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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 11/21/13 at 4:10 am to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 11/21/13 at 4:10 am to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 21 November 1863
The Union armies that had been bottled up in Chattanooga since the battle of Chickamauga had reached its disastrous conclusion were about to be idle no longer. General Hiram U. Grant was on the scene and settling the last details of the breakout battle with his commanders. General William Sherman was to engage in a complicated movement requiring not one, but two crossings of the Tennessee River to get to the Confederate right flank. General George Thomas was to strike the center, a formation known as Missionary Ridge. General Joseph Hooker, who was doing much better since his reassignment to the west, was to move into the valley below Lookout Mountain then attack the Confederate left.
The USS Grand Gulf, under Commander George M. Ransom, and the Army transport Fulton seized the blockade running British steamer Banshee south of Salter Path, North Carolina.
The steamer Welcome was attacked this morning at Waterproof, Louisiana, by partisan guerrillas, with cannon planted on the levee, and twelve balls and shells fired through and into the cabin and other parts of the boat, besides nearly three hundred Minie balls from the sharpshooters along the banks of the river.
Acting Master J. F. D. Robinson, commander of the Satellite, and Acting Ensign Henry Walters, who was in command of the Reliance, were dismissed from the Navy of the United States, for gross dereliction in the case of the capture of their vessels on the twenty-third of August, 1863. The Department of the Navy regretted "...the necessity of this action in the case of Acting Ensign Walters, inasmuch as the Court report that 'during the attack he acted with bravery and to the best of his ability, and which, in some measure, relieves his want of precaution against surprise from its otherwise inexcusable character, and shows that his failure to take them proceeded more from inexperience than negligence.' "
At Little Rock, Arkansas, a large Union meeting was held, at which the "...restoration of State Rights under the old Government" was advocated, and a great number of persons took the oath of allegiance and enrolled themselves for home defense.
The British Confederate blockade-runner steamer Banshee, was captured by the United States Steamers Delaware and Fulton, off of Wilmington, North Carolina.
The steamer Black Hawk, when about half a mile below Red River Landing, on the Mississippi River, was fired into from the east bank of the river by a battery of ten or twelve guns, and about fifteen round shot and shell struck the boat. One shell exploded in the Texas, setting fire to and burning that part of the boat and pilot-house. As soon as the captain and officers found the boat on fire, they ran her on a sandbar on the west side of the river, and immediately put all the passengers on shore, after which the fire was extinguished. While the boat lay aground on the sand-bar, the sharp-shooters were pouring in their murderous Minie balls, of which some three hundred struck the boat in different parts of her cabin and hull. It was the guerrillas' intention to follow the boat, but the gunboat stationed at the mouth of Red River followed them so close, pouring in shell among them, that she drove them back, after which the gunboat took the Black Hawk in tow, and carried her back to Red River, where she repaired sufficiently to proceed on her way. The casualties on board the boat were very severe. Mr. Samuel Fulton, a brother of the captain, was shot in the leg by a cannon-ball. His leg was afterward amputated below the knee. A colored man, by the name of Alfred Thomas, had his head blown off while lying flat down on the cable-deck. James Keller, of Louisville, belonging to the Twenty-second Kentucky volunteers, received a wound in the arm from a fragment of a shell. His arm was afterward amputated, and he soon after died. A passenger was slightly wounded in the arm.
The Union armies that had been bottled up in Chattanooga since the battle of Chickamauga had reached its disastrous conclusion were about to be idle no longer. General Hiram U. Grant was on the scene and settling the last details of the breakout battle with his commanders. General William Sherman was to engage in a complicated movement requiring not one, but two crossings of the Tennessee River to get to the Confederate right flank. General George Thomas was to strike the center, a formation known as Missionary Ridge. General Joseph Hooker, who was doing much better since his reassignment to the west, was to move into the valley below Lookout Mountain then attack the Confederate left.
The USS Grand Gulf, under Commander George M. Ransom, and the Army transport Fulton seized the blockade running British steamer Banshee south of Salter Path, North Carolina.
The steamer Welcome was attacked this morning at Waterproof, Louisiana, by partisan guerrillas, with cannon planted on the levee, and twelve balls and shells fired through and into the cabin and other parts of the boat, besides nearly three hundred Minie balls from the sharpshooters along the banks of the river.
Acting Master J. F. D. Robinson, commander of the Satellite, and Acting Ensign Henry Walters, who was in command of the Reliance, were dismissed from the Navy of the United States, for gross dereliction in the case of the capture of their vessels on the twenty-third of August, 1863. The Department of the Navy regretted "...the necessity of this action in the case of Acting Ensign Walters, inasmuch as the Court report that 'during the attack he acted with bravery and to the best of his ability, and which, in some measure, relieves his want of precaution against surprise from its otherwise inexcusable character, and shows that his failure to take them proceeded more from inexperience than negligence.' "
At Little Rock, Arkansas, a large Union meeting was held, at which the "...restoration of State Rights under the old Government" was advocated, and a great number of persons took the oath of allegiance and enrolled themselves for home defense.
The British Confederate blockade-runner steamer Banshee, was captured by the United States Steamers Delaware and Fulton, off of Wilmington, North Carolina.
The steamer Black Hawk, when about half a mile below Red River Landing, on the Mississippi River, was fired into from the east bank of the river by a battery of ten or twelve guns, and about fifteen round shot and shell struck the boat. One shell exploded in the Texas, setting fire to and burning that part of the boat and pilot-house. As soon as the captain and officers found the boat on fire, they ran her on a sandbar on the west side of the river, and immediately put all the passengers on shore, after which the fire was extinguished. While the boat lay aground on the sand-bar, the sharp-shooters were pouring in their murderous Minie balls, of which some three hundred struck the boat in different parts of her cabin and hull. It was the guerrillas' intention to follow the boat, but the gunboat stationed at the mouth of Red River followed them so close, pouring in shell among them, that she drove them back, after which the gunboat took the Black Hawk in tow, and carried her back to Red River, where she repaired sufficiently to proceed on her way. The casualties on board the boat were very severe. Mr. Samuel Fulton, a brother of the captain, was shot in the leg by a cannon-ball. His leg was afterward amputated below the knee. A colored man, by the name of Alfred Thomas, had his head blown off while lying flat down on the cable-deck. James Keller, of Louisville, belonging to the Twenty-second Kentucky volunteers, received a wound in the arm from a fragment of a shell. His arm was afterward amputated, and he soon after died. A passenger was slightly wounded in the arm.
1
Posted on 11/22/13 at 5:07 am to BadLeroyDawg
A scouting-party of fifty men, belonging to Colonel Higginson's regiment, First South-Carolina colored troops, was sent, under the command of Captain Bryant, Eighth Maine volunteers, and Captain Whitney, First South-Carolina colored volunteers, to release twenty-eight colored people held in pretended slavery by a man named Hayward, near Pocotaligo, S. C. The expedition was successful. The captives were released and their freedom restored to them. Two rebel horse-soldiers, stationed as pickets, were regularly captured as prisoners of war. These men were members of the First South-Carolina cavalry. Their comrades, seventy-five in number, under command of a major, pursued the raiding party toward the ferry at Barnwell's Island. The negroes received them in ambush, and fired on them at twenty paces, emptying several saddles, and putting them to flight. Obtaining reenforcements and artillery, they tracked the retreating colored men with bloodhounds. The dogs dashed into the party in advance of their comrades, the rebels. One hound was shot, and left with broken legs upon the field. Five others were impaled upon the bayonets of the Union troops, and brought as trophies into their camp. The gallantry of the negroes on this occasion was manifested not merely by their brilliant bravery, but by the willingness with which they gave up the ferry-boats (in which they had crossed to the mainland) to their wounded and to the non-combatantSunday, 22 November 1863
At Missionary Ridge in Georgia various forces were preparing for action, but not everyone was preparing properly for the action they were going to face. On the Confederate side, General Braxton Bragg of the Army of Tennessee detached General Simon Bolivar Buckner to Knoxville to support General James Longstreet. Longstreet, himself on detached duty from the Army of Northern Virginia, had General Ambrose Burnside's forces under siege there and hoped to defeat him entirely. Meanwhile on the Union side, General Hiram U. Grant was ordering General George Thomas to perform a "demonstration" in front of Missionary Ridge. A form of preliminary probing before a battle, this helped to detect the enemy's positions while giving away little about the attacker's strength and location. Bragg was very shortly going to wish he had Longstreet back.
This morning, the USS Aroostook, under Lieutenant Chester Hatfield, captured the schooner Eureka off Galveston, Texas. She had been bound to Havana with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Jacob Bell, Acting Master Schulze in charge, transported and supported a troop landing at St. George's Island, Maryland, where some 30 Confederates, some of whom were blockade runners, were captured.
Union Report from Rebellion Record, a Diary of American Events: A scouting-party of fifty men, belonging to Colonel Higginson's regiment, First South-Carolina colored troops, was sent, under the command of Captain Bryant, Eighth Maine volunteers, and Captain Whitney, First South-Carolina colored volunteers, to release twenty-eight colored people held in pretended slavery by a man named Hayward, near Pocotaligo, S. C. The expedition was successful. The captives were released and their freedom restored to them. Two rebel horse-soldiers, stationed as pickets, were regularly captured as prisoners of war. These men were members of the First South-Carolina cavalry. Their comrades, seventy-five in number, under command of a major, pursued the raiding party toward the ferry at Barnwell's Island. The negroes received them in ambush, and fired on them at twenty paces, emptying several saddles, and putting them to flight. Obtaining reenforcements and artillery, they tracked the retreating colored men with bloodhounds. The dogs dashed into the party in advance of their comrades, the rebels. One hound was shot, and left with broken legs upon the field. Five others were impaled upon the bayonets of the Union troops, and brought as trophies into their camp. The gallantry of the negroes on this occasion was manifested not merely by their brilliant bravery, but by the willingness with which they gave up the ferry-boats (in which they had crossed to the mainland) to their wounded and to the non-combatants on their return. In fording the river, two of their number were drowned. Another man, a corporal, was lost. Six of the party were wounded.
At Missionary Ridge in Georgia various forces were preparing for action, but not everyone was preparing properly for the action they were going to face. On the Confederate side, General Braxton Bragg of the Army of Tennessee detached General Simon Bolivar Buckner to Knoxville to support General James Longstreet. Longstreet, himself on detached duty from the Army of Northern Virginia, had General Ambrose Burnside's forces under siege there and hoped to defeat him entirely. Meanwhile on the Union side, General Hiram U. Grant was ordering General George Thomas to perform a "demonstration" in front of Missionary Ridge. A form of preliminary probing before a battle, this helped to detect the enemy's positions while giving away little about the attacker's strength and location. Bragg was very shortly going to wish he had Longstreet back.
This morning, the USS Aroostook, under Lieutenant Chester Hatfield, captured the schooner Eureka off Galveston, Texas. She had been bound to Havana with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Jacob Bell, Acting Master Schulze in charge, transported and supported a troop landing at St. George's Island, Maryland, where some 30 Confederates, some of whom were blockade runners, were captured.
Union Report from Rebellion Record, a Diary of American Events: A scouting-party of fifty men, belonging to Colonel Higginson's regiment, First South-Carolina colored troops, was sent, under the command of Captain Bryant, Eighth Maine volunteers, and Captain Whitney, First South-Carolina colored volunteers, to release twenty-eight colored people held in pretended slavery by a man named Hayward, near Pocotaligo, S. C. The expedition was successful. The captives were released and their freedom restored to them. Two rebel horse-soldiers, stationed as pickets, were regularly captured as prisoners of war. These men were members of the First South-Carolina cavalry. Their comrades, seventy-five in number, under command of a major, pursued the raiding party toward the ferry at Barnwell's Island. The negroes received them in ambush, and fired on them at twenty paces, emptying several saddles, and putting them to flight. Obtaining reenforcements and artillery, they tracked the retreating colored men with bloodhounds. The dogs dashed into the party in advance of their comrades, the rebels. One hound was shot, and left with broken legs upon the field. Five others were impaled upon the bayonets of the Union troops, and brought as trophies into their camp. The gallantry of the negroes on this occasion was manifested not merely by their brilliant bravery, but by the willingness with which they gave up the ferry-boats (in which they had crossed to the mainland) to their wounded and to the non-combatants on their return. In fording the river, two of their number were drowned. Another man, a corporal, was lost. Six of the party were wounded.
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