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Posted on 1/3/15 at 9:50 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 1/3/15 at 9:50 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 4 January 1865
Federals embarked this morning at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, for a new attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Major General Alfred H. Terry replaced Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler as the infantry commander, while the naval forces remained under the command of Rear Admiral David D. Porter.
Porter, laying meticulous plans for the second Fort Fisher attack, ordered each of his commanding officers to "...detail as many of his men as he can spare from the guns as a landing party." Armed with cutlasses and revolvers, the sailors and Marines were to hit the beach when the assault signal was made "...and board the fort in a seaman-like way. The marines will form in the rear and cover the sailors. While the soldiers are going over the parapets in front, the sailors will take the sea face of Fort Fisher."
The impact of Union sea power throughout the war strongly influenced the views of Confederate naval commanders as to their own capabilities. This morning, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell, commanding the South's James River Squadron, expressed his estimate of the military situation on the river below Richmond: "The enemy, with his large naval establishment and unlimited transportation, has, in all his expeditions against us, appeared in such overwhelming force as to render a successful resistance on the part of ours utterly out of the question, as witness his operations on the Mississippi from New Orleans up, and more recently at Mobile. Would he be likely to do less on the James in any naval enterprise he undertakes against us? Surely not, and we can never hope to encounter him on anything like equal terms, except by accident. It behooves us, therefore, to bring to our aid all the means in our power to oppose his monitors in any advance they may attempt up the river."
Mitchell recommended the placing of additional obstructions and torpedoes as the most reliable means of preventing a waterborne movement on Richmond. He added, however, that his own squadron, which was the largest assembled at one point by the South, "...will be expected to take a part, not only in opposing the advance of the enemy, but held in readiness to move and act in any direction whenever an opportunity offers to strike a blow." Mitchell would have this opportunity just three weeks later.
A landing party under Acting Master James C. Tole from the USS Don captured several torpedoes and powder on the right bank of the Rappahannock River about six miles from its mouth. The success of Confederate torpedo warfare beginning with the destruction of the USS Cairo back in December 1862 had led to increased efforts in this new area of war at sea, first under the genius of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, then under Commander Hunter Davidson. Throughout the remaining months of the War, and for some time thereafter Southern torpedoes--or mines--would take a heavy toll of Union shipping.
A skirmish took place near Thorn Hill, Alabama, with remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
A Union expedition travelled from Brownsville, Texas, across the White River aboard the steamers, Belle Peoria and Ella, to Augusta, Arkansas. The Yankees seize 407 head of cattle, sending 330 head back by boat to Devalls Bluff; the Federals got their stomachs full at the expense of the Confederates.
Skirmishes along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad--as Brigadier General Benjamin H. Grierson's expedition which began back on 21 December--effectively come to an end, with a partial list of destruction: 200,000 feet of bridges and trestle-work; 10 miles of track (rails bent and ties burned); 20 miles of telegraph (poles cut down and wire destroyed), 14 locomotives and tenders, 95 railroad cars, over 300 army wagons, 30 warehouses full of Confederate commissaries, machine shops, 5,000 new arms, 700 head of fat hogs, immense amount of grain, and other foodstuff.
A Union expedition moves about 32 miles from Bloomfield to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and vicinity, as the Yankees traverse ice and snow, crossing swamps, and swimming across the St. Francis River. The Federals suffer greatly from exposure to the elements, but still manage to kill 19 Confederates, wounding and capturing more, in addition to seizing depleted Southern stock.
Federals embarked this morning at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, for a new attack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Major General Alfred H. Terry replaced Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler as the infantry commander, while the naval forces remained under the command of Rear Admiral David D. Porter.
Porter, laying meticulous plans for the second Fort Fisher attack, ordered each of his commanding officers to "...detail as many of his men as he can spare from the guns as a landing party." Armed with cutlasses and revolvers, the sailors and Marines were to hit the beach when the assault signal was made "...and board the fort in a seaman-like way. The marines will form in the rear and cover the sailors. While the soldiers are going over the parapets in front, the sailors will take the sea face of Fort Fisher."
The impact of Union sea power throughout the war strongly influenced the views of Confederate naval commanders as to their own capabilities. This morning, Flag Officer John K. Mitchell, commanding the South's James River Squadron, expressed his estimate of the military situation on the river below Richmond: "The enemy, with his large naval establishment and unlimited transportation, has, in all his expeditions against us, appeared in such overwhelming force as to render a successful resistance on the part of ours utterly out of the question, as witness his operations on the Mississippi from New Orleans up, and more recently at Mobile. Would he be likely to do less on the James in any naval enterprise he undertakes against us? Surely not, and we can never hope to encounter him on anything like equal terms, except by accident. It behooves us, therefore, to bring to our aid all the means in our power to oppose his monitors in any advance they may attempt up the river."
Mitchell recommended the placing of additional obstructions and torpedoes as the most reliable means of preventing a waterborne movement on Richmond. He added, however, that his own squadron, which was the largest assembled at one point by the South, "...will be expected to take a part, not only in opposing the advance of the enemy, but held in readiness to move and act in any direction whenever an opportunity offers to strike a blow." Mitchell would have this opportunity just three weeks later.
A landing party under Acting Master James C. Tole from the USS Don captured several torpedoes and powder on the right bank of the Rappahannock River about six miles from its mouth. The success of Confederate torpedo warfare beginning with the destruction of the USS Cairo back in December 1862 had led to increased efforts in this new area of war at sea, first under the genius of Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, then under Commander Hunter Davidson. Throughout the remaining months of the War, and for some time thereafter Southern torpedoes--or mines--would take a heavy toll of Union shipping.
A skirmish took place near Thorn Hill, Alabama, with remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.
A Union expedition travelled from Brownsville, Texas, across the White River aboard the steamers, Belle Peoria and Ella, to Augusta, Arkansas. The Yankees seize 407 head of cattle, sending 330 head back by boat to Devalls Bluff; the Federals got their stomachs full at the expense of the Confederates.
Skirmishes along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad--as Brigadier General Benjamin H. Grierson's expedition which began back on 21 December--effectively come to an end, with a partial list of destruction: 200,000 feet of bridges and trestle-work; 10 miles of track (rails bent and ties burned); 20 miles of telegraph (poles cut down and wire destroyed), 14 locomotives and tenders, 95 railroad cars, over 300 army wagons, 30 warehouses full of Confederate commissaries, machine shops, 5,000 new arms, 700 head of fat hogs, immense amount of grain, and other foodstuff.
A Union expedition moves about 32 miles from Bloomfield to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and vicinity, as the Yankees traverse ice and snow, crossing swamps, and swimming across the St. Francis River. The Federals suffer greatly from exposure to the elements, but still manage to kill 19 Confederates, wounding and capturing more, in addition to seizing depleted Southern stock.
1
Posted on 1/4/15 at 9:06 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 5 January 1865
A boat expedition under Acting Ensign Michael Murphy from the USS Winnebago seized copper kettles used for distilling turpentine, 1300 pounds of copper pipes, and four sloop-rigged boats at Bon Secours Bay, Alabama.
Acting Lieutenant James Lansing succeeded in refloating the USS Indianola in the Mississippi River. The Indianola had been sunk by the Confederates almost two years before and the Union had been attempting to float her ever since. Rear Admiral David D. Porter, who, as commander of the Mississippi Squadron, had been particularly interested in salvaging the ironclad, warmly congratulated Lansing on his success: "There are triumphs of skill such as you have displayed as glorious as if the result were from combat, and as such you have my highest commendations." Indianola was taken upriver to Mound City, Illinois.
The following are today appointed Union Brigadier Generals: Christopher Columbus Andrews, Cyrus Bussey, Philippe Regis Denis de Keredern de Trobiand, John Wallace Fuller, and John Franklin Miller.
A skirmish took place at Lawrence's Mill, Tennessee, where a Union forage party attacked the Confederate pickets at Lawrence's Mill, 5 miles east of Mossy Creek, and captured 12 Confederates with their arms and 9 horses, without any loss.
A skirmish broke out on the Pecos River, near Fort Sumner, in the New Mexico Territory, between Union soldiers and Navajo Indians. The Apaches assist the Federals since their herd of horses were stolen. Many Navajo casualties were reported. The weather is extremely cold.
On 31 October 1862, the Federal Congress had authorized the establishment of the military Fort Sumner at Bosque Redondo, to protect a new Indian Reservation situated on 40 square miles of land. The post was named for General Edwin Vose Sumner who died as the new fort was being built.
Though some officers discouraged the selection of Bosque Redondo as a site because of its poor water and minimal provisions of firewood, it was established anyway. It was to be the first Indian reservation west of Indian Territory (Oklahoma) with plans to turn the Apache and Navajo Indians into farmers with irrigation from the Pecos River. They were also to be "civilized” by going to school and practicing Christianity.
To accomplish their plan, the Union Army made war on the Mescalero Apache and Navajo Indian tribes destroying their fields, orchards, houses, and livestock. The Apache and Navajo, who had survived the army attacks, were then starved into submission. During a final standoff at Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, the Navajo surrendered to Kit Carson and his troops in January 1864. Carson ordered the destruction of their property and organized the "Long Walk" to the Bosque Redondo reservation, already occupied by Mescalero Apaches. A small settlement grew up around the post that was populated not only by soldiers but also by ranchers, stockmen and businesses supporting the fort.
From the beginning, however, the reservation was unsuccessful due to poor planning on the part of the Union government, as the Navajo and Apache had a long history of warfare. Once the Navajo were placed with the Apache on the same reservation, ongoing conflicts arose between the two tribes. The ill-planned site, named for a grove of cottonwoods by the river, turned into a virtual prison camp for the Indians. The brackish Pecos water caused severe intestinal problems in the tribes and disease ran rampant. Army worm destroyed the corn crop and the wood supply at the Bosque Redondo was soon depleted. Most of the Mescalero Apaches eluded their military guards and abandoned the reservation on 3 November 1865; but, for the Navajos, another three years passed before the Federal Government recognized that their plan for Americanizing the Indians had failed. Finally, on 1 June 1868, the Indians were allowed to return to their former homes and shortly thereafter, Fort Sumner closed forever.
This morning in 1861, the Star of the West--a Union merchant vessel--leaves New York with supplies and 250 troops to relieve the beleaguered Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina. The vessel's departure came during the sensitive days following the secession of South Carolina on 20 December 1860. The primary cause for secession was the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency the prior month, but it was President James Buchanan, a Democrat, who had to deal with the first crisis after South Carolina's secession. Inside of Fort Sumter were Major Robert Anderson and 80 Federal soldiers surrounded by South Carolinians, who were demanding evacuation by the Yankees. Anderson informed officials in Washington, DC, that he needed supplies within a few weeks. Buchanan was reluctant to make any provocative moves but felt that some attempt to save Sumter should be made.
The Star of the West was chosen because a civilian vessel was less likely to agitate South Carolinians. The ship left New York on 5 January, but it did not complete its mission. Arriving on 9 January, the ship encountered an alert group of cadets from The Citadel manning an artillery battery on Morris Island. Anderson had received no notification of the mission and was surprised when cannon from the shore opened fire on the approaching ship. One shot hit Star of the West, and she turned around before taking any more damage. Anderson withheld his fire on the hostile shore batteries, and the standoff in Charleston Harbor continued until April, when the Southerners opened the massive bombardment that are credited with starting War Between the States. The first belligerent shots, however, were in January.
A boat expedition under Acting Ensign Michael Murphy from the USS Winnebago seized copper kettles used for distilling turpentine, 1300 pounds of copper pipes, and four sloop-rigged boats at Bon Secours Bay, Alabama.
Acting Lieutenant James Lansing succeeded in refloating the USS Indianola in the Mississippi River. The Indianola had been sunk by the Confederates almost two years before and the Union had been attempting to float her ever since. Rear Admiral David D. Porter, who, as commander of the Mississippi Squadron, had been particularly interested in salvaging the ironclad, warmly congratulated Lansing on his success: "There are triumphs of skill such as you have displayed as glorious as if the result were from combat, and as such you have my highest commendations." Indianola was taken upriver to Mound City, Illinois.
The following are today appointed Union Brigadier Generals: Christopher Columbus Andrews, Cyrus Bussey, Philippe Regis Denis de Keredern de Trobiand, John Wallace Fuller, and John Franklin Miller.
A skirmish took place at Lawrence's Mill, Tennessee, where a Union forage party attacked the Confederate pickets at Lawrence's Mill, 5 miles east of Mossy Creek, and captured 12 Confederates with their arms and 9 horses, without any loss.
A skirmish broke out on the Pecos River, near Fort Sumner, in the New Mexico Territory, between Union soldiers and Navajo Indians. The Apaches assist the Federals since their herd of horses were stolen. Many Navajo casualties were reported. The weather is extremely cold.
On 31 October 1862, the Federal Congress had authorized the establishment of the military Fort Sumner at Bosque Redondo, to protect a new Indian Reservation situated on 40 square miles of land. The post was named for General Edwin Vose Sumner who died as the new fort was being built.
Though some officers discouraged the selection of Bosque Redondo as a site because of its poor water and minimal provisions of firewood, it was established anyway. It was to be the first Indian reservation west of Indian Territory (Oklahoma) with plans to turn the Apache and Navajo Indians into farmers with irrigation from the Pecos River. They were also to be "civilized” by going to school and practicing Christianity.
To accomplish their plan, the Union Army made war on the Mescalero Apache and Navajo Indian tribes destroying their fields, orchards, houses, and livestock. The Apache and Navajo, who had survived the army attacks, were then starved into submission. During a final standoff at Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, the Navajo surrendered to Kit Carson and his troops in January 1864. Carson ordered the destruction of their property and organized the "Long Walk" to the Bosque Redondo reservation, already occupied by Mescalero Apaches. A small settlement grew up around the post that was populated not only by soldiers but also by ranchers, stockmen and businesses supporting the fort.
From the beginning, however, the reservation was unsuccessful due to poor planning on the part of the Union government, as the Navajo and Apache had a long history of warfare. Once the Navajo were placed with the Apache on the same reservation, ongoing conflicts arose between the two tribes. The ill-planned site, named for a grove of cottonwoods by the river, turned into a virtual prison camp for the Indians. The brackish Pecos water caused severe intestinal problems in the tribes and disease ran rampant. Army worm destroyed the corn crop and the wood supply at the Bosque Redondo was soon depleted. Most of the Mescalero Apaches eluded their military guards and abandoned the reservation on 3 November 1865; but, for the Navajos, another three years passed before the Federal Government recognized that their plan for Americanizing the Indians had failed. Finally, on 1 June 1868, the Indians were allowed to return to their former homes and shortly thereafter, Fort Sumner closed forever.
This morning in 1861, the Star of the West--a Union merchant vessel--leaves New York with supplies and 250 troops to relieve the beleaguered Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina. The vessel's departure came during the sensitive days following the secession of South Carolina on 20 December 1860. The primary cause for secession was the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln to the presidency the prior month, but it was President James Buchanan, a Democrat, who had to deal with the first crisis after South Carolina's secession. Inside of Fort Sumter were Major Robert Anderson and 80 Federal soldiers surrounded by South Carolinians, who were demanding evacuation by the Yankees. Anderson informed officials in Washington, DC, that he needed supplies within a few weeks. Buchanan was reluctant to make any provocative moves but felt that some attempt to save Sumter should be made.
The Star of the West was chosen because a civilian vessel was less likely to agitate South Carolinians. The ship left New York on 5 January, but it did not complete its mission. Arriving on 9 January, the ship encountered an alert group of cadets from The Citadel manning an artillery battery on Morris Island. Anderson had received no notification of the mission and was surprised when cannon from the shore opened fire on the approaching ship. One shot hit Star of the West, and she turned around before taking any more damage. Anderson withheld his fire on the hostile shore batteries, and the standoff in Charleston Harbor continued until April, when the Southerners opened the massive bombardment that are credited with starting War Between the States. The first belligerent shots, however, were in January.
Posted on 1/5/15 at 8:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 6 January 1865
In the United States House of Representatives, Radical Republican Congressman James M. Ashley of Ohio once again brought up the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to permanently abolish slavery. The amendment had cleared the United States Senate last year, where Republicans and unionists had the requisite two-thirds majority vote, but it languished badly in the House. President Abraham Lincoln, the Administration and some Republican House members were putting tremendous pressure on certain key Democrats to change their votes in a so-called display of bipartisanship. Many people, including Lincoln, were anxious to see the amendment in effect as soon as possible in an attempt to justify the Southern Invasion at an eventual total cost of well over 10 billion dollars, just to the Union side, and more than 1.1 million casualties for both.
Debate over the proposed amendment would dominate House business all of this month. Ashley contended: "Mr. Speaker, if slavery is wrong and criminal, as the great body of enlightened Christian men admit, it is certainly our duty to abolish it, if we have the power." Democrat James Brooks of New York replied: "Is the abolition of slavery the only object for which this war is hereafter to be prosecuted, or is now prosecuted? I do not believe it."
From Petersburg, Virginia, Federal Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant, sent a telegraph message to President Lincoln requesting that Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler be discharged from command of the Army of the James because of a continued lack of confidence in his military ability. By rank, Butler would have commanded the Army of the Potomac in Grant’s absence, a leading factor to Grant’s call for removal.
Grant wired Lincoln: "I wrote a letter to the Secretary of War, which was mailed yesterday, asking to have General Butler removed from command. Learning that the Secretary left Washington yesterday, I telegraph asking you that prompt action may be taken in the matter."
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was daily struggling in vain to find troops to defend the Carolinas from Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s forces that were preparing to move north from Savannah, Georgia, in full force inside South Carolina.
Davis wrote a somewhat bitter letter to Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, who had publicly criticized the president: "I am aware that I was unfortunate enough to incur your disapproval of my policy...I assure you that it would be to me a source of the sincerest pleasure to see you devoting your great and admitted ability exclusively to upholding the confidence and animating the spirit of the people to unconquerable resistance against their foes."
Richard Lee Turberville Beale, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A skirmish breaks out at Huntsville, Arkansas, with Confederate partisans.
A new Missouri constitutional convention assembled in St. Louis to consider abolishing slavery. Delegates to an earlier convention had approved gradual emancipation by 1870 along with an apprenticeship program for freed slaves, giving them a substantial means to transition into society. But the abolitionists, led by convention president Charles Drake, sought immediate emancipation without apprenticeships. Delegates also considered amendments prohibiting men from voting who did not openly support either the state or federal government.
In the United States House of Representatives, Radical Republican Congressman James M. Ashley of Ohio once again brought up the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to permanently abolish slavery. The amendment had cleared the United States Senate last year, where Republicans and unionists had the requisite two-thirds majority vote, but it languished badly in the House. President Abraham Lincoln, the Administration and some Republican House members were putting tremendous pressure on certain key Democrats to change their votes in a so-called display of bipartisanship. Many people, including Lincoln, were anxious to see the amendment in effect as soon as possible in an attempt to justify the Southern Invasion at an eventual total cost of well over 10 billion dollars, just to the Union side, and more than 1.1 million casualties for both.
Debate over the proposed amendment would dominate House business all of this month. Ashley contended: "Mr. Speaker, if slavery is wrong and criminal, as the great body of enlightened Christian men admit, it is certainly our duty to abolish it, if we have the power." Democrat James Brooks of New York replied: "Is the abolition of slavery the only object for which this war is hereafter to be prosecuted, or is now prosecuted? I do not believe it."
From Petersburg, Virginia, Federal Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant, sent a telegraph message to President Lincoln requesting that Major General Benjamin F. "Spoons" Butler be discharged from command of the Army of the James because of a continued lack of confidence in his military ability. By rank, Butler would have commanded the Army of the Potomac in Grant’s absence, a leading factor to Grant’s call for removal.
Grant wired Lincoln: "I wrote a letter to the Secretary of War, which was mailed yesterday, asking to have General Butler removed from command. Learning that the Secretary left Washington yesterday, I telegraph asking you that prompt action may be taken in the matter."
Confederate President Jefferson Davis was daily struggling in vain to find troops to defend the Carolinas from Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s forces that were preparing to move north from Savannah, Georgia, in full force inside South Carolina.
Davis wrote a somewhat bitter letter to Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, who had publicly criticized the president: "I am aware that I was unfortunate enough to incur your disapproval of my policy...I assure you that it would be to me a source of the sincerest pleasure to see you devoting your great and admitted ability exclusively to upholding the confidence and animating the spirit of the people to unconquerable resistance against their foes."
Richard Lee Turberville Beale, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
A skirmish breaks out at Huntsville, Arkansas, with Confederate partisans.
A new Missouri constitutional convention assembled in St. Louis to consider abolishing slavery. Delegates to an earlier convention had approved gradual emancipation by 1870 along with an apprenticeship program for freed slaves, giving them a substantial means to transition into society. But the abolitionists, led by convention president Charles Drake, sought immediate emancipation without apprenticeships. Delegates also considered amendments prohibiting men from voting who did not openly support either the state or federal government.
Posted on 1/6/15 at 8:14 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 7 January 1865
The active military career of Union Major General Benjamin Franklin "Spoons" Butler came to an end when orders were issued by Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton removing him from command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Butler’s replacement was Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord. The snafu at Fort Fisher protecting Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major Confederate port open, brought matters to a head and Butler was actually removed regardless of any political implications.
Follow-up: President Abraham Lincoln issued General Order Number One, "...by direction of the President of the United States..." via wire: "Maj. Gen. B.F. Butler is relieved of command of the Department of North Carolina and Virginia...(He) will repair to Lowell, Mass., and report by letter to the Adjutant General of the Army." Butler had recently presided over two military fiascos: 1) failing to capture Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast last month, and 2) failing to complete a canal on the James River that could have allowed Federal ships to attack Richmond.
Command had originally been given to Butler for political reasons, and he had become one of the most controversial Federal commanders of the War. Now that the November elections were over, the Lincoln administration deemed Butler expendable. This ended his military career and resumed his equally controversial political career.
More Federal troops were pulled out of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and sent elsewhere.
Skirmishing occurred with Confederates in Johnson County, Arkansas, and with Indians at Valley Station and Julesburg in Colorado Territory.
The Danish ironclad Sphinx left Copenhagen, Denmark for Quiberon Bay, France. She had been secretly purchased by the Confederate Government and would later be christened the CSS Stonewall.
A Federal expedition commenced from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, skirmished with Southern partisan guerrillas and took many casualties.
Skirmishes occurred with Indians at Valley Station and Julesburg, in the Colorado Territory, as the "hostile savages" attacked and burned the wagon train at Valley Station, killing 12 men. They were unable to capture the wagon train at Julesburg, however, and were driven off, but killed 2 more Union men. The stations are now closed, as the operators have left. The Yankees fear that many emigrants will starve.
Federals scout against Indians from Fort Ellsworth, Kansas, traveling to Smoky Hill, Buffalo Creek, up the Saline River to Walnut Creek, then to Pawnee Rock which is 15 miles northeast of Fort Larned, to the mouth of Big Creek, about 50 miles due north of Fort Larned. The Federals find no signs of Indians, and report that buffalo is plenty and tame, showing that they have not been hunted by the Indians.
The Second Division, 19th US Army Corps, leaves the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, en route to Savannah, Georgia, as more troops are moved from the Valley for other strategic points.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Vice Admiral David Farragut visited President Abraham Lincoln in the White House. The three discussed the capture of Mobile Bay which the Admiral had effected the previous August.
General William T. Sherman wrote something of his plans to Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren, revealing his understanding of the importance of sea communications and the support of concentrated naval gunfire where possible:
"The letter you send me is from Admiral Porter, at Beaufort, N.C. I am not certain that there is a vessel in Port Royal from Admiral Porter, or I would write him. If there be one to return to him I beg you to send this, with a request that I be advised as early as possible as to the condition of the railroad from Beaufort, N.C., back to New Berne, and so on, toward Goldsboro; also all maps and information of the country above New Berne; how many cars and locomotives are available to us on that road; whether there is good navigation from Beaufort, N.C., via Pamlico Sound, up Neuse River, etc. I want Admiral Porter to know that I expect to be ready to move about the 15th; that I have one head of column across Savannah River at this point; will soon have another at Port Royal Ferry and expect to make another crossing at Sister's Ferry. I still adhere to my plan submitted to General Grant, and only await provisions and forage."
"The more I think of the affair at Wilmington the more I feel ashamed of the army there; but Butler is at fault, and he alone. Admiral Porter fulfilled his share to admiration. I think the admiral will feel more confidence in my troops, as he saw us carry points on the Mississippi where he had silenced the fire. All will turn out for the best yet."
The Richmond Dispatch featured an editorial accusing Sherman of duplicity in pretending to show mercy to the coastal region: "Sherman seems to have changed his character as completely as the serpent changes his skin with the approach of spring. His repose, however, is the repose of the tiger. Let him taste blood once more and he will be as brutal as ever."
The active military career of Union Major General Benjamin Franklin "Spoons" Butler came to an end when orders were issued by Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton removing him from command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Butler’s replacement was Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord. The snafu at Fort Fisher protecting Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major Confederate port open, brought matters to a head and Butler was actually removed regardless of any political implications.
Follow-up: President Abraham Lincoln issued General Order Number One, "...by direction of the President of the United States..." via wire: "Maj. Gen. B.F. Butler is relieved of command of the Department of North Carolina and Virginia...(He) will repair to Lowell, Mass., and report by letter to the Adjutant General of the Army." Butler had recently presided over two military fiascos: 1) failing to capture Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast last month, and 2) failing to complete a canal on the James River that could have allowed Federal ships to attack Richmond.
Command had originally been given to Butler for political reasons, and he had become one of the most controversial Federal commanders of the War. Now that the November elections were over, the Lincoln administration deemed Butler expendable. This ended his military career and resumed his equally controversial political career.
More Federal troops were pulled out of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and sent elsewhere.
Skirmishing occurred with Confederates in Johnson County, Arkansas, and with Indians at Valley Station and Julesburg in Colorado Territory.
The Danish ironclad Sphinx left Copenhagen, Denmark for Quiberon Bay, France. She had been secretly purchased by the Confederate Government and would later be christened the CSS Stonewall.
A Federal expedition commenced from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, skirmished with Southern partisan guerrillas and took many casualties.
Skirmishes occurred with Indians at Valley Station and Julesburg, in the Colorado Territory, as the "hostile savages" attacked and burned the wagon train at Valley Station, killing 12 men. They were unable to capture the wagon train at Julesburg, however, and were driven off, but killed 2 more Union men. The stations are now closed, as the operators have left. The Yankees fear that many emigrants will starve.
Federals scout against Indians from Fort Ellsworth, Kansas, traveling to Smoky Hill, Buffalo Creek, up the Saline River to Walnut Creek, then to Pawnee Rock which is 15 miles northeast of Fort Larned, to the mouth of Big Creek, about 50 miles due north of Fort Larned. The Federals find no signs of Indians, and report that buffalo is plenty and tame, showing that they have not been hunted by the Indians.
The Second Division, 19th US Army Corps, leaves the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, en route to Savannah, Georgia, as more troops are moved from the Valley for other strategic points.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Vice Admiral David Farragut visited President Abraham Lincoln in the White House. The three discussed the capture of Mobile Bay which the Admiral had effected the previous August.
General William T. Sherman wrote something of his plans to Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren, revealing his understanding of the importance of sea communications and the support of concentrated naval gunfire where possible:
"The letter you send me is from Admiral Porter, at Beaufort, N.C. I am not certain that there is a vessel in Port Royal from Admiral Porter, or I would write him. If there be one to return to him I beg you to send this, with a request that I be advised as early as possible as to the condition of the railroad from Beaufort, N.C., back to New Berne, and so on, toward Goldsboro; also all maps and information of the country above New Berne; how many cars and locomotives are available to us on that road; whether there is good navigation from Beaufort, N.C., via Pamlico Sound, up Neuse River, etc. I want Admiral Porter to know that I expect to be ready to move about the 15th; that I have one head of column across Savannah River at this point; will soon have another at Port Royal Ferry and expect to make another crossing at Sister's Ferry. I still adhere to my plan submitted to General Grant, and only await provisions and forage."
"The more I think of the affair at Wilmington the more I feel ashamed of the army there; but Butler is at fault, and he alone. Admiral Porter fulfilled his share to admiration. I think the admiral will feel more confidence in my troops, as he saw us carry points on the Mississippi where he had silenced the fire. All will turn out for the best yet."
The Richmond Dispatch featured an editorial accusing Sherman of duplicity in pretending to show mercy to the coastal region: "Sherman seems to have changed his character as completely as the serpent changes his skin with the approach of spring. His repose, however, is the repose of the tiger. Let him taste blood once more and he will be as brutal as ever."
Posted on 1/7/15 at 8:43 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday 8, January 1865
The massive 60-ship Federal Naval fleet under Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, plus the transport fleet containing Major General Alfred Howe Terry’s huge expeditionary force, arrived at rendezvous off of Beaufort, North Carolina, before once again attempting to take Fort Fisher. Colonel William Lamb, commanding Confederates at Fort Fisher, notified General Braxton Bragg, commanding all Confederates in the area, of the Federal fleet’s arrival.
Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren advised Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles: "Among the articles found here [Savannah] after our troops entered was a torpedo boat, which I have received from General Sherman and sent to Port Royal. As yet it is only the unfinished wooden shell; no machinery was found about the place, but may be among some that was thrown overboard."
"There is also another torpedo boat in the yard of the builder, not finished, which I may be able to secure."
Union Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord took command this morning of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, as well as the Army of the James, in place of the relieved Major General Benjamin Franklin "Spoons" Butler. Ord’s command included Terry’s expeditionary force preparing for the renewed campaign against Fort Fisher at Beaufort.
Federal Major General John A. Logan resumed command of the 15th US Army Corps, relieving Major General Peter J. Osterhaus.
A skirmish breaks out near Ivey's Ford, Arkansas.
Union soldiers begin an action with Indians, mainly Kickapoos and Pottawatomies, at Dove Creek, Concho River, Texas. The friendly Indians send a woman with a small child under a white flag of truce to the Yankees who refused to recognize any friendly Indians on the Texas frontier and then declining to accept her offer of being their prisoner, whereupon they kill her, the young boy escaping into the bushes. Attacking the tribe in their wigwams, many Indians are massacred before they finally returned fire, killing and wounding about 15 before the Yankees called off the attack during a heavy snowstorm. The Indians flee towards Mexico, leaving behind most of their provisions, in their haste to get away from the white soldiers.
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch, Confederate naval agent in England, ordered Lieutenant John Low, who had previously served on board the CSS Alabama and as captain of the CSS Tuscaloosa, to assume command of the twin screw steamer Ajax upon her arrival in Nassau. Scheduled to sail from Glasgow on 12 January, Ajax had been built in Scotland under a contract of 14 September 1864 and had been designated a tug boat "...to deceive Federal spies..." Minor alterations were planned to make her and her sister ship Hercules useful in the defense of Wilmington, North Carolina. However, the Ajax never reached the Confederacy, and the Hercules was never completed. On 1 March, Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote Bulloch: "A notice of the arrival of the Ajax at a port in Ireland has reached me through the United States papers, but no further advices as to her or the Hercules or other vessels have come to hand."
Remnants of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee begins arriving at Tupelo, Mississippi, after its disastrous invasion of Tennessee. The Southern Army's strength now stood at less than 18,000 following defeats at Franklin and Tennessee, plus mass desertions in the wake of the calamity.
The massive 60-ship Federal Naval fleet under Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, plus the transport fleet containing Major General Alfred Howe Terry’s huge expeditionary force, arrived at rendezvous off of Beaufort, North Carolina, before once again attempting to take Fort Fisher. Colonel William Lamb, commanding Confederates at Fort Fisher, notified General Braxton Bragg, commanding all Confederates in the area, of the Federal fleet’s arrival.
Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren advised Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles: "Among the articles found here [Savannah] after our troops entered was a torpedo boat, which I have received from General Sherman and sent to Port Royal. As yet it is only the unfinished wooden shell; no machinery was found about the place, but may be among some that was thrown overboard."
"There is also another torpedo boat in the yard of the builder, not finished, which I may be able to secure."
Union Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord took command this morning of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, as well as the Army of the James, in place of the relieved Major General Benjamin Franklin "Spoons" Butler. Ord’s command included Terry’s expeditionary force preparing for the renewed campaign against Fort Fisher at Beaufort.
Federal Major General John A. Logan resumed command of the 15th US Army Corps, relieving Major General Peter J. Osterhaus.
A skirmish breaks out near Ivey's Ford, Arkansas.
Union soldiers begin an action with Indians, mainly Kickapoos and Pottawatomies, at Dove Creek, Concho River, Texas. The friendly Indians send a woman with a small child under a white flag of truce to the Yankees who refused to recognize any friendly Indians on the Texas frontier and then declining to accept her offer of being their prisoner, whereupon they kill her, the young boy escaping into the bushes. Attacking the tribe in their wigwams, many Indians are massacred before they finally returned fire, killing and wounding about 15 before the Yankees called off the attack during a heavy snowstorm. The Indians flee towards Mexico, leaving behind most of their provisions, in their haste to get away from the white soldiers.
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch, Confederate naval agent in England, ordered Lieutenant John Low, who had previously served on board the CSS Alabama and as captain of the CSS Tuscaloosa, to assume command of the twin screw steamer Ajax upon her arrival in Nassau. Scheduled to sail from Glasgow on 12 January, Ajax had been built in Scotland under a contract of 14 September 1864 and had been designated a tug boat "...to deceive Federal spies..." Minor alterations were planned to make her and her sister ship Hercules useful in the defense of Wilmington, North Carolina. However, the Ajax never reached the Confederacy, and the Hercules was never completed. On 1 March, Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote Bulloch: "A notice of the arrival of the Ajax at a port in Ireland has reached me through the United States papers, but no further advices as to her or the Hercules or other vessels have come to hand."
Remnants of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee begins arriving at Tupelo, Mississippi, after its disastrous invasion of Tennessee. The Southern Army's strength now stood at less than 18,000 following defeats at Franklin and Tennessee, plus mass desertions in the wake of the calamity.
Posted on 1/8/15 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 9 January 1865
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of Tennessee adopted an amendment abolishing slavery in the state and approved submitting a new constitution to the vote of the people, scheduled for February 22, 1865. Pro-Union voters would ratify the new constitution on that date.
Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood finally completes moving the discouraged and greatly diminished remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee to Tupelo, Mississippi. A Federal reconnaissance expedition from Eastport to Iuka, Mississippi confirms the arrival.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, commanding the Confederate Military Division of the West, received a message from Hood that downplayed his army’s casualties and denied there was a high volume of desertions. Hood also stated: "Our exact loss in prisoners I have not been able to ascertain, but do not think it great."
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Congressman Moses Odell of New York indicates he would change his vote from rejecting the proposed Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery to approving it: "The South by rebellion has absolved the Democratic party at the North from all obligation to stand up longer for the defense of its ‘cornerstone.'" President Abraham Lincoln later would later reward Odell with an important political job. Odell was one of the Democrats who made the passage of the amendment possible.
In stringent opposition, Robert Mallory of Kentucky said that "...the Constitution does not authorize an amendment to be made by which any State or citizen shall be divested of acquired rights of property or of established political franchises."
Federals scout about Mount Sterling, Kentucky, capturing 4 men dressed in Confederate uniform, mounted and armed. It is very cold this time of year, as the men are piling the earth around the bottom of the tents to keep out the cold. The earth is frozen.
President Lincoln sends Union Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, to Savannah, Georgia, for discussions with Major General William T. Sherman, USA, on military strategy and his alleged mistreatment of black freedmen.
Skirmishes break out with partisan guerrillas in Texas County, Missouri.
A skirmish occurs near Disputanta Station, Virginia, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles notified Commander F.A. Parker, commanding the Potomac Flotilla, of intelligence received that Confederate agents enroute Richmond were crossing the Potomac River by India rubber boats at night in the vicinity of Port Tobacco, Maryland. "These messengers..." the report warned "...wear metal buttons, upon the inside of which dispatches are most minutely photographed, not perceptible to the naked eye, but are easily read by the aid of a powerful lens."
Lieutenant Commander Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, reports the capture of schooner Triumph at the mouth of the Perquimans River, North Carolina, with a cargo including a large quantity of salt.
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention of Tennessee adopted an amendment abolishing slavery in the state and approved submitting a new constitution to the vote of the people, scheduled for February 22, 1865. Pro-Union voters would ratify the new constitution on that date.
Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood finally completes moving the discouraged and greatly diminished remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee to Tupelo, Mississippi. A Federal reconnaissance expedition from Eastport to Iuka, Mississippi confirms the arrival.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, commanding the Confederate Military Division of the West, received a message from Hood that downplayed his army’s casualties and denied there was a high volume of desertions. Hood also stated: "Our exact loss in prisoners I have not been able to ascertain, but do not think it great."
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Congressman Moses Odell of New York indicates he would change his vote from rejecting the proposed Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery to approving it: "The South by rebellion has absolved the Democratic party at the North from all obligation to stand up longer for the defense of its ‘cornerstone.'" President Abraham Lincoln later would later reward Odell with an important political job. Odell was one of the Democrats who made the passage of the amendment possible.
In stringent opposition, Robert Mallory of Kentucky said that "...the Constitution does not authorize an amendment to be made by which any State or citizen shall be divested of acquired rights of property or of established political franchises."
Federals scout about Mount Sterling, Kentucky, capturing 4 men dressed in Confederate uniform, mounted and armed. It is very cold this time of year, as the men are piling the earth around the bottom of the tents to keep out the cold. The earth is frozen.
President Lincoln sends Union Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, to Savannah, Georgia, for discussions with Major General William T. Sherman, USA, on military strategy and his alleged mistreatment of black freedmen.
Skirmishes break out with partisan guerrillas in Texas County, Missouri.
A skirmish occurs near Disputanta Station, Virginia, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles notified Commander F.A. Parker, commanding the Potomac Flotilla, of intelligence received that Confederate agents enroute Richmond were crossing the Potomac River by India rubber boats at night in the vicinity of Port Tobacco, Maryland. "These messengers..." the report warned "...wear metal buttons, upon the inside of which dispatches are most minutely photographed, not perceptible to the naked eye, but are easily read by the aid of a powerful lens."
Lieutenant Commander Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, reports the capture of schooner Triumph at the mouth of the Perquimans River, North Carolina, with a cargo including a large quantity of salt.
Posted on 1/9/15 at 9:38 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 10 January 1865
The debate continued in a heated fashion over the abolition of slavery and proposed Thirteenth Amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives. John A. Kasson of Iowa said: "...you will never, never, have reliable peace in this country while that institution (slavery) exists, the perpetual occasion of moral, intellectual, and physical warfare." Fernando Wood of New York replied: "The Almighty has fixed the distinction of the races; the Almighty has made the black man inferior, and sir, by no legislation, by no partisan success, by no revolution, by no military power, can you wipe out this distinction. You may make the black man free, but when you have done that what have you done?"
A skirmish broke out with partisan guerrillas near Glasgow, Missouri, as the Yankees divy up the spoils from one dead guerrilla which included a belt and 6 revolvers, 4 purses containing $ 72.25, pocketknives, 1 pocket compass, 1 gold pen and silver holder, and the likenesses of 2 young ladies, in addition to his hat and boots.
The only major operation under way, the second expedition to Fort Fisher, was held up by raging seas and stormy weather off Beaufort, North Carolina.
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he had obtained one of the French ironclads which Louis Napoleon, unwilling to provoke the United States government, had previously refused to release to the South. The ironclad had been sold to Denmark for the Schleswig-Holstein War, but when that conflict ended abruptly before the ship could be delivered, the Danes refused to accept her, and she was sold secretly to the Confederacy. Captain Thomas Jefferson Page took command of her in Copenhagen. "I have requested Captain Page..." Bulloch wrote "...to name the ironclad Stonewall, an appellation not inconsistent with her character, and one which will appeal to the feelings and sympathies of our people at home." Stonewall, with a temporary crew and under another name (Sphinx) to divert suspicion as to her real ownership, had departed Copenhagen on 7 January.
Bulloch also wrote Commander Hunter Davidson, one of the South's ablest naval officers who had directed the Torpedo Service and was now captain of the blockade runner City of Richmond, regarding an anticipated rendezvous between her and Stonewall at Belle Ile, Quiberon Bay, France. The City of Richmond carried officers and men as well as supplies for the ironclad. It was hoped that Stonewall could break the blockade off Wilmington and then attack New England shipping.
The USS Valley City, Acting Master John A. J. Brooks in charge, seized the steamer Philadelphia in the Chowan River, North Carolina, with a cargo including tobacco and cotton.
President Abraham Lincoln wrote to General Hiram U. Grant requesting a staff position for his son Robert, if available, as a personal favor: "My son...having graduated from Harvard, wishes to see something of the War before it ends. I do not wish to put him in the ranks, nor yet to give him a commission...Could he...go into your military family with some nominal rank, I, and not the public, furnishing his necessary means?..." Grant soon appointed Robert captain and assistant adjutant-general, mainly escorting visitors to and from Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia.
The debate continued in a heated fashion over the abolition of slavery and proposed Thirteenth Amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives. John A. Kasson of Iowa said: "...you will never, never, have reliable peace in this country while that institution (slavery) exists, the perpetual occasion of moral, intellectual, and physical warfare." Fernando Wood of New York replied: "The Almighty has fixed the distinction of the races; the Almighty has made the black man inferior, and sir, by no legislation, by no partisan success, by no revolution, by no military power, can you wipe out this distinction. You may make the black man free, but when you have done that what have you done?"
A skirmish broke out with partisan guerrillas near Glasgow, Missouri, as the Yankees divy up the spoils from one dead guerrilla which included a belt and 6 revolvers, 4 purses containing $ 72.25, pocketknives, 1 pocket compass, 1 gold pen and silver holder, and the likenesses of 2 young ladies, in addition to his hat and boots.
The only major operation under way, the second expedition to Fort Fisher, was held up by raging seas and stormy weather off Beaufort, North Carolina.
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch wrote Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he had obtained one of the French ironclads which Louis Napoleon, unwilling to provoke the United States government, had previously refused to release to the South. The ironclad had been sold to Denmark for the Schleswig-Holstein War, but when that conflict ended abruptly before the ship could be delivered, the Danes refused to accept her, and she was sold secretly to the Confederacy. Captain Thomas Jefferson Page took command of her in Copenhagen. "I have requested Captain Page..." Bulloch wrote "...to name the ironclad Stonewall, an appellation not inconsistent with her character, and one which will appeal to the feelings and sympathies of our people at home." Stonewall, with a temporary crew and under another name (Sphinx) to divert suspicion as to her real ownership, had departed Copenhagen on 7 January.
Bulloch also wrote Commander Hunter Davidson, one of the South's ablest naval officers who had directed the Torpedo Service and was now captain of the blockade runner City of Richmond, regarding an anticipated rendezvous between her and Stonewall at Belle Ile, Quiberon Bay, France. The City of Richmond carried officers and men as well as supplies for the ironclad. It was hoped that Stonewall could break the blockade off Wilmington and then attack New England shipping.
The USS Valley City, Acting Master John A. J. Brooks in charge, seized the steamer Philadelphia in the Chowan River, North Carolina, with a cargo including tobacco and cotton.
President Abraham Lincoln wrote to General Hiram U. Grant requesting a staff position for his son Robert, if available, as a personal favor: "My son...having graduated from Harvard, wishes to see something of the War before it ends. I do not wish to put him in the ranks, nor yet to give him a commission...Could he...go into your military family with some nominal rank, I, and not the public, furnishing his necessary means?..." Grant soon appointed Robert captain and assistant adjutant-general, mainly escorting visitors to and from Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia.
Posted on 1/10/15 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 11 January 1865
Delegates to the Missouri constitutional convention approved an ordinance immediately abolishing slavery, 62 to 4. Governor Thomas Fletcher approved the measure the same day.
Major General Thomas Lafayette Rosser led about 300 Confederates across the Alleghenies into West Virginia and attacked Federals guarding supplies at Beverly. The Confederates inflicted 28 casualties while capturing over 580 prisoners and many much-needed supplies. Union officials considered this a disaster due to the lack of vigilance and discipline, ultimately resulting in the dismissal of two lieutenant colonels from the service.
President Jefferson Davis continued trying to build up an army to oppose Major General William T. Sherman. He planned to bring the remnants of the Army of Tennessee to the east coast, and to gather all available reserves, militia, and recruits.
United States statesman Francis P. Blair, Sr. arrived in Richmond as an unofficial envoy to discuss a possible peace settlement with Confederate officials.
Federal expeditions began from Helena, and Fort Wingate in the New Mexico Territory.
The expedition moved from Helena, Arkansas, aboard the steamer USS Dove up the Mississippi River to Harbert's Plantation, Mississippi, where the 60th US Colored Infantry surround Mr. Harbert and find him asleep out in his corncrib. Mr. Harbert is in trouble as he is a Negro enlisted Union soldier who decided he had enough of the War and deserted back to his plantation-farm.
Union soldiers scout against Navajo Indians from Fort Wingate to Sierra Del Datil and vicinity, in the New Mexico Territory. The Yankees find no Indians in the area.
A skirmish broke out with partisan guerrillas near Lexington, Missouri, as the outnumbered bushwackers flee towards Greenton.
Major General Major General George G. Meade, USA, resumed command of the Army of the Potomac, in the Richmond, Virginia, Campaign.
Federals scout from New Creek through Greenland Gap, and then through Petersburg to Franklin, West Virginia, for the purpose of surprising any Confederates in the area, which meets with little success.
Delegates to the Missouri constitutional convention approved an ordinance immediately abolishing slavery, 62 to 4. Governor Thomas Fletcher approved the measure the same day.
Major General Thomas Lafayette Rosser led about 300 Confederates across the Alleghenies into West Virginia and attacked Federals guarding supplies at Beverly. The Confederates inflicted 28 casualties while capturing over 580 prisoners and many much-needed supplies. Union officials considered this a disaster due to the lack of vigilance and discipline, ultimately resulting in the dismissal of two lieutenant colonels from the service.
President Jefferson Davis continued trying to build up an army to oppose Major General William T. Sherman. He planned to bring the remnants of the Army of Tennessee to the east coast, and to gather all available reserves, militia, and recruits.
United States statesman Francis P. Blair, Sr. arrived in Richmond as an unofficial envoy to discuss a possible peace settlement with Confederate officials.
Federal expeditions began from Helena, and Fort Wingate in the New Mexico Territory.
The expedition moved from Helena, Arkansas, aboard the steamer USS Dove up the Mississippi River to Harbert's Plantation, Mississippi, where the 60th US Colored Infantry surround Mr. Harbert and find him asleep out in his corncrib. Mr. Harbert is in trouble as he is a Negro enlisted Union soldier who decided he had enough of the War and deserted back to his plantation-farm.
Union soldiers scout against Navajo Indians from Fort Wingate to Sierra Del Datil and vicinity, in the New Mexico Territory. The Yankees find no Indians in the area.
A skirmish broke out with partisan guerrillas near Lexington, Missouri, as the outnumbered bushwackers flee towards Greenton.
Major General Major General George G. Meade, USA, resumed command of the Army of the Potomac, in the Richmond, Virginia, Campaign.
Federals scout from New Creek through Greenland Gap, and then through Petersburg to Franklin, West Virginia, for the purpose of surprising any Confederates in the area, which meets with little success.
Posted on 1/11/15 at 8:52 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 12 January 1865
"The great armada..." as Colonel William Lamb described Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's fleet, got underway from Beaufort, North Carolina, where a rendezvous had been made with 8,000 Union troops under the command of Major General Alfred Howe Terry. The fleet, up to that time the largest American force to be assembled under one command, proceeded along the Carolina coast northeast of Wilmington and arrived off Fort Fisher the same night. Preparations were made for commencing a naval bombardment the following morning and for the amphibious landing of 10,000 soldiers, sailors, and Marines.
The new and formidable Confederate ram Columbia, now ready for service, grounded while coming out of her dock at Charleston. Extensive efforts to refloat her failed and she was abandoned when Charleston was evacuated in mid-February. The Columbia was saved by Union forces after much effort and was floated on 26 April. Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren described the ram: "...she is 209 feet long (extreme), beam 49 feet, has a casemate 65 feet long, pierced for six guns, one on each side and one at each of the four corners, pivots to point ahead or astern and to the side. She has two engines, high pressure, and [is] plated on the casemates with 6 inches of iron in thickness, quite equal, it is believed, to the best of the kind built by the Rebels."
James M. Mason, Confederate Commissioner in England, reported to Secretary of Stare Judah P. Benjamin, that France had proposed to Great Britain that each power permit Confederate prizes, having cargo in whole or in part claimed by English or French citizens, to be taken for adjudication into the ports of either nation.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
John Grant Mitchell, John Morrison Oliver, Benjamin Franklin Potts, James Sidney Robinson, and Robert Kingston Scott.
An affair takes place near Sugar Loaf Prairie, Arkansas, where the notorious guerrilla, Cook, is smoked out of his hole up in a cave by the Yankees, and he won't live to see tomorrow. Some of his band join him, while the remainder are captured.
A Federal expedition travels from Morganza, Louisiana, and skirmishes with a few Confederates who the Yankees happen upon. The Yankees also seize Confederate supplies. The Confederacy is little more than an empty shell by now in this area.
Federals scout against partisan guerrillas from Camp Grover to Texas Prairie, Missouri, with limited success.
Federals scout from Warrensburg to Miami, Missouri, as the Yankees search for reported bushwackers proves futile.
The State of North Carolina is merged into the Department of the South.
Union Major General John G. Parke resumes command of the Ninth US Army Corps, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Francis Preston Blair Sr., the aging Democrat political leader, conferred with Confederate President Jefferson Davis on prospects of possible peace. Though he was acting unofficially, it is presumed that Blair had the backing of President Abraham Lincoln. The Confederate president gave Blair a letter indicating Davis’s willingness to enter into peace negotiations.
"The great armada..." as Colonel William Lamb described Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's fleet, got underway from Beaufort, North Carolina, where a rendezvous had been made with 8,000 Union troops under the command of Major General Alfred Howe Terry. The fleet, up to that time the largest American force to be assembled under one command, proceeded along the Carolina coast northeast of Wilmington and arrived off Fort Fisher the same night. Preparations were made for commencing a naval bombardment the following morning and for the amphibious landing of 10,000 soldiers, sailors, and Marines.
The new and formidable Confederate ram Columbia, now ready for service, grounded while coming out of her dock at Charleston. Extensive efforts to refloat her failed and she was abandoned when Charleston was evacuated in mid-February. The Columbia was saved by Union forces after much effort and was floated on 26 April. Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren described the ram: "...she is 209 feet long (extreme), beam 49 feet, has a casemate 65 feet long, pierced for six guns, one on each side and one at each of the four corners, pivots to point ahead or astern and to the side. She has two engines, high pressure, and [is] plated on the casemates with 6 inches of iron in thickness, quite equal, it is believed, to the best of the kind built by the Rebels."
James M. Mason, Confederate Commissioner in England, reported to Secretary of Stare Judah P. Benjamin, that France had proposed to Great Britain that each power permit Confederate prizes, having cargo in whole or in part claimed by English or French citizens, to be taken for adjudication into the ports of either nation.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
John Grant Mitchell, John Morrison Oliver, Benjamin Franklin Potts, James Sidney Robinson, and Robert Kingston Scott.
An affair takes place near Sugar Loaf Prairie, Arkansas, where the notorious guerrilla, Cook, is smoked out of his hole up in a cave by the Yankees, and he won't live to see tomorrow. Some of his band join him, while the remainder are captured.
A Federal expedition travels from Morganza, Louisiana, and skirmishes with a few Confederates who the Yankees happen upon. The Yankees also seize Confederate supplies. The Confederacy is little more than an empty shell by now in this area.
Federals scout against partisan guerrillas from Camp Grover to Texas Prairie, Missouri, with limited success.
Federals scout from Warrensburg to Miami, Missouri, as the Yankees search for reported bushwackers proves futile.
The State of North Carolina is merged into the Department of the South.
Union Major General John G. Parke resumes command of the Ninth US Army Corps, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Francis Preston Blair Sr., the aging Democrat political leader, conferred with Confederate President Jefferson Davis on prospects of possible peace. Though he was acting unofficially, it is presumed that Blair had the backing of President Abraham Lincoln. The Confederate president gave Blair a letter indicating Davis’s willingness to enter into peace negotiations.
This post was edited on 1/12/15 at 3:45 am
Posted on 1/12/15 at 8:23 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 13 January 1865
Early this morning, the second amphibious assault on Fort Fisher was begun. Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter took some 59 warships into action; Major General Alfred Howe Terry commanded over 8,000 soldiers. The naval landing party of 2,000 sailors and Marines would raise the assaulting force to well over 10,000 troops. Colonel Lamb's valiant defenders in the fort numbered fewer than 1,500 men.
The USS New Ironsides, Commodore William Radford in charge, led the monitors Saugus, Canonicus, Monadnock, and Mahopac to within 1000 yards of Fort Fisher and opened on the batteries. A spirited engagement ensued. Porter wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles: "It was soon quite apparent that the iron vessels had the best of it; traverses began to disappear and the southern angle of Fort Fisher commenced to look very dilapidated." The USS Brooklyn, under Captain Alden, and the USS Colorado, Commodore Thatcher in charge, led the heavy wooden warships into battle and the Federal fleet maintained a devastating bombardment throughout the day until after dark. In the meantime, General Terry selected a beachhead out of the fort's gun range and made naturally defensible on the northern side by a line of swamps and woods extending across the peninsula where he landed his 8000 troops unopposed. By daybreak on the 14th, he had thrown up a line of defensive breastworks facing Wilmington in order to protect his rear from possible attack by the 6000 troops stationed in that city under the command of General Bragg.
Second account: Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter’s Union naval fleet with 627 guns on 59 vessels began bombarding Fort Fisher, North Carolina, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. This became the largest bombardment in naval history, as those 627 guns fired nearly 20,000 rounds. With small boats from the Navy, approximately 8,000 Federal troops under Major General Alfred Howe Terry’s command were put ashore on the narrow north-south peninsula above the fort. There was no Confederate opposition to the landing. Colonel William Lamb, commanding the fort’s garrison, called upon General Braxton Bragg and his 6,000 troops between Wilmington and the fort, to attack the landing party. Fort Fisher was now isolated except by boat on the Cape Fear River side.
As the Federals prepared to advance south, Confederate General Whiting arrived at Fisher to inform the commander, “Lamb, my boy, I have come to share your fate. You and your garrison are to be sacrificed.” When Lamb disagreed, Whiting told him that Bragg was sending no reinforcements.
Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, the flamboyant commander of the Army of Tennessee, resigned his post in Tupelo, Mississippi. Lieutenant General Richard Taylor--the son of Zachary Taylor, a former general in the United States Army and later President of the United States--was named his successor who would operate under the supervision of General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.
Second account: Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, commanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee, wired Secretary of War James Seddon, “I respectfully request to be relieved from command of this army.” Hood had originally been given the command to stop William T. Sherman’s Federal advance into Georgia, but Hood had shattered his own army in several major defeats. President Jefferson Davis accepted Hood’s resignation and replaced him with Richard Taylor. The Army of Tennessee had dwindled to about 17,000 men after the recent military disasters at Franklin and Nashville in Tennessee.
James Alexander Williams, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Lieutenant Commander Stephen B. Luce, of the USS Pontiac, was ordered to report for duty with General William T. Sherman. The Pontiac steamed 40 miles up the Savannah River to protect the left wing of Sherman's army which was crossing the river at Sisters Ferry, in Effingham County, Georgia, and cover its initial movements by water on the March north that would soon cause the fall of Charleston. Luce later credited his meeting with Sherman as the beginning of his thinking which eventually resulted in the founding of the Naval War College. He said: "After hearing General Sherman's clear exposition of the military situation, the scales seemed to fall from my eyes. It dawned on me that there were certain fundamental principles underlying military operations...principles of general application whether the operations were on land or at sea."
Early this morning, the second amphibious assault on Fort Fisher was begun. Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter took some 59 warships into action; Major General Alfred Howe Terry commanded over 8,000 soldiers. The naval landing party of 2,000 sailors and Marines would raise the assaulting force to well over 10,000 troops. Colonel Lamb's valiant defenders in the fort numbered fewer than 1,500 men.
The USS New Ironsides, Commodore William Radford in charge, led the monitors Saugus, Canonicus, Monadnock, and Mahopac to within 1000 yards of Fort Fisher and opened on the batteries. A spirited engagement ensued. Porter wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles: "It was soon quite apparent that the iron vessels had the best of it; traverses began to disappear and the southern angle of Fort Fisher commenced to look very dilapidated." The USS Brooklyn, under Captain Alden, and the USS Colorado, Commodore Thatcher in charge, led the heavy wooden warships into battle and the Federal fleet maintained a devastating bombardment throughout the day until after dark. In the meantime, General Terry selected a beachhead out of the fort's gun range and made naturally defensible on the northern side by a line of swamps and woods extending across the peninsula where he landed his 8000 troops unopposed. By daybreak on the 14th, he had thrown up a line of defensive breastworks facing Wilmington in order to protect his rear from possible attack by the 6000 troops stationed in that city under the command of General Bragg.
Second account: Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter’s Union naval fleet with 627 guns on 59 vessels began bombarding Fort Fisher, North Carolina, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. This became the largest bombardment in naval history, as those 627 guns fired nearly 20,000 rounds. With small boats from the Navy, approximately 8,000 Federal troops under Major General Alfred Howe Terry’s command were put ashore on the narrow north-south peninsula above the fort. There was no Confederate opposition to the landing. Colonel William Lamb, commanding the fort’s garrison, called upon General Braxton Bragg and his 6,000 troops between Wilmington and the fort, to attack the landing party. Fort Fisher was now isolated except by boat on the Cape Fear River side.
As the Federals prepared to advance south, Confederate General Whiting arrived at Fisher to inform the commander, “Lamb, my boy, I have come to share your fate. You and your garrison are to be sacrificed.” When Lamb disagreed, Whiting told him that Bragg was sending no reinforcements.
Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, the flamboyant commander of the Army of Tennessee, resigned his post in Tupelo, Mississippi. Lieutenant General Richard Taylor--the son of Zachary Taylor, a former general in the United States Army and later President of the United States--was named his successor who would operate under the supervision of General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.
Second account: Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, commanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee, wired Secretary of War James Seddon, “I respectfully request to be relieved from command of this army.” Hood had originally been given the command to stop William T. Sherman’s Federal advance into Georgia, but Hood had shattered his own army in several major defeats. President Jefferson Davis accepted Hood’s resignation and replaced him with Richard Taylor. The Army of Tennessee had dwindled to about 17,000 men after the recent military disasters at Franklin and Nashville in Tennessee.
James Alexander Williams, USA, is appointed Brigadier General.
Lieutenant Commander Stephen B. Luce, of the USS Pontiac, was ordered to report for duty with General William T. Sherman. The Pontiac steamed 40 miles up the Savannah River to protect the left wing of Sherman's army which was crossing the river at Sisters Ferry, in Effingham County, Georgia, and cover its initial movements by water on the March north that would soon cause the fall of Charleston. Luce later credited his meeting with Sherman as the beginning of his thinking which eventually resulted in the founding of the Naval War College. He said: "After hearing General Sherman's clear exposition of the military situation, the scales seemed to fall from my eyes. It dawned on me that there were certain fundamental principles underlying military operations...principles of general application whether the operations were on land or at sea."
Posted on 1/13/15 at 8:55 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 14 January 1865
Major General Alfred Howe Terry’s Union expeditionary force secured its position on the sandy peninsula north of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and completed its defensive line to hold off General Braxton Bragg’s Confederates. The fire of the Federal fleet, monitors and wooden ships was termed “magnificent” for its power and accuracy, while the Confederates inside the fort were unable to repair continuing damage to the fortification. Confederate Colonel William Lamb and Major General William H.C. Whiting, who was with Lamb in the fort, continued their futile calls to Bragg for assistance.
Second report: The naval bombardment of Fort Fisher resumed at dawn, as Alfred Terry’s Federals secured their positions on the peninsula north of Fisher and completed defenses south of Braxton Bragg’s Confederates. Confederate casualties in the fort reached 200 by day’s end, with the rest huddling in bombproofs. W.H.C. Whiting and William Lamb increased calls for Bragg to help and bitterly denounced Bragg’s failure to attack the Federals.
Some of Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s forces moved out to a new position from Beaufort to Pocotaligo, South Carolina, and skirmishes occurred.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard temporarily assumes command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, at Tupelo, Mississippi, while waiting for Lieutenant General Richard Taylor to arrive.
Federals operated against Native Americans in the Colorado Territory and operations commenced on the Overland Stage Coach Road between Julesburg and Denver, in the Colorado Territory, and several skirmishes with Indians were reported. The Beaver Creek Stage Coach Station, 82 miles west of Denver, was found burned.
Action took place at Godfrey's Ranch, 70 miles west of Denver, where 4 white-men succeed in driving the Indians off and at Lillian Springs Ranch, 33 miles west of Denver, where 3 white-men fought off a reported 500 Indians and escaped. The ranch is burned.
Fighting broke out near Moore's Ranch, or Washington Ranch, 50 miles west of Denver, where several white-men were able to drive the Indians off.
A skirmish at Morrison's or the American Ranch, 68 miles west of Denver, took place where Indians attacked, captured, and burned the ranch. A passing train found 3 Indians and 7 white bodies in the ruins partly burned. Mr. Morrison, his wife, and child are missing. Also at Wisconsin Ranch, 56 miles west of Denver, where a few ranchers hold off and kill 3 Indians, managing to escape; the ranch is burned by the rest of the natives.
A battle occurred near Valley Station, 53 miles west of Denver, where the Federal troops were present and killed 13 Indians after they were able to burn 100 tons of hay.
Actions developed at Antelope Stage Coach Station, 15 miles, Buffalo Ranch Springs, 18 miles, Harlow's Ranch, 22 miles, and at Spring Hill Stage Coach Station, 27 miles west of Denver; all were burned. All cattle between Julesburg and the Wisconsin Ranch, about 1,500 head, were driven off and taken by the Indians.
The blockade runner Lelia foundered off the mouth of the Mersey River, England. Flag Officer Samuel Barron wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory from Paris: "The melancholy duty devolves on me of reporting the death on the 14th instant, by drowning of Commander Arthur Sinclair, C. S. Navy, and Gunner P. C. Cuddy, late of the Alabama." Commander Hunter Davidson, learning of the accident while in Funchal, Madeira, early in February, commented: "What an awful thing the loss of the Lelia. To death in battle we become reconciled, for it is not unexpected and leave its reward; but such a death for poor Sinclair, after forty-two years' service...!"
The USS Seminole, under Commander Albert G. Clary, captured the schooner Josephine bound from Galveston to Matamoras with a cargo of cotton.
Major General Alfred Howe Terry’s Union expeditionary force secured its position on the sandy peninsula north of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and completed its defensive line to hold off General Braxton Bragg’s Confederates. The fire of the Federal fleet, monitors and wooden ships was termed “magnificent” for its power and accuracy, while the Confederates inside the fort were unable to repair continuing damage to the fortification. Confederate Colonel William Lamb and Major General William H.C. Whiting, who was with Lamb in the fort, continued their futile calls to Bragg for assistance.
Second report: The naval bombardment of Fort Fisher resumed at dawn, as Alfred Terry’s Federals secured their positions on the peninsula north of Fisher and completed defenses south of Braxton Bragg’s Confederates. Confederate casualties in the fort reached 200 by day’s end, with the rest huddling in bombproofs. W.H.C. Whiting and William Lamb increased calls for Bragg to help and bitterly denounced Bragg’s failure to attack the Federals.
Some of Federal Major General William T. Sherman’s forces moved out to a new position from Beaufort to Pocotaligo, South Carolina, and skirmishes occurred.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard temporarily assumes command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, at Tupelo, Mississippi, while waiting for Lieutenant General Richard Taylor to arrive.
Federals operated against Native Americans in the Colorado Territory and operations commenced on the Overland Stage Coach Road between Julesburg and Denver, in the Colorado Territory, and several skirmishes with Indians were reported. The Beaver Creek Stage Coach Station, 82 miles west of Denver, was found burned.
Action took place at Godfrey's Ranch, 70 miles west of Denver, where 4 white-men succeed in driving the Indians off and at Lillian Springs Ranch, 33 miles west of Denver, where 3 white-men fought off a reported 500 Indians and escaped. The ranch is burned.
Fighting broke out near Moore's Ranch, or Washington Ranch, 50 miles west of Denver, where several white-men were able to drive the Indians off.
A skirmish at Morrison's or the American Ranch, 68 miles west of Denver, took place where Indians attacked, captured, and burned the ranch. A passing train found 3 Indians and 7 white bodies in the ruins partly burned. Mr. Morrison, his wife, and child are missing. Also at Wisconsin Ranch, 56 miles west of Denver, where a few ranchers hold off and kill 3 Indians, managing to escape; the ranch is burned by the rest of the natives.
A battle occurred near Valley Station, 53 miles west of Denver, where the Federal troops were present and killed 13 Indians after they were able to burn 100 tons of hay.
Actions developed at Antelope Stage Coach Station, 15 miles, Buffalo Ranch Springs, 18 miles, Harlow's Ranch, 22 miles, and at Spring Hill Stage Coach Station, 27 miles west of Denver; all were burned. All cattle between Julesburg and the Wisconsin Ranch, about 1,500 head, were driven off and taken by the Indians.
The blockade runner Lelia foundered off the mouth of the Mersey River, England. Flag Officer Samuel Barron wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory from Paris: "The melancholy duty devolves on me of reporting the death on the 14th instant, by drowning of Commander Arthur Sinclair, C. S. Navy, and Gunner P. C. Cuddy, late of the Alabama." Commander Hunter Davidson, learning of the accident while in Funchal, Madeira, early in February, commented: "What an awful thing the loss of the Lelia. To death in battle we become reconciled, for it is not unexpected and leave its reward; but such a death for poor Sinclair, after forty-two years' service...!"
The USS Seminole, under Commander Albert G. Clary, captured the schooner Josephine bound from Galveston to Matamoras with a cargo of cotton.
Posted on 1/14/15 at 9:15 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 15 January 1865
On this day in 1865, Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to Union forces and Wilmington, North Carolina, the Confederacy's most important blockade-running port, is closed.
When President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of Southern ports in 1861, Confederate engineers began construction on a fortress at the mouth of New Inlet, which provided access to Wilmington. Fort Fisher was constructed of timber and sand, and posed a formidable challenge for the Yankees. The walls were more than 20 feet high and bristled with large cannon. Land mines and palisades made from sharpened logs created even more obstacles for potential attackers.
Union leadership did not make Fort Fisher a high priority until the last year of the War. After the Federals closed Mobile Bay in August 1864, attention turned to shutting down Wilmington. Union ships moved into place in December 1864 and began a massive bombardment on Christmas Eve. The next day, a small force failed to capture the fort, but the attempt was renewed in January. On January 13, a three-day bombardment began. On the third day, some 9,000 Yankee infantry commanded by General Alfred Terry hit the beach and attacked Fort Fisher. The Confederates could not repulse the attack.
The damage was heavy on both sides: the Union suffered more than 900 Army casualties and 380 Navy casualties, and the Confederates suffered 500 killed or wounded and over 1,000 captured. After the loss of this last major Confederate port, it was only three months before the War concluded.
Second report: After two-days of heavy naval bombardment, the Federal forces attempted a two-pronged assault of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. A naval and Marine Corps brigade of about 2,000 moved forward on the ocean side of the narrow peninsula, but met the full force of the defenders infantry and three remaining movable guns. They fell back in panic and defeat. However, on the Cape Fear River, 3,300 men of Brigadier General Adelbert Ames division rushed forward with more success. After being held up by the strong traverses constructed by the Confederates, they managed to get through. By late evening, the had the entire fort and its garrison of approximately 1,900 Confederates in their possession, including Colonel William Lamb and Major General William H.C. Whiting, who were both wounded. Confederate casualties are estimated around 500 while the Federal losses amounted to 266 killed, 1018 wounded and 57 missing for an aggregate total of 1,341. The Southern officers at the fort violently assailed General Braxton Bragg for failing to relieve the pressure, but Bragg claimed the Federal defensive line was too strong.
Another report: General Alfred Terry launched a two-pronged Federal assault on the eastern and western sides of Fort Fisher. When Federals captured the western parapets, surrender was inevitable. Fort Fisher fell by nightfall, with Federals suffering 1,341 casualties while Confederates lost some 500, mostly taken prisoner (including both W.H.C. Whiting and William Lamb).
General Braxton Bragg wired General Robert E. Lee: "I am mortified at having to report the unexpected capture of Fort Fisher, with most of its garrison, at about 10 o’clock tonight. Particulars not known." Bragg countered charges of failing to attack by arguing the Federal defenses on the peninsula were too strong.
The Federal capture of Fort Fisher closed the Confederacy’s last major seaport. This prevented the South from trading cotton for badly needed food and supplies. The loss also shattered southern morale. Vice President Alexander Stephens wrote: "The fall of this Fort was one of the greatest disasters which had befallen our cause from the beginning of the War–not excepting the loss of Vicksburg and Atlanta..."
President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Major General Grenville Dodge, commanding the Department of Missouri, expressing concern about "...so much irregular violence in northern Missouri as to be driving away the people and almost depopulating it." Lincoln asked Dodge to appeal to the people to "...let one another alone."
In Boston, Massachusetts, Edward Everett--the famous statesman and orator who in November 1863 gave the keynote address as the main speaker at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, alongside President Abraham Lincoln--died at the age of seventy-one. Everett had also been a vice presidential candidate in the 1860 election.
President Jefferson Davis wrote to Major General General William Joseph Hardee in South Carolina: "I hope you will be able to check the advance of the enemy..." and added that he was seeking all possible reinforcements to oppose William T. Sherman. Davis wrote to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown once again requesting troops.
Union General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant issued orders detaching Major General John A. Schofield’s Corps from Major General George H. Thomas’s army at Nashville and hurried northeast for an attack on Wilmington, the port city no longer guarded by Fort Fisher. Schofield would then move into inland North Carolina and join forces with William T. Sherman at Goldsboro. The combined force would then advance northward into Virginia.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard reached Tupelo and found the Confederate Army of Tennessee in deplorable condition. Secretary of War John Seddon responded to Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s request to be removed as army commander two days ago: "Your request is complied with...Report to the War Department in Richmond."
At the request of Major General William T. Sherman, Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, issued orders to prepare for a combined naval and military demonstration before Charleston in order to draw attention from General Sherman's march to the north. Before making the demonstration, it was necessary to locate and mark the numerous obstructions in the channel of Charleston Harbor. Accordingly, this date orders were issued charging the commanders of the monitors with this duty. That evening, while searching for the Confederate obstructions, the USS Patapsco, Lieutenant Commander Stephen P. Quackenbush in charge, struck a torpedo (mine) near the entrance of the lower harbor and sank instantly with the loss of 64 officers and men, more than half her crew. She was the fourth monitor lost in the war, the second due to enemy torpedoes. Thereafter, only small boats and tugs were used in the search for obstructions and the objective of the joint expedition was changed to Bull's Bay, a few miles northeast of Charleston.
On this day in 1865, Fort Fisher in North Carolina falls to Union forces and Wilmington, North Carolina, the Confederacy's most important blockade-running port, is closed.
When President Abraham Lincoln declared a blockade of Southern ports in 1861, Confederate engineers began construction on a fortress at the mouth of New Inlet, which provided access to Wilmington. Fort Fisher was constructed of timber and sand, and posed a formidable challenge for the Yankees. The walls were more than 20 feet high and bristled with large cannon. Land mines and palisades made from sharpened logs created even more obstacles for potential attackers.
Union leadership did not make Fort Fisher a high priority until the last year of the War. After the Federals closed Mobile Bay in August 1864, attention turned to shutting down Wilmington. Union ships moved into place in December 1864 and began a massive bombardment on Christmas Eve. The next day, a small force failed to capture the fort, but the attempt was renewed in January. On January 13, a three-day bombardment began. On the third day, some 9,000 Yankee infantry commanded by General Alfred Terry hit the beach and attacked Fort Fisher. The Confederates could not repulse the attack.
The damage was heavy on both sides: the Union suffered more than 900 Army casualties and 380 Navy casualties, and the Confederates suffered 500 killed or wounded and over 1,000 captured. After the loss of this last major Confederate port, it was only three months before the War concluded.
Second report: After two-days of heavy naval bombardment, the Federal forces attempted a two-pronged assault of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. A naval and Marine Corps brigade of about 2,000 moved forward on the ocean side of the narrow peninsula, but met the full force of the defenders infantry and three remaining movable guns. They fell back in panic and defeat. However, on the Cape Fear River, 3,300 men of Brigadier General Adelbert Ames division rushed forward with more success. After being held up by the strong traverses constructed by the Confederates, they managed to get through. By late evening, the had the entire fort and its garrison of approximately 1,900 Confederates in their possession, including Colonel William Lamb and Major General William H.C. Whiting, who were both wounded. Confederate casualties are estimated around 500 while the Federal losses amounted to 266 killed, 1018 wounded and 57 missing for an aggregate total of 1,341. The Southern officers at the fort violently assailed General Braxton Bragg for failing to relieve the pressure, but Bragg claimed the Federal defensive line was too strong.
Another report: General Alfred Terry launched a two-pronged Federal assault on the eastern and western sides of Fort Fisher. When Federals captured the western parapets, surrender was inevitable. Fort Fisher fell by nightfall, with Federals suffering 1,341 casualties while Confederates lost some 500, mostly taken prisoner (including both W.H.C. Whiting and William Lamb).
General Braxton Bragg wired General Robert E. Lee: "I am mortified at having to report the unexpected capture of Fort Fisher, with most of its garrison, at about 10 o’clock tonight. Particulars not known." Bragg countered charges of failing to attack by arguing the Federal defenses on the peninsula were too strong.
The Federal capture of Fort Fisher closed the Confederacy’s last major seaport. This prevented the South from trading cotton for badly needed food and supplies. The loss also shattered southern morale. Vice President Alexander Stephens wrote: "The fall of this Fort was one of the greatest disasters which had befallen our cause from the beginning of the War–not excepting the loss of Vicksburg and Atlanta..."
President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Major General Grenville Dodge, commanding the Department of Missouri, expressing concern about "...so much irregular violence in northern Missouri as to be driving away the people and almost depopulating it." Lincoln asked Dodge to appeal to the people to "...let one another alone."
In Boston, Massachusetts, Edward Everett--the famous statesman and orator who in November 1863 gave the keynote address as the main speaker at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, alongside President Abraham Lincoln--died at the age of seventy-one. Everett had also been a vice presidential candidate in the 1860 election.
President Jefferson Davis wrote to Major General General William Joseph Hardee in South Carolina: "I hope you will be able to check the advance of the enemy..." and added that he was seeking all possible reinforcements to oppose William T. Sherman. Davis wrote to Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown once again requesting troops.
Union General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant issued orders detaching Major General John A. Schofield’s Corps from Major General George H. Thomas’s army at Nashville and hurried northeast for an attack on Wilmington, the port city no longer guarded by Fort Fisher. Schofield would then move into inland North Carolina and join forces with William T. Sherman at Goldsboro. The combined force would then advance northward into Virginia.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard reached Tupelo and found the Confederate Army of Tennessee in deplorable condition. Secretary of War John Seddon responded to Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s request to be removed as army commander two days ago: "Your request is complied with...Report to the War Department in Richmond."
At the request of Major General William T. Sherman, Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren, commanding the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, issued orders to prepare for a combined naval and military demonstration before Charleston in order to draw attention from General Sherman's march to the north. Before making the demonstration, it was necessary to locate and mark the numerous obstructions in the channel of Charleston Harbor. Accordingly, this date orders were issued charging the commanders of the monitors with this duty. That evening, while searching for the Confederate obstructions, the USS Patapsco, Lieutenant Commander Stephen P. Quackenbush in charge, struck a torpedo (mine) near the entrance of the lower harbor and sank instantly with the loss of 64 officers and men, more than half her crew. She was the fourth monitor lost in the war, the second due to enemy torpedoes. Thereafter, only small boats and tugs were used in the search for obstructions and the objective of the joint expedition was changed to Bull's Bay, a few miles northeast of Charleston.
Posted on 1/15/15 at 9:24 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 16 January 1865
At Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in the wake of the Union attack, the main magazine accidentally explodes killing 25, wounding 66 and leaving 13 missing for 104 Federal casualties. Rumor has it a some drunken Union soldiers and/or sailors may have unknowingly set off the explosion.
Union statesman Francis P. Blair, Sr. returned to Washington to report the results of his 12 January discussion with President Jefferson Davis. He submitted a lengthy report on his plan for joining forces to conquer Mexico. President Abraham Lincoln took the matter under advisement.
Davis, informed of the fall of Fort Fisher, urged General Braxton Bragg at Wilmington, North Carolina, to retake the fort if it was possible. Outnumbered Confederates in the region soon abandoned nearby Fort Caswell, which is blown up and the defensive works at Smithville, and Reaves Point, all in North Carolina, are abandoned by the Confederate forces to advancing Federals.
Second report: With Fort Fisher lost and foreseeing that the Union fleet's entrance into the Cape Fear River would cut the waterborne communications system, General Braxton Bragg ordered the evacuation of the remaining Confederate positions at the mouth of the river. At 7 a.m. Forts Caswell and Campbell were abandoned and destroyed. Fort Holmes on Smith's Island and Fort Johnson at Smithville were likewise destroyed by the retreating garrisons, which fell back on Fort Anderson, on the west bank of the Cape Fear River between Fort Fisher and Wilmington. "The Yankees," wrote one Confederate, not perceiving the full import of the fateful results, "have made a barren capture..." In fact, however, Wilmington, the last major port open to blockade runners, was now effectively sealed and General Robert E. Lee was cut off from his only remaining supply line from Europe. Rear Admiral David D. Porter recognized the implications of the Union victory more clearly. He wrote Captain Godon: "...the death knell of another fort is booming in the distance. Fort Caswell with its powerful batteries is in flames and being blown up, and thus is sealed the door through which this rebellion is fed."
The Confederate Senate passed a resolution, by a vote of 14 to 2, that it was the judgment of Congress that approved appointing General Robert Edward Lee as General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies, 14 to 2. The bill included assigning General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard command of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and assigning General Joseph Eggleston Johnston command of the Department of Tennessee. It also suggested that Johnston should be re-assigned to his old command, the Army of Tennessee. Many in the South had long favored such a move, but President Davis disliked Johnston and resisted approving his reinstatement.
Alfred Howe Terry, U.S.A., is appointed Major General.
A Union expedition travels from Brashear City aboard the Union gunboat, No. 41, and the steamer, Carrie, to Whisky Bayou, Louisiana. The Yankees visit numerous plantations on their excursion, taking everything of value, destroying what they can't take with them.
Federal operations commence about Waynesville, Missouri, including a skirmish with guerrillas near McCourtney's Mills, on Big Piney.
The State of North Carolina is designated as the District of North Carolina in the Department of the South.
Federals scout about Franklin, Tennessee, against partisans, where some are surrounded and murdered at the house of a Mrs. Cherry, who was an eyewitness to the killings.
Seeking to take advantage of the reduced Union naval strength in the James River, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote Flag Officer John K. Mitchell to encourage him to pass the obstructions at Trent's Reach and attack General Grant's base of operations at City Point. "From Lieutenant Read," Mallory noted, "I learn that the hulk which lay across the channel [at Trent's Reach] and the net also have been washed away, and I think it probable that there is a passage through the obstructions. I deem the opportunity a favorable one for striking a blow at the enemy, if we are able to do so.
In a short time many of his vessels will have returned to the river from Wilmington and he will again perfect his obstructions. If we can block the river at or below City Point, Grant might be compelled to evacuate his position." City Point was essential to Grant's anticipated movement on Richmond . The supplies to the Union soldiers on the Petersburg front reached City Point by water, assured of free passage by the Navy, and then were sent to the front by rail. If the North were forced to abandon the base at City Point, it might also have to abandon a spring offensive against the Confederate capital. Mallory added: "I regard an attack upon the enemy and the obstructions of the river at City Point, to cut off Grant's supplies, as a movement of the first importance to the country and one which should be accomplished if possible." Mitchell replied that he was having the obstructions examined to ensure that Read's report was correct. 'should information be obtained that the passage of these obstructions is practicable," the flag officer wrote, "I shall gladly incur all the other hazards that may attend the proposed enterprise that promises, if successful, such bright results to our cause.
The Twenty-Third Army Corps, Major General John M. Schofield, commenced embarking on transports at Clifton, Tennessee. The corps was being ordered by General Grant to move by water and rail to Washington, D.C.– Annapolis area and thence by water south for further operations. These troops assaulted Wilmington and formed a juncture with General Sherman's northward moving army.
William T. Sherman issued Field Order No. 15, empowering Federal authorities to seize abandoned lands on the Sea Islands and inland tracts in Georgia and South Carolina. These lands would then be redistributed to local slaves, with each family receiving “...a plot of not more than 40 acres of tillable ground...” and a mule. Families were also to be given seed and farm equipment. Whites were barred from the region.
Sherman issued the directive at Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton’s insistence, who hoped to stop freed slaves from streaming into the Federal ranks seeking subsistence and protection. Stanton also aimed to soften Sherman’s reputation of hostility toward blacks. Sherman had argued that slaves entering his ranks impeded his military progress. This order prompted blacks to note “the time Tecumsey was here,” referring to Sherman’s middle name of Tecumseh.
At Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in the wake of the Union attack, the main magazine accidentally explodes killing 25, wounding 66 and leaving 13 missing for 104 Federal casualties. Rumor has it a some drunken Union soldiers and/or sailors may have unknowingly set off the explosion.
Union statesman Francis P. Blair, Sr. returned to Washington to report the results of his 12 January discussion with President Jefferson Davis. He submitted a lengthy report on his plan for joining forces to conquer Mexico. President Abraham Lincoln took the matter under advisement.
Davis, informed of the fall of Fort Fisher, urged General Braxton Bragg at Wilmington, North Carolina, to retake the fort if it was possible. Outnumbered Confederates in the region soon abandoned nearby Fort Caswell, which is blown up and the defensive works at Smithville, and Reaves Point, all in North Carolina, are abandoned by the Confederate forces to advancing Federals.
Second report: With Fort Fisher lost and foreseeing that the Union fleet's entrance into the Cape Fear River would cut the waterborne communications system, General Braxton Bragg ordered the evacuation of the remaining Confederate positions at the mouth of the river. At 7 a.m. Forts Caswell and Campbell were abandoned and destroyed. Fort Holmes on Smith's Island and Fort Johnson at Smithville were likewise destroyed by the retreating garrisons, which fell back on Fort Anderson, on the west bank of the Cape Fear River between Fort Fisher and Wilmington. "The Yankees," wrote one Confederate, not perceiving the full import of the fateful results, "have made a barren capture..." In fact, however, Wilmington, the last major port open to blockade runners, was now effectively sealed and General Robert E. Lee was cut off from his only remaining supply line from Europe. Rear Admiral David D. Porter recognized the implications of the Union victory more clearly. He wrote Captain Godon: "...the death knell of another fort is booming in the distance. Fort Caswell with its powerful batteries is in flames and being blown up, and thus is sealed the door through which this rebellion is fed."
The Confederate Senate passed a resolution, by a vote of 14 to 2, that it was the judgment of Congress that approved appointing General Robert Edward Lee as General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies, 14 to 2. The bill included assigning General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard command of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and assigning General Joseph Eggleston Johnston command of the Department of Tennessee. It also suggested that Johnston should be re-assigned to his old command, the Army of Tennessee. Many in the South had long favored such a move, but President Davis disliked Johnston and resisted approving his reinstatement.
Alfred Howe Terry, U.S.A., is appointed Major General.
A Union expedition travels from Brashear City aboard the Union gunboat, No. 41, and the steamer, Carrie, to Whisky Bayou, Louisiana. The Yankees visit numerous plantations on their excursion, taking everything of value, destroying what they can't take with them.
Federal operations commence about Waynesville, Missouri, including a skirmish with guerrillas near McCourtney's Mills, on Big Piney.
The State of North Carolina is designated as the District of North Carolina in the Department of the South.
Federals scout about Franklin, Tennessee, against partisans, where some are surrounded and murdered at the house of a Mrs. Cherry, who was an eyewitness to the killings.
Seeking to take advantage of the reduced Union naval strength in the James River, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote Flag Officer John K. Mitchell to encourage him to pass the obstructions at Trent's Reach and attack General Grant's base of operations at City Point. "From Lieutenant Read," Mallory noted, "I learn that the hulk which lay across the channel [at Trent's Reach] and the net also have been washed away, and I think it probable that there is a passage through the obstructions. I deem the opportunity a favorable one for striking a blow at the enemy, if we are able to do so.
In a short time many of his vessels will have returned to the river from Wilmington and he will again perfect his obstructions. If we can block the river at or below City Point, Grant might be compelled to evacuate his position." City Point was essential to Grant's anticipated movement on Richmond . The supplies to the Union soldiers on the Petersburg front reached City Point by water, assured of free passage by the Navy, and then were sent to the front by rail. If the North were forced to abandon the base at City Point, it might also have to abandon a spring offensive against the Confederate capital. Mallory added: "I regard an attack upon the enemy and the obstructions of the river at City Point, to cut off Grant's supplies, as a movement of the first importance to the country and one which should be accomplished if possible." Mitchell replied that he was having the obstructions examined to ensure that Read's report was correct. 'should information be obtained that the passage of these obstructions is practicable," the flag officer wrote, "I shall gladly incur all the other hazards that may attend the proposed enterprise that promises, if successful, such bright results to our cause.
The Twenty-Third Army Corps, Major General John M. Schofield, commenced embarking on transports at Clifton, Tennessee. The corps was being ordered by General Grant to move by water and rail to Washington, D.C.– Annapolis area and thence by water south for further operations. These troops assaulted Wilmington and formed a juncture with General Sherman's northward moving army.
William T. Sherman issued Field Order No. 15, empowering Federal authorities to seize abandoned lands on the Sea Islands and inland tracts in Georgia and South Carolina. These lands would then be redistributed to local slaves, with each family receiving “...a plot of not more than 40 acres of tillable ground...” and a mule. Families were also to be given seed and farm equipment. Whites were barred from the region.
Sherman issued the directive at Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton’s insistence, who hoped to stop freed slaves from streaming into the Federal ranks seeking subsistence and protection. Stanton also aimed to soften Sherman’s reputation of hostility toward blacks. Sherman had argued that slaves entering his ranks impeded his military progress. This order prompted blacks to note “the time Tecumsey was here,” referring to Sherman’s middle name of Tecumseh.
Posted on 1/17/15 at 7:34 am to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 17 January 1865
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s army was about ready to move northward from the Savannah, Georgia area, into South Carolina although rain and high water in the rivers delayed their actual departure. News of the Federal victory at Fort Fisher spread throughout North and South. In the fall of 1864, Sherman and his army marched across Georgia and destroyed nearly everything in their path. Sherman reasoned that the war would end sooner if the conflict were taken to the civilian South, a view shared by President Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant. Sherman's men tore up railroads, burned grain stores, carried away livestock, and left plantations in ruins. The Yankees captured the port city of Savannah just before Christmas, and Sherman paused for three weeks to rest and resupply his troops.
After this rest, Sherman planned to move into the Carolinas and subject those states to the same brutal treatment that Georgia received. His 60,000 plus troops were divided into two wings. Major General Oliver O. Howard was to take two corps and move northeast to Charleston, South Carolina, while Major General Henry Slocum was to move northwest toward Augusta, Georgia. These were just diversions to the main target: Columbia, South Carolina.
As Sherman was preparing to move, the rains began. On January 17, the Yankees waited while heavy rains pelted the region. The downpour lasted for 10 days, the heaviest rainfall in 20 years. Some of Sherman's aides thought a winter campaign in the Carolinas would be difficult with such wet weather, but Sherman had spent four years in Charleston as a young lieutenant in the army, and believed that the march was possible. He also possessed an army that was ready to continue its assault on the Confederacy. Sherman wrote to his wife that he "...never saw a more confident army...The soldiers think I know everything and that they can do anything."
Sherman's army did not begin moving until the end of January 1865. When the army finally did move, it conducted a campaign against South Carolina that was worse than the one against Georgia. Sherman wanted to exact revenge on the state that had led secession and started the War by firing on the Star of the West in January 1861 and Fort Sumter three months later.
With this delay in departure from Savannah, General Sherman wrote Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren: "When we are known to be in rear of Charleston, about Branchville and Orangeburg, it will be well to watch if the enemy lets go of Charleston, in which case Foster will occupy it, otherwise the feint should be about Bull's Bay. We will need no cover about Port Royal; nothing but the usual guard ships. I think that you will concur with me that, in anticipation of the movement of my army to the rear of the coast, it will be unwise to subject your ships to the heavy artillery of the enemy or to his sunken torpedoes. I will instruct Foster, when he knows I have got near Branchville, to make a landing of a small force at Bull's Bay, to threaten, and it may be occupy, the road from Mount Pleasant to Georgetown. This will make the enemy believe I design to turn down against Charleston and give me a good offing for Wilmington. I will write you again fully on the eve of starting in person."
The Second Division, 19th US Army Corps, commanded by Brevetted Major General Cuvier Grover, USA, arrives at Savannah, Georgia.
Brevetted Major General George W. Getty, USA, is placed in temporary command of the Sixth US Army Corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Rear Admiral David D. Porter wrote Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles regarding Fort Fisher: "I have since visited Fort Fisher and the adjoining works, and find their strength greatly beyond what I had conceived; an engineer might be excusable in saying they could not be captured except by regular siege. I wonder even now how it was done. The work...is really stronger than the Malakoff Tower, which defied so long the combined power of France and England, and yet it is captured by a handful of men under the fire of the guns of the fleet, and in seven hours after the attack commenced in earnest." He concluded his report by proclaiming that Wilmington was hermetically sealed against blockade runners, "...and no Alabamas or Floridas, Chickamaugas or Tallahassees will ever fit out again from this port, and our merchant vessels very soon, I hope, will be enabled to pursue in safety their avocation."
News of the capture of Fort Fisher reached Washington and talk of the Army-Navy success dominated President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet meeting. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles noted in his diary, "The President was happy."
Knowing that many blockade runners, unaware of Fort Fisher's fall, would attempt to run in to Wilmington, North Carolina, Porter ordered the signal lights on the Mound "...properly trimmed and lighted, as has been the custom with the Rebels during the blockade." He added: "Have the lights lighted tonight and see that no vessel inside displays a light, and be ready to grab anyone that enters." Three days later the Admiral's resourcefulness paid dividends with the capture of two runners.
Union naval forces, commanded by Lieutenant Moreau Forrest of the Mississippi Squadron, cooperated with Army cavalry in a successful attack on the town of Somerville, Alabama. The expedition resulted in the capture of 90 prisoners, 150 horses and one piece of artillery.
Two armed boats from the USS Honeysuckle, Acting Master James J. Russell in chrge, captured the British schooner Augusta at the mouth of the Suwannee River as she attempted to run the blockade with a cargo of pig lead, flour, gunny cloth and coffee.
The Confederate steamers Granite City and Wave (ex-U.S. Navy ships) eluded the blockading ship USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr., on a "...dark, foggy, and rainy..." night and escaped from Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana. The Granite City was reported to carry no cargo but Wave had a load of lumber for the Rio Grande. The USS Meade gave chase for 60 miles, "...but our boilers being in a disabled condition, and leaking badly, the speed of the ship was so much reduced that I reluctantly gave up the hope of overtaking the Granite City before she could make a port."
Confederate President Jefferson Davis told South Carolina Governor Andrew Gordon Magrath, previously a United States federal judge, at Charleston, “I am fully alive to the importance of successful resistance to Sherman’s advance, and have called on the Governor of Georgia to give all the aid he can furnish.”
Davis received a dispatch from Ambrose Dudley Mann, the Confederacy envoy in Brussels: “From the Emperor of the French, we never had nor have now, anything favorable to expect. His Imperial Majesty is deaf to international justice and blind to its usages when he conceives that Mexico may possibly be involved in danger...”
The Richmond Enquirer urged the assembly of a convention to abolish the Confederate Constitution and remove Davis from office, seeking a return to the principles of individual liberty and limited government that they felt Davis had betrayed.
The Virginia General Assembly approved a resolution calling on Davis to appoint Robert E. Lee commander of all Confederate armies to promote their efficiency, reanimate their spirit, and “...inspire increased confidence in the final success of our arms.”
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s army was about ready to move northward from the Savannah, Georgia area, into South Carolina although rain and high water in the rivers delayed their actual departure. News of the Federal victory at Fort Fisher spread throughout North and South. In the fall of 1864, Sherman and his army marched across Georgia and destroyed nearly everything in their path. Sherman reasoned that the war would end sooner if the conflict were taken to the civilian South, a view shared by President Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant. Sherman's men tore up railroads, burned grain stores, carried away livestock, and left plantations in ruins. The Yankees captured the port city of Savannah just before Christmas, and Sherman paused for three weeks to rest and resupply his troops.
After this rest, Sherman planned to move into the Carolinas and subject those states to the same brutal treatment that Georgia received. His 60,000 plus troops were divided into two wings. Major General Oliver O. Howard was to take two corps and move northeast to Charleston, South Carolina, while Major General Henry Slocum was to move northwest toward Augusta, Georgia. These were just diversions to the main target: Columbia, South Carolina.
As Sherman was preparing to move, the rains began. On January 17, the Yankees waited while heavy rains pelted the region. The downpour lasted for 10 days, the heaviest rainfall in 20 years. Some of Sherman's aides thought a winter campaign in the Carolinas would be difficult with such wet weather, but Sherman had spent four years in Charleston as a young lieutenant in the army, and believed that the march was possible. He also possessed an army that was ready to continue its assault on the Confederacy. Sherman wrote to his wife that he "...never saw a more confident army...The soldiers think I know everything and that they can do anything."
Sherman's army did not begin moving until the end of January 1865. When the army finally did move, it conducted a campaign against South Carolina that was worse than the one against Georgia. Sherman wanted to exact revenge on the state that had led secession and started the War by firing on the Star of the West in January 1861 and Fort Sumter three months later.
With this delay in departure from Savannah, General Sherman wrote Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren: "When we are known to be in rear of Charleston, about Branchville and Orangeburg, it will be well to watch if the enemy lets go of Charleston, in which case Foster will occupy it, otherwise the feint should be about Bull's Bay. We will need no cover about Port Royal; nothing but the usual guard ships. I think that you will concur with me that, in anticipation of the movement of my army to the rear of the coast, it will be unwise to subject your ships to the heavy artillery of the enemy or to his sunken torpedoes. I will instruct Foster, when he knows I have got near Branchville, to make a landing of a small force at Bull's Bay, to threaten, and it may be occupy, the road from Mount Pleasant to Georgetown. This will make the enemy believe I design to turn down against Charleston and give me a good offing for Wilmington. I will write you again fully on the eve of starting in person."
The Second Division, 19th US Army Corps, commanded by Brevetted Major General Cuvier Grover, USA, arrives at Savannah, Georgia.
Brevetted Major General George W. Getty, USA, is placed in temporary command of the Sixth US Army Corps, in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
Rear Admiral David D. Porter wrote Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles regarding Fort Fisher: "I have since visited Fort Fisher and the adjoining works, and find their strength greatly beyond what I had conceived; an engineer might be excusable in saying they could not be captured except by regular siege. I wonder even now how it was done. The work...is really stronger than the Malakoff Tower, which defied so long the combined power of France and England, and yet it is captured by a handful of men under the fire of the guns of the fleet, and in seven hours after the attack commenced in earnest." He concluded his report by proclaiming that Wilmington was hermetically sealed against blockade runners, "...and no Alabamas or Floridas, Chickamaugas or Tallahassees will ever fit out again from this port, and our merchant vessels very soon, I hope, will be enabled to pursue in safety their avocation."
News of the capture of Fort Fisher reached Washington and talk of the Army-Navy success dominated President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet meeting. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles noted in his diary, "The President was happy."
Knowing that many blockade runners, unaware of Fort Fisher's fall, would attempt to run in to Wilmington, North Carolina, Porter ordered the signal lights on the Mound "...properly trimmed and lighted, as has been the custom with the Rebels during the blockade." He added: "Have the lights lighted tonight and see that no vessel inside displays a light, and be ready to grab anyone that enters." Three days later the Admiral's resourcefulness paid dividends with the capture of two runners.
Union naval forces, commanded by Lieutenant Moreau Forrest of the Mississippi Squadron, cooperated with Army cavalry in a successful attack on the town of Somerville, Alabama. The expedition resulted in the capture of 90 prisoners, 150 horses and one piece of artillery.
Two armed boats from the USS Honeysuckle, Acting Master James J. Russell in chrge, captured the British schooner Augusta at the mouth of the Suwannee River as she attempted to run the blockade with a cargo of pig lead, flour, gunny cloth and coffee.
The Confederate steamers Granite City and Wave (ex-U.S. Navy ships) eluded the blockading ship USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr., on a "...dark, foggy, and rainy..." night and escaped from Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana. The Granite City was reported to carry no cargo but Wave had a load of lumber for the Rio Grande. The USS Meade gave chase for 60 miles, "...but our boilers being in a disabled condition, and leaking badly, the speed of the ship was so much reduced that I reluctantly gave up the hope of overtaking the Granite City before she could make a port."
Confederate President Jefferson Davis told South Carolina Governor Andrew Gordon Magrath, previously a United States federal judge, at Charleston, “I am fully alive to the importance of successful resistance to Sherman’s advance, and have called on the Governor of Georgia to give all the aid he can furnish.”
Davis received a dispatch from Ambrose Dudley Mann, the Confederacy envoy in Brussels: “From the Emperor of the French, we never had nor have now, anything favorable to expect. His Imperial Majesty is deaf to international justice and blind to its usages when he conceives that Mexico may possibly be involved in danger...”
The Richmond Enquirer urged the assembly of a convention to abolish the Confederate Constitution and remove Davis from office, seeking a return to the principles of individual liberty and limited government that they felt Davis had betrayed.
The Virginia General Assembly approved a resolution calling on Davis to appoint Robert E. Lee commander of all Confederate armies to promote their efficiency, reanimate their spirit, and “...inspire increased confidence in the final success of our arms.”
Posted on 1/17/15 at 9:50 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 18 January 1865
Union President Abraham Lincoln unknowingly thwarted famed actor John Wilkes Booth’s plan to kidnap him when he decided not to attend a play at Ford’s Theater tonight. Booth was likely inspired by the Dahlgren Affair in March 1864 where are found on Colonel Ulric Dahlgren's body, after the failed raid, orders purportedly instructing his men to execute President Jefferson Davis and other high-ranking men of the Confederate government.
President Davis wrote to Robert E. Lee, asking if Lee sought to become commander of all Confederate armies. Davis then wrote to the Virginia General Assembly, thanking the members for the “...uncalculating, unhesitating spirit with which Virginia has...” Davis expressed support for promoting Lee if he could do it “...without withdrawing from the direct command of the Army of Northern Virginia.”
President Lincoln consulted with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, then conveyed a message to President Davis through Francis P. Blair, Sr. "...that I have constantly been, am now, and shall continue, ready to receive any agent whom he, or any other influential person now resisting the national authority, may informally send to me, with the view of securing peace to the people of our one common country." Blair returned to Richmond to deliver Lincoln’s message.
Major General William T. Sherman transferred Federal command of the Savannah region to Major General John G. Foster and the Department of the South.
A skirmish occurred at Clarksville, Arkansas.
A Federal expedition travels from Napoleonville by men under Brigadier General Robert A. Cameron, USA, commanding the District of La Fourche, to Grand River, Louisiana. The main incidence of this night occurs when the surround a residence suspected of housing Rebels. A Union Lieutenant enters the house and comes running out when he hears shots being fired outside (at a dog). It being very dark, a Yankee private takes aim at the person fleeing out of the house (the Lieutenant) and proceeds to fire a bullet into his forehead.
Federals scout against guerrillas from Warrensburg to the Snibar Hills, Missouri. Due to the horrendous weather and current provisions in the area, the Yankees decide not to bring in any livestock, etc., from the local area, as the women and children living on farms in the area would greatly suffer, irregardless if their husbands and fathers are partisan guerrillas.
An affair takes place near Lovettsville, Virginia, where Major General Thomas L. Rosser and his Confederate Cavalry surprise attacks the Union vedettes and reserve force near Harper's Ferry; the Yankees pursue Rosser to Purcellville, but could not overtake him.
J. B. Jones, a clerk in the Confederate War Department, wrote in his diary: "No war news. But blockade-running at Wilmington has ceased; and common calico, now at $25 per yard, will soon be $50...Flour is $1250 per barrel, today." Only five days before he had recorded: "Beef (what little there is in market) sells today at $6 per pound; meal, $80 per bushel; white beans, $5 per quart, or $160 per bushel." These figures bore eloquent witness to the decisive role played by Federal seapower in the collapse of the Confederacy. A giant amphibious assault had closed Wilmington, North Carolina, General Lee's last hope for sufficient supplies to sustain his soldiers. Control of the Mississippi River and the western tributaries by omnipresent Union warships, coupled with the destruction of the South's weak railway system, prevented the transfer of men and supplies to strengthen the crumbling military situation in the East. Thus, blockade of the coasts and continuing attack from afloat as well as on land surrounded and divided the South and hastened its economic, financial, and psychological deterioration. Just as civilians lived in deep privation, so, too, were the armies of the Confederacy gravely weakened from a shortage of munitions, equipment, clothing, and food.
Lieutenant Commander William B. Cushing, commanding the USS Monticello, landed at Fort Caswell, hoisted the Stars and Stripes, and took possession for the United States.
Union President Abraham Lincoln unknowingly thwarted famed actor John Wilkes Booth’s plan to kidnap him when he decided not to attend a play at Ford’s Theater tonight. Booth was likely inspired by the Dahlgren Affair in March 1864 where are found on Colonel Ulric Dahlgren's body, after the failed raid, orders purportedly instructing his men to execute President Jefferson Davis and other high-ranking men of the Confederate government.
President Davis wrote to Robert E. Lee, asking if Lee sought to become commander of all Confederate armies. Davis then wrote to the Virginia General Assembly, thanking the members for the “...uncalculating, unhesitating spirit with which Virginia has...” Davis expressed support for promoting Lee if he could do it “...without withdrawing from the direct command of the Army of Northern Virginia.”
President Lincoln consulted with Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, then conveyed a message to President Davis through Francis P. Blair, Sr. "...that I have constantly been, am now, and shall continue, ready to receive any agent whom he, or any other influential person now resisting the national authority, may informally send to me, with the view of securing peace to the people of our one common country." Blair returned to Richmond to deliver Lincoln’s message.
Major General William T. Sherman transferred Federal command of the Savannah region to Major General John G. Foster and the Department of the South.
A skirmish occurred at Clarksville, Arkansas.
A Federal expedition travels from Napoleonville by men under Brigadier General Robert A. Cameron, USA, commanding the District of La Fourche, to Grand River, Louisiana. The main incidence of this night occurs when the surround a residence suspected of housing Rebels. A Union Lieutenant enters the house and comes running out when he hears shots being fired outside (at a dog). It being very dark, a Yankee private takes aim at the person fleeing out of the house (the Lieutenant) and proceeds to fire a bullet into his forehead.
Federals scout against guerrillas from Warrensburg to the Snibar Hills, Missouri. Due to the horrendous weather and current provisions in the area, the Yankees decide not to bring in any livestock, etc., from the local area, as the women and children living on farms in the area would greatly suffer, irregardless if their husbands and fathers are partisan guerrillas.
An affair takes place near Lovettsville, Virginia, where Major General Thomas L. Rosser and his Confederate Cavalry surprise attacks the Union vedettes and reserve force near Harper's Ferry; the Yankees pursue Rosser to Purcellville, but could not overtake him.
J. B. Jones, a clerk in the Confederate War Department, wrote in his diary: "No war news. But blockade-running at Wilmington has ceased; and common calico, now at $25 per yard, will soon be $50...Flour is $1250 per barrel, today." Only five days before he had recorded: "Beef (what little there is in market) sells today at $6 per pound; meal, $80 per bushel; white beans, $5 per quart, or $160 per bushel." These figures bore eloquent witness to the decisive role played by Federal seapower in the collapse of the Confederacy. A giant amphibious assault had closed Wilmington, North Carolina, General Lee's last hope for sufficient supplies to sustain his soldiers. Control of the Mississippi River and the western tributaries by omnipresent Union warships, coupled with the destruction of the South's weak railway system, prevented the transfer of men and supplies to strengthen the crumbling military situation in the East. Thus, blockade of the coasts and continuing attack from afloat as well as on land surrounded and divided the South and hastened its economic, financial, and psychological deterioration. Just as civilians lived in deep privation, so, too, were the armies of the Confederacy gravely weakened from a shortage of munitions, equipment, clothing, and food.
Lieutenant Commander William B. Cushing, commanding the USS Monticello, landed at Fort Caswell, hoisted the Stars and Stripes, and took possession for the United States.
This post was edited on 1/18/15 at 8:51 am
Posted on 1/18/15 at 8:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 19 January 1865
The blockade runner Chameleon (formerly the CSS Tallahassee), under Lieutenant John Wilkinson, put to sea from Bermuda loaded to the rails with commissary stores and provisions for General Lee's hard-pressed, ill supplied army. Wilkinson had departed Cape Fear on this special blockade running mission on 24 December 1864 in the aftermath of the first Fort Fisher campaign. Upon his return, he successfully ran the blockade (as he had done on 21 separate occasions during 1863 with Robert E. Lee) and had entered the harbor before learning that Union forces had captured Fort Fisher during his absence. The Chameleon reversed course and safely dashed to sea. Wilkinson later said that he had been able to escape only because of the ship's twin screws, which "...enabled our steamer to turn as if on a pivot in the narrow channel between the bar and the rip." After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Charleston and in the absence of orders from Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, Wilkinson took the Chameleon to Liverpool and turned the ship over to Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch, the Confederate naval agent. Ironically, he arrived on 9 April, the same day that Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.
Federals scout from Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
A skirmish breaks out at Corinth, Mississippi.
Another Federal reconnaissance travels to Myrtle Sound and skirmishes at the Half Moon Battery, North Carolina, with assistance from the gunboat, USS Buckingham.
A Federal expedition meanders from Memphis, Tennessee, to Marion, Arkansas, with skirmishes with partisan guerrillas at and near Marion.
Bowing to political pressure from the Confederate Congress, President Jefferson Davis appoints and General Robert E. Lee accepts the position of Commander of all the remaining Confederate forces in the field. Lee earlier declined Davis’ offer to serve as General-in-Chief of the Confederate armies but admitted that he would serve in that capacity if so appointed. Pressure had continued on Davis to appoint Lee to the position.
In orders to the USS Canonicus, Mahopac, and Monadnock, having arrived to join the Charleston blockaders, Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren showed his concern for the threat of Confederate torpedoes: "You will lose no time in securing the Canonicus against the possible action of the Rebel torpedo boats; temporary fenders must be used until permanent fixtures can be provided. Boat patrol must be used with vigilance, and such other measures resorted to as are in common practice here."
Union Major General William T. Sherman issued orders for his army to begin its new march from Savannah, Georgia northward into South Carolina. Though the troops did not start off simultaneously, some elements of the army began their march northward. Since South Carolina was the birthplace of the Confederacy, Federal troops were planning to be much more vindictive towards that state than they were towards Georgians, where they torched a sixty mile wide swath from Atlanta to Savannah.
President Abraham Lincoln had inquired of Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant as to whether a place existed in the army for his son, Robert. The younger Lincoln was appointed to the rank of captain and served as an assistant adjutant general on Grant’s staff, escorting visitors to see the brass.
The blockade runner Chameleon (formerly the CSS Tallahassee), under Lieutenant John Wilkinson, put to sea from Bermuda loaded to the rails with commissary stores and provisions for General Lee's hard-pressed, ill supplied army. Wilkinson had departed Cape Fear on this special blockade running mission on 24 December 1864 in the aftermath of the first Fort Fisher campaign. Upon his return, he successfully ran the blockade (as he had done on 21 separate occasions during 1863 with Robert E. Lee) and had entered the harbor before learning that Union forces had captured Fort Fisher during his absence. The Chameleon reversed course and safely dashed to sea. Wilkinson later said that he had been able to escape only because of the ship's twin screws, which "...enabled our steamer to turn as if on a pivot in the narrow channel between the bar and the rip." After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Charleston and in the absence of orders from Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory, Wilkinson took the Chameleon to Liverpool and turned the ship over to Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch, the Confederate naval agent. Ironically, he arrived on 9 April, the same day that Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.
Federals scout from Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
A skirmish breaks out at Corinth, Mississippi.
Another Federal reconnaissance travels to Myrtle Sound and skirmishes at the Half Moon Battery, North Carolina, with assistance from the gunboat, USS Buckingham.
A Federal expedition meanders from Memphis, Tennessee, to Marion, Arkansas, with skirmishes with partisan guerrillas at and near Marion.
Bowing to political pressure from the Confederate Congress, President Jefferson Davis appoints and General Robert E. Lee accepts the position of Commander of all the remaining Confederate forces in the field. Lee earlier declined Davis’ offer to serve as General-in-Chief of the Confederate armies but admitted that he would serve in that capacity if so appointed. Pressure had continued on Davis to appoint Lee to the position.
In orders to the USS Canonicus, Mahopac, and Monadnock, having arrived to join the Charleston blockaders, Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren showed his concern for the threat of Confederate torpedoes: "You will lose no time in securing the Canonicus against the possible action of the Rebel torpedo boats; temporary fenders must be used until permanent fixtures can be provided. Boat patrol must be used with vigilance, and such other measures resorted to as are in common practice here."
Union Major General William T. Sherman issued orders for his army to begin its new march from Savannah, Georgia northward into South Carolina. Though the troops did not start off simultaneously, some elements of the army began their march northward. Since South Carolina was the birthplace of the Confederacy, Federal troops were planning to be much more vindictive towards that state than they were towards Georgians, where they torched a sixty mile wide swath from Atlanta to Savannah.
President Abraham Lincoln had inquired of Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant as to whether a place existed in the army for his son, Robert. The younger Lincoln was appointed to the rank of captain and served as an assistant adjutant general on Grant’s staff, escorting visitors to see the brass.
This post was edited on 1/19/15 at 5:46 am
Posted on 1/19/15 at 9:34 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 20 January 1865
The four Union corps under Major General William T. Sherman, plus Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry, got underway from their base of operations in Savannah, Georgia; advance units probed into South Carolina, encountering light resistance as they reached Beaufort, 40 miles beyond Port Royal Sound. The Federals occupied Pocotaligo, on the railroad about midway between Savannah and Charleston. A Federal reconnaissance travels from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River. The Federal left wing was held up by heavy rain in Savannah.
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton briefed President Abraham Lincoln of his visit to Savannah, Georgia and Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
William McComb, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
The Territory of Arizona is re-annexed to the Department of the Pacific.
Skirmishing occurred near Fort Larned, Kansas, as the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians attack the sutler wagon train destined for Fort Lyon. The Yankee escort repels the Indian attacks, but the train returns back to Fort Larned, with casualties on both sides.
A skirmish takes place at the Point of Rocks, or the Nine-Mile Ridge, Kansas.
Flag Officer John K. Mitchell wrote Major James F. Milligan of the Confederate signal corps seeking information "...as to the number and disposition of the enemy's ironclads, gunboats, armed trans-ports, torpedo boats, and vessels generally on the James...The commander of the South's James River Squadron was readying his ships for a thrust downriver at the major Union supply base, City Point. It was hoped that a successful attack on General Grant's supply base would force him to withdraw and abandon his plans for a spring offensive against Richmond.
The blockade runner City of Richmond, Commander Hunter Davidson in charge, anchored in Quiberon Bay, France, to await the arrival of the CSS Stonewall. Davidson permitted no communication with the shore in order to preclude the possibility of others learning that the ironclad would rendezvous with him and effect a transfer of men and supplies. Flag Officer Samuel Barron described the Stonewall as "...a vessel more formidable than any we have yet afloat..."
Flag Officer Barron reported to Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he had ordered Commanders James H. North and G. T. Sinclair and Lieutenant Commander C. M. Morris, Confederate agents abroad, to return to the Confederacy: "...there being in my judgement no prospect of any duty for them." The blockade runners Stag and Charlotte, unaware that Fort Fisher and the works at Cape Fear had fallen, anchored in the harbor at Smithville near the USS Malvern, flagship of Rear Admiral David D. Porter, and were captured. Porter wrote: "I intrusted this duty to Lieutenant [Commander] Cushing, who performed it with his usual good luck and intelligence. They are very fast vessels and valuable prizes." The Stag was commanded by Lieutenant Richard H. Gayle, CSN, who had previously been captured while commanding blockade runner Cornubia.
The four Union corps under Major General William T. Sherman, plus Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry, got underway from their base of operations in Savannah, Georgia; advance units probed into South Carolina, encountering light resistance as they reached Beaufort, 40 miles beyond Port Royal Sound. The Federals occupied Pocotaligo, on the railroad about midway between Savannah and Charleston. A Federal reconnaissance travels from Pocotaligo to the Salkehatchie River. The Federal left wing was held up by heavy rain in Savannah.
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton briefed President Abraham Lincoln of his visit to Savannah, Georgia and Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
William McComb, CSA, is appointed Brigadier General.
The Territory of Arizona is re-annexed to the Department of the Pacific.
Skirmishing occurred near Fort Larned, Kansas, as the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians attack the sutler wagon train destined for Fort Lyon. The Yankee escort repels the Indian attacks, but the train returns back to Fort Larned, with casualties on both sides.
A skirmish takes place at the Point of Rocks, or the Nine-Mile Ridge, Kansas.
Flag Officer John K. Mitchell wrote Major James F. Milligan of the Confederate signal corps seeking information "...as to the number and disposition of the enemy's ironclads, gunboats, armed trans-ports, torpedo boats, and vessels generally on the James...The commander of the South's James River Squadron was readying his ships for a thrust downriver at the major Union supply base, City Point. It was hoped that a successful attack on General Grant's supply base would force him to withdraw and abandon his plans for a spring offensive against Richmond.
The blockade runner City of Richmond, Commander Hunter Davidson in charge, anchored in Quiberon Bay, France, to await the arrival of the CSS Stonewall. Davidson permitted no communication with the shore in order to preclude the possibility of others learning that the ironclad would rendezvous with him and effect a transfer of men and supplies. Flag Officer Samuel Barron described the Stonewall as "...a vessel more formidable than any we have yet afloat..."
Flag Officer Barron reported to Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he had ordered Commanders James H. North and G. T. Sinclair and Lieutenant Commander C. M. Morris, Confederate agents abroad, to return to the Confederacy: "...there being in my judgement no prospect of any duty for them." The blockade runners Stag and Charlotte, unaware that Fort Fisher and the works at Cape Fear had fallen, anchored in the harbor at Smithville near the USS Malvern, flagship of Rear Admiral David D. Porter, and were captured. Porter wrote: "I intrusted this duty to Lieutenant [Commander] Cushing, who performed it with his usual good luck and intelligence. They are very fast vessels and valuable prizes." The Stag was commanded by Lieutenant Richard H. Gayle, CSN, who had previously been captured while commanding blockade runner Cornubia.
Posted on 1/20/15 at 10:12 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 21 January 1865
Union Major General William T. Sherman embarked this morning with his entire headquarters from Savannah, Georgia, to Beaufort, South Carolina, pausing at Hilton Head. Sherman attempted to feign a movement to Charleston or Augusta, rather than Columbia. The bulk of the Yankee troops departed Savannah, leaving an occupation force behind. Sherman ignored War Department orders to force Confederate sympathizers out of the city because he did not want to further enhance his reputation as a vandal. The Federal occupiers, however, deported many families with Confederate ties after Sherman left.
Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory again wrote Flag Officer John Mitchell urging an immediate movement by the James River Squadron past the obstructions at Trent's Reach and assault on General Grant's base of operations at City Point. "You have an opportunity, I am convinced, rarely presented to a naval officer, and one which may lead to the most glorious results to your country. The same day Mitchell sent a telegram to General Lee, whose troops depended heavily on a successful completion of the attack, informing him that the squadron would attempt to pass the obstructions on the 22nd."
"I have not time to visit you," he wrote, "and would therefore be glad to meet on board of the flagship or at Drewry's Bluff any officer whom you could appoint to meet me, to give me your views and wishes as to my cooperation with the army down the river in the event of our being successful."
The USS Penguin, under Acting Lieutenant James R. Beers, chased the steamer Granite City ashore off Velasco, Texas. The blockade runner was under the protection of Confederate shore batteries. Beers reported that, since he was "...of the opinion that the steamer could not be got off, and would eventually go to pieces, as there was a heavy sea rolling in and continually breaking over her, I did not think it was prudent to remain longer under the enemy's fire, as their guns were of longer range than ours."
Elements of the Twenty-Third Army Corps, Major General John Schofield commanding, disembarked from transports at Cincinnati, Ohio, which they had reached in five days via the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers from Clifton, Tennessee. The troops entrained for Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, where the first echelon would arrive on 31 January.
A Federal expedition began from Brashear City, Louisiana, aboard the Union gunboat, No. 43, to Bayou Sorrel, and fought against against Confederates and torpedoes.
Union Major General William T. Sherman embarked this morning with his entire headquarters from Savannah, Georgia, to Beaufort, South Carolina, pausing at Hilton Head. Sherman attempted to feign a movement to Charleston or Augusta, rather than Columbia. The bulk of the Yankee troops departed Savannah, leaving an occupation force behind. Sherman ignored War Department orders to force Confederate sympathizers out of the city because he did not want to further enhance his reputation as a vandal. The Federal occupiers, however, deported many families with Confederate ties after Sherman left.
Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory again wrote Flag Officer John Mitchell urging an immediate movement by the James River Squadron past the obstructions at Trent's Reach and assault on General Grant's base of operations at City Point. "You have an opportunity, I am convinced, rarely presented to a naval officer, and one which may lead to the most glorious results to your country. The same day Mitchell sent a telegram to General Lee, whose troops depended heavily on a successful completion of the attack, informing him that the squadron would attempt to pass the obstructions on the 22nd."
"I have not time to visit you," he wrote, "and would therefore be glad to meet on board of the flagship or at Drewry's Bluff any officer whom you could appoint to meet me, to give me your views and wishes as to my cooperation with the army down the river in the event of our being successful."
The USS Penguin, under Acting Lieutenant James R. Beers, chased the steamer Granite City ashore off Velasco, Texas. The blockade runner was under the protection of Confederate shore batteries. Beers reported that, since he was "...of the opinion that the steamer could not be got off, and would eventually go to pieces, as there was a heavy sea rolling in and continually breaking over her, I did not think it was prudent to remain longer under the enemy's fire, as their guns were of longer range than ours."
Elements of the Twenty-Third Army Corps, Major General John Schofield commanding, disembarked from transports at Cincinnati, Ohio, which they had reached in five days via the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers from Clifton, Tennessee. The troops entrained for Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Virginia, and Annapolis, Maryland, where the first echelon would arrive on 31 January.
A Federal expedition began from Brashear City, Louisiana, aboard the Union gunboat, No. 43, to Bayou Sorrel, and fought against against Confederates and torpedoes.
Posted on 1/21/15 at 8:58 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 22 January 1865
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s army was in motion throughout South Carolina with the goal of reaching Goldsboro, North Carolina, within six weeks.
Fighting tapered off with only a small skirmish breaking out on the Benton Road, near Little Rock, Arkansas, against small groups of partisan guerrillas.
A Federal expedition traveled from Little Rock to Mount Elba, Arkansas, with skirmishes occurring when they moved close to the Saline River.
Prominent statesman Francis P. Blair, Sr. returned to Richmond to deliver President Abraham Lincoln’s letter of 18 January to President Jefferson Davis. In the letter, Lincoln expressed interest in meeting with Confederate agents to discuss a possible peace. But the letters between Davis (“the two countries”) and Lincoln (“our one common country”) reflected the deadlock between the leaders in peace negotiations.
Flag Officer John K. Mitchell reported that he was unable to get underway to pass the obstructions at Trent's Reach as he had planned because of heavy fog. Mitchell had also received no report from Boatswain Thomas Gauley, whom he had dispatched on the 21st to remove a number of Confederate torpedoes that had been placed in the channel near Howlett's Landing. He wrote Major General George Pickett: "Tomorrow night, if the weather is sufficiently clear for the pilots to see their way, our movement will be made, and I will be glad to have your cooperation as agreed upon for tonight." A successful downriver thrust by Mitchell's squadron could spell disaster for the Union cause as General Grant would be deprived of his great water-supplied base at City Point and his armies would be divided by Confederate control of the James River.
Rear Admiral David D. Porter ordered Commander John Guest, of the USS Iosco, to "...regulate the movements of the vessels in the Cape Fear River above Fort Fisher..." Porter sought to move the line of ships as near Fort Anderson, the position to which the Confederates had withdrawn following the fall of Fort Fisher and adjacent forts, "...as is consistent with safety, and in doing so care must be taken of the torpedoes and other obstructions." The same day the USS Pequot, Lieutenant Commander Daniel L. Braine in charge, steamed upriver and opened on Fort Anderson to reconnoiter and test its defenses. The Confederates brought only two "small rifle pieces" in action, but, Braine reported: "I observed 6 guns, evidently smoothbore, pointing down the river, protected by the ordinary sand traverses." Having sealed off Wilmington, the last major port in the South, the Union was now moving to occupy it.
A boat expedition from the USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander R. W. Meade, Jr., captured the blockade running schooner Delphina by boarding in Calcasieu River, Louisiana. The Delphina was carrying a full cargo of cotton.
The steamer Ajax, with Lieutenant John Low, CSN, on board as a "passenger", put out of Dublin, Ireland, for Nassau. Ajax had been built for the Confederacy in Dumbarton, Scotland, for use in harbor defense. She had been detained in Dublin for more than a week because the U.S. Consul there suspected that the light-draft vessel was bound for the South. However, two inspections failed to substantiate this belief and the 340 ton would-be gunboat was released. Nevertheless, Charles F. Adams, the American Ambassador in England, and Secretary of State William Henry Seward prevailed upon British Foreign Minister Earl Russell to prevent the armament of the Ajax in Halifax, Bermuda, or Nassau.
Union Major General William T. Sherman’s army was in motion throughout South Carolina with the goal of reaching Goldsboro, North Carolina, within six weeks.
Fighting tapered off with only a small skirmish breaking out on the Benton Road, near Little Rock, Arkansas, against small groups of partisan guerrillas.
A Federal expedition traveled from Little Rock to Mount Elba, Arkansas, with skirmishes occurring when they moved close to the Saline River.
Prominent statesman Francis P. Blair, Sr. returned to Richmond to deliver President Abraham Lincoln’s letter of 18 January to President Jefferson Davis. In the letter, Lincoln expressed interest in meeting with Confederate agents to discuss a possible peace. But the letters between Davis (“the two countries”) and Lincoln (“our one common country”) reflected the deadlock between the leaders in peace negotiations.
Flag Officer John K. Mitchell reported that he was unable to get underway to pass the obstructions at Trent's Reach as he had planned because of heavy fog. Mitchell had also received no report from Boatswain Thomas Gauley, whom he had dispatched on the 21st to remove a number of Confederate torpedoes that had been placed in the channel near Howlett's Landing. He wrote Major General George Pickett: "Tomorrow night, if the weather is sufficiently clear for the pilots to see their way, our movement will be made, and I will be glad to have your cooperation as agreed upon for tonight." A successful downriver thrust by Mitchell's squadron could spell disaster for the Union cause as General Grant would be deprived of his great water-supplied base at City Point and his armies would be divided by Confederate control of the James River.
Rear Admiral David D. Porter ordered Commander John Guest, of the USS Iosco, to "...regulate the movements of the vessels in the Cape Fear River above Fort Fisher..." Porter sought to move the line of ships as near Fort Anderson, the position to which the Confederates had withdrawn following the fall of Fort Fisher and adjacent forts, "...as is consistent with safety, and in doing so care must be taken of the torpedoes and other obstructions." The same day the USS Pequot, Lieutenant Commander Daniel L. Braine in charge, steamed upriver and opened on Fort Anderson to reconnoiter and test its defenses. The Confederates brought only two "small rifle pieces" in action, but, Braine reported: "I observed 6 guns, evidently smoothbore, pointing down the river, protected by the ordinary sand traverses." Having sealed off Wilmington, the last major port in the South, the Union was now moving to occupy it.
A boat expedition from the USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander R. W. Meade, Jr., captured the blockade running schooner Delphina by boarding in Calcasieu River, Louisiana. The Delphina was carrying a full cargo of cotton.
The steamer Ajax, with Lieutenant John Low, CSN, on board as a "passenger", put out of Dublin, Ireland, for Nassau. Ajax had been built for the Confederacy in Dumbarton, Scotland, for use in harbor defense. She had been detained in Dublin for more than a week because the U.S. Consul there suspected that the light-draft vessel was bound for the South. However, two inspections failed to substantiate this belief and the 340 ton would-be gunboat was released. Nevertheless, Charles F. Adams, the American Ambassador in England, and Secretary of State William Henry Seward prevailed upon British Foreign Minister Earl Russell to prevent the armament of the Ajax in Halifax, Bermuda, or Nassau.
Posted on 1/22/15 at 8:44 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 23 January 1865
The Confederate Congress passed a bill providing for appointment of a General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies. Many expected President Jefferson Davis to veto the bill because it not only removed the “Commander in Chief” title from his office, but it also promoted Generals Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard and Joseph Eggleston Johnston. Davis pondered whether to approve the bill. Congress had General Robert Edward Lee in mind when it drafted the legislation.
A skirmish broke out with partisan guerrillas at Thompson's Plantation, in the vicinity of Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
Federals scout from Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and shoot to death 12 Rebel partisans. The Yankees have orders to execute a guerrilla whenever and wherever he is found, and not to take any prisoners on any account, and that's exactly what they do.
A Confederate fleet sails from Richmond, Virginia, down the James River to attack the Federal supply depot at City Point, only to have the CSS Drewry, Richmond, Scorpion, and Virginia No. 2 run aground.
Action occurs at Fort Brady on the James River, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
The USS Fox, Acting Master Francis Burgess in charge, seized the British schooner Fannie McRae near the mouth of the Warrior River, Florida, where she was preparing to run the blockade.
Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Taylor assumed command of the Army of Tennessee, now reduced in strength to less than 17,000 men, after the resignation of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood following the recent military disasters in Tennessee during the disastrous Franklin-Nashville Campaign. A main portion of the army had been sent to the Carolinas in an attempt to stop William T. Sherman.
Full report: This morning, Confederate General John Bell Hood is officially removed as commander of the Army of Tennessee. He had requested the removal a few weeks before; the action closed a bleak chapter in the history of the Army of Tennessee.
A Kentucky native, Hood attended West Point and graduated in 1853. He served in the frontier army until the outbreak of the War Between the States. Hood resigned his commission and became a colonel commanding the 4th Texas Infantry. Hood's unit was sent to the Army of Northern Virginia, and fought during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. Hood, now a brigadier general, built a reputation as an aggressive field commander. He distinguished himself during the Seven Days Battles in June 1862, and was given command of a division. His counterattack at the Battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek in Maryland in September 1862 may have saved Robert E. Lee's army from total destruction.
After being badly wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in July 1863, Hood was transferred to the Army of Tennessee. He was soon wounded again, losing a leg at Chickamauga in September. Hood was promoted to corps commander for the Atlanta campaign of 1864, and was elevated to commander of the army upon the removal of Joseph Johnston in July. Over the next five months, Hood presided over the near destruction of that great Confederate army. He unsuccessfully attacked Union Major General William T. Sherman's army three times near Atlanta, relinquished the city after a month-long siege, then took his army back to Tennessee in the fall to draw Sherman away from the Deep South. Sherman dispatched part of his army to Tennessee, and Hood lost two battles at Franklin and Nashville in November and December 1864.
There were about 65,000 soldiers in the Army of Tennessee when Hood assumed command in July. On January 1, a generous assessment would count almost 18,000 men in the army, which was no longer a viable fighting force.
The Confederate Congress passed a bill providing for appointment of a General-in-Chief of all Confederate armies. Many expected President Jefferson Davis to veto the bill because it not only removed the “Commander in Chief” title from his office, but it also promoted Generals Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard and Joseph Eggleston Johnston. Davis pondered whether to approve the bill. Congress had General Robert Edward Lee in mind when it drafted the legislation.
A skirmish broke out with partisan guerrillas at Thompson's Plantation, in the vicinity of Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
Federals scout from Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and shoot to death 12 Rebel partisans. The Yankees have orders to execute a guerrilla whenever and wherever he is found, and not to take any prisoners on any account, and that's exactly what they do.
A Confederate fleet sails from Richmond, Virginia, down the James River to attack the Federal supply depot at City Point, only to have the CSS Drewry, Richmond, Scorpion, and Virginia No. 2 run aground.
Action occurs at Fort Brady on the James River, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
The USS Fox, Acting Master Francis Burgess in charge, seized the British schooner Fannie McRae near the mouth of the Warrior River, Florida, where she was preparing to run the blockade.
Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Taylor assumed command of the Army of Tennessee, now reduced in strength to less than 17,000 men, after the resignation of Lieutenant General John Bell Hood following the recent military disasters in Tennessee during the disastrous Franklin-Nashville Campaign. A main portion of the army had been sent to the Carolinas in an attempt to stop William T. Sherman.
Full report: This morning, Confederate General John Bell Hood is officially removed as commander of the Army of Tennessee. He had requested the removal a few weeks before; the action closed a bleak chapter in the history of the Army of Tennessee.
A Kentucky native, Hood attended West Point and graduated in 1853. He served in the frontier army until the outbreak of the War Between the States. Hood resigned his commission and became a colonel commanding the 4th Texas Infantry. Hood's unit was sent to the Army of Northern Virginia, and fought during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. Hood, now a brigadier general, built a reputation as an aggressive field commander. He distinguished himself during the Seven Days Battles in June 1862, and was given command of a division. His counterattack at the Battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek in Maryland in September 1862 may have saved Robert E. Lee's army from total destruction.
After being badly wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in July 1863, Hood was transferred to the Army of Tennessee. He was soon wounded again, losing a leg at Chickamauga in September. Hood was promoted to corps commander for the Atlanta campaign of 1864, and was elevated to commander of the army upon the removal of Joseph Johnston in July. Over the next five months, Hood presided over the near destruction of that great Confederate army. He unsuccessfully attacked Union Major General William T. Sherman's army three times near Atlanta, relinquished the city after a month-long siege, then took his army back to Tennessee in the fall to draw Sherman away from the Deep South. Sherman dispatched part of his army to Tennessee, and Hood lost two battles at Franklin and Nashville in November and December 1864.
There were about 65,000 soldiers in the Army of Tennessee when Hood assumed command in July. On January 1, a generous assessment would count almost 18,000 men in the army, which was no longer a viable fighting force.
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