, Sheridan was unaware that General Jubal Early was planning an attack. A corps of Sheridan’s army was transferred to Petersburg, which made the personnel in the armies of Sheridan and Early slightly more even. Early seized the opportunity.
Union President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Maryland politician Henry W. Hoffman: “I wish all men to be free. I wish the material prosperity of the already free which I feel sure the extinction of slavery would bring. I wish to see, in process of disappearing, that only thing which ever could bring this nation to civil war.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates clashed with Federal gunboats on the Tennessee River near Eastport, Mississippi.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee fought Federal supply guards near Rome, Georgia.
A year to the day after William T. Sherman had his difficulties on the waters of the Western theater, another group of Union men found themselves in an even more dire situation. A group of gunboats were offloading troops at Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River. Suddenly there was the sound of cannon fire and the men and ships were under a blistering cross fire from hidden Confederate shore batteries. The transports Aurora and Kenton were hit almost at once and began to drift downstream out of control. Lieutenant King, captain of the USS Key West and commander of the expedition, ordered another vessel, the Undine, to follow and corral the stray ships. King remained behind to evacuate the men who had already gone ashore, and to cover the escape of the lightly-armed and armored USS Pekin.
Second account: The USS Key West, under Acting Lieutenant King, and the USS Undine, Acting Master Bryant in charge, in company with transports City of Pekin, Kenton, and Aurora, were surprised by Confederate shore batteries off Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River, and after a severe engagement, were forced to retire downriver. The combined operation to take Eastport was designed to secure the river at that point against the crossing of General Forrest's cavalry and provide an outpost against the threatened advance of Confederate General Hood from the East. Departing Clifton, Tennessee, on 9 October with the gunboats in the van, the force steamed up the river and cautiously approached Eastport. Finding no evidence of the Southerners, the Federal troops began to land. Suddenly, masked batteries on both sides of the river opened a severe crossfire, immediately disabling transports Aurora and Kenton and causing widespread confusion among the troops. Key West and Undine, both steamers of about 200 tons, engaged the batteries hotly. Seeing the two disabled transports drifting downstream out of control, Lieutenant King ordered Undine to follow them, while he stayed at Eastport to cover City of Pekin as troops re-embarked and to escort her downstream in retreat.
The USS Montgomery, piloted by Lieutenant Faucon, captured the blockade running British steamer Bat near Wilmington with a cargo of coal and machinery.
General Philip Sheridan established positions near Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg. Believing he had suppressed Confederate resistance in the Valley, Sheridan was unaware that General Jubal Early was planning an attack. A corps of Sheridan’s army was transferred to Petersburg, which made the personnel in the armies of Sheridan and Early slightly more even. Early seized the opportunity.
Union President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Maryland politician Henry W. Hoffman: “I wish all men to be free. I wish the material prosperity of the already free which I feel sure the extinction of slavery would bring. I wish to see, in process of disappearing, that only thing which ever could bring this nation to civil war.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates clashed with Federal gunboats on the Tennessee River near Eastport, Mississippi.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee fought Federal supply guards near Rome, Georgia.
Posted on 10/11/14 at 5:49 am to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 11 October 1864
Surely, they thought in Richmond, surely this would be the year it would sink in to the voters of the North. After Manassas, after Chancellorsville, after Gettysburg...after all the blood and slaughter and disease and death, surely they would decide that it was not worth fighting any longer to keep a part of the country that wanted to leave. Actually President Abraham Lincoln in Washington was deeply afraid that the voters might think exactly that way. The elections were today for some governorships as well as the House and one-third of the Senate. Lincoln stayed half the night in the telegraph room of the War Department waiting for the results to arrive. Again, the last, best hope of the South was dashed: support for Republicans was far stronger than had been expected, as Oliver Morton won the governor’s office in Indiana, and Republican gains were made in both the House and Senate. The War would not likely end by negotiation.
Second account: Several northern states held elections, which pleased President Lincoln by resulting in sizeable Republican majorities. In Ohio, Republicans won 12 congressional seats and a 50,000 popular vote majority. In Indiana, Republican Oliver P. Morton was elected governor, and Republicans won eight of the state’s 11 congressional seats. In Pennsylvania, Republicans won a narrow victory mainly because of the pro-Republican absentee soldier vote. These elections demonstrated that soldiers’ votes would be crucial in next month’s national election. Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton arranged as many soldier furloughs as possible so troops could go home and vote. In places like Kentucky, Lincoln operatives were rigging the vote and arresting the opposition.
Major General Sterling Price’s Southerners fought near Boonville and Brunswick as they continued with the Confederate thrust into Missouri.
Federal expeditions began from Stony Creek Station, Virginia; they skirmished 2 miles south of Petersburg, West Virginia, with some of Brigadier General John D. Imboden's Confederate cavalry.
This morning, a Confederate attack on the steamer, Resolute, took place on the White River about 12 miles above Clarendon, Arkansas, by partisan guerrillas who fire repeatedly into the vessel.
The Federals begin an expedition from Atlanta to Hat Creek, Georgia, and skirmish with Confederates, as Union Major General William T. Sherman concentrates his forces around Rome, Georgia. The bulk of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's much smaller force is located just south of the city.
Union troops scout from Camp Palmer to Gum Swamp, North Carolina, as the Yankees capture several Southerners, as well as some freed Negroes all hired by the Confederate Government to work on repairing the railroad there.
Skirmishes occur near Fort Donelson, Tennessee, as Confederate Cavalry attempts but fails to raid the Union recruiting post there.
Federals scout toward Stony Creek Station, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and skirmishes took place near White Plains, Virginia.
Surely, they thought in Richmond, surely this would be the year it would sink in to the voters of the North. After Manassas, after Chancellorsville, after Gettysburg...after all the blood and slaughter and disease and death, surely they would decide that it was not worth fighting any longer to keep a part of the country that wanted to leave. Actually President Abraham Lincoln in Washington was deeply afraid that the voters might think exactly that way. The elections were today for some governorships as well as the House and one-third of the Senate. Lincoln stayed half the night in the telegraph room of the War Department waiting for the results to arrive. Again, the last, best hope of the South was dashed: support for Republicans was far stronger than had been expected, as Oliver Morton won the governor’s office in Indiana, and Republican gains were made in both the House and Senate. The War would not likely end by negotiation.
Second account: Several northern states held elections, which pleased President Lincoln by resulting in sizeable Republican majorities. In Ohio, Republicans won 12 congressional seats and a 50,000 popular vote majority. In Indiana, Republican Oliver P. Morton was elected governor, and Republicans won eight of the state’s 11 congressional seats. In Pennsylvania, Republicans won a narrow victory mainly because of the pro-Republican absentee soldier vote. These elections demonstrated that soldiers’ votes would be crucial in next month’s national election. Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton arranged as many soldier furloughs as possible so troops could go home and vote. In places like Kentucky, Lincoln operatives were rigging the vote and arresting the opposition.
Major General Sterling Price’s Southerners fought near Boonville and Brunswick as they continued with the Confederate thrust into Missouri.
Federal expeditions began from Stony Creek Station, Virginia; they skirmished 2 miles south of Petersburg, West Virginia, with some of Brigadier General John D. Imboden's Confederate cavalry.
This morning, a Confederate attack on the steamer, Resolute, took place on the White River about 12 miles above Clarendon, Arkansas, by partisan guerrillas who fire repeatedly into the vessel.
The Federals begin an expedition from Atlanta to Hat Creek, Georgia, and skirmish with Confederates, as Union Major General William T. Sherman concentrates his forces around Rome, Georgia. The bulk of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood's much smaller force is located just south of the city.
Union troops scout from Camp Palmer to Gum Swamp, North Carolina, as the Yankees capture several Southerners, as well as some freed Negroes all hired by the Confederate Government to work on repairing the railroad there.
Skirmishes occur near Fort Donelson, Tennessee, as Confederate Cavalry attempts but fails to raid the Union recruiting post there.
Federals scout toward Stony Creek Station, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign and skirmishes took place near White Plains, Virginia.
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