Started By
Message
re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 11/26/14 at 9:53 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 11/26/14 at 9:53 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 27 November 1864
By evening, the Army of Tennessee ranged in front of Columbia, Tennessee, just south of the Duck River. Union Major General John McAllister Schofield expected Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood to attempt to turn his flank, so he moved his entire command north of the river to prepared defensive positions at Spring Hill, and partly destroyed the railroad and pontoon bridges. This guarded the main road (and potential escape route) to Franklin and Nashville. Schofield was receiving erroneous reports from his cavalry commander, Major General James Harrison Wilson, that Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry had crossed the Duck River to the east above Columbia.
In Georgia, General Joseph Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry clashed with Federal cavalry under General Judson Kilpatrick in two days of fighting at Waynesboro.
An explosion and fire destroyed Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler's floating headquarters--commanding the Army of the James--the steamer Greyhound on the James River, Virginia, and narrowly missed killing Butler, Major General Robert C. Schenck, and Rear Admiral David D. Porter, on board for a conference on the forthcoming Fort Fisher expedition. Because of the nature of the explosion, it is likely that one of the deadly Confederate coal torpedoes had been planted in Greyhound's boiler. "The furnace door blew open," recalled Butler, "and scattered coals throughout the room." The so-called "coal torpedo" was a finely turned piece of cast iron containing ten pounds of powder and made to resemble closely a lump of coal, and was capable of being used with devastating effect. As Admiral Porter later described the incident: "We had left Bermuda Hundred five or six miles behind us when suddenly an explosion forward startled us, and in a moment large volumes of smoke poured out of the engine-room." The Admiral went on to marvel at the ingenuity which nearly cost him his life: "In devices for blowing up vessels the Confederates were far ahead of us, putting Yankee ingenuity to shame." This device was suspected of being the cause of several unexplained explosions during the War.
Federal expeditions began from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Union soldiers scout from Little Rock to Benton, Arkansas, where the Yankees are ambushed by a party of partisan guerrillas.
Skirmish at Sylvan Grove, GA, the "March to the Sea," Campaign by Maj. Gen. Wm. Sherman.
A Federal expedition commenced from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and a skirmish ensued at the Chickasawha Bridge, in Mississippi, as Confederate Major General Dabney H. Maury commanding the District of the Gulf confronts Union Brigadier General John W. Davidson. The Federals have a difficult time moving through the region due to destroyed bridges, and roads. The Yankees manage to cross the Amite, Pearl and Black Rivers, as well as Red Creek, traveling through Greensburg, Franklinton, Fordville, Columbia, Augusta, and over the Leaf and Chickasawha Rivers, cutting a path of destruction along the way.
A skirmish breaks out at Moorefield, West Virginia, where Brigadier General Thomas L. Rosser surrounds and captures a party of Union soldiers. An affair later occurs at New Creek, where Rosser surprises and captures Fort Kelley, along with 200 wagons, large amount of quartermaster, ordnance and commissary stores and skirmish.
At Piedmont, West Virginia, Major General Philip H. Sheridan, USA, is upset and calls the capture of Fort Kelley, a Federal disgrace. Sheridan's nature is not of one to accept such actions.
The blockade running British steamer Beatrice was captured by picket boats under Acting Master Gifford of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, off Charleston. The prize crew accidentally grounded Beatrice near Morris Island and she was soon a total wreck. In reporting the capture to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren noted the fact that the blockade runner was captured by small boats and not by seagoing vessels, adding: "The duty is severe beyond what is imagined. In the launches the men may be said to live in the boats, and all of them are, in these long nights, exposed to every hardship of sea, wind, and weather; in the stormiest nights they are cruising around close in to the Rebel batteries." The Federal Navy spared no efforts to tighten the blockade now that final victory was coming in sight.
The ram USS Vindicator, under Acting Lieutenant Henry H. Gorringe, and small stern-wheeler USS Prairie Bird, Acting Master Burns in charge, transported and covered a successful Union cavalry attack on Confederate communications in western Mississippi. Thirty miles of track and the important railroad bridge over the Big Black River, east of Vicksburg, were destroyed. Major General Dana praised the part of the gunboats in the expedition: "The assistance of the vessels of the Sixth Division Mississippi Squadron rendered the expedition a complete success."
The USS Princess Royal, piloted by Commander Woolsey, seized the blockade running British schooner Flash in the Gulf of Mexico off Brazos Santiago with a cargo of cotton. Later in the day, Princess Royal also captured blockade running schooner Neptune. Woolsey reported: "The vessel was empty, having just lost a cargo of salt, said salt having, according to the master's statement: dissolved in her hold."
The USS Metacomet, Lieutenant Commander Jouett in charge, captured the blockade running steamer Susanna in the Gulf of Mexico off Campeche Banks. Half her cargo of cotton was thrown overboard in the chase. Rear Admiral David G. Farragut had regarded Susanna as "...their fastest steamer."
By evening, the Army of Tennessee ranged in front of Columbia, Tennessee, just south of the Duck River. Union Major General John McAllister Schofield expected Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood to attempt to turn his flank, so he moved his entire command north of the river to prepared defensive positions at Spring Hill, and partly destroyed the railroad and pontoon bridges. This guarded the main road (and potential escape route) to Franklin and Nashville. Schofield was receiving erroneous reports from his cavalry commander, Major General James Harrison Wilson, that Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry had crossed the Duck River to the east above Columbia.
In Georgia, General Joseph Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry clashed with Federal cavalry under General Judson Kilpatrick in two days of fighting at Waynesboro.
An explosion and fire destroyed Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler's floating headquarters--commanding the Army of the James--the steamer Greyhound on the James River, Virginia, and narrowly missed killing Butler, Major General Robert C. Schenck, and Rear Admiral David D. Porter, on board for a conference on the forthcoming Fort Fisher expedition. Because of the nature of the explosion, it is likely that one of the deadly Confederate coal torpedoes had been planted in Greyhound's boiler. "The furnace door blew open," recalled Butler, "and scattered coals throughout the room." The so-called "coal torpedo" was a finely turned piece of cast iron containing ten pounds of powder and made to resemble closely a lump of coal, and was capable of being used with devastating effect. As Admiral Porter later described the incident: "We had left Bermuda Hundred five or six miles behind us when suddenly an explosion forward startled us, and in a moment large volumes of smoke poured out of the engine-room." The Admiral went on to marvel at the ingenuity which nearly cost him his life: "In devices for blowing up vessels the Confederates were far ahead of us, putting Yankee ingenuity to shame." This device was suspected of being the cause of several unexplained explosions during the War.
Federal expeditions began from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Union soldiers scout from Little Rock to Benton, Arkansas, where the Yankees are ambushed by a party of partisan guerrillas.
Skirmish at Sylvan Grove, GA, the "March to the Sea," Campaign by Maj. Gen. Wm. Sherman.
A Federal expedition commenced from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, and a skirmish ensued at the Chickasawha Bridge, in Mississippi, as Confederate Major General Dabney H. Maury commanding the District of the Gulf confronts Union Brigadier General John W. Davidson. The Federals have a difficult time moving through the region due to destroyed bridges, and roads. The Yankees manage to cross the Amite, Pearl and Black Rivers, as well as Red Creek, traveling through Greensburg, Franklinton, Fordville, Columbia, Augusta, and over the Leaf and Chickasawha Rivers, cutting a path of destruction along the way.
A skirmish breaks out at Moorefield, West Virginia, where Brigadier General Thomas L. Rosser surrounds and captures a party of Union soldiers. An affair later occurs at New Creek, where Rosser surprises and captures Fort Kelley, along with 200 wagons, large amount of quartermaster, ordnance and commissary stores and skirmish.
At Piedmont, West Virginia, Major General Philip H. Sheridan, USA, is upset and calls the capture of Fort Kelley, a Federal disgrace. Sheridan's nature is not of one to accept such actions.
The blockade running British steamer Beatrice was captured by picket boats under Acting Master Gifford of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, off Charleston. The prize crew accidentally grounded Beatrice near Morris Island and she was soon a total wreck. In reporting the capture to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren noted the fact that the blockade runner was captured by small boats and not by seagoing vessels, adding: "The duty is severe beyond what is imagined. In the launches the men may be said to live in the boats, and all of them are, in these long nights, exposed to every hardship of sea, wind, and weather; in the stormiest nights they are cruising around close in to the Rebel batteries." The Federal Navy spared no efforts to tighten the blockade now that final victory was coming in sight.
The ram USS Vindicator, under Acting Lieutenant Henry H. Gorringe, and small stern-wheeler USS Prairie Bird, Acting Master Burns in charge, transported and covered a successful Union cavalry attack on Confederate communications in western Mississippi. Thirty miles of track and the important railroad bridge over the Big Black River, east of Vicksburg, were destroyed. Major General Dana praised the part of the gunboats in the expedition: "The assistance of the vessels of the Sixth Division Mississippi Squadron rendered the expedition a complete success."
The USS Princess Royal, piloted by Commander Woolsey, seized the blockade running British schooner Flash in the Gulf of Mexico off Brazos Santiago with a cargo of cotton. Later in the day, Princess Royal also captured blockade running schooner Neptune. Woolsey reported: "The vessel was empty, having just lost a cargo of salt, said salt having, according to the master's statement: dissolved in her hold."
The USS Metacomet, Lieutenant Commander Jouett in charge, captured the blockade running steamer Susanna in the Gulf of Mexico off Campeche Banks. Half her cargo of cotton was thrown overboard in the chase. Rear Admiral David G. Farragut had regarded Susanna as "...their fastest steamer."
1
Posted on 11/27/14 at 9:35 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 28 November 1864
No place along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad seemed more secure than New Creek near Keyser, West Virginia, a supply depot described as the finest in the Union department. Located at the intersection of New Creek Valley and the Potomac River Valley, New Creek sat on a ridge at the northern end of a narrow valley between 2 mountains. Its Fort Kelley, with a garrison of nearly 800 men and 5 cannons, had defied any Confederate attempts at capture. Within the confining New Creek Valley as the only route of approach, Southerners considered the depot and fort almost impregnable. Two days ago, Brigadier General Thomas L. Rosser and 2 brigades of cavalrymen abandoned their camp in the Shenandoah Valley for another raid against New Creek. Reaching Moorefield, West Virginia, yesterday morning, Rosser's command, numbering around 500 men, encountered a detachment from New Creek. The Confederates scattered the Yankees in a running fight, but most of the Federals escaped to sound the alarm.
Rosser, who had been told earlier by two scouts, that success depended on secrecy and surprise, rode with his men all night. The Rebels halted at dawn, 6 miles from New Creek near Harrison's Gap, where Rosser convened a council of war. The Confederate officers decided to attack the garrison, so the entire command soon remounted. Cautiously, they advanced at a walk, led by 20 troopers in blue Union overcoats. Encountering a Union picket, the Confederates claimed that they were a returning Union scouting party. The surprised Federals were quickly captured along with a second post only 2 miles from the fort. With the road cleared, the raiders slowly approached the base of the ridge when the charge was sounded.
The Confederates galloped straight toward Fort Kelley. Unbelievably, only a few sentinels manned their posts; most of the Union soldiers were eating lunch or resting in the camp area. The garrison's commander, Colonel George R. Latham, though forewarned of Rosser's presence at Moorefield, had failed disgracefully to place his command on alert. Within 30 minutes, the Confederates had seized the fort and captured more than 700 Federals. The Confederates ransacked the warehouses, indulging in the tons of foodstuffs before burning the buildings. Rosser inexplicably did not wreck the railroad or destroy a bridge. Late in the afternoon, they retraced their route, disappearing into the woodlands. Pursuing Federals never caught up to Rosser's troopers, who arrived at their camp on 2 December. In January 1865, Latham was found guilty of neglect of duty and dishonorably discharged. This proved the Confederates were not yet ready to admit defeat in the Shenandoah Valley. Two months later in March, however, Latham, by then a Republican congressman, had his dismissal revoked and was honorably mustered out of service.
A Federal expedition travelled from Brownsville to Fairview, Arkansas.
Skirmishes occurred at Buck Head Church, Reynolds' Plantation, Waynesboro, and near Davisboro, Georgia, as Union Major General William T. Sherman presses on towards Savannah, Georgia.
A skirmish brewed up on Cow Creek, Kansas, between Union soldiers and the Confederate First Indian Brigade.
The Federal Department of Mississippi is created, and Major General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana, USA, is assigned to its command.
Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest crosses the Duck River above Columbia this evening with most of the rest of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee ready to follow. Other troops of the Army of Tennessee occupied Columbia itself. Cavalry units of both armies skirmished at the crossings of the Duck River and at Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Skirmish at Goresville, Virginia, where the Independent Battalion of Virginia Cavalry (Loudoun Rangers) fight with Lieutenant Colonel John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers, driving the Rebels off.
Federals scout toward Stony Creek Station, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
A Federal expedition maneuvers from Winchester into Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, Virginia, led by Brevet Major General Wesley Merritt, destroying over $410,000 of property including: 87 horses, 474 Beef-cattle, 100 sheep, 230 barns, 8 mills, 1 distillery, 10,000 tons of hay and 25,000 bushels of grain.
Major General Winfield S. Hancock, USA, is assigned to the command of a new veteran volunteer army corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
No place along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad seemed more secure than New Creek near Keyser, West Virginia, a supply depot described as the finest in the Union department. Located at the intersection of New Creek Valley and the Potomac River Valley, New Creek sat on a ridge at the northern end of a narrow valley between 2 mountains. Its Fort Kelley, with a garrison of nearly 800 men and 5 cannons, had defied any Confederate attempts at capture. Within the confining New Creek Valley as the only route of approach, Southerners considered the depot and fort almost impregnable. Two days ago, Brigadier General Thomas L. Rosser and 2 brigades of cavalrymen abandoned their camp in the Shenandoah Valley for another raid against New Creek. Reaching Moorefield, West Virginia, yesterday morning, Rosser's command, numbering around 500 men, encountered a detachment from New Creek. The Confederates scattered the Yankees in a running fight, but most of the Federals escaped to sound the alarm.
Rosser, who had been told earlier by two scouts, that success depended on secrecy and surprise, rode with his men all night. The Rebels halted at dawn, 6 miles from New Creek near Harrison's Gap, where Rosser convened a council of war. The Confederate officers decided to attack the garrison, so the entire command soon remounted. Cautiously, they advanced at a walk, led by 20 troopers in blue Union overcoats. Encountering a Union picket, the Confederates claimed that they were a returning Union scouting party. The surprised Federals were quickly captured along with a second post only 2 miles from the fort. With the road cleared, the raiders slowly approached the base of the ridge when the charge was sounded.
The Confederates galloped straight toward Fort Kelley. Unbelievably, only a few sentinels manned their posts; most of the Union soldiers were eating lunch or resting in the camp area. The garrison's commander, Colonel George R. Latham, though forewarned of Rosser's presence at Moorefield, had failed disgracefully to place his command on alert. Within 30 minutes, the Confederates had seized the fort and captured more than 700 Federals. The Confederates ransacked the warehouses, indulging in the tons of foodstuffs before burning the buildings. Rosser inexplicably did not wreck the railroad or destroy a bridge. Late in the afternoon, they retraced their route, disappearing into the woodlands. Pursuing Federals never caught up to Rosser's troopers, who arrived at their camp on 2 December. In January 1865, Latham was found guilty of neglect of duty and dishonorably discharged. This proved the Confederates were not yet ready to admit defeat in the Shenandoah Valley. Two months later in March, however, Latham, by then a Republican congressman, had his dismissal revoked and was honorably mustered out of service.
A Federal expedition travelled from Brownsville to Fairview, Arkansas.
Skirmishes occurred at Buck Head Church, Reynolds' Plantation, Waynesboro, and near Davisboro, Georgia, as Union Major General William T. Sherman presses on towards Savannah, Georgia.
A skirmish brewed up on Cow Creek, Kansas, between Union soldiers and the Confederate First Indian Brigade.
The Federal Department of Mississippi is created, and Major General Napoleon Jackson Tecumseh Dana, USA, is assigned to its command.
Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest crosses the Duck River above Columbia this evening with most of the rest of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee ready to follow. Other troops of the Army of Tennessee occupied Columbia itself. Cavalry units of both armies skirmished at the crossings of the Duck River and at Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Skirmish at Goresville, Virginia, where the Independent Battalion of Virginia Cavalry (Loudoun Rangers) fight with Lieutenant Colonel John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers, driving the Rebels off.
Federals scout toward Stony Creek Station, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
A Federal expedition maneuvers from Winchester into Fauquier and Loudoun Counties, Virginia, led by Brevet Major General Wesley Merritt, destroying over $410,000 of property including: 87 horses, 474 Beef-cattle, 100 sheep, 230 barns, 8 mills, 1 distillery, 10,000 tons of hay and 25,000 bushels of grain.
Major General Winfield S. Hancock, USA, is assigned to the command of a new veteran volunteer army corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Posted on 11/28/14 at 10:00 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 29 November 1864
Early in the morning, two of the three corps of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee plus another division, crossed the Duck River above Columbia. They hoped to flank Federal Major General John McAllister Schofield’s army north of the Duck River and cut him off at Spring Hill from the route to Franklin and Nashville. Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry skirmished at Spring Hill about midday and in the afternoon Confederate infantry under Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne arrived.
Firing along the Duck River occurred between the main body of Schofield’s Federals and Confederates under Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee. Confederates at Spring Hill were thwarted by darkness and a few defenders. The Federals under Major General David S. Stanley worked nobly to keep the turnpike to Franklin open, which allowed for Schofield to pull all of his troops away from the Duck River and pass his entire army northward up the pike under the nose of Hood’s army without suffering attack. The entire Federal force, wagon train and all, was able to escape to Franklin and take up a new position south of town.
Another report: Early this morning, John Bell Hood’s Confederates crossed the Duck River and tried cutting John Schofield off at Spring Hill from the main road to Franklin and Nashville. The armies skirmished until halted by darkness. During the night, Schofield withdrew his entire force to Franklin without Confederate detection. This failure to notice Schofield’s withdrawal prompted charges and countercharges of dereliction of duty among the Confederate high command. The “Spring Hill Affair” became one of the most controversial non-combat events of the War.
In the Colorado Territory, the citizens of the Denver area felt the need to put down the Indians who had been taking advantage of the lack of Federal troops and had committed numerous depredations. With approximately 900 volunteers, Colonel J.M. Chivington moved out to the Indian camp on Sand Creek, forty miles south of Fort Lyon, where there were over 500 Arapahoes and Cheyennes. The Indians insisted they were peaceful and contended that they had not taken part in recent raids. Chivington’s force attacked the village without warning and massacred warriors, women and children. Among the dead was Black Kettle, a major chief. Eventually the U.S. Government condemned the massacre and paid indemnity to the survivors.
Second account: Colonel John M. Chivington and about 900 Federal troops attacked a camp of some 500 Arapaho and Cheyenne Natives at the Sand Creek Reserve in the Colorado Territory. Ignoring claims that the Natives were peaceful, the Federals murdered some 450 men, women, and children. Chivington reported, “It may perhaps be unnecessary for me to state that I captured no prisoners.” Among those killed was Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle, who had previously surrendered to Federals and quit the warpath.
The U.S. press initially celebrated the Sand Creek incident as a great victory to end the Colorado War. Officials, however, were horrified upon learning of the mass genocide. After three separate investigations, U.S. officials condemned the massacre and paid indemnities to the victims’ families.
The double-turret monitor USS Onondaga, under Commander William A. Parker, and the single-turret monitor USS Mahopac, Lieutenant Commander Edward E. Potter in charge, engaged Howlett's Battery, on the James River, Virginia, for three hours. This was part of the continuing action below Richmond.
As Major Francis W. Smith, CSA, remarked, "I think the monitors (although they retired under our fire below Dutch Gap) will probably return..."
A ship's boat under the command of Acting Ensign A. Rich from the USS Elk, Acting Lieutenant Nicholas Kirby in overall command, captured an unidentified small craft with a cargo of whiskey and opium near Mandeville, Louisiana.
In Georgia, William T. Sherman’s Federals continued advancing, skirmishing near Louisville.
Robert Bullock, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
The Confederate Cavalry attack the steamer, Alamo, on the Arkansas River, near Dardanelle, Arkansas. The Rebels inflict little damage to the vessel and men aboard except for riddling the vessel with 87 bullet holes.
A fight at Doyal's Plantation, LA, with a small party of jayhawkers, near Donaldsonville.
Federals scout from Warrensburg to the Greenton Valley, Missouri, skirmishing against partisan guerrillas.
Skirmishes today near Boyd's Landing, South Carolina; near Rally Hill, at the Columbia Ford, at Thompson's Station, as well as at Mount Carmel, all in Tennessee.
An engagement occurs at Charlestown, West Virginia, as the Confederates' night attack is driven off by a much larger Federal force.
Early in the morning, two of the three corps of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee plus another division, crossed the Duck River above Columbia. They hoped to flank Federal Major General John McAllister Schofield’s army north of the Duck River and cut him off at Spring Hill from the route to Franklin and Nashville. Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry skirmished at Spring Hill about midday and in the afternoon Confederate infantry under Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne arrived.
Firing along the Duck River occurred between the main body of Schofield’s Federals and Confederates under Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee. Confederates at Spring Hill were thwarted by darkness and a few defenders. The Federals under Major General David S. Stanley worked nobly to keep the turnpike to Franklin open, which allowed for Schofield to pull all of his troops away from the Duck River and pass his entire army northward up the pike under the nose of Hood’s army without suffering attack. The entire Federal force, wagon train and all, was able to escape to Franklin and take up a new position south of town.
Another report: Early this morning, John Bell Hood’s Confederates crossed the Duck River and tried cutting John Schofield off at Spring Hill from the main road to Franklin and Nashville. The armies skirmished until halted by darkness. During the night, Schofield withdrew his entire force to Franklin without Confederate detection. This failure to notice Schofield’s withdrawal prompted charges and countercharges of dereliction of duty among the Confederate high command. The “Spring Hill Affair” became one of the most controversial non-combat events of the War.
In the Colorado Territory, the citizens of the Denver area felt the need to put down the Indians who had been taking advantage of the lack of Federal troops and had committed numerous depredations. With approximately 900 volunteers, Colonel J.M. Chivington moved out to the Indian camp on Sand Creek, forty miles south of Fort Lyon, where there were over 500 Arapahoes and Cheyennes. The Indians insisted they were peaceful and contended that they had not taken part in recent raids. Chivington’s force attacked the village without warning and massacred warriors, women and children. Among the dead was Black Kettle, a major chief. Eventually the U.S. Government condemned the massacre and paid indemnity to the survivors.
Second account: Colonel John M. Chivington and about 900 Federal troops attacked a camp of some 500 Arapaho and Cheyenne Natives at the Sand Creek Reserve in the Colorado Territory. Ignoring claims that the Natives were peaceful, the Federals murdered some 450 men, women, and children. Chivington reported, “It may perhaps be unnecessary for me to state that I captured no prisoners.” Among those killed was Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle, who had previously surrendered to Federals and quit the warpath.
The U.S. press initially celebrated the Sand Creek incident as a great victory to end the Colorado War. Officials, however, were horrified upon learning of the mass genocide. After three separate investigations, U.S. officials condemned the massacre and paid indemnities to the victims’ families.
The double-turret monitor USS Onondaga, under Commander William A. Parker, and the single-turret monitor USS Mahopac, Lieutenant Commander Edward E. Potter in charge, engaged Howlett's Battery, on the James River, Virginia, for three hours. This was part of the continuing action below Richmond.
As Major Francis W. Smith, CSA, remarked, "I think the monitors (although they retired under our fire below Dutch Gap) will probably return..."
A ship's boat under the command of Acting Ensign A. Rich from the USS Elk, Acting Lieutenant Nicholas Kirby in overall command, captured an unidentified small craft with a cargo of whiskey and opium near Mandeville, Louisiana.
In Georgia, William T. Sherman’s Federals continued advancing, skirmishing near Louisville.
Robert Bullock, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
The Confederate Cavalry attack the steamer, Alamo, on the Arkansas River, near Dardanelle, Arkansas. The Rebels inflict little damage to the vessel and men aboard except for riddling the vessel with 87 bullet holes.
A fight at Doyal's Plantation, LA, with a small party of jayhawkers, near Donaldsonville.
Federals scout from Warrensburg to the Greenton Valley, Missouri, skirmishing against partisan guerrillas.
Skirmishes today near Boyd's Landing, South Carolina; near Rally Hill, at the Columbia Ford, at Thompson's Station, as well as at Mount Carmel, all in Tennessee.
An engagement occurs at Charlestown, West Virginia, as the Confederates' night attack is driven off by a much larger Federal force.
Posted on 11/29/14 at 10:10 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 30 November 1864
John Bell Hood had awaken on the 29th “...wrathy as a rattlesnake.” His army's failure at to corner John McAllister Schofield's forces at Spring Hill was infuriating--at a council of war that morning he went so far as to accuse the troops of cowardice. He ordered a pursuit to Franklin, where he would have one more chance to destroy Schofield before he reached Nashville to loin forces with George Henry Thomas.
But Franklin did not offer the same possibilities as Spring Hill. Instead of attacking a surrounded and outnumbered enemy, the 20,000 Confederates at Franklin faced a frontal assault over two miles of open ground against an equal foe entrenched behind three lines of breastworks and abatis. Unmoved by his lieutenants’ objections, Hood ordered the assault. The two-mile long butternut line stepped off at 4 PM.
The Confederate advance was immediately torn by scores of Union cannon; Hood had only one battery positioned to counter the enemy fire. Nevertheless, the line swept forward and quickly overlapped and overwhelmed two brigades of George Wagner’s division which had taken up a doubtful position half a mile in front of the main line. Charging and yelling mere yards behind Wagner’s broken men, the Confederates in the center were able to cross the last half mile of their assault largely unopposed by the riflemen behind the breastworks, who were unwilling to shoot their friends amidst their enemies. As a result, the Confederates slammed into the Union center with full momentum and splintered the defenders around the Carter House.
Thousands of men now surged into a deadly vortex of combat with shovels, bayonets, sabers, and pistols in the Carter gardens. The Union line might have broken completely were it not for the quick reaction of brigade commander Emerson Opdycke of Wagner’s division, who had disobeyed orders to join the first exposed line and instead deployed his men about two hundred yards behind the Carter House. He hurled his command forward into the breach and prevented full-scale disaster.
Meanwhile, Nathan Bedford Forrest managed to force a crossing of the Harpeth River at Hughes’s Ford and threatened to turn the Union left flank. Union cavalry commander James Wilson reacted quickly and sent his horsemen pounding toward the ford to confront their Southern adversaries. After a brief dismounted firefight, Wilson’s troopers charged, covered by a hail of repeating rifle fire. Although Forrest’s men outnumbered the Federals, they were outgunned by the seven-shot Spencers. They broke and withdrew back across the Harpeth. The battle would have to be decided against the works.
On the opposite bank of the river, the butternut and gray soldiers of A.P. Stewart’s corps crashed against the western portion of the main line. Swept by musketry and enfiladed by artillery, the Confederates pressed on until they reached a tall abatis of Osage-orange timber. They had no choice but to try to climb and crack their way through the strong branches under a murderous point-blank fire. Union soldiers would later write about the nightmarish sight of the tangle filled with twisted and contorted corpses. The Confederates retreated, reformed, and renewed the attack as many as six times, but could not dislodge the Union defenders. As the sun set, with his attempt on the right stalled and the hand-to-hand fighting in the center raging into its third hour, Hood sent forward his left wing. The men of Cheatham’s corps, advancing by torchlight, soon became separated and disorganized. When they stumbled within range of the Union works, the rolling stabs of musket flashes felled men by the score. They reached as far as a small locust grove less than fifty yards from the breastworks before they finally withdrew with severe losses, having done little damage to the enemy. The Confederates also fell back in the center, leaving thousands of dead and wounded in the two acres of the Carter gardens. As the pressure lifted, Schofield withdrew his army to Nashville.
The Battle of Franklin decimated the Army of Tennessee. Around ten thousand men became casualties on both sides, roughly seven thousand of them Confederates. Fourteen Southern generals were casualties, more than any other battle in the War. Even so, Hood doggedly pursued Schofield with his diminished army to fight again at Nashville.
Brigadier General John Adams, CSA, is mortally at the Battle of Franklin, as he charged the Union breastworks on his horse.
Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne (the Stonewall Jackson of the West), CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he was leading his troops against the Federals.
Brigadier General States Rights Gist, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin: killed instantly as he led his troops in a frontal assault on the Union breastworks.
Brigadier General Hiram Bronson Granbury, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he led his troops in a frontal assault on the breastworks.
Brigadier General Otho French Strahl, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he handed rifles up to his men so they could fire down in the Federal works.
Brigadier General John Carpenter Carter, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he led his men in a frontal assault on the breastworks.
An engagement occurred at Honey Hill, near Grahamville, South Carolina, as the Union expeditionary force from Hilton Head, under Major General John G. Foster, USA, commanding the Department of the South, and his subordinate, Brigadier General John P. Hatch, USA, are repulsed by a much smaller but well entrenched Southern force in a strong defensive position; the Yankees report 746 casualties while the Rebels lose only 47 men.
A boat expedition under the command of Acting Master Charles H. Cadieu, of the USS Midnight, landed at St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, destroyed a salt work and took several prisoners.
The USS Itasca, Lieutenant Commander George Brown in charge, seized the blockade running British schooner Carrie Mair off Pass Cavallo, Texas.
Benjamin Jefferson Hill, CSA, George Lafayette Beal, USA, and Henry Goddard Thomas, USA, are all appointed Brigadier General.
A brief skirmish breaks out near Dalton, Georgia.
In Georgia, Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals continued advancing, skirmishing at Louisville.
Skirmishes commenced at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, Snicker's Gap, Virginia, and at Kabletown, West Virginia.
President Jefferson Davis wrote to General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Confederate Military Division of the West (east of the Mississippi River), that Sherman “...may move directly for the Coast.” He urged Beauregard to concentrate all nearby Confederates to destroy Sherman’s army before it reached the coast. Davis, unaware of the defeat at Franklin today, thought Hood would have an impact on Federal strategy.
John Bell Hood had awaken on the 29th “...wrathy as a rattlesnake.” His army's failure at to corner John McAllister Schofield's forces at Spring Hill was infuriating--at a council of war that morning he went so far as to accuse the troops of cowardice. He ordered a pursuit to Franklin, where he would have one more chance to destroy Schofield before he reached Nashville to loin forces with George Henry Thomas.
But Franklin did not offer the same possibilities as Spring Hill. Instead of attacking a surrounded and outnumbered enemy, the 20,000 Confederates at Franklin faced a frontal assault over two miles of open ground against an equal foe entrenched behind three lines of breastworks and abatis. Unmoved by his lieutenants’ objections, Hood ordered the assault. The two-mile long butternut line stepped off at 4 PM.
The Confederate advance was immediately torn by scores of Union cannon; Hood had only one battery positioned to counter the enemy fire. Nevertheless, the line swept forward and quickly overlapped and overwhelmed two brigades of George Wagner’s division which had taken up a doubtful position half a mile in front of the main line. Charging and yelling mere yards behind Wagner’s broken men, the Confederates in the center were able to cross the last half mile of their assault largely unopposed by the riflemen behind the breastworks, who were unwilling to shoot their friends amidst their enemies. As a result, the Confederates slammed into the Union center with full momentum and splintered the defenders around the Carter House.
Thousands of men now surged into a deadly vortex of combat with shovels, bayonets, sabers, and pistols in the Carter gardens. The Union line might have broken completely were it not for the quick reaction of brigade commander Emerson Opdycke of Wagner’s division, who had disobeyed orders to join the first exposed line and instead deployed his men about two hundred yards behind the Carter House. He hurled his command forward into the breach and prevented full-scale disaster.
Meanwhile, Nathan Bedford Forrest managed to force a crossing of the Harpeth River at Hughes’s Ford and threatened to turn the Union left flank. Union cavalry commander James Wilson reacted quickly and sent his horsemen pounding toward the ford to confront their Southern adversaries. After a brief dismounted firefight, Wilson’s troopers charged, covered by a hail of repeating rifle fire. Although Forrest’s men outnumbered the Federals, they were outgunned by the seven-shot Spencers. They broke and withdrew back across the Harpeth. The battle would have to be decided against the works.
On the opposite bank of the river, the butternut and gray soldiers of A.P. Stewart’s corps crashed against the western portion of the main line. Swept by musketry and enfiladed by artillery, the Confederates pressed on until they reached a tall abatis of Osage-orange timber. They had no choice but to try to climb and crack their way through the strong branches under a murderous point-blank fire. Union soldiers would later write about the nightmarish sight of the tangle filled with twisted and contorted corpses. The Confederates retreated, reformed, and renewed the attack as many as six times, but could not dislodge the Union defenders. As the sun set, with his attempt on the right stalled and the hand-to-hand fighting in the center raging into its third hour, Hood sent forward his left wing. The men of Cheatham’s corps, advancing by torchlight, soon became separated and disorganized. When they stumbled within range of the Union works, the rolling stabs of musket flashes felled men by the score. They reached as far as a small locust grove less than fifty yards from the breastworks before they finally withdrew with severe losses, having done little damage to the enemy. The Confederates also fell back in the center, leaving thousands of dead and wounded in the two acres of the Carter gardens. As the pressure lifted, Schofield withdrew his army to Nashville.
The Battle of Franklin decimated the Army of Tennessee. Around ten thousand men became casualties on both sides, roughly seven thousand of them Confederates. Fourteen Southern generals were casualties, more than any other battle in the War. Even so, Hood doggedly pursued Schofield with his diminished army to fight again at Nashville.
Brigadier General John Adams, CSA, is mortally at the Battle of Franklin, as he charged the Union breastworks on his horse.
Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne (the Stonewall Jackson of the West), CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he was leading his troops against the Federals.
Brigadier General States Rights Gist, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin: killed instantly as he led his troops in a frontal assault on the Union breastworks.
Brigadier General Hiram Bronson Granbury, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he led his troops in a frontal assault on the breastworks.
Brigadier General Otho French Strahl, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he handed rifles up to his men so they could fire down in the Federal works.
Brigadier General John Carpenter Carter, CSA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of Franklin, as he led his men in a frontal assault on the breastworks.
An engagement occurred at Honey Hill, near Grahamville, South Carolina, as the Union expeditionary force from Hilton Head, under Major General John G. Foster, USA, commanding the Department of the South, and his subordinate, Brigadier General John P. Hatch, USA, are repulsed by a much smaller but well entrenched Southern force in a strong defensive position; the Yankees report 746 casualties while the Rebels lose only 47 men.
A boat expedition under the command of Acting Master Charles H. Cadieu, of the USS Midnight, landed at St. Andrew's Bay, Florida, destroyed a salt work and took several prisoners.
The USS Itasca, Lieutenant Commander George Brown in charge, seized the blockade running British schooner Carrie Mair off Pass Cavallo, Texas.
Benjamin Jefferson Hill, CSA, George Lafayette Beal, USA, and Henry Goddard Thomas, USA, are all appointed Brigadier General.
A brief skirmish breaks out near Dalton, Georgia.
In Georgia, Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals continued advancing, skirmishing at Louisville.
Skirmishes commenced at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, Snicker's Gap, Virginia, and at Kabletown, West Virginia.
President Jefferson Davis wrote to General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Confederate Military Division of the West (east of the Mississippi River), that Sherman “...may move directly for the Coast.” He urged Beauregard to concentrate all nearby Confederates to destroy Sherman’s army before it reached the coast. Davis, unaware of the defeat at Franklin today, thought Hood would have an impact on Federal strategy.
This post was edited on 11/29/14 at 10:12 pm
Posted on 12/1/14 at 4:53 am to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 1 December 1864
The Union troops of Major General John M. Schofield had successfully withdrawn from Franklin, Tennessee, after the battle yesterday--sometimes referred to as the Pickett's Charge of the West --and were now taking their places in the Nashville defense lines of strongly entrenched Major General George H. Thomas. The Federals formed a rough semi-circle south of the city with both flanks resting on the Cumberland River. Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s battered and weary Army of Tennessee quickly moved upon Nashville with little pause to take care of the casualties or reorganize after the fateful toll extracted at Franklin the previous day.
A little more than halfway between Atlanta and Savannah, Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s army faced little difficulty as they approached Millen, Georgia, the site of the largest prison camp for Northern soldiers ever constructed-Camp Lawton. It had, however, been deserted. Rumors abounded that the Federals were heading towards Andersonville, far to the southwest, to free the prisoners there.
In Washington, DC, James Speed of Kentucky was appointed Attorney General by President Abraham Lincoln, succeeding Edward Bates who had resigned.
A Federal expedition started down the Arkansas River to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A skirmish broke out near Cypress Creek, Perry County, Arkansas, with partisan guerrillas.
Another Federal expedition commenced against partisan guerrillas from Helena, Arkansas, to Friar's Point, Mississippi.
Operations concluded in the vicinity of Waynesville, Missouri, with a skirmish on the Big Piney, with partisan guerrillas.
Operations continued against Cheyenne Indians in the Nebraska Territory, with a skirmish 6 miles east of Plum Creek, with the Indians who attacked a wagon train.
The designation of the Federal Department of the Susquehanna is changed to the Department of Pennsylvania.
A Union expedition moves to Stony Creek Station, and skirmishes with Confederates, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
In order to cope with the powerful rifled batteries erected by Confederates along the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee, commanding the Mississippi Squadron, strengthened the forces of Lieutenant Commander Le Roy Fitch with the ironclads USS Neosho and USS Carondelet. Major General George Thomas, responsible for halting General Hood's advance at Nashville, wired Major General Henry W. Halleck this date: "I have two ironclads here, with several gunboats, and Commander Fitch assures me that Hood can neither cross the Cumberland or blockade it. I therefore think it best to wait here until Wilson can equip all his cavalry." In the coming battle, as in the whole Tennessee campaign, the Mississippi Squadron played a key role in covering Union armies, engaging shore batteries in support of troop movements, and insuring river lines of supply.
The USS Rhode Island, under Commander Stephen D. Trenchard, captured the blockade running British steamer Vixen off Cape Fear, North Carolina, with a cargo including arms.
The Union troops of Major General John M. Schofield had successfully withdrawn from Franklin, Tennessee, after the battle yesterday--sometimes referred to as the Pickett's Charge of the West --and were now taking their places in the Nashville defense lines of strongly entrenched Major General George H. Thomas. The Federals formed a rough semi-circle south of the city with both flanks resting on the Cumberland River. Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s battered and weary Army of Tennessee quickly moved upon Nashville with little pause to take care of the casualties or reorganize after the fateful toll extracted at Franklin the previous day.
A little more than halfway between Atlanta and Savannah, Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s army faced little difficulty as they approached Millen, Georgia, the site of the largest prison camp for Northern soldiers ever constructed-Camp Lawton. It had, however, been deserted. Rumors abounded that the Federals were heading towards Andersonville, far to the southwest, to free the prisoners there.
In Washington, DC, James Speed of Kentucky was appointed Attorney General by President Abraham Lincoln, succeeding Edward Bates who had resigned.
A Federal expedition started down the Arkansas River to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A skirmish broke out near Cypress Creek, Perry County, Arkansas, with partisan guerrillas.
Another Federal expedition commenced against partisan guerrillas from Helena, Arkansas, to Friar's Point, Mississippi.
Operations concluded in the vicinity of Waynesville, Missouri, with a skirmish on the Big Piney, with partisan guerrillas.
Operations continued against Cheyenne Indians in the Nebraska Territory, with a skirmish 6 miles east of Plum Creek, with the Indians who attacked a wagon train.
The designation of the Federal Department of the Susquehanna is changed to the Department of Pennsylvania.
A Union expedition moves to Stony Creek Station, and skirmishes with Confederates, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
In order to cope with the powerful rifled batteries erected by Confederates along the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee, commanding the Mississippi Squadron, strengthened the forces of Lieutenant Commander Le Roy Fitch with the ironclads USS Neosho and USS Carondelet. Major General George Thomas, responsible for halting General Hood's advance at Nashville, wired Major General Henry W. Halleck this date: "I have two ironclads here, with several gunboats, and Commander Fitch assures me that Hood can neither cross the Cumberland or blockade it. I therefore think it best to wait here until Wilson can equip all his cavalry." In the coming battle, as in the whole Tennessee campaign, the Mississippi Squadron played a key role in covering Union armies, engaging shore batteries in support of troop movements, and insuring river lines of supply.
The USS Rhode Island, under Commander Stephen D. Trenchard, captured the blockade running British steamer Vixen off Cape Fear, North Carolina, with a cargo including arms.
Posted on 12/1/14 at 9:11 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 2 December 1864
Advance units of Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee approached the Federal lines at Nashville, Tennessee, and then established their own lines south of the city. Hood ordered this offensive despite Nashville being one of the most heavily fortified cities on the continent. Federals formed a semicircle of defenses south of town, with both ends anchored on the Cumberland River.
Hood had informed Confederate officials at Richmond that he had won a great victory at Franklin, prompting Southern celebrations. However, those celebrations quickly ended when Southerners learned of the enormous casualties including 12 Southern Generals. It soon became clear that Franklin had been another terrible Confederate defeat. Federals claimed to have captured 33 battle flags and documented 22.
As the Confederates began approaching the Union lines outside Nashville, General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant wired George H. Thomas at Nashville: “You should attack before he (Hood) fortifies. You will now suffer incalculable injury upon your railroads if Hood is not speedily disposed of. Put forth, therefore, every possible exertion to attain this end. Should you get him to retreating, give him no peace.”
Federal Major General Granville Mellen Dodge was named to replace Major General William Starke Rosecrans as commander of the Department of Missouri. Rosecrans long had experienced difficulty with the various divided political forces in Missouri and had proven inept in the administration of his command.
The USS Pequot, under Lieutenant Commander Daniel Lawrence Braine, sighted the blockade running steamer Ella off the coast of South Carolina and pursued her for nearly seven hours before darkness halted the chase. Early in the morning, 3 December, the USS Emma, Acting Lieutenant Thomas Dunn in charge, sighted the Ella steering for the western bar of the Cape Fear River, and, attempting to intercept her, forced the runner aground near the light at Bald Head Point. Ships of the blockading squadron shelled the grounded Ella for two days before a boarding party commanded by Acting Ensign Isaac S. Sampson burned Ella on 5 December.
A joint Army-Navy expedition, including sailors from the USS Chicopee, Commander A.D. Harrell in charge, captured and burned a large quantity of Confederate supplies and equipment near Pitch Landing, on the Chowan River, North Carolina. In addition, a large quantity of cotton and over $17,000 in Confederate money and bonds were brought off.
Confederate Major General Sterling Price's command reaches Lanesport, Arkansas, ending his latest and last expedition into Missouri.
Skirmishes occur at Buck Head Creek and at Rocky Creek Church, Georgia, on the March to the Sea Campaign by Major General William T. Sherman.
Union Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood assumes the command of the 4th US Army Corps, because vice Major General David S. Stanley was wounded at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.
On this day, Confederate Brigadier General Archibald Gracie III is mortally wounded the day after his 32nd birthday, during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. He is killed in the trenches when an artillery shell explodes near him, as he observed the Yankee lines through his telescope.
Gracie was born in New York City in 1832 (his grandfather built Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York) and graduated from West Point in 1854. Although his family lived in the North, his father owned a business in Mobile, Alabama, that later became the Barings Bank of Mobile and Gracie moved there upon his resignation from the army in 1856. Gracie soon became an ardent supporter of the Southern cause, and was active in the Alabama state militia. In early 1861, before Alabama seceded from the Union, Gracie was ordered by the governor, Andrew B. Moore, to seize the federal arsenal at Mount Vernon.
Gracie joined the 3rd Alabama when hostilities erupted between North and South, and he served in Tennessee and Kentucky during the first part of the Civil War. He was part of General Edmund Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky in 1862, and his service earned him a promotion to brigadier general. He fought at Chickamauga and Chattanooga in 1863, and his brigade joined General James Longstreet for the campaign against Knoxville in November. Gracie was wounded at the Battle of Bean's Station--the last serious fighting in the Knoxville Campaign--on 15 December, but he continued with Longstreet back to Virginia when Longstreet rejoined Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
Gracie's command protected Richmond, Virginia, in the summer of 1864, and his leadership at Drewry's Bluff was instrumental in holding Union General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler's force at bay near the Confederate capital. Gracie fought during the siege of Petersburg for the rest of the year, and was recommended for promotion to major general. He was killed, however, before the rank was confirmed. Most of Gracie's family remained in the North, and his relatives arranged for transfer of his body to Union lines. He was buried in New York City.
Advance units of Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee approached the Federal lines at Nashville, Tennessee, and then established their own lines south of the city. Hood ordered this offensive despite Nashville being one of the most heavily fortified cities on the continent. Federals formed a semicircle of defenses south of town, with both ends anchored on the Cumberland River.
Hood had informed Confederate officials at Richmond that he had won a great victory at Franklin, prompting Southern celebrations. However, those celebrations quickly ended when Southerners learned of the enormous casualties including 12 Southern Generals. It soon became clear that Franklin had been another terrible Confederate defeat. Federals claimed to have captured 33 battle flags and documented 22.
As the Confederates began approaching the Union lines outside Nashville, General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant wired George H. Thomas at Nashville: “You should attack before he (Hood) fortifies. You will now suffer incalculable injury upon your railroads if Hood is not speedily disposed of. Put forth, therefore, every possible exertion to attain this end. Should you get him to retreating, give him no peace.”
Federal Major General Granville Mellen Dodge was named to replace Major General William Starke Rosecrans as commander of the Department of Missouri. Rosecrans long had experienced difficulty with the various divided political forces in Missouri and had proven inept in the administration of his command.
The USS Pequot, under Lieutenant Commander Daniel Lawrence Braine, sighted the blockade running steamer Ella off the coast of South Carolina and pursued her for nearly seven hours before darkness halted the chase. Early in the morning, 3 December, the USS Emma, Acting Lieutenant Thomas Dunn in charge, sighted the Ella steering for the western bar of the Cape Fear River, and, attempting to intercept her, forced the runner aground near the light at Bald Head Point. Ships of the blockading squadron shelled the grounded Ella for two days before a boarding party commanded by Acting Ensign Isaac S. Sampson burned Ella on 5 December.
A joint Army-Navy expedition, including sailors from the USS Chicopee, Commander A.D. Harrell in charge, captured and burned a large quantity of Confederate supplies and equipment near Pitch Landing, on the Chowan River, North Carolina. In addition, a large quantity of cotton and over $17,000 in Confederate money and bonds were brought off.
Confederate Major General Sterling Price's command reaches Lanesport, Arkansas, ending his latest and last expedition into Missouri.
Skirmishes occur at Buck Head Creek and at Rocky Creek Church, Georgia, on the March to the Sea Campaign by Major General William T. Sherman.
Union Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood assumes the command of the 4th US Army Corps, because vice Major General David S. Stanley was wounded at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.
On this day, Confederate Brigadier General Archibald Gracie III is mortally wounded the day after his 32nd birthday, during the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. He is killed in the trenches when an artillery shell explodes near him, as he observed the Yankee lines through his telescope.
Gracie was born in New York City in 1832 (his grandfather built Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York) and graduated from West Point in 1854. Although his family lived in the North, his father owned a business in Mobile, Alabama, that later became the Barings Bank of Mobile and Gracie moved there upon his resignation from the army in 1856. Gracie soon became an ardent supporter of the Southern cause, and was active in the Alabama state militia. In early 1861, before Alabama seceded from the Union, Gracie was ordered by the governor, Andrew B. Moore, to seize the federal arsenal at Mount Vernon.
Gracie joined the 3rd Alabama when hostilities erupted between North and South, and he served in Tennessee and Kentucky during the first part of the Civil War. He was part of General Edmund Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky in 1862, and his service earned him a promotion to brigadier general. He fought at Chickamauga and Chattanooga in 1863, and his brigade joined General James Longstreet for the campaign against Knoxville in November. Gracie was wounded at the Battle of Bean's Station--the last serious fighting in the Knoxville Campaign--on 15 December, but he continued with Longstreet back to Virginia when Longstreet rejoined Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
Gracie's command protected Richmond, Virginia, in the summer of 1864, and his leadership at Drewry's Bluff was instrumental in holding Union General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler's force at bay near the Confederate capital. Gracie fought during the siege of Petersburg for the rest of the year, and was recommended for promotion to major general. He was killed, however, before the rank was confirmed. Most of Gracie's family remained in the North, and his relatives arranged for transfer of his body to Union lines. He was buried in New York City.
Posted on 12/3/14 at 4:03 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday 3, December 1864
With the Yankees already dug in at Nashville, and Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederates entrenching in front of those defenses, that line was at a standstill, though Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant and Federal officials in Washington were urging Major General George H. Thomas to attack. But Thomas was biding his time, and waiting for more reinforcements to arrive.
All of Union Major General William T. Sherman’s corps in Georgia began to march toward Savannah on the Atlantic Coast. As they neared the ocean, the country grew more sandy and then tended to marshes and creeks. The soldiers lived off the country and the Bummers' reckless destruction of property continued almost unabated. Confederate opposition diminished. Late tonight, Confederate General Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry would attack troops guarding railroad wreckers at Waynesboro.
As Union pressure on Savannah mounted, the Squadron under Captain W.W. Hunter, CSN, played an increasing role in the defense of the city and the important railway above it. This date Hunter wrote Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, of the CSS Macon: "The Charleston and Savannah Railway Bridge at the Savannah River is a very important point to defend, and, should it become necessary, endeavor to be in position there to defend it. In order to do so, and also to patrol the Savannah River, watch carefully the state of the river, and do not be caught aground or be cut off from the position at the bridge."
In Washington, DC, President Abraham Lincoln worked on his annual message to Congress and discussed the possibility with key advisors about naming former Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Skirmishes occurred in Perry County, Arkansas, near New Madrid, Missouri, with small bands of partisan guerrillas, and at Thomas' Station, Georgia, along Sherman's route in the March to the Sea.
The 10th and the 18th US Army Corps are discontinued and the following are organized, and commanded by:
24th US Army Corps - Major General Edward O. C. Ord
25th US Army Corps - Major General Godfrey Weitzel
A boat expedition from the USS Nita, Stars and Stripes, Hendrick Hudson, Ariel, and Two Sisters, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Robert B. Smith, destroyed a large salt work at Rocky Point, a small island in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The USS Mackinaw, under Commander J.C. Beaumont, captured the schooner Mary at sea east off Charleston with a fine cargo of cotton, tobacco, and turpentine.
THe USS Moose, Lieutenant Commander Fitch in charge, USS Carondelet, piloted by Acting Master Charles W. Miller, USS Fairplay, under Acting Master George J. Groves, USS Reindeer, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Henry A. Glassford, and USS Silver Lake, Acting Master Joseph C. Coyle piloting, engaged field batteries on the Cumberland River near Bell's Mills, Tennessee, silenced them, and recaptured three transports taken by the Confederates the preceding day. Fitch and his gunboats, employed protecting Major General George Henry Thomas' right flank before Nashville, had started downriver on the night of 2 December after hearing that Confederate troops under Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest had erected a battery on the river at Bell's Mills. Fitch succeeded in surprising the batteries and a sharp engagement ensued. With visibility severely limited by darkness, smoke, and steam, small paddle-wheelers Moose and Reindeer and stern-wheeler Silver Lake nevertheless drove the Southern gunners from the bank. Carondelet and Fairplay passed below the batteries and after a short battle re-captured the three transports Prairie State, Prima Donna, and Magnet and many of the prisoners taken earlier from the transports. In addition, Fitch was able to return to Nashville with valuable intelligence on the composition and strength of Southern forces opposing Thomas' right flank, information which was to prove vital in the coming Battle for Nashville.
With the Yankees already dug in at Nashville, and Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederates entrenching in front of those defenses, that line was at a standstill, though Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant and Federal officials in Washington were urging Major General George H. Thomas to attack. But Thomas was biding his time, and waiting for more reinforcements to arrive.
All of Union Major General William T. Sherman’s corps in Georgia began to march toward Savannah on the Atlantic Coast. As they neared the ocean, the country grew more sandy and then tended to marshes and creeks. The soldiers lived off the country and the Bummers' reckless destruction of property continued almost unabated. Confederate opposition diminished. Late tonight, Confederate General Joseph Wheeler’s cavalry would attack troops guarding railroad wreckers at Waynesboro.
As Union pressure on Savannah mounted, the Squadron under Captain W.W. Hunter, CSN, played an increasing role in the defense of the city and the important railway above it. This date Hunter wrote Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, of the CSS Macon: "The Charleston and Savannah Railway Bridge at the Savannah River is a very important point to defend, and, should it become necessary, endeavor to be in position there to defend it. In order to do so, and also to patrol the Savannah River, watch carefully the state of the river, and do not be caught aground or be cut off from the position at the bridge."
In Washington, DC, President Abraham Lincoln worked on his annual message to Congress and discussed the possibility with key advisors about naming former Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Skirmishes occurred in Perry County, Arkansas, near New Madrid, Missouri, with small bands of partisan guerrillas, and at Thomas' Station, Georgia, along Sherman's route in the March to the Sea.
The 10th and the 18th US Army Corps are discontinued and the following are organized, and commanded by:
24th US Army Corps - Major General Edward O. C. Ord
25th US Army Corps - Major General Godfrey Weitzel
A boat expedition from the USS Nita, Stars and Stripes, Hendrick Hudson, Ariel, and Two Sisters, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Robert B. Smith, destroyed a large salt work at Rocky Point, a small island in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The USS Mackinaw, under Commander J.C. Beaumont, captured the schooner Mary at sea east off Charleston with a fine cargo of cotton, tobacco, and turpentine.
THe USS Moose, Lieutenant Commander Fitch in charge, USS Carondelet, piloted by Acting Master Charles W. Miller, USS Fairplay, under Acting Master George J. Groves, USS Reindeer, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Henry A. Glassford, and USS Silver Lake, Acting Master Joseph C. Coyle piloting, engaged field batteries on the Cumberland River near Bell's Mills, Tennessee, silenced them, and recaptured three transports taken by the Confederates the preceding day. Fitch and his gunboats, employed protecting Major General George Henry Thomas' right flank before Nashville, had started downriver on the night of 2 December after hearing that Confederate troops under Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest had erected a battery on the river at Bell's Mills. Fitch succeeded in surprising the batteries and a sharp engagement ensued. With visibility severely limited by darkness, smoke, and steam, small paddle-wheelers Moose and Reindeer and stern-wheeler Silver Lake nevertheless drove the Southern gunners from the bank. Carondelet and Fairplay passed below the batteries and after a short battle re-captured the three transports Prairie State, Prima Donna, and Magnet and many of the prisoners taken earlier from the transports. In addition, Fitch was able to return to Nashville with valuable intelligence on the composition and strength of Southern forces opposing Thomas' right flank, information which was to prove vital in the coming Battle for Nashville.
Posted on 12/3/14 at 8:37 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 4 December 1864
Skirmishing occurred at Waynesboro, Statesboro, Lumpkins Station and at the Little Ogeechee River, all in Georgia, and at Station No. 5 on the Georgia Central Railroad.
Other skirmishes were fought at White’s Station near Memphis, Tennessee, where Union advance guards and flankers charge after withdrawing Rebels, only to find themselves surrounded and made prisoners and Bell’s Mills, Tennessee; on the New Texas Road near Morganza, Louisiana, as Confederates dressed in Federal uniforms fire on the Union pickets; near Davenport Church, Virginia; and Federals fought Indians on Cow Creek, 15 miles east of Fort Zarah, Kansas, as the Indians attack and capture a 6-mule team and wagon loaded with ammunition for the Fort.
William T. Sherman marched his army across Georgia in November and December of 1864, destroying nearly everything in their path. Sherman sent Judson Kilpatrick to Waynesboro in the hope that the Union cavalry could threaten nearby Augusta, Georgia, and divert Confederate attention from Sherman's true goal, Savannah. Beginning on November 27, Joseph Wheeler pursued Kilpatrick between Waynesboro and Millen, the site of a Confederate prison that Kilpatrick hoped to liberate. During the campaign, Wheeler pecked at Kilpatrick's force and nearly captured the Union commander in an early morning raid.
The last of the fighting came in Waynesboro. With Sherman's army safely past, Kilpatrick evacuated the area. Wheeler killed or wounded some 830 Yankee troopers and lost only 240 of his own.
Even though Kilpatrick found the prison near Millen evacuated, but the campaign had achieved the true Union objective: Sherman marched unmolested to the sea.
On this day in 1864, eight days of cavalry clashes in Georgia come to an end when Union General Judson Kilpatrick and Confederate General Joseph Wheeler skirmish for a final time at Waynesboro. Although the Rebels inflicted more than three times as many casualties as the Yankees, the campaign was considered a success by the Union because it screened Wheeler from the main Union force as it marched to Savannah, Georgia, on General William T. Sherman's famous March to the Sea.
James Monroe Goggin, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Major General Dabny Herndon Maury, CSA, commanding troops at Mobile, Alabama, wired Secretary of War James Alexander Seddon: "Farragut has gone North. The Hartford and other heavy vessels have disappeared from down bay." Maury also commented on John P. Halligan, builder of torpedo boat Saint Patrick.' "Halligan, recently appointed lieutenant, has not yet used his torpedo boat. I do not believe he ever will. His boat is reported a most valuable invention." Next day, Maury wrote Commodore Ebenezer Farrand, commanding naval forces at Mobile: "Every opportunity and facility having been afforded Mr. Halligan to enable him to use his boat against the enemy, and he evidently not being a proper man to conduct such an enterprise, please order a suitable officer of your command to take charge of the Saint Patrick at once and attack without unnecessary delay." In January 1865, the Saint Patrick was transferred to Maury's authority and an energetic young naval officer, Lieutenant John T. Walker, put in command.
The CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredall Waddell, captured and burned the whaling bark Edward off Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic. Waddell recorded in his journal: "Her outfit was of excellent quality, and I lay by her two days supplying the steamer with deficiencies...Two of her boats were flew, and took the place of my old and worthless ones."
The USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade, captured the schooner Lowood south of Velasco, Texas, with a cargo of cotton. Calling Lowood "...a notorious blockade runner...", Meade said: "We had been watching this schooner for some time and finally laid a trap for her, which has proved successful."
The USS Pembina, Lieutenant Commander James G. Maxwell in charge, seized the blockade running Dutch brig Geziena Hilligonda near Brazos Santiago, Texas, with cargo including medicines, iron, and cloth.
Boats from the USS Pursuit, Acting Lieutenant George Taylor piloting, captured the Peep O'Day near Indian River, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The USS R.R. Cuyler, Commander Caldwell in charge, USS Mackinaw, under Commander Beaumont, and USS Gettysburg, piloted by Lieutenant R. H. Lamson, captured the blockade running steamer Armstrong at sea (33 degrees N., 78 degrees W.). Cuyler and Gettysburg, joined by USS Montgomery, picked up a number of bales of cotton thrown over by Armstrong during the chase. Mackinaw had earlier in the day captured brig Hattie E. Wheeler with a cargo of sugar.
Skirmishing occurred at Waynesboro, Statesboro, Lumpkins Station and at the Little Ogeechee River, all in Georgia, and at Station No. 5 on the Georgia Central Railroad.
Other skirmishes were fought at White’s Station near Memphis, Tennessee, where Union advance guards and flankers charge after withdrawing Rebels, only to find themselves surrounded and made prisoners and Bell’s Mills, Tennessee; on the New Texas Road near Morganza, Louisiana, as Confederates dressed in Federal uniforms fire on the Union pickets; near Davenport Church, Virginia; and Federals fought Indians on Cow Creek, 15 miles east of Fort Zarah, Kansas, as the Indians attack and capture a 6-mule team and wagon loaded with ammunition for the Fort.
William T. Sherman marched his army across Georgia in November and December of 1864, destroying nearly everything in their path. Sherman sent Judson Kilpatrick to Waynesboro in the hope that the Union cavalry could threaten nearby Augusta, Georgia, and divert Confederate attention from Sherman's true goal, Savannah. Beginning on November 27, Joseph Wheeler pursued Kilpatrick between Waynesboro and Millen, the site of a Confederate prison that Kilpatrick hoped to liberate. During the campaign, Wheeler pecked at Kilpatrick's force and nearly captured the Union commander in an early morning raid.
The last of the fighting came in Waynesboro. With Sherman's army safely past, Kilpatrick evacuated the area. Wheeler killed or wounded some 830 Yankee troopers and lost only 240 of his own.
Even though Kilpatrick found the prison near Millen evacuated, but the campaign had achieved the true Union objective: Sherman marched unmolested to the sea.
On this day in 1864, eight days of cavalry clashes in Georgia come to an end when Union General Judson Kilpatrick and Confederate General Joseph Wheeler skirmish for a final time at Waynesboro. Although the Rebels inflicted more than three times as many casualties as the Yankees, the campaign was considered a success by the Union because it screened Wheeler from the main Union force as it marched to Savannah, Georgia, on General William T. Sherman's famous March to the Sea.
James Monroe Goggin, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Major General Dabny Herndon Maury, CSA, commanding troops at Mobile, Alabama, wired Secretary of War James Alexander Seddon: "Farragut has gone North. The Hartford and other heavy vessels have disappeared from down bay." Maury also commented on John P. Halligan, builder of torpedo boat Saint Patrick.' "Halligan, recently appointed lieutenant, has not yet used his torpedo boat. I do not believe he ever will. His boat is reported a most valuable invention." Next day, Maury wrote Commodore Ebenezer Farrand, commanding naval forces at Mobile: "Every opportunity and facility having been afforded Mr. Halligan to enable him to use his boat against the enemy, and he evidently not being a proper man to conduct such an enterprise, please order a suitable officer of your command to take charge of the Saint Patrick at once and attack without unnecessary delay." In January 1865, the Saint Patrick was transferred to Maury's authority and an energetic young naval officer, Lieutenant John T. Walker, put in command.
The CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredall Waddell, captured and burned the whaling bark Edward off Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic. Waddell recorded in his journal: "Her outfit was of excellent quality, and I lay by her two days supplying the steamer with deficiencies...Two of her boats were flew, and took the place of my old and worthless ones."
The USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade, captured the schooner Lowood south of Velasco, Texas, with a cargo of cotton. Calling Lowood "...a notorious blockade runner...", Meade said: "We had been watching this schooner for some time and finally laid a trap for her, which has proved successful."
The USS Pembina, Lieutenant Commander James G. Maxwell in charge, seized the blockade running Dutch brig Geziena Hilligonda near Brazos Santiago, Texas, with cargo including medicines, iron, and cloth.
Boats from the USS Pursuit, Acting Lieutenant George Taylor piloting, captured the Peep O'Day near Indian River, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The USS R.R. Cuyler, Commander Caldwell in charge, USS Mackinaw, under Commander Beaumont, and USS Gettysburg, piloted by Lieutenant R. H. Lamson, captured the blockade running steamer Armstrong at sea (33 degrees N., 78 degrees W.). Cuyler and Gettysburg, joined by USS Montgomery, picked up a number of bales of cotton thrown over by Armstrong during the chase. Mackinaw had earlier in the day captured brig Hattie E. Wheeler with a cargo of sugar.
Posted on 12/4/14 at 9:14 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 5 December 1864
At Nashville, Tennessee, Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood sent Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry and a division of infantry towards Murfreesboro. After demonstrating and fighting against Union Major General Lovell H. Rousseau for three days, Forrest returns back in the direction of Nashville.
Minor skirmishing occurs at the Little Ogeechee River and 1.5 miles from Dalton, both in Georgia, as the Confederates try to contest Sherman's March. At Dalton, the Rebels manage to capture 30 Federals and cut the telegraph lines before retreating.
A Confederate force under Acting Master William A. Hines, CSN, captured the tug Lizzie Freeman, as they went to Aiken's Island to procure paving stones. The tug was taken while towing the barge, Zimmerman, by boarding near Smithfield, Virginia. The daring raid took place shortly before midnight while the Union tug, with two Army officers on board, lay at anchor. The crew was captured and paroled by the Rebels.
In his fourth annual report to the President, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles noted the great impact on the Confederacy made by Union seapower. Of the tireless blockaders he wrote: "The blockade of a coast line...greater in extent than the whole coast of Europe from Cape Trafalgar to Cape North, is an undertaking without precedent in history." Welles observed that while successful runs through the blockade brought huge profits, "...the blockade has not been violated with impunity. Heavy losses have befallen most of those who have been engaged in the illicit trade. Sixty-five steamers, the aggregate value of which, with their cargoes, will scarcely fall short of thirteen millions of dollars, have been captured or destroyed in endeavoring to enter or escape from Wilmington. Over fifty such results have occurred since Rear-Admiral Dahlgren anchored his monitor inside of Charleston bar and closed that port to commerce." By this date the United States Navy, consisting of only 42 ships on active duty in March 1861, had grown to 671 ships mounting more than 4,600 guns. A total of 203 ships had been built for the naval service since March 1861, including 62 ironclads. This growing force had ringed the South with an increasingly close blockade which by December 1864 had taken nearly 1,400 prizes. In addition, the Secretary noted four ships had been lost to the Southern naval cause in the course of the year: the commerce raiders Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, and the fearsome ram Albemarle. Moreover, the last major Gulf port had been closed with the Union victory at Mobile Bay. The fierce engagement, Welles wrote, was one which "...in many respects [is] one of the most remarkable on record, and which added new luster even to the renown of Rear-Admiral Farragut..."
The USS Chocura, Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade in charge, seized the blockade running British schooner Julia south of Velasco, Texas, with a cargo including bar iron, medicines, cotton bagging, and rope.
The naval landing force under Commander George H. Preble participated in heavy fighting around Tulifinny Crossroads, Georgia, while Federal troops attempted to cut the Savannah-Charleston Railway and join with the advancing forces of General Sherman. The Naval Brigade was withdrawn from Boyd's Landing, Broad River, on 5 December, and while Union gunboats, made a feint against the Coosawwatchie River fortifications, soldiers and sailors landed up the nearby Tulifinny River. During the next four days, the versatile naval brigade participated in a series of nearly continuous heavy actions, though plagued by rain and swampy terrain. Union forces advanced close enough to the strategic railway to shell it but failed to destroy it.
The Monitors USS Saugus, Onondaga, Mahopac, and Canonicus participated in a lively engagement with strong shore batteries at Howlett's, James River, Virginia. The Saugus received a solid 7-inch shot which disabled her turret.
The second session of the Thirty-eighth U.S. Congress assembled in Washington, DC. The Radical Republican majority in the House of Representatives barred elected legislators from Arkansas and Louisiana from taking their seats. The Southerners had been sent to Washington according to the terms of President Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction issued in December 1863.
At Nashville, Tennessee, Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood sent Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry and a division of infantry towards Murfreesboro. After demonstrating and fighting against Union Major General Lovell H. Rousseau for three days, Forrest returns back in the direction of Nashville.
Minor skirmishing occurs at the Little Ogeechee River and 1.5 miles from Dalton, both in Georgia, as the Confederates try to contest Sherman's March. At Dalton, the Rebels manage to capture 30 Federals and cut the telegraph lines before retreating.
A Confederate force under Acting Master William A. Hines, CSN, captured the tug Lizzie Freeman, as they went to Aiken's Island to procure paving stones. The tug was taken while towing the barge, Zimmerman, by boarding near Smithfield, Virginia. The daring raid took place shortly before midnight while the Union tug, with two Army officers on board, lay at anchor. The crew was captured and paroled by the Rebels.
In his fourth annual report to the President, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles noted the great impact on the Confederacy made by Union seapower. Of the tireless blockaders he wrote: "The blockade of a coast line...greater in extent than the whole coast of Europe from Cape Trafalgar to Cape North, is an undertaking without precedent in history." Welles observed that while successful runs through the blockade brought huge profits, "...the blockade has not been violated with impunity. Heavy losses have befallen most of those who have been engaged in the illicit trade. Sixty-five steamers, the aggregate value of which, with their cargoes, will scarcely fall short of thirteen millions of dollars, have been captured or destroyed in endeavoring to enter or escape from Wilmington. Over fifty such results have occurred since Rear-Admiral Dahlgren anchored his monitor inside of Charleston bar and closed that port to commerce." By this date the United States Navy, consisting of only 42 ships on active duty in March 1861, had grown to 671 ships mounting more than 4,600 guns. A total of 203 ships had been built for the naval service since March 1861, including 62 ironclads. This growing force had ringed the South with an increasingly close blockade which by December 1864 had taken nearly 1,400 prizes. In addition, the Secretary noted four ships had been lost to the Southern naval cause in the course of the year: the commerce raiders Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, and the fearsome ram Albemarle. Moreover, the last major Gulf port had been closed with the Union victory at Mobile Bay. The fierce engagement, Welles wrote, was one which "...in many respects [is] one of the most remarkable on record, and which added new luster even to the renown of Rear-Admiral Farragut..."
The USS Chocura, Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade in charge, seized the blockade running British schooner Julia south of Velasco, Texas, with a cargo including bar iron, medicines, cotton bagging, and rope.
The naval landing force under Commander George H. Preble participated in heavy fighting around Tulifinny Crossroads, Georgia, while Federal troops attempted to cut the Savannah-Charleston Railway and join with the advancing forces of General Sherman. The Naval Brigade was withdrawn from Boyd's Landing, Broad River, on 5 December, and while Union gunboats, made a feint against the Coosawwatchie River fortifications, soldiers and sailors landed up the nearby Tulifinny River. During the next four days, the versatile naval brigade participated in a series of nearly continuous heavy actions, though plagued by rain and swampy terrain. Union forces advanced close enough to the strategic railway to shell it but failed to destroy it.
The Monitors USS Saugus, Onondaga, Mahopac, and Canonicus participated in a lively engagement with strong shore batteries at Howlett's, James River, Virginia. The Saugus received a solid 7-inch shot which disabled her turret.
The second session of the Thirty-eighth U.S. Congress assembled in Washington, DC. The Radical Republican majority in the House of Representatives barred elected legislators from Arkansas and Louisiana from taking their seats. The Southerners had been sent to Washington according to the terms of President Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction issued in December 1863.
Posted on 12/4/14 at 10:03 pm to BadLeroyDawg
I'm gonna take a Civil War History class just so I can cite this thread in a paper.
Website
Dawg, BadLeroy; 150 years ago this day; SECRANT/OTB; Bitches!
Website
Dawg, BadLeroy; 150 years ago this day; SECRANT/OTB; Bitches!
Posted on 12/5/14 at 7:31 pm to five_fivesix
Lemme know five_fivesix when you enroll and where. May want to audit it...
Posted on 12/5/14 at 7:31 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday December 6, 1864
Former Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase was named Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, succeeding the deceased Roger B. Taney. Although President Abraham Lincoln had difficulties with Chase during his Cabinet years, the President placed Chase at the head of the list for the Supreme Court vacancy since Taney’s death.
Following the custom of the day, Lincoln submitted his annual message to Congress, where it was read to the highly interested members, for all were aware of the momentous questions of War and Reconstruction facing the Union. Lincoln noted that higher taxes were needed to finance the ever burgeoning $1.74 billion war debt. The President also pointed to growing immigration and industry by stating, “The important fact remains demonstrated that we have more men now than we had when the war began...that we are gaining strength, and may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely...”
According to Lincoln, the November elections indicated that the war must continue until the Union was restored. He requested that Congress reconsider passing the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery; the amendment had passed the Senate but failed in the House of Representatives.
The message also included a satisfactory assessment of the restoration of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee to the U.S. The Radical Republican majority had refused to seat congressmen from these states because they were restored according to Lincoln’s reconstruction plan, which had not been approved by Congress. Lincoln acknowledged he had no authority to decide the legitimacy of congressional membership.
Lincoln concluded: “In stating a single condition of peace I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it.”
Union Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant issued new orders to Major General George H. Thomas at Nashville in which Thomas was to attack Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood posthaste: “Attack Hood at once and wait no longer for remount of your cavalry. There is great danger of delay resulting in a campaign back to the Ohio River.” Thomas replied that attacking would be dangerous without sufficient cavalry.
A Federal expedition travels about 84 miles from Brownsville to Des Arc, Arkansas, with a skirmish near Des Arc.
Federal demonstrations begin against the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, South Carolina, Major General Samuel Jones, CSA, commanding the District of South Carolina, defending. The Confederates at a roughly 5000-900 disadvantage in troops, fight fearlessly. The ensuing Battle of Tulifinny becomes a three day engagement fought 6–9 December during General Sherman's Savannah Campaign. Outnumbered over 5-1, a ragtag Confederate force successfully defends a critical section of the Charleston-Savannah railroad allowing troops and supplies from Savannah to be evacuated. The battle was historically significant because it was one of the rare occasions when United States Marines fought in combat during the War Between the States. In addition, the Confederate forces included the entire Corps of Cadets from the South Carolina Military Academy (now The Citadel) who comprised more than a third of the Southern force. It is also the only occasion when the entire student body of an American college fought in combat.
Action occurred at Bell's Mills, Tennessee, between the Union naval flotilla comprised of the Federal gunboat, USS Neosho, and the steamers, USS Fairplay, USS Moose and the USS Silver Lake, and Confederate shore batteries, with little damage to the Union vessels.
The USS Neosho, under Acting Lieutenant Howard, with Lieutenant Commander Fitch embarked, with the three small steamers USS Fairplay, Silver Lake, and Moose and several army transports in company, moved down the Cumberland River from Nashville and engaged Confederate batteries near Bell's Mills, Tennessee. With ironclad Neosho in the lead and lightly protected ships to the rear, Fitch steamed slowly up and single-handedly engaged the Southern artillery. As the gallant officer reported later: "I had also great faith in the endurance of the Neosho, and therefore chose this position [directly in front of the main Confederate battery] as the most favorable one to test her strength and at the same time use canister and grape at 20 to 30 yards range. Our fire was slow and deliberate, but soon had the effect to scatter the enemy's sharpshooters and infantry, but owing to the elevated position of the batteries directly over us we could do but little injury. The enemy's fire was terrific, and in a very few minutes everything perishable on our decks was completely demolished." After holding his position for about two and a half hours, Fitch withdrew upstream, and aware that his lighter-armed vessels would not survive a passage of the batteries, returned with them to Nashville. During this fierce action, Quartermaster John Ditzenback, seeing Neosho's ensign shot away by the concentrated Southern fire, coolly left the pilot house, and, despite the deadly shot raking Neosho's decks, took the flag which was drooping over the wheelhouse and made it fast to the stump of the highest mast remaining. For this courageous act Ditzenback was awarded the Medal of Honor. Later in the day, Fitch in the Neosho joined by Carondelet again engaged the batteries, and, choosing a different firing position disabled some of the Confederate guns. Attesting to the endurance of Neosho under fire, Fitch was able to report to Rear Admiral Lee: "During the day the Neosho was struck over a hundred times, but received no injury whatever."
Grant wrote Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler regarding the objectives of the proposed joint expedition against Wilmington, one of the most ambitious of the war: "The first object of the expedition under General Weitzel is to close the port of Wilmington. If successful in this, the second will be to capture Wilmington itself...The object of the expedition will be gained by effecting a landing on the mainland between Cape Fear River and the Atlantic north of the north entrance to the river, then the troops should intrench themselves, and by cooperating with the Navy effect a reduction and capture of those places. These in our hands, the Navy could enter the harbor and the port of Wilmington would be sealed."
The USS Chocura, Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade in charge, seized blockade running British schooner Lady Hurley off Velasco, Texas, with cargo including bar iron, steel, salt, and medicines. Lady Hurley, according to Meade was the "...consort to the Carrie Mair, captured by the Itasca few days since off Pass Cavallo." She was the third prize taken by Meade in as many days as the Union naval forces pulled ever tighter the blockade of the Texas coast.
USS Princess Royal, Commander Melancthon Brooks Woolsey piloting, captured blockade running schooner Alabama after forcing her aground near San Luis Pass, Texas. Her crew abandoned ship, Woolsey's boarding party worked her free and took the prize to Galveston. Her cargo included iron bars, rope, flour, and soda.
The USS Sunflower, under Acting Master Charles Loring, III, seized blockade running sloop Pickwick off St. George's Sound, Florida.
Former Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase was named Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, succeeding the deceased Roger B. Taney. Although President Abraham Lincoln had difficulties with Chase during his Cabinet years, the President placed Chase at the head of the list for the Supreme Court vacancy since Taney’s death.
Following the custom of the day, Lincoln submitted his annual message to Congress, where it was read to the highly interested members, for all were aware of the momentous questions of War and Reconstruction facing the Union. Lincoln noted that higher taxes were needed to finance the ever burgeoning $1.74 billion war debt. The President also pointed to growing immigration and industry by stating, “The important fact remains demonstrated that we have more men now than we had when the war began...that we are gaining strength, and may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely...”
According to Lincoln, the November elections indicated that the war must continue until the Union was restored. He requested that Congress reconsider passing the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery; the amendment had passed the Senate but failed in the House of Representatives.
The message also included a satisfactory assessment of the restoration of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee to the U.S. The Radical Republican majority had refused to seat congressmen from these states because they were restored according to Lincoln’s reconstruction plan, which had not been approved by Congress. Lincoln acknowledged he had no authority to decide the legitimacy of congressional membership.
Lincoln concluded: “In stating a single condition of peace I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it.”
Union Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant issued new orders to Major General George H. Thomas at Nashville in which Thomas was to attack Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood posthaste: “Attack Hood at once and wait no longer for remount of your cavalry. There is great danger of delay resulting in a campaign back to the Ohio River.” Thomas replied that attacking would be dangerous without sufficient cavalry.
A Federal expedition travels about 84 miles from Brownsville to Des Arc, Arkansas, with a skirmish near Des Arc.
Federal demonstrations begin against the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, South Carolina, Major General Samuel Jones, CSA, commanding the District of South Carolina, defending. The Confederates at a roughly 5000-900 disadvantage in troops, fight fearlessly. The ensuing Battle of Tulifinny becomes a three day engagement fought 6–9 December during General Sherman's Savannah Campaign. Outnumbered over 5-1, a ragtag Confederate force successfully defends a critical section of the Charleston-Savannah railroad allowing troops and supplies from Savannah to be evacuated. The battle was historically significant because it was one of the rare occasions when United States Marines fought in combat during the War Between the States. In addition, the Confederate forces included the entire Corps of Cadets from the South Carolina Military Academy (now The Citadel) who comprised more than a third of the Southern force. It is also the only occasion when the entire student body of an American college fought in combat.
Action occurred at Bell's Mills, Tennessee, between the Union naval flotilla comprised of the Federal gunboat, USS Neosho, and the steamers, USS Fairplay, USS Moose and the USS Silver Lake, and Confederate shore batteries, with little damage to the Union vessels.
The USS Neosho, under Acting Lieutenant Howard, with Lieutenant Commander Fitch embarked, with the three small steamers USS Fairplay, Silver Lake, and Moose and several army transports in company, moved down the Cumberland River from Nashville and engaged Confederate batteries near Bell's Mills, Tennessee. With ironclad Neosho in the lead and lightly protected ships to the rear, Fitch steamed slowly up and single-handedly engaged the Southern artillery. As the gallant officer reported later: "I had also great faith in the endurance of the Neosho, and therefore chose this position [directly in front of the main Confederate battery] as the most favorable one to test her strength and at the same time use canister and grape at 20 to 30 yards range. Our fire was slow and deliberate, but soon had the effect to scatter the enemy's sharpshooters and infantry, but owing to the elevated position of the batteries directly over us we could do but little injury. The enemy's fire was terrific, and in a very few minutes everything perishable on our decks was completely demolished." After holding his position for about two and a half hours, Fitch withdrew upstream, and aware that his lighter-armed vessels would not survive a passage of the batteries, returned with them to Nashville. During this fierce action, Quartermaster John Ditzenback, seeing Neosho's ensign shot away by the concentrated Southern fire, coolly left the pilot house, and, despite the deadly shot raking Neosho's decks, took the flag which was drooping over the wheelhouse and made it fast to the stump of the highest mast remaining. For this courageous act Ditzenback was awarded the Medal of Honor. Later in the day, Fitch in the Neosho joined by Carondelet again engaged the batteries, and, choosing a different firing position disabled some of the Confederate guns. Attesting to the endurance of Neosho under fire, Fitch was able to report to Rear Admiral Lee: "During the day the Neosho was struck over a hundred times, but received no injury whatever."
Grant wrote Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler regarding the objectives of the proposed joint expedition against Wilmington, one of the most ambitious of the war: "The first object of the expedition under General Weitzel is to close the port of Wilmington. If successful in this, the second will be to capture Wilmington itself...The object of the expedition will be gained by effecting a landing on the mainland between Cape Fear River and the Atlantic north of the north entrance to the river, then the troops should intrench themselves, and by cooperating with the Navy effect a reduction and capture of those places. These in our hands, the Navy could enter the harbor and the port of Wilmington would be sealed."
The USS Chocura, Lieutenant Commander Richard Worsam Meade in charge, seized blockade running British schooner Lady Hurley off Velasco, Texas, with cargo including bar iron, steel, salt, and medicines. Lady Hurley, according to Meade was the "...consort to the Carrie Mair, captured by the Itasca few days since off Pass Cavallo." She was the third prize taken by Meade in as many days as the Union naval forces pulled ever tighter the blockade of the Texas coast.
USS Princess Royal, Commander Melancthon Brooks Woolsey piloting, captured blockade running schooner Alabama after forcing her aground near San Luis Pass, Texas. Her crew abandoned ship, Woolsey's boarding party worked her free and took the prize to Galveston. Her cargo included iron bars, rope, flour, and soda.
The USS Sunflower, under Acting Master Charles Loring, III, seized blockade running sloop Pickwick off St. George's Sound, Florida.
This post was edited on 12/6/14 at 5:14 am
Posted on 12/6/14 at 8:00 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 7 December 1864
Union Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant informs Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton that if George H. Thomas does not attack Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood immediately, Thomas should be removed from command.
Troops, supplies, and ships begin gathering at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in preparation for an expedition south to Fort Fisher in North Carolina. Fort Fisher was protecting Wilmington, the last major Confederate seaport open to blockade-runners. Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler commanded the army, and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter commanded the navy.
Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Federals moved closer to Savannah, Georgia, and skirmish at various points, including Buck Creek, at Cypress Swamp, near Sister's Ferry, and at Jenks' Bridge, Ogeechee River.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates skirmished at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
A brief skirmish breaks out near Paint Rock Bridge in Alabama.
Federal expeditions run from Brownsville to Arkansas Post, and from Devalls Bluff to Augusta, Arkansas.
An affair occurs at Moselle Bridge, on the Southwest Branch Pacific Railroad, near Franklin, Missouri, as a lone Confederate partisan is instantly killed, shot dead with 6 rifle balls passing through him, as he tried to burn the bridge.
A Union expedition commences to Hicksford, Virginia, and skirmishes with Confederate cavalry. There, at Village View, a stately Federal-style mansion, which was built about 1795 by James Wall and remodeled in 1823 by Nathaniel Land. It is notable for its elaborate scrollwork in the fanlight and sidelights around the front door, ornately carved mantels, decorative interior moldings, and massive hewn beams. During Civil War engagements at Hicksford, 7-12 December, Confederate Major Generals W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee and Wade Hampton, attended by Village View owner Captain William H. Briggs, met at the house to discuss strategy.
The USS Narcissus, under Acting Ensign William G. Jones, struck a Confederate torpedo in a heavy storm while lying off the city of Mobile. Jones reported: "...the vessel struck a torpedo, which exploded, lifting her nearly out of water and breaking out a large hole in the starboard side, amidships...causing the vessel to sink in about fifteen minutes." The tug went down without loss of life and was raised later in the month. Mobile Bay was in Union hands, but Southern torpedoes took a heavy toll of Northern ships.
The blockade running steamer Stormy Petrel was chased ashore and fired upon by gunboats of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron while attempting to enter Wilmington. The Stormy Petrel was totally destroyed a few days later by a gale. In his report of the incident, Rear Admiral David D. Porter remarked: "Within the last fifty days we have captured and destroyed $5,500,000 worth of enemy's property in blockade runners. To submit to these losses and still run the blockade shows the immense gains the runners make and the straits the enemy are in."
Union Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant informs Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton that if George H. Thomas does not attack Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood immediately, Thomas should be removed from command.
Troops, supplies, and ships begin gathering at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in preparation for an expedition south to Fort Fisher in North Carolina. Fort Fisher was protecting Wilmington, the last major Confederate seaport open to blockade-runners. Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler commanded the army, and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter commanded the navy.
Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Federals moved closer to Savannah, Georgia, and skirmish at various points, including Buck Creek, at Cypress Swamp, near Sister's Ferry, and at Jenks' Bridge, Ogeechee River.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates skirmished at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
A brief skirmish breaks out near Paint Rock Bridge in Alabama.
Federal expeditions run from Brownsville to Arkansas Post, and from Devalls Bluff to Augusta, Arkansas.
An affair occurs at Moselle Bridge, on the Southwest Branch Pacific Railroad, near Franklin, Missouri, as a lone Confederate partisan is instantly killed, shot dead with 6 rifle balls passing through him, as he tried to burn the bridge.
A Union expedition commences to Hicksford, Virginia, and skirmishes with Confederate cavalry. There, at Village View, a stately Federal-style mansion, which was built about 1795 by James Wall and remodeled in 1823 by Nathaniel Land. It is notable for its elaborate scrollwork in the fanlight and sidelights around the front door, ornately carved mantels, decorative interior moldings, and massive hewn beams. During Civil War engagements at Hicksford, 7-12 December, Confederate Major Generals W. H. F. "Rooney" Lee and Wade Hampton, attended by Village View owner Captain William H. Briggs, met at the house to discuss strategy.
The USS Narcissus, under Acting Ensign William G. Jones, struck a Confederate torpedo in a heavy storm while lying off the city of Mobile. Jones reported: "...the vessel struck a torpedo, which exploded, lifting her nearly out of water and breaking out a large hole in the starboard side, amidships...causing the vessel to sink in about fifteen minutes." The tug went down without loss of life and was raised later in the month. Mobile Bay was in Union hands, but Southern torpedoes took a heavy toll of Northern ships.
The blockade running steamer Stormy Petrel was chased ashore and fired upon by gunboats of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron while attempting to enter Wilmington. The Stormy Petrel was totally destroyed a few days later by a gale. In his report of the incident, Rear Admiral David D. Porter remarked: "Within the last fifty days we have captured and destroyed $5,500,000 worth of enemy's property in blockade runners. To submit to these losses and still run the blockade shows the immense gains the runners make and the straits the enemy are in."
This post was edited on 12/7/14 at 9:45 am
Posted on 12/6/14 at 8:21 pm to BadLeroyDawg
whoah
Posted on 12/6/14 at 8:35 pm to BadLeroyDawg
It really bothers me that your posts are a day ahead
Posted on 12/7/14 at 9:43 am to BowlJackson
Not always, BowlJackson, but when they are usually only a couple of hours before midnight. Lots of the action carried over from night into morning as well. Thanks for the feedback.
Posted on 12/7/14 at 9:27 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 8 December 1864
Union Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler and over 6,500 Union soldiers are transported down the James River to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, to join the naval expeditionary force assembling there for the planned assault on Fort Fisher, to close the last remaining open Confederate port at Wilmington, North Carolina.
Skirmishes occurred near Bryan Court House, and at Ebenezer Creek, Georgia, on the March to the Sea Campaign by Major General William T. Sherman.
An affair commenced at Tuscumbia, Missouri, where Confederate Cavalry captures the town and disarms and paroles 25 Yankees stationed there.
Major General Napoleon J. T. Dana, USA, assumes the command of the Department of Mississippi.
A heated skirmish breaks out at Hatcher's Run, south of Petersburg, Virginia.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter wrote to Lieutenant Commander Pendleton Gaines Watmough, senior officer off New Inlet, North Carolina, regarding the plan to explode a vessel laden with powder off Fort Fisher: "I propose running a vessel drawing 8 1/2 feet (as near to Fort Fisher as possible) with 350 tons of powder, and exploding her by running her upon the outside and opposite Fort Fisher. My calculations are that the explosion will wind up Fort Fisher and the works along the beach, and that we can open fire with the vessels without damage." Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler had suggested the powder ship late in November, and Porter, anxious to get the long-delayed Wilmington attack underway, agreed to attempt this unlikely means of reducing the fort before the landing.
The USS J.P. Jackson, Acting Lieutenant Lewis W. Pennington in charge, with USS Stockdale, under Acting Master Thomas Edwards, in company, captured the blockade running schooner Medora in Mississippi Sound with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Cherokee, Lieutenant William E. Dennison piloting, captured the blockade running British steamer Emma Henry at sea east of North Carolina with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Itasca, Lieutenant Commander George Brown in charge, chased the blockade running sloop Mary Ann ashore at Pass Cavallo, Texas. Brown removed her cargo of cotton and destroyed her.
Union Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler and over 6,500 Union soldiers are transported down the James River to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, to join the naval expeditionary force assembling there for the planned assault on Fort Fisher, to close the last remaining open Confederate port at Wilmington, North Carolina.
Skirmishes occurred near Bryan Court House, and at Ebenezer Creek, Georgia, on the March to the Sea Campaign by Major General William T. Sherman.
An affair commenced at Tuscumbia, Missouri, where Confederate Cavalry captures the town and disarms and paroles 25 Yankees stationed there.
Major General Napoleon J. T. Dana, USA, assumes the command of the Department of Mississippi.
A heated skirmish breaks out at Hatcher's Run, south of Petersburg, Virginia.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter wrote to Lieutenant Commander Pendleton Gaines Watmough, senior officer off New Inlet, North Carolina, regarding the plan to explode a vessel laden with powder off Fort Fisher: "I propose running a vessel drawing 8 1/2 feet (as near to Fort Fisher as possible) with 350 tons of powder, and exploding her by running her upon the outside and opposite Fort Fisher. My calculations are that the explosion will wind up Fort Fisher and the works along the beach, and that we can open fire with the vessels without damage." Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler had suggested the powder ship late in November, and Porter, anxious to get the long-delayed Wilmington attack underway, agreed to attempt this unlikely means of reducing the fort before the landing.
The USS J.P. Jackson, Acting Lieutenant Lewis W. Pennington in charge, with USS Stockdale, under Acting Master Thomas Edwards, in company, captured the blockade running schooner Medora in Mississippi Sound with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Cherokee, Lieutenant William E. Dennison piloting, captured the blockade running British steamer Emma Henry at sea east of North Carolina with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Itasca, Lieutenant Commander George Brown in charge, chased the blockade running sloop Mary Ann ashore at Pass Cavallo, Texas. Brown removed her cargo of cotton and destroyed her.
This post was edited on 12/8/14 at 4:51 am
Posted on 12/8/14 at 8:46 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 9 December 1864
In Georgia, Major General William T. Sherman’s Union Army of the West skirmished at various points as the troops approached the Atlantic Coast. Federals advanced directly south of Savannah, reaching the outskirts of the city, with fighting erupting at Cuyler's Plantation, between Eden and Pooler Stations, Monteith Swamp, and Ogeechee Canal.
Another Federal reconnaissance advanced to to Hatcher's Run, and skirmished there, just outside Petersburg, Virginia.
Yesterday, Union General-in-Chief and Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant expressed concern that Major General George H. Thomas’ Federals at Nashville had not yet attacked Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s much smaller Confederate Army of Tennessee outside the city. Grant informed Federal Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck: “If Thomas has not struck yet, he ought to be ordered to hand over his command to (General John M.) Schofield.” Halleck replied that the decision to remove Thomas was Grant’s alone. Grant again ordered Thomas to attack, but Thomas had answered his cavalry would not be ready until 11 December.
Grant this morning issued an order replacing Thomas with Schofield, but suspended the order when Thomas informed him that he intended to attack the next day. Thomas also blamed the delay on lacking necessary concentrations of men, horses and supplies.
Major General Grenville Mellen Dodge, USA, this afternoon assumes command of the Department of the Missouri.
The USS Otsego and the tugboat, Bazely (also designated Tug No. 2), are sunk by Confederate torpedoes on the Roanoke River, near Jamesville, North Carolina.
Full report: USS Otsego, under Lieutenant Commander Arnold, sank in the Roanoke River near Jamesville, North Carolina, after striking two torpedoes in quick succession. The double-ender Otsego, along with USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant Commander English in charge, Valley City , Acting Master John A. J. Brooks piloting, and tugs Belle and Bazely, had formed an expedition to capture Rainbow Bluff, on the Roanoke River, and the Confederate ram rumored to be building at Halifax, North Carolina. Commander William Henry Alexander Macomb anchored his squadron at Jamesville to await the arrival of cooperating troops, and Otsego struck two torpedoes while anchoring. Bazely, coming alongside to lend assistance, also struck a torpedo and sank instantly. Lieutenant Commander Arnold and part of his crew remained on board the sunken Otsego to cover that portion of the river with her guns above water on the hurricane deck, and the rest of the group slowly moved upriver, dragging for torpedoes, to commence the attack on Rainbow Bluff.
In Georgia, Major General William T. Sherman’s Union Army of the West skirmished at various points as the troops approached the Atlantic Coast. Federals advanced directly south of Savannah, reaching the outskirts of the city, with fighting erupting at Cuyler's Plantation, between Eden and Pooler Stations, Monteith Swamp, and Ogeechee Canal.
Another Federal reconnaissance advanced to to Hatcher's Run, and skirmished there, just outside Petersburg, Virginia.
Yesterday, Union General-in-Chief and Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant expressed concern that Major General George H. Thomas’ Federals at Nashville had not yet attacked Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s much smaller Confederate Army of Tennessee outside the city. Grant informed Federal Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck: “If Thomas has not struck yet, he ought to be ordered to hand over his command to (General John M.) Schofield.” Halleck replied that the decision to remove Thomas was Grant’s alone. Grant again ordered Thomas to attack, but Thomas had answered his cavalry would not be ready until 11 December.
Grant this morning issued an order replacing Thomas with Schofield, but suspended the order when Thomas informed him that he intended to attack the next day. Thomas also blamed the delay on lacking necessary concentrations of men, horses and supplies.
Major General Grenville Mellen Dodge, USA, this afternoon assumes command of the Department of the Missouri.
The USS Otsego and the tugboat, Bazely (also designated Tug No. 2), are sunk by Confederate torpedoes on the Roanoke River, near Jamesville, North Carolina.
Full report: USS Otsego, under Lieutenant Commander Arnold, sank in the Roanoke River near Jamesville, North Carolina, after striking two torpedoes in quick succession. The double-ender Otsego, along with USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant Commander English in charge, Valley City , Acting Master John A. J. Brooks piloting, and tugs Belle and Bazely, had formed an expedition to capture Rainbow Bluff, on the Roanoke River, and the Confederate ram rumored to be building at Halifax, North Carolina. Commander William Henry Alexander Macomb anchored his squadron at Jamesville to await the arrival of cooperating troops, and Otsego struck two torpedoes while anchoring. Bazely, coming alongside to lend assistance, also struck a torpedo and sank instantly. Lieutenant Commander Arnold and part of his crew remained on board the sunken Otsego to cover that portion of the river with her guns above water on the hurricane deck, and the rest of the group slowly moved upriver, dragging for torpedoes, to commence the attack on Rainbow Bluff.
Posted on 12/8/14 at 9:13 pm to BadLeroyDawg
What's your goal here, Leroy? If you don't mind me asking.
Posted on 12/8/14 at 9:20 pm to five_fivesix
To annoy the shite out of me by bumping this thread every day.
Page 30 of 46
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News