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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 5/6/15 at 8:40 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 5/6/15 at 8:40 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 7 May 1865
Confederate partisan guerrillas, reportedly 110 in number, proceed to attack the town of Kingsville, Missouri, and burn down five houses. Eight people are killed and two are wounded.
President Andrew Johnson--at the urging of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton--appoints through Executive Order, the Honorable John A. Bingham as special judge advocate in the military commission set up to try the Lincoln assassination conspirators.
Captain Henry Wirz, the Confederate commander of the Andersonville prison camp, is arrested and sent to Washington, DC, by rail.
Colonel Simon Jones, 93rd Regiment, United States Colored Infantry, assumes the command of the Carrollton District, Louisiana.
Union Major General William T. Sherman's army continues marching northward to Washington, DC, for the final Grand Review of his army. Some in Congress fear he might attempt a political coup upon arrival.
Confederate partisan guerrillas, reportedly 110 in number, proceed to attack the town of Kingsville, Missouri, and burn down five houses. Eight people are killed and two are wounded.
President Andrew Johnson--at the urging of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton--appoints through Executive Order, the Honorable John A. Bingham as special judge advocate in the military commission set up to try the Lincoln assassination conspirators.
Captain Henry Wirz, the Confederate commander of the Andersonville prison camp, is arrested and sent to Washington, DC, by rail.
Colonel Simon Jones, 93rd Regiment, United States Colored Infantry, assumes the command of the Carrollton District, Louisiana.
Union Major General William T. Sherman's army continues marching northward to Washington, DC, for the final Grand Review of his army. Some in Congress fear he might attempt a political coup upon arrival.
1
Posted on 5/7/15 at 8:15 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 8 May 1865
The Federal commissioners of General Edward R.S. Canby accept the paroles of General Richard Taylor’s Confederate troops in Mississippi, Alabama and east Louisiana. Canby is under orders to prepare part of an expedition planned by Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant into the Trans-Mississippi, to confront General Edmund Kirby Smith’s Confederate Army, where the last sizable force of Southerners still holds out. There is also talk of possible negotiations in the Trans-Mississippi.
Throughout the Confederacy, both small groups of soldiers and individual troops surrender or simply pack up and just go home.
James Meech Warner, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A Federal expedition travels from Spring Hill, Alabama, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Skirmishing breaks out near Readsville, in Callaway County, Missouri, as partisans dressed in Union uniform, try to fool an advancing Yankee command; when that fails, the guerrillas open fire and quickly disperse the Union cavalry.
Federal troops scout against partisan guerrillas in Saline, La Fayette, and Cooper Counties, Missouri.
Federal soldiers scout from Plum Creek to Midway Station, in the Nebraska Territory, against the Indians who attacked the wagon train near Mullahla's Station on May 5.
The U.S.S. Isonomia, commanded by Lieutenant L. D. D. Voorhees, capture the blockade running British bark George Douthwaite off the Warrior River, Florida, with a full cargo of sugar, rum, wool, ginger, and mahogany.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis meets wife Varina’s wagon train in Georgia.
The Federal commissioners of General Edward R.S. Canby accept the paroles of General Richard Taylor’s Confederate troops in Mississippi, Alabama and east Louisiana. Canby is under orders to prepare part of an expedition planned by Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant into the Trans-Mississippi, to confront General Edmund Kirby Smith’s Confederate Army, where the last sizable force of Southerners still holds out. There is also talk of possible negotiations in the Trans-Mississippi.
Throughout the Confederacy, both small groups of soldiers and individual troops surrender or simply pack up and just go home.
James Meech Warner, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A Federal expedition travels from Spring Hill, Alabama, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Skirmishing breaks out near Readsville, in Callaway County, Missouri, as partisans dressed in Union uniform, try to fool an advancing Yankee command; when that fails, the guerrillas open fire and quickly disperse the Union cavalry.
Federal troops scout against partisan guerrillas in Saline, La Fayette, and Cooper Counties, Missouri.
Federal soldiers scout from Plum Creek to Midway Station, in the Nebraska Territory, against the Indians who attacked the wagon train near Mullahla's Station on May 5.
The U.S.S. Isonomia, commanded by Lieutenant L. D. D. Voorhees, capture the blockade running British bark George Douthwaite off the Warrior River, Florida, with a full cargo of sugar, rum, wool, ginger, and mahogany.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis meets wife Varina’s wagon train in Georgia.
Posted on 5/9/15 at 5:30 am to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 9 May 1865
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina, are reunited near Dublin, on the Oconee River, in Georgia. Meanwhile, Union cavalry close in on the remnants of the Confederate government. Davis is now heading toward Irwinville, Georgia, some 70 miles from Florida.
The trial begins for the eight alleged conspirators in the Lincoln assassination. The tribunal adjourns to allow the defendants to obtain legal counsel.
President Andrew Johnson recognizes Francis Harrison Pierpont as governor of Virginia. Pierpont had led the pro-Union "restored" part of the state under Federal occupation during the War.
Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith rejects an offer from Union General John Pope to surrender his forces by the same terms granted to General Robert Edward Lee.
Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest officially disbands his Cavalry command.
In Arkansas, negotiations are going on at Chalk Bluff, on the St. Francis River, for the surrender of the troops of Confederate Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson, the eccentric and brilliant Rebel leader in Missouri and the West.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina, are reunited near Dublin, on the Oconee River, in Georgia. Meanwhile, Union cavalry close in on the remnants of the Confederate government. Davis is now heading toward Irwinville, Georgia, some 70 miles from Florida.
The trial begins for the eight alleged conspirators in the Lincoln assassination. The tribunal adjourns to allow the defendants to obtain legal counsel.
President Andrew Johnson recognizes Francis Harrison Pierpont as governor of Virginia. Pierpont had led the pro-Union "restored" part of the state under Federal occupation during the War.
Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith rejects an offer from Union General John Pope to surrender his forces by the same terms granted to General Robert Edward Lee.
Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest officially disbands his Cavalry command.
In Arkansas, negotiations are going on at Chalk Bluff, on the St. Francis River, for the surrender of the troops of Confederate Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson, the eccentric and brilliant Rebel leader in Missouri and the West.
Posted on 5/10/15 at 6:55 am to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 10 May 1865
Southern Major General Samuel Jones surrenders his Confederate command at Tallahassee, Florida.
Federal irregulars led by Union Captain Edwin Terrell--sometimes referred to as bushwhackers--mortally wound William Clarke Quantrill, the notorious Southern partisan leader, near Taylorsville, in Spencer County, Kentucky.
Terrell, a leader of Federal guerrillas in Spencer County, had a reputation of being a fearsome hunter of Confederate irregulars. Serving the Confederacy early in the War but being an opportunist, Terrell changed sides and began a career of plundering, raiding and killing Southern sympathizers or anyone who crossed him. Union authorities rapidly had grown tired of dealing with such lawless bands, but following the philosophy of "...it takes a guerrilla to catch a guerrilla..." they hired the galvanized bushwhacker to hunt down Quantrill. Terrell would accomplish this task, but, as one of his comrades related: "Terrell was a bad man. Perhaps as bad as the man he was hunting down..."
After being ambushed, while sleeping at a barn owned by James H. Wakefield, Quantrill vaulted onto his steed in a hurried attempt at escape, but the stirrup leather broke, throwing him across the back of his horse. Quantrill's mount, which was borrowed and somewhat gun-shy, immediately panicked and followed the other horses out of the barn. As the frightened beast cleared the barn door, Quantrill was shot in the back. The hot lead entered near his left shoulder blade and cut downward into his spine. Partially paralyzed, the guerrilla fell from his horse. One of Terrell's men, watching Quantrill fall face down in the mud, fired again. That pistol ball blew off Quantrill's right trigger finger.
Terrell loaded Quantrill's paralyzed frame onto a wagon and headed for the military prison in Louisville. Upon reaching Louisville, Quantrill was placed in the prison hospital, where he was nursed by a Catholic priest. He made a full confession, converted to Catholicism and took the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, which gives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body to persons who are in danger of death. On 6 June, following an operation, William Clarke Quantrill died at the age of 27.
Federals scout from Fort Sumner, in the New Mexico Territory, toward the direction of Fort Bascom to Rioi de las Conchas and Chaperita, to the Pecos and back.
Jefferson Finis Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of Union General James H. Wilson’s troops from the 4th Michigan Cavalry.
On 2 April 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia, imminent, General Robert E. Lee informed President Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and advised the Confederate government to evacuate its capital. Davis and his cabinet fled to Danville, Virginia, and with Robert E. Lee’s surrender on 9 April, deep into the South. Lee’s surrender of his once powerful, but by then almost completely diminished, Army of Northern Virginia effectively ended the regular fighting of the War for Southern Independence, and during the next few weeks the remaining Confederate armies slowly surrendered one by one. Davis was devastated by the fall of the Confederacy, but doggedly refusing to admit defeat, he had hoped to flee to a sympathetic foreign nation such as Britain or France, and was weighing the merits of forming a government in exile when he was arrested by a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry.
A certain amount of controversy surrounded his capture, as Davis was wearing his wife’s black shawl when the Union troops cornered him. The Northern press ridiculed him as a coward, misleading the public alleging that he had disguised himself as a woman in an ill-fated attempt to escape. Davis, however, and especially his wife, Varina, maintained that he was ill and that Varina had lent him her shawl in an endeavor to keep his health up during their difficult journey.
Imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Davis was quickly indicted for treason and falsely being accused of setting the Booth conspirators' actions in motion, but was never able to be tried as the Federal Government feared that Davis would be able prove to a jury that the Southern Secession of 1860 to 1861 was--and still likely is today--Constitutionally legal. Varina worked determinedly to secure his freedom, and in May 1867 Confederate President Jefferson Davis was released on bail, with several wealthy Northerners helping him pay for his freedom.
After a number of unsuccessful business ventures, he retired to Beauvoir, his home near Biloxi, Mississippi, and began writing his two-volume memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). He died in 1889 and was buried at New Orleans; four years later, his body was moved to its permanent resting spot of honor in Richmond, Virginia.
President Andrew Johnson proclaimed that "...armed resistance to the authority of this Government in the said insurrectionary States may be regarded as virtually at an end..." Johnson partially lifted the Federal blockade east of the Mississippi River.
Ignoring legalities, the Constitution and military protocol, the hand-picked commission led by Major General David "Black Dave" Hunter and Brigadier General Joseph Holt serving as judge advocate, informs the eight alleged conspirators in the Lincoln assassination of the charges against them, even though they had not yet been allowed to officially obtain lawyers. Commissioners accused the defendants of "traitorously" conspiring with Jefferson Davis and "others unknown" to "kill and murder" Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, William H. Seward, and Hiram U. Grant. The commissioners conformed to the general northern opinion that the assassination had been the work of Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government to prolong the war, neglecting to consider that the seeds of the conspiracy might well have been planted by Stanton's (and possibly Lincoln's) botched Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid of the previous year in an attempt to accomplish almost exactly the same result.
Southern Major General Samuel Jones surrenders his Confederate command at Tallahassee, Florida.
Federal irregulars led by Union Captain Edwin Terrell--sometimes referred to as bushwhackers--mortally wound William Clarke Quantrill, the notorious Southern partisan leader, near Taylorsville, in Spencer County, Kentucky.
Terrell, a leader of Federal guerrillas in Spencer County, had a reputation of being a fearsome hunter of Confederate irregulars. Serving the Confederacy early in the War but being an opportunist, Terrell changed sides and began a career of plundering, raiding and killing Southern sympathizers or anyone who crossed him. Union authorities rapidly had grown tired of dealing with such lawless bands, but following the philosophy of "...it takes a guerrilla to catch a guerrilla..." they hired the galvanized bushwhacker to hunt down Quantrill. Terrell would accomplish this task, but, as one of his comrades related: "Terrell was a bad man. Perhaps as bad as the man he was hunting down..."
After being ambushed, while sleeping at a barn owned by James H. Wakefield, Quantrill vaulted onto his steed in a hurried attempt at escape, but the stirrup leather broke, throwing him across the back of his horse. Quantrill's mount, which was borrowed and somewhat gun-shy, immediately panicked and followed the other horses out of the barn. As the frightened beast cleared the barn door, Quantrill was shot in the back. The hot lead entered near his left shoulder blade and cut downward into his spine. Partially paralyzed, the guerrilla fell from his horse. One of Terrell's men, watching Quantrill fall face down in the mud, fired again. That pistol ball blew off Quantrill's right trigger finger.
Terrell loaded Quantrill's paralyzed frame onto a wagon and headed for the military prison in Louisville. Upon reaching Louisville, Quantrill was placed in the prison hospital, where he was nursed by a Catholic priest. He made a full confession, converted to Catholicism and took the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, which gives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body to persons who are in danger of death. On 6 June, following an operation, William Clarke Quantrill died at the age of 27.
Federals scout from Fort Sumner, in the New Mexico Territory, toward the direction of Fort Bascom to Rioi de las Conchas and Chaperita, to the Pecos and back.
Jefferson Finis Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of Union General James H. Wilson’s troops from the 4th Michigan Cavalry.
On 2 April 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia, imminent, General Robert E. Lee informed President Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and advised the Confederate government to evacuate its capital. Davis and his cabinet fled to Danville, Virginia, and with Robert E. Lee’s surrender on 9 April, deep into the South. Lee’s surrender of his once powerful, but by then almost completely diminished, Army of Northern Virginia effectively ended the regular fighting of the War for Southern Independence, and during the next few weeks the remaining Confederate armies slowly surrendered one by one. Davis was devastated by the fall of the Confederacy, but doggedly refusing to admit defeat, he had hoped to flee to a sympathetic foreign nation such as Britain or France, and was weighing the merits of forming a government in exile when he was arrested by a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry.
A certain amount of controversy surrounded his capture, as Davis was wearing his wife’s black shawl when the Union troops cornered him. The Northern press ridiculed him as a coward, misleading the public alleging that he had disguised himself as a woman in an ill-fated attempt to escape. Davis, however, and especially his wife, Varina, maintained that he was ill and that Varina had lent him her shawl in an endeavor to keep his health up during their difficult journey.
Imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Davis was quickly indicted for treason and falsely being accused of setting the Booth conspirators' actions in motion, but was never able to be tried as the Federal Government feared that Davis would be able prove to a jury that the Southern Secession of 1860 to 1861 was--and still likely is today--Constitutionally legal. Varina worked determinedly to secure his freedom, and in May 1867 Confederate President Jefferson Davis was released on bail, with several wealthy Northerners helping him pay for his freedom.
After a number of unsuccessful business ventures, he retired to Beauvoir, his home near Biloxi, Mississippi, and began writing his two-volume memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). He died in 1889 and was buried at New Orleans; four years later, his body was moved to its permanent resting spot of honor in Richmond, Virginia.
President Andrew Johnson proclaimed that "...armed resistance to the authority of this Government in the said insurrectionary States may be regarded as virtually at an end..." Johnson partially lifted the Federal blockade east of the Mississippi River.
Ignoring legalities, the Constitution and military protocol, the hand-picked commission led by Major General David "Black Dave" Hunter and Brigadier General Joseph Holt serving as judge advocate, informs the eight alleged conspirators in the Lincoln assassination of the charges against them, even though they had not yet been allowed to officially obtain lawyers. Commissioners accused the defendants of "traitorously" conspiring with Jefferson Davis and "others unknown" to "kill and murder" Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, William H. Seward, and Hiram U. Grant. The commissioners conformed to the general northern opinion that the assassination had been the work of Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government to prolong the war, neglecting to consider that the seeds of the conspiracy might well have been planted by Stanton's (and possibly Lincoln's) botched Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid of the previous year in an attempt to accomplish almost exactly the same result.
Posted on 5/10/15 at 8:57 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 11 May 1865
The CSS Stonewall arrives at Havana, Cuba. The Confederate Commerce Raider put into the harbor where she was turned over to the Governor General of Cuba. The vessel was subsequently turned over to the United States and eventually sold to Japan.
Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson surrenders what was left of his famous brigade--the rest of his Trans-Mississippi Confederates--at Chalk Bluff, Arkansas, under the same terms as General Hiram U. Grant had granted to Robert E. Lee. Other Confederate units continued surrendering, with other men simply heading home.
Small groups continue to lay down their arms east of the Mississippi as well. Federal troops, including many Negroes with the 62nd US Colored Infantry, moved out from the Gulf Coast area of Brazos Santiago, toward Brownsville, Texas.
Confederate forces cleared Federals from Palmito Ranch, a supply post in Texas. Federal Colonel Theodore H. Barrett had broken a ceasefire agreement by sending cavalry to attack Confederate outposts.
General Alexander Asboth, commanding Union forces in West Florida, wires: "I have the honor to report that having been informed on the 5th instant that several hundred citizens of West Florida would assemble at Milton with the intention of returning to their allegiance, and that some lawless parties had threatened to break up such meeting, I ordered Colonel Woodman and the District Provost-Marshal to proceed with 200 men to that place, to prevent any disturbance and take the statements prescribed in General Field Orders No. 2, Current Series, from Headquarters Military Division of West Mississippi, of those desired to take the oath of amnesty. Upon a subsequent report from Milton of the District Provost-Marshal that about 600 persons had convened at that place from a distance of fifty to a hundred miles, entirely destitute of provisions, I directed the issue of five days’ ration to those people to satisfy their immediate wants. Besides these people a great number of families are daily returning to Milton and Pensacola, with a view to regain their former occupation. I issued Circular No. 6, declaring the towns of Pensacola and Milton military posts, each place to be guarded at present by sixty men and provided with a Provost-Marshal, requesting at the same time Dr. E. T. Price assistant supervising Treasury Agent here, to take possession of all rebels’ property thus brought under the control of the U. S. military and Treasury authorities and subject to seizure and confiscation according to the Act of Congress approved 12 March 1864, and according to standing military and Treasury regulations."
Lewis Baldwin Parsons, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
General Edmund Kirby Smith reported that his Confederate Trans-Mississippi of some 50,000 men had "...dissolved all military organization and returned to their homes."
The CSS Stonewall arrives at Havana, Cuba. The Confederate Commerce Raider put into the harbor where she was turned over to the Governor General of Cuba. The vessel was subsequently turned over to the United States and eventually sold to Japan.
Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson surrenders what was left of his famous brigade--the rest of his Trans-Mississippi Confederates--at Chalk Bluff, Arkansas, under the same terms as General Hiram U. Grant had granted to Robert E. Lee. Other Confederate units continued surrendering, with other men simply heading home.
Small groups continue to lay down their arms east of the Mississippi as well. Federal troops, including many Negroes with the 62nd US Colored Infantry, moved out from the Gulf Coast area of Brazos Santiago, toward Brownsville, Texas.
Confederate forces cleared Federals from Palmito Ranch, a supply post in Texas. Federal Colonel Theodore H. Barrett had broken a ceasefire agreement by sending cavalry to attack Confederate outposts.
General Alexander Asboth, commanding Union forces in West Florida, wires: "I have the honor to report that having been informed on the 5th instant that several hundred citizens of West Florida would assemble at Milton with the intention of returning to their allegiance, and that some lawless parties had threatened to break up such meeting, I ordered Colonel Woodman and the District Provost-Marshal to proceed with 200 men to that place, to prevent any disturbance and take the statements prescribed in General Field Orders No. 2, Current Series, from Headquarters Military Division of West Mississippi, of those desired to take the oath of amnesty. Upon a subsequent report from Milton of the District Provost-Marshal that about 600 persons had convened at that place from a distance of fifty to a hundred miles, entirely destitute of provisions, I directed the issue of five days’ ration to those people to satisfy their immediate wants. Besides these people a great number of families are daily returning to Milton and Pensacola, with a view to regain their former occupation. I issued Circular No. 6, declaring the towns of Pensacola and Milton military posts, each place to be guarded at present by sixty men and provided with a Provost-Marshal, requesting at the same time Dr. E. T. Price assistant supervising Treasury Agent here, to take possession of all rebels’ property thus brought under the control of the U. S. military and Treasury authorities and subject to seizure and confiscation according to the Act of Congress approved 12 March 1864, and according to standing military and Treasury regulations."
Lewis Baldwin Parsons, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
General Edmund Kirby Smith reported that his Confederate Trans-Mississippi of some 50,000 men had "...dissolved all military organization and returned to their homes."
Posted on 5/11/15 at 9:04 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 12 May 1865
In the last land engagement of significance in the War Between the States, Union troops from Brazos Santiago Post, Texas, under Colonel Theodore H. Barrett, march inland towards Brownsville and attack Palmito Ranch on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The camp was taken, but the Yankees quickly evacuated under pressure from Confederates led by Colonel John S. Ford.
Full report: Since March 1865, a gentleman’s agreement precluded fighting between Union and Confederate forces on the Rio Grande. In spite of this agreement, Colonel Theodore H. Barrett, commanding forces at Brazos Santiago, Texas, dispatched an expedition, composed of 250 men of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment and 50 men of the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Branson, to the mainland, on 11 May, to attack reported Rebel outposts and camps. Prohibited by foul weather from crossing to Point Isabel as instructed, the expedition crossed to Boca Chica much later. At 2:00 am, on 12 May, the expeditionary force surrounded the Rebel outpost at White’s Ranch, but found no one there. Exhausted, having been up most of the night, Branson secreted his command in a thicket and among weeds on the banks of the Rio Grande and allowed his men to sleep. Around 8:30 am, people on the Mexican side of the river informed the Rebels of the Federals’ whereabouts. Branson promptly led his men off to attack a Confederate camp at Palmito Ranch. After much skirmishing along the way, the Federals attacked the camp and scattered the Confederates. Branson and his men remained at the site to feed themselves and their horses but, at 3:00 pm, a sizable Confederate force appeared, influencing the Federals to retire to White’s Ranch. He sent word of his predicament to Barrett, who reinforced Branson at daybreak, on the 13th, with 200 men of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The augmented force, now commanded by Barrett, started out towards Palmito Ranch, skirmishing most of the way. At Palmito Ranch, they destroyed the rest of the supplies not torched the day before and continued on. A few miles forward, they became involved in a sharp firefight. After the fighting stopped, Barrett led his force back to a bluff at Tulosa on the river where the men could prepare dinner and camp for the night. At 4:00 pm, a large Confederate cavalry force, commanded by Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford, approached, and the Federals formed a battle line. The Rebels hammered the Union line with artillery. To preclude an enemy flanking movement, Barrett ordered a retreat. The retreat was orderly and skirmishers held the Rebels at a respectable distance. Returning to Boca Chica at 8:00 pm, the men embarked at 4:00 am, on the 14th. This was the last battle in the Civil War. Caucasian, Native, African, and Hispanic Americans were all involved in the fighting on both sides. Many combatants reported that firing came from the Mexican shore and that some Imperial Mexican forces crossed the Rio Grande but did not take part in the battle. These reports are unproven.
In Washington, D.C., the eight alleged conspirators in the Lincoln assassination pleaded not guilty to both specifications and charges against them before the military commission sitting as their court. As the taking of testimony began, all eight had obtained lawyers, but could not consult with them except in the courtroom where their guards could listen.
President Andrew Johnson appoints Major General Oliver O. Howard to duty as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman, and Abandoned Lands.
Brevetted Major General Adelbert Ames, USA, assumes the command of the 10th US Army Corps, Florida.
Federal troops scout against Indians, from Cottonwood, in the Nebraska Territory, to Oilman's Station, 15 miles east of Post Cottonwood.
In the last land engagement of significance in the War Between the States, Union troops from Brazos Santiago Post, Texas, under Colonel Theodore H. Barrett, march inland towards Brownsville and attack Palmito Ranch on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The camp was taken, but the Yankees quickly evacuated under pressure from Confederates led by Colonel John S. Ford.
Full report: Since March 1865, a gentleman’s agreement precluded fighting between Union and Confederate forces on the Rio Grande. In spite of this agreement, Colonel Theodore H. Barrett, commanding forces at Brazos Santiago, Texas, dispatched an expedition, composed of 250 men of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment and 50 men of the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel David Branson, to the mainland, on 11 May, to attack reported Rebel outposts and camps. Prohibited by foul weather from crossing to Point Isabel as instructed, the expedition crossed to Boca Chica much later. At 2:00 am, on 12 May, the expeditionary force surrounded the Rebel outpost at White’s Ranch, but found no one there. Exhausted, having been up most of the night, Branson secreted his command in a thicket and among weeds on the banks of the Rio Grande and allowed his men to sleep. Around 8:30 am, people on the Mexican side of the river informed the Rebels of the Federals’ whereabouts. Branson promptly led his men off to attack a Confederate camp at Palmito Ranch. After much skirmishing along the way, the Federals attacked the camp and scattered the Confederates. Branson and his men remained at the site to feed themselves and their horses but, at 3:00 pm, a sizable Confederate force appeared, influencing the Federals to retire to White’s Ranch. He sent word of his predicament to Barrett, who reinforced Branson at daybreak, on the 13th, with 200 men of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The augmented force, now commanded by Barrett, started out towards Palmito Ranch, skirmishing most of the way. At Palmito Ranch, they destroyed the rest of the supplies not torched the day before and continued on. A few miles forward, they became involved in a sharp firefight. After the fighting stopped, Barrett led his force back to a bluff at Tulosa on the river where the men could prepare dinner and camp for the night. At 4:00 pm, a large Confederate cavalry force, commanded by Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford, approached, and the Federals formed a battle line. The Rebels hammered the Union line with artillery. To preclude an enemy flanking movement, Barrett ordered a retreat. The retreat was orderly and skirmishers held the Rebels at a respectable distance. Returning to Boca Chica at 8:00 pm, the men embarked at 4:00 am, on the 14th. This was the last battle in the Civil War. Caucasian, Native, African, and Hispanic Americans were all involved in the fighting on both sides. Many combatants reported that firing came from the Mexican shore and that some Imperial Mexican forces crossed the Rio Grande but did not take part in the battle. These reports are unproven.
In Washington, D.C., the eight alleged conspirators in the Lincoln assassination pleaded not guilty to both specifications and charges against them before the military commission sitting as their court. As the taking of testimony began, all eight had obtained lawyers, but could not consult with them except in the courtroom where their guards could listen.
President Andrew Johnson appoints Major General Oliver O. Howard to duty as the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman, and Abandoned Lands.
Brevetted Major General Adelbert Ames, USA, assumes the command of the 10th US Army Corps, Florida.
Federal troops scout against Indians, from Cottonwood, in the Nebraska Territory, to Oilman's Station, 15 miles east of Post Cottonwood.
Posted on 5/12/15 at 8:36 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 13 May 1865
Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith and other ranking officers meet with the Confederate governors of Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri as well as a representative of Texas, at Marshall, Texas, where Smith is advised to surrender his army. Brigadier General Joseph Orville Shelby and others threaten to arrest Smith if he does. The governors draw up terms which they advise Smith to accept.
Brigadier General John M. Thayer, USA, is assigned to the command of the District of Eastern Arkansas.
Skirmishing breaks out with Indians at Dan Smith's Ranch, 5 miles below Gilman's, near Julesburg, in the Colorado Territory, as 25 Indians attempt to run off the livestock there.
In Texas, Union troops move on Palmito Ranch once again, as it had been reoccupied by the Confederates. In the mid-afternoon, the Confederates attack and force the Federal troops to withdraw with considerable casualties. Colonel John S. "Rest in Peace" Ford led the main Confederate drive. The Battle of Palmito Ranch was the last major land battle of the war, and just like the first, ironically a Confederate victory.
The 4th Michigan Cavalry brings Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina, to Union army headquarters at Macon, Georgia.
Union Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren forwards the following memorandum of instructions: "I have just learned that the piratical ram Stonewall had arrived at Havana on the 11th May. How long she may remain is not known, nor her probable direction when she leaves, but it is surmised that this may be along the Florida coast. Two of the fastest light drafts will therefore return to that station and cruise so as to obtain the earliest notice of the presence of the ram there. The Wondo and Pontiac are selected, one off the Jupiter Inlet, the other off Cape Florida, as the senior officer may find best cruising toward each other."
Acting Governor Allison informs General McCook, commanding U. S. Occupation Forces at Tallahassee, that yesterday he "...appointed D. L. Yulee, J. Wayles Baker, M. D. Papy, E. C. Lowe, J. S. G. Baker as commissioners to proceed to Washington for the purpose of making known to the executive authorities of the United States the steps in progress for harmonizing the government of this State with the Constitution of the United States and of conferring generally with the public authorities of the Federal Government concerning our affairs. You will oblige me by furnishing passports for these commissioners and such facilities as may be indispensable for passing them along the military lines. If your powers are not sufficient, as I apprehend they may not be, I have to request that you would obtain from the proper authorities at Washington the required permission. It is proper for me to say in this connection that the people of this State recognize with entire unanimity the duty which circumstances impose of conforming to the political requirements of the Constitution of the United States and that they resume the duties and privileges created by that instrument in a spirit of perfect good faith, with the purpose to abide therein."
General McCook reports that yesterday his officers "...received the surrender of the fort (Fort Ward) at Saint Mark’s, and at 12 p.m. the U.S. flag was raised over it and a national salute fired. It is a strong fortification with an armament of eight heavy guns, and well supplied with ammunition. A small gun-boat, the Spray, was lying in the harbor. I paroled the officers and crew and left the boat in charge of a marine guard from the squadron lying outside. The only supplies in the country consist of meat, meal, and salt; no flour. I will have no difficulty in procuring these, but forage will be scarce. I am collecting the supplies at this point [Tallahassee], and also having all artillery, arms, horses, &c., brought here. There will be a very large amount. I have the honor to request instructions as to the future disposition to be made of this Government property."
General McCook requests information from his own command on the following points: "The Governor of the State [Florida] has issued a proclamation calling the Legislature to gather on 5 June. It was done without my knowledge, and before I had an interview with him. Shall I permit the Legislature to meet, or request him to withdraw the call? In this connection, I will state that Governor Allison and Mr. Yulee, as well as other prominent citizens I have conversed with, accept the present termination of affairs with apparent cheerfulness, and are exceedingly gratified with the policy the General commanding has marked out for me to pursue, and which I shall follow strictly. As this is a contingency unprovided for, and may involve important results, I ask instructions. These people I referred to all seemed anxious to get back into the Union again as quickly as possible. What disposition is to be made of run-away negroes who came into my camp? I have nothing to feed them with, and must either drive them away from camp or send them to Macon..."
The CSS Shenandoah was south of the Kuril Islands headed north. The Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company of New England did a booming business out of fear of what the Shenandoah might do to the whaling fleet.
Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith and other ranking officers meet with the Confederate governors of Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri as well as a representative of Texas, at Marshall, Texas, where Smith is advised to surrender his army. Brigadier General Joseph Orville Shelby and others threaten to arrest Smith if he does. The governors draw up terms which they advise Smith to accept.
Brigadier General John M. Thayer, USA, is assigned to the command of the District of Eastern Arkansas.
Skirmishing breaks out with Indians at Dan Smith's Ranch, 5 miles below Gilman's, near Julesburg, in the Colorado Territory, as 25 Indians attempt to run off the livestock there.
In Texas, Union troops move on Palmito Ranch once again, as it had been reoccupied by the Confederates. In the mid-afternoon, the Confederates attack and force the Federal troops to withdraw with considerable casualties. Colonel John S. "Rest in Peace" Ford led the main Confederate drive. The Battle of Palmito Ranch was the last major land battle of the war, and just like the first, ironically a Confederate victory.
The 4th Michigan Cavalry brings Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina, to Union army headquarters at Macon, Georgia.
Union Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren forwards the following memorandum of instructions: "I have just learned that the piratical ram Stonewall had arrived at Havana on the 11th May. How long she may remain is not known, nor her probable direction when she leaves, but it is surmised that this may be along the Florida coast. Two of the fastest light drafts will therefore return to that station and cruise so as to obtain the earliest notice of the presence of the ram there. The Wondo and Pontiac are selected, one off the Jupiter Inlet, the other off Cape Florida, as the senior officer may find best cruising toward each other."
Acting Governor Allison informs General McCook, commanding U. S. Occupation Forces at Tallahassee, that yesterday he "...appointed D. L. Yulee, J. Wayles Baker, M. D. Papy, E. C. Lowe, J. S. G. Baker as commissioners to proceed to Washington for the purpose of making known to the executive authorities of the United States the steps in progress for harmonizing the government of this State with the Constitution of the United States and of conferring generally with the public authorities of the Federal Government concerning our affairs. You will oblige me by furnishing passports for these commissioners and such facilities as may be indispensable for passing them along the military lines. If your powers are not sufficient, as I apprehend they may not be, I have to request that you would obtain from the proper authorities at Washington the required permission. It is proper for me to say in this connection that the people of this State recognize with entire unanimity the duty which circumstances impose of conforming to the political requirements of the Constitution of the United States and that they resume the duties and privileges created by that instrument in a spirit of perfect good faith, with the purpose to abide therein."
General McCook reports that yesterday his officers "...received the surrender of the fort (Fort Ward) at Saint Mark’s, and at 12 p.m. the U.S. flag was raised over it and a national salute fired. It is a strong fortification with an armament of eight heavy guns, and well supplied with ammunition. A small gun-boat, the Spray, was lying in the harbor. I paroled the officers and crew and left the boat in charge of a marine guard from the squadron lying outside. The only supplies in the country consist of meat, meal, and salt; no flour. I will have no difficulty in procuring these, but forage will be scarce. I am collecting the supplies at this point [Tallahassee], and also having all artillery, arms, horses, &c., brought here. There will be a very large amount. I have the honor to request instructions as to the future disposition to be made of this Government property."
General McCook requests information from his own command on the following points: "The Governor of the State [Florida] has issued a proclamation calling the Legislature to gather on 5 June. It was done without my knowledge, and before I had an interview with him. Shall I permit the Legislature to meet, or request him to withdraw the call? In this connection, I will state that Governor Allison and Mr. Yulee, as well as other prominent citizens I have conversed with, accept the present termination of affairs with apparent cheerfulness, and are exceedingly gratified with the policy the General commanding has marked out for me to pursue, and which I shall follow strictly. As this is a contingency unprovided for, and may involve important results, I ask instructions. These people I referred to all seemed anxious to get back into the Union again as quickly as possible. What disposition is to be made of run-away negroes who came into my camp? I have nothing to feed them with, and must either drive them away from camp or send them to Macon..."
The CSS Shenandoah was south of the Kuril Islands headed north. The Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company of New England did a booming business out of fear of what the Shenandoah might do to the whaling fleet.
Posted on 5/13/15 at 8:17 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 14 May 1865
Union General Quincy Adams Gillmore this morning issues an order declaring null and void Florida Governor Abraham Kurkindolle Allison’s proclamation calling the legislature into session on 5 June. The governor is labelled "disloyal" to the United States, and only those functions of government performed by him with the prior knowledge and consent of Federal authorities will be forthwith deemed legal.
In a letter to Union Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton, David Levy Yulee reports that he has agreed to accept a place upon the commission which Governor Allison plans to send to Washington. Yulee writes: "The opinion of the State is very general that it is advisable to resume the ancient relation they held under the Constitution of the United States. In this I concur with them—and as it is desirable to restore unity of feeling and action among all our people, and to establish as early as possible order and peace, which is only possible upon the basis of the Union, I have been giving my efforts to this end. Being so engaged I have not felt at liberty to refuse the Governor’s appointment and if the mission he proposes should be acceptable at Washington, it will go there. I think that useful results may follow the mission."
Skirmishing again commences against partisan guerrillas on the Little Piney, Missouri, with a detachment of Texas and Pulaski County militia.
A three-day Federal expedition begins from Brashear City, aboard the steamer, Cornie, to Ratliff's Plantation, Louisiana, where the Yankees send out word that continued resistance is futile.
Union Major General Gouverneur K. Warren, who just a year earlier had called Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant a "Butcher" for the strategy which caused such devastating losses--18,500 casualties--after the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, assumes the command of the Department of Mississippi.
Union General Quincy Adams Gillmore this morning issues an order declaring null and void Florida Governor Abraham Kurkindolle Allison’s proclamation calling the legislature into session on 5 June. The governor is labelled "disloyal" to the United States, and only those functions of government performed by him with the prior knowledge and consent of Federal authorities will be forthwith deemed legal.
In a letter to Union Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton, David Levy Yulee reports that he has agreed to accept a place upon the commission which Governor Allison plans to send to Washington. Yulee writes: "The opinion of the State is very general that it is advisable to resume the ancient relation they held under the Constitution of the United States. In this I concur with them—and as it is desirable to restore unity of feeling and action among all our people, and to establish as early as possible order and peace, which is only possible upon the basis of the Union, I have been giving my efforts to this end. Being so engaged I have not felt at liberty to refuse the Governor’s appointment and if the mission he proposes should be acceptable at Washington, it will go there. I think that useful results may follow the mission."
Skirmishing again commences against partisan guerrillas on the Little Piney, Missouri, with a detachment of Texas and Pulaski County militia.
A three-day Federal expedition begins from Brashear City, aboard the steamer, Cornie, to Ratliff's Plantation, Louisiana, where the Yankees send out word that continued resistance is futile.
Union Major General Gouverneur K. Warren, who just a year earlier had called Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant a "Butcher" for the strategy which caused such devastating losses--18,500 casualties--after the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, assumes the command of the Department of Mississippi.
Posted on 5/14/15 at 8:20 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 15 May 1865
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina, are transported to Augusta, Georgia, this afternoon.
Confederate Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, in his flight from Federal pursuers, has this morning reached Florida. This evening, he will be at the home of Judge Benjamin F. Wardlaw near Madison and will go into Madison tomorrow to see Daniel G. Livingston and Colonel John Taylor Wood, former aide of President Jefferson Davis and a grandson of President John Tyler. Wood is also trying to escape capture, and General Breckinridge hopes they can travel together.
Union General Alexander Asboth, who served as chief of staff for General John C. Fremont, is today forwarding a communication, which he received from Commander James F. Armstrong, commanding the Navy Yard, Pensacola, describing the surrender of the Tallahassee and Saint Mark’s on 9 May. Armstrong reports: "There are, however, several bands of Rebel desperadoes this side of Choctawhatchee River, who, although included in Dick Taylor’s surrender, continue in arms against the United States Government, with their principal camps near Marianna, Fla., and Elba, Ala.; to compel these Rebels to lay down their arms, also to relieve the interior of West Florida from lawless bands of deserters from our army, robbing indiscriminately the people of both parties, I would respectfully renew my request for the return of the mounted portion of the Second Maine and First Florida Cavalry force be ordered here for the purpose of pacifying fully this portion of country."
According to reports issued today by Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren, the USS Ottawa and USS Norwich are patrolling the St. Johns River.
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles wrote Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher that blockade running out of Galveston, Texas, was still being carried out with great success.
Federal troops scout against partisan guerrillas from Pine Bluff to Johnson's Farm, Arkansas, with skirmishing occurring on the Monticello Road.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina, are transported to Augusta, Georgia, this afternoon.
Confederate Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, in his flight from Federal pursuers, has this morning reached Florida. This evening, he will be at the home of Judge Benjamin F. Wardlaw near Madison and will go into Madison tomorrow to see Daniel G. Livingston and Colonel John Taylor Wood, former aide of President Jefferson Davis and a grandson of President John Tyler. Wood is also trying to escape capture, and General Breckinridge hopes they can travel together.
Union General Alexander Asboth, who served as chief of staff for General John C. Fremont, is today forwarding a communication, which he received from Commander James F. Armstrong, commanding the Navy Yard, Pensacola, describing the surrender of the Tallahassee and Saint Mark’s on 9 May. Armstrong reports: "There are, however, several bands of Rebel desperadoes this side of Choctawhatchee River, who, although included in Dick Taylor’s surrender, continue in arms against the United States Government, with their principal camps near Marianna, Fla., and Elba, Ala.; to compel these Rebels to lay down their arms, also to relieve the interior of West Florida from lawless bands of deserters from our army, robbing indiscriminately the people of both parties, I would respectfully renew my request for the return of the mounted portion of the Second Maine and First Florida Cavalry force be ordered here for the purpose of pacifying fully this portion of country."
According to reports issued today by Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren, the USS Ottawa and USS Norwich are patrolling the St. Johns River.
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles wrote Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher that blockade running out of Galveston, Texas, was still being carried out with great success.
Federal troops scout against partisan guerrillas from Pine Bluff to Johnson's Farm, Arkansas, with skirmishing occurring on the Monticello Road.
Posted on 5/15/15 at 9:34 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 16 May 1865
Even with the surrender of most of the military units of the Confederacy, the War Between the States continued in Arkansas during the spring and early summer of 1865. Many of the Southern units in the state were no longer organized and operated to the best of their abilities. Soldiers at Federal outposts throughout the state continued to hunt down these partisan fighters, and the following engagement is an example of one such action.
Yesterday morning, 15 May, Captain John Norris of Company M, Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry had led a scout of thirty men from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in Jefferson County. The patrol started quietly and moved past several farms to determine if the enemy was present in the area. A local farmer’s wife reported that her husband had been taken from their farm twelve days before and that she had not seen him since. Early this morning, the patrol discovered a fresh set of horse tracks on the Monticello Road. Norris found out that a party of between eight and twenty men of Captain R. A. Kidd’s company was in the area.
The Yankees set up an ambush late this afternoon. Norris split his command into two units and watched the road. About an hour later, a group of mounted men approached the Union soldiers. The Confederates noticed the hiding Federals and began to gallop away. Stopping only long enough to fire a single volley, the Southerners fled into the underbrush on the other side of the road. The Federals returned fire but were not able to arrest the enemy’s retreat.
The Union soldiers did not suffer any casualties and captured one prisoner, as well as some official orders and documents. The documents and prisoner were taken to Pine Bluff, and the Yankees continued their scout for another day before returning to Pine Bluff. Norris recommended that a strong force to be sent to Monticello in Drew County and said if that was done, he believed many Confederates in the area would likely take the opportunity to surrender.
While the Skirmish on Monticello Road was a small and somewhat insignificant action at the very end of the War, this engagement shows that the conflict was still ongoing in Arkansas at this late date.
Even with the surrender of most of the military units of the Confederacy, the War Between the States continued in Arkansas during the spring and early summer of 1865. Many of the Southern units in the state were no longer organized and operated to the best of their abilities. Soldiers at Federal outposts throughout the state continued to hunt down these partisan fighters, and the following engagement is an example of one such action.
Yesterday morning, 15 May, Captain John Norris of Company M, Thirteenth Illinois Cavalry had led a scout of thirty men from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in Jefferson County. The patrol started quietly and moved past several farms to determine if the enemy was present in the area. A local farmer’s wife reported that her husband had been taken from their farm twelve days before and that she had not seen him since. Early this morning, the patrol discovered a fresh set of horse tracks on the Monticello Road. Norris found out that a party of between eight and twenty men of Captain R. A. Kidd’s company was in the area.
The Yankees set up an ambush late this afternoon. Norris split his command into two units and watched the road. About an hour later, a group of mounted men approached the Union soldiers. The Confederates noticed the hiding Federals and began to gallop away. Stopping only long enough to fire a single volley, the Southerners fled into the underbrush on the other side of the road. The Federals returned fire but were not able to arrest the enemy’s retreat.
The Union soldiers did not suffer any casualties and captured one prisoner, as well as some official orders and documents. The documents and prisoner were taken to Pine Bluff, and the Yankees continued their scout for another day before returning to Pine Bluff. Norris recommended that a strong force to be sent to Monticello in Drew County and said if that was done, he believed many Confederates in the area would likely take the opportunity to surrender.
While the Skirmish on Monticello Road was a small and somewhat insignificant action at the very end of the War, this engagement shows that the conflict was still ongoing in Arkansas at this late date.
This post was edited on 5/15/15 at 9:40 pm
Posted on 5/16/15 at 8:37 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 17 May 1865
Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant appoints Major General Philip H. Sheridan commander of all Federal troops west of the Mississippi River and south of the Arkansas River. Sheridan’s appointment causes great resentment among many Southerners because of his wanton destruction in the Shenandoah Valley and his professed hatred of Confederate Virginians.
According to Union Major General James H. Wilson, "There are three or four good boats on the Apalachicola capable of carrying, between them, 350 tons of freight all the year round. If you can deliver that amount of freight every six days at Apalachicola, I can therefore get it to my command. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will make arrangements to send me hay and oats by that line."
General Order 95, issued this morning from Washington, DC, abolishes the military division of West Florida. The District of Key West and the Tortugas will now constitute the Department of the Gulf, Major General Edward R. S. Canby commanding. Major General Nathaniel T. Banks is relieved of his command of the Department of the Gulf.
The Confederate troops in Florida surrender to Federal Brevet Brigadier General Israel Vogdes.
The escape of the ram CSS Stonewall from Ferrol, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, is reported which created a great deal of excitement at the time, but did not lead to battle. The ironclad put into Havana on the 11th without having spoken a single Union ship enroute from the Canary Islands. Upon learning of the Stonewall's arrival, Rear Admiral Cornelius K. Stribling, commanding the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, dispatchs a squadron, led by USS Powhatan and commanded by Commander Reed Werden, to cruise off Havana and engage the Confederate ram when she departs. Captain T. J. Page, Stonewall's commander, however, learning of the collapse of the Confederacy, delivered the ship over to the Governor General of Cuba and in turn received $16,000--the amount of money Page required to pay off his officers and crew. Subsequently the ship was turned over to the United States and was ultimately sold to Japan.
After weathering an earlier typhoon, the CSS Shenandoah encounters a second less violent blow. "The weather continued so threatening that it looked impossible for the Shenandoah to get north of the parallel of 45, but the last gale, like its predecessor, had worked to the westward, and the ship began to make her northing again..." her commander, Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell wrote. "On the 17th of May we were north of the parallel of 45 and the weather, though cold, looked more settled, and we took a long breath."
Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant appoints Major General Philip H. Sheridan commander of all Federal troops west of the Mississippi River and south of the Arkansas River. Sheridan’s appointment causes great resentment among many Southerners because of his wanton destruction in the Shenandoah Valley and his professed hatred of Confederate Virginians.
According to Union Major General James H. Wilson, "There are three or four good boats on the Apalachicola capable of carrying, between them, 350 tons of freight all the year round. If you can deliver that amount of freight every six days at Apalachicola, I can therefore get it to my command. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will make arrangements to send me hay and oats by that line."
General Order 95, issued this morning from Washington, DC, abolishes the military division of West Florida. The District of Key West and the Tortugas will now constitute the Department of the Gulf, Major General Edward R. S. Canby commanding. Major General Nathaniel T. Banks is relieved of his command of the Department of the Gulf.
The Confederate troops in Florida surrender to Federal Brevet Brigadier General Israel Vogdes.
The escape of the ram CSS Stonewall from Ferrol, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, is reported which created a great deal of excitement at the time, but did not lead to battle. The ironclad put into Havana on the 11th without having spoken a single Union ship enroute from the Canary Islands. Upon learning of the Stonewall's arrival, Rear Admiral Cornelius K. Stribling, commanding the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, dispatchs a squadron, led by USS Powhatan and commanded by Commander Reed Werden, to cruise off Havana and engage the Confederate ram when she departs. Captain T. J. Page, Stonewall's commander, however, learning of the collapse of the Confederacy, delivered the ship over to the Governor General of Cuba and in turn received $16,000--the amount of money Page required to pay off his officers and crew. Subsequently the ship was turned over to the United States and was ultimately sold to Japan.
After weathering an earlier typhoon, the CSS Shenandoah encounters a second less violent blow. "The weather continued so threatening that it looked impossible for the Shenandoah to get north of the parallel of 45, but the last gale, like its predecessor, had worked to the westward, and the ship began to make her northing again..." her commander, Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell wrote. "On the 17th of May we were north of the parallel of 45 and the weather, though cold, looked more settled, and we took a long breath."
This post was edited on 5/17/15 at 4:20 am
Posted on 5/17/15 at 8:20 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 18 May 1865
A Union expedition moves against the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory, where the Yankees rescue a white woman prisoner and her little daughter, who had been purchased from the Cheyenne Indians when they killed her husband. The Federals report the capture of two Sioux Indian chiefs, Two Face and Black Foot.
Skirmishing breaks out with Indians on the Coteau, Minnesota, as a party of Union Indian Scouts with the assistance of some half-breeds attack a war party of Sioux Indians.
Federal troops scout against partisan guerrillas from Lebanon to Warsaw, Missouri.
A skirmish occurs with Indians near Fort Kearny, in the Nebraska Territory, as many Union soldiers receive arrow wounds.
The 25th US Army Corps is ordered to be held in readiness for possible transportation to Texas.
The soldiers of the South now having been paroled are left to find their way home as best they can. Very little help is offered although there are a number of individual stories of former enemies offering transportation and food. Still the vast majority have little to carry them except their legs, and walk they did. Disheartened that their fight for freedom from the Federal Government was lost, and not knowing would await them when they finally did arrive home, they started their long walk home. The following story from one Confederate is typical of their plight. "I belonged to Company E, of the 12th Tennessee Infantry, with which the 22nd and 47th Tennessee Regiments were consolidated. I was paroled on 1 May 1865, near Greensboro, NC. During the negotiations between Generals Johnston and Sherman I ‘picked up’ a very good-looking mule and all the feed I could for him, picturing in my fancy a nice time riding that mule home; but the morning I was to start someone stole my mule, so I walked to an uncle’s sixty or seventy miles away. I learned from men who had belonged to Lee’s army that the Federal government was issuing transportation and rations to paroled soldiers. My uncle carried me back within easy reach of Greensboro, where I would take the train to go home. There I found 'Billy Yanks' every way I looked. Going to the headquarters of the commanding general, I asked for the transportation and rations to paroled soldiers, but was told that they had orders from Washington not to issue any more. I was nearly a thousand miles from home, seventy miles from an acquaintance, and penniless."
Florida is today being placed within the limits of the Department of the South with General Israel Vogdes as commander.
General Vogdes informs General Edward M. McCook at Tallahassee that he cannot and will not "...recognize the so-called Governor, or any officers purporting to act under his orders, as having any authority whatever. Should they not desist from exercising their usurped authority, you will arrest them and send them under guard to this place [Jacksonville]. You can inform the people that they are at liberty to purchase for their own and family use any kind of supplies, not prohibited in the President’s order as contraband goods, at Jacksonville or Fernandina, from any of the authorized dealers. Persons desirous of opening of stores, or continuing trade, will be required to take the prescribed oath of allegiance...Regulations for trade will be published hereafter. It is the intention of the Government to offer all facilities to the loyal population, but at the same time it acknowledges for the present no authority but its own, as expressed through the military authorities. All other organizations claiming to act are usurpations, and if persevered in will lead to the trial and punishment of the parties by military commissions."
Governor Abraham Kurkindolle Allison sends the following dispatch to Mr. David Levy Yulee at Gainesville today: "For reasons unnecessary to detail therein, I have, after mature deliberation, decided that it is not advisable to send commissioners to Washington and have accordingly revoked all the appointments and commissions made for that purpose."
Confederate Colonel John Taylor Wood is at "Cottonwood", the plantation of David Levy Yulee outside of Gainesville. Plans are being made at the plantation to receive Davis’ baggage train which crossed into Florida on 15 May. The train is now being guarded northwest of Gainesville at Captain Martin’s plantation.
A Union expedition moves against the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory, where the Yankees rescue a white woman prisoner and her little daughter, who had been purchased from the Cheyenne Indians when they killed her husband. The Federals report the capture of two Sioux Indian chiefs, Two Face and Black Foot.
Skirmishing breaks out with Indians on the Coteau, Minnesota, as a party of Union Indian Scouts with the assistance of some half-breeds attack a war party of Sioux Indians.
Federal troops scout against partisan guerrillas from Lebanon to Warsaw, Missouri.
A skirmish occurs with Indians near Fort Kearny, in the Nebraska Territory, as many Union soldiers receive arrow wounds.
The 25th US Army Corps is ordered to be held in readiness for possible transportation to Texas.
The soldiers of the South now having been paroled are left to find their way home as best they can. Very little help is offered although there are a number of individual stories of former enemies offering transportation and food. Still the vast majority have little to carry them except their legs, and walk they did. Disheartened that their fight for freedom from the Federal Government was lost, and not knowing would await them when they finally did arrive home, they started their long walk home. The following story from one Confederate is typical of their plight. "I belonged to Company E, of the 12th Tennessee Infantry, with which the 22nd and 47th Tennessee Regiments were consolidated. I was paroled on 1 May 1865, near Greensboro, NC. During the negotiations between Generals Johnston and Sherman I ‘picked up’ a very good-looking mule and all the feed I could for him, picturing in my fancy a nice time riding that mule home; but the morning I was to start someone stole my mule, so I walked to an uncle’s sixty or seventy miles away. I learned from men who had belonged to Lee’s army that the Federal government was issuing transportation and rations to paroled soldiers. My uncle carried me back within easy reach of Greensboro, where I would take the train to go home. There I found 'Billy Yanks' every way I looked. Going to the headquarters of the commanding general, I asked for the transportation and rations to paroled soldiers, but was told that they had orders from Washington not to issue any more. I was nearly a thousand miles from home, seventy miles from an acquaintance, and penniless."
Florida is today being placed within the limits of the Department of the South with General Israel Vogdes as commander.
General Vogdes informs General Edward M. McCook at Tallahassee that he cannot and will not "...recognize the so-called Governor, or any officers purporting to act under his orders, as having any authority whatever. Should they not desist from exercising their usurped authority, you will arrest them and send them under guard to this place [Jacksonville]. You can inform the people that they are at liberty to purchase for their own and family use any kind of supplies, not prohibited in the President’s order as contraband goods, at Jacksonville or Fernandina, from any of the authorized dealers. Persons desirous of opening of stores, or continuing trade, will be required to take the prescribed oath of allegiance...Regulations for trade will be published hereafter. It is the intention of the Government to offer all facilities to the loyal population, but at the same time it acknowledges for the present no authority but its own, as expressed through the military authorities. All other organizations claiming to act are usurpations, and if persevered in will lead to the trial and punishment of the parties by military commissions."
Governor Abraham Kurkindolle Allison sends the following dispatch to Mr. David Levy Yulee at Gainesville today: "For reasons unnecessary to detail therein, I have, after mature deliberation, decided that it is not advisable to send commissioners to Washington and have accordingly revoked all the appointments and commissions made for that purpose."
Confederate Colonel John Taylor Wood is at "Cottonwood", the plantation of David Levy Yulee outside of Gainesville. Plans are being made at the plantation to receive Davis’ baggage train which crossed into Florida on 15 May. The train is now being guarded northwest of Gainesville at Captain Martin’s plantation.
This post was edited on 5/18/15 at 3:52 am
Posted on 5/18/15 at 8:52 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 19 May 1865
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals: James William Forsyth, Joseph Eldridge Hamblin, Richard Henry Jackson, and William Wells.
The Confederate Commerce Raider, CSS Stonewall, officially surrenders to the Union officials at Havanna, Cuba.
Federal soldiers scout against Indians from Sweetwater Bridge to Whisky Gap of the Medicine Bow Mountains, in the Dakota Territory.
Major General William B. Hazen, USA, is assigned to the command of the 15th US Army Corps, Florida.
Union troops scout from Kingsville, Missouri.
Federals scout against Indians from Fort Kearny to the Little River, in the Nebraska Territory.
Major General John A. Logan, USA, is assigned to the command of the Army of the Tennessee.
A skirmish at Hobdy’s Bridge, spanning the Pea River between Pike and Barbour Counties, in Alabama--the site of a major battle during the Creek War in 1836--left 1st Florida Union Cavalry members Corporal John W. Skinner killed along with William Smith, Nathan Mims and Daniel V. Melvin seriously wounded. A detachment of Union soldiers from the 1st Florida Cavalry had been sent from Montgomery to Eufaula, to escort a mail shipment through the still unsettled regions of eastern Alabama. Lee had surrendered and Wilson's Raid had devastated the region, but many former Confederate soldiers were drifting through these areas on their way home. These men, all Yankees, were considered the last casualties during the War Between the States.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals: James William Forsyth, Joseph Eldridge Hamblin, Richard Henry Jackson, and William Wells.
The Confederate Commerce Raider, CSS Stonewall, officially surrenders to the Union officials at Havanna, Cuba.
Federal soldiers scout against Indians from Sweetwater Bridge to Whisky Gap of the Medicine Bow Mountains, in the Dakota Territory.
Major General William B. Hazen, USA, is assigned to the command of the 15th US Army Corps, Florida.
Union troops scout from Kingsville, Missouri.
Federals scout against Indians from Fort Kearny to the Little River, in the Nebraska Territory.
Major General John A. Logan, USA, is assigned to the command of the Army of the Tennessee.
A skirmish at Hobdy’s Bridge, spanning the Pea River between Pike and Barbour Counties, in Alabama--the site of a major battle during the Creek War in 1836--left 1st Florida Union Cavalry members Corporal John W. Skinner killed along with William Smith, Nathan Mims and Daniel V. Melvin seriously wounded. A detachment of Union soldiers from the 1st Florida Cavalry had been sent from Montgomery to Eufaula, to escort a mail shipment through the still unsettled regions of eastern Alabama. Lee had surrendered and Wilson's Raid had devastated the region, but many former Confederate soldiers were drifting through these areas on their way home. These men, all Yankees, were considered the last casualties during the War Between the States.
Posted on 5/19/15 at 8:35 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 20 May 1865
Former Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Russell Mallory, is captured at LaGrange, Georgia, and transferred to the North. Mallory was one of the Southern leaders charged with treason, among other things. While still in Troup County, he was roused from his sleep at about midnight and taken into custody. From there he is transferred to Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor, where he will be confined as a political prisoner and where he will remain until paroled in March, 1866.
Second report: Former Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory was arrested at the home of Benjamin H. Hill in LaGrange, Georgia, and charged with "...treason and with organizing and setting on foot piratical expeditions." He was taken to New York and imprisoned at Fort Lafayette, where he remained until paroled in March 1866. Mallory was the last Confederate cabinet officer to gain his freedom. Returning to Pensacola he entered into law practice with Augustus E. Maxwell and wrote newspaper articles attacking the reconstruction policies. Mallory died in November 1873.
An affair occurs near Pawnee Rock, Kansas, as Indians attack two men coming from Fort Larned, killing one while the other escapes.
Skirmishing continues in Pettis County--on the Blackwater River--near Longwood, Missouri, with roving Confederate partisan guerrillas.
Federal troops scout against Indians from Camp Plumb, in the Dakota Territory, to the Red Buttes, on Deer Creek, then east to Box Elder Canon, then north to the North Platte River when the Yankees observe a party of 100 Indians across the river; the river being too high to ford, all they can do is watch them.
Skirmishes break out with Indians on Deer Creek, in the Dakota Territory, as the Yankees repel an Indian attack of about 50, killing and wounding a few.
Federal operations begin against Indians around Three Crossings Station, in the Dakota Territory, as the Yankees pursue the Indians who attacked the station, tore down telegraph lines and stole one horse; they cross the Sweetwater River, and head toward their families at Wind River.
A board appointed by Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and headed by Vice Admiral David G. Farragut began a comprehensive investigation and review of the Naval Academy. Its normal functioning, like almost everything in the nation, had been greatly disrupted by the War. The Academy had suffered especially through the enforced move to Newport of staff and students in Constitution early in the War and the telescoping of the academic course. The Board had been commissioned to report its findings and make recommendations for improving the school as a training institution for naval officers. The study and the resulting report covered the material condition and adequacy of the buildings, grounds and training ships; administration and finance; sanitation and medical care; system of appointments and entrance requirements; and the quality of classroom and shipboard instruction.
The Board's studies and the changes that followed achieved the goals. In the ensuing years the Academy would produce some of the nation's great leaders. These not only included those who led the Navy, adapted it to the changing times and directed it in the great task of world leadership that swiftly flowered for the United States in the next century. They also included some of the nation's famous leaders in industry, engineering, education, science. Within little more than a decade, Albert A. Michelson, Class of 1873, would conduct the first of his notable experiments on the speed of light at Annapolis. Returning as a young officer from sea duty to teach, he developed the apparatus and conducted the experiments with midshipmen associates.
Secretary Welles indicated the Navy Department's continuing concern about blockade running from Galveston in his order to Rear Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher: "Seven large steamers have arrived abroad from Galveston in nine days. As this is the only port in the United States where traffic can be carried on to any extent, it is desirable that the majority of vessels and the best officer you have should be on duty as senior officer off that port."
Steadily breasting northward, the CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, sighted the Kuriles "...covered with snow".
Former Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Russell Mallory, is captured at LaGrange, Georgia, and transferred to the North. Mallory was one of the Southern leaders charged with treason, among other things. While still in Troup County, he was roused from his sleep at about midnight and taken into custody. From there he is transferred to Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor, where he will be confined as a political prisoner and where he will remain until paroled in March, 1866.
Second report: Former Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory was arrested at the home of Benjamin H. Hill in LaGrange, Georgia, and charged with "...treason and with organizing and setting on foot piratical expeditions." He was taken to New York and imprisoned at Fort Lafayette, where he remained until paroled in March 1866. Mallory was the last Confederate cabinet officer to gain his freedom. Returning to Pensacola he entered into law practice with Augustus E. Maxwell and wrote newspaper articles attacking the reconstruction policies. Mallory died in November 1873.
An affair occurs near Pawnee Rock, Kansas, as Indians attack two men coming from Fort Larned, killing one while the other escapes.
Skirmishing continues in Pettis County--on the Blackwater River--near Longwood, Missouri, with roving Confederate partisan guerrillas.
Federal troops scout against Indians from Camp Plumb, in the Dakota Territory, to the Red Buttes, on Deer Creek, then east to Box Elder Canon, then north to the North Platte River when the Yankees observe a party of 100 Indians across the river; the river being too high to ford, all they can do is watch them.
Skirmishes break out with Indians on Deer Creek, in the Dakota Territory, as the Yankees repel an Indian attack of about 50, killing and wounding a few.
Federal operations begin against Indians around Three Crossings Station, in the Dakota Territory, as the Yankees pursue the Indians who attacked the station, tore down telegraph lines and stole one horse; they cross the Sweetwater River, and head toward their families at Wind River.
A board appointed by Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and headed by Vice Admiral David G. Farragut began a comprehensive investigation and review of the Naval Academy. Its normal functioning, like almost everything in the nation, had been greatly disrupted by the War. The Academy had suffered especially through the enforced move to Newport of staff and students in Constitution early in the War and the telescoping of the academic course. The Board had been commissioned to report its findings and make recommendations for improving the school as a training institution for naval officers. The study and the resulting report covered the material condition and adequacy of the buildings, grounds and training ships; administration and finance; sanitation and medical care; system of appointments and entrance requirements; and the quality of classroom and shipboard instruction.
The Board's studies and the changes that followed achieved the goals. In the ensuing years the Academy would produce some of the nation's great leaders. These not only included those who led the Navy, adapted it to the changing times and directed it in the great task of world leadership that swiftly flowered for the United States in the next century. They also included some of the nation's famous leaders in industry, engineering, education, science. Within little more than a decade, Albert A. Michelson, Class of 1873, would conduct the first of his notable experiments on the speed of light at Annapolis. Returning as a young officer from sea duty to teach, he developed the apparatus and conducted the experiments with midshipmen associates.
Secretary Welles indicated the Navy Department's continuing concern about blockade running from Galveston in his order to Rear Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher: "Seven large steamers have arrived abroad from Galveston in nine days. As this is the only port in the United States where traffic can be carried on to any extent, it is desirable that the majority of vessels and the best officer you have should be on duty as senior officer off that port."
Steadily breasting northward, the CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, sighted the Kuriles "...covered with snow".
Posted on 5/20/15 at 8:33 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 21 May 1865
The Nashville Union newspaper this morning publishes the casualty list of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry reporting the names of those who died aboard the Steamer Sultana which inexplicably had exploded three weeks earlier.
The C.S.S. Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, enters the Sea of Okhotsk according to Waddell's records "...and ran along the coast of Kamchatka under sail. There is a strong current along the Pacific side of these islands, setting to the N. E. which clings to the eastern shore on to the Arctic Ocean, and how much further northward man knoweth not."
Union troops begin a 3 day scout from Camp Plumb, in the Dakota Territory.
Operations against Plains Indians commence with Federal cavalry moving from Three Crossings Station, in the Dakota Territory.
General Edmund Kirby Smith sends his top subordinate, Major General John Bankhead Magruder, to discuss surrendering his command with General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby in New Orleans upon learning of Major General Philip Henry Sheridan’s appointment.
Charles Hale Morgan, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
The Nashville Union newspaper this morning publishes the casualty list of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry reporting the names of those who died aboard the Steamer Sultana which inexplicably had exploded three weeks earlier.
The C.S.S. Shenandoah, commanded by Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, enters the Sea of Okhotsk according to Waddell's records "...and ran along the coast of Kamchatka under sail. There is a strong current along the Pacific side of these islands, setting to the N. E. which clings to the eastern shore on to the Arctic Ocean, and how much further northward man knoweth not."
Union troops begin a 3 day scout from Camp Plumb, in the Dakota Territory.
Operations against Plains Indians commence with Federal cavalry moving from Three Crossings Station, in the Dakota Territory.
General Edmund Kirby Smith sends his top subordinate, Major General John Bankhead Magruder, to discuss surrendering his command with General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby in New Orleans upon learning of Major General Philip Henry Sheridan’s appointment.
Charles Hale Morgan, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Posted on 5/21/15 at 8:38 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 22 May 1865
Union President Andrew Johnson removes commercial restrictions on Southern ports except for Galveston, La Salle County, Brazos Santiago and Brownsville, Texas.
Skirmishing breaks out at Valley Mines, Missouri, as Union soldiers report an attack on five starving Southerners caught robbing a store there, killing one of the partisans and wounding another.
Former First Lady Mary Lincoln and sons Tad and Robert move out of the White House this morning. Mary had been confined to her room immediately following President Abraham Lincoln’s shooting by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton who saw that she was so unhinged by the experience of the assassination that Stanton had ordered her out of the room, shouting, "Take that woman out of here and do not let her in here again!"
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, the last remaining symbol of the Southern Government is imprisoned in a cell at Fortress Monroe, off Hampton Roads, Virginia. Davis and his wife Varina had arrived at Fort Monroe, where she was eventually returned South, while authorities maliciously placed Davis in shackles and held him in solitary confinement at the fort. Union Authorities later bowed to pressure to remove the shackles. During 1868, in one of President Johnson’s last formal acts in office, he would pardon Davis, who never stood trial as Federal officials strongly suspected they could not likely get a conviction.
Commander William Henry Alexander Macomb, commanding in Albemarle Sound, reported U.S. Picket Boat No. 5 had seized the steamers Skirwan, Cotton Plant, Fisher and Egypt Mills, as well as a small, unfinished steamer, near Halifax, on the Roanoke River, in North Carolina.
Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury arrives in Havana on the S.S. Atrato and learns of General Joseph Egglestone Johnston's surrender on 26 April. Realizing the futility of his intended efforts, he abandons plans to proceed with his electric torpedo equipment to Galveston for the defense of that harbor. He places the material ashore in custody for Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch. As he later writes to his wife: "I left $30,000 or $40,000 worth of torpedoes, telegraphic wire, etc. which I bought for the defense of Richmond. Bulloch paid for them but they were left in Havana at the breakup, subject to my orders. I write by this mail directing that they be turned over to Bulloch. Now they don't belong to him, neither do they to me. But it is quite a relief to get rid of them by transferring them to a man who I am sure will make the most proper use of them. I did not want any of the $10,000 or $20,000 which they will bring, though some one will get it who has no more right to it than I have."
Maury's keen sense of honor was borne out by the audit of his accounts delivered to him shortly before he sailed for England. Bulloch's assistant wrote: "Although the custom here would have sanctioned your receiving a large per centum in the way of commission on contracts, purchases and disbursements made by me, yet you consistently set your face against it and never, to my certain knowledge, received a shilling."
Union President Andrew Johnson removes commercial restrictions on Southern ports except for Galveston, La Salle County, Brazos Santiago and Brownsville, Texas.
Skirmishing breaks out at Valley Mines, Missouri, as Union soldiers report an attack on five starving Southerners caught robbing a store there, killing one of the partisans and wounding another.
Former First Lady Mary Lincoln and sons Tad and Robert move out of the White House this morning. Mary had been confined to her room immediately following President Abraham Lincoln’s shooting by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton who saw that she was so unhinged by the experience of the assassination that Stanton had ordered her out of the room, shouting, "Take that woman out of here and do not let her in here again!"
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, the last remaining symbol of the Southern Government is imprisoned in a cell at Fortress Monroe, off Hampton Roads, Virginia. Davis and his wife Varina had arrived at Fort Monroe, where she was eventually returned South, while authorities maliciously placed Davis in shackles and held him in solitary confinement at the fort. Union Authorities later bowed to pressure to remove the shackles. During 1868, in one of President Johnson’s last formal acts in office, he would pardon Davis, who never stood trial as Federal officials strongly suspected they could not likely get a conviction.
Commander William Henry Alexander Macomb, commanding in Albemarle Sound, reported U.S. Picket Boat No. 5 had seized the steamers Skirwan, Cotton Plant, Fisher and Egypt Mills, as well as a small, unfinished steamer, near Halifax, on the Roanoke River, in North Carolina.
Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury arrives in Havana on the S.S. Atrato and learns of General Joseph Egglestone Johnston's surrender on 26 April. Realizing the futility of his intended efforts, he abandons plans to proceed with his electric torpedo equipment to Galveston for the defense of that harbor. He places the material ashore in custody for Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch. As he later writes to his wife: "I left $30,000 or $40,000 worth of torpedoes, telegraphic wire, etc. which I bought for the defense of Richmond. Bulloch paid for them but they were left in Havana at the breakup, subject to my orders. I write by this mail directing that they be turned over to Bulloch. Now they don't belong to him, neither do they to me. But it is quite a relief to get rid of them by transferring them to a man who I am sure will make the most proper use of them. I did not want any of the $10,000 or $20,000 which they will bring, though some one will get it who has no more right to it than I have."
Maury's keen sense of honor was borne out by the audit of his accounts delivered to him shortly before he sailed for England. Bulloch's assistant wrote: "Although the custom here would have sanctioned your receiving a large per centum in the way of commission on contracts, purchases and disbursements made by me, yet you consistently set your face against it and never, to my certain knowledge, received a shilling."
Posted on 5/22/15 at 8:00 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 23 May 1865
The Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of Major General George Gordon Meade is part of the two day Grand Review of the Federal armies--a victory parade--held in Washington, D. C., along Pennsylvania Avenue to help boost the divided nation's morale. From the Capitol to the White House, crowds lined the streets, children sang patriotic songs, and the men marched. In the bright summer air, the Army of the Potomac had come home to the appreciation of the north. It was also the first time since President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination the previous month that the Stars & Stripes had been at full staff.
Starting at 10 a.m., Major General Meade led the procession. Regiment by regiment, brigade by brigade, division by division, corps by corps, the army made one final review. President Andrew Johnson was joined by Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant, senior military leaders, government officials and Cabinet members in the reviewing stand. When Meade arrived at the reviewing stand, he dismounted and joined the president and others in the six-hour review of his 80,000 plus troops. Major General William T. Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of Georgia would participate in the review the following day.
A pro-Union Virginia government is set up at Richmond.
Federal troops scout from Pine Bluff to Monticello, Arkansas, with a skirmish breaking out at Monticello, as the Yankees pursue a party of Confederate partisans under Captain Kidd who have not yet surrendered.
Major General William B. Hazen assumes the command of the Federal 15th Army Corps in Florida.
Union soldiers scout from Thibodeaux, Louisiana, by way of Brule passing through Labadieville to Lake Verret, Louisiana.
Federal cavalry scouts from Warrensburg, Missouri, to the mouth of Coal Camp Creek, near the Osage, as the Yankees track partisan guerrillas accused of killing a dozen discharged soldiers and citizens in Hickory and Benton Counties.
Skirmishing occurs 10 miles northwest of Waynesville, Missouri, as the Yankees attack a band of partisan guerrillas, inflicting casualties.
The U.S.S. Azalea, commanded by Acting Master Frederick W. Strong, seizes the British brig Sarah M. Newhall, attempting to put into Savannah with a cargo of West Indies produce. She had cleared from Inagua, Bahamas, ostensibly for New York.
The Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of Major General George Gordon Meade is part of the two day Grand Review of the Federal armies--a victory parade--held in Washington, D. C., along Pennsylvania Avenue to help boost the divided nation's morale. From the Capitol to the White House, crowds lined the streets, children sang patriotic songs, and the men marched. In the bright summer air, the Army of the Potomac had come home to the appreciation of the north. It was also the first time since President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination the previous month that the Stars & Stripes had been at full staff.
Starting at 10 a.m., Major General Meade led the procession. Regiment by regiment, brigade by brigade, division by division, corps by corps, the army made one final review. President Andrew Johnson was joined by Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant, senior military leaders, government officials and Cabinet members in the reviewing stand. When Meade arrived at the reviewing stand, he dismounted and joined the president and others in the six-hour review of his 80,000 plus troops. Major General William T. Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of Georgia would participate in the review the following day.
A pro-Union Virginia government is set up at Richmond.
Federal troops scout from Pine Bluff to Monticello, Arkansas, with a skirmish breaking out at Monticello, as the Yankees pursue a party of Confederate partisans under Captain Kidd who have not yet surrendered.
Major General William B. Hazen assumes the command of the Federal 15th Army Corps in Florida.
Union soldiers scout from Thibodeaux, Louisiana, by way of Brule passing through Labadieville to Lake Verret, Louisiana.
Federal cavalry scouts from Warrensburg, Missouri, to the mouth of Coal Camp Creek, near the Osage, as the Yankees track partisan guerrillas accused of killing a dozen discharged soldiers and citizens in Hickory and Benton Counties.
Skirmishing occurs 10 miles northwest of Waynesville, Missouri, as the Yankees attack a band of partisan guerrillas, inflicting casualties.
The U.S.S. Azalea, commanded by Acting Master Frederick W. Strong, seizes the British brig Sarah M. Newhall, attempting to put into Savannah with a cargo of West Indies produce. She had cleared from Inagua, Bahamas, ostensibly for New York.
Posted on 5/22/15 at 8:20 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Oh, for a company each of Abrams & Bradleys with Infantry to welcome the grand review!
Posted on 5/23/15 at 10:58 am to Sancho Panza
Good one! Published history books teach us the Yankees "won" the War, Sancho, and the South "lost" it. In reality, our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, at least the way the Founding Fathers so carefully crafted it to ensure the Sovereign States had equal or greater power than the Federal Government, was the real Loser. And "We, the People..." still suffer in the aftermath.
Posted on 5/23/15 at 2:03 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 24 May 1865
The blockade runner Denbigh, once described by Admiral David G. Farragut as "...too quick for us...", was found aground at daylight on Bird Key Spit, near Galveston, Texas. She had attempted to run into the Gulf port once again under cover of darkness. She was destroyed during the day by gunfire from the U.S.S. Cornubia and Princess Royal, and later boarding parties from the Kennebec and Seminole set her aflame.
Prior to the capture of Mobile Bay, the Denbigh had plagued Farragut by running regularly from Mobile to Havana. He narrowly missed taking her on 7 June 1864, and Farragut expressed his feelings in a letter to Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey: "We nearly had the Denbigh; she has not moved from the fort [Morgan] yet, so she must have been hit by some of the shots fired at her; but he is a bold rascal, and well he may be, for if I get him he will see the rest of his days of the War in the Tortugas."
William Watson, a Confederate blockade runner who shipped on Rob Roy and other elusive runners, later wrote of Denbigh: "I may safely say that one of the most successful, and certainly one of the most profitable, steamers that sailed out of Havana to the Confederate States was a somewhat old, and by no means a fast, steamer, named the Denbigh. This vessel ran for a considerable time between Havana and Mobile; but when the latter port was captured by the Federals she ran to Galveston, to and from which port she made such regular trips that she was called the packet. She was small in size, and not high above water, and painted in such a way as not to be readily seen at a distance. She was light on coal, made but little smoke, and depended more upon strategy than speed. She carried large cargoes of cotton, and it was generally allowed that the little Denbigh was a more profitable boat than any of the larger and swifter cracks." Nevertheless, in the end she met the same fate as hundreds of her sister runners.
Federal troops scout from Napoleonville to Bayou Saint Vincent, Louisiana.
Skirmishing occurs six miles from Rocheport, Missouri, as Union forces surround the house where 11 Confederate partisan guerrillas were found, killing 5, wounding and capturing the rest.
Federal Brevet Major General Clinton B. Fisk is relieved of command of the Federal District of North Missouri as Brevet Brigadier General George Spalding, 12th Tennessee Union Cavalry, is given that assignment.
The Federal Army of the West stages a review through Washington, DC, as part of the Grand Armies of the Republic. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman visited the White House viewing stand and shook hands with President Andrew Johnson. He refused to shake hands with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton because of Stanton’s suggestion that Sherman had committed treason by granting overly generous surrender terms to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston.
Over 150,000 soldiers participated in this triumphant two-day procession. The Grand Review signaled an unofficial end to the War.
The United States Senate today estimated that there were about 2,324,516 Federal soldiers enlisted for the War, with about 360,000 killed. In the Confederate Army, there were at least 1,000,000 enlisted and 135,000 killed. Cost to the U.S. was $6,189,908 and roughly half that for the Confederacy.
By War’s end, the national money supply, now including national bank notes and deposits, total $1.773 billion, up from $1.435 billion in 1863 and $745.4 million in 1860. This was an increase of 23.6 percent in two years. The result was massive inflation of prices, as wholesale prices rose from 100 in 1860 to 210.9 at the end of the war, a rise of 110.9 percent, or 22.2 percent per year.
The U.S.S. Cornubia, commanded by Lieutenant John A. Johnstone, captured and destroyed the C.S.S. Lecompte off Galveston, Texas. The Confederate schooner, which had been used as a port guard ship, was abandoned by her crew as Cornubia approached her station. The Lecompte drifted ashore, bilged, and next day was reported "...a total wreck."
The blockade runner Denbigh, once described by Admiral David G. Farragut as "...too quick for us...", was found aground at daylight on Bird Key Spit, near Galveston, Texas. She had attempted to run into the Gulf port once again under cover of darkness. She was destroyed during the day by gunfire from the U.S.S. Cornubia and Princess Royal, and later boarding parties from the Kennebec and Seminole set her aflame.
Prior to the capture of Mobile Bay, the Denbigh had plagued Farragut by running regularly from Mobile to Havana. He narrowly missed taking her on 7 June 1864, and Farragut expressed his feelings in a letter to Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey: "We nearly had the Denbigh; she has not moved from the fort [Morgan] yet, so she must have been hit by some of the shots fired at her; but he is a bold rascal, and well he may be, for if I get him he will see the rest of his days of the War in the Tortugas."
William Watson, a Confederate blockade runner who shipped on Rob Roy and other elusive runners, later wrote of Denbigh: "I may safely say that one of the most successful, and certainly one of the most profitable, steamers that sailed out of Havana to the Confederate States was a somewhat old, and by no means a fast, steamer, named the Denbigh. This vessel ran for a considerable time between Havana and Mobile; but when the latter port was captured by the Federals she ran to Galveston, to and from which port she made such regular trips that she was called the packet. She was small in size, and not high above water, and painted in such a way as not to be readily seen at a distance. She was light on coal, made but little smoke, and depended more upon strategy than speed. She carried large cargoes of cotton, and it was generally allowed that the little Denbigh was a more profitable boat than any of the larger and swifter cracks." Nevertheless, in the end she met the same fate as hundreds of her sister runners.
Federal troops scout from Napoleonville to Bayou Saint Vincent, Louisiana.
Skirmishing occurs six miles from Rocheport, Missouri, as Union forces surround the house where 11 Confederate partisan guerrillas were found, killing 5, wounding and capturing the rest.
Federal Brevet Major General Clinton B. Fisk is relieved of command of the Federal District of North Missouri as Brevet Brigadier General George Spalding, 12th Tennessee Union Cavalry, is given that assignment.
The Federal Army of the West stages a review through Washington, DC, as part of the Grand Armies of the Republic. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman visited the White House viewing stand and shook hands with President Andrew Johnson. He refused to shake hands with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton because of Stanton’s suggestion that Sherman had committed treason by granting overly generous surrender terms to Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston.
Over 150,000 soldiers participated in this triumphant two-day procession. The Grand Review signaled an unofficial end to the War.
The United States Senate today estimated that there were about 2,324,516 Federal soldiers enlisted for the War, with about 360,000 killed. In the Confederate Army, there were at least 1,000,000 enlisted and 135,000 killed. Cost to the U.S. was $6,189,908 and roughly half that for the Confederacy.
By War’s end, the national money supply, now including national bank notes and deposits, total $1.773 billion, up from $1.435 billion in 1863 and $745.4 million in 1860. This was an increase of 23.6 percent in two years. The result was massive inflation of prices, as wholesale prices rose from 100 in 1860 to 210.9 at the end of the war, a rise of 110.9 percent, or 22.2 percent per year.
The U.S.S. Cornubia, commanded by Lieutenant John A. Johnstone, captured and destroyed the C.S.S. Lecompte off Galveston, Texas. The Confederate schooner, which had been used as a port guard ship, was abandoned by her crew as Cornubia approached her station. The Lecompte drifted ashore, bilged, and next day was reported "...a total wreck."
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