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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 10/3/13 at 4:48 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 10/3/13 at 4:48 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 3 October 1863
General Nathaniel P. Banks set off today on yet another attempt to secure Texas for the Union once and for all. As he was leaving from the vicinity of New Orleans, and as he had already tried once and failed at going through Sabine Pass, he decided on a different route this time. Orders were issued to the men of Major General William B. Franklin to move westward, and today they departed from their bases at Berwick Bay and New Iberia, both in Louisiana. Their target was a waterway known as Bayou Teche. The ultimate goal, again, was to reach the Sabine. The campaign would last for more than a month.
McMinnville, Tennessee, was captured by the Confederates under General Joseph Wheeler. Major M. L. Patterson, who was taken prisoner with a portion of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, relates the following history of the capture: He had with him seven companies, mostly fragments. On the second instant he sent out scouts, who returned and reported no enemy. On the next day he sent Lieutenant Farnsworth with twenty scouts, who were cut off. He then sent out Lieutenant Allen, who passed the pickets a quarter of a mile and returned, reporting the Rebels in force. Major Patterson drew up his command, four hundred and four in all, and fifty convalescents from the hospital. Skirmishing followed for an hour and a quarter, during which the rebels were repulsed in three charges. Wheeler then sent in a flag of truce, with a verbal demand for a surrender, which Major Patterson refused, saying he would not surrender until he was compelled to do so. In half an hour Colonel Hodge of the Kentucky brigade brought a demand for surrender in writing. Major Patterson, after consulting with his officers, deeming it useless to contend against an enemy so greatly superior in numbers, surrendered. Wheeler had four divisions of cavalry, artillery, and ten brigades, and said he had ten thousand men. The Union loss was seven killed and thirty-one wounded and missing. The Rebels admitted a loss of twenty-three killed and wounded. After the surrender Major Patterson's trunk was broken open, and one hundred and fifty dollars stolen out of it, while his men were generally robbed of their money, watches, knives, and other valuables. The prisoners were all paroled. While two of them were going on the Carthage road they were halted by Dr. Fain, a local partisan, who drew his pistol on them, and cocking it, ordered one of them to pull off his boots and give them up. Protestation and pleas of sore feet and a long journey were of no avail, and the valiant highway robber rode off with the boots which he had taken from a defenseless paroled prisoner.
The actual surrender demand:
FORCES OF CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY, October 3, 1863.
Maj. M. L. PATTERSON, Comdg., McMinnville: Maj.: I have the honor of stating to you that we are here in force, with four divisions of cavalry and artillery, and demand the immediate and unconditional surrender of the post of McMinnville, with the entire garrison.
Respectfully, yours, &c., JOS. WHEELER, Maj.-Gen., C. S. Army
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the twenty-sixth of November as a day of general thanksgiving.
Chat
General Nathaniel P. Banks set off today on yet another attempt to secure Texas for the Union once and for all. As he was leaving from the vicinity of New Orleans, and as he had already tried once and failed at going through Sabine Pass, he decided on a different route this time. Orders were issued to the men of Major General William B. Franklin to move westward, and today they departed from their bases at Berwick Bay and New Iberia, both in Louisiana. Their target was a waterway known as Bayou Teche. The ultimate goal, again, was to reach the Sabine. The campaign would last for more than a month.
McMinnville, Tennessee, was captured by the Confederates under General Joseph Wheeler. Major M. L. Patterson, who was taken prisoner with a portion of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, relates the following history of the capture: He had with him seven companies, mostly fragments. On the second instant he sent out scouts, who returned and reported no enemy. On the next day he sent Lieutenant Farnsworth with twenty scouts, who were cut off. He then sent out Lieutenant Allen, who passed the pickets a quarter of a mile and returned, reporting the Rebels in force. Major Patterson drew up his command, four hundred and four in all, and fifty convalescents from the hospital. Skirmishing followed for an hour and a quarter, during which the rebels were repulsed in three charges. Wheeler then sent in a flag of truce, with a verbal demand for a surrender, which Major Patterson refused, saying he would not surrender until he was compelled to do so. In half an hour Colonel Hodge of the Kentucky brigade brought a demand for surrender in writing. Major Patterson, after consulting with his officers, deeming it useless to contend against an enemy so greatly superior in numbers, surrendered. Wheeler had four divisions of cavalry, artillery, and ten brigades, and said he had ten thousand men. The Union loss was seven killed and thirty-one wounded and missing. The Rebels admitted a loss of twenty-three killed and wounded. After the surrender Major Patterson's trunk was broken open, and one hundred and fifty dollars stolen out of it, while his men were generally robbed of their money, watches, knives, and other valuables. The prisoners were all paroled. While two of them were going on the Carthage road they were halted by Dr. Fain, a local partisan, who drew his pistol on them, and cocking it, ordered one of them to pull off his boots and give them up. Protestation and pleas of sore feet and a long journey were of no avail, and the valiant highway robber rode off with the boots which he had taken from a defenseless paroled prisoner.
The actual surrender demand:
FORCES OF CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY, October 3, 1863.
Maj. M. L. PATTERSON, Comdg., McMinnville: Maj.: I have the honor of stating to you that we are here in force, with four divisions of cavalry and artillery, and demand the immediate and unconditional surrender of the post of McMinnville, with the entire garrison.
Respectfully, yours, &c., JOS. WHEELER, Maj.-Gen., C. S. Army
President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the twenty-sixth of November as a day of general thanksgiving.
Chat
1
Posted on 10/4/13 at 4:06 am to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 4 October 1863
After the battle of Gettysburg, as after all battles, parties were detailed to bury the dead, usually where they fell. As the dead were many and the burial parties few, these efforts were often sketchy and the armies had barely moved out of town before the “resurrections” began. Some of these body removals were done by grieving relatives wishing to take their kinfolk home for proper funerals. Other reappearances resulted from weather washing the dirt off the crudely dug graves. The organized effort to disinter all the corpses for relocation to the National Cemetery, then in the planning stages, did not begin until much later. A problem promptly arose from the fact that the July heat had not been kind to the corpses. It was decided today that due to the advanced state of decomposition, reburials could not be done until after the first frost stabilized the ground. The first frost did not come to Gettysburg in 1863 until October 25.
Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren off the Charleston coast reportedly accepts delivery of at least two small submarines. Earlier this afternoon, Confederate observers spot a small submarine being towed over the bar in Charleston Harbor, but no official mention is made of them in Union records. A Confederate report of 8 October mentions three additional USN submarines sighted.
The steamers Chancellor, Forest Queen, and Catahoula, were destroyed by Confederate incendiaries at St. Louis, Missouri.
Such information having reached Colonel William L. Utley, commanding the Union forces at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, that that post would soon be attacked by the Southerners, the following order was issued: Non-combatants, women, and children will, immediately on the approach of the enemy, repair to the fortifications or elsewhere for safety. All that portion of the city lying adjacent to the railroad will be shelled immediately upon the occupation of the city by the rebels. The remainder of the city will be shelled at the expiration of five (5) hours after the entrance of the enemy. Every possible facility will be afforded the citizens to get to a place of safety. It is to be hoped that there will be no unnecessary alarm, as every precaution will be taken against false rumors, and the citizens will be warned in time.
A slight skirmish took place near Newtown, Louisiana, between a party belonging to the Union forces under General Nathaniel Banks, and a small body of partisan Rebels, who had attacked guerrilla style until they had all fired at least one volley upon the Union advance; they then fell back, before being pursued. The Federal loss was one killed and four wounded.
General Joseph Wheeler received the following reply this morning from Major M. L. Patterson concerning the surrender of McMinnville, Tennessee. His answer after, and Patterson's recollections of the humility of surrender...
McMINNVILLE, TENN., October 4, 1863. I hereby unconditionally surrender all the garrison at this post to Maj.-Gen. Wheeler, C. S. Army. It is agreed between us that the entire force shall be paraded and marched out of the garrison by their ow n officers, they being protected in their private property as they have about their persons, side-arms to be excepted. M. L. PATTERSON, Maj., Comdg. Fourth Tennessee Infantry and Comdg. Post.
Approved: JOS. WHEELER, Maj.-Gen., C. S. Army.
Agreeable to the terms of surrender, the arms [were] stacked and the garrison paraded, and everything [put] in readiness to be surrendered. From 1 until 8 p. m. the men stood in line and were compelled to submit to the most brutal outrages on the part of the rebels ever known to any civilized war in America or elsewhere. The rebel troops or soldiers, and sometimes the officers, would call upon an officer or soldier standing in the line, when surrendered, for his overcoat, dress-coat, blouse, hat, shoes, boots, watch, pocket-book, money, and even to finger- rings, or, in fact, anything that happened to please their fancy, and with a pistol cocked in one hand, in the attitude of shooting, demand the article they wanted. In this way the men of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry were stripped of their blankets, oil-cloths, overcoats a large number of dress-coats, blouses, boots and shoes, jewelry, hats, knapsacks, and haversacks. When the officers tried to save the records of their companies (the assistant quartermaster, acting commissary of subsistence, and commanding officers their records) the papers were pulled out of their pockets, torn to pieces, and thrown away. All, or about all, of th e officers' clothing was taken—valises and contents. While all this was going on, Maj.-Gen. Wheeler was sitting on his horse and around the streets of McMinnville, witnessing and, we think, encouraging the same infernal outrages, seeming to not want or desire to comply with his agreement. The attention of Maj.-Gen. Wheeler, Maj.-Gen. Wharton, Gen. Martin, Gen. Davidson, and Gen. [Col.] Gillespie, and Brig.-Gen. Hodge was called to the same several times by Maj. M. L. Patterson, to gain his officers and men protection according to promise and agreement, and they would send some subordinate officer, who had no control over the men, or would reply that he (Wheeler) could not control his men; that they would do as they pleased, &c. Several of the officers of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry called on Gen. Wheeler for protection. He would pay no attention to them, saying that he had no control over his men, &c. Maj.-Gen. Wheeler then ordered the comm and outside of his immediate lines, on the Sparta road, a section of country infested with guerrillas, where there was robbing and plundering the paroled prisoners all of the way, even compelling captains to sit down in the middle of the road and pull off their boots. Yours, respectfully, M. L. PATTERSON, Maj. Fourth Tennessee Infantry
Chat
After the battle of Gettysburg, as after all battles, parties were detailed to bury the dead, usually where they fell. As the dead were many and the burial parties few, these efforts were often sketchy and the armies had barely moved out of town before the “resurrections” began. Some of these body removals were done by grieving relatives wishing to take their kinfolk home for proper funerals. Other reappearances resulted from weather washing the dirt off the crudely dug graves. The organized effort to disinter all the corpses for relocation to the National Cemetery, then in the planning stages, did not begin until much later. A problem promptly arose from the fact that the July heat had not been kind to the corpses. It was decided today that due to the advanced state of decomposition, reburials could not be done until after the first frost stabilized the ground. The first frost did not come to Gettysburg in 1863 until October 25.
Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren off the Charleston coast reportedly accepts delivery of at least two small submarines. Earlier this afternoon, Confederate observers spot a small submarine being towed over the bar in Charleston Harbor, but no official mention is made of them in Union records. A Confederate report of 8 October mentions three additional USN submarines sighted.
The steamers Chancellor, Forest Queen, and Catahoula, were destroyed by Confederate incendiaries at St. Louis, Missouri.
Such information having reached Colonel William L. Utley, commanding the Union forces at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, that that post would soon be attacked by the Southerners, the following order was issued: Non-combatants, women, and children will, immediately on the approach of the enemy, repair to the fortifications or elsewhere for safety. All that portion of the city lying adjacent to the railroad will be shelled immediately upon the occupation of the city by the rebels. The remainder of the city will be shelled at the expiration of five (5) hours after the entrance of the enemy. Every possible facility will be afforded the citizens to get to a place of safety. It is to be hoped that there will be no unnecessary alarm, as every precaution will be taken against false rumors, and the citizens will be warned in time.
A slight skirmish took place near Newtown, Louisiana, between a party belonging to the Union forces under General Nathaniel Banks, and a small body of partisan Rebels, who had attacked guerrilla style until they had all fired at least one volley upon the Union advance; they then fell back, before being pursued. The Federal loss was one killed and four wounded.
General Joseph Wheeler received the following reply this morning from Major M. L. Patterson concerning the surrender of McMinnville, Tennessee. His answer after, and Patterson's recollections of the humility of surrender...
McMINNVILLE, TENN., October 4, 1863. I hereby unconditionally surrender all the garrison at this post to Maj.-Gen. Wheeler, C. S. Army. It is agreed between us that the entire force shall be paraded and marched out of the garrison by their ow n officers, they being protected in their private property as they have about their persons, side-arms to be excepted. M. L. PATTERSON, Maj., Comdg. Fourth Tennessee Infantry and Comdg. Post.
Approved: JOS. WHEELER, Maj.-Gen., C. S. Army.
Agreeable to the terms of surrender, the arms [were] stacked and the garrison paraded, and everything [put] in readiness to be surrendered. From 1 until 8 p. m. the men stood in line and were compelled to submit to the most brutal outrages on the part of the rebels ever known to any civilized war in America or elsewhere. The rebel troops or soldiers, and sometimes the officers, would call upon an officer or soldier standing in the line, when surrendered, for his overcoat, dress-coat, blouse, hat, shoes, boots, watch, pocket-book, money, and even to finger- rings, or, in fact, anything that happened to please their fancy, and with a pistol cocked in one hand, in the attitude of shooting, demand the article they wanted. In this way the men of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry were stripped of their blankets, oil-cloths, overcoats a large number of dress-coats, blouses, boots and shoes, jewelry, hats, knapsacks, and haversacks. When the officers tried to save the records of their companies (the assistant quartermaster, acting commissary of subsistence, and commanding officers their records) the papers were pulled out of their pockets, torn to pieces, and thrown away. All, or about all, of th e officers' clothing was taken—valises and contents. While all this was going on, Maj.-Gen. Wheeler was sitting on his horse and around the streets of McMinnville, witnessing and, we think, encouraging the same infernal outrages, seeming to not want or desire to comply with his agreement. The attention of Maj.-Gen. Wheeler, Maj.-Gen. Wharton, Gen. Martin, Gen. Davidson, and Gen. [Col.] Gillespie, and Brig.-Gen. Hodge was called to the same several times by Maj. M. L. Patterson, to gain his officers and men protection according to promise and agreement, and they would send some subordinate officer, who had no control over the men, or would reply that he (Wheeler) could not control his men; that they would do as they pleased, &c. Several of the officers of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry called on Gen. Wheeler for protection. He would pay no attention to them, saying that he had no control over his men, &c. Maj.-Gen. Wheeler then ordered the comm and outside of his immediate lines, on the Sparta road, a section of country infested with guerrillas, where there was robbing and plundering the paroled prisoners all of the way, even compelling captains to sit down in the middle of the road and pull off their boots. Yours, respectfully, M. L. PATTERSON, Maj. Fourth Tennessee Infantry
Chat
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