On This Day: Battles of the Civil War

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Being that this year is the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, I thought about starting up this thread. I wanted to start it back on Jan. 1st (listing the battles by each day), but never got around to it. I could wait until the day that marks the bombardment of Fort Sumter, but I know I would just put it off, so here goes.

Basically this is a day by day list of every battle that was fought in the Civil War, with a little bit of info on each engagement. Feel free to discuss them if you wish.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Feb. 23

1862
Battle of Socorro
Location: Socorro, New Mexico
Union Forces Committed: 2nd New Mexico Militia
Confederate Forces Committed: 5th Texas Mounted Rifles
Casualties: None
Outcome: Undecided

1864
First Battle of Dalton (23 Feb - 27 Feb)
Location: Whitfield County, Georgia
Union Forces Committed: Army of the Cumberland under Major General George H Thomas
Confederate Forces Committed: Army of Tennessee under General Joseph E Johnston
Union Casualties: 289
Confederate Casualties: 140
Outcome: Confederate Victory

After several days of intense skirmishing, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas's army withdrew upon realizing Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's troops could repel any assault. However, the intelligence garnered from the Battle of Dalton helped pave the way for a Union victory that summer.

 

[meatloaf109]

You are off by a couple of months, July 1st through the 4th 1863 is when the battle of Gettysburg occurred. The war between the states began on April 13th 1861.
According to several of the locals around here, the "war of northern Agression" isn't over yet. That is why I identify myself as an Arizonian.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

You are off by a couple of months, July 1st through the 4th 1863 is when the battle of Gettysburg occurred. The war between the states began on April 13th 1861.
According to several of the locals around here, the "war of northern Agression" isn't over yet. That is why I identify myself as an Arizonian.

Yes I know. I said I wanted to start this thread since this year is the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. I also know when the war started at Fort Sumter. I said if I wait until the anniversary of that battle, I would never start this, so I am starting it now on this date while I am thinking about it...

 

[meatloaf109]

O.k., that wasn't clear to me. My apologies.
Thought you might have been testing us.
The South Will Rise Again! WHOO-HOO!!

 

[parsifal]

Hi Adler, very intersting thread, will try to contribute.

At the risk of upsetting you, might I suggest a differtn format. I really liked Syscoms "This day in WWII" thread, and NJs similar day by day account of the BoB. Both those threads are extremely useful resource items in my opinion. I admit it would ba lot of work, but I am prepred to contribute as much as i can if that is any help.

I just hope the thread does not get silly politization. Its a great topic and one I would be very interested to contribute to.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I was planning on keeping this just to the battles, but only because I do not have the time. If you wish to contribute day to day events, feel free my friend. I don't have the time to do both. I will add in the battles, and you can fill the rest.

 

[parsifal]

Okay here goes

I am going to preface this by saying that we are going to need help doing this....its a huge undertaking. I would consider this a living history account. I will be drawing on on-line and published sources mostly, and simply because I havent time to do a full detailed disertation, much of this is gpoing to be a simple cut and paste

Feel free to provide corrections and additons as you guys see fit. I dont how far we will get, but surely its worth a shot to get themain events of the war down into our own record.

This is Adlers thread, and he has been gracious enough to allow us to contribute to a really intersting topic. We shoud respect that and try to avoid potiicising the subject I thinkk. If you want to have a discussion about a contentious issue, why not start a new thread linked to the entry in this thread....that way the factual account will remain just that

Anyway, somewhat arbitraily, Ive picked October 16-17 1859 (the John Brown raid) as the point at which the spark that lit the fuse that nearly burned down the United States

October 16-18, 1859

"On the evening of October 16, 1859 John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out en route to Harpers Ferry. Descending upon the town in the early hours of October 17th, Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown had hopes that the local slave population would join the raid and through the raid's success weapons would be supplied to slaves and freedom fighters throughout the country; this was not to be. First held down by the local militia in the late morning of the 17th, Brown took refuge in the arsenal's engine house. However, this sanctuary from the fire storm did not last long, when in the late afternoon US Marines under Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived and stormed the engine house, killing many of the raiders and capturing Brown. Brown was quickly placed on trial and charged with treason against the state of Virginia, murder, and slave insurrection. Brown was sentenced to death for his crimes and hanged on December 2, 1859".
...

 

[parsifal]

November 6 1860, Lincoln is elected president without any support from the southern states.

Abraham Lincoln President
February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865
"Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family moved to Indiana when he was seven and he grew up on the edge of the frontier. He had very little formal education, but read voraciously when not working on his father's farm. A childhood friend later recalled Lincoln's "manic" intellect, and the sight of him red-eyed and tousle-haired as he pored over books late into the night. In 1828, at the age of nineteen, he accompanied a produce-laden flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana—his first visit to a large city--and then walked back home. Two years later, trying to avoid health and finance troubles, Lincoln's father moved the family moved to Illinois.

After moving away from home, Lincoln co-owned a general store for several years before selling his stake and enlisting as a militia captain defending Illinois in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Black Hawk, a Sauk chief, believed he had been swindled by a recent land deal and sought to resettle his old holdings. Lincoln did not see direct combat during the short conflict, but the sight of corpse-strewn battlefields at Stillman's Run and Kellogg's Grove deeply affected him. As a captain, he developed a reputation for pragmatism and integrity. Once, faced with a rail fence during practice maneuvers and forgetting the parade-ground instructions to direct his men over it, he simply ordered them to fall out and reassemble on the other side a minute later. Another time, he stopped his men before they executed a wandering Native American as a spy. Stepping in front of their raised muskets, Lincoln is said to have challenged his men to combat for the terrified native's life. His men stood down.

After the war, he studied law and campaigned for a seat on the Illinois State Legislature. Although not elected in his first attempt, Lincoln persevered and won the position in 1834, serving as a Whig.

Abraham Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois where he was practicing as a lawyer. They were married in 1842 over her family's objections and had four sons. Only one lived to adulthood. The deep melancholy that pervaded the Lincoln family, with occasional detours into outright madness, is in some ways sourced in their close relationship with death.

Lincoln, a self-described "prairie lawyer," focused on his all-embracing law practice in the early 1850s after one term in Congress from 1847 to 1849. He joined the new Republican party—and the ongoing argument over sectionalism—in 1856. A series of heated debates in 1858 with Stephen A. Douglas, the sponsor of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, over slavery and its place in the United States forged Lincoln into a prominent figure in national politics. Lincoln's anti-slavery platform made him extremely unpopular with Southerners and his nomination for President in 1860 enraged them.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the presidential election without the support of a single Southern state. Talk of secession, bandied about since the 1830s, took on a serious new tone. The Civil War was not entirely caused by Lincoln's election, but the election was one of the primary reasons the war broke out the following year.

Lincoln's decision to fight rather than to let the Southern states secede was not based on his feelings towards slavery. Rather, he felt it was his sacred duty as President of the United States to preserve the Union at all costs. His first inaugural address was an appeal to the rebellious states, seven of which had already seceded, to rejoin the nation. His first draft of the speech ended with an ominous message: "Shall it be peace, or the sword?"

The Civil War with the opening bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. Lincoln forced the Confederate hand with his decision to resupply the fort, which had suddenly become an outpost in a hostile nation. The Southern navy turned away the supply convoy and then fired the first shot of the war at Fort Sumter, forcing the Federal defenders to surrender after a 34-hour battle.


On November 10, the road to secession began when the two SDenators representing South Carolina resigned.

 

[meatloaf109]

2/24/1863
U.S.S. Indianola is captured by C.S.S. Queen of the West and the C.S.S. Webb.
After suprising the Union ship, the two Confederate rams pushed the larger Indianola aground and forced it to surrender.
Interesting note, the C.S.S. Webb was known as a "Cotton-clad", utilizing stacked bales of cotton as protection for her crew.

 

[Njaco]

If you don't mind Chris, I have a book "The Civil War: Day by Day" by E.B. Long that I can help with the posts. You know I LOVE these kind of threads!

24 February 1862
Northern troops under General Don Carlos Buell reached the north bank of the Cumberland River at Nashville as troop transports began arriving. Forrest's calvary formed the Confederate rear guard, retreating to the southeast. Other Federal troops under General Nathaniel Banks occupied Harper's Ferry, western Virginia, strategically situated at the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. There was fighting at Mingo Creek, near St. Francisville, at New Madrid and in St. Clair and Henry Counties, Missouri; as well as a small affair at Lewis Chapel, near Pohick Church, Virginia. Funeral services were held in Washington, DC for Willie Lincoln while his brother Tad showed improvement. (Willie and Tad both became ill in early 1862, and although Tad recovered, Willie's condition fluctuated from day to day. The most likely cause of the illness was typhoid fever, which was usually contracted by consumption of fecally contaminated food/water. He died at the age of 11 on February 20, 1862)

24 February 1864
General Braxton Bragg was charged with the conduct of military operations in the Armies of the Confederacy, thus becoming in effect chief of staff. Bragg, still very controversial, enjoyed Davis' trust, but his reputation had suffered from his defeat at Missionary Ridge and the constant conflicts with his generals.

The U.S. Senate passed a measure to revive the rank of lieutenant general with Grant clearly in mind. President Lincoln approved an act of Congress to compensate every Union master whose slaves enlisted in the Army, the sum not to exceed $300; the volunteer was to become free. The act also increased bounties for volunteers, redefined quota credits, increased penalties for draft resistance, subjected Negroes to the draft, provided that those opposed to bearing arms for religious reasons should be assigned non-combat tasks with freedmen or in hospitals, and give the President authority to call for such men as required. Debate began on recognizing the restored state of Louisiana.

In northern Geotgia fighting continued at Tunnel Hill, Buzzard Roost and Rocky Face Ridge or Crow's Valley during the Federal Demonstration on Dalton. Elsewhere, skirmishing took place at Tippah River and near Canton, Miss.

24 February 1865
The heavy rain holding up Sherman's advance also hindered Confederate concentration but there was a skirmish at Camden, SC. In the Trans-Mississippi action included ab affair at Switzler's Mill, MO and a northern scout from Helena to Clark's Store, ARK. Lee once more wrote the War Department concerned over the;

alarming number of desertions that are now occurring in the army.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Parsifal you do need to keep it in the "on this day format.". Today is Feb. 24...

 

[meatloaf109]

Feb, 24th 1861. Lincoln spends his first full day in Washington, a quiet sunday, after "sneaking" through Baltimore on a train amidst threats of death.
All across the South, Ministers and Pastors are exhorting their congregations on behalf of the new Confederate Constitution, adopted only 16 days previously, the main theme seems to be the motto of the Confederacy, "Deo Vindice", God will avenge.

 

[Njaco]

25 February 1861
President-elect Lincoln attended a reception in both the House and Senate at the Capital and visited the Supreme Court. In Montgomery President Davis was attempting to take in hand the situation at Charleston, sending out messengers and making inquires.

25 February 1862
Federal troops moved into Nashville in full force. The capital of Tennessee, CSA was again capital of Tennessee, USA and a vital base for the Union, to be held throughout the remainder of the war. Its capture without bloodshed had been made possible by Grant's victory at Fort Donelson, although it was formally occupied by troops of Gen. Buell. Elsewhere there were minor operations in Loudoun County, VA and at Keetsville in Barry County, MO. Confederate Ma.Gen. Kirby Smith was assigned to command in east Tennessee.

The Federal War Department ordered control of all telegraph lines by the department to facilitate military moves. In Richmond President Davis sent a message to the Confederate Congress reviewing the war, calling for sterner measures and stating;

...we have been so exposed as recently to encounter serious disasters.

Davis thought the financial system was adequate and the postal department was improving. He desired to establish a Supreme Court. Naval construction was proceeding despite limited resources, the need for more soldiers was being met, and strenuous efforts were being made to reinforce armies in the threatened West. It was not wholly a dark picture, although the military situation led to sobering thoughts.

25 February 1863
The Federal Congress completed passage of the Conscription Act. Mr. Lincoln signed an act setting up a national bank system and national currency, with a Currency Bureau of the Treasury was established with a Comptroller of the Currency. In addition, an act to prevent correspondence with the "present pretended rebel government" was approved.

Off St. Thomas in the West Indies USS 'Vanderbilt' seized the British merchantman 'Peterhoff' as a blockade runner. The capture had been ordered by Acting Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, "star" of the Trent Affair, from his West India Squadron flagship 'Wachusett'. 'Peterhoff' was bound for Matamoros, Mexico and the British claimed the United States had no right to stop such trade, albeit some of the shipments into Mexican ports found their way into the Confederacy. While a major international crisis was averted, the incident focused attention on the considerable trade from Mexico into the South. Eventually courts ruled that the United States could not halt shipping into a neutral port no matter what its ultimate destination.

Skirmishing occurred at Hartwood Church and near Winchester, Strasburg, Woodstock and Chantilly, VA. Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill assumed command of Confederate troops in North Carolina. In Charleston, SC., the price of bread per half pound loaf went to 25 cents and flour sold at $65 a barrel.

25 February 1864
Federals under Maj. Gen. J.M. Palmer made their main effort at Buzzard Roost in the Demonstration on Dalton, GA. Johnston's Confederate positions proved too strong for the limited probing attack, and Palmer withdrew his forces to the main lines of the Army of the Cumberland.

An affair occurred near Hudsonville, MISS; and a Union scout from Whiteside's Tenn., to Stevens' and Frick's gap, GA lasted two days.

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge was assigned to command the Confederate Trans-Allegheny Department or Western Department of Virginia, relieving Maj. Gen. Samuel Jones.

25 February 1865
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the Army of Tennessee, now in the Carolinas, and all troops in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Meanwhile there was a skirmish at West's Cross Roads and Federal troops occupied Camden on the Wateree River, SC. Calvary and other detached units were operating over a wide expanse of South Carolina. Gen. Johnston, at Charlotte, NC, pointed out to Lee the difficulties of concentrating his Confederates and stressed that, including Calvary, militia and units not recently heard from, he had between 20,000 and 25,000 men to oppose Sherman.

In my opinion, these troops form an army far too weak to cope with Sherman.

He urged that his force join Bragg in North Carolina. In Kentucky a skirmish broke out at Piketon.

 

[meatloaf109]

Feb 25th, 1861.
The Confederate Navy, four days old, presents a finding. Out of 30 ships on hand, only 14 are seaworthy to the Union's 90. Knowing that they do not possess the shipyards of the North, the Confederates consider alternate means to counter the Unions strength. This will result in some of the more interesting designs of the war, Ironclads with railroad rails for armor, the "David" line of semi-submersible torpedo boats, and the worlds first submarine to sink an enemy ship.
Feb 25th 1862.
The U.S.S. Monitor is commissioned. A revolutionary warship, she was the product of an eccentric Swede, John Ericson. The Monitor had many innovative features, not least of which was the world's first gun turret.
Feb 25th 1863.
The captured U.S.S. Indianola is blown up by the Confederates to prevent it's re-capture, after a "dummy ironclad", the "Baches Quaker", is floated downriver by the Union navy.

 

[parsifal]

Tuesday 25 February 1862.

From the diary of Rev. Overton Bernard....he points to the disparities in sheer numbers between Union and Confederate troops. Entreating God's protection over the Confederacy, he implies the Confederate losses emerged as a result of sinful behavior.

"The prisoners taken at Roanoke Island have been paroled, the Yankees disliking the expense of feeding them and not wanting to spare transports to send them North – Rumors are rife that Fort Donnelson has fallen into the hands of the Lincolnites after a most severe fought battle, of four days, during which our troops performed prodigies of valor amid snow and sleet, hunger and fatigue, after driving back the enemy, who were reinforced by some Fifteen thousand fresh troops, we had to surrender some severn or eight thousand troops, arms, etc. Genls Pillow and Floyd succeeded in cuting their way through the ranks of the enemy and got safe to Nashville with several thousand of their command– That place must fall into the hands of the enemy as it is not well defended. Lord look in mercy upon us in these sad reverses, brought about by our own negligence, and permitted as I fear as a punishment for our national and individual sins. Drunkenness and profanity seem to run to an awful extent in Army, Navy, and some high quarters".

 

[Njaco]

26 February 1861
The Peace Convention still meeting in Washington, DC began voting on the resolutions or amendments it would advocate. Mr. Lincoln was embroiled in conferences over Cabinet posts and with political leaders. Camp Colorado, Texas was abandoned by Federal authorities.

26 February 1862
There was a Confederate scout toward Nashville in a day of little or no fighting. Kentucky Senator William E. Simms declared in the Confederate Congress that the Confederacy would defend her rights to the last extreme. In Washington, DC Lincoln talked to Gen. McClellan, who was about to go to Harper's Ferry, supposedly to lead offensive operations into Virginia. Mr. Lincoln also signed the Loan and Treasury Bill creating a national currency of United States notes and providing for sale of stock to finance the currency.

26 February 1863
The Cherokee Indian National Council repealed its ordinance of secession, abolished slavery and vigorously proclaimed for the Union. There was an affair near Germantown, VA. Gen. Longstreet assumed command of the Confederate Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Mr. Davis wrote Gen. T.H. Holmes in the Trans-Mississippi of his concern for that area and the need for full crops and military success to preserve that section for the confederacy.

Near Woodburn, TENN., Confederate guerrillas halted, captured and burned a Federal freight train with merchandise, government stores and 240 mules.

26 February 1864
Sherman's troops skirmished near Canton, MISS., as their withdrawal after the successful Meridian campaign neared completion. To the north, W. Sooy Smith's wing of the expedition straggled into Memphis after severe harassment by Forrest. Other fighting flared at Washington and Sulphur Springs, TENN.

A memorandum from President Lincoln confirmed his confidence in Gen. Benjamin Butler and asked that the controversial general be sustained in his efforts. Lincoln also ordered that the death sentence of all deserters be commuted to imprisonment during the war, thus continuing his policy of leniency. The U.S. Senate completed passage of the bill reviving the rank of lieutenant general.

26 February 1865
Sherman's XX Corps reached Hanging Rock, SC but other movements were slowed by the incessant rain. Skirmishing occurred at Lynch's Creek and near Stroud's Mill, SC. A Federal expedition from Pine Bluff to McMilley's Farm, ARK., lasted 3 days.

 

[parsifal]

Feb 27 1863

Washington DC buzzed with fresh activity as all trains going east were commandeered for military use. The telegraphs, too, were brought under strict control by the government. It seemed to Washington's residents that the massive Army of The Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was finally on the move.

The view was not so optimistic from inside the White House. On February 27 President Lincoln told McClellan's chief of staff Gen. Randolph B. Marcy "The general impression is daily gaining ground that the General does not intend to do anything."

The criticism carried personal weight for Marcy, who was also McClellan's father-in-law.

The mood in the Confederate capital was a bit more subdued on February 28, declared a day of fasting by President Davis at his second inauguration the previous week. This symbolic gesture would prove a bitter necessity for Richmond's residents in the months and years to come.

 

[parsifal]

Feb 27 1863

Action at Pittsburgh Landing (a prelude to Shiloh?)

Undertaken over a period of 7 days, this action was essentially a raid of a key position held by the Confederacy. It officially began Feb 27.

Confederate pickets caught sight of the timberclads Lexington and Tyler at midday on March 1, just as they lumbered past the broad banks of Diamond Island. Each 180 feet long, the side-wheel steamships boasted armor of thick wood planks and 6-7 heavy guns.

Just two rifled cannon guarded the western bluffs overlooking a long, straight stretch of the Tennessee River beyond the island. Their first few shots fell short of the Yankee gunboats.

The Lexington and Tyler cleared for action and fired back a salvo at 1000 yards away, easily reaching the battery's position. A group of Confederate riflemen briefly appeared on the bluff around a log cabin and fired an ineffective volley before retiring from range.

The Rebel battery lasted just 15 minutes under the timberclads' superior firepower before withdrawing their guns. The Federal gunships now freely approached a wide landing south of the bluff, where they dropped anchor.

The place was called Pittsburg Landing. It was observed that a cluster of buildings were hastily fortified, and consequently Lieut. William Gwin, commanding the Tyler, and Lieut.James W. Shirk of the Lexington decided it would be wise to inspect the cluster of buildings hastily fortified and with freshly-dug rifle pits.

Loading up their guns with canister and grapeshot, the Lexington and Tyler released a barrage of cover fire as two boats brought a naval demolition team and two companies of sharpshooters from the 32nd Illinois Infantry to the landing.

Reaching the shore, the demolition party immediately headed for the log cabin. The remaining 100 or so sailors and sharpshooters under Capt. Thaddeus Phillips formed a line to cover the sailors and approached the crest of a ridge just beyond the river's edge.

They were greeted by a volley from an entire regiment of Louisiana militia, who lay in cover as the Union troops approached. Facing 10 to 1 odds, the Illinois sharpshooters quickly fell back to the cover of the gunboats.

The demolition team had just enough time to fire the log cabin as the raiding party clambered back into the rowboats. As they rowed for the timberclads, the huddled Yankee soldiers made choice targets for the Confederate rifleman that dodged cannon fire on the bluff.

With the soldiers loaded back on board, the Lexington and Tyler hauled in their anchors and floated back downstream toward the Union base at Savannah, Tenn. The raiding party suffered just two dead, three missing and six wounded, including Capt. Phillips.

Despite their greater numbers the 18th La. Infantry, composed of militia, cadets, and novice volunteers, suffered anywhere from 9 dead and 21 wounded in the action. The regiment and their commander, Col. Jean Jaques Alexandre (Alfred) Mouton, would earn a citation for the "brilliant success of their first encounter with the enemy."

In addition to destroying the Rebel-held cabin, the Union force had confirmed the importance of Pittsburg Landing. This spot would be the optimal place to land an army at the doorstep of the last large Confederate force in the West, encamped near Corinth, Miss.

Mouton understood the importance of the position as well, but also knew the federal gunboats would keep up non-stop pressure on the spot until the invasion came. He posted light pickets to monitor the landing and withdrew the bulk of his force to a small, rough-hewn log church called Shiloh........

 

[meatloaf109]

Feb 26 1862.
The U.S.S. Monitor is delayed by trim problems, mainly because of the loading of ammunition, from starting her "shake down" cruise. There is a real urgency to the matter as the Confederates had placed the C.S.S. Virginia, ex-U.S.S. Merrimack, in commission at least a week earlier. The Virginia is larger and more heavily armed, but has problems with her engines, a result of being submerged when, as U.S.S. Merrimack, she was burned and sunk to keep the Confederates from capturing her in April of 1861.