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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 11/13/13 at 4:59 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 11/13/13 at 4:59 am to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 13 November 1863
General Robert E. Lee and his men had experienced a rough summer. Heavy action in the spring, constant movement, finally the desperate move into Maryland and Pennsylvania culminating in the three days of the Gettysburg Campaign. Even after that, movement if not active battle, had been constant. This had been hard on the men of the Army of Northern Virginia, harder on their supplies and equipment. It had, however, been hardest of all on the members of the army least able to protest: the horses and other beasts of burden. General Lee sent a telegram from Orange Court House, Virginia, to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond today, imploring him to find a supply of food for the animals, saying that they had had only three pounds of corn per day per horse for the last five days. Davis ordered other supplies delayed until corn could be shipped in.
A skirmish took place near Natchez, Mississippi, between company H, of the Seventy-first Illinois regiment, and a few volunteers of the Sixth Mississippi regiment of loyal colored troops, and the Confederate cavalry under William Wirt Adams. The circumstances are as follows: The wagons of the above command were sent out for forage, the company just designated was detailed as an escort, and left camp at seven A. M. After proceeding about one mile and a half a small force of rebels was seen, the company halted, and a messenger was dispatched to inform the commanding officer, and report for instructions. Immediately on receipt of the news, Colonel Smith took the camp-guard and proceeded out on the Washington road, came up to where the foraging party had halted, and ordered it forward. [It is necessary here to state that this road leads to a village, bearing the same name, some six miles distant from this place, and two miles out it intersects the Palestine road, both of which run quite close together for a mile or more.] Both commands marched on to the "forks," when it was decided that Captain 0. H. Hitchcock, with his company, should proceed with the train toward Palestine, as was originally intended. Colonel Smith, taking the guard, followed the other road, and after marching more than a mile ordered a halt, and threw out a picket still farther on, as the rebels had been there but a few moments before. Presently a volley was heard, then another, and still another. He immediately "double-quicked" his men back, but arrived too late to participate in the engagement. Lieutenants Richards and Green, who were some distance in advance of the train, on horseback, met a squad of eight or ten cavalry coming around a bend in the road at full speed. They therefore fell back, hotly pursued by the rebels, who, when they [7] came in sight of the party immediately fled, and on meeting their comrades, they all joined and came back, and found the colored troops prepared to give them battle. Captain Hitchcock, not knowing the strength of his opposers, fell back a short distance, and the enemy rallied and charged furiously again. The rebel captain ordered Hitchcock to surrender, firing at the same time his revolver at Corporal John Heron, who dropped unhurt to his knees, and sent a ball through the miscreant's breast, which proved fatal. Rebel citizens state that the opposing force numbered fifty men, and acknowledge their loss to be one captain, sergeant, and two privates killed, and eight wounded. The Union loss was as follows:
Killed ? George Diegs, company H; Lewis Taylor, company H; Peter Grant, company H; Samuel Moden, company G. Wounded ? William Gallin, company B; Henry Brown, company H; Mil Beckford, company H; William Hegdon, company H; Zeno Callahan, company H; Duncan Turner, company H; John Bodly, company H.
John C. Crane, acting quartermaster at Nashville, Tennessee, in a note to Andrew Johnson, Governor of that State, says: The bearer, (colored,) Jane Woodall, is my house-servant. She is a slave, claimed by Christopher Woodall, a resident of Tennessee. It is said that he is disloyal, and on a previous occasion the military authorities prevented him from taking her.
The Governor's response. Executive office, Nashville, Tenn., November 18, 1868.
Respectfully returned. If the girl referred to within is willing to return with Mr. Woodall, she should be allowed to go, but, if not willing, she will not be compelled to go with him. Andrew Johnson, Military Governor.
In accordance with an order from the War Department, Major General John A. Logan surrendered his command of the Third division of the Seventeenth army corps. In addressing the officers and soldiers of the different brigades, he reminded them of the history the division had made for itself ? a history to be proud of; a history never to be forgotten; for it is written as with a pen of fire dipped in ink of blood on the memories and in the hearts of all. He besought them always to prove themselves as loyal in principle, as valiant in arms, as their record while under his command would show them to have been; to "...remember the glorious cause you are fighting for, remember the bleaching bones of your comrades killed on the bloody fields of Donelson, Corinth, Champion Hill, and Vicksburg, or perished by disease during the past two years of hardships and exposure ? and swear by these imperishable memories never, while life remains, to prove recreant to the trust high heaven has confided to your charge." He assured them of his continued sympathy and interest in their well-being, no matter how great a distance might separate them; and closed by heartily recommending them to their future commander, his own companion in arms, and successor, Brigadier General Mortimer Dormer Leggett.
General Robert E. Lee and his men had experienced a rough summer. Heavy action in the spring, constant movement, finally the desperate move into Maryland and Pennsylvania culminating in the three days of the Gettysburg Campaign. Even after that, movement if not active battle, had been constant. This had been hard on the men of the Army of Northern Virginia, harder on their supplies and equipment. It had, however, been hardest of all on the members of the army least able to protest: the horses and other beasts of burden. General Lee sent a telegram from Orange Court House, Virginia, to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond today, imploring him to find a supply of food for the animals, saying that they had had only three pounds of corn per day per horse for the last five days. Davis ordered other supplies delayed until corn could be shipped in.
A skirmish took place near Natchez, Mississippi, between company H, of the Seventy-first Illinois regiment, and a few volunteers of the Sixth Mississippi regiment of loyal colored troops, and the Confederate cavalry under William Wirt Adams. The circumstances are as follows: The wagons of the above command were sent out for forage, the company just designated was detailed as an escort, and left camp at seven A. M. After proceeding about one mile and a half a small force of rebels was seen, the company halted, and a messenger was dispatched to inform the commanding officer, and report for instructions. Immediately on receipt of the news, Colonel Smith took the camp-guard and proceeded out on the Washington road, came up to where the foraging party had halted, and ordered it forward. [It is necessary here to state that this road leads to a village, bearing the same name, some six miles distant from this place, and two miles out it intersects the Palestine road, both of which run quite close together for a mile or more.] Both commands marched on to the "forks," when it was decided that Captain 0. H. Hitchcock, with his company, should proceed with the train toward Palestine, as was originally intended. Colonel Smith, taking the guard, followed the other road, and after marching more than a mile ordered a halt, and threw out a picket still farther on, as the rebels had been there but a few moments before. Presently a volley was heard, then another, and still another. He immediately "double-quicked" his men back, but arrived too late to participate in the engagement. Lieutenants Richards and Green, who were some distance in advance of the train, on horseback, met a squad of eight or ten cavalry coming around a bend in the road at full speed. They therefore fell back, hotly pursued by the rebels, who, when they [7] came in sight of the party immediately fled, and on meeting their comrades, they all joined and came back, and found the colored troops prepared to give them battle. Captain Hitchcock, not knowing the strength of his opposers, fell back a short distance, and the enemy rallied and charged furiously again. The rebel captain ordered Hitchcock to surrender, firing at the same time his revolver at Corporal John Heron, who dropped unhurt to his knees, and sent a ball through the miscreant's breast, which proved fatal. Rebel citizens state that the opposing force numbered fifty men, and acknowledge their loss to be one captain, sergeant, and two privates killed, and eight wounded. The Union loss was as follows:
Killed ? George Diegs, company H; Lewis Taylor, company H; Peter Grant, company H; Samuel Moden, company G. Wounded ? William Gallin, company B; Henry Brown, company H; Mil Beckford, company H; William Hegdon, company H; Zeno Callahan, company H; Duncan Turner, company H; John Bodly, company H.
John C. Crane, acting quartermaster at Nashville, Tennessee, in a note to Andrew Johnson, Governor of that State, says: The bearer, (colored,) Jane Woodall, is my house-servant. She is a slave, claimed by Christopher Woodall, a resident of Tennessee. It is said that he is disloyal, and on a previous occasion the military authorities prevented him from taking her.
The Governor's response. Executive office, Nashville, Tenn., November 18, 1868.
Respectfully returned. If the girl referred to within is willing to return with Mr. Woodall, she should be allowed to go, but, if not willing, she will not be compelled to go with him. Andrew Johnson, Military Governor.
In accordance with an order from the War Department, Major General John A. Logan surrendered his command of the Third division of the Seventeenth army corps. In addressing the officers and soldiers of the different brigades, he reminded them of the history the division had made for itself ? a history to be proud of; a history never to be forgotten; for it is written as with a pen of fire dipped in ink of blood on the memories and in the hearts of all. He besought them always to prove themselves as loyal in principle, as valiant in arms, as their record while under his command would show them to have been; to "...remember the glorious cause you are fighting for, remember the bleaching bones of your comrades killed on the bloody fields of Donelson, Corinth, Champion Hill, and Vicksburg, or perished by disease during the past two years of hardships and exposure ? and swear by these imperishable memories never, while life remains, to prove recreant to the trust high heaven has confided to your charge." He assured them of his continued sympathy and interest in their well-being, no matter how great a distance might separate them; and closed by heartily recommending them to their future commander, his own companion in arms, and successor, Brigadier General Mortimer Dormer Leggett.
1
Posted on 11/14/13 at 4:09 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 14 November 1863
Still on duty in the Charleston, South Carolina area, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard had a different assignment today than last year, but not a more pleasant one. His job was to inspect the gunboats protecting the harbor and river, and report on them His report was not happy. "Our gunboats are defective in six respects", he wrote. "First, they have no speed...second, they are of too great a draft to navigate our inland waters. Third, they are unseaworthy...even in the harbor they are at times...unsafe in a storm. Fourth, they are incapable of resisting the enemy's...shots. Fifth, they can not fight at long range. Sixth, they are very costly, warm, uncomfortable and badly ventilated; consequently sickly." Beauregard's bluntness gained him no friends. Everybody knew the ships were awful, but they also knew those vessels were the only ships the South had.
Timely intelligence reports played an important role in alerting the Union blockaders. This date, Rear Admiral Bailey advised Lieutenant Commander McCauley, of the USS Fort Henry: "I have information that the steamers Alabama and Nita sailed from Havana on the 12th, with a view of running the blockade, probably at Mobile, but possibly between Tampa Bay and St. Marks [Florida]; also that the steamers Montgomery (formerly Habanero), the Isabel, the Fannie, the War-rior, and the Little Lily were nearly ready for sail, with like intent. . . the Isabel, which sailed on the 7th, has undoubtedly gone either to Bayport, the Waccasassa, or the Suwanee River. You will therefore keep a sharp lookout for any of these vessels. . . ." Four of the seven ships were captured by the blockading forces within a month.
The USS Bermuda, Acting Master J. W. Smith, seized the British blockade runners Carmita, with a full cargo of cotton, and Artist, with a cargo including liquor and medicine, off the Texas coast.
The farmers of Warren, Franklin, and Johnson counties, North Carolina, having refused to pay the Confederate tax in kind by delivering the government's tenth to the quartermaster-general, James A. Seddon, the Confederate States Secretary of War, issued the following letter of instructions to that officer:
It is true the law requires farmers to deliver their tenth at depots not more than eight miles from the place of production; but your published order requesting them for the purpose of supplying the immediate wants of the army, to deliver at the depots named, although at a greater distance than eight miles, and offering to pay for the transportation in excess of that distance, is so reasonable that no good citizen would refuse to comply with it.
You will, therefore, promulgate an addition to your former order, requiring producers to deliver their quotas at the depots nearest to them by a specified day, and notifying them that in case of their refusal or neglect to comply therewith, the Government will provide the necessary transportation at the expense of the delinquents, and collect said expense by an immediate levy on their productions, calculating their value at the rates allowed in cases of impressment.
If it becomes necessary to furnish transportation, the necessary teams, teamsters, etc., must be impressed as in ordinary cases.
All persons detected in secreting articles subject to the tax, or in deceiving as to the quantity [8] produced by them, should be made to suffer the confiscation of all such property found belonging to them.
The people in the counties named, and in fact nearly all the western counties of that State, have ever evinced a disposition to cavil at, and even resist the measures of the Government, and it is quite time that they, and all others similarly disposed, should be dealt by with becoming rigor. Now that our energies are taxed to the utmost to subsist our armies, it will not do to be defrauded of this much-needed tax. If necessary, force must be employed for its collection. Let striking examples be made of a few of the rogues, and I think the rest will respond promptly.
Major General John M. Schofield, from the headquarters of the Department of the Missouri, at St. Louis, issued an important order regarding the enlisting of colored troops. Originally the slave owner's consent was required before a slave could enlist. Order No. 135 changed this, allowing enlistment without consent. If the owner did consent they were given some compensation. In addition, the order abolished the highly effective recruitment patrols. There was much dispute that these patrols were forcing some slaves against their will.
Still on duty in the Charleston, South Carolina area, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard had a different assignment today than last year, but not a more pleasant one. His job was to inspect the gunboats protecting the harbor and river, and report on them His report was not happy. "Our gunboats are defective in six respects", he wrote. "First, they have no speed...second, they are of too great a draft to navigate our inland waters. Third, they are unseaworthy...even in the harbor they are at times...unsafe in a storm. Fourth, they are incapable of resisting the enemy's...shots. Fifth, they can not fight at long range. Sixth, they are very costly, warm, uncomfortable and badly ventilated; consequently sickly." Beauregard's bluntness gained him no friends. Everybody knew the ships were awful, but they also knew those vessels were the only ships the South had.
Timely intelligence reports played an important role in alerting the Union blockaders. This date, Rear Admiral Bailey advised Lieutenant Commander McCauley, of the USS Fort Henry: "I have information that the steamers Alabama and Nita sailed from Havana on the 12th, with a view of running the blockade, probably at Mobile, but possibly between Tampa Bay and St. Marks [Florida]; also that the steamers Montgomery (formerly Habanero), the Isabel, the Fannie, the War-rior, and the Little Lily were nearly ready for sail, with like intent. . . the Isabel, which sailed on the 7th, has undoubtedly gone either to Bayport, the Waccasassa, or the Suwanee River. You will therefore keep a sharp lookout for any of these vessels. . . ." Four of the seven ships were captured by the blockading forces within a month.
The USS Bermuda, Acting Master J. W. Smith, seized the British blockade runners Carmita, with a full cargo of cotton, and Artist, with a cargo including liquor and medicine, off the Texas coast.
The farmers of Warren, Franklin, and Johnson counties, North Carolina, having refused to pay the Confederate tax in kind by delivering the government's tenth to the quartermaster-general, James A. Seddon, the Confederate States Secretary of War, issued the following letter of instructions to that officer:
It is true the law requires farmers to deliver their tenth at depots not more than eight miles from the place of production; but your published order requesting them for the purpose of supplying the immediate wants of the army, to deliver at the depots named, although at a greater distance than eight miles, and offering to pay for the transportation in excess of that distance, is so reasonable that no good citizen would refuse to comply with it.
You will, therefore, promulgate an addition to your former order, requiring producers to deliver their quotas at the depots nearest to them by a specified day, and notifying them that in case of their refusal or neglect to comply therewith, the Government will provide the necessary transportation at the expense of the delinquents, and collect said expense by an immediate levy on their productions, calculating their value at the rates allowed in cases of impressment.
If it becomes necessary to furnish transportation, the necessary teams, teamsters, etc., must be impressed as in ordinary cases.
All persons detected in secreting articles subject to the tax, or in deceiving as to the quantity [8] produced by them, should be made to suffer the confiscation of all such property found belonging to them.
The people in the counties named, and in fact nearly all the western counties of that State, have ever evinced a disposition to cavil at, and even resist the measures of the Government, and it is quite time that they, and all others similarly disposed, should be dealt by with becoming rigor. Now that our energies are taxed to the utmost to subsist our armies, it will not do to be defrauded of this much-needed tax. If necessary, force must be employed for its collection. Let striking examples be made of a few of the rogues, and I think the rest will respond promptly.
Major General John M. Schofield, from the headquarters of the Department of the Missouri, at St. Louis, issued an important order regarding the enlisting of colored troops. Originally the slave owner's consent was required before a slave could enlist. Order No. 135 changed this, allowing enlistment without consent. If the owner did consent they were given some compensation. In addition, the order abolished the highly effective recruitment patrols. There was much dispute that these patrols were forcing some slaves against their will.
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