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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 3/31/15 at 10:11 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 3/31/15 at 10:11 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 1 April 1865 (continued)
The development of torpedoes had been encouraged by Matthew Fontaine Maury, John Mercer Brooke and others early in the war. Had the Confederate government at this time perceived the all-embracing influence of the Union Navy in combined operations, it would have vigorously developed this strange new weapon. The early use of torpedoes could have greatly, perhaps decisively, delayed the devastating joint operations. Successive Confederate disasters at Hatteras Inlet and at Port Royal, in the sounds of North Carolina and in the Mississippi Valley, and at New Orleans, shocked Richmond into action. Losses eventually became severe for the Union Navy, but they were too late to affect the outcome.
A Federal naval officer writing soon after the war summarized this development: "With a vast extent of coast peculiarly open to attack from sea; with a great territory traversed in every part by navigable streams...the South had no navy to oppose to that of the Union-a condition which, from the very commencement of the struggle, stood in the way of their success, and neutralized their prodigious efforts on land. Their seaports were wrested from them, or blockaded, fleets of gunboats, mostly clad with iron, covered their bays and ascended their rivers, carrying dismay to their hearts, and success to the Union cause...Under such a pressure, the pressure of dire distress and great necessity, the Rebels turned their attention to torpedoes as a means of defense against such terrible odds, hoping by their use to render such few harbors and streams as yet remained to them inaccessible, or in some degree dangerous to the victorious gunboats."
The development of torpedoes had been encouraged by Matthew Fontaine Maury, John Mercer Brooke and others early in the war. Had the Confederate government at this time perceived the all-embracing influence of the Union Navy in combined operations, it would have vigorously developed this strange new weapon. The early use of torpedoes could have greatly, perhaps decisively, delayed the devastating joint operations. Successive Confederate disasters at Hatteras Inlet and at Port Royal, in the sounds of North Carolina and in the Mississippi Valley, and at New Orleans, shocked Richmond into action. Losses eventually became severe for the Union Navy, but they were too late to affect the outcome.
A Federal naval officer writing soon after the war summarized this development: "With a vast extent of coast peculiarly open to attack from sea; with a great territory traversed in every part by navigable streams...the South had no navy to oppose to that of the Union-a condition which, from the very commencement of the struggle, stood in the way of their success, and neutralized their prodigious efforts on land. Their seaports were wrested from them, or blockaded, fleets of gunboats, mostly clad with iron, covered their bays and ascended their rivers, carrying dismay to their hearts, and success to the Union cause...Under such a pressure, the pressure of dire distress and great necessity, the Rebels turned their attention to torpedoes as a means of defense against such terrible odds, hoping by their use to render such few harbors and streams as yet remained to them inaccessible, or in some degree dangerous to the victorious gunboats."
1
Posted on 4/2/15 at 4:42 am to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 2 April 1865
At 0430, Union troops advanced under a heavy fog along the Petersburg, Virginia, lines. By 0700, the drive was fully under way and was successful everywhere. The Federal Sixth Corps captured the South Side Railroad near Sutherland's Station, and the Confederate lines melted along Hatcher’s Run. West of the Boydton Plank Road, while attempting to rally his men and reach his own lines, Confederate Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill is mortally wounded by a Federal straggler. Only two forts, Gregg and Baldwin, still hold out at noon on the western part of the lines, making retreat possible only by crossing the Appomattox River.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee was determined to hold the inner fortifications until night enabled him to withdraw. In a few places, the Confederates stiffened their resistance in the afternoon until it was obvious that they had to pull out. Orders to evacuate Petersburg and for the defenders north of the James River to retreat through Richmond and join the remainder of the Army of Northern Virginia with Amelia Court House, forty miles west, as the rally point. Federal losses sustained amounted to 3,189 wounded, 625 killed and 326 missing for a total loss of 4,140 out of 63,000 engaged. Confederates engaged approximately 18,500 with unknown losses.
In Richmond, Virginia, a messenger entered St. Paul’s Church while the minister gave the prayer for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis left quietly and went to his office to learn of the disaster that occurred at Petersburg. By 11 tonight, Davis and most of his Cabinet departed by train for Danville, Virginia. Rail stations were jammed and the streets filled with many of the local citizens and refugees crowding the city. Inmates broke from the state prison and the Local Defense Brigade was unable to keep order. Confederate government records were either sent away or burned. Cotton, tobacco and military stores were set on fire, which soon raged out of control. Richmond was falling at last. The Confederate government, however, still existed even though it was in transit. The War resumed.
Actions occur at Scott's Cross Roads, Virginia, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
In Mobile, Alabama, the siege of Fort Blakely began while the siege of Spanish Fort continued led by Major General Edward R. S. Canby.
Skirmishing breaks out near Goldsboro, North Carolina, as Union Major General William T. Sherman presses forward; also at Van Buren and Hickory Station, Arkansas.
President Abraham Lincoln went to the front at Petersburg and saw some of the fighting from a distance while keeping Washington informed to the progress of Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant’s armies.
Union Charles Griffin is appointed Major General.
Skirmishing occurs near Centerville, Alabama, with Union Brigadier General James H. Wilson's forces near Scottsville.
An engagement happens at Selma, Alabama, where Lieutenant Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Richard Taylor retreat from the Union onslaught under Major General James H. Wilson with Wilson capturing over 2,700 prisoners. The Yankee troops occupy Selma.
Skirmishing occurs at Summerfield, Alabama.
A skirmish breaks out 4 miles form Hickory Station, Arkansas, on the Little Rock and Devall's Railroad, where the Confederates derail part of the train but are driven off by the Federal troops aboard. While the attack was progressing, most of the passengers flee into the prairie, only returning when the coast is clear. Included was a Yankee from the 12th Michigan Infantry who threw his saber away in the brush, retrieving it after danger had passed. The men got the train back on the rails and proceed forward.
Skirmishing commences 2 miles from Van Buren, Arkansas, as the Yankees kill 2 Confederates who just recently robbed several local citizens. Papers found on the bodies indicate they were from Fulton, Texas, enroute to Missouri.
A Federal expedition travels from the Hermitage, across the Amite, to the French Settlement, Louisiana, in pursuit of partisan guerrillas.
Union Major General Joseph A. Mower assumes the command of the 20th US Army Corps, North Carolina.
Naval report: As spring blossomed in Virginia, General Grant's powerful army, outnumbering Lee's by several times, unleashed its final attack. On 1 April he had outflanked Lee's thin lines southwest of Petersburg in the battle of Five Forks. He ordered an all-out assault on Petersburg along the entire front for the 2nd. Union batteries fired all night preparing for the attack and Fort Sedgwick's heavy fire again earned it the nickname "Fort Hell." Porter's fleet made a feint attack. The Confederates fought fiercely in Petersburg throughout the 2nd, but one by one the strong points fell. That night Lee withdrew.
Mrs. Lincoln had returned to Washington on the River Queen on 1 April. The President embarked in Malvern with Porter. His "...bunk was too short for his length, and he was compelled to fold his legs the first night..." but Porter's carpenters remodeled the cabin on the sly, and the second morning Lincoln appeared at breakfast with the story that he had shrunk "...six inches in length and about a foot sideways." During the evening of the 2nd the two sat on the upper deck of the ship listening to the artillery and musket fire ashore as General Grant's troops, having rendered Richmond untenable with a crushing victory in the day long battle at Petersburg, closed in on the Confederate capital. Lincoln asked the Admiral: "Can't the Navy do something at this particular moment to make history?" Porter's reply was a tribute to the officers and men throughout the Navy who all during the war made history through vital if often unheralded deeds: "The Navy is doing its best just now, holding the enemy's four [three heavy ironclads in utter uselessness. If those vessels could reach City Point they would commit great havoc...Grant's position on the Petersburg Richmond front had long depended on holding City Point where water borne supplies could be brought. The Federal fleet maintained this vital base.
At 0430, Union troops advanced under a heavy fog along the Petersburg, Virginia, lines. By 0700, the drive was fully under way and was successful everywhere. The Federal Sixth Corps captured the South Side Railroad near Sutherland's Station, and the Confederate lines melted along Hatcher’s Run. West of the Boydton Plank Road, while attempting to rally his men and reach his own lines, Confederate Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill is mortally wounded by a Federal straggler. Only two forts, Gregg and Baldwin, still hold out at noon on the western part of the lines, making retreat possible only by crossing the Appomattox River.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee was determined to hold the inner fortifications until night enabled him to withdraw. In a few places, the Confederates stiffened their resistance in the afternoon until it was obvious that they had to pull out. Orders to evacuate Petersburg and for the defenders north of the James River to retreat through Richmond and join the remainder of the Army of Northern Virginia with Amelia Court House, forty miles west, as the rally point. Federal losses sustained amounted to 3,189 wounded, 625 killed and 326 missing for a total loss of 4,140 out of 63,000 engaged. Confederates engaged approximately 18,500 with unknown losses.
In Richmond, Virginia, a messenger entered St. Paul’s Church while the minister gave the prayer for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis left quietly and went to his office to learn of the disaster that occurred at Petersburg. By 11 tonight, Davis and most of his Cabinet departed by train for Danville, Virginia. Rail stations were jammed and the streets filled with many of the local citizens and refugees crowding the city. Inmates broke from the state prison and the Local Defense Brigade was unable to keep order. Confederate government records were either sent away or burned. Cotton, tobacco and military stores were set on fire, which soon raged out of control. Richmond was falling at last. The Confederate government, however, still existed even though it was in transit. The War resumed.
Actions occur at Scott's Cross Roads, Virginia, the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign.
In Mobile, Alabama, the siege of Fort Blakely began while the siege of Spanish Fort continued led by Major General Edward R. S. Canby.
Skirmishing breaks out near Goldsboro, North Carolina, as Union Major General William T. Sherman presses forward; also at Van Buren and Hickory Station, Arkansas.
President Abraham Lincoln went to the front at Petersburg and saw some of the fighting from a distance while keeping Washington informed to the progress of Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant’s armies.
Union Charles Griffin is appointed Major General.
Skirmishing occurs near Centerville, Alabama, with Union Brigadier General James H. Wilson's forces near Scottsville.
An engagement happens at Selma, Alabama, where Lieutenant Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Richard Taylor retreat from the Union onslaught under Major General James H. Wilson with Wilson capturing over 2,700 prisoners. The Yankee troops occupy Selma.
Skirmishing occurs at Summerfield, Alabama.
A skirmish breaks out 4 miles form Hickory Station, Arkansas, on the Little Rock and Devall's Railroad, where the Confederates derail part of the train but are driven off by the Federal troops aboard. While the attack was progressing, most of the passengers flee into the prairie, only returning when the coast is clear. Included was a Yankee from the 12th Michigan Infantry who threw his saber away in the brush, retrieving it after danger had passed. The men got the train back on the rails and proceed forward.
Skirmishing commences 2 miles from Van Buren, Arkansas, as the Yankees kill 2 Confederates who just recently robbed several local citizens. Papers found on the bodies indicate they were from Fulton, Texas, enroute to Missouri.
A Federal expedition travels from the Hermitage, across the Amite, to the French Settlement, Louisiana, in pursuit of partisan guerrillas.
Union Major General Joseph A. Mower assumes the command of the 20th US Army Corps, North Carolina.
Naval report: As spring blossomed in Virginia, General Grant's powerful army, outnumbering Lee's by several times, unleashed its final attack. On 1 April he had outflanked Lee's thin lines southwest of Petersburg in the battle of Five Forks. He ordered an all-out assault on Petersburg along the entire front for the 2nd. Union batteries fired all night preparing for the attack and Fort Sedgwick's heavy fire again earned it the nickname "Fort Hell." Porter's fleet made a feint attack. The Confederates fought fiercely in Petersburg throughout the 2nd, but one by one the strong points fell. That night Lee withdrew.
Mrs. Lincoln had returned to Washington on the River Queen on 1 April. The President embarked in Malvern with Porter. His "...bunk was too short for his length, and he was compelled to fold his legs the first night..." but Porter's carpenters remodeled the cabin on the sly, and the second morning Lincoln appeared at breakfast with the story that he had shrunk "...six inches in length and about a foot sideways." During the evening of the 2nd the two sat on the upper deck of the ship listening to the artillery and musket fire ashore as General Grant's troops, having rendered Richmond untenable with a crushing victory in the day long battle at Petersburg, closed in on the Confederate capital. Lincoln asked the Admiral: "Can't the Navy do something at this particular moment to make history?" Porter's reply was a tribute to the officers and men throughout the Navy who all during the war made history through vital if often unheralded deeds: "The Navy is doing its best just now, holding the enemy's four [three heavy ironclads in utter uselessness. If those vessels could reach City Point they would commit great havoc...Grant's position on the Petersburg Richmond front had long depended on holding City Point where water borne supplies could be brought. The Federal fleet maintained this vital base.
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