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re: 150 years ago today...August 20th, 1863...
Posted on 7/2/13 at 12:11 pm to dallasga6
Posted on 7/2/13 at 12:11 pm to dallasga6
My Great Great Great Grandfather was killed at Gettysburg. Noone knows what day, but he was in the 26th North Carolina. They took the most casualties of any Regiment Confederate or Union at Gettysburg, they also were one of the last to break ranks during Pickett's Charge in which they advanced the furthest..
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Posted on 7/2/13 at 4:12 pm to dallasga6
July 2, 1863
Hundreds of books have been written about the Battle of Gettysburg; dozens about various aspects of this, the Second Day, alone. Meanwhile, the end of the Siege of Vicksburg was drawing very near. Attempts by the Confederacy to break reinforcements through General Hiram Ulysses Grant's lines had failed, and supplies were running low. Mule meat was beginning to seem tasty, considering that the alternative was to eat rats. Negotiations were proposed.
General Grant, before Vicksburg, wrote Rear Admiral David D. Porter that "...the firing from the mortar boats this morning has been exceedingly well directed on my front. One shell fell into the large fort, and several along the line of the rifle pits. Please have them continue firing in the same direction and elevation." USS General Sterling Price, Benton, and Mound City had shelled the heavy battery, which had earned the sobriquet ''Whistling Dick'' because of is power and effectiveness.
The success of his army in the fighting on July 1 encouraged General Robert E. Lee to renew the battle on July 2. An early morning reconnaissance of the Federal left revealed that their line did not extend as far south as Little Round Top. Lee directed General James Longstreet to take two divisions of I Corps and march south until they reached the flank of the Federal forces. They would attack from this point, supported by a division of A.P. Hill's corps - a total force of nearly 20,000 men. While Longstreet carried out the main offensive, Ewell was ordered to conduct a demonstration against the Federal right. However, he was given discretion to mount a full-scale attack should the opportunity present itself. The Federal army was well prepared for Lee's offensive. Six of its seven corps had arrived on the battlefield, and VI Corps was making a thirty-six-mile forced march to reach it. Meade had deployed his army in a fish-hook-shaped formation, with the right on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill, the center along Cemetery Ridge, and the left on Little Round Top. The left of the Federal line was held by Major General Daniel Sickles's III Corps. Sickles was dissatisfied with his assigned position and in the early afternoon, without orders, he advanced his line nearly half a mile west in order to take advantage of the high open ground around a nearby peach orchard. Soon after Sickles took up this new position, Longstreet attacked. Third Corps was hard pressed and Meade sent V Corps and part of 11 Corps to reinforce Sickles in the Peach Orchard. But, after furious fighting, Longstreet's forces broke through, causing Sickles's entire line to collapse. The Confederates pursued to the base of Little Round Top, but Federal reinforcements, including elements of VI Corps, checked their advance. Farther north, elements of a division of the Confederate III Corps advanced to the slopes of Cemetery Ridge before they too were forced to retire. On the Federal right, Ewell did not attack until evening, after Longstreet's onslaught had subsided. The effort to storm Cemetery Hill was ultimately unsuccessful. Ewell's attacks were also repulsed at Culp's Hill, although a foothold was gained near the base of the hill. The second day's fighting had cost each army some 9,000 casualties. Lee's forces had again gained ground, but had failed to dislodge the Federal army from its strong defensive position.
The H.L. Hunley is launched at Mobile, Alabama.
The CSS Alabama, under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes, captured the ship Anna F. Schmidt in the South Atlantic with a cargo of clothes, medicines, clocks, sewing machines, and ''...the latest invention for killing bed-bugs." Semmes put the torch to the prize. "We then wheeled about and took the fork of the road again, for the Cape of Good Hope."
The USS Samuel Rotan, Acting Lieutenant William W. Kennison piloting, seized the schooner Champion off the Piankatank River, Virginia.
The USS Cayuga, Lieutenant Commander Dana in charge, captured the blockade running sloop Blue Bell in Mermentau River , Louisiana , with cargo of sugar and molasses.
The USS Covington, piloted by Acting Lieutenant George P. Lord, captured the steamer Eureka near Commerce, Mississippi , with cargo of whiskey.
The USS Juniata, under Commander Clitz, seized the blockade running British schooner Don Jose at sea with cargo of salt, cotton, and rum.
The Richmond Whig of this date contained the following: If it be true that the confederate forces occupy Harrisburg, the attention of the commanding general will no doubt be directed to the coalfields, which lie within forty or fifty miles of that city. His first aim will be to cut all the railroad connections, and thus put a stop to the transportation of fuel. His next will be to destroy the most costly and not easily replaced machinery of the pits. Whether he would stop at this is questionable. He might set fire to the pits, withdraw the forces sent out on this special duty, and leave the heart of Pennsylvania on fire, never to be quenched until a river is turned into the pits, or the vast supply of coal is reduced to ashes. The anthracite coal is found in large quantities in no other part of the world but Pennsylvania. Enormous quantities are used .in the United States navy, the countless workshops and manufactures of the North, in the river boats, and even upon locomotives. It cannot well be replaced by any other fuel. The bituminous coal which is found near Pittsburgh would not answer the purpose, even if it would bear the cost of transportation. Our troops already hold the railroads and canals leading from the Cumberland coalfields. All that is needed is to seize the anthracite fields, destroy the roads and the machinery of the pits, set fire to the mines, and leave them. Northern industry will thus be paralyzed at a single blow. These views may have induced General Lee to move upon Harrisburg. We doubt whether he would fire the mines, but the destruction of the Mauch Chunk Railroad and pit implements would be as legitimate as blowing up tunnels and aqueducts or burning bridges. Of one thing we may be sure, that whatever is best to be done will be done by General Lee, and if he thinks fit to destroy the Pennsylvania mines they will certainly be destroyed. Should he leave them untouched, it will be for the best of reasons. But it is impossible not to indulge the hope that he will avail himself of the tremendous power which the possession of the coal-fields, even temporarily, would confer.
A skirmish occurred near Bottom's Bridge, Virginia, in which Sergeant Barnett, of company C, Fifth Pennsylvania cavalry, was killed. There were no other casualties. The Fifth Pennsylvania reported the captured twenty-five prisoners.
General Neal Dow was captured by a party of Confederate scouts at a private residence near Clinton, Louisiana, and sent to Richmond, Virginia.
The Confederate blockade runner Britannia was captured by the Federal gunboat Santiago de Cuba.
At Baltimore, Maryland, the following order was issued by the General Commanding: Until further orders, the citizens of Baltimore city and county are prohibited from keeping arms in their houses unless enrolled in volunteer companies for the defense of their homes. The dwellings of citizens were visited by the Provost Marshal and the police, for arms, in accordance with this order.
The Confederate Impressment Commissioners of the several States, met in convention at Atlanta, Georgia, today. Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida were not represented, and the other States only partially. Consequently the Convention adjourned to the twenty-seventh instant for a full attendance.
Hundreds of books have been written about the Battle of Gettysburg; dozens about various aspects of this, the Second Day, alone. Meanwhile, the end of the Siege of Vicksburg was drawing very near. Attempts by the Confederacy to break reinforcements through General Hiram Ulysses Grant's lines had failed, and supplies were running low. Mule meat was beginning to seem tasty, considering that the alternative was to eat rats. Negotiations were proposed.
General Grant, before Vicksburg, wrote Rear Admiral David D. Porter that "...the firing from the mortar boats this morning has been exceedingly well directed on my front. One shell fell into the large fort, and several along the line of the rifle pits. Please have them continue firing in the same direction and elevation." USS General Sterling Price, Benton, and Mound City had shelled the heavy battery, which had earned the sobriquet ''Whistling Dick'' because of is power and effectiveness.
The success of his army in the fighting on July 1 encouraged General Robert E. Lee to renew the battle on July 2. An early morning reconnaissance of the Federal left revealed that their line did not extend as far south as Little Round Top. Lee directed General James Longstreet to take two divisions of I Corps and march south until they reached the flank of the Federal forces. They would attack from this point, supported by a division of A.P. Hill's corps - a total force of nearly 20,000 men. While Longstreet carried out the main offensive, Ewell was ordered to conduct a demonstration against the Federal right. However, he was given discretion to mount a full-scale attack should the opportunity present itself. The Federal army was well prepared for Lee's offensive. Six of its seven corps had arrived on the battlefield, and VI Corps was making a thirty-six-mile forced march to reach it. Meade had deployed his army in a fish-hook-shaped formation, with the right on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill, the center along Cemetery Ridge, and the left on Little Round Top. The left of the Federal line was held by Major General Daniel Sickles's III Corps. Sickles was dissatisfied with his assigned position and in the early afternoon, without orders, he advanced his line nearly half a mile west in order to take advantage of the high open ground around a nearby peach orchard. Soon after Sickles took up this new position, Longstreet attacked. Third Corps was hard pressed and Meade sent V Corps and part of 11 Corps to reinforce Sickles in the Peach Orchard. But, after furious fighting, Longstreet's forces broke through, causing Sickles's entire line to collapse. The Confederates pursued to the base of Little Round Top, but Federal reinforcements, including elements of VI Corps, checked their advance. Farther north, elements of a division of the Confederate III Corps advanced to the slopes of Cemetery Ridge before they too were forced to retire. On the Federal right, Ewell did not attack until evening, after Longstreet's onslaught had subsided. The effort to storm Cemetery Hill was ultimately unsuccessful. Ewell's attacks were also repulsed at Culp's Hill, although a foothold was gained near the base of the hill. The second day's fighting had cost each army some 9,000 casualties. Lee's forces had again gained ground, but had failed to dislodge the Federal army from its strong defensive position.
The H.L. Hunley is launched at Mobile, Alabama.
The CSS Alabama, under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes, captured the ship Anna F. Schmidt in the South Atlantic with a cargo of clothes, medicines, clocks, sewing machines, and ''...the latest invention for killing bed-bugs." Semmes put the torch to the prize. "We then wheeled about and took the fork of the road again, for the Cape of Good Hope."
The USS Samuel Rotan, Acting Lieutenant William W. Kennison piloting, seized the schooner Champion off the Piankatank River, Virginia.
The USS Cayuga, Lieutenant Commander Dana in charge, captured the blockade running sloop Blue Bell in Mermentau River , Louisiana , with cargo of sugar and molasses.
The USS Covington, piloted by Acting Lieutenant George P. Lord, captured the steamer Eureka near Commerce, Mississippi , with cargo of whiskey.
The USS Juniata, under Commander Clitz, seized the blockade running British schooner Don Jose at sea with cargo of salt, cotton, and rum.
The Richmond Whig of this date contained the following: If it be true that the confederate forces occupy Harrisburg, the attention of the commanding general will no doubt be directed to the coalfields, which lie within forty or fifty miles of that city. His first aim will be to cut all the railroad connections, and thus put a stop to the transportation of fuel. His next will be to destroy the most costly and not easily replaced machinery of the pits. Whether he would stop at this is questionable. He might set fire to the pits, withdraw the forces sent out on this special duty, and leave the heart of Pennsylvania on fire, never to be quenched until a river is turned into the pits, or the vast supply of coal is reduced to ashes. The anthracite coal is found in large quantities in no other part of the world but Pennsylvania. Enormous quantities are used .in the United States navy, the countless workshops and manufactures of the North, in the river boats, and even upon locomotives. It cannot well be replaced by any other fuel. The bituminous coal which is found near Pittsburgh would not answer the purpose, even if it would bear the cost of transportation. Our troops already hold the railroads and canals leading from the Cumberland coalfields. All that is needed is to seize the anthracite fields, destroy the roads and the machinery of the pits, set fire to the mines, and leave them. Northern industry will thus be paralyzed at a single blow. These views may have induced General Lee to move upon Harrisburg. We doubt whether he would fire the mines, but the destruction of the Mauch Chunk Railroad and pit implements would be as legitimate as blowing up tunnels and aqueducts or burning bridges. Of one thing we may be sure, that whatever is best to be done will be done by General Lee, and if he thinks fit to destroy the Pennsylvania mines they will certainly be destroyed. Should he leave them untouched, it will be for the best of reasons. But it is impossible not to indulge the hope that he will avail himself of the tremendous power which the possession of the coal-fields, even temporarily, would confer.
A skirmish occurred near Bottom's Bridge, Virginia, in which Sergeant Barnett, of company C, Fifth Pennsylvania cavalry, was killed. There were no other casualties. The Fifth Pennsylvania reported the captured twenty-five prisoners.
General Neal Dow was captured by a party of Confederate scouts at a private residence near Clinton, Louisiana, and sent to Richmond, Virginia.
The Confederate blockade runner Britannia was captured by the Federal gunboat Santiago de Cuba.
At Baltimore, Maryland, the following order was issued by the General Commanding: Until further orders, the citizens of Baltimore city and county are prohibited from keeping arms in their houses unless enrolled in volunteer companies for the defense of their homes. The dwellings of citizens were visited by the Provost Marshal and the police, for arms, in accordance with this order.
The Confederate Impressment Commissioners of the several States, met in convention at Atlanta, Georgia, today. Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida were not represented, and the other States only partially. Consequently the Convention adjourned to the twenty-seventh instant for a full attendance.
Posted on 7/2/13 at 4:38 pm to mikeboss550
quote:
My Great Great Great Grandfather was killed at Gettysburg. Noone knows what day, but he was in the 26th North Carolina. They took the most casualties of any Regiment Confederate or Union at Gettysburg, they also were one of the last to break ranks during Pickett's Charge in which they advanced the furthest..
Good stuff...Thanks for sharing.
FWIW...
On July 1st the 26th North Carolina engaged their 1st Union soldiers, the 24th Michigan (which suffered the most casualties of any Union regiment at Gettysburg) at McPherson's Ridge. The 26th regiment suffered heavy casualties during the fight losing 588 men out of a strength of 800, but forced the 24th into a retreat...
On July the 2nd the 26th remained behind the lines while Pettrigrew and the surviving officers worked to bring men not severely wounded back into the ranks....
On July the 3rd the remainder of the 26th were chosen to take part in the Pettigrew/Pickett's Charge on Cemetery Ridge. The 26th North Carolina suffered artillery fire and then small arms fire as it advanced. The regiment lost an additional 120 men, and the regimental flag was captured...
The regiment lost more men than any other regiment, Union or Confederate, during the battle, including the entire Company F. There is some controversy over whether the Carolinians penetrated the federal line, but they were among the last troops repelled. Moreover, the 26th advanced farther than the troops led by General Lewis Addison Armistead of Pickett's division....
In all the 26th North Carolina lost 708 men out of a regiment of approximately 800 soldiers...
This post was edited on 7/2/13 at 4:39 pm
Posted on 7/3/13 at 1:50 pm to dallasga6
Last day of the Battle of Gettysburg...
Part 1...
July 3, 1863
The Army of Northern Virginia had attacked the Federal right on Cemetery and Culps' Hills yesterday and failed to dislodge them. They had attacked the left at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield and Devil's Den, but were unable to roll up the line. Late last night, it was decided to assault the center. Preceded by an immense artillery barrage (which mostly overshot the line it was intended to hit on Cemetery Ridge because of a fuse difference from Augusta) the divisions of Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble set forth on their march into history. Although a few men made it across the stone wall, they were soon killed or captured. The Union center held.
Lee's confidence was unshaken by the events of July 2. That evening, he ordered Longstreet, who had been reinforced by Major General George Pickett's division, to renew his assault on the Federal left. Simultaneously, Ewell, who had also been reinforced, was to storm Culp's Hill. Stuart's cavalry, which had rejoined the army late that day, was ordered to march well east of Gettysburg, and attempt to penetrate to the Federal rear where they might disrupt communications and distract Meade. Meanwhile, Meade had determined to hold his position and await Lee's attack. However, at Culp's Hill he authorized XII Corps to drive Ewell's forces out of the captured Federal trenches at daylight. The Federal effort opened with a concentrated artillery bombardment which precipitated a tremendous musketry battle. With Ewell already engaged, Lee rode to Longstreet's headquarters to observe his preparations for the attack on the Federal left. Longstreet misunderstood his orders and was planning instead a movement to turn the Federal left. With the hope of a coordinated attack now lost, Lee was forced to modify his plans. He determined to shift his main attack to the Federal center on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet was placed in command of the effort. The plan was first to subject the Federal position to bombardment by nearly 140 cannon, then to send Pickett, Pettigrew and half of Trimble's divisions (formerly Heth's and Pender's) - nearly 12,000 men - forward to smash the Federal center. While Longstreet made his preparations during the morning, Ewell's forces were defeated in their counterattacks on Culp's Hill, and withdrew around 11:00 a.m. At l:00 p.m., Longstreet opened the great bombardment of the Federal line. The Federal army replied with approximately 80 cannon and a giant duel ensued which lasted for nearly two hours. After the bombardment subsided, the infantry went forward. This has subsequently been known throughout history as "Pickett's Charge." Federal artillery, followed by musketry, cut the Confederate formations to pieces and inflicted devastating losses. A small Confederate force effected one small penetration of the Federal line, but was eventually overwhelmed. The attack ended in shambles, with nearly 5,600 Confederate casualties. Meanwhile, three miles east of Gettysburg, Stuart's cavalry was engaged by Federal cavalry under Brigadier General David Gregg. The cavalry clash was indecisive, but Stuart was neutralized and posed no threat to the Federal rear. The battle was effectively over. Federal losses numbered approximately 23,049, while estimates of Confederate losses ranged around 28,063.
Major General Grant and Lieutenant General Pemberton, CSA, the gallant and tireless commander of the Vicksburg defenses, arranged an armistice to negotiate the terms of capitulation of the citadel. Only with the cessation of hostilities did the activity of the fleet under Rear Admiral Porter come to a halt off Vicksburg .
Boats from the USS Fort Henry, Lieutenant Commander McCauley in charge, captured the sloop Emma north of Sea Horse Key, Florida, with a cargo of tar and Confederate mail.
The following "commendable appeal" to the foreign residents of Richmond, Virginia, appeared in the Enquirer, published in that city, today: To British Subjects: Fellow-countrymen: If you desire to protect your homes, and the homes of your friends, from the touch of the ruthless invader; if you believe, as we do, in the justice of the Southern cause, and desire its success; if you have interests here to defend, then it is manifestly your duty, as brave and chivalrous men, to take up arms at this crisis. The history of our past precludes the possibility of our being cowards; but let us here, and now, in this righteous struggle for constitutional law and liberty, add another laurel to our ancestral history. Those of you who are willing to offer yourselves, for either temporary or permanent duty, should report at once to the undersigned: Sydney H. Davis, Lieutenant H. B. M., Sixteenth regiment, Arlington House. F. L. Buxton, Lieutenant Royal Berks volunteers, Mrs. Duval's, corner Fourteenth and Ross streets.
At Vicksburg, Mississippi, at eight o'clock this morning, flags of truce appeared before A. J. Smith's front, when the Confederates, Major General John S. Bowen and Colonel L. M. Montgomery, were led blindfolded into the Union lines. They bore a communication from General John C. Pemberton, of the following purport: Although I feel confident of my ability to resist your arms indefinitely, in order to stop the further effusion of blood, I propose that you appoint three commissioners, to meet three whom I shall select, to arrange such terms as may best accomplish the result. General Hiram U. Grant replied in these words: The appointment of commissioners is unnecessary. While I should be glad to stop any unnecessary effusion of blood, the only terms which I can entertain are those of unconditional surrender. At the same time, myself and men, and officers of this army, are ready to testify to the distinguished gallantry with which the defense of Vicksburg has been conducted. At eleven o'clock the messengers returned. This afternoon General Grant met General Pemberton between the lines, and after an hour's consultation settled the surrender of the place.
Part 1...
July 3, 1863
The Army of Northern Virginia had attacked the Federal right on Cemetery and Culps' Hills yesterday and failed to dislodge them. They had attacked the left at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield and Devil's Den, but were unable to roll up the line. Late last night, it was decided to assault the center. Preceded by an immense artillery barrage (which mostly overshot the line it was intended to hit on Cemetery Ridge because of a fuse difference from Augusta) the divisions of Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble set forth on their march into history. Although a few men made it across the stone wall, they were soon killed or captured. The Union center held.
Lee's confidence was unshaken by the events of July 2. That evening, he ordered Longstreet, who had been reinforced by Major General George Pickett's division, to renew his assault on the Federal left. Simultaneously, Ewell, who had also been reinforced, was to storm Culp's Hill. Stuart's cavalry, which had rejoined the army late that day, was ordered to march well east of Gettysburg, and attempt to penetrate to the Federal rear where they might disrupt communications and distract Meade. Meanwhile, Meade had determined to hold his position and await Lee's attack. However, at Culp's Hill he authorized XII Corps to drive Ewell's forces out of the captured Federal trenches at daylight. The Federal effort opened with a concentrated artillery bombardment which precipitated a tremendous musketry battle. With Ewell already engaged, Lee rode to Longstreet's headquarters to observe his preparations for the attack on the Federal left. Longstreet misunderstood his orders and was planning instead a movement to turn the Federal left. With the hope of a coordinated attack now lost, Lee was forced to modify his plans. He determined to shift his main attack to the Federal center on Cemetery Ridge. Longstreet was placed in command of the effort. The plan was first to subject the Federal position to bombardment by nearly 140 cannon, then to send Pickett, Pettigrew and half of Trimble's divisions (formerly Heth's and Pender's) - nearly 12,000 men - forward to smash the Federal center. While Longstreet made his preparations during the morning, Ewell's forces were defeated in their counterattacks on Culp's Hill, and withdrew around 11:00 a.m. At l:00 p.m., Longstreet opened the great bombardment of the Federal line. The Federal army replied with approximately 80 cannon and a giant duel ensued which lasted for nearly two hours. After the bombardment subsided, the infantry went forward. This has subsequently been known throughout history as "Pickett's Charge." Federal artillery, followed by musketry, cut the Confederate formations to pieces and inflicted devastating losses. A small Confederate force effected one small penetration of the Federal line, but was eventually overwhelmed. The attack ended in shambles, with nearly 5,600 Confederate casualties. Meanwhile, three miles east of Gettysburg, Stuart's cavalry was engaged by Federal cavalry under Brigadier General David Gregg. The cavalry clash was indecisive, but Stuart was neutralized and posed no threat to the Federal rear. The battle was effectively over. Federal losses numbered approximately 23,049, while estimates of Confederate losses ranged around 28,063.
Major General Grant and Lieutenant General Pemberton, CSA, the gallant and tireless commander of the Vicksburg defenses, arranged an armistice to negotiate the terms of capitulation of the citadel. Only with the cessation of hostilities did the activity of the fleet under Rear Admiral Porter come to a halt off Vicksburg .
Boats from the USS Fort Henry, Lieutenant Commander McCauley in charge, captured the sloop Emma north of Sea Horse Key, Florida, with a cargo of tar and Confederate mail.
The following "commendable appeal" to the foreign residents of Richmond, Virginia, appeared in the Enquirer, published in that city, today: To British Subjects: Fellow-countrymen: If you desire to protect your homes, and the homes of your friends, from the touch of the ruthless invader; if you believe, as we do, in the justice of the Southern cause, and desire its success; if you have interests here to defend, then it is manifestly your duty, as brave and chivalrous men, to take up arms at this crisis. The history of our past precludes the possibility of our being cowards; but let us here, and now, in this righteous struggle for constitutional law and liberty, add another laurel to our ancestral history. Those of you who are willing to offer yourselves, for either temporary or permanent duty, should report at once to the undersigned: Sydney H. Davis, Lieutenant H. B. M., Sixteenth regiment, Arlington House. F. L. Buxton, Lieutenant Royal Berks volunteers, Mrs. Duval's, corner Fourteenth and Ross streets.
At Vicksburg, Mississippi, at eight o'clock this morning, flags of truce appeared before A. J. Smith's front, when the Confederates, Major General John S. Bowen and Colonel L. M. Montgomery, were led blindfolded into the Union lines. They bore a communication from General John C. Pemberton, of the following purport: Although I feel confident of my ability to resist your arms indefinitely, in order to stop the further effusion of blood, I propose that you appoint three commissioners, to meet three whom I shall select, to arrange such terms as may best accomplish the result. General Hiram U. Grant replied in these words: The appointment of commissioners is unnecessary. While I should be glad to stop any unnecessary effusion of blood, the only terms which I can entertain are those of unconditional surrender. At the same time, myself and men, and officers of this army, are ready to testify to the distinguished gallantry with which the defense of Vicksburg has been conducted. At eleven o'clock the messengers returned. This afternoon General Grant met General Pemberton between the lines, and after an hour's consultation settled the surrender of the place.
Posted on 7/3/13 at 1:52 pm to dallasga6
Part 2...
July 3, 1863
Major General French sent a force toward Williamsport, Maryland, which was successful in capturing and destroying the pontoon train of the Southerners. The guard, consisting of a lieutenant and only thirteen men, were taken.
The following orders were issued at New Orleans, Louisiana, by Brigadier General William H. Emory: Hereafter no public assemblages, except for public worship under a regular, commissioned priest, will be allowed in this city for any purpose or on any pretense whatever, by white or black, without the written consent of the Commander of the defenses of New Orleans; and no more than three persons will be allowed to assemble or congregate together upon the streets of the city. Whenever more than that number are found together by the patrol, they shall be ordered to disperse, and failing to do so, the offenders shall be placed in arrest. All barrooms, coffee houses, stores, and shops of every description, will be closed at nine o'clock P. M. All club rooms and gambling houses are hereby closed until further orders. No citizens or other persons, except the police and officers in the United States service, or soldiers on duty or with passes, are to be allowed in the streets after nine o'clock P. M.
The United States transport boat Zephyr was fired into, at a point six miles below Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and two men were wounded.
A vicious fight occurred at Fairfield, Pennsylvania, between the 6th United States cavalry, under Major Samuel H. Starr, and Confederate cavalry, under Generals Robinson and William E. Jones. The 6th U.S. Cavalry was reassigned to intercept a Confederate wagon train heading towards Fairfield. As the night progressed, not a rebel was spotted. Starr ordered the men to halt. He divided his 400 men and began to search for the wagon train. As members of the 6th took Carroll's Tract Road, nothing was spotted. Approximately twelve hours later, the search looked useless until a captain happened to come across a local farmer. After he asked the farmer about rebel movements for the second time, the farmer simply pointed up the road and said "About 6 or 7 men went up the road." The captain pushed his men forward. As soon as they cleared the ridge, an order was given to dismount and form a line on both sides of the road. The Federals moved to their lines and about 50 pickets were there to meet them. These included members of the 7th Virginia Cavalry that was part of Jone's Brigade. The 6th U.S. cavalry then charged. They managed to push back the Confederates until suddenly, Lt. Balder was overwhelmed. The whole brigade was there waiting. As fast as the Federal horsemen got there, back down the road toward Fairfield they went. The squadron met up with Major Starr and then like a ping-pong ball they ran after the Confederates. The terrain was flat and excellent for a mounted charge, except for the fact that the road was not in the best condition. The Federals started to give way on account of their losses and being overwhelmed. The 6th U.S. Cavalry then retreated. The 6th U.S. Cavalry lost about 242 men, this total included those killed, wounded or missing casualties.
Fairfield was not the only battle that took place near Emmitsburg on July 3rd. South Cavalry Field is located about five miles north of Emmitsburg on the Old Emmitsburg Road. This fight occurred when General Wesley Merrit left Emmitsburg along with the 1st, 2nd, and the 5th U.S. Cavalry along with the 1st U.S. Artillery made their way towards Gettysburg. Their mission was to cut along the Confederate right and if they could, repulse Longstreet's assault., The day was cloudy, and one could hear the sound of cannon in the distance echoing in Emmitsburg. During the afternoon of July 3rd, Merrit and his troops made their way onto the battlefield, leaving only a squadron to guard the wagon train in Emmitsburg. General Kilpatrick gave out the orders. General Farnsworth, with much protest was forced to lead a charge that would prove to be deadly. In General Farnsworth words "General, if you order the attack, I'll lead it, but you must take the responsibility." The Federals under the command of General Pleasonton led a prong attack on the Confederate's right and the Confederate rear. Merrit attacked from the left towards the right flank of the Confederate line, while General Elon Farnsworth attacked the extreme right flank of the Confederate line along the area of the Slyder Farm and the Bushman Hill. The skirmishers were placed along Old Emmitsburg Road as Merrit's Brigade waited for the order to attack. As Longstreet's assault was in the midst of the grand bombardment of the Federal center, members of Merrit's Brigade looked on as Pickett's Charge was unfolding, and as one soldier described, "A perfect storm of shot, shell, and ball rained upon and about us. Every possible shelter was gained behind barricade and stone wall, while the movements of the enemy were carefully watched, and every ordinary advance promptly checked." As Pickett's Charge came to a close, Merrit was already skirmishing with parts of Black's South Carolina cavalry. This kept Merrit pinned down for the time being. At the same time the 6th was engaged at Fairfield as Jone's Brigade made their way towards Fairfield to open the main road for the Confederate army to retreat back towards Virginia. Farnsworth was skirmishing with elements of the 1st Texas Infantry, 9th and 59th Georgia Infantry, and the 4th Alabama Infantry. The 4th Alabama was battered and worn from the previous day's fight on the Round Tops. As they resisted, the 4th Alabama was ordered to throw up breastworks and prepare to intercept any cavalry movements that might come. The Confederate cavalry at East Cavalry Field was forced to withdraw, after General Stuart could not turn the right flank of the Union Army that was positioned near Culp's Hill. General Lee was not pleased. There was yet another attack on the Confederate right flank led by Farnsworth. The 4th Alabama was not yet in position when they heard members of the Vermont cavalry say "Charge'em boys!" The Farnsworth attack would eventually fall apart as the 4th Alabama Infantry held their ground near Plum Run. General Farnsworth was retreating back when he ran into some of the Texas Infantry. Farnsworth ordered those men in gray to throw down their weapons and surrender. At that, the rebels fired their rifles at him, causing severe wounds. Luck was not on Merrit's side on that day. During the time of Farnsworth's Charge, Merrit pressed his attack against the Confederate right flank. Members of the 7th, 8th, 9th, and the 59th Georgia Infantry along with three batteries, repulsed Merrit's efforts to turn the Confederate right flank. One Confederate officer stated, " The efforts of writing down on paper about the engagement, would not be worth writing for." After a four-hour fight, the Confederates withdrew to their original positions, as a heavy thunderstorm came in. The engagement of South Cavalry Field was then called off. The battles on July 3rd caused much reflection. Pickett's Charge was a total loss. At the same time the Federal efforts to turn the tide and end the battle at South Cavalry Field were a loss also. The Federals, due to General Jones' outstanding performance, lost the battle in Fairfield leaving the mountain gaps open for a Confederate retreat, while the Confederates lost East Cavalry Field due to General Custer's charge. The Union cavalry was gaining sprit and the operations back to Virginia would be of the same style fighting as it was in Fairfield and on East Cavalry Field. Hit and run type tactics were to be used.
July 3, 1863
Major General French sent a force toward Williamsport, Maryland, which was successful in capturing and destroying the pontoon train of the Southerners. The guard, consisting of a lieutenant and only thirteen men, were taken.
The following orders were issued at New Orleans, Louisiana, by Brigadier General William H. Emory: Hereafter no public assemblages, except for public worship under a regular, commissioned priest, will be allowed in this city for any purpose or on any pretense whatever, by white or black, without the written consent of the Commander of the defenses of New Orleans; and no more than three persons will be allowed to assemble or congregate together upon the streets of the city. Whenever more than that number are found together by the patrol, they shall be ordered to disperse, and failing to do so, the offenders shall be placed in arrest. All barrooms, coffee houses, stores, and shops of every description, will be closed at nine o'clock P. M. All club rooms and gambling houses are hereby closed until further orders. No citizens or other persons, except the police and officers in the United States service, or soldiers on duty or with passes, are to be allowed in the streets after nine o'clock P. M.
The United States transport boat Zephyr was fired into, at a point six miles below Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and two men were wounded.
A vicious fight occurred at Fairfield, Pennsylvania, between the 6th United States cavalry, under Major Samuel H. Starr, and Confederate cavalry, under Generals Robinson and William E. Jones. The 6th U.S. Cavalry was reassigned to intercept a Confederate wagon train heading towards Fairfield. As the night progressed, not a rebel was spotted. Starr ordered the men to halt. He divided his 400 men and began to search for the wagon train. As members of the 6th took Carroll's Tract Road, nothing was spotted. Approximately twelve hours later, the search looked useless until a captain happened to come across a local farmer. After he asked the farmer about rebel movements for the second time, the farmer simply pointed up the road and said "About 6 or 7 men went up the road." The captain pushed his men forward. As soon as they cleared the ridge, an order was given to dismount and form a line on both sides of the road. The Federals moved to their lines and about 50 pickets were there to meet them. These included members of the 7th Virginia Cavalry that was part of Jone's Brigade. The 6th U.S. cavalry then charged. They managed to push back the Confederates until suddenly, Lt. Balder was overwhelmed. The whole brigade was there waiting. As fast as the Federal horsemen got there, back down the road toward Fairfield they went. The squadron met up with Major Starr and then like a ping-pong ball they ran after the Confederates. The terrain was flat and excellent for a mounted charge, except for the fact that the road was not in the best condition. The Federals started to give way on account of their losses and being overwhelmed. The 6th U.S. Cavalry then retreated. The 6th U.S. Cavalry lost about 242 men, this total included those killed, wounded or missing casualties.
Fairfield was not the only battle that took place near Emmitsburg on July 3rd. South Cavalry Field is located about five miles north of Emmitsburg on the Old Emmitsburg Road. This fight occurred when General Wesley Merrit left Emmitsburg along with the 1st, 2nd, and the 5th U.S. Cavalry along with the 1st U.S. Artillery made their way towards Gettysburg. Their mission was to cut along the Confederate right and if they could, repulse Longstreet's assault., The day was cloudy, and one could hear the sound of cannon in the distance echoing in Emmitsburg. During the afternoon of July 3rd, Merrit and his troops made their way onto the battlefield, leaving only a squadron to guard the wagon train in Emmitsburg. General Kilpatrick gave out the orders. General Farnsworth, with much protest was forced to lead a charge that would prove to be deadly. In General Farnsworth words "General, if you order the attack, I'll lead it, but you must take the responsibility." The Federals under the command of General Pleasonton led a prong attack on the Confederate's right and the Confederate rear. Merrit attacked from the left towards the right flank of the Confederate line, while General Elon Farnsworth attacked the extreme right flank of the Confederate line along the area of the Slyder Farm and the Bushman Hill. The skirmishers were placed along Old Emmitsburg Road as Merrit's Brigade waited for the order to attack. As Longstreet's assault was in the midst of the grand bombardment of the Federal center, members of Merrit's Brigade looked on as Pickett's Charge was unfolding, and as one soldier described, "A perfect storm of shot, shell, and ball rained upon and about us. Every possible shelter was gained behind barricade and stone wall, while the movements of the enemy were carefully watched, and every ordinary advance promptly checked." As Pickett's Charge came to a close, Merrit was already skirmishing with parts of Black's South Carolina cavalry. This kept Merrit pinned down for the time being. At the same time the 6th was engaged at Fairfield as Jone's Brigade made their way towards Fairfield to open the main road for the Confederate army to retreat back towards Virginia. Farnsworth was skirmishing with elements of the 1st Texas Infantry, 9th and 59th Georgia Infantry, and the 4th Alabama Infantry. The 4th Alabama was battered and worn from the previous day's fight on the Round Tops. As they resisted, the 4th Alabama was ordered to throw up breastworks and prepare to intercept any cavalry movements that might come. The Confederate cavalry at East Cavalry Field was forced to withdraw, after General Stuart could not turn the right flank of the Union Army that was positioned near Culp's Hill. General Lee was not pleased. There was yet another attack on the Confederate right flank led by Farnsworth. The 4th Alabama was not yet in position when they heard members of the Vermont cavalry say "Charge'em boys!" The Farnsworth attack would eventually fall apart as the 4th Alabama Infantry held their ground near Plum Run. General Farnsworth was retreating back when he ran into some of the Texas Infantry. Farnsworth ordered those men in gray to throw down their weapons and surrender. At that, the rebels fired their rifles at him, causing severe wounds. Luck was not on Merrit's side on that day. During the time of Farnsworth's Charge, Merrit pressed his attack against the Confederate right flank. Members of the 7th, 8th, 9th, and the 59th Georgia Infantry along with three batteries, repulsed Merrit's efforts to turn the Confederate right flank. One Confederate officer stated, " The efforts of writing down on paper about the engagement, would not be worth writing for." After a four-hour fight, the Confederates withdrew to their original positions, as a heavy thunderstorm came in. The engagement of South Cavalry Field was then called off. The battles on July 3rd caused much reflection. Pickett's Charge was a total loss. At the same time the Federal efforts to turn the tide and end the battle at South Cavalry Field were a loss also. The Federals, due to General Jones' outstanding performance, lost the battle in Fairfield leaving the mountain gaps open for a Confederate retreat, while the Confederates lost East Cavalry Field due to General Custer's charge. The Union cavalry was gaining sprit and the operations back to Virginia would be of the same style fighting as it was in Fairfield and on East Cavalry Field. Hit and run type tactics were to be used.
This post was edited on 7/3/13 at 1:54 pm
Posted on 7/3/13 at 4:31 pm to dallasga6
Vicksburg tomorrow...
Posted on 7/3/13 at 5:03 pm to Fishwater
quote:Yup... Pemberton ran up the truce flags today to start discussions on the surrender of Vicksburg, all points were worked out today & executed tomorrow...
Vicksburg tomorrow...
Coupla bad days for the CSA...
This post was edited on 7/3/13 at 5:05 pm
Posted on 7/4/13 at 7:47 am to dallasga6
3 parts today...
Aftermath of Gettysburg...
July 4, 1863
Early this morning, General Robert Edward Lee started a 27-mile-long train of hospital wagons down the road to Virginia. His army halted at the flooded Potomac River and entrenched for another battle, but General George Gordon Meade's army, too, was battered and exhausted and had consumed much of its ammunition. The Army of the Potomac did not pursue the Army of Northern Virginia, for which Meade would be soundly criticized. He remained in command of that army for the rest of the war, even after Hiram Ulysses Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General, placed over all Northern armies and attached himself to the Army of the Potomac. Lee offered his resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but it was refused and he, too, remained in command for the rest of the war.
Scholars debate to this day which event was "more critical" in bringing about the ultimate victory of North over South in the War Between the States, even though it would take almost another two years for the last major Southern Arny to surrender-that of (Georgia native and Cherokee Indian) Brigadier General Stand Watie in Oklahoma Territory near Fort Towson on June 23, 1865. What is not in dispute was that the two of them together combined to make a Northern victory seemingly inevitable. In the East, General Lee gathered the tattered remnants of the Army of Northern Virginia and began the long march home from Gettysburg. General Meade had arranged brilliant defenses, first of the ends of his line on Cemetery Hill and then of the middle, which did not break under "Pickett's Charge" yesterday. The Confederates retreated slowly, in good order, and their only regret was that some 6000 of their most severely wounded had to be left on the field for the Yankees to care for or bury.
In the West, General John Clifford Pemberton selected the Fourth of July to surrender the besieged city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, to General Grant, figuring he would get better terms today than any other. In fact they seemed surprisingly easy: all soldiers, after turning in their weapons, were given paroles and allowed to go home, although they could not fight again until the paroles expired. In fact, many just went home and never fought again. The Confederacy had lost the Mississippi River, save Port Hudson which would surrender five days later, and was cut in two. The significance of this was not lost: Confederate currency, never strong in world markets, suddenly depreciated by almost 1000 per cent.
Aftermath of Gettysburg...
July 4, 1863
Early this morning, General Robert Edward Lee started a 27-mile-long train of hospital wagons down the road to Virginia. His army halted at the flooded Potomac River and entrenched for another battle, but General George Gordon Meade's army, too, was battered and exhausted and had consumed much of its ammunition. The Army of the Potomac did not pursue the Army of Northern Virginia, for which Meade would be soundly criticized. He remained in command of that army for the rest of the war, even after Hiram Ulysses Grant was promoted to Lieutenant General, placed over all Northern armies and attached himself to the Army of the Potomac. Lee offered his resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, but it was refused and he, too, remained in command for the rest of the war.
Scholars debate to this day which event was "more critical" in bringing about the ultimate victory of North over South in the War Between the States, even though it would take almost another two years for the last major Southern Arny to surrender-that of (Georgia native and Cherokee Indian) Brigadier General Stand Watie in Oklahoma Territory near Fort Towson on June 23, 1865. What is not in dispute was that the two of them together combined to make a Northern victory seemingly inevitable. In the East, General Lee gathered the tattered remnants of the Army of Northern Virginia and began the long march home from Gettysburg. General Meade had arranged brilliant defenses, first of the ends of his line on Cemetery Hill and then of the middle, which did not break under "Pickett's Charge" yesterday. The Confederates retreated slowly, in good order, and their only regret was that some 6000 of their most severely wounded had to be left on the field for the Yankees to care for or bury.
In the West, General John Clifford Pemberton selected the Fourth of July to surrender the besieged city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, to General Grant, figuring he would get better terms today than any other. In fact they seemed surprisingly easy: all soldiers, after turning in their weapons, were given paroles and allowed to go home, although they could not fight again until the paroles expired. In fact, many just went home and never fought again. The Confederacy had lost the Mississippi River, save Port Hudson which would surrender five days later, and was cut in two. The significance of this was not lost: Confederate currency, never strong in world markets, suddenly depreciated by almost 1000 per cent.
This post was edited on 7/4/13 at 8:03 am
Posted on 7/4/13 at 7:49 am to dallasga6
part 2...
Surrender of Vicksburg...
July 4, 1863
Vicksburg, long under assault and siege by water and land, finally capitulated to Grant. William T. Sherman congratulated Rear Admiral David D. Porter for the decisive role played by the Navy in effecting the surrender: "No event in life could have given me more personal pride or pleasure than to have met you today on the wharf at Vicksburg a Fourth of July so eloquent in events as to need no words or stimulants to elevate its importance.....In so magnificent a result I stop not to count who did it; it is done, and the day of our nation's birth is consecrated and baptized anew in a victory won by the United Navy and Army of our country." Observing that he must continue to push on to finish the operations in the west by seizing Port Hudson, Sherman added: "It does seem to me that Port Hudson, without facilities for supplies or interior communication, must soon follow the fate of Vicksburg and to leave the river free, and to you the task of preventing any more Vicksburgs or Port Hudsons on the banks of the great inland sea. Though farther apart, the Navy and Army will still act in concert, and I assure you I shall never reach the banks of the river or see a gunboat but I will think of Admiral Porter, Captain Breese, and the many elegant and accomplished gentlemen it has been my good fortune to meet on armed or unarmed decks of the Mississippi squadron."
Major General Herron spoke as warmly in a letter to Porter. ''While congratulating you on the success of the Army and Navy in reducing this Sebastopol of Rebeldom, I must, at the same time, thank you for the aid my division has had from yourself and your ships. The guns received from the Benton, under charge of Acting Master Reed, a gallant and efficient officer, have formed the most effective battery I had, and I am glad to say that the officer in charge has well sustained the reputation of your squadron. For the efforts you have made to cooperate with me in my position on the left, I am under many obligations." Porter noted the statistical contributions of the Squadron in compelling the fall of Vicksburg. Writing Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that 13 naval guns had been used ashore, many with officers and men from the fleet to work them, he added: "There has been a large expenditure of ammunition during the siege; the mortars have fired 7,000 mortar shells, and the gunboats 4,500; 4,500 have been fired from the naval guns on shore, and we have supplied over 6,000 to the different army corps." General Grant wrote: "The navy, under Porter, was all it could be during the entire campaign. Without its assistance the campaign could not have been successfully made with twice the number of men engaged." Reflecting on the fall of Vicksburg, Porter wrote: "What bearing this will have on the rebellion remains yet to be seen, but the magnitude of the success must go far toward crushing out this revolution and establishing once more the commerce of the States bordering on this river. History has seldom had an opportunity of recording so desperate a defense on one side, with so much courage, ability, perseverance, and endurance on the other....without a watchful care over the Mississippi, the operations of the army would have been much interfered with, and I can say honestly that officers never did their duty better than those who have patrolled the river from Cairo to Vicksburg.....The capture of Vicksburg leaves us a large army and naval forces free to act all along the river....The effect of this blow will be felt far up the tributaries of the Mississippi."
Indeed, the effect was felt throughout the North and South, for, as Porter had noted, Port Hudson could not long hold out, and the war in the west was won. The great produce of the Midwest could flow freely down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and the South was severed. Captain Raphael Semmes later wrote: ''This [the surrender of Vicksburg] was a terrible blow to us. It not only lost us an army, but cut the Confederacy in two, by giving the enemy the command of the Mississippi River....Vicksburg and Gettysburg mark an era in the war....We need no better evidence of the shock which had been given to public confidence in the South, by those two disasters, than the simple fact, that our currency depreciated almost immediately a thousand per cent!" President Lincoln could write: "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea....Nor must Uncle Sam's web feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been and made their tracks."
Surrender of Vicksburg...
July 4, 1863
Vicksburg, long under assault and siege by water and land, finally capitulated to Grant. William T. Sherman congratulated Rear Admiral David D. Porter for the decisive role played by the Navy in effecting the surrender: "No event in life could have given me more personal pride or pleasure than to have met you today on the wharf at Vicksburg a Fourth of July so eloquent in events as to need no words or stimulants to elevate its importance.....In so magnificent a result I stop not to count who did it; it is done, and the day of our nation's birth is consecrated and baptized anew in a victory won by the United Navy and Army of our country." Observing that he must continue to push on to finish the operations in the west by seizing Port Hudson, Sherman added: "It does seem to me that Port Hudson, without facilities for supplies or interior communication, must soon follow the fate of Vicksburg and to leave the river free, and to you the task of preventing any more Vicksburgs or Port Hudsons on the banks of the great inland sea. Though farther apart, the Navy and Army will still act in concert, and I assure you I shall never reach the banks of the river or see a gunboat but I will think of Admiral Porter, Captain Breese, and the many elegant and accomplished gentlemen it has been my good fortune to meet on armed or unarmed decks of the Mississippi squadron."
Major General Herron spoke as warmly in a letter to Porter. ''While congratulating you on the success of the Army and Navy in reducing this Sebastopol of Rebeldom, I must, at the same time, thank you for the aid my division has had from yourself and your ships. The guns received from the Benton, under charge of Acting Master Reed, a gallant and efficient officer, have formed the most effective battery I had, and I am glad to say that the officer in charge has well sustained the reputation of your squadron. For the efforts you have made to cooperate with me in my position on the left, I am under many obligations." Porter noted the statistical contributions of the Squadron in compelling the fall of Vicksburg. Writing Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that 13 naval guns had been used ashore, many with officers and men from the fleet to work them, he added: "There has been a large expenditure of ammunition during the siege; the mortars have fired 7,000 mortar shells, and the gunboats 4,500; 4,500 have been fired from the naval guns on shore, and we have supplied over 6,000 to the different army corps." General Grant wrote: "The navy, under Porter, was all it could be during the entire campaign. Without its assistance the campaign could not have been successfully made with twice the number of men engaged." Reflecting on the fall of Vicksburg, Porter wrote: "What bearing this will have on the rebellion remains yet to be seen, but the magnitude of the success must go far toward crushing out this revolution and establishing once more the commerce of the States bordering on this river. History has seldom had an opportunity of recording so desperate a defense on one side, with so much courage, ability, perseverance, and endurance on the other....without a watchful care over the Mississippi, the operations of the army would have been much interfered with, and I can say honestly that officers never did their duty better than those who have patrolled the river from Cairo to Vicksburg.....The capture of Vicksburg leaves us a large army and naval forces free to act all along the river....The effect of this blow will be felt far up the tributaries of the Mississippi."
Indeed, the effect was felt throughout the North and South, for, as Porter had noted, Port Hudson could not long hold out, and the war in the west was won. The great produce of the Midwest could flow freely down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and the South was severed. Captain Raphael Semmes later wrote: ''This [the surrender of Vicksburg] was a terrible blow to us. It not only lost us an army, but cut the Confederacy in two, by giving the enemy the command of the Mississippi River....Vicksburg and Gettysburg mark an era in the war....We need no better evidence of the shock which had been given to public confidence in the South, by those two disasters, than the simple fact, that our currency depreciated almost immediately a thousand per cent!" President Lincoln could write: "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea....Nor must Uncle Sam's web feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been and made their tracks."
This post was edited on 7/4/13 at 8:02 am
Posted on 7/4/13 at 7:52 am to dallasga6
part 3...
Elsewhere in the Union & Confederacy...
July 4, 1863...
The USS Tyler, under Lieutenant Commander Prichett, repulsed an attack on Helena, Arkansas, by a force of Confederate troops. The Southerners had penetrated the outposts of the outnumbered Union Army, under Major General Benjamin M. Prentiss, when Tyler steamed into action and, in Porter's words, "...saved the day Tyler's heavy fire halted the Confederate attack and compelled a withdrawal. The Southern losses were heavy; Lieutenant Commander S.L. Phelps, commanding the Second Division of the Mississippi Squadron, reported that "...our forces have buried 380 of his killed, and many places have been found where he had himself buried his dead. His wounded number 1,100 and the prisoners are also 1,100 . ..." Mahan, later analyzing the contributions of Tyler 's action at Helena, wrote that "...to her powerful battery and the judgment with which it was used must be mainly attributed the success of the day; for though the garrison fought with great gallantry and tenacity, they were outnumbered two to one." Prentiss advised Porter of Prichett's "valuable assistance" during the battle: ''I assure you, sir, that he not only acquitted himself with honor and distinction during the engagement proper, but with a zeal and patience as rare as they are commendable, when informed of an attack on this place lost no time and spared no labor to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the topography of the surrounding country. And I attribute not a little of our success in the late battle to his full knowledge of the situation and his skill in adapting the means within his command to the end to be obtained." The Union 's force afloat, lead by capable and tireless commanders, repeatedly shattered Confederate hopes for taking the offensive.
The Confederate gunboat Torpedo, formerly the Dragon, came down the James River, Virginia, having on board Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Southern government. By flag of truce it was reported that Stephens was the bearer of a letter from President Jefferson Davis to President Abraham Lincoln, and he requested permission to go to Washington in the Torpedo, to present the letter to President Lincoln in person. This request was declined by the President and Cabinet, but before their determination could be communicated, the Torpedo had left its moorings and proceeded up the James River, without waiting for an answer.
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, "...announces to the country, that the news from the army of the Potomac to ten P. M. of the third, is such as to cover the army with the highest honor and promise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen, and that for this he especially desires, on this day, that He whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be everywhere remembered with the profoundest gratitude."
General Philip Sheridan's division of Rosecrans's army, in pursuit of General Braxton Bragg, crossing the Elk River, Tennessee, was thrown forward toward Dechard and Cowan, after reoccupying Winchester. This day he sent his cavalry force, under Colonel Watkins of the Sixth Kentucky, toward the mountains. Near University Place, they encountered the Confederate cavalry, killed and wounded forty and returned with the loss of twelve men.
Captain Turner, the Commandant at the Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia, received the following order: Special order, no. 160., Headquarters Department of Henrico, July 4, 1868., Captain T. N. Turner, commanding Confederate States prison, is hereby commanded to select, by lot, from among the Federal Captains now in his possession, two of that number for execution. John H. Winder, Major General Commanding. Captain Turner at once proceeded to carry out the order, and caused all the captains, seventy-five in number, to be assembled in the large room on the first floor. The order commanding the selection of two of them for execution was then read aloud in their presence, by the Captain, and the seventy-five names deposited in a box placed upon a table. Captain Turner inquired if they would designate any particular person to draw from the box, and explained that the two first names drawn would be the parties selected. There was a deep silence for some moments, when one of the captains spoke and named Reverend Mr. Brown, Chaplain of the Fifth Maryland (Yankee) regiment, as their choice. Mr. Brown here stepped forward, from three chaplains in the room, and, evincing considerable emotion, drew the first name from the box, written upon a piece of paper. Without glancing at the card, he handed it to Captain Turner, who read out: Henry Washington Sawyer, Captain First New Jersey cavalry. Then it was a singular coincidence struck every one present, for Sawyer was the party who named Mr. Brown for the unpleasant duty he was then discharging. Great drops of sweat beaded Sawyer's brow, as he stepped out from the ranks. The next name was drawn and read out, as before, "John Flinn, fifty-first Indiana regiment ;" Commander John Rodgers and Flinn took his place with Sawyer. The drawing over, the balance of the officers were returned to their quarters, and Sawyer and Flinn taken from the prison to the office of General Winder. Sawyer was talkative, and said if it was his fate, he would stand it. Flinn said but little.
The First North Carolina (Union) volunteers, Colonel McChesney, returned to Newbern, N. C., from an expedition up the Pungo River, where the regiment captured two large schooners heavily laden with Confederate supplies, large numbers of prisoners, horses, cattle, Negroes, and several thousand bushels of corn. This regiment effected a landing near Wade's Point, and moved with great celerity at midnight, taking the enemy everywhere by surprise. Several thousand dollars' worth of Rebel commissary stores were also destroyed.
Elsewhere in the Union & Confederacy...
July 4, 1863...
The USS Tyler, under Lieutenant Commander Prichett, repulsed an attack on Helena, Arkansas, by a force of Confederate troops. The Southerners had penetrated the outposts of the outnumbered Union Army, under Major General Benjamin M. Prentiss, when Tyler steamed into action and, in Porter's words, "...saved the day Tyler's heavy fire halted the Confederate attack and compelled a withdrawal. The Southern losses were heavy; Lieutenant Commander S.L. Phelps, commanding the Second Division of the Mississippi Squadron, reported that "...our forces have buried 380 of his killed, and many places have been found where he had himself buried his dead. His wounded number 1,100 and the prisoners are also 1,100 . ..." Mahan, later analyzing the contributions of Tyler 's action at Helena, wrote that "...to her powerful battery and the judgment with which it was used must be mainly attributed the success of the day; for though the garrison fought with great gallantry and tenacity, they were outnumbered two to one." Prentiss advised Porter of Prichett's "valuable assistance" during the battle: ''I assure you, sir, that he not only acquitted himself with honor and distinction during the engagement proper, but with a zeal and patience as rare as they are commendable, when informed of an attack on this place lost no time and spared no labor to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the topography of the surrounding country. And I attribute not a little of our success in the late battle to his full knowledge of the situation and his skill in adapting the means within his command to the end to be obtained." The Union 's force afloat, lead by capable and tireless commanders, repeatedly shattered Confederate hopes for taking the offensive.
The Confederate gunboat Torpedo, formerly the Dragon, came down the James River, Virginia, having on board Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Southern government. By flag of truce it was reported that Stephens was the bearer of a letter from President Jefferson Davis to President Abraham Lincoln, and he requested permission to go to Washington in the Torpedo, to present the letter to President Lincoln in person. This request was declined by the President and Cabinet, but before their determination could be communicated, the Torpedo had left its moorings and proceeded up the James River, without waiting for an answer.
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, "...announces to the country, that the news from the army of the Potomac to ten P. M. of the third, is such as to cover the army with the highest honor and promise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen, and that for this he especially desires, on this day, that He whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be everywhere remembered with the profoundest gratitude."
General Philip Sheridan's division of Rosecrans's army, in pursuit of General Braxton Bragg, crossing the Elk River, Tennessee, was thrown forward toward Dechard and Cowan, after reoccupying Winchester. This day he sent his cavalry force, under Colonel Watkins of the Sixth Kentucky, toward the mountains. Near University Place, they encountered the Confederate cavalry, killed and wounded forty and returned with the loss of twelve men.
Captain Turner, the Commandant at the Libby Prison, at Richmond, Virginia, received the following order: Special order, no. 160., Headquarters Department of Henrico, July 4, 1868., Captain T. N. Turner, commanding Confederate States prison, is hereby commanded to select, by lot, from among the Federal Captains now in his possession, two of that number for execution. John H. Winder, Major General Commanding. Captain Turner at once proceeded to carry out the order, and caused all the captains, seventy-five in number, to be assembled in the large room on the first floor. The order commanding the selection of two of them for execution was then read aloud in their presence, by the Captain, and the seventy-five names deposited in a box placed upon a table. Captain Turner inquired if they would designate any particular person to draw from the box, and explained that the two first names drawn would be the parties selected. There was a deep silence for some moments, when one of the captains spoke and named Reverend Mr. Brown, Chaplain of the Fifth Maryland (Yankee) regiment, as their choice. Mr. Brown here stepped forward, from three chaplains in the room, and, evincing considerable emotion, drew the first name from the box, written upon a piece of paper. Without glancing at the card, he handed it to Captain Turner, who read out: Henry Washington Sawyer, Captain First New Jersey cavalry. Then it was a singular coincidence struck every one present, for Sawyer was the party who named Mr. Brown for the unpleasant duty he was then discharging. Great drops of sweat beaded Sawyer's brow, as he stepped out from the ranks. The next name was drawn and read out, as before, "John Flinn, fifty-first Indiana regiment ;" Commander John Rodgers and Flinn took his place with Sawyer. The drawing over, the balance of the officers were returned to their quarters, and Sawyer and Flinn taken from the prison to the office of General Winder. Sawyer was talkative, and said if it was his fate, he would stand it. Flinn said but little.
The First North Carolina (Union) volunteers, Colonel McChesney, returned to Newbern, N. C., from an expedition up the Pungo River, where the regiment captured two large schooners heavily laden with Confederate supplies, large numbers of prisoners, horses, cattle, Negroes, and several thousand bushels of corn. This regiment effected a landing near Wade's Point, and moved with great celerity at midnight, taking the enemy everywhere by surprise. Several thousand dollars' worth of Rebel commissary stores were also destroyed.
This post was edited on 7/4/13 at 8:07 am
Posted on 7/5/13 at 5:49 pm to dallasga6
July 5, 1863
After facing their first actual defeat, the still proud Army of Northern Virginia began to withdraw toward the safety of Virginia as quickly as the miles of ambulance wagons would permit, fulfilling their General's wish that they "retire in good order". Being outnumbered, still in hostile territory and now having faced the Spencer rifle as more than just an oddity, they anticipated attack at any moment. It did not, however, materialize. In one of the most controversial actions of the War, General Meade stayed put on Cemetery Ridge rather than launch his battered army in pursuit. Had he known that the Potomac River was rising rapidly from the ongoing rains, perhaps he would have chosen differently.
Rear Admiral S.P. Lee, commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, wrote Assistant Secretary Gustavus Fox regarding measures for a successful blockade: ''The blockade requires smart, active vessels to move about close inside, large vessels with heavy batteries, if ironclads cannot he got to protect the blockade and well armed swift steamers to cruise in pairs outside." Captain Raphael Semmes later paid tribute to the effectiveness of this cordon thrown up by the Union fleet around the lengthy Confederate coast: "We were being hard-pressed too, for material, for the enemy was maintaining a rigid blockade of our ports."
This morning, General Kilpatrick captured a train and a large number of prisoners, at a point near Monterey Gap, Virginia, and in the afternoon he fought the Confederate cavalry under General J. E. B. Stuart, at Smithsburg, Virginia.
A small party of Confederate cavalry entered Mechanicstown, Maryland, and after having secured the area, retired, taking with them a quantity of flour and several horses.
The following order was officially issued at the Headquarters of the Army at Washington: Commanding Officer Fort Monroe, Colonel Ludlow, Agent for the Exchange of Prisoners of War: The President directs that you immediately place W. H. Lee and another officer selected by you, not below the rank of captain, prisoners of war, in close confinement and under strong guards; and that you notify Mr. R. Ould, confederate agent for exchange of prisoners of war, that if Captain H. W. Sawyer, First New Jersey volunteer cavalry, and Captain John Flynn, Fifty-first Indiana volunteers, or any other officers or men in the service of the United States, not guilty of crimes punishable with death by the laws of war, shall be executed by the enemy, the aforementioned prisoners will be immediately hung in retaliation. It is also directed, that immediately on receiving official or other authentic information of the execution of Captain Sawyer and Captain Flynn, you will proceed to hang General Lee and the other rebel officer designated, as herein above directed, and that you notify Robert Ould, Esq., of said. proceedings, and assure him that the Government of the United States will proceed to retaliate for every similar barbarous violation of the laws of civilized war. H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
The steamer Harriet Pinckney, from Bermuda, arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, having on board the "Lincoln exiled" Clement Laird Vallandigham.
At seven o'clock this morning, John Hunt Morgan's cavalry, attacked the Twentieth Kentucky infantry, four hundred strong, under Colonel Hanson, at Lebanon, Kentucky. After a seven hours fight, Morgan's forces commenced burning the town, setting fire to the railroad depot and six or seven houses. Colonel Hanson then surrendered, and Morgan's forces left in the direction of Springfield.
A battle took place near Bolton, Mississippi, between the Federal forces under General William T. Sherman, and the rear guard of the Confederates under General Joe Johnston, in which the guard were compelled to surrender their force.
General James G. Blunt, having under his command portions of the Second and Sixth Kansas, Third Wisconsin, and Fourteenth Kansas regiments, left Fort Scott for the seat of war in the far West.
After facing their first actual defeat, the still proud Army of Northern Virginia began to withdraw toward the safety of Virginia as quickly as the miles of ambulance wagons would permit, fulfilling their General's wish that they "retire in good order". Being outnumbered, still in hostile territory and now having faced the Spencer rifle as more than just an oddity, they anticipated attack at any moment. It did not, however, materialize. In one of the most controversial actions of the War, General Meade stayed put on Cemetery Ridge rather than launch his battered army in pursuit. Had he known that the Potomac River was rising rapidly from the ongoing rains, perhaps he would have chosen differently.
Rear Admiral S.P. Lee, commanding the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, wrote Assistant Secretary Gustavus Fox regarding measures for a successful blockade: ''The blockade requires smart, active vessels to move about close inside, large vessels with heavy batteries, if ironclads cannot he got to protect the blockade and well armed swift steamers to cruise in pairs outside." Captain Raphael Semmes later paid tribute to the effectiveness of this cordon thrown up by the Union fleet around the lengthy Confederate coast: "We were being hard-pressed too, for material, for the enemy was maintaining a rigid blockade of our ports."
This morning, General Kilpatrick captured a train and a large number of prisoners, at a point near Monterey Gap, Virginia, and in the afternoon he fought the Confederate cavalry under General J. E. B. Stuart, at Smithsburg, Virginia.
A small party of Confederate cavalry entered Mechanicstown, Maryland, and after having secured the area, retired, taking with them a quantity of flour and several horses.
The following order was officially issued at the Headquarters of the Army at Washington: Commanding Officer Fort Monroe, Colonel Ludlow, Agent for the Exchange of Prisoners of War: The President directs that you immediately place W. H. Lee and another officer selected by you, not below the rank of captain, prisoners of war, in close confinement and under strong guards; and that you notify Mr. R. Ould, confederate agent for exchange of prisoners of war, that if Captain H. W. Sawyer, First New Jersey volunteer cavalry, and Captain John Flynn, Fifty-first Indiana volunteers, or any other officers or men in the service of the United States, not guilty of crimes punishable with death by the laws of war, shall be executed by the enemy, the aforementioned prisoners will be immediately hung in retaliation. It is also directed, that immediately on receiving official or other authentic information of the execution of Captain Sawyer and Captain Flynn, you will proceed to hang General Lee and the other rebel officer designated, as herein above directed, and that you notify Robert Ould, Esq., of said. proceedings, and assure him that the Government of the United States will proceed to retaliate for every similar barbarous violation of the laws of civilized war. H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
The steamer Harriet Pinckney, from Bermuda, arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, having on board the "Lincoln exiled" Clement Laird Vallandigham.
At seven o'clock this morning, John Hunt Morgan's cavalry, attacked the Twentieth Kentucky infantry, four hundred strong, under Colonel Hanson, at Lebanon, Kentucky. After a seven hours fight, Morgan's forces commenced burning the town, setting fire to the railroad depot and six or seven houses. Colonel Hanson then surrendered, and Morgan's forces left in the direction of Springfield.
A battle took place near Bolton, Mississippi, between the Federal forces under General William T. Sherman, and the rear guard of the Confederates under General Joe Johnston, in which the guard were compelled to surrender their force.
General James G. Blunt, having under his command portions of the Second and Sixth Kansas, Third Wisconsin, and Fourteenth Kansas regiments, left Fort Scott for the seat of war in the far West.
Posted on 7/6/13 at 3:19 pm to dallasga6
July 6, 1863
Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont had been a brilliant naval innovator from the very beginning of the War Between the States, when the Union fleet had been in severe disarray. He was not, however, as talented in politics as he was on deck, and had clashed often with Naval Secretary Gideon Welles. After the failure to take Fort Sumter and Charleston, South Carolina, DuPont wanted to explain the problems to the nation, mainly the weaknesses of the ironclad monitors in their cast-iron and wrought-iron parts. Welles vetoed this as not only likely to reduce confidence in the Navy, but that it also would have lowered the Federal Navy's most widely publicized weapon in public opinion, even though it would have cleared the Admiral. DuPont was replaced today as Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Port Royal by Rear Admiral John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln. Dahlgren would not fare any better in his later attempts to take Charleston than did his renowned predecessor.
The Federal gunboat USS De Soto, under Captain W.M. Walker, captured the English schooner, blockade runner Lady Maria off Clearwater, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The CSS Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, captured and burned the ship Express off the coast of Brazil. She was carrying a cargo of guano.
A fight took place near Quaker Bridge, on the Trent River, North Carolina, in which a small group of Confederates were defeated by an overwhelming Federal force under the command of General Heckman.
The case of the British prize ship Peterhoff, was opened before Judge Betts, sitting in prize court at New York.
The cavalry battles of Hagerstown and Williamsport, Maryland, were fought this day, both Confederate victories.
Knights of the Golden Circle entered the depot at Huntington Indiana, at an early hour this morning, and seized and distributed among themselves a quantity of guns and ammunition.
A large amount of money and other necessaries, in aid of the wounded at Gettysburg, was raised throughout the northern states.
At New York City a conspiracy to resist the draft was discovered, and precautionary measures were taken to thwart it.
So much of the order, issued by Brigadier General Emory, at New Orleans, on the third instant, as prohibited peaceable citizens from being out after nine o'clock P. M., provided that they are not in parties of more than three, was rescinded.
At Frederick, Maryland, a suspected Rebel spy, named William Richardson, about fifty years old, was hanged this morning. He was captured yesterday at Oxford, Maryland. He had been previously captured, and made his escape. He admitted the charge, and said that he had been in the business a long time. Important communications between Lee and Ewell were found on his person.
Major General Oglesby resigned command of the left wing, Sixteenth army corps, Army of the Tennessee, in consequence of the effects of a severe wound which he received in the battle at Corinth, in October last.
The Richmond Sentinel published an elaborate article, setting forth the plan of General Lee for his movement into Pennsylvania. The "...most important part of it was to quit the defensive and assume the offensive toward the enemy."
Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont had been a brilliant naval innovator from the very beginning of the War Between the States, when the Union fleet had been in severe disarray. He was not, however, as talented in politics as he was on deck, and had clashed often with Naval Secretary Gideon Welles. After the failure to take Fort Sumter and Charleston, South Carolina, DuPont wanted to explain the problems to the nation, mainly the weaknesses of the ironclad monitors in their cast-iron and wrought-iron parts. Welles vetoed this as not only likely to reduce confidence in the Navy, but that it also would have lowered the Federal Navy's most widely publicized weapon in public opinion, even though it would have cleared the Admiral. DuPont was replaced today as Commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Port Royal by Rear Admiral John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, a close friend of President Abraham Lincoln. Dahlgren would not fare any better in his later attempts to take Charleston than did his renowned predecessor.
The Federal gunboat USS De Soto, under Captain W.M. Walker, captured the English schooner, blockade runner Lady Maria off Clearwater, Florida, with a cargo of cotton.
The CSS Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, captured and burned the ship Express off the coast of Brazil. She was carrying a cargo of guano.
A fight took place near Quaker Bridge, on the Trent River, North Carolina, in which a small group of Confederates were defeated by an overwhelming Federal force under the command of General Heckman.
The case of the British prize ship Peterhoff, was opened before Judge Betts, sitting in prize court at New York.
The cavalry battles of Hagerstown and Williamsport, Maryland, were fought this day, both Confederate victories.
Knights of the Golden Circle entered the depot at Huntington Indiana, at an early hour this morning, and seized and distributed among themselves a quantity of guns and ammunition.
A large amount of money and other necessaries, in aid of the wounded at Gettysburg, was raised throughout the northern states.
At New York City a conspiracy to resist the draft was discovered, and precautionary measures were taken to thwart it.
So much of the order, issued by Brigadier General Emory, at New Orleans, on the third instant, as prohibited peaceable citizens from being out after nine o'clock P. M., provided that they are not in parties of more than three, was rescinded.
At Frederick, Maryland, a suspected Rebel spy, named William Richardson, about fifty years old, was hanged this morning. He was captured yesterday at Oxford, Maryland. He had been previously captured, and made his escape. He admitted the charge, and said that he had been in the business a long time. Important communications between Lee and Ewell were found on his person.
Major General Oglesby resigned command of the left wing, Sixteenth army corps, Army of the Tennessee, in consequence of the effects of a severe wound which he received in the battle at Corinth, in October last.
The Richmond Sentinel published an elaborate article, setting forth the plan of General Lee for his movement into Pennsylvania. The "...most important part of it was to quit the defensive and assume the offensive toward the enemy."
Posted on 7/7/13 at 2:00 pm to dallasga6
July 7, 1863
There were skirmishes in such varied places as Harper's Ferry, Downsville, and the aptly named Funkstown, Maryland. These were all related, in one way or another, to General Robert E. Lee's desperate attempt to get his battered, but unbowed, Army of Northern Virginia back to the territory of their name. President Abraham Lincoln, although elated about the news of the fall of Vicksburg, did not quite seem to understand that although Lee was fleeing, General George Meade was not pursuing. He wrote to General Henry Halleck, "Now, if General Meade can complete his work...the rebellion will be over."
Confederate forces under General John Hunt Morgan captured the steamers John T. McCombs and Alice Dean at Brandenburg, Kentucky. The famous "Morgan's Raiders" moved up the Ohio, causing great concern in the area. The Union Navy attempted to blunt the Southern thrust.
The USS Monongahela, under Commander Read, and the USS New London, Lieutenant Commander George H. Perkins piloting, engaged Confederate field batteries behind the levee about 12 miles below Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Read, characterized by Farragut as "...one of the most gallant and enterprising officers in my squadron," was mortally wounded in the action.
The CSS Florida, led by Commander John Newland Maffitt, captured the ship Sunrise, commanded by Captain Richard Luce, bound from New York to Liverpool, in latitude 40 degrees North., longitude 68 degrees West. Maffitt released her on $60,000 bond.
The Richmond Enquirer, speculating upon the probabilities and terms of a peace, continues: The Confederate States, when victorious and about to propose terms of peace, will have nothing more to demand than they would have proposed before the fall of Sumter, except indemnification for those outrages committed by the enemy against every law of civilized warfare. The acknowledgment of the independence of every State now in the Confederacy, and the free choice of the people of Maryland to determine whether they will elect the Confederacy or the United States, will form the first of the 'conditions.' Kentucky and Missouri are already members of the Confederacy, and, upon the hypothesis of Confederate success, must remain members of the Confederacy unless their people determine otherwise. With their future destiny the United States can have nothing whatever to do, and will not be permitted to exercise any authority or exert any influence upon their people. The navigation of the Mississippi, though lost to the United States by the trial of battle, may yet be theirs by the 'conditions of peace.' Its advantages are reciprocal, and will be readily yielded to the United States. The return of all Negroes deported by the Yankees, or payment of their value, will be another of the 'conditions of peace.' The laws of war were violated in letter and spirit by the running off of these Negroes, and the destruction of the property of private, unarmed citizens ? payment will be a condition of peace. Trade relations will also form a part of these conditions ? what their nature or character may be it is impossible to speculate upon. But as they are mutual in their advantages, and exist by treaty between all nations, they will doubtless arise, despite the animosity engendered by the war. With such conditions of peace accepted by the United States, in what particular will they have sustained damages by separation which justified this war? The people of the United States have been kept in ignorance of the real demands of the Confederate States; they have been taught to believe a pro-slavery propaganda, involving the conquest and conversion to slavery of the States of the Union, to be the purpose and designs of the Confederacy. The conditions of peace that the victorious Confederates will propose are simple, and we believe will, in the course of time, prove advantageous to both nations. The people of the Confederate States believe that their future destiny can be better accomplished in separate nationality than under the Federal Union. To attest the honesty of this belief, they have maintained a war which has desolated much of their territory, sacrificed many of the bravest and best of their people, and endured all the privations and cruelties inflicted by the enemy. They have demonstrated their determination never again to live in union with the people of the United States; and they have illustrated their power to defy the enemy's efforts by a series of victories unparalleled in the annals of war. Their conditions of peace will involve no humiliation of the enemy; no loss of power except such as is incidental to our separate nationality. If the enemy are unwilling to accept these conditions of peace, so let it be. The war is and will remain in Pennsylvania, arid further North.
A cavalry expedition sent from Newbern, North Carolina, on the third instant, under Colonel Lewis of the Third New York cavalry, returned to that point, having successfully accomplished their mission without loss. They destroyed (twisting rails, etc., by General Haupt's plan) two miles of the railroad at Warsaw; also, for five miles more, all the culverts, as well as the telegraph. At Kenansville, an armory was destroyed; large quantities of small arms and quantities of commissary and quartermaster stores were burnt. About one hundred and fifty animals, and thirty prisoners, were captured by them; and some one hundred men and about three hundred women and children, Negroes, followed them in.
Colonel William Birney opened an office in Baltimore, Maryland, for the recruiting of negro troops.
At Washington, the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg were celebrated with great enthusiasm. Speeches were made by President Lincoln, Secretaries Stanton and Seward, General Halleck, Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, and Representatives E. B. Washburne and Arnold, of Illinois.
The expedition sent out from White House, Virginia, by General Dix, on the first instant, returned.
Colonel Roddy, with eleven companies of Confederate cavalry, made an attack upon a "corral for convalescent horses and mules," near Corinth, Tennessee, and succeeded in carrying off over six hundred animals. The "corral" was guarded by one company of the Thirty-ninth Iowa, under Captain Loomis. The attack was made just at daylight, and the picket was captured after a slight resistance. The rest of the company made a stout defense, until they were surrounded, when some escaped; the captain and twenty of his men were taken prisoners.
The Sixth regular cavalry, under Captain Chaflant, made a reconnaissance near Boonsboro, Maryland, and had a sharp fight, in which they lost ten men.
A battle took place near Fort Halleck, Idaho Territory, between a party of Ute Indians and Union soldiers belonging to the Fort, under the command of Lieutenants Brundley and Williams, of the Seventh Kansas volunteers. The battle lasted two hours, when the Federals, led by Lieutenant Williams, charged upon the Indians, who fled to the mountains, and gave up the contest. The Federals lost one killed and several wounded, while the Indians' loss was twenty-one killed, and thirty-nine wounded.
The Confederate Army of the Tennessee, under the command of General Braxton Bragg, on its movement in front of General Rosecrans' army, reached Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
There were skirmishes in such varied places as Harper's Ferry, Downsville, and the aptly named Funkstown, Maryland. These were all related, in one way or another, to General Robert E. Lee's desperate attempt to get his battered, but unbowed, Army of Northern Virginia back to the territory of their name. President Abraham Lincoln, although elated about the news of the fall of Vicksburg, did not quite seem to understand that although Lee was fleeing, General George Meade was not pursuing. He wrote to General Henry Halleck, "Now, if General Meade can complete his work...the rebellion will be over."
Confederate forces under General John Hunt Morgan captured the steamers John T. McCombs and Alice Dean at Brandenburg, Kentucky. The famous "Morgan's Raiders" moved up the Ohio, causing great concern in the area. The Union Navy attempted to blunt the Southern thrust.
The USS Monongahela, under Commander Read, and the USS New London, Lieutenant Commander George H. Perkins piloting, engaged Confederate field batteries behind the levee about 12 miles below Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Read, characterized by Farragut as "...one of the most gallant and enterprising officers in my squadron," was mortally wounded in the action.
The CSS Florida, led by Commander John Newland Maffitt, captured the ship Sunrise, commanded by Captain Richard Luce, bound from New York to Liverpool, in latitude 40 degrees North., longitude 68 degrees West. Maffitt released her on $60,000 bond.
The Richmond Enquirer, speculating upon the probabilities and terms of a peace, continues: The Confederate States, when victorious and about to propose terms of peace, will have nothing more to demand than they would have proposed before the fall of Sumter, except indemnification for those outrages committed by the enemy against every law of civilized warfare. The acknowledgment of the independence of every State now in the Confederacy, and the free choice of the people of Maryland to determine whether they will elect the Confederacy or the United States, will form the first of the 'conditions.' Kentucky and Missouri are already members of the Confederacy, and, upon the hypothesis of Confederate success, must remain members of the Confederacy unless their people determine otherwise. With their future destiny the United States can have nothing whatever to do, and will not be permitted to exercise any authority or exert any influence upon their people. The navigation of the Mississippi, though lost to the United States by the trial of battle, may yet be theirs by the 'conditions of peace.' Its advantages are reciprocal, and will be readily yielded to the United States. The return of all Negroes deported by the Yankees, or payment of their value, will be another of the 'conditions of peace.' The laws of war were violated in letter and spirit by the running off of these Negroes, and the destruction of the property of private, unarmed citizens ? payment will be a condition of peace. Trade relations will also form a part of these conditions ? what their nature or character may be it is impossible to speculate upon. But as they are mutual in their advantages, and exist by treaty between all nations, they will doubtless arise, despite the animosity engendered by the war. With such conditions of peace accepted by the United States, in what particular will they have sustained damages by separation which justified this war? The people of the United States have been kept in ignorance of the real demands of the Confederate States; they have been taught to believe a pro-slavery propaganda, involving the conquest and conversion to slavery of the States of the Union, to be the purpose and designs of the Confederacy. The conditions of peace that the victorious Confederates will propose are simple, and we believe will, in the course of time, prove advantageous to both nations. The people of the Confederate States believe that their future destiny can be better accomplished in separate nationality than under the Federal Union. To attest the honesty of this belief, they have maintained a war which has desolated much of their territory, sacrificed many of the bravest and best of their people, and endured all the privations and cruelties inflicted by the enemy. They have demonstrated their determination never again to live in union with the people of the United States; and they have illustrated their power to defy the enemy's efforts by a series of victories unparalleled in the annals of war. Their conditions of peace will involve no humiliation of the enemy; no loss of power except such as is incidental to our separate nationality. If the enemy are unwilling to accept these conditions of peace, so let it be. The war is and will remain in Pennsylvania, arid further North.
A cavalry expedition sent from Newbern, North Carolina, on the third instant, under Colonel Lewis of the Third New York cavalry, returned to that point, having successfully accomplished their mission without loss. They destroyed (twisting rails, etc., by General Haupt's plan) two miles of the railroad at Warsaw; also, for five miles more, all the culverts, as well as the telegraph. At Kenansville, an armory was destroyed; large quantities of small arms and quantities of commissary and quartermaster stores were burnt. About one hundred and fifty animals, and thirty prisoners, were captured by them; and some one hundred men and about three hundred women and children, Negroes, followed them in.
Colonel William Birney opened an office in Baltimore, Maryland, for the recruiting of negro troops.
At Washington, the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg were celebrated with great enthusiasm. Speeches were made by President Lincoln, Secretaries Stanton and Seward, General Halleck, Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, and Representatives E. B. Washburne and Arnold, of Illinois.
The expedition sent out from White House, Virginia, by General Dix, on the first instant, returned.
Colonel Roddy, with eleven companies of Confederate cavalry, made an attack upon a "corral for convalescent horses and mules," near Corinth, Tennessee, and succeeded in carrying off over six hundred animals. The "corral" was guarded by one company of the Thirty-ninth Iowa, under Captain Loomis. The attack was made just at daylight, and the picket was captured after a slight resistance. The rest of the company made a stout defense, until they were surrounded, when some escaped; the captain and twenty of his men were taken prisoners.
The Sixth regular cavalry, under Captain Chaflant, made a reconnaissance near Boonsboro, Maryland, and had a sharp fight, in which they lost ten men.
A battle took place near Fort Halleck, Idaho Territory, between a party of Ute Indians and Union soldiers belonging to the Fort, under the command of Lieutenants Brundley and Williams, of the Seventh Kansas volunteers. The battle lasted two hours, when the Federals, led by Lieutenant Williams, charged upon the Indians, who fled to the mountains, and gave up the contest. The Federals lost one killed and several wounded, while the Indians' loss was twenty-one killed, and thirty-nine wounded.
The Confederate Army of the Tennessee, under the command of General Braxton Bragg, on its movement in front of General Rosecrans' army, reached Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Posted on 7/8/13 at 3:34 pm to dallasga6
July 8, 1863
Vicksburg had surrendered four days ago, leaving Port Hudson, a few miles downriver, as the last Confederate bastion standing. This also left its commander, General Franklin Gardner, in a completely untenable situation. He had had enough trouble getting supplies since US General Nathaniel Banks had had the installation under siege for six weeks. Today, after receiving definite news of Vicksburg's surrender, Gardner sent a message to Banks asking the terms of surrender. He finally surrendered his fort and his 7000 men unconditionally.
Lieutenant Commander Fitch, piloting the USS Moose, received word at Cincinnati that General John Hunt Morgan, CSA, was assaulting Union positions and moving up the banks of the Ohio River. He had also captured the steamers John T. McCombs and Alice Dean (see 7 July). Fitch immediately notified the ships under his command stationed along the river, and got underway himself with USS Victory in company Next day the ships converged on Brandenburg, Kentucky, only to find that Morgan's troops, almost 6,000 strong, had just beaten them to the river and crossed into Indiana. "Not knowing which direction Morgan had taken," Fitch reported, "I set the Fairfield and Silver Take to patrol from Leavenworth, [Indiana] up to Brandenburg during the night, and the Victory and Springfield to patrol from Louisville down [to Brandenburg]." By thus deploying his forces, Fitch was able to cover the river for some 40 miles. The morning of 10 July Fitch learned the Confederates were moving northward and, joined by the USS Reindeer and Naumkeag, ascended the Ohio, "keeping as near Morgan's right flank as I possibly could." The chase, continuing until 19 July, was conducted by the USS Moose, Reindeer, Victory, Springfield, Naumkeag, and the steamer Alleghany Belle. The USS Fairplay and Silver Lake remained to patrol between Louisville and Cannelton, Indiana.
Under command of Acting Ensigns Henry Eason and James J. Russell, two cutters from the USS Restless and Rosalie captured the schooner Ann and one sloop (unnamed) in Horse Creek, Florida, with cargoes of cotton.
The CSS Florida, piloted by Commander John Newland Maffitt, captured and burned the brig W.B. Nash and the whaling schooner Rienzi off New York . The latter carried a cargo of oil.
At Louisville, Kentucky, a meeting of Union sympathizers was held to take measures for the defense of that city, then threatened by the Confederates, supposed to be under Generals Morgan and Buckner. A resolution was adopted: "That all male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five be enrolled into companies for service, if required, and that all such who refuse shall be sent to the North."
General Ambrose Burnside, at Cincinnati, Ohio, issued a general order, giving directions for the conduct of the military affairs of his department in all cases concerning habeas corpus.
A large force of General Stahel's cavalry under Colonel Wynkoop, on a reconnaissance near Hagerstown, Maryland, succeeded in capturing a small Confederate company, consisting of two officers and fifty men, who were sent to Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Two Confederate schooners were destroyed at the Rio Grande, Texas, by a party of men, belonging to the Federal gunboat Scioto.
A detachment of Federal cavalry, under the command of Captain Greenfield and Lieutenant Kelley, of General Kelley's command, captured a train of fifteen wagons, sixty mules, two officers and twenty men, with their horses, at a point four miles from Williamsport, Maryland.
General Dabney H. Maury, commanding the Confederate Department of the Gulf, at Mobile, Ala., issued the following to the citizens of that place and its vicinity: The calamity which has befallen our arms at Vicksburg has a peculiar significance for you. Mobile may be attacked within a very short time, and we must make every preparation for its successful defense. All able-bodied men within the limits of the city and county must at once organize into companies, and report for duty in defense of this position. Owners of able-bodied slaves are urged to send them immediately to work on the fortifications. Brigadier General Slaughter will receive the reports of the companies which may be organized, have arms issued to such as have none, give orders for their instruction, and assign them to their stations. Reports of slaves for labor on the defenses may be made to Brigadier General Danville Leadbetter, who has made arrangements for their good treatment while in his employ.
Vicksburg had surrendered four days ago, leaving Port Hudson, a few miles downriver, as the last Confederate bastion standing. This also left its commander, General Franklin Gardner, in a completely untenable situation. He had had enough trouble getting supplies since US General Nathaniel Banks had had the installation under siege for six weeks. Today, after receiving definite news of Vicksburg's surrender, Gardner sent a message to Banks asking the terms of surrender. He finally surrendered his fort and his 7000 men unconditionally.
Lieutenant Commander Fitch, piloting the USS Moose, received word at Cincinnati that General John Hunt Morgan, CSA, was assaulting Union positions and moving up the banks of the Ohio River. He had also captured the steamers John T. McCombs and Alice Dean (see 7 July). Fitch immediately notified the ships under his command stationed along the river, and got underway himself with USS Victory in company Next day the ships converged on Brandenburg, Kentucky, only to find that Morgan's troops, almost 6,000 strong, had just beaten them to the river and crossed into Indiana. "Not knowing which direction Morgan had taken," Fitch reported, "I set the Fairfield and Silver Take to patrol from Leavenworth, [Indiana] up to Brandenburg during the night, and the Victory and Springfield to patrol from Louisville down [to Brandenburg]." By thus deploying his forces, Fitch was able to cover the river for some 40 miles. The morning of 10 July Fitch learned the Confederates were moving northward and, joined by the USS Reindeer and Naumkeag, ascended the Ohio, "keeping as near Morgan's right flank as I possibly could." The chase, continuing until 19 July, was conducted by the USS Moose, Reindeer, Victory, Springfield, Naumkeag, and the steamer Alleghany Belle. The USS Fairplay and Silver Lake remained to patrol between Louisville and Cannelton, Indiana.
Under command of Acting Ensigns Henry Eason and James J. Russell, two cutters from the USS Restless and Rosalie captured the schooner Ann and one sloop (unnamed) in Horse Creek, Florida, with cargoes of cotton.
The CSS Florida, piloted by Commander John Newland Maffitt, captured and burned the brig W.B. Nash and the whaling schooner Rienzi off New York . The latter carried a cargo of oil.
At Louisville, Kentucky, a meeting of Union sympathizers was held to take measures for the defense of that city, then threatened by the Confederates, supposed to be under Generals Morgan and Buckner. A resolution was adopted: "That all male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five be enrolled into companies for service, if required, and that all such who refuse shall be sent to the North."
General Ambrose Burnside, at Cincinnati, Ohio, issued a general order, giving directions for the conduct of the military affairs of his department in all cases concerning habeas corpus.
A large force of General Stahel's cavalry under Colonel Wynkoop, on a reconnaissance near Hagerstown, Maryland, succeeded in capturing a small Confederate company, consisting of two officers and fifty men, who were sent to Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Two Confederate schooners were destroyed at the Rio Grande, Texas, by a party of men, belonging to the Federal gunboat Scioto.
A detachment of Federal cavalry, under the command of Captain Greenfield and Lieutenant Kelley, of General Kelley's command, captured a train of fifteen wagons, sixty mules, two officers and twenty men, with their horses, at a point four miles from Williamsport, Maryland.
General Dabney H. Maury, commanding the Confederate Department of the Gulf, at Mobile, Ala., issued the following to the citizens of that place and its vicinity: The calamity which has befallen our arms at Vicksburg has a peculiar significance for you. Mobile may be attacked within a very short time, and we must make every preparation for its successful defense. All able-bodied men within the limits of the city and county must at once organize into companies, and report for duty in defense of this position. Owners of able-bodied slaves are urged to send them immediately to work on the fortifications. Brigadier General Slaughter will receive the reports of the companies which may be organized, have arms issued to such as have none, give orders for their instruction, and assign them to their stations. Reports of slaves for labor on the defenses may be made to Brigadier General Danville Leadbetter, who has made arrangements for their good treatment while in his employ.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:05 pm to dallasga6
July 9, 1862
John Hunt Morgan had experienced a varied career. The native Kentuckian had been expelled from college, then joined the U.S. Army and served in the Mexican War. After that he bought a hemp factory and later raised a militia group. This morning, he was leading his cavalry forces against numerically superior Union troops, and doing so very effectively. In fact he routed the Yankees, and thereby captured the town of Tompkinsville, Kentucky.
Port Hudson, Louisiana, surrendered after a prolonged attack by Union naval and land forces, The journal of USS Richmond recorded: "This morning at daylight our troops took possession of the Rebel stronghold. . . . At 10 a.m. the Hartford and Albatross came down from above the batteries and anchored ahead of us, General Banks raised the stars and stripes over the citadel and fired a salute of thirty-five guns." A week later Rear Admiral David Farragut wrote from New Orleans: "We have done our part of the work assigned to us, and all has worked well. My last dash past Port Hudson was the best thing I ever did, except taking New Orleans. It assisted materially in the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson." The long drive to wrest control of the entire Mississippi River, beginning in the north at Fort Henry and in the south at New Orleans early in 1862, was finally over.
Farragut, off Donaldsonville, Louisiana, wrote Rear Admiral Porter: "The Department, I presume, anticipated the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson by the time their dispatch would reach me, in which they tell me that 'I will now be able to turn over the Mississippi River to you and give my more particular attention to the blockade on the different points on the coast.'...There are here, as above, some 10,000 Texans, who have 15 or 20 pieces of light artillery, and have cut embrasures in the levee and annoy our vessels very much." Farragut requested Porter to send down one or two ironclads which ''...would then be able to keep open the communications perfectly between Port Hudson and New Orleans."
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory from Paris regarding the ironclads being built in Europe for the South, Noting that it had not been difficult to sign crews for the commerce raiders CSS Alabama and Florida because they held out to the men, "...not only the captivating excitement of adventure but the positive expectation of prize money..." he revealed that it was a much greater problem to man the ironclads. ''Their grim aspect and formidable equipment,'' he wrote, "clearly show that they are solely intended for the real danger and shock of battle."
Recognizing that Wilmington was the key port through which blockade runners were finding passage, Bulloch recommended that the warships be sent to that port "...as speedily as possible . . . [to] entirely destroy the blockading vessels." Once this was accomplished, the ships could turn their attentions elsewhere for "...a decisive blow in any direction, north or south." Bulloch suggested that they could steam up the coast, striking at Washington, Philadelphia, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The high hopes placed on these ironclads were to no avail, however, for they were seized by the British prior to their completion and never reached Confederate waters.
A boat crew from the USS Tahoma, under Lieutenant Commander A. A. Semmes, captured an unnamed flatboat with a cargo of sugar and molasses near Manatee River, Florida.
Charles Macbeth, the Mayor of Charleston, S. C., noticing the preparations being made by the Federals for the attack on Morris Island, issued the following proclamation to the citizens of that city and its vicinity: Whereas, the enemy by land and sea have appeared in large force on the islands and neighborhood of the city, and in consultation with General Beauregard, he expressed the opinion that an attack upon our city is imminent, and with the concurrence of General Beauregard, I advise and earnestly request all women and children, and other non-combatants, to leave the city as soon as possible. This was followed by two other proclamations, calling on citizens to close their places of business, and ordering the arrest of all free Negroes in the city, as they were wanted to work on some unfinished defenses on Morris Island. During the day some five or more transports appeared off the harbor, and the Federal gunboats in Stono River were occupied in shelling two points on James's Island.
Corydon, Indiana, was captured by the Rebel forces under General John Hunt Morgan.
A short engagement took place at Aransas Pass, Texas, between the gunboat Scioto and the Confederate batteries at that place, without important results or loss of life.
General Abner Doubleday published an order, returning his thanks to the Vermont brigade, the One Hundred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania volunteers, and the Twentieth New York State militia, for their gallant conduct in resisting in the front line the main attack of the enemy at Gettysburg, after sustaining a terrific fire from seventy-five to one hundred pieces of artillery.
Mr. Wolff, a candidate for Congress in Kentucky, was arrested without being charged in Owen County, and sent to General Ambrose Burnside, at Cincinnati, in consequence of the following words, used in a speech to the people of Owen: "This is a John Brown raid ? a war against slavery, and he hoped every true Kentuckian would rise in arms in opposition to it. He was for secession, separation, or any thing against it."
John Hunt Morgan had experienced a varied career. The native Kentuckian had been expelled from college, then joined the U.S. Army and served in the Mexican War. After that he bought a hemp factory and later raised a militia group. This morning, he was leading his cavalry forces against numerically superior Union troops, and doing so very effectively. In fact he routed the Yankees, and thereby captured the town of Tompkinsville, Kentucky.
Port Hudson, Louisiana, surrendered after a prolonged attack by Union naval and land forces, The journal of USS Richmond recorded: "This morning at daylight our troops took possession of the Rebel stronghold. . . . At 10 a.m. the Hartford and Albatross came down from above the batteries and anchored ahead of us, General Banks raised the stars and stripes over the citadel and fired a salute of thirty-five guns." A week later Rear Admiral David Farragut wrote from New Orleans: "We have done our part of the work assigned to us, and all has worked well. My last dash past Port Hudson was the best thing I ever did, except taking New Orleans. It assisted materially in the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson." The long drive to wrest control of the entire Mississippi River, beginning in the north at Fort Henry and in the south at New Orleans early in 1862, was finally over.
Farragut, off Donaldsonville, Louisiana, wrote Rear Admiral Porter: "The Department, I presume, anticipated the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson by the time their dispatch would reach me, in which they tell me that 'I will now be able to turn over the Mississippi River to you and give my more particular attention to the blockade on the different points on the coast.'...There are here, as above, some 10,000 Texans, who have 15 or 20 pieces of light artillery, and have cut embrasures in the levee and annoy our vessels very much." Farragut requested Porter to send down one or two ironclads which ''...would then be able to keep open the communications perfectly between Port Hudson and New Orleans."
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch wrote Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory from Paris regarding the ironclads being built in Europe for the South, Noting that it had not been difficult to sign crews for the commerce raiders CSS Alabama and Florida because they held out to the men, "...not only the captivating excitement of adventure but the positive expectation of prize money..." he revealed that it was a much greater problem to man the ironclads. ''Their grim aspect and formidable equipment,'' he wrote, "clearly show that they are solely intended for the real danger and shock of battle."
Recognizing that Wilmington was the key port through which blockade runners were finding passage, Bulloch recommended that the warships be sent to that port "...as speedily as possible . . . [to] entirely destroy the blockading vessels." Once this was accomplished, the ships could turn their attentions elsewhere for "...a decisive blow in any direction, north or south." Bulloch suggested that they could steam up the coast, striking at Washington, Philadelphia, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The high hopes placed on these ironclads were to no avail, however, for they were seized by the British prior to their completion and never reached Confederate waters.
A boat crew from the USS Tahoma, under Lieutenant Commander A. A. Semmes, captured an unnamed flatboat with a cargo of sugar and molasses near Manatee River, Florida.
Charles Macbeth, the Mayor of Charleston, S. C., noticing the preparations being made by the Federals for the attack on Morris Island, issued the following proclamation to the citizens of that city and its vicinity: Whereas, the enemy by land and sea have appeared in large force on the islands and neighborhood of the city, and in consultation with General Beauregard, he expressed the opinion that an attack upon our city is imminent, and with the concurrence of General Beauregard, I advise and earnestly request all women and children, and other non-combatants, to leave the city as soon as possible. This was followed by two other proclamations, calling on citizens to close their places of business, and ordering the arrest of all free Negroes in the city, as they were wanted to work on some unfinished defenses on Morris Island. During the day some five or more transports appeared off the harbor, and the Federal gunboats in Stono River were occupied in shelling two points on James's Island.
Corydon, Indiana, was captured by the Rebel forces under General John Hunt Morgan.
A short engagement took place at Aransas Pass, Texas, between the gunboat Scioto and the Confederate batteries at that place, without important results or loss of life.
General Abner Doubleday published an order, returning his thanks to the Vermont brigade, the One Hundred and Fifty-first Pennsylvania volunteers, and the Twentieth New York State militia, for their gallant conduct in resisting in the front line the main attack of the enemy at Gettysburg, after sustaining a terrific fire from seventy-five to one hundred pieces of artillery.
Mr. Wolff, a candidate for Congress in Kentucky, was arrested without being charged in Owen County, and sent to General Ambrose Burnside, at Cincinnati, in consequence of the following words, used in a speech to the people of Owen: "This is a John Brown raid ? a war against slavery, and he hoped every true Kentuckian would rise in arms in opposition to it. He was for secession, separation, or any thing against it."
Posted on 7/10/13 at 1:57 pm to dallasga6
July 10, 1863
Part one...
In Charleston Harbor there is a small, fairly insignificant spit of land called Morris Island. On this island were some guns, and this installation was named after a fellow known as Wagner. It is often referred to as Fort Wagner, but it is more properly known as Battery Wagner as it was not surrounded by walls. It might as well have been, though--today began an attack on this installation which would continue for months. The island was the key to the defense of the South Carolina coast, and the battle would be fierce.
Under Rear Admiral Dahlgren, the ironclads USS Catskill, Commander G.W. Rodgers; Montauk, Commander Fairfax; Nahant, Commander Downes; and Weehawken, Commander Colhoun, bombarded Confederate defenses on Morris Island, Charleston harbor, supporting and covering a landing by Army troops under Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore. Close in support of the landing was rendered by small boats, under Lieutenant Commander Francis M. Bunce, armed with howitzers, from the blockading ships in Light House Inlet, The early morning assault followed the plan outlined by General Gillmore a week earlier in a letter to Rear Admiral Du Pont: "I cannot safely move without assistance from the Navy. We must have that island or Sullivan's Island as preliminary to any combined military and naval attack on the interior defenses of Charleston harbor. . . . I consider a naval force abreast of Morris Island as indispensable to cover our advance upon the Island and restrain the enemy's gunboats and ironclads." The ironclads were abreast of Fort Wagner by midmorning and bombarded the works until evening, but could not dislodge the determined and brave defenders. The Confederates poured a withering fire into Dahlgren's ships. "The enemy," the Admiral reported, "seemed to have made a mark of the Catskill." She was hit some 60 times, many of which were very severe." Despite the battering she received, Rodgers had Catskill ready to renew the attack the following day. Dahlgren added: "The Nahant was hit six times, the Montauk twice, and the Weehawken escaped untouched." Colonel Robert F. Graham, CSA, reported that during the attack, as the Confederates were forced to withdraw within Fort Wagner , "the iron monitors followed us along the channel, pouring into us a fire of shell and grape," and that casualties were heavy. The prolonged, continuing bombardment of the Southern works at Charleston had begun.
Commodore Montgomery, commandant of the Boston Navy Yard, ordered USS Shenandoah , Captain Daniel B. Ridgely, and USS Ethan Allen, Acting Master Pennell, to search for CSS Florida , Commander Maffitt. Two days before, the commerce raider had destroyed two ships near New York , and now was reported to be "bound for the Provincetown mackerel fleet." The recent exploits of Lieutenant Read in CSS Clarence, Tacony, and Archer had created great concern as to the safety of even New England waters.
The activity of Florida reinforced these fears, which had already been expressed to Lincoln in a resolution urging "...the importance and necessity of placing along the coast a sufficient naval and military force to protect the commerce of the country from piratical depredations of the rebels..." On 7 July the President had requested Secretary Welles to "...do the best in regard to it which you can..."
Assistant Secretary Fox wrote Rear Admiral Farragut, congratulating him upon the final opening of the Mississippi "...through the Union victories at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. You smashed in the door (at New Orleans) in an unsurpassed movement and the success above became a certainty. . . . Your last move past Port Hudson has hastened the downfall of the Rebs."
The USS New London,under Lieutenant Commander G.H. Perkins, en route from Donaldsonville to New Orleans, was taken under fire and disabled by Confederate artillery at White Hall Point. Perkins went to Donaldsonville to obtain troops to prevent the ship's capture. While Farragut commended Perkins' handling of the ship, he informed him that 'the principle was wrong a commander should never leave his vessel under such circumstances."
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch informed Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he was going to sell the bark Agrippina, which had been purchased initially to take stores and armament to the CSS Alabama at Terceira. During the year she had made three voyages but had lost contact with Captain Raphael Semmes, the un-resting commerce raider, and it would be too costly to maintain her as a tender.
Lord Palmerston, in a speech in the House of Commons, requesting Mr. Roebuck to submit to a postponement of the debate on the question of the recognition of the Confederate States, declared anew his hostility to the policy of recognition, and the unchanged sentiments of "Her Majesty's Government" on the subject. His language was: It is not likely, I think, that the House would agree either to the motion of the honorable and learned member for Sheffield, or to the amendment which has been moved to it; and, indeed, I think it very disadvantageous to the public service that any such resolution should be adopted. Therefore the discussion, as far as any practicable results may have been expected by those who are in favor of the motion, would have no important effect. I can assure the House, whereas now it is plainly acknowledged by every body, that the wishes of the Emperor of the French to find a fitting opportunity for advising the reestablishment of peace in America are not changed, that, on the other hand, her Majesty's Government do not see that that opportunity has arisen.
The expedition under General J. G. Blunt reached Cabin Creek, fifty-five miles from Fort Gibson.
Thirty one battle flags captured by the Federal forces at Gettysburg, were sent to the War Department by Major-General Meade.
The siege of Jackson, Mississippi, was commenced this day by the Union forces under General Grant. It began by skirmishing on the Clinton road with musketry and. artillery; shells were thrown into the city, and several innocent persons were killed and wounded.
An artillery and cavalry battle took place at a point on the road from Boonsboro to Hagerstown, Maryland, between the Union forces under Generals Buford and Kilpatrick, and the Confederates belonging to the army of General Lee.
The Mayor of Lynchburgh, Virginia, issued a proclamation to the citizens of that place, requesting them to suspend business on Friday afternoons, in order that the members of the different military organizations might have an opportunity of attending regularly the drills of their respective companies..."It is high time," said he, "that we should act, and act at once, toward putting ourselves in readiness for any emergency."
Part one...
In Charleston Harbor there is a small, fairly insignificant spit of land called Morris Island. On this island were some guns, and this installation was named after a fellow known as Wagner. It is often referred to as Fort Wagner, but it is more properly known as Battery Wagner as it was not surrounded by walls. It might as well have been, though--today began an attack on this installation which would continue for months. The island was the key to the defense of the South Carolina coast, and the battle would be fierce.
Under Rear Admiral Dahlgren, the ironclads USS Catskill, Commander G.W. Rodgers; Montauk, Commander Fairfax; Nahant, Commander Downes; and Weehawken, Commander Colhoun, bombarded Confederate defenses on Morris Island, Charleston harbor, supporting and covering a landing by Army troops under Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore. Close in support of the landing was rendered by small boats, under Lieutenant Commander Francis M. Bunce, armed with howitzers, from the blockading ships in Light House Inlet, The early morning assault followed the plan outlined by General Gillmore a week earlier in a letter to Rear Admiral Du Pont: "I cannot safely move without assistance from the Navy. We must have that island or Sullivan's Island as preliminary to any combined military and naval attack on the interior defenses of Charleston harbor. . . . I consider a naval force abreast of Morris Island as indispensable to cover our advance upon the Island and restrain the enemy's gunboats and ironclads." The ironclads were abreast of Fort Wagner by midmorning and bombarded the works until evening, but could not dislodge the determined and brave defenders. The Confederates poured a withering fire into Dahlgren's ships. "The enemy," the Admiral reported, "seemed to have made a mark of the Catskill." She was hit some 60 times, many of which were very severe." Despite the battering she received, Rodgers had Catskill ready to renew the attack the following day. Dahlgren added: "The Nahant was hit six times, the Montauk twice, and the Weehawken escaped untouched." Colonel Robert F. Graham, CSA, reported that during the attack, as the Confederates were forced to withdraw within Fort Wagner , "the iron monitors followed us along the channel, pouring into us a fire of shell and grape," and that casualties were heavy. The prolonged, continuing bombardment of the Southern works at Charleston had begun.
Commodore Montgomery, commandant of the Boston Navy Yard, ordered USS Shenandoah , Captain Daniel B. Ridgely, and USS Ethan Allen, Acting Master Pennell, to search for CSS Florida , Commander Maffitt. Two days before, the commerce raider had destroyed two ships near New York , and now was reported to be "bound for the Provincetown mackerel fleet." The recent exploits of Lieutenant Read in CSS Clarence, Tacony, and Archer had created great concern as to the safety of even New England waters.
The activity of Florida reinforced these fears, which had already been expressed to Lincoln in a resolution urging "...the importance and necessity of placing along the coast a sufficient naval and military force to protect the commerce of the country from piratical depredations of the rebels..." On 7 July the President had requested Secretary Welles to "...do the best in regard to it which you can..."
Assistant Secretary Fox wrote Rear Admiral Farragut, congratulating him upon the final opening of the Mississippi "...through the Union victories at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. You smashed in the door (at New Orleans) in an unsurpassed movement and the success above became a certainty. . . . Your last move past Port Hudson has hastened the downfall of the Rebs."
The USS New London,under Lieutenant Commander G.H. Perkins, en route from Donaldsonville to New Orleans, was taken under fire and disabled by Confederate artillery at White Hall Point. Perkins went to Donaldsonville to obtain troops to prevent the ship's capture. While Farragut commended Perkins' handling of the ship, he informed him that 'the principle was wrong a commander should never leave his vessel under such circumstances."
Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch informed Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he was going to sell the bark Agrippina, which had been purchased initially to take stores and armament to the CSS Alabama at Terceira. During the year she had made three voyages but had lost contact with Captain Raphael Semmes, the un-resting commerce raider, and it would be too costly to maintain her as a tender.
Lord Palmerston, in a speech in the House of Commons, requesting Mr. Roebuck to submit to a postponement of the debate on the question of the recognition of the Confederate States, declared anew his hostility to the policy of recognition, and the unchanged sentiments of "Her Majesty's Government" on the subject. His language was: It is not likely, I think, that the House would agree either to the motion of the honorable and learned member for Sheffield, or to the amendment which has been moved to it; and, indeed, I think it very disadvantageous to the public service that any such resolution should be adopted. Therefore the discussion, as far as any practicable results may have been expected by those who are in favor of the motion, would have no important effect. I can assure the House, whereas now it is plainly acknowledged by every body, that the wishes of the Emperor of the French to find a fitting opportunity for advising the reestablishment of peace in America are not changed, that, on the other hand, her Majesty's Government do not see that that opportunity has arisen.
The expedition under General J. G. Blunt reached Cabin Creek, fifty-five miles from Fort Gibson.
Thirty one battle flags captured by the Federal forces at Gettysburg, were sent to the War Department by Major-General Meade.
The siege of Jackson, Mississippi, was commenced this day by the Union forces under General Grant. It began by skirmishing on the Clinton road with musketry and. artillery; shells were thrown into the city, and several innocent persons were killed and wounded.
An artillery and cavalry battle took place at a point on the road from Boonsboro to Hagerstown, Maryland, between the Union forces under Generals Buford and Kilpatrick, and the Confederates belonging to the army of General Lee.
The Mayor of Lynchburgh, Virginia, issued a proclamation to the citizens of that place, requesting them to suspend business on Friday afternoons, in order that the members of the different military organizations might have an opportunity of attending regularly the drills of their respective companies..."It is high time," said he, "that we should act, and act at once, toward putting ourselves in readiness for any emergency."
Posted on 7/10/13 at 1:58 pm to dallasga6
July 10, 1863
part 2...
General Joseph E. Johnston, at Jackson, Mississippi, issued the following battle order to the troops of his army. It "...was read along the line amid deafening shouts..." Fellow-soldiers: An insolent foe, flushed with hope by his recent success at Vicksburg, confronts you, threatening the people, whose homes and liberty you are here to protect, with plunder and conquest. Their guns may even now be heard as they advance. The enemy it is at once the duty and the mission of you brave men to chastise and expel from the soil of Mississippi. The Commanding General confidently relies on you to sustain his pledge, which he makes in advance, and he will be with you in the good work even unto the end. The vice of "straggling" he begs you to shun, and to frown on. If needs be, it will be checked by even the most summary remedies. The telegraph has already announced a glorious victory over the foe, won by your noble comrades of the Virginia army on Union soil; may he not, with redoubled hopes, count on you while defending your firesides and household gods to emulate the proud example of your brothers in the East? The country expects in this, the great crisis of its destiny, that every man will do his duty. General Johnston ordered all pillagers to be shot; the guard to shoot them wherever found.
Martial law was declared at Louisville, Kentucky.
The letter of William Whiting, Solicitor to the National War Department, to the members of the Fremont League, was published.
Salem, Indiana, was visited and sacked by the Confederate forces under John Morgan; the railroad bridge over the Blue River was also destroyed by the same parties.
part 2...
General Joseph E. Johnston, at Jackson, Mississippi, issued the following battle order to the troops of his army. It "...was read along the line amid deafening shouts..." Fellow-soldiers: An insolent foe, flushed with hope by his recent success at Vicksburg, confronts you, threatening the people, whose homes and liberty you are here to protect, with plunder and conquest. Their guns may even now be heard as they advance. The enemy it is at once the duty and the mission of you brave men to chastise and expel from the soil of Mississippi. The Commanding General confidently relies on you to sustain his pledge, which he makes in advance, and he will be with you in the good work even unto the end. The vice of "straggling" he begs you to shun, and to frown on. If needs be, it will be checked by even the most summary remedies. The telegraph has already announced a glorious victory over the foe, won by your noble comrades of the Virginia army on Union soil; may he not, with redoubled hopes, count on you while defending your firesides and household gods to emulate the proud example of your brothers in the East? The country expects in this, the great crisis of its destiny, that every man will do his duty. General Johnston ordered all pillagers to be shot; the guard to shoot them wherever found.
Martial law was declared at Louisville, Kentucky.
The letter of William Whiting, Solicitor to the National War Department, to the members of the Fremont League, was published.
Salem, Indiana, was visited and sacked by the Confederate forces under John Morgan; the railroad bridge over the Blue River was also destroyed by the same parties.
Posted on 7/11/13 at 2:17 pm to dallasga6
July 11, 1863
part one...
General George Meade had not done badly for a man on the job less than two weeks. Named commander of the Army of the Potomac, he had in one week maneuvered a huge force to Gettysburg and slugged it out with Robert E. Lee and barely won. The cost, however, had been stupendous, and when Lee began to withdraw, Meade essentially let him go, an action for which he is still sometimes criticized to this day. The criticism certainly started early. President Abraham Lincoln was having his usual post-battle conniption fit, wanting Meade to pin Lee against the flooded Potomac River and destroy him. What everyone seemed to forget was that the same project had been tried the year before, after the Battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek, and the pursuing Union troops had been soundly defeated. Today, with the Army of the Potomac back in some semblance of working order, Meade finally began to move in pursuit.
General Hiram U. Grant, acting on reports that the Confederates were building their strength at Yazoo City, wrote Rear Admiral David D. Porter: "Will it not be well to send up a fleet of gunboats and some troops and nip in the bud any attempt to concentrate a force there?" Porter agreed to escort troops up the river next day.
Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, protested the building of ironclads and the outfitting of blockade runners by citizens of Great Britain to Foreign Secretary Earl John Russell. Such acts, Adams noted, "procrastinate the struggle" and increase the "burden of war." The Ambassador's diplomatic protests served the Union cause well and helped to frustrate Confederate efforts to obtain additional support in Britain.
The USS Yankee, under Acting Ensign James W. Turner, captured the schooner Cassandra at Jones Point on the Rappahannock River with a cargo of whiskey and soda.
The enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 capped two years of increasing support for emancipation in New York City. Although Republicans attempted to keep abolitionists from taking a leading role in New York's antislavery politics during the early years of the war, by 1862 abolitionist speakers drew huge audiences, black and white, in the city. Increasing support for the abolitionists and for emancipation led to anxiety among New York's white pro-slavery supporters of the Democratic Party, particularly the Irish. From the time of Lincoln's election in 1860, the Democratic Party had warned New York's Irish and German residents to prepare for the emancipation of slaves and the resultant labor competition when southern blacks would supposedly flee north.
To these New Yorkers, the Emancipation Proclamation was confirmation of their worst fears. In March 1863, fuel was added to the fire in the form of a stricter federal draft law. All male citizens between twenty and thirty-five and all unmarried men between thirty-five and forty-five years of age were subject to military duty. The federal government entered all eligible men into a lottery. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay the government three hundred dollars might avoid enlistment. Blacks, who were not considered citizens, were exempt from the draft. In the month preceding the July 1863 lottery, in a pattern similar to the 1834 anti-abolition riots, anti-war newspaper editors published inflammatory attacks on the draft law aimed at inciting the white working class. They criticized the federal government's intrusion into local affairs on behalf of the "war." Democratic Party leaders raised the specter of a New York deluged with southern blacks in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation. White workers compared their value unfavorably to that of southern slaves, stating that "[we] are sold for $300 [the price of exemption from war service] whilst they pay $1000 for Negroes." In the midst of war-time economic distress, they believed that their political leverage and economic status was rapidly declining as blacks appeared to be gaining power. On Saturday, July 11, 1863, the first lottery of the conscription law was held. For twenty-four hours the city remained quiet. On Monday, July 13, 1863, between 6 and 7 A.M., the five days of mayhem and bloodshed that would be known as the Civil War Draft Riots began.
part one...
General George Meade had not done badly for a man on the job less than two weeks. Named commander of the Army of the Potomac, he had in one week maneuvered a huge force to Gettysburg and slugged it out with Robert E. Lee and barely won. The cost, however, had been stupendous, and when Lee began to withdraw, Meade essentially let him go, an action for which he is still sometimes criticized to this day. The criticism certainly started early. President Abraham Lincoln was having his usual post-battle conniption fit, wanting Meade to pin Lee against the flooded Potomac River and destroy him. What everyone seemed to forget was that the same project had been tried the year before, after the Battle of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek, and the pursuing Union troops had been soundly defeated. Today, with the Army of the Potomac back in some semblance of working order, Meade finally began to move in pursuit.
General Hiram U. Grant, acting on reports that the Confederates were building their strength at Yazoo City, wrote Rear Admiral David D. Porter: "Will it not be well to send up a fleet of gunboats and some troops and nip in the bud any attempt to concentrate a force there?" Porter agreed to escort troops up the river next day.
Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, protested the building of ironclads and the outfitting of blockade runners by citizens of Great Britain to Foreign Secretary Earl John Russell. Such acts, Adams noted, "procrastinate the struggle" and increase the "burden of war." The Ambassador's diplomatic protests served the Union cause well and helped to frustrate Confederate efforts to obtain additional support in Britain.
The USS Yankee, under Acting Ensign James W. Turner, captured the schooner Cassandra at Jones Point on the Rappahannock River with a cargo of whiskey and soda.
The enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 capped two years of increasing support for emancipation in New York City. Although Republicans attempted to keep abolitionists from taking a leading role in New York's antislavery politics during the early years of the war, by 1862 abolitionist speakers drew huge audiences, black and white, in the city. Increasing support for the abolitionists and for emancipation led to anxiety among New York's white pro-slavery supporters of the Democratic Party, particularly the Irish. From the time of Lincoln's election in 1860, the Democratic Party had warned New York's Irish and German residents to prepare for the emancipation of slaves and the resultant labor competition when southern blacks would supposedly flee north.
To these New Yorkers, the Emancipation Proclamation was confirmation of their worst fears. In March 1863, fuel was added to the fire in the form of a stricter federal draft law. All male citizens between twenty and thirty-five and all unmarried men between thirty-five and forty-five years of age were subject to military duty. The federal government entered all eligible men into a lottery. Those who could afford to hire a substitute or pay the government three hundred dollars might avoid enlistment. Blacks, who were not considered citizens, were exempt from the draft. In the month preceding the July 1863 lottery, in a pattern similar to the 1834 anti-abolition riots, anti-war newspaper editors published inflammatory attacks on the draft law aimed at inciting the white working class. They criticized the federal government's intrusion into local affairs on behalf of the "war." Democratic Party leaders raised the specter of a New York deluged with southern blacks in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation. White workers compared their value unfavorably to that of southern slaves, stating that "[we] are sold for $300 [the price of exemption from war service] whilst they pay $1000 for Negroes." In the midst of war-time economic distress, they believed that their political leverage and economic status was rapidly declining as blacks appeared to be gaining power. On Saturday, July 11, 1863, the first lottery of the conscription law was held. For twenty-four hours the city remained quiet. On Monday, July 13, 1863, between 6 and 7 A.M., the five days of mayhem and bloodshed that would be known as the Civil War Draft Riots began.
This post was edited on 7/11/13 at 2:23 pm
Posted on 7/11/13 at 2:20 pm to dallasga6
July 11, 1863
part two...
Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding, Commandant of the New York Navy Yard, stationed gunboats around Manhattan to assist in maintaining order during the expected Draft Riots.
This morning at daybreak the National forces on Morris Island, under the command of General Gillmore, attempted to carry Fort Wagner by assault. The parapets were gained, but the supports recoiled under the fire to which they were exposed, and could not be got up. Captain S. H. Gray, commanding two companies of the Seventh Connecticut regiment, gives the following report of the affair:
After the success of yesterday we bivouacked for the night under easy range of Fort Wagner. About half-past 2 A. M., General Strong came and called the Lieutenant Colonel out. He soon returned and said: "Turn out! We have got a job on hand." The men were soon out and into line, but rather slow to time, as they were tired with the work the day before. The program was to try to take Fort Wagner by assault; we were to take the lead, and to be supported by the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania and Ninth Maine. Silently we moved up to the advance-line of our pickets, our guns loaded and aimed, and bayonets fixed.
We were then deployed into line of battle, (we had one hundred and ninety-one men and officers, all told,) reached and crossed the neck of land that approached the Fort, our right resting on the beach. We were deployed and ready for the start. Our orders were to move steadily forward until the pickets fired, then follow them close and rush for the works, and we were promised ready support.
General Strong gave the order: "Aim low, and put your trust in God. Forward the Seventh!" And forward we went, being not over five hundred yards from the Fort when we started. We had not gone far before the picket fired, and then we took the double-quick, and with a cheer rushed for the works. Before we reached the outer work, we got a murderous fire from the riflemen behind the works. A few fell ? a check in the line. An encouraging word from the officers, and right gallantly we reached the outer works; over them with a will we went; down the opposite side, across the moat ? there being about one foot of water in it ? right up to the crest of the parapet; and there we lay, anxiously waiting for our support to come up so far as to make it a sure thing for us to rise up and go over with a bound; our men in the mean time busying themselves by picking off the sharpshooters and gunners. We lay so near the top that one had to put his head up and point across the parapet to kill his man. As near as I can ascertain, we were in this position from ten to twenty minutes, when both of the regiments that were to support us broke and fled, leaving us to take care of ourselves as best we might.
As soon as the regiment in front broke and ran, they paid particular attention to our case. They threw hand-grenades over the parapet, and soon sent men into the flank of a bastion, which commanded the front upon which we lay. They had us there at a great disadvantage. The question was whether we should surrender as prisoners, attempt to carry the works, and to be entirely annihilated, (as they greatly outnumbered us,) or take the back-track and run the gauntlet for our lives. Upon consulting the Lieutenant Colonel, he reluctantly gave the order to retreat. Lieutenant Phillips exclaimed: "For God's sake, don't let us retreat." As if by magic, the order was recalled, and although some had started, they returned; but the order had to be repeated, and down in and across the moat we went over the works. They had a perfect enfilading fire of small arms for a thousand yards--besides, their pieces were giving us grape and canister. They fell on all sides of me, and I alone of four captains was spared, and out of one hundred and ninety-one officers and men that marched out to attack the foe, only eighty-eight returned safe to camp; and ever let it be said, to the credit of the Seventh Connecticut volunteers, that not one straggler could be discovered. Fifteen minutes after we got in camp, the roll was called, and but one man came in afterwards, and he was delayed in assisting a wounded comrade.
Met General Strong coming off, and with tears in his eyes he said we had done our whole duty, and covered ourselves all over with glory, and if the support had come in time, that "we should have taken the works," and without a doubt we should have done so. But our loss is great. We had eleven officers in our mess. Now we have but four. It is hard, but such is the fate of war. Our attack on the tenth July was a fearful surprise to them. They had but few troops on this Island. Had they five thousand infantry here, the natural defenses are of such a character, that we never could have taken it. The Federal losses in the actions of yesterday and today, were one hundred and fifty killed, wounded, and missing.
part two...
Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding, Commandant of the New York Navy Yard, stationed gunboats around Manhattan to assist in maintaining order during the expected Draft Riots.
This morning at daybreak the National forces on Morris Island, under the command of General Gillmore, attempted to carry Fort Wagner by assault. The parapets were gained, but the supports recoiled under the fire to which they were exposed, and could not be got up. Captain S. H. Gray, commanding two companies of the Seventh Connecticut regiment, gives the following report of the affair:
After the success of yesterday we bivouacked for the night under easy range of Fort Wagner. About half-past 2 A. M., General Strong came and called the Lieutenant Colonel out. He soon returned and said: "Turn out! We have got a job on hand." The men were soon out and into line, but rather slow to time, as they were tired with the work the day before. The program was to try to take Fort Wagner by assault; we were to take the lead, and to be supported by the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania and Ninth Maine. Silently we moved up to the advance-line of our pickets, our guns loaded and aimed, and bayonets fixed.
We were then deployed into line of battle, (we had one hundred and ninety-one men and officers, all told,) reached and crossed the neck of land that approached the Fort, our right resting on the beach. We were deployed and ready for the start. Our orders were to move steadily forward until the pickets fired, then follow them close and rush for the works, and we were promised ready support.
General Strong gave the order: "Aim low, and put your trust in God. Forward the Seventh!" And forward we went, being not over five hundred yards from the Fort when we started. We had not gone far before the picket fired, and then we took the double-quick, and with a cheer rushed for the works. Before we reached the outer work, we got a murderous fire from the riflemen behind the works. A few fell ? a check in the line. An encouraging word from the officers, and right gallantly we reached the outer works; over them with a will we went; down the opposite side, across the moat ? there being about one foot of water in it ? right up to the crest of the parapet; and there we lay, anxiously waiting for our support to come up so far as to make it a sure thing for us to rise up and go over with a bound; our men in the mean time busying themselves by picking off the sharpshooters and gunners. We lay so near the top that one had to put his head up and point across the parapet to kill his man. As near as I can ascertain, we were in this position from ten to twenty minutes, when both of the regiments that were to support us broke and fled, leaving us to take care of ourselves as best we might.
As soon as the regiment in front broke and ran, they paid particular attention to our case. They threw hand-grenades over the parapet, and soon sent men into the flank of a bastion, which commanded the front upon which we lay. They had us there at a great disadvantage. The question was whether we should surrender as prisoners, attempt to carry the works, and to be entirely annihilated, (as they greatly outnumbered us,) or take the back-track and run the gauntlet for our lives. Upon consulting the Lieutenant Colonel, he reluctantly gave the order to retreat. Lieutenant Phillips exclaimed: "For God's sake, don't let us retreat." As if by magic, the order was recalled, and although some had started, they returned; but the order had to be repeated, and down in and across the moat we went over the works. They had a perfect enfilading fire of small arms for a thousand yards--besides, their pieces were giving us grape and canister. They fell on all sides of me, and I alone of four captains was spared, and out of one hundred and ninety-one officers and men that marched out to attack the foe, only eighty-eight returned safe to camp; and ever let it be said, to the credit of the Seventh Connecticut volunteers, that not one straggler could be discovered. Fifteen minutes after we got in camp, the roll was called, and but one man came in afterwards, and he was delayed in assisting a wounded comrade.
Met General Strong coming off, and with tears in his eyes he said we had done our whole duty, and covered ourselves all over with glory, and if the support had come in time, that "we should have taken the works," and without a doubt we should have done so. But our loss is great. We had eleven officers in our mess. Now we have but four. It is hard, but such is the fate of war. Our attack on the tenth July was a fearful surprise to them. They had but few troops on this Island. Had they five thousand infantry here, the natural defenses are of such a character, that we never could have taken it. The Federal losses in the actions of yesterday and today, were one hundred and fifty killed, wounded, and missing.
This post was edited on 7/11/13 at 2:21 pm
Posted on 7/12/13 at 4:04 pm to dallasga6
July 12, 1863
It had been eight days since the Army of Northern Virginia had begun to pull back from the fields around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but they were not yet back to the relative safety of their namesake state or the sweet succor of their newly formed nation's soil. The problem was the Potomac River. The days and weeks of frequent rains that had often plagued both armies during the campaign had driven the river to levels almost never seen in mid-July. Hopes were high on both sides; General Robert E. Lee hoping that the water would have fallen enough to allow a crossing tomorrow, and President Abraham Lincoln, desperately pushing General George Meade to attack soon enough to prevent this, possibly bringing an end to war in the East. One of them would be doomed to disappointment.
General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Confederate defenses at Charleston, wrote Captain Tucker, commander of the forces afloat at that city, regarding grave danger which the Union ironclads presented not only to the defenses of Fort Wagner but to the complete defense of Charleston. "It has therefore," he noted, "become an urgent necessity to destroy, if possible, part or all of these ironclads. . . ." He suggested an attack by a gunboat and a ''torpedo ram." Within the week, he was again pressing the need to make ''...some effort . . . to sink either the Ironsides or one of the monitors. . . . The stake is manifestly a great one, worthy of no small risk. . . . One monitor destroyed now will have greater moral and material effect, I believe, than two sunk at a later stage in our defense." This was a forecast of the daring and colorful attempts yet to be made by the Charleston defenders in the David attack on the New Ironsides and the heroic assault by the H. E. Hunley, the first submarine successfully used to sink an enemy ship, the USS Housatonic.
The USS Penobscot, under Lieutenant Commander Joseph F. De Haven, chased the blockade runner Kate ashore at Smith's Island, North Carolina. Some three weeks later (31 July), Kate was floated by the Confederates and towed under the protecting batteries at New Inlet, but was abandoned on the approach of Union ships.
This morning a portion of the fleet blockading the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, ran a Confederate vessel on shore, close in by the edge of Smith's Island. While trying to get her off, the Confederates in Fort Fisher dispatched a steamer with a battery on board to prevent it. She had been at Smith's Island but a short time, when a fire was opened from the Union fleet on the eastern side of the shoals. At the same time a party of Confederates was discovered approaching with a piece of artillery. Upon this, the fleet on the western side of the shoals opened fire to prevent the reinforcement of the Rebels, and finally succeeded. The firing was continued until four o'clock, when the Union fleet returned to its station.
The blockade runner Emma was captured by the Union transport steamer Arago.
Hagerstown and Funkstown, Maryland, were occupied by the Union forces after a slight engagement.
Within 24 hours, the New York City draft riots would begin; in all, rioters will lynch eleven black men over the following five days of mayhem. The riots will force hundreds of blacks out of the city.
It had been eight days since the Army of Northern Virginia had begun to pull back from the fields around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but they were not yet back to the relative safety of their namesake state or the sweet succor of their newly formed nation's soil. The problem was the Potomac River. The days and weeks of frequent rains that had often plagued both armies during the campaign had driven the river to levels almost never seen in mid-July. Hopes were high on both sides; General Robert E. Lee hoping that the water would have fallen enough to allow a crossing tomorrow, and President Abraham Lincoln, desperately pushing General George Meade to attack soon enough to prevent this, possibly bringing an end to war in the East. One of them would be doomed to disappointment.
General P.G.T. Beauregard, commanding the Confederate defenses at Charleston, wrote Captain Tucker, commander of the forces afloat at that city, regarding grave danger which the Union ironclads presented not only to the defenses of Fort Wagner but to the complete defense of Charleston. "It has therefore," he noted, "become an urgent necessity to destroy, if possible, part or all of these ironclads. . . ." He suggested an attack by a gunboat and a ''torpedo ram." Within the week, he was again pressing the need to make ''...some effort . . . to sink either the Ironsides or one of the monitors. . . . The stake is manifestly a great one, worthy of no small risk. . . . One monitor destroyed now will have greater moral and material effect, I believe, than two sunk at a later stage in our defense." This was a forecast of the daring and colorful attempts yet to be made by the Charleston defenders in the David attack on the New Ironsides and the heroic assault by the H. E. Hunley, the first submarine successfully used to sink an enemy ship, the USS Housatonic.
The USS Penobscot, under Lieutenant Commander Joseph F. De Haven, chased the blockade runner Kate ashore at Smith's Island, North Carolina. Some three weeks later (31 July), Kate was floated by the Confederates and towed under the protecting batteries at New Inlet, but was abandoned on the approach of Union ships.
This morning a portion of the fleet blockading the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, ran a Confederate vessel on shore, close in by the edge of Smith's Island. While trying to get her off, the Confederates in Fort Fisher dispatched a steamer with a battery on board to prevent it. She had been at Smith's Island but a short time, when a fire was opened from the Union fleet on the eastern side of the shoals. At the same time a party of Confederates was discovered approaching with a piece of artillery. Upon this, the fleet on the western side of the shoals opened fire to prevent the reinforcement of the Rebels, and finally succeeded. The firing was continued until four o'clock, when the Union fleet returned to its station.
The blockade runner Emma was captured by the Union transport steamer Arago.
Hagerstown and Funkstown, Maryland, were occupied by the Union forces after a slight engagement.
Within 24 hours, the New York City draft riots would begin; in all, rioters will lynch eleven black men over the following five days of mayhem. The riots will force hundreds of blacks out of the city.
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