Started By
Message
re: 150 years ago this day...
Posted on 10/11/14 at 9:05 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Posted on 10/11/14 at 9:05 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 12 October 1864
The case which became known as the Dred Scott Decision was one of the landmarks of American legal history. Scott was a slave taken by his master to live in a “free” state thereby conceivably being made free, even if later he was taken back to a state where slavery was legal. The case, which was pursued and financed by abolitionist groups for years, finally made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the ruling was ultimately written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney. The 1857 Scott v. Sandford case declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and Scott again a slave, and greatly deepened the rift between North and South that would eventually lead to so much bloodshed and death. One such, albeit not by hostile action, occurred to Taney himself. He died, of old age, in Washington, DC, this morning. Taney was 89.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, relieving Acting Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee. In one of his early general orders, Porter said: "It will be almost useless to enjoin on all officers the importance of their being vigilant at all times. We have an active enemy to deal with, and every officer and man must be on the alert..." Porter's efforts would soon turn to the most effective means of enforcing the blockade; the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina, the main and last Atlantic port of entry. Porter’s further goal was to help in the capture of Fort Fisher, currently still guarding Wilmington.
Rear Admiral Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling relieved Captain Theodore Phinney Greene as commander of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. Captain Greene had assumed temporary command upon the departure of Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey in August 1864.
The USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr., captured the blockade running British schooner Louisa off Aransas Pass, Texas, with a cargo including iron and tools.
Fighting erupted on the Coosaville road, near Rome, Georgia, as Union Major General William T. Sherman edges closer to Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood. Other fighting broke out at Resaca and La Fayette, Georgia.
The Indian attack on the Overland Stage Coach at Freeman's Ranch, near Plum Creek, in the Nebraska Territory occurred today.
Sporadic skirmishing broke out at Greeneville, Tennessee, as the Federal raids from Kentucky and eastern Tennessee into southwestern Virginia, under Union Major General Stephen A. Burbridge, are concluded.
The case which became known as the Dred Scott Decision was one of the landmarks of American legal history. Scott was a slave taken by his master to live in a “free” state thereby conceivably being made free, even if later he was taken back to a state where slavery was legal. The case, which was pursued and financed by abolitionist groups for years, finally made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the ruling was ultimately written by Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney. The 1857 Scott v. Sandford case declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and Scott again a slave, and greatly deepened the rift between North and South that would eventually lead to so much bloodshed and death. One such, albeit not by hostile action, occurred to Taney himself. He died, of old age, in Washington, DC, this morning. Taney was 89.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter assumed command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, relieving Acting Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee. In one of his early general orders, Porter said: "It will be almost useless to enjoin on all officers the importance of their being vigilant at all times. We have an active enemy to deal with, and every officer and man must be on the alert..." Porter's efforts would soon turn to the most effective means of enforcing the blockade; the capture of Wilmington, North Carolina, the main and last Atlantic port of entry. Porter’s further goal was to help in the capture of Fort Fisher, currently still guarding Wilmington.
Rear Admiral Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling relieved Captain Theodore Phinney Greene as commander of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. Captain Greene had assumed temporary command upon the departure of Rear Admiral Theodorus Bailey in August 1864.
The USS Chocura, under Lieutenant Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr., captured the blockade running British schooner Louisa off Aransas Pass, Texas, with a cargo including iron and tools.
Fighting erupted on the Coosaville road, near Rome, Georgia, as Union Major General William T. Sherman edges closer to Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood. Other fighting broke out at Resaca and La Fayette, Georgia.
The Indian attack on the Overland Stage Coach at Freeman's Ranch, near Plum Creek, in the Nebraska Territory occurred today.
Sporadic skirmishing broke out at Greeneville, Tennessee, as the Federal raids from Kentucky and eastern Tennessee into southwestern Virginia, under Union Major General Stephen A. Burbridge, are concluded.
1
Posted on 10/12/14 at 9:02 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 13 October 1864
Colonel John Singleton Mosby was technically a cavalryman, but really belonged to that category known as “Confederate partisan raiders.” Rather than scouting and screening for an army of infantry, he and his men operated independently, taking supplies, tearing up communications lines, and generally raising hell wherever they could. They raised a great deal today when they tore out some railroad tracks. The next train along naturally derailed, and Mosby’s men pounced. Great was their glee when they discovered the Army payroll was on board. Relieving the two Union paymasters of $173,000 in greenbacks, they then compounded their nuisance value by burning the train.
Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, a leader with keen understanding of men as well as great skill and courage, wrote to his son, Loyall, from Mobile Bay regarding the young man's studies: "...remember also that one of the requisite studies for an officer is man. Where your analytical geometry will serve you once, a knowledge of men will serve you daily. As a commander, to get the right men in the right place is one of the questions of success or defeat."
A large boat expedition from the USS Braziliera, Acting Master William T. Gillespie, and the USS Mary Sanford, Acting Master Zaccheus Kempton, freed a number of slaves from a plantation on White Oak Creek, Georgia, and engaged a company of Confederate cavalry at Yellow Bluff. The Union gunboats succeeded in driving off the Southerners.
Colonel John Singleton Mosby was technically a cavalryman, but really belonged to that category known as “Confederate partisan raiders.” Rather than scouting and screening for an army of infantry, he and his men operated independently, taking supplies, tearing up communications lines, and generally raising hell wherever they could. They raised a great deal today when they tore out some railroad tracks. The next train along naturally derailed, and Mosby’s men pounced. Great was their glee when they discovered the Army payroll was on board. Relieving the two Union paymasters of $173,000 in greenbacks, they then compounded their nuisance value by burning the train.
Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, a leader with keen understanding of men as well as great skill and courage, wrote to his son, Loyall, from Mobile Bay regarding the young man's studies: "...remember also that one of the requisite studies for an officer is man. Where your analytical geometry will serve you once, a knowledge of men will serve you daily. As a commander, to get the right men in the right place is one of the questions of success or defeat."
A large boat expedition from the USS Braziliera, Acting Master William T. Gillespie, and the USS Mary Sanford, Acting Master Zaccheus Kempton, freed a number of slaves from a plantation on White Oak Creek, Georgia, and engaged a company of Confederate cavalry at Yellow Bluff. The Union gunboats succeeded in driving off the Southerners.
Posted on 10/14/14 at 5:11 am to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 14 October 1864
The continuing conflict between the Confederate cavalry expedition of General Jubal Early and his Union opponent General Phillip Sheridan continued apace today. Over the last few weeks this venture, intended as a side venture to pressure Grant to send troops to suppress it and thereby relax the siege of Petersburg, had turned very sour indeed for Early. Since Sheridan had come East and been given the assignment to catch, kill, or drive him away things had gone from bad to worse. Skirmishing also occurred today on Hupp’s Hill, Virginia, and not far away at Duffield’s Station, West Virginia. Both were near the town of Strasburg. The two armies were now just a few miles apart and moving slowly.
Ballots were tallied from yesterday's voting and finalized this morning; Maryland voters barely approved a new state constitution that included abolishing slavery by just 375 votes. The measure would have been defeated had Unionist Governor Augustus Bradford not allowed absentee soldiers and soldiers currently in jail to vote.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee continued disrupting Federal supply lines in northern Georgia, seizing the important railroad north of Rome to Tunnel Hill, which included Dalton and Tilton.
Union President Abraham Lincoln computed the estimated electoral college vote in next month’s presidential election to be 120 for the “Union Vote” and 114 for the “Supposed Copperhead Vote.” Lincoln also continued working around the clock to furlough as many soldiers as possible so they could go home and vote.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate invasion of Missouri continued, as Price issued a proclamation requesting that citizens join his army and redeem Missouri from illegally gained Federal control.
Fighting erupted at Danville, Missouri, as Price's Confederates attack the town and burn the post office. There was also a skirmish near Glasgow, Missouri, as Price's forces continue to wear down, both in man power and horses.
Skirmishes occur near Fort Smith, Arkansas, and at Adamstown, Maryland.
A skirmish began at the Boca Chica Pass, Texas.
The continuing conflict between the Confederate cavalry expedition of General Jubal Early and his Union opponent General Phillip Sheridan continued apace today. Over the last few weeks this venture, intended as a side venture to pressure Grant to send troops to suppress it and thereby relax the siege of Petersburg, had turned very sour indeed for Early. Since Sheridan had come East and been given the assignment to catch, kill, or drive him away things had gone from bad to worse. Skirmishing also occurred today on Hupp’s Hill, Virginia, and not far away at Duffield’s Station, West Virginia. Both were near the town of Strasburg. The two armies were now just a few miles apart and moving slowly.
Ballots were tallied from yesterday's voting and finalized this morning; Maryland voters barely approved a new state constitution that included abolishing slavery by just 375 votes. The measure would have been defeated had Unionist Governor Augustus Bradford not allowed absentee soldiers and soldiers currently in jail to vote.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee continued disrupting Federal supply lines in northern Georgia, seizing the important railroad north of Rome to Tunnel Hill, which included Dalton and Tilton.
Union President Abraham Lincoln computed the estimated electoral college vote in next month’s presidential election to be 120 for the “Union Vote” and 114 for the “Supposed Copperhead Vote.” Lincoln also continued working around the clock to furlough as many soldiers as possible so they could go home and vote.
Major General Sterling Price’s Confederate invasion of Missouri continued, as Price issued a proclamation requesting that citizens join his army and redeem Missouri from illegally gained Federal control.
Fighting erupted at Danville, Missouri, as Price's Confederates attack the town and burn the post office. There was also a skirmish near Glasgow, Missouri, as Price's forces continue to wear down, both in man power and horses.
Skirmishes occur near Fort Smith, Arkansas, and at Adamstown, Maryland.
A skirmish began at the Boca Chica Pass, Texas.
Posted on 10/14/14 at 8:33 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 15 October 1864
General Joseph Shelby, unlike M. Jeff Thompson, had a real commission in a real army, and was operating today under the overall command of General Sterling Price’s campaign to re-take the state of Missouri back into the Confederacy, or at any rate out of the Uhands of the Northern invaders. This morning, Shelby, operating on a detached campaign, assaulted the garrison at Sedalia, Missouri. The defending militiamen did not give a very outstanding account of themselves; in the words of one report they “seemed confused.” In the other arm of the campaign, Price’s men occupied the town of Paris, Missouri, and some fighting occurred near Glasgow.
Acting Master's Mate John Woodman completed his third daring and successful reconnaissance of the Confederate position at Plymouth, North Carolina, reporting the CSS Albemarle moored to the wharf as before, and the apparent abandonment of efforts to raise the captured steamer Southfield.
John Patrick Halligan’s submarine, the St. Patrick, is deemed ready for sea trials. A description of the boat closely matches a submarine designed by Lodner Phillips before the War. In a letter from Catesby ap Roger Jones, Commandant of the Naval Gun Foundry and Ordnance Works, Selma, to Major General Dabney Herndon Maury, Confederate States Army, 16 June 1864, regarding the torpedo boat under construction: "...The boat will be launched in a few days. It combines a number of ingenious contrivances, which if experiments show that they will answer the purposes expected, will render the boat very formidable. It is propelled by steam (the engine is very compact), though under water by hand. There are also arrangements for raising and descending at will, for attaching the torpedo to the bottom of vessels, etc. Its first field of operation will be off Mobile Bay, and I hope you may soon have evidence of its success..."
Confederate President Jefferson Davis detached General Braxton Bragg as his chief of staff and sent him to command defenses at Wilmington, North Carolina, which was the Confederacy’s last major seaport.
Funeral services were held for U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who died on 12 October. President Lincoln and other prominent officials attended the funeral.
A Federal expedition began from Bernard Mills, Virginia, to Murfree's Station, Virginia, and a skirmish will occur at the Blackwater, as the Yankees continue to destroy precious and limited Confederate supplies, including slabs of bacon and 40 barrels of apple brandy.
Skirmishes break out at Snake Creek Gap, Georgia, as well as around Bayou Liddell, Louisiana, near Mossy Creek, Tennessee and at Hernando, Mississippi.
General Joseph Shelby, unlike M. Jeff Thompson, had a real commission in a real army, and was operating today under the overall command of General Sterling Price’s campaign to re-take the state of Missouri back into the Confederacy, or at any rate out of the Uhands of the Northern invaders. This morning, Shelby, operating on a detached campaign, assaulted the garrison at Sedalia, Missouri. The defending militiamen did not give a very outstanding account of themselves; in the words of one report they “seemed confused.” In the other arm of the campaign, Price’s men occupied the town of Paris, Missouri, and some fighting occurred near Glasgow.
Acting Master's Mate John Woodman completed his third daring and successful reconnaissance of the Confederate position at Plymouth, North Carolina, reporting the CSS Albemarle moored to the wharf as before, and the apparent abandonment of efforts to raise the captured steamer Southfield.
John Patrick Halligan’s submarine, the St. Patrick, is deemed ready for sea trials. A description of the boat closely matches a submarine designed by Lodner Phillips before the War. In a letter from Catesby ap Roger Jones, Commandant of the Naval Gun Foundry and Ordnance Works, Selma, to Major General Dabney Herndon Maury, Confederate States Army, 16 June 1864, regarding the torpedo boat under construction: "...The boat will be launched in a few days. It combines a number of ingenious contrivances, which if experiments show that they will answer the purposes expected, will render the boat very formidable. It is propelled by steam (the engine is very compact), though under water by hand. There are also arrangements for raising and descending at will, for attaching the torpedo to the bottom of vessels, etc. Its first field of operation will be off Mobile Bay, and I hope you may soon have evidence of its success..."
Confederate President Jefferson Davis detached General Braxton Bragg as his chief of staff and sent him to command defenses at Wilmington, North Carolina, which was the Confederacy’s last major seaport.
Funeral services were held for U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who died on 12 October. President Lincoln and other prominent officials attended the funeral.
A Federal expedition began from Bernard Mills, Virginia, to Murfree's Station, Virginia, and a skirmish will occur at the Blackwater, as the Yankees continue to destroy precious and limited Confederate supplies, including slabs of bacon and 40 barrels of apple brandy.
Skirmishes break out at Snake Creek Gap, Georgia, as well as around Bayou Liddell, Louisiana, near Mossy Creek, Tennessee and at Hernando, Mississippi.
Posted on 10/16/14 at 4:15 am to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 16 October 1864
The progress of the campaign by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman from Atlanta to the Sea was running in reverse today. His opponent, Lieutenant General John Bell Hood CSA, had had no luck for weeks in attacking the front of the advancing army, being flanked and outmaneuvered and in danger of being cut off at every place where he tried to make a stand. Finally, he was trying a different tactic, cutting Sherman off from his bases and sources of supply. There was very nearly a secondary war in the mountains of Georgia and Tennessee as Hood applied as much pressure as he could to Sherman’s rear. This morning, a skirmish broke out at Ship's Gap, Georgia, as Hood and Sherman continue to spar.
A Federal expedition began this morning from Devalls Bluff--a town in and the county seat of the southern district of Prairie County, Arkansas--aboard the steamer, Celeste, on the Cache River, toward Clarendon, Arkansas, in search of Confederates.
The Confederates capture Ridgely, Missouri, led by Major General Sterling Price.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry raid into West Tennessee produces good results with few casualties.
Union soldiers and Confederate partisans skirmish near Bulls Gap, Tennessee, and 730 miles southwest a fight occurs near Morganza, Louisiana.
Another Union expedition starts from City Point and proceeds into Surry County, Virginia, as the Federals traveled every main and by-road between the Blackwater and James Rivers, below Bacon Castle and City Point, visiting every residence, capturing all the citizens, Negroes and stock available. Even though there is corn in the fields and potatoes in the ground, this area is becoming barren of any livestock.
The progress of the campaign by Major General William Tecumseh Sherman from Atlanta to the Sea was running in reverse today. His opponent, Lieutenant General John Bell Hood CSA, had had no luck for weeks in attacking the front of the advancing army, being flanked and outmaneuvered and in danger of being cut off at every place where he tried to make a stand. Finally, he was trying a different tactic, cutting Sherman off from his bases and sources of supply. There was very nearly a secondary war in the mountains of Georgia and Tennessee as Hood applied as much pressure as he could to Sherman’s rear. This morning, a skirmish broke out at Ship's Gap, Georgia, as Hood and Sherman continue to spar.
A Federal expedition began this morning from Devalls Bluff--a town in and the county seat of the southern district of Prairie County, Arkansas--aboard the steamer, Celeste, on the Cache River, toward Clarendon, Arkansas, in search of Confederates.
The Confederates capture Ridgely, Missouri, led by Major General Sterling Price.
Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry raid into West Tennessee produces good results with few casualties.
Union soldiers and Confederate partisans skirmish near Bulls Gap, Tennessee, and 730 miles southwest a fight occurs near Morganza, Louisiana.
Another Union expedition starts from City Point and proceeds into Surry County, Virginia, as the Federals traveled every main and by-road between the Blackwater and James Rivers, below Bacon Castle and City Point, visiting every residence, capturing all the citizens, Negroes and stock available. Even though there is corn in the fields and potatoes in the ground, this area is becoming barren of any livestock.
Posted on 10/17/14 at 7:11 am to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 17 October 1864
Major General Sterling Price was on yet another campaign to pry loose the state of Missouri from the grasp of the invading Federal government. The fact that he had been fighting on numerous occasions since 1861 to accomplish this goal did not discourage him, and on this campaign he had had some successes, most notably the battle of Pilot Knob at Fort Davidson, although he had let the garrison of the latter escape during the night. The surrender of, and the subsequent Confederate occupation of, Carrollton, Missouri, was only his latest achievement. This morning, he was advancing toward Lexington, in the northwest region of the state, and was encountering skirmishing on both the left and the right flanks of his force. This was the first indication that he had not one but two Union forces coming at him, one behind him--of which he already knew existed--and one ahead--which he did not.
There was a large skirmish at Eddyville, in Lyon County, Kentucky, as the Federals move from Louisville.
Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard assumes the command of the Confederate Military Division of the West, east of the Mississippi River.
A brief battle took place at Cedar Run Church, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Lieutenant General James Longstreet, CSA, is ordered to resume command of his army corps in General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, during the Richmond, Virginia, Campaign, after recovering from battle wounds received at the Wilderness on 7 May.
Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederates began withdrawing to Gadsden, Alabama, practically giving up on harassing Federal supply lines. Hood planned to attack Chattanooga and capture all of the supply lines to Atlanta, thus isolating Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the West in enemy territory.
Kentucky Governor Thomas Bramlette ordered state authorities to arrest Federal troops attempting to interfere with the upcoming elections. He instructed, “If you are unable to hold a free election, your duty is to hold none at all.”
Governors of six Confederate states--Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi--met at Augusta, Georgia, to define a unified defense policy. The governors approved eight resolutions supporting President Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government.
Major General Sterling Price was on yet another campaign to pry loose the state of Missouri from the grasp of the invading Federal government. The fact that he had been fighting on numerous occasions since 1861 to accomplish this goal did not discourage him, and on this campaign he had had some successes, most notably the battle of Pilot Knob at Fort Davidson, although he had let the garrison of the latter escape during the night. The surrender of, and the subsequent Confederate occupation of, Carrollton, Missouri, was only his latest achievement. This morning, he was advancing toward Lexington, in the northwest region of the state, and was encountering skirmishing on both the left and the right flanks of his force. This was the first indication that he had not one but two Union forces coming at him, one behind him--of which he already knew existed--and one ahead--which he did not.
There was a large skirmish at Eddyville, in Lyon County, Kentucky, as the Federals move from Louisville.
Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard assumes the command of the Confederate Military Division of the West, east of the Mississippi River.
A brief battle took place at Cedar Run Church, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Lieutenant General James Longstreet, CSA, is ordered to resume command of his army corps in General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, during the Richmond, Virginia, Campaign, after recovering from battle wounds received at the Wilderness on 7 May.
Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederates began withdrawing to Gadsden, Alabama, practically giving up on harassing Federal supply lines. Hood planned to attack Chattanooga and capture all of the supply lines to Atlanta, thus isolating Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the West in enemy territory.
Kentucky Governor Thomas Bramlette ordered state authorities to arrest Federal troops attempting to interfere with the upcoming elections. He instructed, “If you are unable to hold a free election, your duty is to hold none at all.”
Governors of six Confederate states--Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi--met at Augusta, Georgia, to define a unified defense policy. The governors approved eight resolutions supporting President Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government.
This post was edited on 10/17/14 at 7:41 am
Posted on 10/17/14 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 18 October 1864
For awhile now, it had seemed that General Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry force was doomed. Pursued relentlessly by Generals Phil Sheridan, George Armstrong Custer, and a large number of lesser-known Union cavalrymen, Early had been losing far too many of his command to wounds, death or capture. This afternoon, Early and his staff went personally clambering around the edge of Massanutten Mountain, just east of Strasburg in Shenandoah County, Virginia, to peer down on the Federals camped in the creek valley below. Having concluded that retreat was getting them nowhere, Early planned out an alternative strategy: full-bore attack, come what may. It was scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Another report: Federal Major General Philip Sheridan was summoned from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to Washington to discuss future operations. Meanwhile, Confederates scouted Federal positions at Cedar Creek; the Federals were unaware that Confederate General Jubal Early was planning one last, desperate attack to destroy Sheridan’s army.
Major General George Thomas, commanding Union forces in Tennessee, wired Major General William Sherman concerning his plans for opposing General Hood's thrust into Tennessee: I have arranged with Lieutenant [Commander] Greer, commanding gunboat fleet on lower Tennessee, to patrol the river as far up as Eastport [Mississippi]. Lieutenant Glassford, commanding between Bridgeport and Decatur [Alabama] patrols that portion on the river daily, and cooperates with me very cordially." As Hood approached Tuscumbia and his rendezvous with General Forrest's cavalry, Union commanders became increasingly concerned with measures to keep the Confederates from crossing the Tennessee River in Alabama, and relied heavily on the gunboats of the Mississippi Squadron for this duty as well as for intelligence. During the climactic campaign between the forces of Thomas and those of Hood, the close cooperation and support of naval forces would play a key role.
In Liverpool, England, women supporting the Southern Cause held a benefit for Confederate soldiers at St. George’s Hall.
Union Major General David Bell Birney dies at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from camp fever (malaria) contracted in the summer of 1864 during Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant's Overland Campaign through Virginia.
Skirmishes form near Huntsville, Alabama, as Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, CSA, moves his Army of Tennessee towards Gadsden, Alabama, away from Major General William T. Sherman's, USA, railroad line on the Chattanooga to Atlanta Railroad.
A brief fight occurs near Milton, Florida, as the Confederates attack the US steamer, Planter, which is busy gathering logs in Blackwater Bay, at Battledonge. Later the Planter enters Escambia Bay and carries away 15,000 new brick and a lot of doors and window sashes.
Skirmishes take place near Summerville, Georgia, in Barry County, Missouri, and at Clinch Mountain, Tennessee.
Confederate partisans commence raids on the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad, in Tennessee, as the Rebels burn nearly all the dwellings along the railroad for two miles.
For awhile now, it had seemed that General Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry force was doomed. Pursued relentlessly by Generals Phil Sheridan, George Armstrong Custer, and a large number of lesser-known Union cavalrymen, Early had been losing far too many of his command to wounds, death or capture. This afternoon, Early and his staff went personally clambering around the edge of Massanutten Mountain, just east of Strasburg in Shenandoah County, Virginia, to peer down on the Federals camped in the creek valley below. Having concluded that retreat was getting them nowhere, Early planned out an alternative strategy: full-bore attack, come what may. It was scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Another report: Federal Major General Philip Sheridan was summoned from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to Washington to discuss future operations. Meanwhile, Confederates scouted Federal positions at Cedar Creek; the Federals were unaware that Confederate General Jubal Early was planning one last, desperate attack to destroy Sheridan’s army.
Major General George Thomas, commanding Union forces in Tennessee, wired Major General William Sherman concerning his plans for opposing General Hood's thrust into Tennessee: I have arranged with Lieutenant [Commander] Greer, commanding gunboat fleet on lower Tennessee, to patrol the river as far up as Eastport [Mississippi]. Lieutenant Glassford, commanding between Bridgeport and Decatur [Alabama] patrols that portion on the river daily, and cooperates with me very cordially." As Hood approached Tuscumbia and his rendezvous with General Forrest's cavalry, Union commanders became increasingly concerned with measures to keep the Confederates from crossing the Tennessee River in Alabama, and relied heavily on the gunboats of the Mississippi Squadron for this duty as well as for intelligence. During the climactic campaign between the forces of Thomas and those of Hood, the close cooperation and support of naval forces would play a key role.
In Liverpool, England, women supporting the Southern Cause held a benefit for Confederate soldiers at St. George’s Hall.
Union Major General David Bell Birney dies at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from camp fever (malaria) contracted in the summer of 1864 during Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant's Overland Campaign through Virginia.
Skirmishes form near Huntsville, Alabama, as Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, CSA, moves his Army of Tennessee towards Gadsden, Alabama, away from Major General William T. Sherman's, USA, railroad line on the Chattanooga to Atlanta Railroad.
A brief fight occurs near Milton, Florida, as the Confederates attack the US steamer, Planter, which is busy gathering logs in Blackwater Bay, at Battledonge. Later the Planter enters Escambia Bay and carries away 15,000 new brick and a lot of doors and window sashes.
Skirmishes take place near Summerville, Georgia, in Barry County, Missouri, and at Clinch Mountain, Tennessee.
Confederate partisans commence raids on the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad, in Tennessee, as the Rebels burn nearly all the dwellings along the railroad for two miles.
Posted on 10/19/14 at 7:54 am to BadLeroyDawg
Wednesday, 19 October 1864
As the pursuit continued in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, things had gone pretty much all Phillip Sheridan’s way. He had chased the Confederate cavalry of Jubal Early around the landscape, whittling down his numbers with each encounter. Early did what seemed logical today: he attacked the encamped Federals so early in the morning that many were overrun and captured still in their tents and underwear. Unfortunately after initial successes, some of the Confederate men stopped to loot the deserted camps. In the afternoon Sheridan, who had been in Washington, DC, returned, reorganized, and counterattacked, driving the Southerners back to Fisher’s Hill with heavy losses.
Full report: The Battle of Cedar Creek erupted at 5 a.m. when Confederates attacked the Federal right and left simultaneously; many Federals were still asleep when the attack began. The Federals slowly withdrew as Confederates wasted time looting camps. Philip Sheridan returned from Washington and urged his men to counterattack. When the men cheered him, Sheridan yelled, “God damn you! Don’t cheer me, fight!” The Federals rallied near Middletown.
By 4 p.m., the Federals drove off the much smaller force of tired Confederates, as Jubal Early’s entire line virtually crumbled. The retreat soon became a rout. Federals suffered 5,665 casualties while Confederates lost 2,910, including Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, who is mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek being shot through both of his lungs and captured. The Union loses Brigadier General Daniel Davidson Bidwell, and Brigadier General Charles Russell Lowell. Sheridan would become a northern hero. Jubal Early wrote to General Robert E. Lee, “I found it impossible to rally the troops...The rout was as thorough and disgraceful as ever happened to our army...If you think that the interests of the service would be promoted by a change of commanders, I beg you will have no hesitation.” Early withdrew to New Market, where his army gradually dispersed.
Sterling Price’s Confederates pushed James G. Blunt’s Federals at Lexington back to the Little Blue River in Missouri.
Sea King, the sleek, fast ship Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch had obtained for the Confederate cause in England, rendezvoused with the tender Laurel north of the island of Las Desertas in the Madeiras. Sea King was sold to the Confederate States and renamed the CSS Shenandoah, after which guns, powder, supplies, and crewmembers from Laurel were loaded. Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, who had sailed from England in the Laurel, assumed command of the cruiser and remarked: "Each of us asked himself instinctively, what great adventures shall we meet in her? What will be her ultimate fate?" Shenandoah, one of Bulloch's greatest successes, was destined to become one of the most effective commerce raiders of the war and the last warship to sail under the Confederate flag, the only Confederate cruiser to circumnavigate the globe and ultimately the last to surrender on 6 November, 1865.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals this morning: Alfred Gibbs, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Charles Russell Lowell, and William Henry Powell.
A skirmish took place in Crawford County, Arkansas, with partisan guerrillas attacking local Union militia men, causing many casualties.
The USS Mobile, under Acting Lieutenant Giraud, captured the schooner Emily off San Luis Pass, Texas, with a cargo of 150 bales of cotton.
Lieutenant Bennett H. Young and 21 Confederate raiders attacked St. Albans, Vermont, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The group robbed the town’s three banks of a total of $208,000. They rounded up the town residents, killing one and wounding another before fleeing back into Canada. Canadian authorities arrested Young and 12 raiders but refused to extradite them to the U.S. because of Canada’s neutrality. About $75,000 was recovered. Nobody stood trial for the raid, which was the northernmost land action of the war.
Second report: In the northernmost land event that could be considered part of the War Between the States, a group of some 25 Confederate sympathizers slipped across the border from Canada into St. Albans, Vermont, planning to burn several towns and rob banks for funds for the cause. They got away with some $200,000 before townsfolk organized resistance and chased them back to Canada where they were arrested. Only $75,000 of the stolen money, however, was recovered.
Marylanders in Washington orchestrated a serenade to President Abraham Lincoln in support of their new state constitution. Lincoln addressed both the news and rumors that Democrats planned to immediately seize control of the Federal government if they won the upcoming elections: “Most heartily do I congratulate you, and Maryland, and the nation, and the world, upon the event...I am struggling to maintain government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates left Corinth, Mississippi, in an attempt to cooperate with John Bell Hood’s move to Alabama and Tennessee.
As the pursuit continued in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, things had gone pretty much all Phillip Sheridan’s way. He had chased the Confederate cavalry of Jubal Early around the landscape, whittling down his numbers with each encounter. Early did what seemed logical today: he attacked the encamped Federals so early in the morning that many were overrun and captured still in their tents and underwear. Unfortunately after initial successes, some of the Confederate men stopped to loot the deserted camps. In the afternoon Sheridan, who had been in Washington, DC, returned, reorganized, and counterattacked, driving the Southerners back to Fisher’s Hill with heavy losses.
Full report: The Battle of Cedar Creek erupted at 5 a.m. when Confederates attacked the Federal right and left simultaneously; many Federals were still asleep when the attack began. The Federals slowly withdrew as Confederates wasted time looting camps. Philip Sheridan returned from Washington and urged his men to counterattack. When the men cheered him, Sheridan yelled, “God damn you! Don’t cheer me, fight!” The Federals rallied near Middletown.
By 4 p.m., the Federals drove off the much smaller force of tired Confederates, as Jubal Early’s entire line virtually crumbled. The retreat soon became a rout. Federals suffered 5,665 casualties while Confederates lost 2,910, including Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, who is mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek being shot through both of his lungs and captured. The Union loses Brigadier General Daniel Davidson Bidwell, and Brigadier General Charles Russell Lowell. Sheridan would become a northern hero. Jubal Early wrote to General Robert E. Lee, “I found it impossible to rally the troops...The rout was as thorough and disgraceful as ever happened to our army...If you think that the interests of the service would be promoted by a change of commanders, I beg you will have no hesitation.” Early withdrew to New Market, where his army gradually dispersed.
Sterling Price’s Confederates pushed James G. Blunt’s Federals at Lexington back to the Little Blue River in Missouri.
Sea King, the sleek, fast ship Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch had obtained for the Confederate cause in England, rendezvoused with the tender Laurel north of the island of Las Desertas in the Madeiras. Sea King was sold to the Confederate States and renamed the CSS Shenandoah, after which guns, powder, supplies, and crewmembers from Laurel were loaded. Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, who had sailed from England in the Laurel, assumed command of the cruiser and remarked: "Each of us asked himself instinctively, what great adventures shall we meet in her? What will be her ultimate fate?" Shenandoah, one of Bulloch's greatest successes, was destined to become one of the most effective commerce raiders of the war and the last warship to sail under the Confederate flag, the only Confederate cruiser to circumnavigate the globe and ultimately the last to surrender on 6 November, 1865.
The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals this morning: Alfred Gibbs, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Charles Russell Lowell, and William Henry Powell.
A skirmish took place in Crawford County, Arkansas, with partisan guerrillas attacking local Union militia men, causing many casualties.
The USS Mobile, under Acting Lieutenant Giraud, captured the schooner Emily off San Luis Pass, Texas, with a cargo of 150 bales of cotton.
Lieutenant Bennett H. Young and 21 Confederate raiders attacked St. Albans, Vermont, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The group robbed the town’s three banks of a total of $208,000. They rounded up the town residents, killing one and wounding another before fleeing back into Canada. Canadian authorities arrested Young and 12 raiders but refused to extradite them to the U.S. because of Canada’s neutrality. About $75,000 was recovered. Nobody stood trial for the raid, which was the northernmost land action of the war.
Second report: In the northernmost land event that could be considered part of the War Between the States, a group of some 25 Confederate sympathizers slipped across the border from Canada into St. Albans, Vermont, planning to burn several towns and rob banks for funds for the cause. They got away with some $200,000 before townsfolk organized resistance and chased them back to Canada where they were arrested. Only $75,000 of the stolen money, however, was recovered.
Marylanders in Washington orchestrated a serenade to President Abraham Lincoln in support of their new state constitution. Lincoln addressed both the news and rumors that Democrats planned to immediately seize control of the Federal government if they won the upcoming elections: “Most heartily do I congratulate you, and Maryland, and the nation, and the world, upon the event...I am struggling to maintain government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.”
General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates left Corinth, Mississippi, in an attempt to cooperate with John Bell Hood’s move to Alabama and Tennessee.
Posted on 10/19/14 at 2:36 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Thursday, 20 October 1864
Sterling Price had been fighting to liberate Missouri from invading Union hands since the beginning of the War. His final excursion had been going on for a month now, and was having no greater success than the previous ones, in large part because occupied and garrisoned Missouri seemed to have no great desire for such liberation. Price expected to lead his army in and grow it by a flood of recruits. Since nearly every man in Missouri eligible for army service was already serving, on one side or the other, this did not occur. This morning, Price was in Lexington, on the banks of the Missouri River. He had Alfred Pleasanton’s heavy cavalry behind him, Andrew Jackson Smith’s infantry on his left and Samuel Curtis’ men up ahead. The river, on the right of his course, was essentially the only direction from which shot and shell were not flying. Another fight occurs at Dover, Missouri, as Confederate Major General Sterling Price is becoming increasingly alarmed at the presence of Union Calvary forces under Major General Alfred Pleasonton, the Army of the Border under Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, and troops under Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Smith as they seem to be coalescing, surrounding and hemming him in.
Even in the midst of blockade duty afloat, Union sailors were able to vote in the presidential election. Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren ordered Acting Master John K. Crosby, piloting the USS Harvest Moon to "...proceed with the USS Harvest Moon under your command to Savannah River, Wassaw, Ossabaw, Sapelo, and Doboy [Sounds], and communicate with the vessels there, in order to collect the 'sailors' votes already distributed for that purpose. A number of ballots will be given you, in order to enable the men to vote."
A boat expedition under Acting Master George E. Hill, from the USS Stars and Stripes, ascended the Ocklockonee River in Western Florida and destroyed an extensive Confederate fishery on Marsh's Island, capturing a detachment of soldiers assigned to guard the works. In small and large operations, assault from the sea continued to destroy the South's resources.
Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, dies from wounds this afternoon received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia.
George Washington Custis Lee, the eldest son of Robert Edward Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee, is today appointed Major General.
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, whose wounding at Jerusalem Plank Road during the siege of Petersburg cost him two of his fingers and was the probable cause for his nickname--"Bad Hand", is appointed Brigadier General.
Another series of small battle breaks out at Fisher's Hill, Virginia, as Lieutenant General Jubal Early retreats southward with the last remnants of Confederate opposition in the Shenandoah Valley.
Skirmishes today near Memphis, Tennessee, at Blue Pond and Little River, Alabama, Waterloo, Louisiana, and in Benton County, Arkansas.
The Plains Indian attack settlements around the Platte Valley, near Alkali Station, in the Nebraska Territory.
This afternoon, President Abraham Lincoln officially sets the last Thursday in November to be forever celebrated as "Thanksgiving."
Sterling Price had been fighting to liberate Missouri from invading Union hands since the beginning of the War. His final excursion had been going on for a month now, and was having no greater success than the previous ones, in large part because occupied and garrisoned Missouri seemed to have no great desire for such liberation. Price expected to lead his army in and grow it by a flood of recruits. Since nearly every man in Missouri eligible for army service was already serving, on one side or the other, this did not occur. This morning, Price was in Lexington, on the banks of the Missouri River. He had Alfred Pleasanton’s heavy cavalry behind him, Andrew Jackson Smith’s infantry on his left and Samuel Curtis’ men up ahead. The river, on the right of his course, was essentially the only direction from which shot and shell were not flying. Another fight occurs at Dover, Missouri, as Confederate Major General Sterling Price is becoming increasingly alarmed at the presence of Union Calvary forces under Major General Alfred Pleasonton, the Army of the Border under Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis, and troops under Brigadier General Andrew Jackson Smith as they seem to be coalescing, surrounding and hemming him in.
Even in the midst of blockade duty afloat, Union sailors were able to vote in the presidential election. Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren ordered Acting Master John K. Crosby, piloting the USS Harvest Moon to "...proceed with the USS Harvest Moon under your command to Savannah River, Wassaw, Ossabaw, Sapelo, and Doboy [Sounds], and communicate with the vessels there, in order to collect the 'sailors' votes already distributed for that purpose. A number of ballots will be given you, in order to enable the men to vote."
A boat expedition under Acting Master George E. Hill, from the USS Stars and Stripes, ascended the Ocklockonee River in Western Florida and destroyed an extensive Confederate fishery on Marsh's Island, capturing a detachment of soldiers assigned to guard the works. In small and large operations, assault from the sea continued to destroy the South's resources.
Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, dies from wounds this afternoon received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia.
George Washington Custis Lee, the eldest son of Robert Edward Lee and Mary Anna Custis Lee, is today appointed Major General.
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, whose wounding at Jerusalem Plank Road during the siege of Petersburg cost him two of his fingers and was the probable cause for his nickname--"Bad Hand", is appointed Brigadier General.
Another series of small battle breaks out at Fisher's Hill, Virginia, as Lieutenant General Jubal Early retreats southward with the last remnants of Confederate opposition in the Shenandoah Valley.
Skirmishes today near Memphis, Tennessee, at Blue Pond and Little River, Alabama, Waterloo, Louisiana, and in Benton County, Arkansas.
The Plains Indian attack settlements around the Platte Valley, near Alkali Station, in the Nebraska Territory.
This afternoon, President Abraham Lincoln officially sets the last Thursday in November to be forever celebrated as "Thanksgiving."
This post was edited on 10/20/14 at 6:56 am
Posted on 10/20/14 at 8:48 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Friday, 21 October 1864
Major General Sterling "Old Pap" Price’s position was clearly desperate. Surrounded on three sides by closely pursuing Federal forces, and with a river on the fourth, the logical thing to do would most likely have been to surrender his force and abandon every hope of taking Missouri out of Union control. This was not, however, Price’s style, so instead he this morning fought a very forceful battle at a small waterway known as the Little Blue, where Confederate Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby forced Major General Samuel R. Curtis to retreat to Bush Creek, near Westport, Missouri. The inevitable was staved off for another day, and in fact, the Federals were not as secure as they wanted Price to believe, consequently forcing the evacuation of Independence, Missouri.
Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals stopped pursuing the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General John Bell Hood at Gaylesville, Alabama as Sherman tried determining Hood’s next move.
The USS Fort Jackson, under Captain Benjamin F. Sands, captured the steamer Wando at sea east of Cape Romain, South Carolina, with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Sea Bird, Ensign Ezra L. Robbins in charge, captured the blockade running British schooner Lucy off Anclote Keys, Florida, with an assorted cargo.
Unionists serenaded President Lincoln at the White House in celebration of the Federal victory at Cedar Creek two days ago. Lincoln proposed three cheers for “...all our noble commanders and the soldiers and sailors...”
George R. Crook, U.S.A., is appointed Major General of Volunteers. Crook would later command the Department of the Platte where he hastily retreated from Lakota and Cheyenne warriors--led by Crazy Horse--in a battle at Rosebud Creek, a defeat that denied reinforcements to George Armstrong Custer and would eventually contribute to Custer's devastating loss at the Little Bighorn.
William Badger Tibbits, U.S.A., is brevetted Brigadier General following a strong recommendation for promotion from Major General David "Black Dave" Hunter, department commander.
Skirmishes occur today in Clinch Valley, near Sneedville, Tennessee, at Leesburg, Alabama, at Bryant's Plantation, Florida, and at Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
Major General Sterling "Old Pap" Price’s position was clearly desperate. Surrounded on three sides by closely pursuing Federal forces, and with a river on the fourth, the logical thing to do would most likely have been to surrender his force and abandon every hope of taking Missouri out of Union control. This was not, however, Price’s style, so instead he this morning fought a very forceful battle at a small waterway known as the Little Blue, where Confederate Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby forced Major General Samuel R. Curtis to retreat to Bush Creek, near Westport, Missouri. The inevitable was staved off for another day, and in fact, the Federals were not as secure as they wanted Price to believe, consequently forcing the evacuation of Independence, Missouri.
Major General William T. Sherman’s Federals stopped pursuing the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General John Bell Hood at Gaylesville, Alabama as Sherman tried determining Hood’s next move.
The USS Fort Jackson, under Captain Benjamin F. Sands, captured the steamer Wando at sea east of Cape Romain, South Carolina, with a cargo of cotton.
The USS Sea Bird, Ensign Ezra L. Robbins in charge, captured the blockade running British schooner Lucy off Anclote Keys, Florida, with an assorted cargo.
Unionists serenaded President Lincoln at the White House in celebration of the Federal victory at Cedar Creek two days ago. Lincoln proposed three cheers for “...all our noble commanders and the soldiers and sailors...”
George R. Crook, U.S.A., is appointed Major General of Volunteers. Crook would later command the Department of the Platte where he hastily retreated from Lakota and Cheyenne warriors--led by Crazy Horse--in a battle at Rosebud Creek, a defeat that denied reinforcements to George Armstrong Custer and would eventually contribute to Custer's devastating loss at the Little Bighorn.
William Badger Tibbits, U.S.A., is brevetted Brigadier General following a strong recommendation for promotion from Major General David "Black Dave" Hunter, department commander.
Skirmishes occur today in Clinch Valley, near Sneedville, Tennessee, at Leesburg, Alabama, at Bryant's Plantation, Florida, and at Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
Posted on 10/21/14 at 9:07 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Saturday, 22 October 1864
Major General Sterling Price had set forth intending to take Missouri out of invading Union hands. At the moment, however, he would have been more than happy to take himself out of Missouri, and his Confederate and Missouri State Guard forces with him. This ambition was being hindered by having Union armies on three sides of him, and the Missouri River on the fourth. Therefore, he was in the planning stages of a breakout attempt. His orders were for the supply train to head south along the river, and then have Jo Shelby and James F. Fagan attack the Union Army of the Border, while John S. Marmaduke protected the rear from Alfred Pleasanton’s cavalry brigade. Surrounded and heavily outnumbered, the strategy was desperate in the extreme, but Price had no choice but attack or surrender.
Another report: Sterling Price’s Confederates fought at Independence and reached Westport, today part of Kansas City. The Union forces closing in on Price, under overall command of Samuel Curtis, outnumbered him by over three-to-one. Price planned to attack and defeat the Federal force in his front before turning to attack and defeat Federal cavalry behind him.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, in a confidential letter to Commander William Henry Alexander Macomb, commanding naval forces in Albemarle Sound, set down instructions for engaging the CSS Albemarle, should the ram again come out to challenge Union control of the Sounds: "There is but one chance for wooden vessels in attacking an ironclad. You will, in case she comes out, make a dash at her with every vessel you have, and 'lay her on board', using canister to fire into her ports, while the ram strikes her steering apparatus and disables her. You will see that every vessel is provided with proper grapnels, to hold on by while going alongside, and a boarding party will be appointed to lash the vessels together. Even if half your vessels are sunk you must pursue this course. Porter added: "I have directed Lieutenant Cushing to go down in a steam launch, and if possible destroy this ram with torpedoes. I have no great confidence in his success, but you will afford him all the assistance in your power, and keep boats ready to pick him up in case of failure."
In answer to the objections of Major General William Henry Chase Whiting and Governor Zebulon Baird Vance of North Carolina, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory wrote to President Jefferson Davis defending the use of the CSS Tallahassee and Chickamauga as commerce cruisers rather than holding them for the defense of Wilmington: "Though the Tallahassee captured thirty-one vessels her service is not limited to the value of these ships and cargoes and the number of prisoners; but it must be estimated in connec-tion with other results the consequent insecurity of the United States coastwise commerce, the detention and delay of vessels in port, and the augmentation of the rates of marine insurance, by which millions were added to the expenses of commerce and navigation, the compulsory withdrawal of a portion of the blockading force from Wilmington in pursuit of her. A cruise by the Chickamauga and Tallahassee against northern coasts and commerce would at once withdraw a fleet of fast steamers from the blockading force off Wilmington in pursuit of them, and this result alone would render such a cruise expedient."
Union shore batteries on the north bank of the James River at Signal Hill opened fire suddenly on Ships of the Confederate Squadron, anchored in the river at that point. The wooden gunboat CSS Drewry, Lieutenant William H. Wall, sustained moderate damage, and after engaging the batteries for about one hour, the Southern vessels retired under the protection of the guns of Fort Darling, on Chaffin's Bluff.
The British blockade running steamer Flora, after being chased by the USS Wamsutta, Geranium, and Mingoe off Charleston, South Carolina, was run ashore and destroyed next day by fire from monitors and the batteries on Morris Island.
The USS Eolus, under Acting Master William O. Lundt, captured the Confederate blockade running steamer Hope near Wilmington with a cargo of machinery.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederates moved to Guntersville, Alabama, on their way to Hood’s planned invasion of Tennessee. Hood moved west across northern Alabama due to a high Tennessee River and low supplies.
Confederate partisan guerrillas attacked a Federal transport on the White River near St. Charles, Arkansas.
A Union expedition began from Brashear City, Louisiana, (today's Morgan City) in St. Mary Parish, on the banks of the Atchafalaya River.
Major General Sterling Price had set forth intending to take Missouri out of invading Union hands. At the moment, however, he would have been more than happy to take himself out of Missouri, and his Confederate and Missouri State Guard forces with him. This ambition was being hindered by having Union armies on three sides of him, and the Missouri River on the fourth. Therefore, he was in the planning stages of a breakout attempt. His orders were for the supply train to head south along the river, and then have Jo Shelby and James F. Fagan attack the Union Army of the Border, while John S. Marmaduke protected the rear from Alfred Pleasanton’s cavalry brigade. Surrounded and heavily outnumbered, the strategy was desperate in the extreme, but Price had no choice but attack or surrender.
Another report: Sterling Price’s Confederates fought at Independence and reached Westport, today part of Kansas City. The Union forces closing in on Price, under overall command of Samuel Curtis, outnumbered him by over three-to-one. Price planned to attack and defeat the Federal force in his front before turning to attack and defeat Federal cavalry behind him.
Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter, in a confidential letter to Commander William Henry Alexander Macomb, commanding naval forces in Albemarle Sound, set down instructions for engaging the CSS Albemarle, should the ram again come out to challenge Union control of the Sounds: "There is but one chance for wooden vessels in attacking an ironclad. You will, in case she comes out, make a dash at her with every vessel you have, and 'lay her on board', using canister to fire into her ports, while the ram strikes her steering apparatus and disables her. You will see that every vessel is provided with proper grapnels, to hold on by while going alongside, and a boarding party will be appointed to lash the vessels together. Even if half your vessels are sunk you must pursue this course. Porter added: "I have directed Lieutenant Cushing to go down in a steam launch, and if possible destroy this ram with torpedoes. I have no great confidence in his success, but you will afford him all the assistance in your power, and keep boats ready to pick him up in case of failure."
In answer to the objections of Major General William Henry Chase Whiting and Governor Zebulon Baird Vance of North Carolina, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory wrote to President Jefferson Davis defending the use of the CSS Tallahassee and Chickamauga as commerce cruisers rather than holding them for the defense of Wilmington: "Though the Tallahassee captured thirty-one vessels her service is not limited to the value of these ships and cargoes and the number of prisoners; but it must be estimated in connec-tion with other results the consequent insecurity of the United States coastwise commerce, the detention and delay of vessels in port, and the augmentation of the rates of marine insurance, by which millions were added to the expenses of commerce and navigation, the compulsory withdrawal of a portion of the blockading force from Wilmington in pursuit of her. A cruise by the Chickamauga and Tallahassee against northern coasts and commerce would at once withdraw a fleet of fast steamers from the blockading force off Wilmington in pursuit of them, and this result alone would render such a cruise expedient."
Union shore batteries on the north bank of the James River at Signal Hill opened fire suddenly on Ships of the Confederate Squadron, anchored in the river at that point. The wooden gunboat CSS Drewry, Lieutenant William H. Wall, sustained moderate damage, and after engaging the batteries for about one hour, the Southern vessels retired under the protection of the guns of Fort Darling, on Chaffin's Bluff.
The British blockade running steamer Flora, after being chased by the USS Wamsutta, Geranium, and Mingoe off Charleston, South Carolina, was run ashore and destroyed next day by fire from monitors and the batteries on Morris Island.
The USS Eolus, under Acting Master William O. Lundt, captured the Confederate blockade running steamer Hope near Wilmington with a cargo of machinery.
General John Bell Hood’s Confederates moved to Guntersville, Alabama, on their way to Hood’s planned invasion of Tennessee. Hood moved west across northern Alabama due to a high Tennessee River and low supplies.
Confederate partisan guerrillas attacked a Federal transport on the White River near St. Charles, Arkansas.
A Union expedition began from Brashear City, Louisiana, (today's Morgan City) in St. Mary Parish, on the banks of the Atchafalaya River.
Posted on 10/23/14 at 3:59 am to BadLeroyDawg
Sunday, 23 October 1864
The battle scene was like a zoo, appropriately enough since that is what is built on the site today, in Kansas City, Missouri. The Battle of Westport it was called at the time, and put an end to Sterling Price’s last raid in the cause of helping Missouri cast off the Union yoke. He had received little support from Missourians in this effort, and today he battled to the end. A fierce charge around Price’s left flank led to a four-hour battle, followed by Pleasanton’s cavalry attack on the Confederate horsemen, which outnumbered nearly three to one, broke and fled the field. Pleasanton regrouped and charged into the Confederate rear, and organization all but collapsed. Those who could, saving themselves and what comrades they could, set out to make their way to Arkansas by any means possible, or were captured. This was the last major battle west of the Mississippi River.
Second report: The Engagement at Westport, Missouri, took place near present day Kansas City, as Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby, CSA, attacks; Major General Alfred Pleasonton, USA, and his cavalry counterattack; Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke, CSA, and the rest of Major General Sterling Price's Confederate force see the Union troops reverse yesterday's defeat; Price withdraws southward which ends the Confederate threat in Missouri.
Acting Ensign Sommers, from the USS Tacony, led a reconnaissance party up the Roanoke River, North Carolina. While returning, the party was fired on by Confederates and forced to seek cover in a swamp. After constructing a make-shift raft to support his wounded, Sommers succeeded in reaching the mouth of the river, where he was picked up by Union forces. Four other members of his party, missing in the swamp for four days, were rescued by Union scouts on 29 October.
The blockade runner Flamingo, aground off Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, was destroyed by shell fire from Forts Strong and Putnam, Battery Chatfield, and ships of Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren's South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Union soldiers skirmished with Confederate partisans at King's Hill, Alabama.
A skirmish occurred at Dry Run, Virginia, as part of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
The battle scene was like a zoo, appropriately enough since that is what is built on the site today, in Kansas City, Missouri. The Battle of Westport it was called at the time, and put an end to Sterling Price’s last raid in the cause of helping Missouri cast off the Union yoke. He had received little support from Missourians in this effort, and today he battled to the end. A fierce charge around Price’s left flank led to a four-hour battle, followed by Pleasanton’s cavalry attack on the Confederate horsemen, which outnumbered nearly three to one, broke and fled the field. Pleasanton regrouped and charged into the Confederate rear, and organization all but collapsed. Those who could, saving themselves and what comrades they could, set out to make their way to Arkansas by any means possible, or were captured. This was the last major battle west of the Mississippi River.
Second report: The Engagement at Westport, Missouri, took place near present day Kansas City, as Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby, CSA, attacks; Major General Alfred Pleasonton, USA, and his cavalry counterattack; Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke, CSA, and the rest of Major General Sterling Price's Confederate force see the Union troops reverse yesterday's defeat; Price withdraws southward which ends the Confederate threat in Missouri.
Acting Ensign Sommers, from the USS Tacony, led a reconnaissance party up the Roanoke River, North Carolina. While returning, the party was fired on by Confederates and forced to seek cover in a swamp. After constructing a make-shift raft to support his wounded, Sommers succeeded in reaching the mouth of the river, where he was picked up by Union forces. Four other members of his party, missing in the swamp for four days, were rescued by Union scouts on 29 October.
The blockade runner Flamingo, aground off Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, was destroyed by shell fire from Forts Strong and Putnam, Battery Chatfield, and ships of Rear Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren's South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
Union soldiers skirmished with Confederate partisans at King's Hill, Alabama.
A skirmish occurred at Dry Run, Virginia, as part of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Posted on 10/23/14 at 4:06 am to BadLeroyDawg
quote:
The battle scene was like a zoo, appropriately enough since that is what is built on the site today, in Kansas City, Missouri.
The zoo is confined to the kansas side nowadays
Go Royals!
Posted on 10/23/14 at 8:32 pm to BadLeroyDawg
Monday, 24 October 1864
The Battle of Westport had been, by any measure, a thunderous Federal victory. The small, rag-tag army Major General Sterling Price had led into Missouri in one last try to raise the State to overthrow the invading Yankees had been under Federal pursuit for weeks now, and yesterday, surrounded on three sides with the Missouri River on the fourth, the Confederate lines had collapsed wholesale. This result had not been a complete shock to Price, since several days earlier he had started his supply train, loaded with quite a bit of loot, to head south for Arkansas while the main army headed further north, towards Kansas City, Missouri. When night had fallen after the battle everyone who could manage--including Price--had headed south as well. The Federal commanders fell to discussing plans among themselves and did not vigorously pursue at this time.
In light of the increased difficulty of manning his ships and mounting danger from Union torpedoes in the James River, Flag Officer Mitchell considered withdrawal of his squadron upriver closer to Richmond. In response to the Flag Officer's request for his views on the subject, General Robert E. Lee wrote: "If the enemy succeeds in throwing a force to the south bank [of the James River] in rear of General Pickett's lines, it will necessitate not only the withdrawal of General P.'s forces, but also the abandonment of Petersburg and its railroad connections, throwing the whole army back to the defenses of Richmond...I fully appreciate the importance of preserving our fleet, and deprecate any unnecessary exposure of it. But you will perceive the magnitude of the service which it is thought you can render, and determine whether it is sufficient to justify the risk...As I said before, I can forsee no state of circumstances in which the fleet can render more important aid in the defense of Richmond at present than by guarding the river below Chaffin's Bluff."
The USS Nita, Acting Lieutenant Robert B. Smith in charge, captured the schooner Unknown off Clearwater Harbor, Florida, after her crew had escaped.
The USS Rosalie, under Acting Ensign Henry W. Wells, captured an unidentified blockade running sloop off Little Marco, Florida, with a cargo of salt and shoes.
President Abraham Lincoln told the 189th New York Volunteers, “SOLDIERS: I am exceedingly obliged to you for this mark of respect. It is said that we have the best Government the world ever knew, and I am glad to meet you, the supporters of that Government. To you who render the hardest work in its support should be given the greatest credit. Others who are connected with it, and who occupy higher positions, their duties can be dispensed with, but we cannot get along without your aid. While others differ with the Administration, and perhaps, honestly, the soldiers generally have sustained it; they have not only fought right, but, so far as could be judged from their actions, they have voted right, and I for one thank you for it. I know you are en route for the front, and therefore do not expect me to detain you long, and will therefore bid you good morning."
A Federal expedition begins from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a town situated in the southeast section of the state in the Arkansas Delta. Federal scouts travel from Pine Bluff toward Mount Elba, Arkansas.
Brigadier General James Jay Archer, CSA, dies from deteriorating health developed while being held as a Federal prisoner of war after being captured 3 July, 1863, with most of his brigade of Heth's division at the Battle of Gettysburg. Eventually exchanged, the native of Bel Air, Maryland, finally succombed in his nation's capital of Richmond, Virginia.
A skirmish occurs near Magnolia, Florida, where Union Cavalry battle the Confederate forces stationed near Waldo, about 65 miles away, with several casualties.
A brief battle begins near South River, Georgia.
Federal operations start in Issaquena and Washington Counties, Mississippi, and skirmishes take place at Steele's Bayou, as the Yankees capture cotton, horses, mules, sheep, beef-cattle, in addition to prominent Southerners.
The Battle of Westport had been, by any measure, a thunderous Federal victory. The small, rag-tag army Major General Sterling Price had led into Missouri in one last try to raise the State to overthrow the invading Yankees had been under Federal pursuit for weeks now, and yesterday, surrounded on three sides with the Missouri River on the fourth, the Confederate lines had collapsed wholesale. This result had not been a complete shock to Price, since several days earlier he had started his supply train, loaded with quite a bit of loot, to head south for Arkansas while the main army headed further north, towards Kansas City, Missouri. When night had fallen after the battle everyone who could manage--including Price--had headed south as well. The Federal commanders fell to discussing plans among themselves and did not vigorously pursue at this time.
In light of the increased difficulty of manning his ships and mounting danger from Union torpedoes in the James River, Flag Officer Mitchell considered withdrawal of his squadron upriver closer to Richmond. In response to the Flag Officer's request for his views on the subject, General Robert E. Lee wrote: "If the enemy succeeds in throwing a force to the south bank [of the James River] in rear of General Pickett's lines, it will necessitate not only the withdrawal of General P.'s forces, but also the abandonment of Petersburg and its railroad connections, throwing the whole army back to the defenses of Richmond...I fully appreciate the importance of preserving our fleet, and deprecate any unnecessary exposure of it. But you will perceive the magnitude of the service which it is thought you can render, and determine whether it is sufficient to justify the risk...As I said before, I can forsee no state of circumstances in which the fleet can render more important aid in the defense of Richmond at present than by guarding the river below Chaffin's Bluff."
The USS Nita, Acting Lieutenant Robert B. Smith in charge, captured the schooner Unknown off Clearwater Harbor, Florida, after her crew had escaped.
The USS Rosalie, under Acting Ensign Henry W. Wells, captured an unidentified blockade running sloop off Little Marco, Florida, with a cargo of salt and shoes.
President Abraham Lincoln told the 189th New York Volunteers, “SOLDIERS: I am exceedingly obliged to you for this mark of respect. It is said that we have the best Government the world ever knew, and I am glad to meet you, the supporters of that Government. To you who render the hardest work in its support should be given the greatest credit. Others who are connected with it, and who occupy higher positions, their duties can be dispensed with, but we cannot get along without your aid. While others differ with the Administration, and perhaps, honestly, the soldiers generally have sustained it; they have not only fought right, but, so far as could be judged from their actions, they have voted right, and I for one thank you for it. I know you are en route for the front, and therefore do not expect me to detain you long, and will therefore bid you good morning."
A Federal expedition begins from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a town situated in the southeast section of the state in the Arkansas Delta. Federal scouts travel from Pine Bluff toward Mount Elba, Arkansas.
Brigadier General James Jay Archer, CSA, dies from deteriorating health developed while being held as a Federal prisoner of war after being captured 3 July, 1863, with most of his brigade of Heth's division at the Battle of Gettysburg. Eventually exchanged, the native of Bel Air, Maryland, finally succombed in his nation's capital of Richmond, Virginia.
A skirmish occurs near Magnolia, Florida, where Union Cavalry battle the Confederate forces stationed near Waldo, about 65 miles away, with several casualties.
A brief battle begins near South River, Georgia.
Federal operations start in Issaquena and Washington Counties, Mississippi, and skirmishes take place at Steele's Bayou, as the Yankees capture cotton, horses, mules, sheep, beef-cattle, in addition to prominent Southerners.
This post was edited on 10/24/14 at 3:54 am
Posted on 10/25/14 at 6:43 am to BadLeroyDawg
Tuesday, 25 October 1864
It had taken more than a day to get in gear, but once the Federal armies who had broken Major General Sterling Price’s much smaller Confederate army in the Battle of Westport got serious about pursuit, things rapidly got fierce again. This morning, Major General Alfred Pleasanton’s cavalry lined up for a charge and hit the fleeing wagon trains near the confluence of the Marais des Cygnes and Mine Creek. Two defending divisions broke, but soon Joseph O. Shelby’s men came up in support. They held for awhile on a line at the Little Osage River, allowing more of the wagons to escape, but the forces opposing them were just too many and too strong. The Federal cavalry charge at Mine Creek inflicted 1,060 Confederate casualties and resulted in the capture of Generals John Marmaduke and William L. Cabell. Price bitterly burned about a third of the wagons, and pressed the remainder south at as fast a pace as could be managed.
Federal operations were stepped up around Fayetteville, Arkansas, during the invasion by Major General Sterling Price.
An expedition from the USS Don, Commander Foxhall A. Parker, landed at Fleet's Point, in the Great Wicomico River, Virginia, and burned houses, barns, and outbuildings formerly used as shelter by the home guards of Northumberland County while firing on vessels of the Potomac Flotilla. Four boats were also burned and five others captured.
Rear Admiral George F. Pearson assumed command of the Pacific Squadron relieving Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell.
A Federal expedition began from Blackwater Bay, Florida, and a skirmish would take place at Milton, as the Federals, including a unit of colored troops soldiers, drive off a smaller group of Confederates, and would seize over 100,000 feet of seasoned Rebel lumber.
Skirmishing occurred as elements of Major General William T. Sherman's forces clashed on the Gadsden Road, in Alabama, with Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederates as they continued moving west.
Skirmishes were reported near Round Mountain, and at Turkeytown, Alabama, as well as near Memphis, Tennessee.
Skirmishes took place near the Half Way House, between Little Rock and Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Skirmishes occurred at Milford, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
It had taken more than a day to get in gear, but once the Federal armies who had broken Major General Sterling Price’s much smaller Confederate army in the Battle of Westport got serious about pursuit, things rapidly got fierce again. This morning, Major General Alfred Pleasanton’s cavalry lined up for a charge and hit the fleeing wagon trains near the confluence of the Marais des Cygnes and Mine Creek. Two defending divisions broke, but soon Joseph O. Shelby’s men came up in support. They held for awhile on a line at the Little Osage River, allowing more of the wagons to escape, but the forces opposing them were just too many and too strong. The Federal cavalry charge at Mine Creek inflicted 1,060 Confederate casualties and resulted in the capture of Generals John Marmaduke and William L. Cabell. Price bitterly burned about a third of the wagons, and pressed the remainder south at as fast a pace as could be managed.
Federal operations were stepped up around Fayetteville, Arkansas, during the invasion by Major General Sterling Price.
An expedition from the USS Don, Commander Foxhall A. Parker, landed at Fleet's Point, in the Great Wicomico River, Virginia, and burned houses, barns, and outbuildings formerly used as shelter by the home guards of Northumberland County while firing on vessels of the Potomac Flotilla. Four boats were also burned and five others captured.
Rear Admiral George F. Pearson assumed command of the Pacific Squadron relieving Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell.
A Federal expedition began from Blackwater Bay, Florida, and a skirmish would take place at Milton, as the Federals, including a unit of colored troops soldiers, drive off a smaller group of Confederates, and would seize over 100,000 feet of seasoned Rebel lumber.
Skirmishing occurred as elements of Major General William T. Sherman's forces clashed on the Gadsden Road, in Alabama, with Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Confederates as they continued moving west.
Skirmishes were reported near Round Mountain, and at Turkeytown, Alabama, as well as near Memphis, Tennessee.
Skirmishes took place near the Half Way House, between Little Rock and Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Skirmishes occurred at Milford, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Posted on 10/25/14 at 8:46 am to BadLeroyDawg
Does anyone normally post in this thing but you?
Posted on 10/25/14 at 9:16 am to Stacked
Scroll back, Stacked, and answer your own question.
Posted on 10/25/14 at 10:25 am to BadLeroyDawg
Looks like the answer is no. Stop bumping this bitch. Nobody gives a shite what you're saying in it.
Posted on 10/25/14 at 10:05 pm to BadLeroyDawg
As always, appreciate the feedback. Good luck in your strategy of winning friends and influencing people.
This post was edited on 10/25/14 at 10:13 pm
Page 26 of 46
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News