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re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 2/6/14 at 10:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 2/6/14 at 10:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 7 February 1864
General George Pickett, whose division had been decimated in the charge at Gettysburg, had exaggerated somewhat if he actually said that afternoon... “General Lee, I have no division.” What forces he had left were still fighting for the Confederacy. On this day, he had just returned from a foray (unsuccessful) to New Berne, North Carolina. He was then informed by a letter from President Jefferson Davis that he was to detach two brigades to come to the defense of Richmond, Virginia. The populace was alarmed by rumors that the Union prisoners there were plotting to escape and pillage the town.
Great excitement and consternation existed in Richmond on account of the approach of General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler's forces upon that place. Last night the bells of the city were rung, and men were rushing through the streets, crying: “To arms, to arms! The Yankees are coming!” During the remainder of the night there was an intense commotion everywhere visible. The Home Guard was called out, and the tramp of armed men could be heard in all directions. Cannon were being hauled through the streets. Old folks, women and children were hurrying to and fro, and there was all the evidence of such a panic as had never before been witnessed in Richmond.
This morning there was no abatement in the excitement. The guards were all marched out of the city to the defenses, and the armed citizens placed on guard over the prisoners. Horsemen were dashing to and fro, and the excitement among the prisoners to know the cause of all this commotion became intense. It was soon learned that a large cavalry and infantry force, with artillery, had made their appearance on the peninsula at Bottom's Bridge, within ten miles of the city, a point so famous in General George McClellan's peninsula campaign, and that Richmond was actually threatened by the Yankees. The same hurrying of troops, arming of citizens, and excitement among the women and children continued during the morning. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the alarm bells were again rung with great fury. The rumors that prevailed were conflicting and wild, and it was the impression that eight or ten thousand cavalry would have found but little difficulty in entering the city, liberating the prisoners, destroying the forts and public property, and retiring by the peninsula before any sufficient force to resist them could be brought to the aid of the small garrison left to defend it.
The Confederate steamer CSS St. Mary's, trapped in McGirt's Creek, above Jacksonville, Florida, by the USS Norwich, under Acting Master Frank B. Meriam, was sunk and her cargo of cotton destroyed to prevent its falling into Union hands.
The reconnaissance which was sent out from the Army of the Potomac on Friday night and yesterday morning, returned today, having ascertained the Rebels' exact position and probable strength. The Second corps (General Warren's) took to Morton's Ford at seven A. M., yesterday, under Generals Caldwell, Webb, and Hayes. General Alexander Hayes, commanding the Third Division, led the advance in person, fording the river waist-deep, on foot, at the head of General J. T. Owen's brigade. The Confederate sharpshooters, in rifle-pits, on the other side, kept up a galling fire, while a battery stationed on the hills to the right, and a mile beyond the ford, hotly shelled the advancing column. On reaching the south bank of the Rapidan River, a charge was made on the rebel rifle-pits, and twenty-eight men and an officer captured. Much skirmishing ensued, and at midnight Warren re-crossed his troops.
A fight took place at Vidalia, Louisiana.
General George Pickett, whose division had been decimated in the charge at Gettysburg, had exaggerated somewhat if he actually said that afternoon... “General Lee, I have no division.” What forces he had left were still fighting for the Confederacy. On this day, he had just returned from a foray (unsuccessful) to New Berne, North Carolina. He was then informed by a letter from President Jefferson Davis that he was to detach two brigades to come to the defense of Richmond, Virginia. The populace was alarmed by rumors that the Union prisoners there were plotting to escape and pillage the town.
Great excitement and consternation existed in Richmond on account of the approach of General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler's forces upon that place. Last night the bells of the city were rung, and men were rushing through the streets, crying: “To arms, to arms! The Yankees are coming!” During the remainder of the night there was an intense commotion everywhere visible. The Home Guard was called out, and the tramp of armed men could be heard in all directions. Cannon were being hauled through the streets. Old folks, women and children were hurrying to and fro, and there was all the evidence of such a panic as had never before been witnessed in Richmond.
This morning there was no abatement in the excitement. The guards were all marched out of the city to the defenses, and the armed citizens placed on guard over the prisoners. Horsemen were dashing to and fro, and the excitement among the prisoners to know the cause of all this commotion became intense. It was soon learned that a large cavalry and infantry force, with artillery, had made their appearance on the peninsula at Bottom's Bridge, within ten miles of the city, a point so famous in General George McClellan's peninsula campaign, and that Richmond was actually threatened by the Yankees. The same hurrying of troops, arming of citizens, and excitement among the women and children continued during the morning. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the alarm bells were again rung with great fury. The rumors that prevailed were conflicting and wild, and it was the impression that eight or ten thousand cavalry would have found but little difficulty in entering the city, liberating the prisoners, destroying the forts and public property, and retiring by the peninsula before any sufficient force to resist them could be brought to the aid of the small garrison left to defend it.
The Confederate steamer CSS St. Mary's, trapped in McGirt's Creek, above Jacksonville, Florida, by the USS Norwich, under Acting Master Frank B. Meriam, was sunk and her cargo of cotton destroyed to prevent its falling into Union hands.
The reconnaissance which was sent out from the Army of the Potomac on Friday night and yesterday morning, returned today, having ascertained the Rebels' exact position and probable strength. The Second corps (General Warren's) took to Morton's Ford at seven A. M., yesterday, under Generals Caldwell, Webb, and Hayes. General Alexander Hayes, commanding the Third Division, led the advance in person, fording the river waist-deep, on foot, at the head of General J. T. Owen's brigade. The Confederate sharpshooters, in rifle-pits, on the other side, kept up a galling fire, while a battery stationed on the hills to the right, and a mile beyond the ford, hotly shelled the advancing column. On reaching the south bank of the Rapidan River, a charge was made on the rebel rifle-pits, and twenty-eight men and an officer captured. Much skirmishing ensued, and at midnight Warren re-crossed his troops.
A fight took place at Vidalia, Louisiana.
1
Posted on 2/7/14 at 9:30 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 8 February 1864
Commander Catesby ap Roger Jones, commanding the Confederate Naval Gun Factory at Selma, Alabama, wrote today to Admiral Franklin Buchanan at Mobile about the technological innovations the Federals were bringing to marine warfare and of the fighting qualities of the Union monitors. "The revolving turret enables the monitor class to bring their guns to bear without reference to the movements or turning of the vessel. You who fought the Virginia know well how to appreciate that great advantage. You doubtless recollect how often I reported to you that we could not bring one of her ten guns to bear. In fighting that class, it is very important to prevent the turret from revolving, which I think may be done either with the VII-inch or 6.4-inch rifles or 64 pounder, provided their projectiles strike the turret at or near its base where it joins the deck. . . . If the turret is prevented from revolving, the vessel is then less efficient than one with the same guns having the ordinary ports, as the monitors' ports are so small that the guns can not be trained except by the helm."
The expedition sent by General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, with the object of making a sudden dash into Richmond, Virginia, and releasing the Union prisoners confined there, returned, having been unsuccessful. The following are the facts of the affair: On Saturday morning, February sixth, General Butler's forces, under command of Brigadier General Wistar, marched from Yorktown by the way of New Kent Court House. The cavalry arrived at half-past 2 o'clock yesterday morning at Bottom's Bridge, across the Chickahominy, ten miles from Richmond, for the purpose of making a raid into Richmond, and endeavoring, by a surprise, to liberate the prisoners there.
The cavalry reached the bridge at the time appointed, marching, in sixteen hours and a half, forty-seven miles. A force of infantry followed in their rear, for the purpose of supporting them. It was expected to surprise the enemy at Bottom's Bridge, who had had for some time only a small picket there. The surprise failed, because, as the Richmond Examiner of today says, “...a Yankee deserter gave information in Richmond of the intended movement.” The enemy had felled a large amount of timber, so as to block up and obstruct the roads and make it impossible for our cavalry to pass. After remaining at the bridge from two o'clock until twelve, General Isaac Jones Wistar joined them with his infantry, and the whole object of the surprise having been defeated, they all returned to Williamsburg. On his march back to New Kent Court House, his rear was attacked by the enemy, but they were repulsed without loss. A march by the Union infantry, three regiments of whom were colored, of more than eighty miles, was. made in fifty-six hours. The cavalry marched over one hundred miles in fifty hours.
The office of the newspaper Constitution and Union, at Fairfield, Iowa, edited by David Sheward, was visited by company E, Second Iowa, today. The type and paper were thrown out of the windows, and subscription books destroyed for printing that the northern invasion should end.
General Foster telegraphed from Knoxville, under date of yesterday, that an expedition sent against Thomas and his band of Indians and whites, at Qualla Town, North Carolina, had returned completely successful. They surprised the town, killed and wounded two hundred and fifteen, took fifty prisoners, and dispersed the remainder of the unit in the mountains. The Union loss was reported as two killed and six wounded.
Commander Catesby ap Roger Jones, commanding the Confederate Naval Gun Factory at Selma, Alabama, wrote today to Admiral Franklin Buchanan at Mobile about the technological innovations the Federals were bringing to marine warfare and of the fighting qualities of the Union monitors. "The revolving turret enables the monitor class to bring their guns to bear without reference to the movements or turning of the vessel. You who fought the Virginia know well how to appreciate that great advantage. You doubtless recollect how often I reported to you that we could not bring one of her ten guns to bear. In fighting that class, it is very important to prevent the turret from revolving, which I think may be done either with the VII-inch or 6.4-inch rifles or 64 pounder, provided their projectiles strike the turret at or near its base where it joins the deck. . . . If the turret is prevented from revolving, the vessel is then less efficient than one with the same guns having the ordinary ports, as the monitors' ports are so small that the guns can not be trained except by the helm."
The expedition sent by General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, with the object of making a sudden dash into Richmond, Virginia, and releasing the Union prisoners confined there, returned, having been unsuccessful. The following are the facts of the affair: On Saturday morning, February sixth, General Butler's forces, under command of Brigadier General Wistar, marched from Yorktown by the way of New Kent Court House. The cavalry arrived at half-past 2 o'clock yesterday morning at Bottom's Bridge, across the Chickahominy, ten miles from Richmond, for the purpose of making a raid into Richmond, and endeavoring, by a surprise, to liberate the prisoners there.
The cavalry reached the bridge at the time appointed, marching, in sixteen hours and a half, forty-seven miles. A force of infantry followed in their rear, for the purpose of supporting them. It was expected to surprise the enemy at Bottom's Bridge, who had had for some time only a small picket there. The surprise failed, because, as the Richmond Examiner of today says, “...a Yankee deserter gave information in Richmond of the intended movement.” The enemy had felled a large amount of timber, so as to block up and obstruct the roads and make it impossible for our cavalry to pass. After remaining at the bridge from two o'clock until twelve, General Isaac Jones Wistar joined them with his infantry, and the whole object of the surprise having been defeated, they all returned to Williamsburg. On his march back to New Kent Court House, his rear was attacked by the enemy, but they were repulsed without loss. A march by the Union infantry, three regiments of whom were colored, of more than eighty miles, was. made in fifty-six hours. The cavalry marched over one hundred miles in fifty hours.
The office of the newspaper Constitution and Union, at Fairfield, Iowa, edited by David Sheward, was visited by company E, Second Iowa, today. The type and paper were thrown out of the windows, and subscription books destroyed for printing that the northern invasion should end.
General Foster telegraphed from Knoxville, under date of yesterday, that an expedition sent against Thomas and his band of Indians and whites, at Qualla Town, North Carolina, had returned completely successful. They surprised the town, killed and wounded two hundred and fifteen, took fifty prisoners, and dispersed the remainder of the unit in the mountains. The Union loss was reported as two killed and six wounded.
Posted on 2/7/14 at 10:32 pm to BadLeroyDawg
This is my favorite ongoing thread.
Posted on 2/8/14 at 8:02 am to Evolved Simian
Appreciate the feedback, EvSim. It is amazing to me, on a nearly daily basis, how similar events have mirrored one another from time to time. The cold snap that started early January was identical to the weather 150 years ago in 1864; seven Confederate POW's froze to death that night. When John Kerry was talking about the US bombing Syria late last summer/early fall, the Union "Brown Water" Navy was powering up the South's rivers, shelling towns and cities that were mainly full of old folks, women & children. Some Shock and Awe, huh? BTW, my favorite all-time Confederate name is in the post today: Commander Catesby ap Roger Jones.
Posted on 2/9/14 at 6:16 am to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 9 February 1864
Colonel Thomas Rose, USA, came from Pennsylvania coal mining country. This background helped him engineer a tunnel out of Libby Prison in Richmond this morning. Escapees totaled 109, of whom 59 eventually made their way to Union territory; 48 were recaptured, and two were drowned during the escape. The tunnel’s outlet, unfortunately, led out to the James River. The effort was of greater importance than the number of escapees would indicate; the people of Richmond had lived in terror of just such an escape, and now that it had actually occurred, panic was considerable.
Another report: Colonel Abel Delos Streight, and one hundred and eight other Federal officers, escaped from Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia. Forty-eight of these were recaptured by the rebels, and returned to prison.
Acting Master Gerhard C. Schulze "received six refugees" on board the USS Jacob Bell off Blakistone Island (now St. Clement's Island on the Potomac River), Virginia. One of the men, Joseph Lenty, an Englishman, had worked in Richmond for four years and brought the North further news of recent refinement by Confederates of their ingenious torpedoes. "...they are now making a shell which looks exactly like a piece of coal, pieces of which were taken from a coal pile as patterns to imitate. I have made these shells myself. I believe these shells have power enough to burst any boiler. After they were thrown, in a coal pile I could not tell the difference between them and coal myself." The "coal torpedo" was reported to have been placed in production late in January 1864 and was suspected of having been the agent of several unexplained explosions and fires during the remainder of the war. A general order issued by Rear Admiral David D. Porter on the subject testified to the genuine alarm with which Union commanders viewed the new weapon: "The enemy have adopted new inventions to destroy human life and vessels in the shape of torpedoes, and an article resembling coal, which is to be placed in our coal piles for the purpose of blowing the vessels up, or injuring them. Officers will have to be careful in overlooking coal barges. Guards will be placed over them at all times, and anyone found attempting to place any of these things amongst the coal will be shot on the spot."
Life on board Confederate commerce raiders was taxing and little relieved by relaxation. This day, the CSS Alabama--commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes--made one of her few "port calls", putting into the island of Johanna between Africa and Madagascar for provisions. Captain Semmes later wrote: "I gave my sailors a run on shore, but this sort of 'liberty' was awful hard work for Jack. There was no such thing as a glass of grog to be found in the whole town, and as for a fiddle, and Sal for a partner- all of which would have been a matter of course in civilized countries- there were no such luxuries to be thought of. They found it a difficult matter to get through with the day, and were all down at the beach long before sunset- the hour appointed for their coming off-waiting for the approach of the welcome boat. I told Kell to let them go on shore as often as they pleased, but no one made a second application."
Commander Thomas H. Stevens, of the USS Patapsco, reported that one of his cutters commanded by Acting Ensign Walter C. Odiorne captured the blockade running schooner Swift off Cabbage Island, Georgia, with a cargo of fish.
President Jefferson Davis approved the bill, passed in secret session of the Confederate Congress, to prohibit the exportation of cotton, tobacco, naval and military stores, molasses, sugar or rice; also one to prohibit the importation of luxuries into the Confederate States.
Colonel Thomas Rose, USA, came from Pennsylvania coal mining country. This background helped him engineer a tunnel out of Libby Prison in Richmond this morning. Escapees totaled 109, of whom 59 eventually made their way to Union territory; 48 were recaptured, and two were drowned during the escape. The tunnel’s outlet, unfortunately, led out to the James River. The effort was of greater importance than the number of escapees would indicate; the people of Richmond had lived in terror of just such an escape, and now that it had actually occurred, panic was considerable.
Another report: Colonel Abel Delos Streight, and one hundred and eight other Federal officers, escaped from Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia. Forty-eight of these were recaptured by the rebels, and returned to prison.
Acting Master Gerhard C. Schulze "received six refugees" on board the USS Jacob Bell off Blakistone Island (now St. Clement's Island on the Potomac River), Virginia. One of the men, Joseph Lenty, an Englishman, had worked in Richmond for four years and brought the North further news of recent refinement by Confederates of their ingenious torpedoes. "...they are now making a shell which looks exactly like a piece of coal, pieces of which were taken from a coal pile as patterns to imitate. I have made these shells myself. I believe these shells have power enough to burst any boiler. After they were thrown, in a coal pile I could not tell the difference between them and coal myself." The "coal torpedo" was reported to have been placed in production late in January 1864 and was suspected of having been the agent of several unexplained explosions and fires during the remainder of the war. A general order issued by Rear Admiral David D. Porter on the subject testified to the genuine alarm with which Union commanders viewed the new weapon: "The enemy have adopted new inventions to destroy human life and vessels in the shape of torpedoes, and an article resembling coal, which is to be placed in our coal piles for the purpose of blowing the vessels up, or injuring them. Officers will have to be careful in overlooking coal barges. Guards will be placed over them at all times, and anyone found attempting to place any of these things amongst the coal will be shot on the spot."
Life on board Confederate commerce raiders was taxing and little relieved by relaxation. This day, the CSS Alabama--commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes--made one of her few "port calls", putting into the island of Johanna between Africa and Madagascar for provisions. Captain Semmes later wrote: "I gave my sailors a run on shore, but this sort of 'liberty' was awful hard work for Jack. There was no such thing as a glass of grog to be found in the whole town, and as for a fiddle, and Sal for a partner- all of which would have been a matter of course in civilized countries- there were no such luxuries to be thought of. They found it a difficult matter to get through with the day, and were all down at the beach long before sunset- the hour appointed for their coming off-waiting for the approach of the welcome boat. I told Kell to let them go on shore as often as they pleased, but no one made a second application."
Commander Thomas H. Stevens, of the USS Patapsco, reported that one of his cutters commanded by Acting Ensign Walter C. Odiorne captured the blockade running schooner Swift off Cabbage Island, Georgia, with a cargo of fish.
President Jefferson Davis approved the bill, passed in secret session of the Confederate Congress, to prohibit the exportation of cotton, tobacco, naval and military stores, molasses, sugar or rice; also one to prohibit the importation of luxuries into the Confederate States.
Posted on 2/9/14 at 6:34 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 10 February 1864
Volunteer firefighter and elected President Abraham Lincoln dashed out of the White House this evening to assist when flames broke out in the stables attached to the White House grounds. Despite the assistance of other Executive employees, as well as the District of Columbia fire department, casualties amounted to six horses and ponies. Lincoln, already greatly distraught because his son had come down with typhoid, was seen with tears in his eyes.
The CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles M. Morris, escaped to sea from Brest, France, having been laid up for repairs since the preceding August. "The Florida," reported Captain Winslow of the Kearsarge, "took advantage of a thick, rainy night and left at 2 o'clock, proceeding through the southern passage." Morris' sailing instructions, received from Flag Officer Samuel Barron, contained the terse reminder:"...you are to do the enemy's property the greatest injury in the shortest time." Winslow was finding, as the British found during the Napoleonic Wars, that Brest was a very difficult port to blockade.
The USS Florida, under Commander Peirce Crosby, forced the blockade runner Fanny and Jenny aground near Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina. She was the old prize Scotia, captured in 1862, and condemned, not being considered suitable for naval purposes. Immediately thereafter, Crosby sighted the blockade runner Emily aground nearby. Unable to get either steamer afloat and under fire from a Confederate Whitworth battery, Crosby burned them.
The Fanny and Jenny carried an assorted cargo including a large quantity of coal; the Emily carried a cargo of salt. On the Fanny and Jenny--commanded by the celebrated blockade runner Captain Louis M. Coxetter, who drowned while attempting to escape--was also found a solid gold, jewel studded sword inscribed: "To the Gentleman General Robert E. Lee, from his British Sympathizers.“
Crosby reported that information given him by the captured crew members of Fanny and Jenny indicated that ten blockade runners had sailed from Nassau for Wilmington "...during this dark of the moon. Three have been destroyed, and one put back, broken down, leaving six others to be heard from."
The Richmond Enquirer, of this date, contained an editorial, denouncing the Virginia Legislature, for attempting to interfere with the state and war matters of the Confederate government, by the passage of an act, requesting President Jefferson Davis to remove the act of outlawry against General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, in order to facilitate the exchange of prisoners.
Major General George Meade, during a speech at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in response to an address of welcome by Mayor Alexander Henry, stated, that it might “...not be uninteresting to know that since March, 1861, when the army of the Potomac left its lines in front of Washington, not less than one hundred thousand men had been killed and wounded.”
Volunteer firefighter and elected President Abraham Lincoln dashed out of the White House this evening to assist when flames broke out in the stables attached to the White House grounds. Despite the assistance of other Executive employees, as well as the District of Columbia fire department, casualties amounted to six horses and ponies. Lincoln, already greatly distraught because his son had come down with typhoid, was seen with tears in his eyes.
The CSS Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Charles M. Morris, escaped to sea from Brest, France, having been laid up for repairs since the preceding August. "The Florida," reported Captain Winslow of the Kearsarge, "took advantage of a thick, rainy night and left at 2 o'clock, proceeding through the southern passage." Morris' sailing instructions, received from Flag Officer Samuel Barron, contained the terse reminder:"...you are to do the enemy's property the greatest injury in the shortest time." Winslow was finding, as the British found during the Napoleonic Wars, that Brest was a very difficult port to blockade.
The USS Florida, under Commander Peirce Crosby, forced the blockade runner Fanny and Jenny aground near Masonboro Inlet, North Carolina. She was the old prize Scotia, captured in 1862, and condemned, not being considered suitable for naval purposes. Immediately thereafter, Crosby sighted the blockade runner Emily aground nearby. Unable to get either steamer afloat and under fire from a Confederate Whitworth battery, Crosby burned them.
The Fanny and Jenny carried an assorted cargo including a large quantity of coal; the Emily carried a cargo of salt. On the Fanny and Jenny--commanded by the celebrated blockade runner Captain Louis M. Coxetter, who drowned while attempting to escape--was also found a solid gold, jewel studded sword inscribed: "To the Gentleman General Robert E. Lee, from his British Sympathizers.“
Crosby reported that information given him by the captured crew members of Fanny and Jenny indicated that ten blockade runners had sailed from Nassau for Wilmington "...during this dark of the moon. Three have been destroyed, and one put back, broken down, leaving six others to be heard from."
The Richmond Enquirer, of this date, contained an editorial, denouncing the Virginia Legislature, for attempting to interfere with the state and war matters of the Confederate government, by the passage of an act, requesting President Jefferson Davis to remove the act of outlawry against General Benjamin "Spoons" Butler, in order to facilitate the exchange of prisoners.
Major General George Meade, during a speech at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in response to an address of welcome by Mayor Alexander Henry, stated, that it might “...not be uninteresting to know that since March, 1861, when the army of the Potomac left its lines in front of Washington, not less than one hundred thousand men had been killed and wounded.”
Posted on 2/10/14 at 9:29 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 11 February 1864
Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent an urgent letter to General Joseph E. Johnston today, imploring that the Federal advance into Mississippi be stopped at all costs. His fear was that General William T. Sherman would get through to the Gulf and establish a base. Sherman in fact had no such plan, but he was moving on Meridian, Mississippi, while Generals William Sooy Smith and Benjamin Henry Grierson with their cavalry expedition was moving from Memphis to Collierville, Tennessee.
The USS Queen, under Acting Master Robert Tarr, captured the schooner Louisa off the mouth of the Brazos River, Texas, with a cargo of powder and Enfield rifles.
The British steamer Cumberland, with a cargo of arms and ammunition, arrived at Key West, Florida. She was captured by the United States gunboat De Soto, while trying to run the blockade on the fifth instant.
A westward-bound train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was captured ten miles west of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, by a band of partisan guerrillas. The usual signal to stop the train was given, when the commandos surrounded it, and commenced a general robbery of the passengers, male and female. Greenbacks, jewelry, and other valuables were taken, and few of the passengers escaped without losing something. The object seemed to be entirely to obtain booty, as, notwithstanding several Union officers and soldiers were on board, no prisoners were taken. The engine and tender were run off the track, but the train was not injured.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent an urgent letter to General Joseph E. Johnston today, imploring that the Federal advance into Mississippi be stopped at all costs. His fear was that General William T. Sherman would get through to the Gulf and establish a base. Sherman in fact had no such plan, but he was moving on Meridian, Mississippi, while Generals William Sooy Smith and Benjamin Henry Grierson with their cavalry expedition was moving from Memphis to Collierville, Tennessee.
The USS Queen, under Acting Master Robert Tarr, captured the schooner Louisa off the mouth of the Brazos River, Texas, with a cargo of powder and Enfield rifles.
The British steamer Cumberland, with a cargo of arms and ammunition, arrived at Key West, Florida. She was captured by the United States gunboat De Soto, while trying to run the blockade on the fifth instant.
A westward-bound train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was captured ten miles west of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, by a band of partisan guerrillas. The usual signal to stop the train was given, when the commandos surrounded it, and commenced a general robbery of the passengers, male and female. Greenbacks, jewelry, and other valuables were taken, and few of the passengers escaped without losing something. The object seemed to be entirely to obtain booty, as, notwithstanding several Union officers and soldiers were on board, no prisoners were taken. The engine and tender were run off the track, but the train was not injured.
Posted on 2/11/14 at 9:52 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 12 February 1864
Shortages of almost every conceivable material were plaguing the Confederacy by this stage of the War. Among the many annoyances was a lack of proper cloth to use for cartridge bags, which held gunpowder required to fire Southern naval guns. This morning, Commander John M. Brooke of the Confederate Office of Ordnance and Hydrograpy wrote to Flag Officer Barron in France for "...material for cartridge bags, which is now much needed." Brooke asked Barron to purchase some 22,000 yards of material and ship it to Nassau by 22 different ships to keep it from all being lost to capture. From there, blockade runners would attempt to slip it through the blockade, in 1000 yard lots to avoid losing it all at one time in the event of capture. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the South to procure basic war materials, a problem which was compounded by the lack of good railroads for internal transportation and control of most of her rivers by the Federal fleet.
Decatur, Mississippi, was entered by the Federal troops, belonging to the command of General William T. Sherman, on an expedition into that State.
Shortages of almost every conceivable material were plaguing the Confederacy by this stage of the War. Among the many annoyances was a lack of proper cloth to use for cartridge bags, which held gunpowder required to fire Southern naval guns. This morning, Commander John M. Brooke of the Confederate Office of Ordnance and Hydrograpy wrote to Flag Officer Barron in France for "...material for cartridge bags, which is now much needed." Brooke asked Barron to purchase some 22,000 yards of material and ship it to Nassau by 22 different ships to keep it from all being lost to capture. From there, blockade runners would attempt to slip it through the blockade, in 1000 yard lots to avoid losing it all at one time in the event of capture. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the South to procure basic war materials, a problem which was compounded by the lack of good railroads for internal transportation and control of most of her rivers by the Federal fleet.
Decatur, Mississippi, was entered by the Federal troops, belonging to the command of General William T. Sherman, on an expedition into that State.
Posted on 2/12/14 at 7:59 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 13 February 1864
General William T. Sherman’s forces progressed on their march through Mississippi today. This particular stretch was known as the Meridian Campaign, for the obvious reason that that was their prime, and next, objective. On this day, heavy fighting flared at Chunky Creek, in Newton County, Mississippi, with additional combat taking place near Waynesboro, south of Meridian.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut reported to Assistant Secretary of Navy Gustavus V. Fox that information given him indicated "...that those publications about vessels running into Mobile are false [and] that no vessel has gotten in during the last six weeks and then only one, that the Isabel has been in there 4 months...that there are but 3 steamers, the Denbigh, and Isabel and Austin; the 2 last are loaded ready to run out and the Denbigh was so disabled by the Fleet when she attempted to run out the other night that she had to be towed up to the City [Mobile] and her cotton is at the Fort."
General William T. Sherman’s forces progressed on their march through Mississippi today. This particular stretch was known as the Meridian Campaign, for the obvious reason that that was their prime, and next, objective. On this day, heavy fighting flared at Chunky Creek, in Newton County, Mississippi, with additional combat taking place near Waynesboro, south of Meridian.
Rear Admiral David G. Farragut reported to Assistant Secretary of Navy Gustavus V. Fox that information given him indicated "...that those publications about vessels running into Mobile are false [and] that no vessel has gotten in during the last six weeks and then only one, that the Isabel has been in there 4 months...that there are but 3 steamers, the Denbigh, and Isabel and Austin; the 2 last are loaded ready to run out and the Denbigh was so disabled by the Fleet when she attempted to run out the other night that she had to be towed up to the City [Mobile] and her cotton is at the Fort."
Posted on 2/13/14 at 9:14 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 14 February 1864
The lovely, and once lively, old town of Meridian, Mississippi, was well stocked with supplies, railroad connections and other assets at the beginning of this morning. By nightfall, its destruction was well under way. Union troops under General William T. Sherman’s command didn’t even have to fight their way into town--it was abandoned as General Leonidas Polk’s Confederate forces, heavily outnumbered, fell back. Sherman’s men had orders to reduce the town’s ability to support the Southern cause, and that they did. “...10,000 men worked hard...in that work of destruction,” Sherman wrote later. “Meridian, with its depots, store-houses, arsenals hospitals, offices, hotels and cantonments no longer exists.” It took five days. The Confederacy’s, and President Jefferson Davis', major fear was that Mobile, Alabama, would be next on the list.
Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock reported on a reconnaissance mission conducted the preceding day by the USS Morse on the York River and Potopotank Creek, Virginia. A sloop, with a cargo of corn and a small schooner, christened the Margaret Ann, were seized and taken to Yorktown. Babcock also swept the river from Moody's Wharf to Purtan Island Point in Gloucester County, Virginia, to verify reports that Confederate torpedoes had been planted there. None were found in that area, but Babcock wrote: "I do not believe there are any torpedoes below Goff's Point, but across from Goff's Point to Terrapin Point and in the forks of the river at West Point I believe, from information received, that there are certainly torpedoes placed there."
Major James Harvey Larrimer, of the Fifth Pennsylvania reserve regiment, Acting Inspector General on General Crawford's staff, was shot dead in a skirmish with partisan guerrillas about two miles east of Brentsville, in Prince William County, Virginia. He was out with a scouting party of some fifty men of the Thirteenth Pennsylvania cavalry, who, as they were crossing a bridge over Cedar Run, at the point above mentioned, were suddenly fired upon by a band of Confederates concealed in a pine thicket a short distance off the road. His men were driven back across the bridge, but there held their ground until reinforcements could be sent for from General Crawford's division. Colonel Jackson, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania reserves, was then sent out with a portion of his regiment, and on his approach the Rebels retreated. The men then re-crossed the bridge to the point where they had been driven back, and brought away the body of Major Larrimer, which had been left in the hands of the Confederates. The number of Federals lost in the skirmish, besides Larrimer, were three cavalrymen killed and one wounded, and two prisoners.
Gainesville, Florida, was captured by the United States troops under Captain George E. Marshall, of the Fortieth Massachusetts infantry, and held for fifty-six hours against several attacks of the Rebels estimated at double his own number. A large quantity of Confederate stores were distributed among the people of the town, after which Captain Marshall successfully evacuated the place.
It appeared that large numbers of men qualified for military duty were preparing to leave Iowa for the far West, with the purpose of evading the draft ordered by the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Governor William Milo Stone, of that state, issued a proclamation, announcing that "...no person would be permitted to depart in that direction without a proper pass, and that passes would be granted to those only who would make satisfactory proof that they were leaving the State for a temporary purpose, and of their intention to return on or before the day of drafting, March tenth."
Thomas H. Watts, Governor of Alabama, issued the following communication to the people of Mobile:
Your city is about to be attacked by the enemy. Mobile must be defended at every hazard and to the last extremity. To do this effectively, all who cannot fight must leave the city. The brave defenders of the city can fight with more energy and enthusiasm when they feel assured that the noble women and children are out of danger.
I appeal to the patriotic non-combatants to leave for the interior. The people of the interior towns, and the planters in the country, will receive and provide support for all who go. The patriots of this city will see the importance and necessity of heeding this call.
Those who love this city and the glorious cause in which we fight, will not hesitate to obey the calls which patriotism makes.
General Dabney H. Maury, in command at Mobile, on the thirteenth dispatched the following letter to Robert H. Slough, the Mayor of that city:
My dear Sir: I see but little disposition on the part of noncombatants to leave Mobile. Please use every means in your power to induce them to do so without delay.
The Governor of Alabama assures me that he will take measures to secure to the people an asylum in the upper region of country bordering the river above here. I cannot believe that the kind and hospitable people of Mobile, who have for years been opening their homes to the homeless refugees from other parts of the Confederacy, will fall to receive a really welcome and kind protection during the attack on their homes.
Patriotism demands that they leave the city for a while to those who can defend it. Prudence urges that they make no unnecessary delay in going.
I will assist you here with transportation. The Governor says he will make proper arrangements for their reception and entertainment above.
The lovely, and once lively, old town of Meridian, Mississippi, was well stocked with supplies, railroad connections and other assets at the beginning of this morning. By nightfall, its destruction was well under way. Union troops under General William T. Sherman’s command didn’t even have to fight their way into town--it was abandoned as General Leonidas Polk’s Confederate forces, heavily outnumbered, fell back. Sherman’s men had orders to reduce the town’s ability to support the Southern cause, and that they did. “...10,000 men worked hard...in that work of destruction,” Sherman wrote later. “Meridian, with its depots, store-houses, arsenals hospitals, offices, hotels and cantonments no longer exists.” It took five days. The Confederacy’s, and President Jefferson Davis', major fear was that Mobile, Alabama, would be next on the list.
Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Babcock reported on a reconnaissance mission conducted the preceding day by the USS Morse on the York River and Potopotank Creek, Virginia. A sloop, with a cargo of corn and a small schooner, christened the Margaret Ann, were seized and taken to Yorktown. Babcock also swept the river from Moody's Wharf to Purtan Island Point in Gloucester County, Virginia, to verify reports that Confederate torpedoes had been planted there. None were found in that area, but Babcock wrote: "I do not believe there are any torpedoes below Goff's Point, but across from Goff's Point to Terrapin Point and in the forks of the river at West Point I believe, from information received, that there are certainly torpedoes placed there."
Major James Harvey Larrimer, of the Fifth Pennsylvania reserve regiment, Acting Inspector General on General Crawford's staff, was shot dead in a skirmish with partisan guerrillas about two miles east of Brentsville, in Prince William County, Virginia. He was out with a scouting party of some fifty men of the Thirteenth Pennsylvania cavalry, who, as they were crossing a bridge over Cedar Run, at the point above mentioned, were suddenly fired upon by a band of Confederates concealed in a pine thicket a short distance off the road. His men were driven back across the bridge, but there held their ground until reinforcements could be sent for from General Crawford's division. Colonel Jackson, of the Eleventh Pennsylvania reserves, was then sent out with a portion of his regiment, and on his approach the Rebels retreated. The men then re-crossed the bridge to the point where they had been driven back, and brought away the body of Major Larrimer, which had been left in the hands of the Confederates. The number of Federals lost in the skirmish, besides Larrimer, were three cavalrymen killed and one wounded, and two prisoners.
Gainesville, Florida, was captured by the United States troops under Captain George E. Marshall, of the Fortieth Massachusetts infantry, and held for fifty-six hours against several attacks of the Rebels estimated at double his own number. A large quantity of Confederate stores were distributed among the people of the town, after which Captain Marshall successfully evacuated the place.
It appeared that large numbers of men qualified for military duty were preparing to leave Iowa for the far West, with the purpose of evading the draft ordered by the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Governor William Milo Stone, of that state, issued a proclamation, announcing that "...no person would be permitted to depart in that direction without a proper pass, and that passes would be granted to those only who would make satisfactory proof that they were leaving the State for a temporary purpose, and of their intention to return on or before the day of drafting, March tenth."
Thomas H. Watts, Governor of Alabama, issued the following communication to the people of Mobile:
Your city is about to be attacked by the enemy. Mobile must be defended at every hazard and to the last extremity. To do this effectively, all who cannot fight must leave the city. The brave defenders of the city can fight with more energy and enthusiasm when they feel assured that the noble women and children are out of danger.
I appeal to the patriotic non-combatants to leave for the interior. The people of the interior towns, and the planters in the country, will receive and provide support for all who go. The patriots of this city will see the importance and necessity of heeding this call.
Those who love this city and the glorious cause in which we fight, will not hesitate to obey the calls which patriotism makes.
General Dabney H. Maury, in command at Mobile, on the thirteenth dispatched the following letter to Robert H. Slough, the Mayor of that city:
My dear Sir: I see but little disposition on the part of noncombatants to leave Mobile. Please use every means in your power to induce them to do so without delay.
The Governor of Alabama assures me that he will take measures to secure to the people an asylum in the upper region of country bordering the river above here. I cannot believe that the kind and hospitable people of Mobile, who have for years been opening their homes to the homeless refugees from other parts of the Confederacy, will fall to receive a really welcome and kind protection during the attack on their homes.
Patriotism demands that they leave the city for a while to those who can defend it. Prudence urges that they make no unnecessary delay in going.
I will assist you here with transportation. The Governor says he will make proper arrangements for their reception and entertainment above.
Posted on 2/14/14 at 9:10 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 15 February 1864
Major General William T. Sherman’s men had experienced a long march down from Vicksburg, Mississippi, nearly 140 miles all told, and in the winter with bad conditions, including snipers, to boot. Yesterday, they had arrived in Meridian, Mississippi, and discovered that General Leonidas Polk’s Confederates weren’t even going to make them fight for the place, but were withdrawing further south. They had been given a good night’s rest and as of this morning were feeling quite fine. This morning, they were given their orders: walk unimpeded into the town ahead and tear it into little nasty bits. They were to take shovels, rakes, and implements of destruction and tear up the railroads, the stations, the public buildings, the hotels, arsenals, depots, and anything whatsoever that looked like it might provide aid and comfort to the Confederacy or the soldiers thereof. The men voraciously obeyed their orders. Orders to leave private homes unmolested were largely, but not entirely obeyed.
Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell of the Pacific Squadron ordered Commander William E. Hopkins, commanding the USS Saginaw, to cruise in Mexican waters and warned: "It is believed that on that part of the coast of Mexico which you will visit during your present cruise there are many persons calling themselves citizens of the United States who are watching an opportunity to seize upon any vessel suitable to make depredations on our commerce. You must, therefore, be extremely careful, particularly when at anchor, that no boats approach without being ready to repel any attempt which may be made to take you by surprise. A sufficient watch on deck at night, with arms at hand, and the men drilled to rush on deck without waiting to dress, is absolutely indispensable in a low-deck vessel like the Saginaw."
The Confederate Congress tendered its thanks to Commander John Taylor Wood, his officers, and men "...for the daring and brilliantly executed plans which resulted in the capture of the United States transport schooner Elmore, on the Potomac River; of the ship Allegheny...and the United States transport schooners Golden Rod, Coquette, and Two Brothers, on the Chesapeake; and, more recently, in the capture from under the guns of the enemy's works of the United States gunboat Underwriter, on the Neuse River, near New Berne, North Carolina, with the officers and crews of the several vessels brought off as prisoners."
Flag Officer Samuel Barron reported from Paris to Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory: "From all the information I can get there seems to be scarcely a single Yankee vessel engaged in regular trade between any two places. But should our efforts to keep cruisers afloat abate or prove less successful doubtless their enterprise will again be brought into lively activity to relieve their present more than half-starved commerce."
The USS Virginia, Acting Lieutenant Charles H. Brown in charge, seized the blockade running British schooner Mary Douglas off of San Luis Pass, Texas, with a fully loaded cargo of bananas, coffee, and linen.
The USS Forest Rose, under Acting Lieutenant John V. Johnson, came to the relief of Union soldiers who were hard pressed by attacking Confederate troops at Waterproof, Louisiana. The 260-ton gunboat compelled the Southerners to retire under a heavy bombardment. The commander of the Northerners ashore wrote Johnston: "I hope you will not consider it [mere] flattering when I say I never before saw more accurate artillery firing than you did in these engagements, invariably putting your shells in the right place ordered. My officers and men now feel perfectly secure against a large force, so long as we have the assistance of Captain Johnston and his most excellent drilled crew..."
The following account of the affair was given by Lieutenant Commander Greer, of the steamer Rattler: “A force of about eight hundred cavalry, of Harrison's command, on the fourteenth made an attack upon the post, driving in the pickets and pressing the troops very hard. Fortunately for them the Forest Rose, was present. Captain Johnson immediately opened a rapid fire on them, which drove them back. He got his vessel under way and shelled the enemy wherever his guns would bear. They hastily retreated to the woods. This lasted from three to five P. M. At eight o'clock, the enemy attempted to make a dash into the town, but Captain Johnson, who was well advised as to their approaches, drove them back. Eight dead rebels and five prisoners were left in our hands. Our loss was five killed and two wounded. Captain Johnson says some of the Negroes fought well, but for want of proper discipline a majority did not. Lieutenant Commander Greer arrived with the Rattler, after the fighting was over. He then proceeded to Natchez, reported the facts to Commander Post, and asked him to send up reinforcements. The next morning he dispatched two hundred men and some howitzer ammunition to Waterproof. Upon arriving at that place on the fifteenth, he found that in the morning the enemy, who had been reinforced in the night, and whose forces now consisted of two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry, and four pieces of artillery, had again attacked the post. The Forest Rose, whose commander was ever on the alert, was ready for them. A few well directed shells stopped them from planting their battery on the plank-road, and drove them off in confusion. The attempts of the remainder to advance were frustrated by the Forest Rose. Captain Johnson says that Captain Anderson asked repeatedly for me to take his troops on board and throw them across the river, while in every request he (Johnson) declined, and could only tell him to fight. After I got the enemy to retreat he felt more easy, and discontinued his requests to cross. I do not think Captain Anderson was intimidated, but, by the bad discipline of his officers and the incapacity of his men, he became panic-stricken. The ram Switzerland arrived about the close of the fight and joined them. The rebel loss, as far as known, was seven killed, a number wounded, who were taken off, and several prisoners, among them a lieutenant, who were taken to Harrison. Our loss was three killed and twelve wounded. In the two days fight the Forest Rose expended two hundred and seventy shell.”
Colonel William A. Phillips, directing the expedition to the Indian Territory, reported to Brigadier General John Milton Thayer--commanding at Fort Smith--that he had driven the enemy entirely out of that region, and in several skirmishes killed nearly a hundred Rebels, and had captured one captain and twenty-five men.
Judge Stewart, of the Provincial Court of Admiralty, Nova Scotia, gave judgment that the capture of the Chesapeake was an act of piracy, and ordered restitution of the vessel and cargo to the original owners.
Major General William T. Sherman’s men had experienced a long march down from Vicksburg, Mississippi, nearly 140 miles all told, and in the winter with bad conditions, including snipers, to boot. Yesterday, they had arrived in Meridian, Mississippi, and discovered that General Leonidas Polk’s Confederates weren’t even going to make them fight for the place, but were withdrawing further south. They had been given a good night’s rest and as of this morning were feeling quite fine. This morning, they were given their orders: walk unimpeded into the town ahead and tear it into little nasty bits. They were to take shovels, rakes, and implements of destruction and tear up the railroads, the stations, the public buildings, the hotels, arsenals, depots, and anything whatsoever that looked like it might provide aid and comfort to the Confederacy or the soldiers thereof. The men voraciously obeyed their orders. Orders to leave private homes unmolested were largely, but not entirely obeyed.
Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell of the Pacific Squadron ordered Commander William E. Hopkins, commanding the USS Saginaw, to cruise in Mexican waters and warned: "It is believed that on that part of the coast of Mexico which you will visit during your present cruise there are many persons calling themselves citizens of the United States who are watching an opportunity to seize upon any vessel suitable to make depredations on our commerce. You must, therefore, be extremely careful, particularly when at anchor, that no boats approach without being ready to repel any attempt which may be made to take you by surprise. A sufficient watch on deck at night, with arms at hand, and the men drilled to rush on deck without waiting to dress, is absolutely indispensable in a low-deck vessel like the Saginaw."
The Confederate Congress tendered its thanks to Commander John Taylor Wood, his officers, and men "...for the daring and brilliantly executed plans which resulted in the capture of the United States transport schooner Elmore, on the Potomac River; of the ship Allegheny...and the United States transport schooners Golden Rod, Coquette, and Two Brothers, on the Chesapeake; and, more recently, in the capture from under the guns of the enemy's works of the United States gunboat Underwriter, on the Neuse River, near New Berne, North Carolina, with the officers and crews of the several vessels brought off as prisoners."
Flag Officer Samuel Barron reported from Paris to Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory: "From all the information I can get there seems to be scarcely a single Yankee vessel engaged in regular trade between any two places. But should our efforts to keep cruisers afloat abate or prove less successful doubtless their enterprise will again be brought into lively activity to relieve their present more than half-starved commerce."
The USS Virginia, Acting Lieutenant Charles H. Brown in charge, seized the blockade running British schooner Mary Douglas off of San Luis Pass, Texas, with a fully loaded cargo of bananas, coffee, and linen.
The USS Forest Rose, under Acting Lieutenant John V. Johnson, came to the relief of Union soldiers who were hard pressed by attacking Confederate troops at Waterproof, Louisiana. The 260-ton gunboat compelled the Southerners to retire under a heavy bombardment. The commander of the Northerners ashore wrote Johnston: "I hope you will not consider it [mere] flattering when I say I never before saw more accurate artillery firing than you did in these engagements, invariably putting your shells in the right place ordered. My officers and men now feel perfectly secure against a large force, so long as we have the assistance of Captain Johnston and his most excellent drilled crew..."
The following account of the affair was given by Lieutenant Commander Greer, of the steamer Rattler: “A force of about eight hundred cavalry, of Harrison's command, on the fourteenth made an attack upon the post, driving in the pickets and pressing the troops very hard. Fortunately for them the Forest Rose, was present. Captain Johnson immediately opened a rapid fire on them, which drove them back. He got his vessel under way and shelled the enemy wherever his guns would bear. They hastily retreated to the woods. This lasted from three to five P. M. At eight o'clock, the enemy attempted to make a dash into the town, but Captain Johnson, who was well advised as to their approaches, drove them back. Eight dead rebels and five prisoners were left in our hands. Our loss was five killed and two wounded. Captain Johnson says some of the Negroes fought well, but for want of proper discipline a majority did not. Lieutenant Commander Greer arrived with the Rattler, after the fighting was over. He then proceeded to Natchez, reported the facts to Commander Post, and asked him to send up reinforcements. The next morning he dispatched two hundred men and some howitzer ammunition to Waterproof. Upon arriving at that place on the fifteenth, he found that in the morning the enemy, who had been reinforced in the night, and whose forces now consisted of two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry, and four pieces of artillery, had again attacked the post. The Forest Rose, whose commander was ever on the alert, was ready for them. A few well directed shells stopped them from planting their battery on the plank-road, and drove them off in confusion. The attempts of the remainder to advance were frustrated by the Forest Rose. Captain Johnson says that Captain Anderson asked repeatedly for me to take his troops on board and throw them across the river, while in every request he (Johnson) declined, and could only tell him to fight. After I got the enemy to retreat he felt more easy, and discontinued his requests to cross. I do not think Captain Anderson was intimidated, but, by the bad discipline of his officers and the incapacity of his men, he became panic-stricken. The ram Switzerland arrived about the close of the fight and joined them. The rebel loss, as far as known, was seven killed, a number wounded, who were taken off, and several prisoners, among them a lieutenant, who were taken to Harrison. Our loss was three killed and twelve wounded. In the two days fight the Forest Rose expended two hundred and seventy shell.”
Colonel William A. Phillips, directing the expedition to the Indian Territory, reported to Brigadier General John Milton Thayer--commanding at Fort Smith--that he had driven the enemy entirely out of that region, and in several skirmishes killed nearly a hundred Rebels, and had captured one captain and twenty-five men.
Judge Stewart, of the Provincial Court of Admiralty, Nova Scotia, gave judgment that the capture of the Chesapeake was an act of piracy, and ordered restitution of the vessel and cargo to the original owners.
Posted on 2/15/14 at 6:56 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 16 February 1864
The destruction party had started yesterday as the men of General William T. Sherman’s army, having marched 140 miles to get to Meridian, Mississippi, and then taking the town without a fight, were turned loose to rip the place to shreds. They were pretty much unimpeded by even civilian opposition, since the population of mostly old folks, women and children had fled in anticipation of a battle taking place. The troops were specifically told to destroy any public places such as train depots, stations and tracks, communications equipment such as telegraphs and wires, warehouses and arsenals, much of which could be considered legitimate military targets. They were also, however, given license to rip up hotels, shops of all sorts and other mercantile establishments where the justification was not quite as military, but simply to infuriate people and (hopefully) get them to pressure the Southern government to surrender and end the war. Sherman’s men were told not to molest private residences or its inhabitants, but enforcement was not very strict.
Union naval forces--composed of the double-ender USS Octorara, Lieutenant Commander William W. Low in charge, the converted the ferryboat USS J. P. Jackson, under Acting Lieutenant Miner B. Crowell, and six mortar schooners--began bombarding Confederate works at Fort Powell as Rear Admiral David G. Farragut commenced the long, arduous campaign that six months later would result in the closing of Mobile Bay. The bombardment of Fort Powell by gunboats was a continuing operation, though the mortar boats were eventually withdrawn.
Rear Admiral John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, becoming alert to the potential offered by torpedoes, ordered 100 of them made by Benjamin Maillefert, an engineer who specialized in underwater blasting. Late the preceding November, Maillefert had proposed using torpedoes to clear the obstructions in the channel between Fort Sumter and Charleston: "Each of these charges will he provided with a clockwork arrangement, which shall determine the exact time of firing; they are to contain 110 to 125 pounds of gunpowder each..." This morning, Dahlgren, satisfied with the tests during the intervening period, wrote: ''Having witnessed the action of your time torpedoes, I think they may he serviceable in operating against the Rebels at Charleston and elsewhere.'' By war's end both North and South were using torpedoes, forecasting the great roles this underwater ordnance would play in the 20th century.
Lieutenant Minor, CSN, reported on the condition of the CSS Neuse, then building at Kinston, North Carolina: "...Lieutenant Comdg. [William] Sharp has a force of one hundred and seventy-two men employed upon her...As you are aware the Steamer has two layers of iron on the forward end of her shield, but none on either broadside, or on the after part. The carpenters are now calking the longitudinal pieces on the hull, and if the iron can be delivered more rapidly, or in small quantities with some degree of regularity, the work would progress in a much more satisfactory manner. The boiler was today lowered into the vessel and when in place, the main deck will be laid in...The river I am told is unpredecently low for the season of the year I am satisfied not more than five feet can be now carried down the channel...And as the Steamer when ready for service will draw between six or seven feet, it is very apparent that to be useful, she must be equipped in time to take advantage of the first rise."
The USS Para, Acting Master Edward G. Furber, escorted troops up the St. Mary's River to Woodstock Mills, Florida, to obtain lumber. The 200-ton schooner engaged Confederates along the river banks and covered the transports while a large quantity of lumber was taken on board. On 21 February, Para captured the small steamer Hard Times.
An engagement took place between the Confederate fort at Grant's Pass, near Mobile, and the Federal gunboats.
The blockade running British steamer Pet was captured by the United States gunboat Montgomery, under Acting Lieutenant Edward H. Faucon, off Lockwood's Folly Inlet, South Carolina. The seizure was made near Wilmington, North Carolina. The Pet was from Nassau, bound for Wilmington, with an assorted cargo of arms, shot, shell, and medicines, for the use of the Confederate army. She was a superior side-wheel steamer, of seven hundred tons burthen, built in England expressly for Southern blockading purposes. She had made numerous successful trips between Nassau and Wilmington.
The blockading steamer Spunky was chased ashore and destroyed while attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, North Carolina.
The destruction party had started yesterday as the men of General William T. Sherman’s army, having marched 140 miles to get to Meridian, Mississippi, and then taking the town without a fight, were turned loose to rip the place to shreds. They were pretty much unimpeded by even civilian opposition, since the population of mostly old folks, women and children had fled in anticipation of a battle taking place. The troops were specifically told to destroy any public places such as train depots, stations and tracks, communications equipment such as telegraphs and wires, warehouses and arsenals, much of which could be considered legitimate military targets. They were also, however, given license to rip up hotels, shops of all sorts and other mercantile establishments where the justification was not quite as military, but simply to infuriate people and (hopefully) get them to pressure the Southern government to surrender and end the war. Sherman’s men were told not to molest private residences or its inhabitants, but enforcement was not very strict.
Union naval forces--composed of the double-ender USS Octorara, Lieutenant Commander William W. Low in charge, the converted the ferryboat USS J. P. Jackson, under Acting Lieutenant Miner B. Crowell, and six mortar schooners--began bombarding Confederate works at Fort Powell as Rear Admiral David G. Farragut commenced the long, arduous campaign that six months later would result in the closing of Mobile Bay. The bombardment of Fort Powell by gunboats was a continuing operation, though the mortar boats were eventually withdrawn.
Rear Admiral John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, becoming alert to the potential offered by torpedoes, ordered 100 of them made by Benjamin Maillefert, an engineer who specialized in underwater blasting. Late the preceding November, Maillefert had proposed using torpedoes to clear the obstructions in the channel between Fort Sumter and Charleston: "Each of these charges will he provided with a clockwork arrangement, which shall determine the exact time of firing; they are to contain 110 to 125 pounds of gunpowder each..." This morning, Dahlgren, satisfied with the tests during the intervening period, wrote: ''Having witnessed the action of your time torpedoes, I think they may he serviceable in operating against the Rebels at Charleston and elsewhere.'' By war's end both North and South were using torpedoes, forecasting the great roles this underwater ordnance would play in the 20th century.
Lieutenant Minor, CSN, reported on the condition of the CSS Neuse, then building at Kinston, North Carolina: "...Lieutenant Comdg. [William] Sharp has a force of one hundred and seventy-two men employed upon her...As you are aware the Steamer has two layers of iron on the forward end of her shield, but none on either broadside, or on the after part. The carpenters are now calking the longitudinal pieces on the hull, and if the iron can be delivered more rapidly, or in small quantities with some degree of regularity, the work would progress in a much more satisfactory manner. The boiler was today lowered into the vessel and when in place, the main deck will be laid in...The river I am told is unpredecently low for the season of the year I am satisfied not more than five feet can be now carried down the channel...And as the Steamer when ready for service will draw between six or seven feet, it is very apparent that to be useful, she must be equipped in time to take advantage of the first rise."
The USS Para, Acting Master Edward G. Furber, escorted troops up the St. Mary's River to Woodstock Mills, Florida, to obtain lumber. The 200-ton schooner engaged Confederates along the river banks and covered the transports while a large quantity of lumber was taken on board. On 21 February, Para captured the small steamer Hard Times.
An engagement took place between the Confederate fort at Grant's Pass, near Mobile, and the Federal gunboats.
The blockade running British steamer Pet was captured by the United States gunboat Montgomery, under Acting Lieutenant Edward H. Faucon, off Lockwood's Folly Inlet, South Carolina. The seizure was made near Wilmington, North Carolina. The Pet was from Nassau, bound for Wilmington, with an assorted cargo of arms, shot, shell, and medicines, for the use of the Confederate army. She was a superior side-wheel steamer, of seven hundred tons burthen, built in England expressly for Southern blockading purposes. She had made numerous successful trips between Nassau and Wilmington.
The blockading steamer Spunky was chased ashore and destroyed while attempting to run the blockade of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Posted on 2/16/14 at 8:54 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 17 February 1864
The history of the Confederate submarine force had by and large not been a very successful one up to this point, as the various efforts promoted by different inventors had proven far more lethal to their own crews, often including the inventors, than they were dangerous to Union ships. All that changed early this morning as the CSS Hunley did what she was built to do; attack and sink a U.S. warship, the USS Housatonic, blockading needed supplies from the port of Charleston. The Hunley was not a true, completely underwater submarine but what was known as a “semi-submersible”, designed to ride just below the waterline so as to be very difficult to detect. As true torpedoes had not yet been invented, her offensive weaponry was a bomb attached to a long spar on the front of the craft. Spotted, as planned, at the very last moment, ship, spar and bomb slammed into the Housatonic just forward of the mizzenmast (the third mast from forward in a vessel having three or more masts) as the sloop tried frantically to slip anchor and back up. The explosion of the bomb detonated the sloop’s magazine and she sank almost at once.
Another report: The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, commanded by Lieutenant George E. Dixon, CSA, destroyed the USS Housatonic, Captain Charles W. Pickering in charge, off Charleston, South Carolina, and became the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. After the Hunley had sunk the preceding fall for the second time, she was raised, a new volunteer crew trained, and for months under the cover of darkness moved out into the harbor where she awaited favorable conditions and a target. This night, the small cylindrical-shaped craft with a spar torpedo mounted on the bow found the heavy steam Sloop of War Housatonic anchored outside the bar. Just before 9 o'clock in the evening, Acting Master John K. Crosby, Housatonic's officer of the deck, sighted an object in the water about 100 yards off but making directly for the ship. "It had the appearance of a plank moving in the water." Nevertheless, the Housatonic slipped her cable and began backing full; all hands were called to quarters, but it was too late. Within two minutes of her first sighting, H. L. Hunley rammed her torpedo into Housatonic's starboard side, forward of the mizzenmast. The big warship was shattered by the ensuing explosion and "sank immediately."
The Charleston Daily Courier posted: "The explosion made no noise, and the affair was not known among the fleet until daybreak, when the crew were discovered and released from their uneasy positions in the rigging. They had remained there all night. Two officers and three men were reported missing and were supposed to be drowned. The loss of the Housatonic caused great consternation in the fleet. All the wooden vessels are ordered to keep up steam and to go out to sea every night, not being allowed to anchor inside. The picket boats have been doubled and the force in each boat increased."
Dixon and his daring associates perished with H. L. Hunley in the attack. The exact cause of her loss was never determined, but as Confederate Engineer James H. Tomb later observed: "She was very slow in turning, but would sink at a moment's notice and at times without it." The submarine, Tomb added, "...was a veritable coffin to this brave officer and his men..." But in giving their lives the gallant crew of H. L. Hunley wrote a fateful page in history-for their deed foretold the huge contributions submarines would make in later years in other wars.
Cold. Bone chilling cold. Quiet. Deathly quiet. Just outside Charleston Harbor, approximately four miles off Breach Inlet in Sullivan's Island, on the moonlit Atlantic, a lookout aboard the Union Navy's largest ship--the USS Housatonic--was tired, cold and restless. Talk of a Confederate secret weapon was in and out of his thoughts. Suddenly he spotted something moving in the chilly waters. A porpoise? There were certainly a lot of them around, but something about this one didn't seem quite right. While the windy, damp cold bit through the sailor's coat, eight cramped men below the sea's surface poured sweat over hand cranks that powered a shaft turning a spinning propeller while their captain manned the dive planes - steering man, iron, anxiety and raw courage towards its final destination. The alarm rang out. This was definitely no porpoise, nor was it simply debris floating from the heavily bombarded, war-torn Fort Sumter. This was something different, something bizarre. The ship's cannons could not target an object so low in the water. Shots quickly rang out and bullets ricocheted as other Union seamen joined in the frantic firing of revolvers and rifles. The object continued to steadily approach at about three knots.
Below the waterline, as bullets bounced off its cylindrical body, the H.L. Hunley rammed her long metal spar into the stern area, planting a 135 pound torpedo into the Warship Housatonic. The men inside the Hunley lunged forward from the impact, then quickly reversed the cranks and backed their sub out as the 150-foot attached detonation rope played out. Within seconds, the world rocked and every man, above and below, became enveloped in a concussion of destruction. The explosion caused the USS Housatonic to burn for less than three minutes before sending the sloop-of-war collapsing to the bottom killing five of her crew. The Hunley then surfaced long enough for her crew to signal their comrades on the shore of Sullivan's Island with a blue magnesium light, indicating a successful mission. The shore mates stoked their signal fires and anxiously awaited the Hunley's safe return. But minutes after her historic achievement, the Hunley and all hands onboard vanished into the sea without a trace.
Tonight, 150 years ago this date, history is made. At the same moment, a mystery is born, as the Hunley becomes the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship...and then disappears for well over a century.
A boat expedition under the command of Acting Ensign J. G. Koehler, of the USS Tahoma, destroyed a large Confederate salt works and a supply of salt near St. Marks, Florida.
The history of the Confederate submarine force had by and large not been a very successful one up to this point, as the various efforts promoted by different inventors had proven far more lethal to their own crews, often including the inventors, than they were dangerous to Union ships. All that changed early this morning as the CSS Hunley did what she was built to do; attack and sink a U.S. warship, the USS Housatonic, blockading needed supplies from the port of Charleston. The Hunley was not a true, completely underwater submarine but what was known as a “semi-submersible”, designed to ride just below the waterline so as to be very difficult to detect. As true torpedoes had not yet been invented, her offensive weaponry was a bomb attached to a long spar on the front of the craft. Spotted, as planned, at the very last moment, ship, spar and bomb slammed into the Housatonic just forward of the mizzenmast (the third mast from forward in a vessel having three or more masts) as the sloop tried frantically to slip anchor and back up. The explosion of the bomb detonated the sloop’s magazine and she sank almost at once.
Another report: The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, commanded by Lieutenant George E. Dixon, CSA, destroyed the USS Housatonic, Captain Charles W. Pickering in charge, off Charleston, South Carolina, and became the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. After the Hunley had sunk the preceding fall for the second time, she was raised, a new volunteer crew trained, and for months under the cover of darkness moved out into the harbor where she awaited favorable conditions and a target. This night, the small cylindrical-shaped craft with a spar torpedo mounted on the bow found the heavy steam Sloop of War Housatonic anchored outside the bar. Just before 9 o'clock in the evening, Acting Master John K. Crosby, Housatonic's officer of the deck, sighted an object in the water about 100 yards off but making directly for the ship. "It had the appearance of a plank moving in the water." Nevertheless, the Housatonic slipped her cable and began backing full; all hands were called to quarters, but it was too late. Within two minutes of her first sighting, H. L. Hunley rammed her torpedo into Housatonic's starboard side, forward of the mizzenmast. The big warship was shattered by the ensuing explosion and "sank immediately."
The Charleston Daily Courier posted: "The explosion made no noise, and the affair was not known among the fleet until daybreak, when the crew were discovered and released from their uneasy positions in the rigging. They had remained there all night. Two officers and three men were reported missing and were supposed to be drowned. The loss of the Housatonic caused great consternation in the fleet. All the wooden vessels are ordered to keep up steam and to go out to sea every night, not being allowed to anchor inside. The picket boats have been doubled and the force in each boat increased."
Dixon and his daring associates perished with H. L. Hunley in the attack. The exact cause of her loss was never determined, but as Confederate Engineer James H. Tomb later observed: "She was very slow in turning, but would sink at a moment's notice and at times without it." The submarine, Tomb added, "...was a veritable coffin to this brave officer and his men..." But in giving their lives the gallant crew of H. L. Hunley wrote a fateful page in history-for their deed foretold the huge contributions submarines would make in later years in other wars.
Cold. Bone chilling cold. Quiet. Deathly quiet. Just outside Charleston Harbor, approximately four miles off Breach Inlet in Sullivan's Island, on the moonlit Atlantic, a lookout aboard the Union Navy's largest ship--the USS Housatonic--was tired, cold and restless. Talk of a Confederate secret weapon was in and out of his thoughts. Suddenly he spotted something moving in the chilly waters. A porpoise? There were certainly a lot of them around, but something about this one didn't seem quite right. While the windy, damp cold bit through the sailor's coat, eight cramped men below the sea's surface poured sweat over hand cranks that powered a shaft turning a spinning propeller while their captain manned the dive planes - steering man, iron, anxiety and raw courage towards its final destination. The alarm rang out. This was definitely no porpoise, nor was it simply debris floating from the heavily bombarded, war-torn Fort Sumter. This was something different, something bizarre. The ship's cannons could not target an object so low in the water. Shots quickly rang out and bullets ricocheted as other Union seamen joined in the frantic firing of revolvers and rifles. The object continued to steadily approach at about three knots.
Below the waterline, as bullets bounced off its cylindrical body, the H.L. Hunley rammed her long metal spar into the stern area, planting a 135 pound torpedo into the Warship Housatonic. The men inside the Hunley lunged forward from the impact, then quickly reversed the cranks and backed their sub out as the 150-foot attached detonation rope played out. Within seconds, the world rocked and every man, above and below, became enveloped in a concussion of destruction. The explosion caused the USS Housatonic to burn for less than three minutes before sending the sloop-of-war collapsing to the bottom killing five of her crew. The Hunley then surfaced long enough for her crew to signal their comrades on the shore of Sullivan's Island with a blue magnesium light, indicating a successful mission. The shore mates stoked their signal fires and anxiously awaited the Hunley's safe return. But minutes after her historic achievement, the Hunley and all hands onboard vanished into the sea without a trace.
Tonight, 150 years ago this date, history is made. At the same moment, a mystery is born, as the Hunley becomes the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship...and then disappears for well over a century.
A boat expedition under the command of Acting Ensign J. G. Koehler, of the USS Tahoma, destroyed a large Confederate salt works and a supply of salt near St. Marks, Florida.
Posted on 2/17/14 at 9:16 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 18 February 1864
The march of destruction for the United States forces of General William T. Sherman in Meridian, Mississippi, continued today. Sherman had told them to wreck every bit of public property or any items which could be of benefit to the Confederate cause. As Meridian was not a particularly large metropolitan area, there was really not much left to destroy there by this morning, so the Federal efforts were redirected at points outside the city limits. In particular, railroads or anything involved with railroad traffic was considered a prime target. Resistance, however, was not entirely lacking in the area. There was a Union supply line running in support of Sherman between Meridian and Memphis, Tennessee. This line was attacked by skirmishers at points in the Aberdeen-Okolona area in northern Mississippi.
Commander James D. Bulloch wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory from Liverpool of his disappointment over the inability of the Confederacy to obtain ironclads in Europe and suggested, as Henry Hotze had a month before, that the Navy Department . . . take the blockade-running business into its own hands. Bulloch added: "The beams and decks of these steamers could be made of sufficient strength to bear heavy deck loads without exciting suspicion, and then if registered in the name of private individuals and sailed purely as commercial ships they could trade without interruption or violation of neutrality between our coasts and the Bermudas, Bahamas, and West Indies. When three or more of the vessels happened to be in harbor at the same time a few hours would suffice to mount a couple of heavy guns on each, and at early dawn a successful raid might be made upon the unsuspecting blockaders. . . . After a raid or cruise the vessels could be divested of every appliance of war, and resuming their private ownership and commercial names, could bring off cargoes of cotton to pay the cost of the cruise. . . . Such operations are not impracticable, and if vigorously carried on without notice and at irregular periods, would greatly increase the difficulty of blockading our harbors, and would render hazardous the transportation of troops along the line of our coasts and through the Gulf of Mexico." Bulloch's proposal to disguise raiders as merchantmen became a reality in the 20th century as a practice commonly followed by European belligerents.
President Abraham Lincoln ended the blockade of Brownsville, Texas, and opened the port for trade.
An expedition, consisting of four hundred men belonging to the Federal cavalry, under General Gregg, left Warrenton, Virginia, last night, to examine the country in the direction of Middleburg and Aldie. This evening the party returned, bringing in twenty-eight of Mosby's partisan rangers and fifty-one horses. On their return they were charged on by the rest of the guerrilla cavalry band, for the purpose of retaking their fellows, but the charge was repulsed, and one more prisoner added to those already in the hands of the Union cavalry.
The march of destruction for the United States forces of General William T. Sherman in Meridian, Mississippi, continued today. Sherman had told them to wreck every bit of public property or any items which could be of benefit to the Confederate cause. As Meridian was not a particularly large metropolitan area, there was really not much left to destroy there by this morning, so the Federal efforts were redirected at points outside the city limits. In particular, railroads or anything involved with railroad traffic was considered a prime target. Resistance, however, was not entirely lacking in the area. There was a Union supply line running in support of Sherman between Meridian and Memphis, Tennessee. This line was attacked by skirmishers at points in the Aberdeen-Okolona area in northern Mississippi.
Commander James D. Bulloch wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory from Liverpool of his disappointment over the inability of the Confederacy to obtain ironclads in Europe and suggested, as Henry Hotze had a month before, that the Navy Department . . . take the blockade-running business into its own hands. Bulloch added: "The beams and decks of these steamers could be made of sufficient strength to bear heavy deck loads without exciting suspicion, and then if registered in the name of private individuals and sailed purely as commercial ships they could trade without interruption or violation of neutrality between our coasts and the Bermudas, Bahamas, and West Indies. When three or more of the vessels happened to be in harbor at the same time a few hours would suffice to mount a couple of heavy guns on each, and at early dawn a successful raid might be made upon the unsuspecting blockaders. . . . After a raid or cruise the vessels could be divested of every appliance of war, and resuming their private ownership and commercial names, could bring off cargoes of cotton to pay the cost of the cruise. . . . Such operations are not impracticable, and if vigorously carried on without notice and at irregular periods, would greatly increase the difficulty of blockading our harbors, and would render hazardous the transportation of troops along the line of our coasts and through the Gulf of Mexico." Bulloch's proposal to disguise raiders as merchantmen became a reality in the 20th century as a practice commonly followed by European belligerents.
President Abraham Lincoln ended the blockade of Brownsville, Texas, and opened the port for trade.
An expedition, consisting of four hundred men belonging to the Federal cavalry, under General Gregg, left Warrenton, Virginia, last night, to examine the country in the direction of Middleburg and Aldie. This evening the party returned, bringing in twenty-eight of Mosby's partisan rangers and fifty-one horses. On their return they were charged on by the rest of the guerrilla cavalry band, for the purpose of retaking their fellows, but the charge was repulsed, and one more prisoner added to those already in the hands of the Union cavalry.
Posted on 2/18/14 at 9:32 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 19 February 1864
President Abraham Lincoln, for all of his recent determination to secure the abolition of slavery, was in no way a believer in equal rights for blacks--in fact by modern standards he would be considered a thoroughgoing, out-and-out racist. In common with most whites of his time, he took for granted that the differences between blacks and whites were so great that it was inconceivable that they could ever live together in equality and peace. This morning, he wrote to the Governor of Massachusetts asking “...if it is really true that Massachusetts wishes to afford a permanent home within her borders, for all, or even a large number of colored persons who will come to her.” Lincoln had proposed plan after plan for recolonization of blacks, to Africa, Cuba or Central America. Where he had gotten the notion that Massachusetts wished to turn itself into a black homeland is unknown.
A fight took place at Waugh's Farm, twelve miles north-east of Batesville, Arkansas. About a hundred men, composed of company I, Eleventh Missouri cavalry, and Fourth Arkansas infantry, under command of Captain William Castle, of the Eleventh Missouri, out on a foraging expedition, with a large train of wagons in charge, were attacked by three hundred men under Rutherford. They were taken by surprise, but fought desperately against greatly superior numbers. The Rebels retreated across the White River, having lost six killed and ten wounded. Of the Yankees, Captain Castle and private Alfred Wilgus, of company I, Eleventh Missouri cavalry, and a man of the Fourth Arkansas infantry, were killed. Wounded--Sergeant F. M. Donaldson, severely in the thigh and abdomen; William Ball, severely in the foot; John H. Brandon, in both hands and breast, slightly; all of company I, Eleventh Missouri.
The Federals lost forty prisoners, mostly teamsters, about thirty horses, and sixty wagons were burnt, and the teams, six mules to each, carried off.--Sergeant Spencer's Account.
The Twenty-first, Forty-seventh, and One Hundred and Eighteenth regiments of Indiana volunteers, returned to Indianapolis, and met with an enthusiastic welcome.
President Abraham Lincoln, for all of his recent determination to secure the abolition of slavery, was in no way a believer in equal rights for blacks--in fact by modern standards he would be considered a thoroughgoing, out-and-out racist. In common with most whites of his time, he took for granted that the differences between blacks and whites were so great that it was inconceivable that they could ever live together in equality and peace. This morning, he wrote to the Governor of Massachusetts asking “...if it is really true that Massachusetts wishes to afford a permanent home within her borders, for all, or even a large number of colored persons who will come to her.” Lincoln had proposed plan after plan for recolonization of blacks, to Africa, Cuba or Central America. Where he had gotten the notion that Massachusetts wished to turn itself into a black homeland is unknown.
A fight took place at Waugh's Farm, twelve miles north-east of Batesville, Arkansas. About a hundred men, composed of company I, Eleventh Missouri cavalry, and Fourth Arkansas infantry, under command of Captain William Castle, of the Eleventh Missouri, out on a foraging expedition, with a large train of wagons in charge, were attacked by three hundred men under Rutherford. They were taken by surprise, but fought desperately against greatly superior numbers. The Rebels retreated across the White River, having lost six killed and ten wounded. Of the Yankees, Captain Castle and private Alfred Wilgus, of company I, Eleventh Missouri cavalry, and a man of the Fourth Arkansas infantry, were killed. Wounded--Sergeant F. M. Donaldson, severely in the thigh and abdomen; William Ball, severely in the foot; John H. Brandon, in both hands and breast, slightly; all of company I, Eleventh Missouri.
The Federals lost forty prisoners, mostly teamsters, about thirty horses, and sixty wagons were burnt, and the teams, six mules to each, carried off.--Sergeant Spencer's Account.
The Twenty-first, Forty-seventh, and One Hundred and Eighteenth regiments of Indiana volunteers, returned to Indianapolis, and met with an enthusiastic welcome.
Posted on 2/19/14 at 9:19 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 20 February 1864
There was fighting in the lands of, and waters around, Florida for as long as the War of Southern Independence lasted, but there was only one “official” battle, and it occurred on this day. Federal Brigadier General Truman Seymour had been ashore with more than 5500 men on a campaign of destruction for about two weeks now. They had landed in Jacksonville and moved inland, tearing up railroads, wrecking dams and levees, and creating as much havoc as they could manage. They had done so with relative impunity--up until this morning as the advance from Jacksonville was intent upon capturing the state capitol at Tallahassee. They were just approaching Olustee, Florida, when they were met by almost 5000 Confederates under command of Brigadier General Joseph Finnegan. Some Finnegan detractors believe he did little more to contribute to the Confederate victory at Olustee than to shuttle troops forward to General Alfred H. Colquitt of Georgia, whom they credit for thwarting the Federal advance. Despite the slight Union edge in numbers, in the confusion of battle two units broke under fire--the 7th New Hampshire and the 8th U.S. Colored Troops--and the Federals were forced to hastily retreat back towards Jacksonville.
Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, greatly concerned by the loss of the USS Housatonic, wrote in his diary: "The loss of the Housatonic troubles me very much...Torpedoes have been laughed at; but this disaster ends that." The day before, he had written Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles urging that the Union develop and use torpedo boats to combat similar Confederate efforts. Under the impression that the submarine H.L. Hunley had been another "David" torpedo boat, the Admiral suggested "...a large reward of prize money for the capture or destruction of a 'David'. I should say not less than $20,000 or $30,000 for each. They are worth more than that to us."
Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox about the blockade off Wilmington. He reported that "...the number of blockade runners captured or destroyed since July 12, [is] 26, and since the blockade was strengthened last fall the number is 23 steamers lost to the trade...I don't believe that many prizes will be made hereafter; the runners now take to the beach too readily when they see a blockader by day or night...I think the additions to the runners are less than the numbers destroyed, etc...The blockade off Wilmington is the blockade of two widely separated entrances each requiring as much force as Charleston did if not more. Experience teaches that a mere inner line will not answer for blockading in this steam era. Now the blockaders are from 1 to 2 miles, and more, apart...Wilmington and its entrances and adjacent inlets require more attention than all the rest of the coast. The depots at Bermuda and Nassau are tributary to it." The Admiral also continued to urge an attack on Wilmington: "I long to cooperate with an army capable of investing Richmond or Wilmington, a la Vicksburg."
The Confederate schooner Henry Colthurst, from Kingston, Jamaica, with a cargo of the munitions of war for the Confederate government, and other articles of merchandise, was captured, near San Luis Pass, by the Federal schooner Virginia.
There was fighting in the lands of, and waters around, Florida for as long as the War of Southern Independence lasted, but there was only one “official” battle, and it occurred on this day. Federal Brigadier General Truman Seymour had been ashore with more than 5500 men on a campaign of destruction for about two weeks now. They had landed in Jacksonville and moved inland, tearing up railroads, wrecking dams and levees, and creating as much havoc as they could manage. They had done so with relative impunity--up until this morning as the advance from Jacksonville was intent upon capturing the state capitol at Tallahassee. They were just approaching Olustee, Florida, when they were met by almost 5000 Confederates under command of Brigadier General Joseph Finnegan. Some Finnegan detractors believe he did little more to contribute to the Confederate victory at Olustee than to shuttle troops forward to General Alfred H. Colquitt of Georgia, whom they credit for thwarting the Federal advance. Despite the slight Union edge in numbers, in the confusion of battle two units broke under fire--the 7th New Hampshire and the 8th U.S. Colored Troops--and the Federals were forced to hastily retreat back towards Jacksonville.
Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, greatly concerned by the loss of the USS Housatonic, wrote in his diary: "The loss of the Housatonic troubles me very much...Torpedoes have been laughed at; but this disaster ends that." The day before, he had written Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles urging that the Union develop and use torpedo boats to combat similar Confederate efforts. Under the impression that the submarine H.L. Hunley had been another "David" torpedo boat, the Admiral suggested "...a large reward of prize money for the capture or destruction of a 'David'. I should say not less than $20,000 or $30,000 for each. They are worth more than that to us."
Rear Admiral Samuel P. Lee wrote Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox about the blockade off Wilmington. He reported that "...the number of blockade runners captured or destroyed since July 12, [is] 26, and since the blockade was strengthened last fall the number is 23 steamers lost to the trade...I don't believe that many prizes will be made hereafter; the runners now take to the beach too readily when they see a blockader by day or night...I think the additions to the runners are less than the numbers destroyed, etc...The blockade off Wilmington is the blockade of two widely separated entrances each requiring as much force as Charleston did if not more. Experience teaches that a mere inner line will not answer for blockading in this steam era. Now the blockaders are from 1 to 2 miles, and more, apart...Wilmington and its entrances and adjacent inlets require more attention than all the rest of the coast. The depots at Bermuda and Nassau are tributary to it." The Admiral also continued to urge an attack on Wilmington: "I long to cooperate with an army capable of investing Richmond or Wilmington, a la Vicksburg."
The Confederate schooner Henry Colthurst, from Kingston, Jamaica, with a cargo of the munitions of war for the Confederate government, and other articles of merchandise, was captured, near San Luis Pass, by the Federal schooner Virginia.
Posted on 2/20/14 at 8:58 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 21 February 1864
There were two halves to what was being called the "Meridian Campaign" in Mississippi. One, led by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, was the southerly half of the project and had accomplished its first goal of reaching Meridian and doing what they could to destroy its usefulness to the Confederate cause. This the Yankees did by tearing up railroad tracks, ripping down telegraph lines, burning public buildings like courthouses and post offices, and generally harassing and assaulting the few citizens still left in this Southern town, as was their usual practice. The other half of the two-pronged expedition was not doing nearly so well. General William Sooy Smith had experienced the misfortune of having the pestilential, pernicious Confederate cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest on his tail, and was succumbing to the pressure. Although Sherman was expecting him to come riding up to Meridian at any time, in fact Smith was skedaddling for Memphis as fast as he could manage.
Another report: On this day in 1864, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest routs a Union force three times the size of his army at the Battle of West Point, Mississippi, helping to end Union General William T. Sherman's expedition into Alabama. Sherman was marching an army east across Mississippi from Vicksburg to Meridian. He had captured and destroyed a vital Confederate supply center at Meridian and was planning to move further east to Selma, Alabama, another Rebel supply base. Sherman was relying on cavalry support from General William Sooy Smith, who was coming southeast from Memphis, Tennessee. Sherman directed Smith to meet him at Meridian on February 10, but Sherman did not occupy Meridian until February 14. Meanwhile, Smith dallied in Tennessee waiting for the arrival of Colonel George Waring's cavalry brigade from Kentucky, and did not leave for Mississippi until February 11.
On February 20, some of Smith's men skirmished with Confederates near West Point, just over 100 miles north of Meridian. The Yankee troops slowly drove the Confederates back through West Point. The next day, more skirmishing flared as the troops continued south. The Confederates were led by Colonel Jeffrey Forrest, Nathan's younger brother. The elder Forrest waited south of West Point with the intent of drawing Smith's force into a swampy area between two rivers. Smith caught on to the plan just before it was too late and began a retreat back through West Point. On February 22, the Yankees made a stand north of West Point and fought off a Confederate attack during which Jeffrey Forrest was killed. With the older Forrest blocking his way to Meridian, Smith retreated back to Memphis.
The Confederates suffered 144 men killed, wounded, or missing, while the Union lost 324. The engagement was significant because Sherman was forced to return to Vicksburg. The battle also lifted Confederate morale and enhanced the reputation of Nathan Bedford Forrest, who had again taken on a much larger Union force and won.
USN Lieutenant Commander Francis M. Ramsay, off the mouth of the Red River, reported that the water in the river was too low for three Confederate gunboats at Shreveport to get over the falls. This boded ill for the success of the Federals' Red River expedition soon to be undertaken.
A plan was devised to escape from Camp Chase, named for the first Republican Governor of Ohio--Salmon P. Chase who was at that time, the United States Treasurer-- and set on foot by the Confederate prisoners confined at Columbus, but was discovered this morning and frustrated.
There were two halves to what was being called the "Meridian Campaign" in Mississippi. One, led by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, was the southerly half of the project and had accomplished its first goal of reaching Meridian and doing what they could to destroy its usefulness to the Confederate cause. This the Yankees did by tearing up railroad tracks, ripping down telegraph lines, burning public buildings like courthouses and post offices, and generally harassing and assaulting the few citizens still left in this Southern town, as was their usual practice. The other half of the two-pronged expedition was not doing nearly so well. General William Sooy Smith had experienced the misfortune of having the pestilential, pernicious Confederate cavalryman Nathan Bedford Forrest on his tail, and was succumbing to the pressure. Although Sherman was expecting him to come riding up to Meridian at any time, in fact Smith was skedaddling for Memphis as fast as he could manage.
Another report: On this day in 1864, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest routs a Union force three times the size of his army at the Battle of West Point, Mississippi, helping to end Union General William T. Sherman's expedition into Alabama. Sherman was marching an army east across Mississippi from Vicksburg to Meridian. He had captured and destroyed a vital Confederate supply center at Meridian and was planning to move further east to Selma, Alabama, another Rebel supply base. Sherman was relying on cavalry support from General William Sooy Smith, who was coming southeast from Memphis, Tennessee. Sherman directed Smith to meet him at Meridian on February 10, but Sherman did not occupy Meridian until February 14. Meanwhile, Smith dallied in Tennessee waiting for the arrival of Colonel George Waring's cavalry brigade from Kentucky, and did not leave for Mississippi until February 11.
On February 20, some of Smith's men skirmished with Confederates near West Point, just over 100 miles north of Meridian. The Yankee troops slowly drove the Confederates back through West Point. The next day, more skirmishing flared as the troops continued south. The Confederates were led by Colonel Jeffrey Forrest, Nathan's younger brother. The elder Forrest waited south of West Point with the intent of drawing Smith's force into a swampy area between two rivers. Smith caught on to the plan just before it was too late and began a retreat back through West Point. On February 22, the Yankees made a stand north of West Point and fought off a Confederate attack during which Jeffrey Forrest was killed. With the older Forrest blocking his way to Meridian, Smith retreated back to Memphis.
The Confederates suffered 144 men killed, wounded, or missing, while the Union lost 324. The engagement was significant because Sherman was forced to return to Vicksburg. The battle also lifted Confederate morale and enhanced the reputation of Nathan Bedford Forrest, who had again taken on a much larger Union force and won.
USN Lieutenant Commander Francis M. Ramsay, off the mouth of the Red River, reported that the water in the river was too low for three Confederate gunboats at Shreveport to get over the falls. This boded ill for the success of the Federals' Red River expedition soon to be undertaken.
A plan was devised to escape from Camp Chase, named for the first Republican Governor of Ohio--Salmon P. Chase who was at that time, the United States Treasurer-- and set on foot by the Confederate prisoners confined at Columbus, but was discovered this morning and frustrated.
Posted on 2/21/14 at 10:31 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 22 February 1864
Salmon P. Chase, President Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury, had managed to stay out of trouble for nearly two months. Now there appeared on the political scene a document promoting Chase for President. It was known as the “Pomeroy Circular” for its author, Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas. Chase vigorously claimed to know nothing about it, although he finally admitted having talked to the authors. Lincoln pulled Chase’s resignation out of his drawer...but did not use it.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote Flag Officer Samuel Barron, CSN, in Paris: "If you could raise the blockade of Wilmington , an important service would thereby be rendered, a service which would enable neutrals to carry a great deal of cotton from that port. . . . A dash at the New England ports and commerce might be made very destructive and would be a heavy blow in the right direction. A few days' cruising on the banks might inflict severe injury on the fisheries. The interception of the California steamers also offers good service. . . . Unless you determine to strike a blow which necessarily requires a combination of your force, it would be judicious to send the ships in opposite directions to distract the enemy in pursuit. It would be well, too, to give instructions looking to the occasional disguise and change of name of each vessel for the same purpose. Their advent upon the high seas will raise a howl throughout New England , and I trust it may be well founded. The destruction of a few ships off New York and Boston , Bath and Portland would raise insurance upon their coasting trade a hundred per cent above its present rates." Mallory well recalled the profound effect Lieutenant Charles W. Read's cruise in June 1863 had bestowed on New England mercantile interests.
The tin clad USS Whitehead, under Acting Master William N. Welles, ordered on an expedition up the Roanoke River by Lieutenant Commander Charles Williamson Flusser, destroyed a corn mill used by Confederate troops near Rainbow Bluff, North Carolina. Torpedoes were reported to be planted in the river above that point, which Flusser observed "...would argue rather fear of our advance than an intention on their part to attack.'' Flusser made this remark in the wake of repeatedly expressed concern over a rumored massive Confederate attack on Union positions in the sounds of North Carolina.
The USS Virginia, Acting Lieutenant C. H. Brown in charge, captured the blockade running British schooner Henry Colthirst, off San Luis Pass, Texas, with a cargo of gunpowder, hardware, and provisions.
The USS Linden, commanded by Acting Master Thomas M. Farrell, attempting to aid the transport Admiral Hines, hit a snag in the Arkansas River and sank.
Two companies of the Thirty-fourth Kentucky infantry (A and I) were engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter of about four hours duration, against superior numbers of the enemy. The Confederates, about five hundred strong, attacked them at Powell's River Bridge, Tennessee, at six o'clock A. M., and after making four separate charges on the bridge, which were gallantly met and repulsed, the Rebels were driven from their position and compelled to retreat in disorder, leaving horses, saddles, arms, etc., on the field. They took most of their dead and wounded with them.
There were a great many daring acts of bravery committed; but as the whole affair is one of the most brilliant of the war, it would be almost impossible to make any distinction. There is one, however, that is well worth recording. The attack was made by infantry, while the cavalry prepared for a charge. The cavalry was soon in line and moving on the bridge; on they came in a steady, solid column, covered by the fire of their infantry. In a moment the Nationals saw their perilous position, and Lieutenant Slater called for a volunteer to tear up the boards to prevent their crossing. There was some hesitation, and in a moment all would have been lost, had not one William Goss (company clerk of company I) leaped from the intrenchments, and, running to the bridge under the fire of about four hundred guns, threw ten boards off into the river, and returned unhurt. This prevented the capture of the whole force.--Louisville Journal.
A fight occurred near Mulberry Gap, Tennessee, between the Eleventh Tennessee cavalry and a body of rebels, in which the National troops were obliged to retreat
Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, of the Confederate Army, in an address to his old division, concludes as follows:
A stern conflict is before us; other hardships must be borne, other battles fought, and other blood shed; but we have nothing to fear if we only prove ourselves worthy of independence — it is ours, but our armies must deliver us. With them we must blaze a highway through our enemies to victory and to peace. In the trials and dangers that are to come, I know you will claim an honorable share, and win new titles to the admiration and love of your country; and in the midst of them, whether I am near you or far from you, my heart will be always there; and when this struggle is over, I shall look upon no spectacle with so much pleasure as upon my old comrades, who have deserved so well of their country, crowned with its blessings and encompassed by its love.
A force of Union troops left Hilton Head, South Carolina, in transports, and proceeded up the Savannah River to Williams's Island, arriving at that place about dark yesterday. A company of the Fourth New Hampshire regiment landed in small boats and made a reconnoissance, in the course of which they met a small body of the enemy. The Federals lost four men of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania This morning the Yankee forces withdrew, bringing twenty prisoners. The reconnaissance was highly successful.
This morning, about eleven o'clock, as a detachment of the Second Massachusetts cavalry, under command of Captain J. S. Read, who had been out on a scouting expedition, were returning toward Dranesville, Virginia, on the way to Vienna, they were attacked on the Dranesville Pike, about two miles from the latter place, by a small force of partisan guerrillas, supposed to be under John Singleton Mosby, concealed in the pines. In the detachment of the Second Massachusetts there were one hundred and fifty men, while Mosby had less than one hundred men. The Second Massachusetts was fired upon from the dense pine woods near Dranesville, and retreated. Afterward, eight of their men were found dead and seven wounded, and at least fifty or seventy-five were taken prisoners, or missing. Among the prisoners was Captain Manning, of Maine. Captain J. S. Read, the commander of the detachment, was shot through the left lung, and died a few moments after being wounded.
Salmon P. Chase, President Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury, had managed to stay out of trouble for nearly two months. Now there appeared on the political scene a document promoting Chase for President. It was known as the “Pomeroy Circular” for its author, Senator Samuel Pomeroy of Kansas. Chase vigorously claimed to know nothing about it, although he finally admitted having talked to the authors. Lincoln pulled Chase’s resignation out of his drawer...but did not use it.
Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote Flag Officer Samuel Barron, CSN, in Paris: "If you could raise the blockade of Wilmington , an important service would thereby be rendered, a service which would enable neutrals to carry a great deal of cotton from that port. . . . A dash at the New England ports and commerce might be made very destructive and would be a heavy blow in the right direction. A few days' cruising on the banks might inflict severe injury on the fisheries. The interception of the California steamers also offers good service. . . . Unless you determine to strike a blow which necessarily requires a combination of your force, it would be judicious to send the ships in opposite directions to distract the enemy in pursuit. It would be well, too, to give instructions looking to the occasional disguise and change of name of each vessel for the same purpose. Their advent upon the high seas will raise a howl throughout New England , and I trust it may be well founded. The destruction of a few ships off New York and Boston , Bath and Portland would raise insurance upon their coasting trade a hundred per cent above its present rates." Mallory well recalled the profound effect Lieutenant Charles W. Read's cruise in June 1863 had bestowed on New England mercantile interests.
The tin clad USS Whitehead, under Acting Master William N. Welles, ordered on an expedition up the Roanoke River by Lieutenant Commander Charles Williamson Flusser, destroyed a corn mill used by Confederate troops near Rainbow Bluff, North Carolina. Torpedoes were reported to be planted in the river above that point, which Flusser observed "...would argue rather fear of our advance than an intention on their part to attack.'' Flusser made this remark in the wake of repeatedly expressed concern over a rumored massive Confederate attack on Union positions in the sounds of North Carolina.
The USS Virginia, Acting Lieutenant C. H. Brown in charge, captured the blockade running British schooner Henry Colthirst, off San Luis Pass, Texas, with a cargo of gunpowder, hardware, and provisions.
The USS Linden, commanded by Acting Master Thomas M. Farrell, attempting to aid the transport Admiral Hines, hit a snag in the Arkansas River and sank.
Two companies of the Thirty-fourth Kentucky infantry (A and I) were engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter of about four hours duration, against superior numbers of the enemy. The Confederates, about five hundred strong, attacked them at Powell's River Bridge, Tennessee, at six o'clock A. M., and after making four separate charges on the bridge, which were gallantly met and repulsed, the Rebels were driven from their position and compelled to retreat in disorder, leaving horses, saddles, arms, etc., on the field. They took most of their dead and wounded with them.
There were a great many daring acts of bravery committed; but as the whole affair is one of the most brilliant of the war, it would be almost impossible to make any distinction. There is one, however, that is well worth recording. The attack was made by infantry, while the cavalry prepared for a charge. The cavalry was soon in line and moving on the bridge; on they came in a steady, solid column, covered by the fire of their infantry. In a moment the Nationals saw their perilous position, and Lieutenant Slater called for a volunteer to tear up the boards to prevent their crossing. There was some hesitation, and in a moment all would have been lost, had not one William Goss (company clerk of company I) leaped from the intrenchments, and, running to the bridge under the fire of about four hundred guns, threw ten boards off into the river, and returned unhurt. This prevented the capture of the whole force.--Louisville Journal.
A fight occurred near Mulberry Gap, Tennessee, between the Eleventh Tennessee cavalry and a body of rebels, in which the National troops were obliged to retreat
Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, of the Confederate Army, in an address to his old division, concludes as follows:
A stern conflict is before us; other hardships must be borne, other battles fought, and other blood shed; but we have nothing to fear if we only prove ourselves worthy of independence — it is ours, but our armies must deliver us. With them we must blaze a highway through our enemies to victory and to peace. In the trials and dangers that are to come, I know you will claim an honorable share, and win new titles to the admiration and love of your country; and in the midst of them, whether I am near you or far from you, my heart will be always there; and when this struggle is over, I shall look upon no spectacle with so much pleasure as upon my old comrades, who have deserved so well of their country, crowned with its blessings and encompassed by its love.
A force of Union troops left Hilton Head, South Carolina, in transports, and proceeded up the Savannah River to Williams's Island, arriving at that place about dark yesterday. A company of the Fourth New Hampshire regiment landed in small boats and made a reconnoissance, in the course of which they met a small body of the enemy. The Federals lost four men of the Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania This morning the Yankee forces withdrew, bringing twenty prisoners. The reconnaissance was highly successful.
This morning, about eleven o'clock, as a detachment of the Second Massachusetts cavalry, under command of Captain J. S. Read, who had been out on a scouting expedition, were returning toward Dranesville, Virginia, on the way to Vienna, they were attacked on the Dranesville Pike, about two miles from the latter place, by a small force of partisan guerrillas, supposed to be under John Singleton Mosby, concealed in the pines. In the detachment of the Second Massachusetts there were one hundred and fifty men, while Mosby had less than one hundred men. The Second Massachusetts was fired upon from the dense pine woods near Dranesville, and retreated. Afterward, eight of their men were found dead and seven wounded, and at least fifty or seventy-five were taken prisoners, or missing. Among the prisoners was Captain Manning, of Maine. Captain J. S. Read, the commander of the detachment, was shot through the left lung, and died a few moments after being wounded.
Posted on 2/22/14 at 9:43 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 23 February 1864
President Jefferson Davis was being deluged with requests for reinforcements from not one, but two Confederate armies. Bishop Leonidas Polk, in Mississippi, was one General who kept ending up shorthanded when facing the invaders; Joseph E. Johnston, who was not only under strength but also threatened this day by George Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland, which was advancing on Johnston’s position near Dalton, Georgia. Davis, having no troops to send, instead suggested that perhaps Thomas’ activities were merely a “demonstration” rather than an attack. On this occasion, Davis was right.
Rear Admiral C. H. Bell wrote Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles from the USS Lancaster at Acapulco, Mexico: "Such is the present state of affairs at Acapulco that it is believed by both native and foreign populations that the presence of a man-of-war alone prevented an attempt to sack and destroy the town by the Indians in the interior, encouraged by the governor, General Alvarez...Far from the main theaters of the Civil War, a U.S. naval vessel was carrying out the traditional mission of protecting American interests and keeping the peace."
On the publication of the currency bill, passed by the Confederate Congress, a panic seized the people of Richmond, and many tradesmen closed their shops. Brown sugar sold for twelve dollars and fifty cents by the hogshead, and whiskey, which a few days before sold for twenty dollars a gallon, could not be purchased for one hundred and twenty dollars.
The Second Massachusetts regiment of infantry left Boston, to rejoin the Twelfth army corps, under General Hiram Ulysses Grant. The Twenty-third regiment also left Boston for Newport News, Virginia.
President Jefferson Davis was being deluged with requests for reinforcements from not one, but two Confederate armies. Bishop Leonidas Polk, in Mississippi, was one General who kept ending up shorthanded when facing the invaders; Joseph E. Johnston, who was not only under strength but also threatened this day by George Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland, which was advancing on Johnston’s position near Dalton, Georgia. Davis, having no troops to send, instead suggested that perhaps Thomas’ activities were merely a “demonstration” rather than an attack. On this occasion, Davis was right.
Rear Admiral C. H. Bell wrote Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles from the USS Lancaster at Acapulco, Mexico: "Such is the present state of affairs at Acapulco that it is believed by both native and foreign populations that the presence of a man-of-war alone prevented an attempt to sack and destroy the town by the Indians in the interior, encouraged by the governor, General Alvarez...Far from the main theaters of the Civil War, a U.S. naval vessel was carrying out the traditional mission of protecting American interests and keeping the peace."
On the publication of the currency bill, passed by the Confederate Congress, a panic seized the people of Richmond, and many tradesmen closed their shops. Brown sugar sold for twelve dollars and fifty cents by the hogshead, and whiskey, which a few days before sold for twenty dollars a gallon, could not be purchased for one hundred and twenty dollars.
The Second Massachusetts regiment of infantry left Boston, to rejoin the Twelfth army corps, under General Hiram Ulysses Grant. The Twenty-third regiment also left Boston for Newport News, Virginia.
Posted on 2/22/14 at 9:53 pm to BadLeroyDawg
you are probably my favorite poster on here 
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