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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 10/8/14 at 9:14 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 10/8/14 at 9:14 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 9 October 1864
The campaign to run the Confederate cavalry force of General Jubal Early out of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia continued apace today. General Phillip Sheridan delegated the job to a couple of soldiers reasonably well-known in their own right: Wesley Merritt and George Armstrong Custer. Under overall command of General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, they attacked and then pursued men under Confederate Confederate Major General Thomas Rosser and Brigadier General Lunsford Lomax for several miles, capturing some 300 prisoners. Federal losses for the day were reported as only 9 killed and 48 wounded. The pursuit continued.
Full report: Confederate General Jubal Early's force had been operating in and around the Shenandoah area for four months. Early's summer campaign caught the attention of Union General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant, who was laying siege to Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. Grant was determined to neutralize Early and secure the Shenandoah for the North. He dispatched one of his best generals, Philip Sheridan, to pursue the Rebels there.
Sheridan took command in August 1864 but spent over a month gathering his force before moving against Early. He quickly turned the tables on the Confederates, scoring major victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill in September. Early's battered force sought refuge in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, while Sheridan began systematically destroying the Shenandoah's rich agricultural resources. Sheridan used his cavalry, under the command of General Alfred Torbert, to guard the foot soldiers as they burned farms and mills and slaughtered livestock. Confederate cavalry chief General Thomas Rosser nipped at the heels of the marauding Yankee force, but Torbert refused to allow his generals, George Custer and Wesley Merritt, to counterattack. He insisted they continue to stick close to the Union infantry. Sheridan heard of this and demanded that Torbert attack.
At dawn on October 9, Custer and Merritt and their respective forces attacked the two wings of the Confederate cavalry. Merritt's 3,500 Yankees overwhelmed General Lunsford Lomax's 1,500 troopers, but Custer had more difficulty. His 2,500 men faced 3,000 men under the command of Rosser, who was, coincidentally, a close friend of Custer's at West Point before the war. Custer observed that the Rebels were protected by the high bank of Tom's Creek, so he sent three of his regiments around Rosser's flank. Both groups of Confederates broke in retreat. The Yankees pursued the defeated Confederates for over 20 miles, a flight called the Woodstock Races. The chase ended only when the Confederates reached the safety of Early's infantry.
The Yankees captured 350 men, 11 artillery pieces, and all of the cavalry's wagons and ambulances. Nine Union troopers were killed, and 48 were wounded. It was the most complete victory of Union cavalry in the eastern theater during the entire War.
A Confederate battery near Freeman's Wharf, Mobile Bay, opened fire on the side-wheeler USS Sebago, under Lieutenant Commander Fitzhugh, which was guarding the approaches to Mobile. "There was no evidence of earthworks when these guns were fired," Fitzhugh reported; "they were so masked as to make them difficult to be seen." Sebago returned the Confederate fire for an hour, sustaining five casualties.
There were several skirmishes near Van Wert, Georgia, over a two day period, as well as at Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate expeditionary force continued fighting at Boonville, California, and Russellville, Missouri. All three towns were captured by the Southerners.
Federals scout in Saint Francois County, Missouri, and skirmish with partisan guerrillas.
The campaign to run the Confederate cavalry force of General Jubal Early out of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia continued apace today. General Phillip Sheridan delegated the job to a couple of soldiers reasonably well-known in their own right: Wesley Merritt and George Armstrong Custer. Under overall command of General Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, they attacked and then pursued men under Confederate Confederate Major General Thomas Rosser and Brigadier General Lunsford Lomax for several miles, capturing some 300 prisoners. Federal losses for the day were reported as only 9 killed and 48 wounded. The pursuit continued.
Full report: Confederate General Jubal Early's force had been operating in and around the Shenandoah area for four months. Early's summer campaign caught the attention of Union General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant, who was laying siege to Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. Grant was determined to neutralize Early and secure the Shenandoah for the North. He dispatched one of his best generals, Philip Sheridan, to pursue the Rebels there.
Sheridan took command in August 1864 but spent over a month gathering his force before moving against Early. He quickly turned the tables on the Confederates, scoring major victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill in September. Early's battered force sought refuge in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, while Sheridan began systematically destroying the Shenandoah's rich agricultural resources. Sheridan used his cavalry, under the command of General Alfred Torbert, to guard the foot soldiers as they burned farms and mills and slaughtered livestock. Confederate cavalry chief General Thomas Rosser nipped at the heels of the marauding Yankee force, but Torbert refused to allow his generals, George Custer and Wesley Merritt, to counterattack. He insisted they continue to stick close to the Union infantry. Sheridan heard of this and demanded that Torbert attack.
At dawn on October 9, Custer and Merritt and their respective forces attacked the two wings of the Confederate cavalry. Merritt's 3,500 Yankees overwhelmed General Lunsford Lomax's 1,500 troopers, but Custer had more difficulty. His 2,500 men faced 3,000 men under the command of Rosser, who was, coincidentally, a close friend of Custer's at West Point before the war. Custer observed that the Rebels were protected by the high bank of Tom's Creek, so he sent three of his regiments around Rosser's flank. Both groups of Confederates broke in retreat. The Yankees pursued the defeated Confederates for over 20 miles, a flight called the Woodstock Races. The chase ended only when the Confederates reached the safety of Early's infantry.
The Yankees captured 350 men, 11 artillery pieces, and all of the cavalry's wagons and ambulances. Nine Union troopers were killed, and 48 were wounded. It was the most complete victory of Union cavalry in the eastern theater during the entire War.
A Confederate battery near Freeman's Wharf, Mobile Bay, opened fire on the side-wheeler USS Sebago, under Lieutenant Commander Fitzhugh, which was guarding the approaches to Mobile. "There was no evidence of earthworks when these guns were fired," Fitzhugh reported; "they were so masked as to make them difficult to be seen." Sebago returned the Confederate fire for an hour, sustaining five casualties.
There were several skirmishes near Van Wert, Georgia, over a two day period, as well as at Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate expeditionary force continued fighting at Boonville, California, and Russellville, Missouri. All three towns were captured by the Southerners.
Federals scout in Saint Francois County, Missouri, and skirmish with partisan guerrillas.
This post was edited on 10/9/14 at 5:07 am
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Posted on 10/9/14 at 10:37 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 10 October 1864
A year to the day after William T. Sherman had his difficulties on the waters of the Western theater, another group of Union men found themselves in an even more dire situation. A group of gunboats were offloading troops at Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River. Suddenly there was the sound of cannon fire and the men and ships were under a blistering cross fire from hidden Confederate shore batteries. The transports Aurora and Kenton were hit almost at once and began to drift downstream out of control. Lieutenant King, captain of the USS Key West and commander of the expedition, ordered another vessel, the Undine, to follow and corral the stray ships. King remained behind to evacuate the men who had already gone ashore, and to cover the escape of the lightly-armed and armored USS Pekin.
Second account: The USS Key West, under Acting Lieutenant King, and the USS Undine, Acting Master Bryant in charge, in company with transports City of Pekin, Kenton, and Aurora, were surprised by Confederate shore batteries off Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River, and after a severe engagement, were forced to retire downriver. The combined operation to take Eastport was designed to secure the river at that point against the crossing of General Forrest's cavalry and provide an outpost against the threatened advance of Confederate General Hood from the East. Departing Clifton, Tennessee, on 9 October with the gunboats in the van, the force steamed up the river and cautiously approached Eastport. Finding no evidence of the Southerners, the Federal troops began to land. Suddenly, masked batteries on both sides of the river opened a severe crossfire, immediately disabling transports Aurora and Kenton and causing widespread confusion among the troops. Key West and Undine, both steamers of about 200 tons, engaged the batteries hotly. Seeing the two disabled transports drifting downstream out of control, Lieutenant King ordered Undine to follow them, while he stayed at Eastport to cover City of Pekin as troops re-embarked and to escort her downstream in retreat.
The USS Montgomery, piloted by Lieutenant Faucon, captured the blockade running British steamer Bat near Wilmington with a cargo of coal and machinery.
General Philip Sheridan established positions near Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg. Believing he had suppressed Confederate resistance in the Valley, Sheridan was unaware that General Jubal Early was planning an attack. A corps of Sheridan’s army was transferred to Petersburg, which made the personnel in the armies of Sheridan and Early slightly more even. Early seized the opportunity.
Union President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Maryland politician Henry W. Hoffman: “I wish all men to be free. I wish the material prosperity of the already free which I feel sure the extinction of slavery would bring. I wish to see, in process of disappearing, that only thing which ever could bring this nation to civil war.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates clashed with Federal gunboats on the Tennessee River near Eastport, Mississippi.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee fought Federal supply guards near Rome, Georgia.
A year to the day after William T. Sherman had his difficulties on the waters of the Western theater, another group of Union men found themselves in an even more dire situation. A group of gunboats were offloading troops at Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River. Suddenly there was the sound of cannon fire and the men and ships were under a blistering cross fire from hidden Confederate shore batteries. The transports Aurora and Kenton were hit almost at once and began to drift downstream out of control. Lieutenant King, captain of the USS Key West and commander of the expedition, ordered another vessel, the Undine, to follow and corral the stray ships. King remained behind to evacuate the men who had already gone ashore, and to cover the escape of the lightly-armed and armored USS Pekin.
Second account: The USS Key West, under Acting Lieutenant King, and the USS Undine, Acting Master Bryant in charge, in company with transports City of Pekin, Kenton, and Aurora, were surprised by Confederate shore batteries off Eastport, Mississippi, on the Tennessee River, and after a severe engagement, were forced to retire downriver. The combined operation to take Eastport was designed to secure the river at that point against the crossing of General Forrest's cavalry and provide an outpost against the threatened advance of Confederate General Hood from the East. Departing Clifton, Tennessee, on 9 October with the gunboats in the van, the force steamed up the river and cautiously approached Eastport. Finding no evidence of the Southerners, the Federal troops began to land. Suddenly, masked batteries on both sides of the river opened a severe crossfire, immediately disabling transports Aurora and Kenton and causing widespread confusion among the troops. Key West and Undine, both steamers of about 200 tons, engaged the batteries hotly. Seeing the two disabled transports drifting downstream out of control, Lieutenant King ordered Undine to follow them, while he stayed at Eastport to cover City of Pekin as troops re-embarked and to escort her downstream in retreat.
The USS Montgomery, piloted by Lieutenant Faucon, captured the blockade running British steamer Bat near Wilmington with a cargo of coal and machinery.
General Philip Sheridan established positions near Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg. Believing he had suppressed Confederate resistance in the Valley, Sheridan was unaware that General Jubal Early was planning an attack. A corps of Sheridan’s army was transferred to Petersburg, which made the personnel in the armies of Sheridan and Early slightly more even. Early seized the opportunity.
Union President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Maryland politician Henry W. Hoffman: “I wish all men to be free. I wish the material prosperity of the already free which I feel sure the extinction of slavery would bring. I wish to see, in process of disappearing, that only thing which ever could bring this nation to civil war.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates clashed with Federal gunboats on the Tennessee River near Eastport, Mississippi.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee fought Federal supply guards near Rome, Georgia.
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