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Posted on 12/9/14 at 12:02 pm to five_fivesix
No goal per se, five_fivesix, other than informational purposes from a historical perspective. As I'm doing it daily, am stunned how often current events prove how little some things change over a sesquicentennial. Yankees are still horses' arses, especially those from New England and other parts of the northeast where they want to come down here and tell us how to run our business. Hey, Delta is ready when they are, huh? The power of the Federal Gubmint has grown exponentially from the end of this Struggle. Pretty soon, they will be listening in on our phone calls and emails, or using the IRS to control our politics. Oh, wait...
Posted on 12/9/14 at 12:04 pm to BadLeroyDawg
And please tell Stacked, which she prolly ain't IMHO, everthang's not just about her, IYKWIM.
Posted on 12/9/14 at 8:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 10 December 1864
In Georgia, Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal vanguard reached Savannah, defended by some 18,000 Confederates under Lieutenant General William J. Hardee. The Southerners had also flooded the surrounding rice fields to block the main approaches. As Sherman prepared to besiege Savannah, he sent Federal troops to probe nearby Fort McAllister, which guarded the Ogeechee River.
The marching part of William T. Sherman’s Georgia Campaign came to a close as his army arrived in front of Savannah. Sherman had determined not to assault the city but chose to invest it instead, as his army had not made contact with the naval supply vessels offshore. Immense amounts of forage were needed daily and all nearby feed was used up, which caused the horses to suffer.
Skirmishes occur near Savannah as Sherman opts not to attack the fortified Confederate positions under Hardee, but instead, to lay siege to the city.
A Confederate steamer, Ida, was captured and burned on the Savannah River, and a skirmish occurred at Springfield, Georgia.
A driving snowstorm struck Nashville, preventing Major General George H. Thomas from launching his attack on Confederate positions. The bad weather further delayed Thomas' planned Federal assault as any movement was hazardous.
Union President Abraham Lincoln appointed Major General William F. Smith and Henry Stanbery as special commissioners to investigate civil and military affairs on and west of the Mississippi River.
Brigadier General John Carpenter Carter, CSA, dies from wounds he received at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on 30 November.
A Union expedition commences against Tonto Apache Indians in Central Arizona, with a skirmish on Hassayampa Creek, where the Yankees kill 11 of 15 Apache warriors, the other 4 fleeing. The Federals then burn their camp.
Union soldiers scout from Core Creek to Southwest Creek, North Carolina, and then skirmish with the dismounted Confederates.
A Federal expedition travels from East Tennessee into Southwestern Virginia, to destroy Confederate salt works and supplies, led by Major General George Stoneman.
Union Brigadier General Alvan C. Gillem's command starts from Knoxville, Tennessee, on a scouting mission and travels into Virginia.
A battle begins in front of Fort Holly, near Petersburg, Virginia, as Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant keeps mounting pressure on the Confederate defensive lines.
The USS O.H. Lee, under Acting Master Oliver Thacher, captured the blockade running British schooner Sort off Anclote Keys, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The CSS Macon, commanded by Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, CSS Sampson, Lieutenant William W. Carnes in charge, and CSS Resolute, commanded by Acting Master's Mate William D. Oliveira, all under Flag Officer Hunter, took Union shore batteries under fire at Tweedside on the Savannah River. Hunter attempted to run his gunboats downriver to join in the defense of Savannah, but was unable to pass the strong Federal batteries. Resolute was disabled in this exchange of fire, 12 December, and was abandoned and captured. Recognizing that he could not get his remaining two vessels to Savannah, and having destroyed the railroad bridge over the Savannah River which he had been defending, Hunter took advantage of unusually high water to move upstream to Augusta.
In Georgia, Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal vanguard reached Savannah, defended by some 18,000 Confederates under Lieutenant General William J. Hardee. The Southerners had also flooded the surrounding rice fields to block the main approaches. As Sherman prepared to besiege Savannah, he sent Federal troops to probe nearby Fort McAllister, which guarded the Ogeechee River.
The marching part of William T. Sherman’s Georgia Campaign came to a close as his army arrived in front of Savannah. Sherman had determined not to assault the city but chose to invest it instead, as his army had not made contact with the naval supply vessels offshore. Immense amounts of forage were needed daily and all nearby feed was used up, which caused the horses to suffer.
Skirmishes occur near Savannah as Sherman opts not to attack the fortified Confederate positions under Hardee, but instead, to lay siege to the city.
A Confederate steamer, Ida, was captured and burned on the Savannah River, and a skirmish occurred at Springfield, Georgia.
A driving snowstorm struck Nashville, preventing Major General George H. Thomas from launching his attack on Confederate positions. The bad weather further delayed Thomas' planned Federal assault as any movement was hazardous.
Union President Abraham Lincoln appointed Major General William F. Smith and Henry Stanbery as special commissioners to investigate civil and military affairs on and west of the Mississippi River.
Brigadier General John Carpenter Carter, CSA, dies from wounds he received at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on 30 November.
A Union expedition commences against Tonto Apache Indians in Central Arizona, with a skirmish on Hassayampa Creek, where the Yankees kill 11 of 15 Apache warriors, the other 4 fleeing. The Federals then burn their camp.
Union soldiers scout from Core Creek to Southwest Creek, North Carolina, and then skirmish with the dismounted Confederates.
A Federal expedition travels from East Tennessee into Southwestern Virginia, to destroy Confederate salt works and supplies, led by Major General George Stoneman.
Union Brigadier General Alvan C. Gillem's command starts from Knoxville, Tennessee, on a scouting mission and travels into Virginia.
A battle begins in front of Fort Holly, near Petersburg, Virginia, as Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant keeps mounting pressure on the Confederate defensive lines.
The USS O.H. Lee, under Acting Master Oliver Thacher, captured the blockade running British schooner Sort off Anclote Keys, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The CSS Macon, commanded by Lieutenant Joel S. Kennard, CSS Sampson, Lieutenant William W. Carnes in charge, and CSS Resolute, commanded by Acting Master's Mate William D. Oliveira, all under Flag Officer Hunter, took Union shore batteries under fire at Tweedside on the Savannah River. Hunter attempted to run his gunboats downriver to join in the defense of Savannah, but was unable to pass the strong Federal batteries. Resolute was disabled in this exchange of fire, 12 December, and was abandoned and captured. Recognizing that he could not get his remaining two vessels to Savannah, and having destroyed the railroad bridge over the Savannah River which he had been defending, Hunter took advantage of unusually high water to move upstream to Augusta.
Posted on 12/9/14 at 9:04 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Don't be lazy and tell him yourself you entitled sack of shite
ETA: sorry bro, that was uncalled for
ETA: sorry bro, that was uncalled for
This post was edited on 12/9/14 at 9:05 pm
Posted on 12/10/14 at 4:35 am to BowlJackson
Sack might be understandable, but entitled? What meds you got stashed down there, Bo?
BTW, not your bro. B'rer, maybe, but only if you've ever flown to the Wren's Nest.
BTW, not your bro. B'rer, maybe, but only if you've ever flown to the Wren's Nest.
Posted on 12/10/14 at 5:03 am to BadLeroyDawg
I wish I had some meds
Posted on 12/10/14 at 8:22 pm to BowlJackson
Sunday, 11 December 1864
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal troops were busy investing Savannah, Georgia, although the escape route from Savannah north to Charleston, South Carolina, was not yet cut off. The lengthy 1,000 foot King’s Bridge which guarded the Ogeechee River--the direct route leading to Fort McAllister--had to be rebuilt as it was damaged by Confederates.
Federal Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant once again urged Major General George H. Thomas to attack the Confederates at Nashville and was assured that he would as soon as the weather improved.
Operations continued about the Broadwater Ferry and Chowan River, Virginia, against the Confederates as Union Brigadier General Israel Vogdes commanding the Federal forces at Portsmouth, grabs and detains a squadron of the 20th New York Cavalry heading for the front, to be used for this work instead.
Commander George H. Preble, commanding the Naval Brigade fighting ashore with the forces of Major General John Gray Foster up the Broad River, South Carolina, reported to Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren concerning a unique "explosive ball" used by Confederate forces against his skirmishers: "It is a conical ball in shape, like an ordinary rifle bullet. The pointed end is charged with a fulminate. The base of the ball separately from the conical end, and has a leaden standard or plunger. The explosion of the charge drives the base up, so as to flatten a thin disk of metal between it and the ball, the leaden plunger is driven against the fulminate, and it explodes the ball...It seems to me that use of such a missile is an unnecessary addition to the barbarities of war."
Skirmishes occurred at Southwest Creek Bridge, North Carolina, and around Richmond, Virginia.
A Federal action took place against partisan guerrillas in Jacksonborough, Georgia, the former county seat of Screven County.
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal troops were busy investing Savannah, Georgia, although the escape route from Savannah north to Charleston, South Carolina, was not yet cut off. The lengthy 1,000 foot King’s Bridge which guarded the Ogeechee River--the direct route leading to Fort McAllister--had to be rebuilt as it was damaged by Confederates.
Federal Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant once again urged Major General George H. Thomas to attack the Confederates at Nashville and was assured that he would as soon as the weather improved.
Operations continued about the Broadwater Ferry and Chowan River, Virginia, against the Confederates as Union Brigadier General Israel Vogdes commanding the Federal forces at Portsmouth, grabs and detains a squadron of the 20th New York Cavalry heading for the front, to be used for this work instead.
Commander George H. Preble, commanding the Naval Brigade fighting ashore with the forces of Major General John Gray Foster up the Broad River, South Carolina, reported to Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren concerning a unique "explosive ball" used by Confederate forces against his skirmishers: "It is a conical ball in shape, like an ordinary rifle bullet. The pointed end is charged with a fulminate. The base of the ball separately from the conical end, and has a leaden standard or plunger. The explosion of the charge drives the base up, so as to flatten a thin disk of metal between it and the ball, the leaden plunger is driven against the fulminate, and it explodes the ball...It seems to me that use of such a missile is an unnecessary addition to the barbarities of war."
Skirmishes occurred at Southwest Creek Bridge, North Carolina, and around Richmond, Virginia.
A Federal action took place against partisan guerrillas in Jacksonborough, Georgia, the former county seat of Screven County.
Posted on 12/11/14 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 12 December 1864
Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army was at Savannah, Georgia, positioned between the Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers,--the left wing being the Army of Georgia commanded by Major General Henry W. Slocum and the right wing Major General Oliver O. Howard's Army of the Tennessee--getting its lines set for enveloping the city and in preparation for its attack on Fort McAllister, the last barrier to contact with the U.S. Naval fleet. The Federals captured another Confederate vessel, the CSS Resolute, on the Savannah River as Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren’s Federal naval fleet awaited contact with Sherman while moving along the coast.
Dahlgren wrote to President Abraham Lincoln, reporting news of the greatest importance to the Union: "I have the great satisfaction of conveying to you information of the arrival of General Sherman near Savannah, with his army in fine spirits...This memorable event must be attended by still more memorable consequences, and I congratulate you most heartily on its occurrence." The value of seaborne supply to Sherman was inestimable. His army switched from rail logistics at Chattanooga to sea logistics on the Atlantic.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was still desperately looking for troops to oppose Sherman at Savannah without weakening the position of General Robert E. Lee at Petersburg, Virginia.
Union Major General George H. Thomas informed Major General Henry W. Halleck in Washington that he was poised for attack against Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee at Nashville once the sleet melted, as it was almost impossible to move on the ice-covered ground. What Thomas did not know, however, was that Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant himself (now general-in-chief of all Union armies), had grown so impatient at the delay in Nashville that he had sent Major General John A. Logan with an order to replace Thomas, and soon afterwards Grant would start a journey west from City Point, Virginia to take command in person.
Major General George Stoneman's command--that of Brigadier General Stephan G. Burbridge's and Brigadier General Alvan C. Gillem's forces--advances from Bean's Station, Tennessee, with a skirmish at Big Creek, near Rogersville, Tennessee.
Union troops skirmished with Confederate partisans at the Amite River, in Louisiana.
President Lincoln wrote to Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, commanding Federals in the Gulf region, explaining that the policy in Louisiana, such as seizing cotton from Confederates was “...a worthy object to again get Louisiana into proper practical relations with the nation...” In May 1864, Canby had been promoted to major general and relieved Nathaniel P. Banks of his command at Simmesport, Louisiana. He later was assigned to the Midwest, where he commanded the Military Division of Western Mississippi. Canby was wounded in the upper thigh by a partisan guerrilla while aboard the gunboat USS Cricket on the White River in Arkansas near Little Island on 6 November and would later command the Union forces assigned to conduct the campaign against Mobile, Alabama, in the spring of 1865.
Major General William T. Sherman's Union Army was at Savannah, Georgia, positioned between the Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers,--the left wing being the Army of Georgia commanded by Major General Henry W. Slocum and the right wing Major General Oliver O. Howard's Army of the Tennessee--getting its lines set for enveloping the city and in preparation for its attack on Fort McAllister, the last barrier to contact with the U.S. Naval fleet. The Federals captured another Confederate vessel, the CSS Resolute, on the Savannah River as Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren’s Federal naval fleet awaited contact with Sherman while moving along the coast.
Dahlgren wrote to President Abraham Lincoln, reporting news of the greatest importance to the Union: "I have the great satisfaction of conveying to you information of the arrival of General Sherman near Savannah, with his army in fine spirits...This memorable event must be attended by still more memorable consequences, and I congratulate you most heartily on its occurrence." The value of seaborne supply to Sherman was inestimable. His army switched from rail logistics at Chattanooga to sea logistics on the Atlantic.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was still desperately looking for troops to oppose Sherman at Savannah without weakening the position of General Robert E. Lee at Petersburg, Virginia.
Union Major General George H. Thomas informed Major General Henry W. Halleck in Washington that he was poised for attack against Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee at Nashville once the sleet melted, as it was almost impossible to move on the ice-covered ground. What Thomas did not know, however, was that Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant himself (now general-in-chief of all Union armies), had grown so impatient at the delay in Nashville that he had sent Major General John A. Logan with an order to replace Thomas, and soon afterwards Grant would start a journey west from City Point, Virginia to take command in person.
Major General George Stoneman's command--that of Brigadier General Stephan G. Burbridge's and Brigadier General Alvan C. Gillem's forces--advances from Bean's Station, Tennessee, with a skirmish at Big Creek, near Rogersville, Tennessee.
Union troops skirmished with Confederate partisans at the Amite River, in Louisiana.
President Lincoln wrote to Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, commanding Federals in the Gulf region, explaining that the policy in Louisiana, such as seizing cotton from Confederates was “...a worthy object to again get Louisiana into proper practical relations with the nation...” In May 1864, Canby had been promoted to major general and relieved Nathaniel P. Banks of his command at Simmesport, Louisiana. He later was assigned to the Midwest, where he commanded the Military Division of Western Mississippi. Canby was wounded in the upper thigh by a partisan guerrilla while aboard the gunboat USS Cricket on the White River in Arkansas near Little Island on 6 November and would later command the Union forces assigned to conduct the campaign against Mobile, Alabama, in the spring of 1865.
Posted on 12/12/14 at 10:11 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 13 December 1864
Federal Major General William T. Sherman made contact with the U.S. Navy fleet after the capture of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River below Savannah, Georgia. Sherman had ordered Major General Oliver O. Howard, commander of his right wing, to take the fort. Howard chose Brigadier General William B. Hazen to accomplish the task. Hazen, early this afternoon, had his men in line for the assault. Upon giving the order to attack, his men rushed forward through the various obstacles prepared for them, entered the fort, and captured it. With his supply line open to the sea, Sherman could now prepare for the siege and capture of Savannah. The small Confederate garrison under Major G.W. Anderson numbered only 230 men and suffered 35 casualties in the assault. The Federals sustained a loss of 24 killed and 110 wounded. Sherman’s army could now resupply; contact with officials in Washington, DC, was reestablished.
In Nashville, Tennessee, both Federal Major General George H. Thomas and Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood waited out the sleet storm. Federal Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant ordered Major General John A. Logan to proceed to Nashville and replace Thomas if the attack had not commenced by Logan’s arrival. Grant then headed to Washington with the intention of going to Nashville himself if needed.
Cyrus Hamlin, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A Union expedition commenced up the White River aboard the steamers, Sir William and Kate Hart, from Devalls Bluff, Arkansas, with the Federal seizure of large quantities of Confederate property.
There was also an affair 3 miles east of Devalls Bluff with Union pickets and Confederate partisans.
A Federal expedition from Barrancas, Florida, by the 97th US Colored Infantry, to, and including the capture of, Pollard, Alabama, with destruction to public buildings, property, clothing, military equipment, etc, and skirmishes at all the streams from the Little Pine Barren Creek in Escambia County.
A Federal expedition travels from Morganza to and beyond Morgan's Ferry, Louisiana.
An action occurred at Kingsport, Tennessee, where Confederate Brigadier General Basil W. Duke commanding the remnants of the late Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's Southern forces, is defeated by Union Major General George Stoneman's latest expedition.
The Confederate attack which began this morning on the railroad train near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, proved successful.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut arrived in New York on board his battle-scarred veteran flagship, the USS Hartford. A New York newspaper hailed him in verse:
To Farragut all glory!
The Sea-King's worthy peer,
Columbia's greatest seaman,
Without reproach or fear.
Returning to the Confederacy from London, Captain Raphael Semmes had landed a month before at Bagdad, Mexico, near Matamoras. This date, en route to his home at Mobile for a brief respite before making his way to Richmond, Semmes crossed the Mississippi River with his son, Major O.J. Semmes. He later wrote: "We reached the bank of the Mississippi just before dark. There were two of the enemy's gunboats anchored in the river, at a distance of about three miles apart...the enemy had converted every sort of a water craft, into a ship of war, and now had them in such number, that he was enabled to police the river in its entire length, without the necessity of his boats being out of sight of each other's smoke..." Semmes described the night crossing of the river in a crowded skiff: "Our boat was scarcely able to float the numbers that were packed into her...As we shot within the shadows of the opposite bank, our conductor, before landing, gave a shrill whistle to ascertain whether all was right. The proper response came: directly, from those who were to meet us, and in a moment more, we leaped on shore among friends." Federal naval forces on the river had been alerted in an effort to capture the elusive Captain Semmes of CSS Alabama, but he succeeded in getting home, and later to Richmond, to receive the thanks of the Confederacy and promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral.
The Union fleet massed for the bombardment of Fort Fisher departed Hampton Roads for Wilmington. The wooden double-ender USS Sassacus, under Lieutenant Commander John L. Davis, was assigned the duty of towing the powder ship Louisiana to Beaufort, North Carolina, where she was to take on more powder. Army transports carrying the invasion force commanded by Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler left Hampton Roads at approximately the same time as the supporting naval group.
Federal Major General William T. Sherman made contact with the U.S. Navy fleet after the capture of Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River below Savannah, Georgia. Sherman had ordered Major General Oliver O. Howard, commander of his right wing, to take the fort. Howard chose Brigadier General William B. Hazen to accomplish the task. Hazen, early this afternoon, had his men in line for the assault. Upon giving the order to attack, his men rushed forward through the various obstacles prepared for them, entered the fort, and captured it. With his supply line open to the sea, Sherman could now prepare for the siege and capture of Savannah. The small Confederate garrison under Major G.W. Anderson numbered only 230 men and suffered 35 casualties in the assault. The Federals sustained a loss of 24 killed and 110 wounded. Sherman’s army could now resupply; contact with officials in Washington, DC, was reestablished.
In Nashville, Tennessee, both Federal Major General George H. Thomas and Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood waited out the sleet storm. Federal Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant ordered Major General John A. Logan to proceed to Nashville and replace Thomas if the attack had not commenced by Logan’s arrival. Grant then headed to Washington with the intention of going to Nashville himself if needed.
Cyrus Hamlin, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A Union expedition commenced up the White River aboard the steamers, Sir William and Kate Hart, from Devalls Bluff, Arkansas, with the Federal seizure of large quantities of Confederate property.
There was also an affair 3 miles east of Devalls Bluff with Union pickets and Confederate partisans.
A Federal expedition from Barrancas, Florida, by the 97th US Colored Infantry, to, and including the capture of, Pollard, Alabama, with destruction to public buildings, property, clothing, military equipment, etc, and skirmishes at all the streams from the Little Pine Barren Creek in Escambia County.
A Federal expedition travels from Morganza to and beyond Morgan's Ferry, Louisiana.
An action occurred at Kingsport, Tennessee, where Confederate Brigadier General Basil W. Duke commanding the remnants of the late Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's Southern forces, is defeated by Union Major General George Stoneman's latest expedition.
The Confederate attack which began this morning on the railroad train near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, proved successful.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut arrived in New York on board his battle-scarred veteran flagship, the USS Hartford. A New York newspaper hailed him in verse:
To Farragut all glory!
The Sea-King's worthy peer,
Columbia's greatest seaman,
Without reproach or fear.
Returning to the Confederacy from London, Captain Raphael Semmes had landed a month before at Bagdad, Mexico, near Matamoras. This date, en route to his home at Mobile for a brief respite before making his way to Richmond, Semmes crossed the Mississippi River with his son, Major O.J. Semmes. He later wrote: "We reached the bank of the Mississippi just before dark. There were two of the enemy's gunboats anchored in the river, at a distance of about three miles apart...the enemy had converted every sort of a water craft, into a ship of war, and now had them in such number, that he was enabled to police the river in its entire length, without the necessity of his boats being out of sight of each other's smoke..." Semmes described the night crossing of the river in a crowded skiff: "Our boat was scarcely able to float the numbers that were packed into her...As we shot within the shadows of the opposite bank, our conductor, before landing, gave a shrill whistle to ascertain whether all was right. The proper response came: directly, from those who were to meet us, and in a moment more, we leaped on shore among friends." Federal naval forces on the river had been alerted in an effort to capture the elusive Captain Semmes of CSS Alabama, but he succeeded in getting home, and later to Richmond, to receive the thanks of the Confederacy and promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral.
The Union fleet massed for the bombardment of Fort Fisher departed Hampton Roads for Wilmington. The wooden double-ender USS Sassacus, under Lieutenant Commander John L. Davis, was assigned the duty of towing the powder ship Louisiana to Beaufort, North Carolina, where she was to take on more powder. Army transports carrying the invasion force commanded by Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler left Hampton Roads at approximately the same time as the supporting naval group.
Posted on 12/13/14 at 9:41 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 14 December 1864
Union Major General George H. Thomas wired that the weather had improved, and he would attack Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee tomorrow. Thomas issued field orders. A skirmish occurred on the Germantown Road, near Memphis, Tennessee, as Thomas prepares to attack the Confederate Army the following day.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis deferred to General Robert Edward Lee’s judgment as to whether troops could be spared from the Army of Northern Virginia under siege at Petersburg and Richmond to operate against Major General William T. Sherman.
Foreseeing the fall of Savannah, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory wrote Flag Officer William W. Hunter, commanding the naval squadron at that city: "Should the enemy get and hold Savannah, and you can do no further service there, you are expected to dispose of your squadron to the greatest injury to him and the greatest benefit to our country. If necessary to leave Savannah, your vessels, except the Georgia, may fight their way to Charleston. Under no circumstances should they be destroyed until every proper effort to save them shall have been exhausted." Three days later, Captain Sydney Smith Lee, CSN, addressed a similar letter to Hunter: "Under any circumstances, it is better for the vessels, for the Navy, for our cause and country, that these vessels should fall in the conflict of battle, taking all the risks of defeat and triumph, than that they should be tamely surrendered to the enemy or destroyed by their own officers."
The Union naval attack on Forts Rosedew and Beaulieu begins in Georgia. Fort Beaulieu was an earthwork fortification near Beaulieu, on the Vernon River, one of the pleasure resorts of the citizens of Savannah. It was erected as a barrier against any hostile force that might attempt to attack Savannah from the rear. This morning, Admiral John A.B. Dahlgreen’s fleet began the bombardment of the battery and also of Fort Rosedew, a small earthwork on the Ogeechee River. By the 21st these works and all the other fortifications of the city of Savannah will have been abandoned by General William J. Hardee, who had bravely held his long line for nearly two weeks against Sherman’s army numbering well over four times as many men.
Another report: Union gunboats supporting General Sherman aided in the capture of Forts Beaulieu and Rosedew in Ossabaw Sound, Georgia, the outer defenses of Savannah. The wooden steamer USS Winona, under Lieutenant Commander Dana, USS Sonoma, Lieutenant Commander Scott in charge, and mortar gunboats shelled the forts until they were abandoned by the defenders on 21 December. Winona's log recorded on that date: "At 10:05 saw the American Ensign flying on Fort Beaulieu. Ships cheered; captain left in the gig and proceeded up to the fort."
An expedition began at Bristol, Tennessee, as Major General George Stoneman's Federal Cavalry raid captures over 300 Confederates.
Even though he had been in feeble health, Union Major General Edward O.C. Ord is put in temporary command of the Army of the James, during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Operations and skirmishes today in the Cypress Swamp, near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where the Federals kill 3 partisan guerrillas; Mosely Ford, North Carolina; and at the Hermitage Plantation near Morganza, Louisiana.
Union Major General George H. Thomas wired that the weather had improved, and he would attack Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee tomorrow. Thomas issued field orders. A skirmish occurred on the Germantown Road, near Memphis, Tennessee, as Thomas prepares to attack the Confederate Army the following day.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis deferred to General Robert Edward Lee’s judgment as to whether troops could be spared from the Army of Northern Virginia under siege at Petersburg and Richmond to operate against Major General William T. Sherman.
Foreseeing the fall of Savannah, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory wrote Flag Officer William W. Hunter, commanding the naval squadron at that city: "Should the enemy get and hold Savannah, and you can do no further service there, you are expected to dispose of your squadron to the greatest injury to him and the greatest benefit to our country. If necessary to leave Savannah, your vessels, except the Georgia, may fight their way to Charleston. Under no circumstances should they be destroyed until every proper effort to save them shall have been exhausted." Three days later, Captain Sydney Smith Lee, CSN, addressed a similar letter to Hunter: "Under any circumstances, it is better for the vessels, for the Navy, for our cause and country, that these vessels should fall in the conflict of battle, taking all the risks of defeat and triumph, than that they should be tamely surrendered to the enemy or destroyed by their own officers."
The Union naval attack on Forts Rosedew and Beaulieu begins in Georgia. Fort Beaulieu was an earthwork fortification near Beaulieu, on the Vernon River, one of the pleasure resorts of the citizens of Savannah. It was erected as a barrier against any hostile force that might attempt to attack Savannah from the rear. This morning, Admiral John A.B. Dahlgreen’s fleet began the bombardment of the battery and also of Fort Rosedew, a small earthwork on the Ogeechee River. By the 21st these works and all the other fortifications of the city of Savannah will have been abandoned by General William J. Hardee, who had bravely held his long line for nearly two weeks against Sherman’s army numbering well over four times as many men.
Another report: Union gunboats supporting General Sherman aided in the capture of Forts Beaulieu and Rosedew in Ossabaw Sound, Georgia, the outer defenses of Savannah. The wooden steamer USS Winona, under Lieutenant Commander Dana, USS Sonoma, Lieutenant Commander Scott in charge, and mortar gunboats shelled the forts until they were abandoned by the defenders on 21 December. Winona's log recorded on that date: "At 10:05 saw the American Ensign flying on Fort Beaulieu. Ships cheered; captain left in the gig and proceeded up to the fort."
An expedition began at Bristol, Tennessee, as Major General George Stoneman's Federal Cavalry raid captures over 300 Confederates.
Even though he had been in feeble health, Union Major General Edward O.C. Ord is put in temporary command of the Army of the James, during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Operations and skirmishes today in the Cypress Swamp, near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where the Federals kill 3 partisan guerrillas; Mosely Ford, North Carolina; and at the Hermitage Plantation near Morganza, Louisiana.
Posted on 12/14/14 at 9:47 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 15 December 1864
Despite a series of defeats in the closing days of November, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood continued to drag his bloodied Army of Tennessee, approximately 30,000 strong, north towards Nashville. The city was protected by over 55,000 men, which should have precluded further offensive operations, but Hood was determined and his situation was dire. Hood reached Nashville on 2 December and staked out a position south of the city, hoping to draw the Union forces into a costly attack. General Hiram U. Grant and Abraham Lincoln urged ranking general George Henry Thomas to attack but he delayed for nearly two weeks, citing freezing weather and limited cavalry support. This morning, Thomas finally moved forward. The Union plan called for a demonstration on the Confederate right while the main assault struck a cluster of earthen redoubts on the Confederate left. The diversionary attack broke against artillery posted along present-day Battery Lane. To the west, fierce close-range combat erupted as Thomas’s men swept over the redoubts. Tonight, Hood will retreat two miles further south. Thomas renews the attack the next afternoon. After several hours of fighting, Brigadier General John McArthur broke through the Confederate left at Shy’s Hill. Hood orders a hasty retreat south, and only a skillful rearguard action allowed his army to escape. The Union victory at Nashville shatters the Army of Tennessee and effectively ends the War in Tennessee.
As Major General George H. Thomas opened his offensive in the pivotal battle of Nashville, gunboats of the Mississippi Squadron, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Fitch, operated closely with the Union Army by engaging batteries on the Cumberland River and helping to secure a resounding victory for Thomas. On the night of 14 December, Fitch, together with the seven gunboats of his command, had moved down toward the main Confederate battery guarding the river and Major General Forrest's far left. Fitch described the joint effort: "Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Howard then returned to where I was, just above their works, and reported but four guns in position. These I could easily have silenced and driven off, but our army had not yet sufficiently advanced to insure their capture. I therefore maneuvered around above them till the afternoon, when our cavalry had reached the desired position in the rear; the Neosho and Carondelet then moved down again and the rebels, finding the position they were in, had tried to remove the guns, but were too late; our cavalry closed in and took them with but little resistance." The Union gunboats then engaged other batteries down the river, in some cases silencing them with gunfire and in others absorbing the attention of the Confederate gunners while Union cavalry encircled them. By the afternoon of 15 December, Hood's batteries on the Cumberland had been captured and his left flank, further inland, was in full retreat. In reply to congratulations from President Lincoln on his important victory, Thomas remarked: "I must not forget to report the operations of Brigadier-General Johnson in successfully driving the enemy, with the cooperation of the gunboats, under Lieutenant Commander Fitch, from their established batteries on the Cumberland River below the City of Nashville."
Another report: The Battle of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, began this morning. In two days of fighting, Union Major General George H. Thomas overwhelms the much smaller Confederate Army of Tennessee, forcing Lieutenant General John Bell Hood to withdraw toward Columbia. Fighting occurs at Montgomery Hill, Brentwood Hills, astride the Franklin and Granny White pikes, and Confederates capture the railroad train near Murfreesboro. Total casualties approximate 4,560.
A Federal expedition travels from Fortress Monroe to Pagan Creek, Virginia, aboard the steamer, John Tracy.
Confederates skirmish near Glade Springs and Abingdon, Virginia, with Major General George Stoneman's Union troops.
President Abraham Lincoln wrote in a message to Congress: "I most cordially recommend that Lieutenant William B. Cushing, U.S. Navy, receive a vote of thanks from Congress for his important, gallant, and perilous achievement in destroying the Rebel ironclad steamer Albemarle on the night of the 27th October, 1864, at Plymouth, N.C. The destruction of so formidable a vessel, which had resisted the continued attacks of a number of our vessels on former occasions, is an important event touching our future naval and military operations, and would reflect honor on any officer, and redounds to the credit of this young officer and the few brave comrades who assisted in this successful and daring undertaking."
An expedition under Acting Master William G. Morris, including the USS Coeur de Lion and USS Mercury, seized and burned more than thirty large boats which the Confederates had been massing on the Coan River, Virginia, and drove off defending soldiers in a brief engagement.
Despite a series of defeats in the closing days of November, 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood continued to drag his bloodied Army of Tennessee, approximately 30,000 strong, north towards Nashville. The city was protected by over 55,000 men, which should have precluded further offensive operations, but Hood was determined and his situation was dire. Hood reached Nashville on 2 December and staked out a position south of the city, hoping to draw the Union forces into a costly attack. General Hiram U. Grant and Abraham Lincoln urged ranking general George Henry Thomas to attack but he delayed for nearly two weeks, citing freezing weather and limited cavalry support. This morning, Thomas finally moved forward. The Union plan called for a demonstration on the Confederate right while the main assault struck a cluster of earthen redoubts on the Confederate left. The diversionary attack broke against artillery posted along present-day Battery Lane. To the west, fierce close-range combat erupted as Thomas’s men swept over the redoubts. Tonight, Hood will retreat two miles further south. Thomas renews the attack the next afternoon. After several hours of fighting, Brigadier General John McArthur broke through the Confederate left at Shy’s Hill. Hood orders a hasty retreat south, and only a skillful rearguard action allowed his army to escape. The Union victory at Nashville shatters the Army of Tennessee and effectively ends the War in Tennessee.
As Major General George H. Thomas opened his offensive in the pivotal battle of Nashville, gunboats of the Mississippi Squadron, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Fitch, operated closely with the Union Army by engaging batteries on the Cumberland River and helping to secure a resounding victory for Thomas. On the night of 14 December, Fitch, together with the seven gunboats of his command, had moved down toward the main Confederate battery guarding the river and Major General Forrest's far left. Fitch described the joint effort: "Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Howard then returned to where I was, just above their works, and reported but four guns in position. These I could easily have silenced and driven off, but our army had not yet sufficiently advanced to insure their capture. I therefore maneuvered around above them till the afternoon, when our cavalry had reached the desired position in the rear; the Neosho and Carondelet then moved down again and the rebels, finding the position they were in, had tried to remove the guns, but were too late; our cavalry closed in and took them with but little resistance." The Union gunboats then engaged other batteries down the river, in some cases silencing them with gunfire and in others absorbing the attention of the Confederate gunners while Union cavalry encircled them. By the afternoon of 15 December, Hood's batteries on the Cumberland had been captured and his left flank, further inland, was in full retreat. In reply to congratulations from President Lincoln on his important victory, Thomas remarked: "I must not forget to report the operations of Brigadier-General Johnson in successfully driving the enemy, with the cooperation of the gunboats, under Lieutenant Commander Fitch, from their established batteries on the Cumberland River below the City of Nashville."
Another report: The Battle of Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, began this morning. In two days of fighting, Union Major General George H. Thomas overwhelms the much smaller Confederate Army of Tennessee, forcing Lieutenant General John Bell Hood to withdraw toward Columbia. Fighting occurs at Montgomery Hill, Brentwood Hills, astride the Franklin and Granny White pikes, and Confederates capture the railroad train near Murfreesboro. Total casualties approximate 4,560.
A Federal expedition travels from Fortress Monroe to Pagan Creek, Virginia, aboard the steamer, John Tracy.
Confederates skirmish near Glade Springs and Abingdon, Virginia, with Major General George Stoneman's Union troops.
President Abraham Lincoln wrote in a message to Congress: "I most cordially recommend that Lieutenant William B. Cushing, U.S. Navy, receive a vote of thanks from Congress for his important, gallant, and perilous achievement in destroying the Rebel ironclad steamer Albemarle on the night of the 27th October, 1864, at Plymouth, N.C. The destruction of so formidable a vessel, which had resisted the continued attacks of a number of our vessels on former occasions, is an important event touching our future naval and military operations, and would reflect honor on any officer, and redounds to the credit of this young officer and the few brave comrades who assisted in this successful and daring undertaking."
An expedition under Acting Master William G. Morris, including the USS Coeur de Lion and USS Mercury, seized and burned more than thirty large boats which the Confederates had been massing on the Coan River, Virginia, and drove off defending soldiers in a brief engagement.
Posted on 12/14/14 at 9:51 pm to BadLeroyDawg
quote:
Army of Tennessee
Except for these fellas, frick tennercee.
Posted on 12/15/14 at 5:28 am to five_fivesix
Lots of 'em were from Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, five_fivesix. Hood, a Kentucky-born West Pointer, became associated with Texas while with the Second Cavalry.
He wrecked this army at Franklin and totaled it at Nashville. Hood soon thereafter offered his resignation; it was immediately accepted.
He wrecked this army at Franklin and totaled it at Nashville. Hood soon thereafter offered his resignation; it was immediately accepted.
Posted on 12/15/14 at 9:23 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 16 December 1864
At 6 a.m. in the Nashville rain and sleet, Federal troops on the left pressed back the Confederate right on the Franklin Pike to the main entrenchments, but Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee’s outnumbered corps held. The Federals completed their alignment for battle south of Nashville and the movement against the Confederate left flank continued along Granny White Pike. Late in the afternoon, after a heavy artillery bombardment, the main Federal assault commenced. Making their way up the Confederate left flank at Shy’s Hill, Federal Brigadier General John McArthur’s division, including the 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th Minnesota Infantry regiments, made their way up the Confederate left flank at Shy’s (formerly Compton’s) Hill, which gave way, forcing the center of the Confederate lines to fall back. The now-broken Confederates withdrew in confusion and Hood retreated. The Federal losses amounted to 387 killed, 2,562 wounded and 112 missing for a total of 3,061 out of approximately 55,000 engaged. Confederate losses are unknown but believed to be about 1,500 out of less than 30,000 troops available. The fight for Nashville was the last major battle in the Western Theater. Though the Confederate Army of Tennessee was decimated both at Nashville and at Franklin, two weeks prior, it was not completely destroyed.
Another report: The Battle of Nashville continued as Federals advanced at 6 a.m. through rain and snow. The Confederate right slowly withdrew, and a new assault in late afternoon broke the Confederate left. This was an inevitable Federal victory, as George H. Thomas reported that John Bell Hood’s army was “hopelessly broken” and it “fled in confusion.” President Abraham Lincoln wired Thomas his congratulations. Federals suffered 3,061 casualties while Confederates lost some 1,500. Hood reported, “I beheld for the first and only time a Confederate army abandon the field in confusion.”
Thomas scored one of the most decisive victories of the war, even though President Lincoln and General Hiram U. Grant had nearly replaced him before the battle. This ended Confederate hopes for a northern invasion, and it effectively finished the Army of Tennessee as a fighting force.
A large skirmish occurs at Hinesville, Georgia, as Federal Major General William T. Sherman resupplies his army with supplies from the Union vessels off the Atlantic coast.
A Federal expedition began from Morganza to the Atchafalaya River, Louisiana.
Action commenced at Marion and the Federal capture of Wytheville, Virginia, by Union Major General George Stoneman as Southern Major General John C. Breckinridge commanding the Department of Western Virginia and East Tennessee musters as many Confederates in the region to block Stoneman's raid.
The USS Mount Vernon, under Acting Lieutenant James Trathen, in company with USS New Berne, Acting Lieutenant T. A. Harris in charge, captured and burned the schooner G. O. Bigelow in ballast at Bear Inlet, North Carolina.
Acting Master Charles A. Pettit, of the USS Monticello, performed a dangerous reconnaissance off New Inlet, North Carolina, removing several Confederate torpedoes and their firing apparatus near the base of Fort Caswell. Pettit's expedition was part of the extensive Union preparations for the bombardment and assault on Fort Fisher and the defenses of Wilmington planned for late December.
At 6 a.m. in the Nashville rain and sleet, Federal troops on the left pressed back the Confederate right on the Franklin Pike to the main entrenchments, but Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee’s outnumbered corps held. The Federals completed their alignment for battle south of Nashville and the movement against the Confederate left flank continued along Granny White Pike. Late in the afternoon, after a heavy artillery bombardment, the main Federal assault commenced. Making their way up the Confederate left flank at Shy’s Hill, Federal Brigadier General John McArthur’s division, including the 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th Minnesota Infantry regiments, made their way up the Confederate left flank at Shy’s (formerly Compton’s) Hill, which gave way, forcing the center of the Confederate lines to fall back. The now-broken Confederates withdrew in confusion and Hood retreated. The Federal losses amounted to 387 killed, 2,562 wounded and 112 missing for a total of 3,061 out of approximately 55,000 engaged. Confederate losses are unknown but believed to be about 1,500 out of less than 30,000 troops available. The fight for Nashville was the last major battle in the Western Theater. Though the Confederate Army of Tennessee was decimated both at Nashville and at Franklin, two weeks prior, it was not completely destroyed.
Another report: The Battle of Nashville continued as Federals advanced at 6 a.m. through rain and snow. The Confederate right slowly withdrew, and a new assault in late afternoon broke the Confederate left. This was an inevitable Federal victory, as George H. Thomas reported that John Bell Hood’s army was “hopelessly broken” and it “fled in confusion.” President Abraham Lincoln wired Thomas his congratulations. Federals suffered 3,061 casualties while Confederates lost some 1,500. Hood reported, “I beheld for the first and only time a Confederate army abandon the field in confusion.”
Thomas scored one of the most decisive victories of the war, even though President Lincoln and General Hiram U. Grant had nearly replaced him before the battle. This ended Confederate hopes for a northern invasion, and it effectively finished the Army of Tennessee as a fighting force.
A large skirmish occurs at Hinesville, Georgia, as Federal Major General William T. Sherman resupplies his army with supplies from the Union vessels off the Atlantic coast.
A Federal expedition began from Morganza to the Atchafalaya River, Louisiana.
Action commenced at Marion and the Federal capture of Wytheville, Virginia, by Union Major General George Stoneman as Southern Major General John C. Breckinridge commanding the Department of Western Virginia and East Tennessee musters as many Confederates in the region to block Stoneman's raid.
The USS Mount Vernon, under Acting Lieutenant James Trathen, in company with USS New Berne, Acting Lieutenant T. A. Harris in charge, captured and burned the schooner G. O. Bigelow in ballast at Bear Inlet, North Carolina.
Acting Master Charles A. Pettit, of the USS Monticello, performed a dangerous reconnaissance off New Inlet, North Carolina, removing several Confederate torpedoes and their firing apparatus near the base of Fort Caswell. Pettit's expedition was part of the extensive Union preparations for the bombardment and assault on Fort Fisher and the defenses of Wilmington planned for late December.
Posted on 12/16/14 at 9:13 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 17 December 1864
Federal Major General James H. Wilson’s cavalry and some dismounted infantry led the Federal pursuit of Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood and the Army of Tennessee from Nashville. Hood managed to concentrate towards Columbia, encamping at Spring Hill. Skirmishing broke out between the Federals and Hood’s rear guard at Hollow Tree Gap, West Harpeth River, and Franklin. The rear guard action allowed the rest of the Confederates to withdraw through Franklin.
Second report: James H. Wilson’s Federal cavalry began pursuing the broken Confederate Army of Tennessee toward Mississippi. John Bell Hood concentrated his remaining forces at Columbia, Tennessee, and a firm stand enabled the Confederates to withdraw back through Franklin.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis informed General William Hardee, commanding Confederates in the Savannah area, that no reinforcements were available, and that Hardee should make arrangements “...needful for the preservation of your Army.” Federals began surrounding Savannah, and General William T. Sherman demanded Hardee’s surrender.
The USS Louisiana, loaded with 350 tons of gunpowder is towed off Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina, to be exploded, as the huge naval flotilla with Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler's 6,500 men sail from Fortress Monroe, at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Actions took place at West Harpeth River and Hollow Tree Gap, Tennessee.
This morning saw the capture and destruction of the Lead Mines in southwest Virginia by Union Major General George Stoneman, as another Federal expeditionary force continues to destroy valuable and needed Confederate supplies.
Full report: The Battle of Marion, Virginia, was a military engagement fought between units of the Union Army and the Confederate Army during the middle part of December. The battle was part of Union Major General George Stoneman's attack upon southwest Virginia, aimed at destroying Confederate industrial infrastructure near Saltville and Marion. Union Cavalry and Infantry regiments—over 4,500 soldiers in total—left Tennessee early this morning for southwestern Virginia.
Through two days of fighting, a Confederate force under the command of John C. Breckinridge—totalling about 1,200–1,500 infantry and cavalry—was successful in holding defensive positions in and around the town of Marion. Today, the first day, successive Union attacks were defeated by a well-coordinated Confederate defenses near a covered bridge outside of Marion. By the end of the second day, dwindling ammunition supplies forced Confederate forces to withdraw from the area. With casualties for both sides approaching 300, Union forces proceeded to destroy the salt mines, lead works, and other beneficial Confederate infrastructure in Marion and Saltville.
Federal Major General James H. Wilson’s cavalry and some dismounted infantry led the Federal pursuit of Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood and the Army of Tennessee from Nashville. Hood managed to concentrate towards Columbia, encamping at Spring Hill. Skirmishing broke out between the Federals and Hood’s rear guard at Hollow Tree Gap, West Harpeth River, and Franklin. The rear guard action allowed the rest of the Confederates to withdraw through Franklin.
Second report: James H. Wilson’s Federal cavalry began pursuing the broken Confederate Army of Tennessee toward Mississippi. John Bell Hood concentrated his remaining forces at Columbia, Tennessee, and a firm stand enabled the Confederates to withdraw back through Franklin.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis informed General William Hardee, commanding Confederates in the Savannah area, that no reinforcements were available, and that Hardee should make arrangements “...needful for the preservation of your Army.” Federals began surrounding Savannah, and General William T. Sherman demanded Hardee’s surrender.
The USS Louisiana, loaded with 350 tons of gunpowder is towed off Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina, to be exploded, as the huge naval flotilla with Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler's 6,500 men sail from Fortress Monroe, at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Actions took place at West Harpeth River and Hollow Tree Gap, Tennessee.
This morning saw the capture and destruction of the Lead Mines in southwest Virginia by Union Major General George Stoneman, as another Federal expeditionary force continues to destroy valuable and needed Confederate supplies.
Full report: The Battle of Marion, Virginia, was a military engagement fought between units of the Union Army and the Confederate Army during the middle part of December. The battle was part of Union Major General George Stoneman's attack upon southwest Virginia, aimed at destroying Confederate industrial infrastructure near Saltville and Marion. Union Cavalry and Infantry regiments—over 4,500 soldiers in total—left Tennessee early this morning for southwestern Virginia.
Through two days of fighting, a Confederate force under the command of John C. Breckinridge—totalling about 1,200–1,500 infantry and cavalry—was successful in holding defensive positions in and around the town of Marion. Today, the first day, successive Union attacks were defeated by a well-coordinated Confederate defenses near a covered bridge outside of Marion. By the end of the second day, dwindling ammunition supplies forced Confederate forces to withdraw from the area. With casualties for both sides approaching 300, Union forces proceeded to destroy the salt mines, lead works, and other beneficial Confederate infrastructure in Marion and Saltville.
Posted on 12/16/14 at 9:53 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Such a tragic and neccessary day.
Posted on 12/17/14 at 4:55 am to Calvin Candie
Not necessary, Calvin Candie, assuming Jeff Davis never puts Hood in charge. He was a great brigade commander but wasn't worth a damn as an Army Chief, IMVHO. Had Johnston stayed in place, Atlanta doesn't likely fall before last month's vote and Honest Abe doesn't win the reelection. Not only is the Constitution unsullied, but Southerners get to fix their own problems instead of having the GD Yankees create a century's worth of Hatred from Reconstruction. Simply think about it for a spell...
Posted on 12/17/14 at 8:19 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 18 December 1864
Major General James H. Wilson’s Federal cavalry in Tennessee pursued Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee as far as Rutherford Creek, north of Columbia, which was now impassable.
Hearing the news of the Battle of Nashville, people throughout both North and South realized that it was a serious blow to Confederate hopes.
The only recorded heavy fighting for the day occurred at Spring Hill, Tennessee, with the Confederate Army of Tennessee; and on Little River in New Madrid County, Missouri, with partisan guerrillas. A skirmish occurred near Dudley Lake, Arkansas.
Confederate Lieutenant General William J. Hardee refused Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s surrender request at Savannah, Georgia, that Sherman had issued the previous day. It was clear, however, that the city had to be evacuated before the northern escape routes across the Savannah River closed permanently. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, who was in Savannah with Hardee at the moment, urged immediate evacuation at once, but Hardee expressed reluctance to leave so quickly.
President Abraham Lincoln met with members of Congress in continuing discussions that concerned Reconstruction of the seceded States. They needed to determine how best to restore the Confederate States to the Union once the War ended. Because of Lincoln's desire for an easy Re-Union, the rift between him and the Radical Republicans in Congress widened even further.
The USS Louisiana, under Commander Alexander Colden Rhind, arrived off Fort Fisher, having that day been towed from Beaufort, North Carolina, by the USS Sassacus, piloted by Lieutenant Commander John Lee Davis, in company with Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter and his fleet. The Louisiana had been loaded with powder and was to be blown up as near Fort Fisher as possible in the hope of reducing or substantially damaging that formidable Confederate work. The day before, Porter had sent detailed instructions to Commander Rhind, adding: "Great risks have to be run, and there are chances that you may lose your life in this adventure; but the risk is worth the running, when the importance of the object is to be considered and the fame to be gained by this novel undertaking, which is either to prove that forts on the water are useless or that Rebels are proof against gunpowder...I expect more good to our cause from a success in this instance than from an advance of all the armies in the field." Rhind and his brave crew of volunteers proceeded in toward Fort Fisher towed by the USS Wilderness, Acting Master Henry Arey in charge, but finding the swells too severe, turned back. Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, seeing the worsening weather at Beaufort, asked Porter to postpone the attempt until the sea was calm enough to land his troops with safety. Wilmington, North Carolina was the last major Confederate seaport open to much needed supplies and equipment from blockade-runners.
President Jefferson Davis wrote to Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon opposing the secretary’s plan to abolish conscription, arguing the Confederacy had no time for experimentation.
Major General James H. Wilson’s Federal cavalry in Tennessee pursued Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee as far as Rutherford Creek, north of Columbia, which was now impassable.
Hearing the news of the Battle of Nashville, people throughout both North and South realized that it was a serious blow to Confederate hopes.
The only recorded heavy fighting for the day occurred at Spring Hill, Tennessee, with the Confederate Army of Tennessee; and on Little River in New Madrid County, Missouri, with partisan guerrillas. A skirmish occurred near Dudley Lake, Arkansas.
Confederate Lieutenant General William J. Hardee refused Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s surrender request at Savannah, Georgia, that Sherman had issued the previous day. It was clear, however, that the city had to be evacuated before the northern escape routes across the Savannah River closed permanently. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, who was in Savannah with Hardee at the moment, urged immediate evacuation at once, but Hardee expressed reluctance to leave so quickly.
President Abraham Lincoln met with members of Congress in continuing discussions that concerned Reconstruction of the seceded States. They needed to determine how best to restore the Confederate States to the Union once the War ended. Because of Lincoln's desire for an easy Re-Union, the rift between him and the Radical Republicans in Congress widened even further.
The USS Louisiana, under Commander Alexander Colden Rhind, arrived off Fort Fisher, having that day been towed from Beaufort, North Carolina, by the USS Sassacus, piloted by Lieutenant Commander John Lee Davis, in company with Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter and his fleet. The Louisiana had been loaded with powder and was to be blown up as near Fort Fisher as possible in the hope of reducing or substantially damaging that formidable Confederate work. The day before, Porter had sent detailed instructions to Commander Rhind, adding: "Great risks have to be run, and there are chances that you may lose your life in this adventure; but the risk is worth the running, when the importance of the object is to be considered and the fame to be gained by this novel undertaking, which is either to prove that forts on the water are useless or that Rebels are proof against gunpowder...I expect more good to our cause from a success in this instance than from an advance of all the armies in the field." Rhind and his brave crew of volunteers proceeded in toward Fort Fisher towed by the USS Wilderness, Acting Master Henry Arey in charge, but finding the swells too severe, turned back. Major General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, seeing the worsening weather at Beaufort, asked Porter to postpone the attempt until the sea was calm enough to land his troops with safety. Wilmington, North Carolina was the last major Confederate seaport open to much needed supplies and equipment from blockade-runners.
President Jefferson Davis wrote to Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon opposing the secretary’s plan to abolish conscription, arguing the Confederacy had no time for experimentation.
Posted on 12/18/14 at 8:48 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 19 December 1864
Major General James H. Wilson’s Federal cavalry attempted to ford the flooded Rutherford Creek, north of Columbia, Tennessee. Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood hoped to halt his retreat at Columbia, on the line of the Duck River. Skirmishing broke out at Rutherford Creek and Curtis Creek.
In Virginia, both Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early and Union Major General Phillip Sheridan dispatched troops from the Shenandoah Valley back to the Richmond-Petersburg front. Sheridan also sent Brigadier General Alfred T. A. Torbert and over 8,000 Federal cavalry on a four-day expedition along the Virginia Central Railroad to Gordonsville, Virginia. Skirmishing occurred at Madison Court House, Liberty Mills, and Gordonsville as Confederates repulsed the Federal advance.
At Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 300,000 more volunteers to replace the casualties from the latest Southern Invasions and make one final push to end the War.
William Lowther Jackson, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A skirmish occur at Rector's Farm, Arkansas.
A Union expedition travelled from Kernstown to Lacey's Springs, Virginia, and action commenced at Lacey's Springs, as Brevetted Major General George Armstrong Custer and his Federal cavalry drive against the Rebels, destroying property, inflicting casualties, and disrupting communications.
The CSS Water Witch, captured from the Union on 3 June, was burned by the Confederates in the Vernon River near Savannah, in order to prevent her re-capture by General Sherman's troops advancing on the city.
The USS Princess Royal, under Commander Melancthon B. Woolsey, captured the schooner Cora off Galveston with a cargo of cotton.
Major General James H. Wilson’s Federal cavalry attempted to ford the flooded Rutherford Creek, north of Columbia, Tennessee. Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood hoped to halt his retreat at Columbia, on the line of the Duck River. Skirmishing broke out at Rutherford Creek and Curtis Creek.
In Virginia, both Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early and Union Major General Phillip Sheridan dispatched troops from the Shenandoah Valley back to the Richmond-Petersburg front. Sheridan also sent Brigadier General Alfred T. A. Torbert and over 8,000 Federal cavalry on a four-day expedition along the Virginia Central Railroad to Gordonsville, Virginia. Skirmishing occurred at Madison Court House, Liberty Mills, and Gordonsville as Confederates repulsed the Federal advance.
At Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 300,000 more volunteers to replace the casualties from the latest Southern Invasions and make one final push to end the War.
William Lowther Jackson, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A skirmish occur at Rector's Farm, Arkansas.
A Union expedition travelled from Kernstown to Lacey's Springs, Virginia, and action commenced at Lacey's Springs, as Brevetted Major General George Armstrong Custer and his Federal cavalry drive against the Rebels, destroying property, inflicting casualties, and disrupting communications.
The CSS Water Witch, captured from the Union on 3 June, was burned by the Confederates in the Vernon River near Savannah, in order to prevent her re-capture by General Sherman's troops advancing on the city.
The USS Princess Royal, under Commander Melancthon B. Woolsey, captured the schooner Cora off Galveston with a cargo of cotton.
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