RE: Civil War 150th (Full Version)

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Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/15/2015 5:44:17 PM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In South Carolina, area commander P.G.T. Beauregard gave the order to evacuate Charleston. He had figured out that he had been out-generaled by W. T. Sherman: the loss of Columbia would cut off Charleston, and even if Columbia could be held, there was no longer any way to prevent the Northerners from seizing at least part of the railroad. William Hardee, the local commander in Charleston, protested and forwarded a letter from Jefferson Davis urging that Charleston be held to "save us the pain of seeing it pass into the hands of the enemy.” But Beauregard had already decided that the garrison was more important to the South than the city, and wired back, "I see no good reason for deviating from the plan already decided upon; on the contrary, I urge its immediate execution."

It was true that by that point Charleston was of little use to the Confederacy. It was effectively blockaded, and largely in ruins from a major fire in 1861, plus long-range shelling from Union guns. But it was the "cradle of secession", where the first state had decided to leave the Union. And more, evacuation of Charleston also meant giving up Fort Sumter, which continued to have a powerful symbolism in North and South alike. However, it is not too much to say that the nails were now being hammered into the coffin of the Confederacy. (After the fall of Fort Fisher, the Yankees were now advancing on the city of Wilmington, North Carolina.) The Southerners had to decide which nails they could better afford, and practical concerns won out over symbols. Beauregard wired his decision to General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee, who made no complaint.

Beauregard urged that Hardee march his garrison twenty miles a day to a rendezvous point at Chesterville, South Carolina, which was rather optimistic, given the state of the Southern road and rail network. Also, Chesterville is north of Columbia. Beauregard had apparently decided it was too late to save that city either.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/17/2015 7:24:32 PM)

150 Years Ago Today:

At Charleston, Confederate commander William Hardee accepted the inevitable. It was a bitter pill to be the man who gave up not just one but two major Southern cities, but he had his orders. The reports of Sherman's advance made it clear that time was running very short, and on this date Hardee began to move his men out. The city had been closely invested for nearly two years by the Federals, so the movement was quickly detected by both the blockading squadron and the men ashore.

[image]local://upfiles/4250/720AB57D4A344BB89C606DB79826582A.gif[/image]
Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

In Columbia, General Wade Hampton's small force of Confederate cavalry had no chance against Sherman's more than 60,000 men. The loss of the state capital of South Carolina was a major blow, but Union shells were already falling on the city. The Rebel cavalry cleared out of Columbia, taking only enough time to set stacks of cotton on fire. The civil authorities were naturally very nervous about the imminent occupation. Would their city be treated lightly like Savannah, or burned as Atlanta had been? Sherman had in fact already written out his instructions, directing that his troops should "occupy Columbia, destroy the public buildings, railroad property, manufacturing and machine shops; but will spare libraries, asylums, and private dwellings." At first, things went quietly:

I sat with General Howard on a log, watching the men lay this bridge; and about 9 or 10 A.M. a messenger came from Colonel Stone on the other aide, saying that the Mayor of Columbia had come out of the city to surrender the place, and asking for orders. I simply remarked to General Howard that he had his orders, to let Colonel Stone go on into the city, and that we would follow as soon as the bridge was ready. By this same messenger I received a note in pencil from the Lady Superioress of a convent or school in Columbia, in which she claimed to have been a teacher in a convent in Brown County, Ohio, at the time my daughter Minnie was a pupil there, and therefore asking special protection.
[...]
As soon as the bridge was done, I led my horse over it, followed by my whole staff. General Howard accompanied me with his, and General Logan was next in order, followed by General C. R. Woods, and the whole of the Fifteenth Corps. Ascending the hill, we soon emerged into a broad road leading into Columbia, between old fields of corn and cotton, and, entering the city, we found seemingly all its population, white and black, in the streets. A high and boisterous wind was prevailing from the north, and flakes of cotton were flying about in the air and lodging in the limbs of the trees, reminding us of a Northern snow-storm. Near the market-square we found Stone's brigade halted, with arms stacked, and a large detail of his men, along with some citizens, engaged with an old fire- engine, trying to put out the fire in a long pile of burning cotton-bales, which I was told had been fired by the rebel cavalry on withdrawing from the city that morning. I know that, to avoid this row of burning cotton-bales, I had to ride my horse on the sidewalk. In the market-square had collected a large crowd of whites and blacks, among whom was the mayor of the city, Dr. Goodwin, quite a respectable old gentleman, who was extremely anxious to protect the interests of the citizens. He was on foot, and I on horseback, and it is probable I told him then not to be uneasy, that we did not intend to stay long, and had no purpose to injure the private citizens or private property.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Knowing the Northerners' hatred for South Carolina, a number of citizens apparently tried to curry favor by offering dipperfuls of liquor to the Yankee soldiers. This was unwise, because a number of them got drunk, as Sherman observed. The loss of self-control was probably a greater drawback than any resulting good will was a help.

We rode along the railroad-track, some three or four hundred yards, to a large foundery, when some man rode up and said the rebel cavalry were close by, and he warned us that we might get shot. We accordingly turned back to the market- square, and en route noticed that, several of the men were evidently in liquor, when I called General Howard's attention to it.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Sherman planned to spend a day or two in Columbia, for there were a number of installations to be destroyed, such as the State arsenal and the mint. He therefore needed a house to set up his headquarters in:

On reaching the market-square, I again met Dr. Goodwin, and inquired where he proposed to quarter me, and he said that he had selected the house of Blanton Duncan, Esq., a citizen of Louisville, Kentucky, then a resident there, who had the contract for manufacturing the Confederate money, and had fled with Hampton's cavalry. We all rode some six or eight squares back from the new State-House, and found a very good modern house, completely furnished, with stabling and a large yard, took it as our headquarters, and occupied it during our stay. I considered General Howard as in command of the place, and referred the many applicants for guards and protection to him.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

But there was grave trouble brewing, and with nightfall it became only too obvious:

Having walked over much of the suburbs of Columbia in the afternoon, and being tired, I lay down on a bed in Blanton Duncan's house to rest. Soon after dark I became conscious that a bright light was shining on the walls; and, calling some one of my staff (Major Nichols, I think) to inquire the cause, he said there seemed to be a house on fire down about the market-house. The same high wind still prevailed, and, fearing the consequences, I bade him go in person to see if the provost-guard were doing its duty. He soon returned, and reported that the block of buildings directly opposite the burning cotton of that morning was on fire, and that it was spreading; but he had found General Woods on the ground, with plenty of men trying to put the fire out, or, at least, to prevent its extension. The fire continued to increase, and the whole heavens became lurid. I dispatched messenger after messenger to Generals Howard, Logan, and Woods, and received from them repeated assurances that all was being done that could be done, but that the high wind was spreading the flames beyond all control. These general officers were on the ground all night, and Hazen's division had been brought into the city to assist Woods's division, already there.

About eleven o'clock at night I went down-town myself, Colonel Dayton with me; we walked to Mr. Simons's house, from which I could see the flames rising high in the air, and could hear the roaring of the fire. I advised the ladies to move to my headquarters, had our own headquarter-wagons hitched up, and their effects carried there, as a place of greater safety. The whole air was full of sparks and of flying masses of cotton, shingles, etc., some of which were carried four or five blocks, and started new fires. The men seemed generally under good control, and certainly labored hard to girdle the fire, to prevent its spreading; but, so long as the high wind prevailed, it was simply beyond human possibility.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

A number of Southerners, especially Wade Hampton (below), would claim that Columbia had been burned by Sherman's deliberate order. This appears to be false, although it is clear that Sherman knew there would be looting. To this day, there is considerable controversy, but the general conclusion is that both sides shared blame. The fires most likely started in several places, some from the burning cotton the Confederates had left behind them, and some from drunken Northern soldiers. There were also a number of Union prisoners just liberated from nearby "Camp Sorghum", where conditions had been wretched (though not as bad as Andersonville). It is more than possible that these men set fires out of revenge.

[image]local://upfiles/4250/F8716F69109148949EBD09307032DF84.jpg[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/18/2015 4:26:46 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

There was activity already under way at the stroke of midnight, beginning this day. At Charleston, Union naval commander Admiral John A. Dahlgren and land commander Brigadier General Alfred Schimmelpfennig were cooperating well, but not well enough to prevent the escape of the Confederates:

General Schimmelpfennig came down in the afternoon, and we met in the Folly Branch, near Secessionville. He was sure that the rebs would be off that night, so he was to assault them in front, while a monitor and gunboats stung their flanks both sides. I also sent an aide to order my battery of five eleven-inch guns, at Cumming's Point, to fire steadily all night on Sullivan's Island, and two monitors to close up to the island for the same object. Next morning (18th) the rascals were found to be off, and we broke in from all directions, by land and water. The main bodies had left at eight or nine in the evening, leaving detachments to keep up a fire from the batteries. I steamed round quickly, and soon got into the city, threading the streets with a large group of naval captains who had joined me. All was silent as the grave. No one to be seen but a few firemen...
...it was natural to desire to go into the place with a strong hand, for, if any one spot in the land was foremost in the trouble, it was Charleston.

--letter to Sherman from Admiral Dahlgren

Schimmelpfennig had the honor of finally accepting the surrender of Charleston, the city that had begun the war. The occupation was quiet, but the city had a revenge of a different sort: Schimmelpfennig was a dying man, having suffered malaria and now tuberculosis contracted from his service in the swamp areas outside the city. He had until early September to live.

Tragically, a number of Charlestonians had lost their lives, not to Yankee but to Rebel destruction. The Confederate troops had tries to set fire to all the stores they could not take with them, such as cotton and ammunition, but foodstuffs as well. They had left the railroad depot burning, and naturally a crowd of civilians rushed in to try and rescue the many bushels of rice left behind. But the depot also held hundreds of barrels of gunpowder in another storage area, which soon exploded, demolishing the depot and killing over 200 people, the majority of them women and children. It was likely the greatest single loss of civilian life of the war.
[image]local://upfiles/4250/E5877A50146E43D8B242F3FD713DB619.gif[/image]


In Columbia, the fires continued to burn:

Fortunately, about 3 or 4 a.m., the wind moderated, and gradually the fire was got under control; but it had burned out the very heart of the city, embracing several churches, the old State-House, and the school or asylum of that very Sister of Charity who had appealed for my personal protection. Nickerson's Hotel, in which several of my staff were quartered, was burned down, but the houses occupied by myself, Generals Howard and Logan, were not burned at all. Many of the people thought that this fire was deliberately planned and executed. This is not true.
[...]
The morning sun of February 18th rose bright and clear over a ruined city. About half of it was in ashes and in smouldering heaps. Many of the people were houseless, and gathered in groups in the suburbs, or in the open parks and spaces, around their scanty piles of furniture. General Howard, in concert with the mayor, did all that was possible to provide other houses for them; and by my authority he turned over to the Sisters of Charity the Methodist College, and to the mayor five hundred beef-cattle; to help feed the people; I also gave the mayor (Dr. Goodwin) one hundred muskets, with which to arm a guard to maintain order after we should leave the neighborhood.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

But the task of destruction was not finished, and sadly, the greatest loss of life was yet to come:

General Howard's troops engaged in tearing up and destroying the railroad, back toward the Wateree, while a strong detail, under the immediate supervision of Colonel O. M. Poe, United States Engineers, destroyed the State Arsenal, which was found to be well supplied with shot, shell, and ammunition. These were hauled in wagons to the Saluda River, under the supervision of Colonel Baylor, chief of ordnance, and emptied into deep water, causing a very serious accident by the bursting of a percussion-shell, as it struck another on the margin of the water. The flame followed back a train of powder which had sifted out, reached the wagons, still partially loaded, and exploded them, killing sixteen men, and destroying several wagons and teams of mules. We also destroyed several valuable founderies and the factory of Confederate money. The dies had been carried away, but about sixty handpresses remained. There was also found an immense quantity of money, in various stages of manufacture, which our men spent and gambled with in the most lavish manner.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman


Elsewhere, there was a stumble on the road to ratification of the 13th amendment. The state legislature of Delaware rejected it, which was not altogether surprising because Delaware was legally still a slave state, though it had stayed in the Union. (For once, the wealthy citizens were ahead of the lawmakers, and many had quietly freed their slaves though there was no requirement to do so. Less than 2% of the state's population had been slaves by the start of the Civil War, about one-fifth the percentage of the next lowest slave state, Missouri.)



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/20/2015 4:02:11 PM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In the area of Wilmington, North Carolina, the Northerners were not content with blockading the port. They wanted to capture the city and use it as a supply point when Sherman's force reached that far north. Matters were going slowly for the Federals, however. Although reinforcements had been sent after the seizure of Fort Fisher, along with the troops had come a senior general, John Schofield, who assumed command. Once this had been settled, it was found that the Cape Fear River was still blocked by numerous "torpedoes", so the Union naval advantage was neutralized until the slow process of removing these mines was completed.

This meant the Northerners had to advance by land either along the west bank of the river or the east bank. The east side was a narrow peninsula between the river and the Atlantic, and the Confederates had built a line of entrenchments across which stopped the Union advance cold. The west side was full of swamps and creeks swollen by winter rains, which made for slow going. On this date the Yankees had run into Town Creek, where the Rebels had thoughtfully burned the only bridge, and it was now too deep to ford. However, some scouting discovered a single flat-bottom barge. This craft was brought to a place far enough from the Southern position that two brigades could be ferried across unseen.

Finally enough Federals were in place, and a determined charge collapsed the Confederate defenses. 375 prisoners and two cannon were captured. Only a small force of cavalry remained to slow the Yankees on that side. Now the bridge could be rebuilt, and soon the Northerners would be able to place artillery within range of the city of Wilmington. Southern commander Braxton Bragg had been hoping to hold on until he could be reinforced by the garrison evacuated from Charleston, but with the Union Navy's de-mining effort, the situation was looking more and more like a trap. Bragg telegraphed William Hardee, commanding the retreating garrison troops, to avoid Wilmington and rendezvous with other Confederate forces at Goldsboro, North Carolina.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/21/2015 11:46:49 PM)

February 22, 1865 (I mis-timed the servers by a quarter of an hour):

At Wilmington, North Carolina, Braxton Bragg had decided his position was untenable, and began to march his 6,000-man force out of the city about an hour after midnight. As in other evacuations, the retreating Southerners applied the torch to whatever they thought the Yankees could use. They especially took care to burn the stockpiles of cotton and tobacco. This time, however, no disasters ensued, and when day dawned and the Federals marched in, they found the great majority of the buildings still standing.
Nonetheless, it would be some time before the Union could get much use out of the port. The Rebels had also taken care to tear up the rail lines, and the Northerners had no light task repairing them. Even, then, the first loads of supplies had to be diverted to feed the remaining civilian population of the city.


At Charleston, the Union Army had re-occupied Fort Sumter four days before. On this date, it formally resumed possession of the place where the Civil War had begun with a flag-raising ceremony above the ruined walls. An even more elaborate ceremony would be enacted two months later.


In Richmond, Robert E. Lee began to realize that the Confederate defense of the capital was nearing its end. In a report forecasting the coming Spring campaign, he wrote: "...you may expect Sheridan to move up the Valley, and Stoneman from Knoxville, as Sherman draws near Roanoke. What then will become of those sections of the country? I know of no other troops that could be given to Beauregard. Bragg will be forced back by Schofield, I fear, and, until I abandon James River, nothing can be sent from this army. Grant, I think, is now preparing to draw out by his left with the intent of enveloping me. He may wait till his other columns approach nearer, or he may be preparing to anticipate my withdrawal. I cannot tell yet.... Everything of value should be removed from Richmond. It is of the first importance to save all powder. The cavalry and artillery of the army are still scattered for want of provender, and our supply and ammunition trains, which out to be with the army in case of sudden movement, are absent collecting provisions and forage--some in western Virginia and some in North Carolina. You will see to what straits we are reduced; but I trust to work out."

Lee realized that Sherman's move through South Carolina was a slow-motion disaster for the Confederacy, and stopping it was paramount. While scraping together an army to confront the Yankees, he also decided that P.G.T. Beauregard was no longer the man to command it, as Beauregard's health had deteriorated. As a replacement, Lee selected the man who had done the best against Sherman in the past: Joseph E. Johnston. This would have been unacceptable to Jefferson Davis, whose loathing for Johnston had not abated since the fall of Atlanta. (And Johnston returned the feeling in full measure.) But the situation was so desperate, and Lee's prestige was so great, that on this date the Confederate President agreed. The orders went out restoring Johnston to field command. But apparently he was not happy:


February 22d. - Isabella has been reading my diaries. How we laugh because my sage divinations all come to naught. My famous "insight into character" is utter folly. The diaries were lying on the hearth ready to be burned, but she told me to hold on to them; think of them a while and don't be rash. Afterward when Isabella and I were taking a walk, General Joseph E. Johnston joined us. He explained to us all of Lee's and Stonewall Jackson's mistakes. We had nothing to say - how could we say anything? He said he was very angry when he was ordered to take command again. He might well have been in a genuine rage. This on and off procedure would be enough to bewilder the coolest head. Mrs. Johnston knows how to be a partizan of Joe Johnston and still not make his enemies uncomfortable. She can be pleasant and agreeable, as she was to my face.

A letter from my husband who is at Charlotte. He came near being taken a prisoner in Columbia, for he was asleep the morning of the 17th, when the Yankees blew up the railroad depot. That woke him, of course, and he found everybody had left Columbia, and the town was surrendered by the mayor, Colonel Goodwyn. Hampton and his command had been gone several hours. Isaac Hayne came away with General Chesnut. There was no fire in the town when they left. They overtook Hampton's command at Meek's Mill. That night, from the hills where they encamped, they saw the fire, and knew the Yankees were burning the town, as we had every reason to expect they would. Molly was left in charge of everything of mine, including Mrs. Preston's cow, which I was keeping, and Sally Goodwyn's furniture.

Charleston and Wilmington have surrendered. I have no further use for a newspaper. I never want to see another one as long as I live. Wade Hampton has been made a lieutenant-general, too late. If he had been made one and given command in South Carolina six months ago I believe he would have saved us. Shame, disgrace, beggary, all have come at once, and are hard to bear - the grand smash! Rain, rain, outside, and naught but drowning floods of tears inside...

-- Mary Boykin Chesnut, A Diary From Dixie

(Mrs. Chesnut's date does not seem to be wholly accurate, for Johnston would record that he did not receive his new orders until the next day.)



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/23/2015 4:20:46 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

I was residing in Lincolnton, North Carolina, in February, 1865, and on the 23d of the month received, by telegraph, instructions from the Administration to report for orders to General Lee, recently appointed general-in-chief. A dispatch from General Lee, in anticipation of such a report from me, was received on the same day. In it he directed me to assume the command of the Army of Tennessee and all troops in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and to “concentrate all available forces and drive back Sherman.”

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War

President Davis had been reluctant to approve the change in command, and had he known what Johnston was thinking, he probably would never have given his assent at all:

I therefore accepted the command, confident of the same loyal and cordial support from that distinguished officer, in the final operations of the war, that he had given me at its commencement. This was done with a full consciousness on my part, however, that we could have no other object, in continuing the war, than to obtain fair terms of peace; for the Southern cause must have appeared hopeless then, to all intelligent and dispassionate Southern men. I therefore resumed the duties of my military grade with no hope beyond that of contributing to obtain peace on such conditions as, under the circumstances, ought to satisfy the Southern people and their Government. The “available forces” were about five thousand men of the Army of Tennessee, and the troops of the department, amounting to about eleven thousand.

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War

Johnston was under-stating his forces; for one thing, it was frequent practice in Confederate computations to ignore the cavalry. He would eventually be able to field a force of about 21,000 men. To be fair, this was still no match for Sherman's army, and the Northerners also had a very large advantage in equipment:

At least two-thirds of the arms of these troops had been lost in Tennessee. They had, therefore, depended on the workshops of Alabama and Georgia for muskets, and had received but a partial supply. But this supply, and the additions that the Ordnance Department had the means of making to it, left almost thirteen hundred of that veteran infantry unarmed, and they remained so until the war ended. These detachments were without artillery and baggage-wagons, and consequently were not in condition to operate far from railroads.

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/24/2015 4:00:41 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In South Carolina, the weather continued to be a greater obstacle than the Rebels to Sherman's advancing force, actually stopping the Yankees -- for a time:

...the Twentieth Corps, which laid its pontoon-bridge and crossed over during the 23d. Kilpatrick arrived the next day, in the midst of heavy rain, and was instructed to cross the Catawba at once, by night, and to move up to Lancaster, to make believe we were bound for Charlotte, to which point I heard that Beauregard had directed all his detachments, including a corps of Hood's old army, which had been marching parallel with us, but had failed to make junction with, the forces immediately opposing us. Of course, I had no purpose of going to Charlotte...
...The rain was so heavy and persistent that the Catawba River rose fast, and soon after I had crossed the pontoon bridge at Rocky Mount it was carried away, leaving General Davis, with the Fourteenth Corps, on the west bank. The roads were infamous, so I halted the Twentieth Corps at Hanging Rock for some days, to allow time for the Fourteenth to get over.
General Davis had infinite difficulty in reconstructing his bridge, and was compelled to use the fifth chains of his wagons for anchor-chains, so that we were delayed nearly a week in that neighborhood.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman


There was one failure and one success for the 13th amendment on this date. The state legislature of Kentucky rejected it. Kentucky was still a Southern state at heart, and of all the states that remained in the Union it had come the closest to seceding. (Its legislature would finally approve the amendment over a century later, on March 18, 1976.) One the plus side, Wisconsin approved the amendment, raising the total to 18 states.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (2/27/2015 3:47:36 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Still stalemated at Petersburg and Richmond, Ulysses S. Grant was considering moves elsewhere. He considered that Sherman's army in South Carolina was low on cavalry, and the best place to get more horse soldiers was from Philip Sheridan's force in the Shenandoah Valley. Before the transfer was made, however, there was the matter of the remaining Southern troops there under Jubal Early. An early thaw had come to the Valley, making movements possible. Grant gave Sheridan the go-ahead to attack. Sheridan had made his plans for just such an opportunity:

On the 27th of February my cavalry entered upon the campaign which cleared the Shenandoah Valley of every remnant of organized Confederates. General Torbert being absent on leave at this time, I did not recall him, but appointed General Merritt Chief of Cavalry. for Torbert had disappointed me on two important occasions—in the Luray Valley during the battle of Fisher's Hill, and on the recent Gordonsville expedition—and I mistrusted his ability to conduct any operations requiring much self-reliance. The column was composed of Custer's and Devin's divisions of cavalry, and two sections of artillery, comprising in all about 10,000 officers and men. On wheels we had, to accompany this column, eight ambulances, sixteen ammunition wagons, a pontoon train for eight canvas boats, and a small supply-train, with fifteen days' rations of coffee, sugar, and salt, it being intended to depend on the country for the meat and bread ration, the men carrying in their haversacks nearly enough to subsist them till out of the exhausted valley.

--Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army

Sheridan claimed that he had achieved a measure of surprise with this movement by putting out a false rumor that the activity was because the Northerners were holding a foxhunt. Jubal Early, writing in his memoirs, denied that he had been surprised at all:

On the 27th, Sheridan started from Winchester up the Valley with a heavy force, consisting, according to the statement of Grant, in his report, of "two divisions of cavalry, numbering about 5,000 each." I had been informed of the preparations for a movement of some kind, some days previous, and the information had been telegraphed to General Lee. As soon as Sheridan started, I was informed of the fact by signal and telegraph, and orders were immediately sent by telegraph to Lomax, whose headquarters were at Millboro, on the Central Railroad, forty miles west of Staunton, to get together all of his cavalry as soon as possible. Rosser was also directed to collect all of his men that he could, and an order was sent by telegraph to General Echols, in Southwestern Virginia, to send his brigade by rail to Lynchburg. My own headquarters were at Staunton, but there were no troops at that place except a local provost guard, and a company of reserves, composed of boys under 18 years of age, which was acting under the orders of the Conscript Bureau. Orders were therefore given for the immediate removal of all stores from that place.

--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States

Though he likely did not have the advantage of surprise, Sheridan didn't need it. Early had been stripped of so many troops, to reinforce the Richmond/Petersburg defenses, that the Northerners outnumbered the Southerners in the Valley by at least five to one.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/1/2015 5:23:21 PM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In the Shenandoah Valley, the Confederates knew that the Northerners were on the move, and had a good idea of their location. What they did not know was where the Yankees were headed to. Delaying tactics were called for until the objective became clearer.

Rosser succeeded in collecting a little over 100 men, and with these he attempted to check the enemy at North River, near Mount Crawford, on the first of March, but was unable to do so. On the afternoon of that day, the enemy approached to within three or four miles of Staunton, and I then telegraphed to Lomax to concentrate his cavalry at Pound Gap in Rockbridge County, and to follow and annoy the enemy should he move towards Lynchburg, and rode out of town towards Waynesboro . . .

--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States

Interestingly, Sheridan believed that the Rebel delaying force was considerably stronger than what Early claimed:

... we encountered General Rosser at Mt. Crawford, he having been able to call together only some five or six hundred of his troops, our unsuspected march becoming known to Early only the day before. Rosser attempted to delay us here, trying to burn the bridges over the Middle Fork of the Shenandoah, but two regiments from Colonel Capehart's brigade swam the stream and drove Rosser to Kline's Mills, taking thirty prisoners and twenty ambulances and wagons. Meanwhile General Early was busy at Staunton, but not knowing my objective point, he had ordered the return of Echol's brigade from southwestern Virginia for the protection of Lynchburg, directed Lomax's cavalry to concentrate at Pond Gap for the purpose of harassing me if I moved toward Lynchburg...

--Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army

Lynchburg would have been a valuable objective, but Sheridan, like Grant, placed even more importance on destroying enemy armies than seizing towns and cities. The bulk of the Union force also headed towards Waynesboro. The stage was set.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/2/2015 3:58:42 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

The meeting of high-level civilian politicians at Hampton Roads had failed to produce any agreement, but Robert E. Lee thought a meeting between generals might have a better result. On this date, the Confederate General-in-Chief sent a message to Union General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant suggesting a conference to explore "the possibility of arriving at a satisfactory adjustment of the present unhappy difficulties, by mean of a military convention." Grant, however, was keenly aware that there was civilian rule of the military in the United States, and forwarded the missive to Washington for instructions.


In the Shenandoah Valley, the Union forces reached Waynesboro, and found the Confederate forces there. The Rebels were prepared for a fight, but not as big a fight as they were about to have:

Wharton and Nelson were ordered to move to Waynesboro by light next morning, and on that morning (the 2nd) their commands were put in position on a ridge covering Waynesboro on the west and just outside of the town. My object in taking this position was to secure the removal of five pieces of artillery for which there were no horses, and some stores still in Waynesboro, as well as to present a bold front to the enemy, and ascertain the object of his movement, which I could not do very well if I took refuge at once in the mountain. The last report for Wharton's command showed 1,200 men for duty; but as it was exceedingly inclement, and raining and freezing, there were not more than 1,000 muskets on the line, and Nelson had six pieces of artillery. I did not intend making my final stand on this ground, yet I was satisfied that if my men would fight, which I had no reason to doubt, I could hold the enemy in check until night, and then cross the river and take position in Rock-fish Gap; for I had done more difficult things than that during the war.
About twelve o'clock in the day, it was reported to me that the enemy was advancing, and I rode out at once on the line, and soon discovered about a brigade of cavalry coming up on the road from Staunton, on which the artillery opened, when it retired out of range. The enemy manoeuvred for some time in our front, keeping out of reach of our guns until late in the afternoon, when I discovered a force moving to the left. I immediately sent a messenger with notice of this fact to General Wharton, who was on that flank, and with orders for him to look out and provide for the enemy's advance; and another messenger, with notice to the guns on the left, and directions for them to fire towards the advancing force, which could not be seen from where they were.

--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States

George Custer would go down in history as a commander who "leaped before he looked". On this date, however, he would probe the situation before attacking, and the Union would gain considerably from this rare display of wisdom.

... when Custer neared Waynesboro' he found, occupying a line of breastworks on a ridge west of the town, two brigades of infantry, with eleven pieces of artillery and Rosser's cavalry. Custer, when developing the position of the Confederates, discovered that their left was somewhat exposed instead of resting on South River; he therefore made his dispositions for attack, sending around that flank the dismounted regiments from Pennington's brigade, while he himself, with two brigades, partly mounted and partly dismounted, assaulted along the whole line of breastworks. Pennington's flanking movement stampeded the enemy in short order, thus enabling Custer to carry the front with little resistance, and as he did so the Eighth New York and First Connecticut, in a charge in column, broke through the opening made by Custer, and continued on through the town of Waynesboro', never stopping till they crossed South River. There, finding themselves immediately in the enemy's rear, they promptly formed as foragers and held the east bank of the stream till all the Confederates surrendered except Rosser, who succeeded in making his way back to the valley, and Generals Early, Wharton, Long, and Lilley. . .

--Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army


The enemy soon made an attack on our left flank, and I discovered the men on that flank giving back. Just then, General Wharton, who had not received my message, rode up to me and I pointed out to him the disorder in his line, and ordered him to ride immediately to that point and rectify it. Before he got back, the troops gave way on the left, after making very slight resistance, and soon everything was in a state of confusion and the men commenced crossing the river. I rode across it myself to try and stop them at the bridge and check the enemy; but they could not be rallied, and the enemy forded the river above and got in our rear. I now saw that everything was lost, and after the enemy had got between the mountain and the position where I was, and retreat was thus cut off, I rode aside into the woods, and in that way escaped capture. I went to the top of a hill to reconnoitre, and had the mortification of seeing the greater part of my command being carried off as prisoners . . .

--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States


By reason of this move all the enemy's stores and transportation fell into our hands, while we captured on the field seventeen battle flags, sixteen hundred officers and men, and eleven pieces of artillery.

--Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army

After the war, Jubal Early would protest that Sheridan had exaggerated the Union captures. But the best estimates are that the Rebels lost as many battle flags and guns as Sheridan claimed, and over 1,000 men. The Northern casualties were a mere nine killed and wounded. The Shenandoah Valley had been the scene of many a Union defeat, but finally the Yankees had the last laugh. Though John Singleton Mosby and other Southern guerrillas remained at large, it was the end of any regular Confederate Army units in the Valley. Sheridan was now free to turn to other theaters of the war.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[image]local://upfiles/4250/CD7DC961BF8447BF8FC8E2582F8701EE.jpg[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/3/2015 3:36:18 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In South Carolina, Sherman's next objective was the town of Cheraw, which was close to the northern border of the state. It was being used by the Confederates as a storage depot, since the Southerners had not believed that the Yankees could ever penetrate that far. On this date, Sherman had an amusing and useful encounter:

Early in the morning of the 3d of March I rode out of Chesterfield along with the Twentieth Corps, which filled the road, forded Thompson's Creek, and, at the top of the hill beyond, found a road branching off to the right, which corresponded with the one on my map leading to Cheraw. Seeing a negro standing by the roadside, looking at the troops passing, I inquired of him what road that was.
"Him lead to Cheraw, master!"
"Is it a good road, and how far?"
"A very good road, and eight or ten miles."
"Any guerrillas?"
"Oh! no, master, dey is gone two days ago; you could have played cards on der coat-tails, dey was in sich a hurry!"
I was on my Lexington horse, who was very handsome and restive, so I made signal to my staff to follow, as I proposed to go without escort. I turned my horse down the road, and the rest of the staff followed. General Barry took up the questions about the road, and asked the same negro what he was doing there. He answered, "Dey say Massa Sherman will be along soon!"

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com
[image]local://upfiles/4250/ED345D16F3A14992B9477B32551553A8.gif[/image]

In Washington D.C., Congress passed a bill creating the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, better known as the Freedmen's Bureau. It was none too soon, for the thousands and thousands of former slaves liberated by the war often badly needed food, housing, and medical attention. Not quite as urgent, but still highly important, were items such as education for their children, registering marriages, and help understanding labor contracts, which they had never had to deal with before.

[image]local://upfiles/4250/9455512344104F748080AEA3F2B9AF67.jpg[/image]

[image]local://upfiles/4250/F546D865E5284C8E91BA455D135CEBC8.jpg[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/4/2015 3:27:42 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

At his headquarters in City Point, Virginia, U. S. Grant received the answer to the proposal for a military conference between himself and Lee. It was decidedly negative: Grant would have authority to give terms to Lee's army, but that was all.

OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH, HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES

Lieutenant-General GRANT:

The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's army or on solely minor and purely military matters.
He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political question; such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions.
Meantime you are to press to the utmost your military advantages.

EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

Strangely, this message was never forwarded to William T. Sherman. In fact, Sherman claimed that he had been verbally told by the Secretary of War that he should do what he could to bring the war to a close as soon as possible. This impression, reinforced by a meeting with Lincoln himself, would cause considerable trouble for Sherman in the next month.


In Richmond, the mood was also against compromise. It had been pointed out that when there was little wind, the familiar stars and cross part of the flag could be lost in the folds, and it looked like a white flag. Shunning any sign of surrender, the Confederate Congress adopted the final configuration of its flag, replacing "The Stainless Banner" with "The Blood-Stained Banner":

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the flag of the Confederate States shall be as follows: The width two-thirds of its length, with the union (now used as the battle flag) to be in width three-fifths of the width of the flag, and so proportioned as to leave the length of the field on the side of the union twice the width of the field below it; to have the ground red and a broad blue saltier thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with mullets or five pointed stars, corresponding in number to that of the Confederate States; the field to be white, except the outer half from the union to be a red bar extending the width of the flag.
[image]local://upfiles/4250/469983EEB44C4F0FA2FC2AA97F936A60.gif[/image]


In Washington D.C., it was Inauguration Day. Morning was unpromising; the skies were grey and the atmosphere was damp and chilly. In the chamber of the Senate, the new members took their oaths of office in a reasonably straitforward manner until it was time for Andrew Johnson, the new Vice-President. Johnson was unwell and clearly under the influence of alcohol, and gave a rambling, almost incoherent speech. To be fair, there is a possibility that his inebriation was the result of the medicine his doctor had given him; whiskey was a common active ingredient at that time.

Lincoln then stepped out onto the rotunda of the Capitol, and from then on the day was transformed. As if orchestrated, the sun finally broke through the clouds, cheering the vast crowd (which for the first time contained numbers of blacks). In a strong voice, the President read what some consider the finest speech of his life:

At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.

One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

[image]local://upfiles/4250/D1DCACEDCFBF4FE88F60D09FE09D03F4.jpg[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/5/2015 3:47:12 AM)

Early March, 1865:

Sherman's army spent several days around Cheraw, South Carolina, destroying some stores, and helping themselves to others. Sherman himself was treated to some fine Madeira wine which some wealthy citizen of Charleston had sent for safe-keeping to the town. But there was bad news as well. The Confederates had also stored no less than 3600 barrels of gunpowder there, and an accident while disposing of it killed and maimed a number of men and demolished several buildings.

Sherman also got a reminder of why he hated newspapermen:

In a house where General Hardee had been, I found a late New York Tribune, of fully a month later date than any I had seen. It contained a mass of news of great interest to us, and one short paragraph which I thought extremely mischievous. I think it was an editorial, to the effect that at last the editor had the satisfaction to inform his readers that General Sherman would next be heard from about Goldsboro', because his supply-vessels from Savannah were known to be rendezvousing at Morehead City:--Now, I knew that General Hardee had read that same paper, and that he would be perfectly able to draw his own inferences. Up to that moment I had endeavored so to feign to our left that we had completely misled our antagonists, but this was no longer possible...

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Sherman's march through South Carolina was destructive, but it was having the desired effect. As well as the burning of barns and warehouses, most of the state's rail lines were now cut. The supply situation for the Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg had improved somewhat during February, but now there were harsh shortages again, as in most parts of the Confederacy. The Northerners shrewdly adopted a policy of allowing Southern deserters to bring their muskets with them when they crossed to the Union lines at night. This increased the number of deserters to as many as a hundred a night. Lee's army was now outnumbered by Grant's hordes by 2.25 to 1, and the odds grew a little worse each day.

A few words in regard to this desertion: The condition of affairs throughout the South at that period was truly deplorable. Hundreds of letters addressed to soldiers were intercepted and sent to army headquarters, in which mothers, wives, and sisters, told of their inability to respond to the appeals of hungry children for bread, or to provide proper care and remedies for the sick, and, in the name of all that was dear, appealed to the men to come home and rescue them from the ills which they suffered and the starvation which threatened them.

--Colonel Walter Taylor, Four Years With General Lee



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/6/2015 7:42:33 PM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In the Carolinas, the Northerners under W. T. Sherman resumed their march, crossing from South Carolina to North Carolina. Immediately there was a change in attitude. While the Yankees were as destructive as ever to rail lines and bridges, they generally stopped burning civilian property. While South Carolina was seen by many as the instigator of rebellion and treason, North Carolina had not left the Union until after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. The trail of the Federals through South Carolina had left croplands and houses burned and blackened behind them, but there was much less of that north of the state border.

That did not mean the Confederates were any less desperate to stop the Union advance. Joseph Johnston was pulling together every man he could, even to the point where all the troops in the commands of Braxton Bragg and P.G.T. Beauregard were taken away. (And they were supposedly equal in rank to Johnston.) Sherman was now aware that his old antagonist Johnston was opposing him, but he over-estimated the number of troops the Confederates had. Johnston had been given control of the military department stretching from North Carolina to Florida, but it was of not much use with the rail networks in South Carolina and Georgia in shambles. The "Army of the South" could not muster even half of what Sherman had with him.

Nor was this all the Federal resources in the area. After laborious repairs, Wilmington, North Carolina had been turned into a useful Union port, and another full corps was now moving from the city towards the interior of the state. General-in-Chief grant had thoughtfully ordered that all troops coming into contact with Sherman would be subject to his orders. Little wonder that Johnston, reviewing the reports of Sherman's forces, unhappily wrote that "I can do no more than annoy him."



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/10/2015 4:04:54 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Near Munroe's Crossroads in North Carolina, the struggle between Hugh Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry and their Confederate opponents nearly came to a finish. The Northerners had encamped for the night, but set up a poor guard. Southerners Wade Hampton and Joseph Wheeler combined their cavalry divisions, and their joint attack caught the Yankees by surprise near dawn.

The Union camp was speedily overrun, and the Rebels even managed to capture the house in which Kilpatrick was staying. However, the Northern commander managed to escape the house, and fled into a nearby swamp. Once there, he managed to gather together the majority of his troopers, who had also managed to flee ahead of the Southerners. The Federals launched a spirited counter-attack, and recovered the camp and most of their cannon and other equipment.

Although the Confederates still outnumbered their foes, they were worried that Union infantry might arrive on the scene. By mid-morning they decided to withdraw, having wrecked a number of wagons and gun carriages, and taken dozens of prisoners. Although the Yankees held the ground at the end of the combat, the Rebels had the best of the fight. They inflicted more casualties, and had also prevented the Northern cavalry from advancing into the key town of Fayetteville, thus giving the Southern infantry time to withdraw across the Cape Fear River and burn the main bridge. This would buy the time Joseph Johnston needed to pull "The Army of the South" together.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/11/2015 4:41:35 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Although the Union cavalry had been dealt a setback the day before, the infantry had kept up its slower but steadier advance. On this date, the Yankees took Fayetteville, North Carolina, though there they would have to pause.

…on the 11th I reached Fayetteville, and found that General Hardee, followed by Wade Hampton's cavalry, had barely escaped across Cape Fear River, burning the bridge which I had hoped to save. On reaching Fayetteville I found General Slocum already in possession with the Fourteenth Corps, and all the rest of the army was near at hand.
I took up my quarters at the old United States Arsenal, which was in fine order, and had been much enlarged by the Confederate authorities, who never dreamed that an invading army would reach it from the west. . .
. . . During the 11th, the whole army closed down upon Fayetteville, and immediate preparations were made to lay two pontoon bridges, one near the burned bridge, and another about four miles lower down.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

That meant a delay, but Sherman was not entirely sorry to give his men a rest. The rains, the mud, and the work on the roads as they advanced, had made the marching much harder than it had been in Georgia. And the Yankees had also picked up another mass of refugees as they made their way through the Carolinas.

There is reason to believe that Sherman was something of a racist at heart: for one thing, he did not use black soldiers as front-line troops if he could avoid it. But whatever his private feelings may have been, the overwhelming majority of black men and women in the places where his army marched through saw him as a liberator, and many chose to follow his army and risk the hardships of the journey. Although nearly all of the Georgia refugees had been left in the region of Savannah, by this time there were another twenty to thirty thousand attached to the Northern army.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[image]local://upfiles/4250/57EEBE78879446669B6A51A6E4143BD9.gif[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/12/2015 4:03:40 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Sunday, March 12th, was a day of Sabbath stillness in Fayetteville. The people generally attended their churches, for they were a very pious people, descended in a large measure from the old Scotch Covenanters, and our men too were resting from the toils and labors of six weeks of as hard marching as ever fell to the lot of soldiers. Shortly after noon was heard in the distance the shrill whistle of a steamboat, which came nearer and nearer, and soon a shout, long and continuous, was raised down by the river, which spread farther and farther, and we all felt that it meant a messenger from home. The effect was electric, and no one can realize the feeling unless, like us, he has been for months cut off from all communication with friends, and compelled to listen to the croakings and prognostications of open enemies. But in a very few minutes came up through the town to the arsenal on the plateau behind a group of officers, among whom was a large, florid seafaring man, named Ainsworth, bearing a small mail-bag from General Terry, at Wilmington, having left at 2 p.m. the day before. Our couriers had got through safe from Laurel Hill, and this was the prompt reply.

[...]

Still, I was anxious to reach Goldsboro', there to make junction with General Schofield, so as to be ready for the next and last stage of the war. I then knew that my special antagonist, General Jos. E. Johnston, was back, with part of his old army; that he would not be misled by feints and false reports, and would somehow compel me to exercise more caution than I had hitherto done.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

The situation had swiftly reversed. Now it was the Confederates who knew where Sherman was, and had a good idea where he was going, while Sherman was left guessing. He did not know where the bulk of the enemy forces were, or how large they were. But Sherman did know that when he made junction with Schofield's corps, his army would be larger than anything Johnston could put together. The one real fear was if Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia managed to slip away from Grant's army and unite with Johnston. Sherman quickly wrote out replies and orders to Schofield and the Union base at Wilmington. Speed would be essential.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/13/2015 3:55:31 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

After furious debate, a law was finally enacted for the induction of slaves into the ranks of the Confederate Army. It had passed by a narrow margin, and in fact would have failed if Robert E. Lee's influence had not eventually caused the two Virginia senators to vote in favor. The final version was considerably weaker than Lee had wanted, however. President Davis was authorized to "ask for and accept" the services of slaves from slave owners. If a sufficient number of troops could not be secured voluntarily (and it certainly would not be), the President could then conscript up to 300,000 men without regard to color. The good news was that the slaves were to "receive the same rations and compensation as other troops." The very bad news was the last section, which stated:

That nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation which the said slaves shall bear toward their owners, except by the consent of the owners and of the States in which they may reside, and in pursuance of the laws thereof.

In other words, the slave soldiers were not to be freed. Unsurprisingly, this law was far too little and too late. Since the destruction done by Sherman's army had effectively cut off Richmond from all the Southern states except for North Carolina and Virginia itself (and they were even then working on North Carolina), all the other states ignored it. A mere two companies of black troops were raised in Virginia. They would never see combat.

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Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/16/2015 4:08:08 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

The 13th amendment suffered another setback on this date, being rejected by the state legislature of New Jersey. They would change their minds, however, and approve it on January 23 of the next year.


At Averysborough, North Carolina, the troops under W. T. Sherman were on the march again after the short delay at Fayetteville. They were running into considerably more opposition now, both from Rebel cavalry under Joe Wheeler and Wade Hampton, and infantry under William Hardee. The day before the Yankees had managed to capture a Confederate Colonel named Alfred Rhett, the son of the editor of the Charleston Mercury. This was probably the most influential Southern newspaper outside of Richmond, and had played no small part in urging the Southern states to secede. Rhett was still more unusual for a Rebel in that he had high-quality footwear; a pair of "high jackboots beautifully stitched" according to Sherman's memoirs. And now the Northerners had encountered the artillery brigade Rhett had commanded, along with a goodly number of Confederate infantry.

The next day (the 16th) the opposition continued stubborn, and near Averysboro' Hardee had taken up a strong position, before which General Slocum deployed Jackson's division (of the Twentieth Corps), with part of Ward's. Kilpatrick was on his right front. Coming up, I advised that a brigade should make a wide circuit by the left, and, if possible, catch this line in flank. The movement was completely successful, the first line of the enemy was swept away, and we captured the larger part of Rhett's brigade, two hundred and seventeen men, including Captain Macbeth's battery of three guns, and buried one hundred and eight dead.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Joseph Johnston gave a rather different story in his memoirs, claiming that the Southerners merely fell back to a second line, and inflicted a more casualties on the Federals than they suffered. But modern historians estimate the total losses at 680 for the Union and 860 for the Confederacy. And there is no doubt that the Rebels abandoned their position that evening, allow the Northern march to continue.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[image]local://upfiles/4250/EA3431DE97CF44798DC5CFFF1339086B.gif[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/17/2015 4:12:03 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Washington, D.C., had always had a number of Southern sympathizers, which is not surprising considering Virginia is just across the Potomac River. Many of them kept quiet and merely hoped for Confederate success, but others became active spies. Actor John Wilkes Booth had now moved from the former group to the latter. As an actor, he had toured in both North and South even after war broke out, and there is reason to believe he had smuggled the anti-malarial drug quinine to the Confederacy.
[image]local://upfiles/4250/FC33C0F8D8574AE1B33545A15243AB01.jpg[/image]
He had gathered a small band of pro-Southerners around him, and as the war turned more and more in the North's favor, they decided they had to do something.

The suffering of Confederate prisoners in Northern camps had been great, particularly at Elmira in New York and Camp Douglas in Illinois. (The fact that conditions were even worse in several Southern camps was of no concern to Booth.) Angered by U. S. Grant's putting a halt to prisoner exchanges, the conspirators came up with a daring/ridiculous (pick one) plan. It was nothing less than to kidnap President Lincoln and use him to bargain for the release of a number of Rebel prisoners. But it would obviously be a difficult matter to storm the White House and carry off the President, so Booth and his accomplices needed to find out when Lincoln would be traveling, and to where.

On this date, Booth gathered his band at the boarding house of one Mary Surratt, and shared with them something he had learned from his contacts in the theaters of Washington. Lincoln would be attending a performance of the play "Still Waters Run Deep", at Campbell Military Hospital. The conspirators were to assemble in a restaurant on the outskirts of the city, planning to then join Booth on the nearby road where the President would be returning from the hospital.

It was an even worse plan than it sounds, and it came to nothing. Booth's information was old: Lincoln did not go to the play, but instead attended a ceremony at the National Hotel with officers of the 142nd Indiana Infantry. Ironically, this was the very hotel at which Booth was staying at that time. The pro-southern plotters had also apparently not heard that the prisoner exchanges had been resumed. The Confederates had finally agreed to exchange black soldiers on an even basis with whites.




Orm -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/17/2015 5:06:54 AM)

Once again I want to thank you for this awesome thread. [&o][:)]

Do you plan to continue this thread to the peace proclamation?



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/17/2015 7:52:06 PM)

At the moment, my plan is to go to May 10 (the capture of Jefferson Davis) and then include a summary of what happened next.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/18/2015 3:07:38 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Near Bentonville, North Carolina, Joseph Johnston at last had his chance to strike at Sherman's army. The Union left wing was threatening the state capital of Raleigh, but Sherman's real objective was to unite with the Federal forces from the coast at the key rail hub of Goldsborough. Sherman therefore went to join his right wing:

... I remained with this wing until the night of the 18th, when we were within twenty-seven miles of Goldsboro' and five from Bentonsville; and, supposing that all danger was over, I crossed over to join Howard's column, to the right, so as to be nearer to Generals Schofield and Terry, known to be approaching Goldsboro'.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

But in this area the Confederate cavalry now had the edge over the Union horsemen since the fight at Munroe's Crossroads, and that meant Johnston had more information about Sherman's position than Sherman had about Johnston:

About daybreak, on the 18th, information came to me from General Hampton, that the Federal army was marching toward Goldsboroa: the right wing, on the direct road from Fayetteville, had crossed Black River; the left wing, on the road from Averysboroa, had not reached that stream, and was more than a day’s march from the point in its route opposite to the hamlet of Bentonville, where the two roads, according to the map of North Carolina, were ten or twelve miles apart. The hamlet itself is about two miles from the road and to the north of it, and sixteen from Smithfield. According to the reports of our cavalry, the Federal right wing was about half a day’s march in advance of the left; so that there was probably an interval of a day’s march between the heads of the two columns.

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War

If Johnston could ambush and crush the Union left wing, he might then attack and defeat the right wing in turn. It was a slim chance, but better than nothing, and for once "The Great Retreater" gave the orders for attack.


On this date, the entry in the Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America concludes: "The hour of 2 o'clock having arrived, the Speaker announced that the House stood adjourned sine die." According to the standard rules of order, adjournment sine die means the group is adjourned without having yet agreed upon a date for the next session. (The group can later be summoned by someone with the appropriate authority, such as the president, or by agreement among the members.) But as it happened, this would be the final entry: the Confederate Congress was destined never to be gaveled to order again.

[image]local://upfiles/4250/E92D49AF19154A90A716D1354065BD81.jpg[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/19/2015 3:22:08 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

On the outskirts of Bentonville, North Carolina, Joseph Johnston was assembling a force of about 22,000 Southerners. They were having some trouble with maps, however, and so did not find each other or their Union opposition in as timely a manner as Johnston would have wished. Advance Yankee scouts and foragers found the Rebel forces, but Union commander Henry Slocum believed at first that he faced only cavalry. He ordered an attack to clear the way. The assault was quickly driven back, however, and the true size of the opposition became apparent.

Then it was the Southerners' turn to lauch an assault:

... the result of the charge was not for five minutes doubtful. The Confederates passed over three hundred yards of the space between the two lines in quick time, and in excellent order, and the remaining distance in double quick, without pausing to fire until their near approach had driven the enemy from the shelter of their intrenchments, in full retreat, to their second line. After firing a few rounds, the Confederates again pressed forward, and, when they were near the second intrenchment, now manned by both lines of Federal troops, Lieut.-Gen. Hardee, after commanding the double-quick, led the charge, and, with his knightly gallantry, dashed over the enemy’s breastworks on horseback, in front of his men. Some distance in the rear there was a very thick wood of young pines, into which the Federal troops were pursued, and in which they rallied and renewed the fight. But the Confederates continued to advance, driving the enemy back slowly, notwithstanding the advantage given to the party on the defensive by the thicket. . .

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War


In the meantime, Sherman learned of the battle underway. However, he also had trouble with maps:

I overtook General Howard at Falling- Creek Church, and found his column well drawn out, by reason of the bad roads. I had heard some cannonading over about Slocum's head of column, and supposed it to indicate about the same measure of opposition by Hardee's troops and Hampton's cavalry before experienced; but during the day a messenger overtook me, and notified me that near Bentonsville General Slocum had run up against Johnston's whole army. I sent back orders for him to fight defensively to save time, and that I would come up with reenforcements from the direction of Cog's Bridge, by the road which we had reached near Falling-Creek Church. The country was very obscure, and the maps extremely defective.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Nonetheless, Northern reinforcements began to arrive at the scene of combat. The Rebels could make no further progress, though not for lack of trying, for their assaults continued well after dark. It was almost midnight when the Southerners withdrew and began entrenching lines of their own. They could claim the honors of the day, but, as Johnston admitted, it was more a moral victory than a practical one.

Four pieces of artillery were taken; but, as we had only spare harnessed horses enough to draw off three, one was left on the field. The impossibility of concentrating the Confederate forces in time to attack the Federal left wing, while in column on the march, made complete success also impossible, from the enemy’s great numerical superiority. One important object was gained, however — that of restoring the confidence of our troops, who had either lost it in the defeat at Wilmington, or in those of Tennessee. All were greatly elated by the event. There was now no object in remaining in presence of the enemy, but that of covering the bearing off of our wounded. The orders necessary for this duty were given without delay; but very bad roads, and the want of comfortable means of transportation, compelled us to devote two days to the operation.

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War


Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[image]local://upfiles/4250/5DAC3974D7D3408CA0908541F8B85F49.gif[/image]



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/20/2015 3:43:03 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

At Bentonville, given that the bulk of two hostile armies were now in contact with each other, there was surprisingly little action on this date. Confederate commander Joe Johnston was now well aware that he was outnumbered, and had no desire to attack outside the fortifications his men had put up. On the other side, Sherman was also reluctant to mount an assault:

After deploying, I ordered General Howard to proceed with due caution, using skirmishers alone, till he had made junction with General Slocum, on his left. These deployments occupied all day, during which two divisions of the Seventeenth Corps also got up. At that time General Johnston's army occupied the form of a V, the angle reaching the road leading from Averysboro' to Goldsboro', and the flanks resting on Mill Creek, his lines embracing the village of Bentonsville.
General Slocum's wing faced one of these lines and General Howard's the other; and, in the uncertainty of General Johnston's strength, I did not feel disposed to invite a general battle, for we had been out from Savannah since the latter part of January, and our wagon- trains contained but little food. I had also received messages during the day from General Schofield, at Kinston, and General Terry, at Faison's Depot, approaching Goldsboro', both expecting to reach it by March 21st. During the 20th we simply held our ground and started our trains back to Kinston for provisions, which would be needed in the event of being forced to fight a general battle at Bentonsville.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

It is true the Northerners had been foraging off the country as they moved (though the pickings were not as rich as they had been in Georgia), and now that they were stopped, they had to live on what was in their wagons. Nonetheless, Sherman seems to have been unusually cautious about attacking, and Johnston seems to have been unusually reckless in staying in place while the Yankees hemmed him in from two sides. By the end of the day, the Confederates had only one route of retreat left open. And the 22,000 Rebels now faced roughly 60,000 Federals -- even before they had linked up with the columns of Schofield and Terry.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/21/2015 3:52:15 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

At Bentonville, the morning was almost as calm as the day before, thanks in part to occasional rain showers. After noon, however, the Yankees became more active:

On the 21st the skirmishing was resumed with spirit by the enemy ... During the whole afternoon a very brisk fire was directed against our centre and left. About four o’clock the cavalry was so pressed that the little infantry reserves and Taliaferro’s division were ordered to the left to support it. A few minutes later Lieutenant-General Hampton reported that the Seventeenth Corps had broken through the mere “skirmish-line” of his left, and was pressing rapidly toward Bentonville, in rear of our centre and on the only route of retreat. Lieutenant-General Hardee was directed to unite the troops then marching to the left, and to oppose this movement with them. But the rapid march of the leading Federal troops, Mower’s division, left no time for this union.

-- Joseph E. Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations during the Civil War

General Joseph A. Mower (below), probably the most aggressive division commander in Sherman's army, had requested permission from his superior to do a "little reconnaissance". Permission being granted, Mower had done a reconnaissance in force, to say the least:
[image]local://upfiles/4250/1FBFC5F92DC5446D9CA098CD991A2BE2.jpg[/image]

. . . General Mower, ever rash, broke through the rebel line on his extreme left flank, and was pushing straight for Bentonsville and the bridge across Mill Creek. I ordered him back to connect with his own corps; and, lest the enemy should concentrate on him, ordered the whole rebel line to be engaged with a strong skirmish-fire.
I think I made a mistake there, and should rapidly have followed Mower's lead with the whole of the right wing, which would have brought on a general battle, and it could not have resulted otherwise than successfully to us, by reason of our vastly superior numbers; but at the moment, for the reasons given, I preferred to make junction with Generals Terry and Schofield, before engaging Johnston's army, the strength of which was utterly unknown.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

Joseph Johnston needed no second warning that he was outnumbered and nearly surrounded. He pulled his troops out during the night. A number of historians, this humble writer included, have expressed skepticism about Sherman's rationale for allowing the Southerners to get away. He usually showed more aggressiveness than was evident on this occasion. It seems possible that he deliberately chose not to do his full duty, gambling that since the war was clearly nearing its end, he could eventually bring about a surrender without the bloodshed of another major battle. If so, he would be right by subsequent events: there would be no further significant battles between his forces and Johnston's, and when the surrender happened, it would encompass considerably more Confederates than could have been bagged at Bentonville.

Bentonville was nonetheless a Union victory. According to Sherman, his losses were 1,604 total, of whom 191 were killed. Johnston claimed that his losses were 2,343 in all, but as Sherman wrote, "Wide discrepancies exist in these figures." The National Park Service estimates total Southern casualties at 3,092. Whatever the total, the already under-equipped Confederate Army of the South had lost at least a tenth of its strength. Johnston and his troops had shot their bolt. If any miracle was to save the Confederacy, it would have to come from the Army of Northern Virginia and Robert E. Lee.




Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/22/2015 6:10:30 PM)

150 Years Ago Today:

In North Carolina, Johnston had retreated his army back towards the state capital of Raleigh. There had been little choice, but the move uncovered the much more militarily valuable rail hub city of Goldsborough. On this date, John Schofield's corps, having cleared the Confederates out of Kinston, began occupying the city from the east. At the same time, the bulk of Sherman's army began the march towards it from the west. North Carolina's resources were now largely cut off from Richmond.
[image]local://upfiles/4250/833761A205E14D1AAB26CB3957C62010.gif[/image]
Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

Ironically, also on this date began the cavalry raid from Tennessee into Alabama which Grant had originally meant as a distraction from Sherman's march through the Carolinas. Brigadier General James Wilson had taken his time assembling and equipping a massive body of Northern troopers. At over 13,000 men, it would be the largest cavalry raid of the war, indeed, it would not be going too far to describe it as an invading army rather than a simple raiding force. And the majority were armed with the lethal Spencer repeating carbine, making them as effective as infantry in open-field combat. But Wilson believed he would need this strength, for he would be facing Southern cavalry led by the redoubtable Nathan Bedford Forrest.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/23/2015 4:02:14 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Ulysses S. Grant had invited Abraham Lincoln back down to his headquarters at City Point, Virgina, suggesting that the President could use the rest. Indeed he could; among his many other worries, Lincoln was being pestered by "office-seekers" from morning to evening. Orders had been given to prepare the Bat, a small but fast gunboat, for the trip. This time, however, Mary Lincoln was not going to be left behind. The Bat was not considered suitable for a Victorian-era lady, so the River Queen, the vessel which had hosted the Hampton Roads Peace conference, was also made ready. On this date the presidential party set sail on the River Queen, with the Bat escorting.

It is possible that Lincoln guessed that the siege of Richmond and Petersburg was approaching its climax. It was now spring, and the roads in the area had begun to dry. In addition, Grant had brought Philip Sheridan and the bulk of his force down from the Shenandoah Valley. Their travels had been made very difficult by rain, mud, and detours caused by Rebel units, so the Northern horsemen needed a few days' rest. But when they were ready, Grant intended to make his final moves.

Robert E. Lee had guessed as much, and so decided to move even earlier. He also was thinking of City Point, for he knew it was the main supply depot for the Union force besieging Richmond and Petersburg. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was disappearing slowly but steadily through desertion and disease, as his under-fed soldiers either fell sick or decided to abandon their posts. It was necessary to leave, even though that meant abandoning the Confederate capital. The problem was that by this time, the Union lines had grown so far that they actually ran south and west of Petersburg. The retreating Confederates would be very vulnerable to a flank attack while on the march from already established Northern positions. If he could engineer a break in the lines and threaten, or better yet damage, the main supply depot, the Federals would be forced to contract their lines and give the Rebels a chance to get away in safety.

Lee had chosen Major General John B. Gordon (below) to plan such an attack at a strongpoint in the Union lines named Fort Steadman. On this date, Gordon submitted his plan to Lee, and it was promptly approved.
[image]local://upfiles/4250/272D8A50A3114BABB5557D582434677E.jpg[/image]


At Goldsborough, North Carolina, the bulk of the Union armies arrived, including W. T. Sherman. Goldsborough was lost to the Confederacy as a rail hub, but it would rapidly be added to the assets of the Union. Engineers were already working to repair the rail lines and the locomotives and rolling stock in the area. Although Sherman's forces had now swelled to over 80,000 men, he would soon have a secure supply line, and access to speedy travel. He began making plans for a reunion with Grant -- which would of course be at City Point.




Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/25/2015 3:18:32 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

At Fort Stedman, the Confederate assault plan went into action. The Union had begun paying southern deserters eight dollars for every firearm they brought with them into Union lines, so it was not considered alarming when a batch of Confederate soldiers approached the Northern pickets carrying their muskets. Matters took a different aspect when the muskets were pointed at the Federals, and the first line of defense was quietly captured. The main assault then quickly overran the fort, and the Rebels fanned out along the entrenchments to widen the gap. For a moment the way seemed to be open to attack City Point, which was now an even richer prize since Abraham Lincoln had arrived there.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com
[image]local://upfiles/4250/6D95CD646DA54BE5B6C74CF1C33A4A88.gif[/image]
However, three major things now went wrong with the Confederate attack. First, there was a breakdown in the railroad that was supposed to deliver the reserve troops to exploit the hoped-for breach in the Union lines. Second, there was not yet a breakthrough: there were other Union defenses behind the fort, now alerted and manned. Third, although neither Grant nor George Meade could reach the scene in time, the Northern generals on the spot headed by John G. Parke (below) met the crisis superbly.
[image]local://upfiles/4250/658CE9F4CB3E472C909EAD6EB303AEAF.jpg[/image]

Meade happened to be at City Point that night, and this break in his line cut him off from all communication with his headquarters. Parke, however, commanding the 9th corps when this breach took place, telegraphed the facts to Meade's headquarters, and learning that the general was away, assumed command himself and with commendable promptitude made all preparations to drive the enemy back. General Tidball gathered a large number of pieces of artillery and planted them in rear of the captured works so as to sweep the narrow space of ground between the lines very thoroughly. Hartranft was soon out with his division, as also was Willcox. Hartranft to the right of the breach headed the rebels off in that direction and rapidly drove them back into Fort Stedman. On the other side they were driven back into the intrenchments which they had captured, and batteries eleven and twelve were retaken by Willcox early in the morning.
Parke then threw a line around outside of the captured fort and batteries, and communication was once more established. The artillery fire was kept up so continuously that it was impossible for the Confederates to retreat, and equally impossible for reinforcements to join them. They all, therefore, fell captives into our hands.

--The Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant

But the Northerners weren't through yet. Parke launched a counter-attack in such strength that the Federals overran an outer line of Confederate defenses. (There are reports that the Southern troops themselves had taken down the wooden defensive stakes for firewood.) When the fighting died down late in the day, it was the Yankees rather than the Rebels who had gained ground. And Lee had lost roughly 4,000 men in all, with 600 killed, 2,400 wounded, and 1,000 captured. Union losses are reported as 1,044 total, with 72 killed, 450 wounded, and 522 missing or captured.



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Civil War 150th (3/27/2015 3:27:12 AM)

150 Years Ago Today:

Another part of what Grant had intended to be a coordinated winter offensive got under way. Under General Edward Canby, a Union army from Louisiana began the long-delayed drive to capture Mobile, Alabama. First, however, they had to deal with the strongpoints of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. On this date, the Northerners began the siege of Spanish Fort.


W. T. Sherman and U. S. Grant had not met face-to-face for nearly a year. On this date they were re-united:

We put to sea at once and steamed up the coast, reaching Fortress Monroe on the morning of the 27th, where I landed and telegraphed to my brother, Senator Sherman, at Washington, inviting him to come down and return with me to Goldsboro. We proceeded on up James River to City Point, which we reached the same afternoon. I found General Grant, with his family and staff, occupying a pretty group of huts on the bank of James River, overlooking the harbor, which was full of vessels of all classes, both war and merchant, with wharves and warehouses on an extensive scale. The general received me most heartily, and we talked over matters very fully. After I had been with him an hour or so, he remarked that the President, Mr. Lincoln, was then on board the steamer River Queen, lying at the wharf, and he proposed that we should call and see him. We walked down to the wharf, went on board, and found Mr. Lincoln alone, in the after-cabin. He remembered me perfectly, and at once engaged in a most interesting conversation.

--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman

A large part of the conversation was Sherman recounting the incidents of his marches through Georgia and the Carolinas. Lincoln was famously fond of telling stories, but he also liked to listen to them. Grant and Sherman left the River Queen for the evening and returned to Grant's quarters -- where Mrs. Grant scolded them for not paying their respects to Mary Lincoln. The two top Union generals, suitably chastened, promised to repair the omission the next day.


[image]local://upfiles/4250/7ABE84D51F3F413F97EE55C9200EEF0E.jpg[/image]



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