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Friday, September 30, 2011

30 September 1862: Tuesday

Union - Military
Kentucky

There are skirmishes at Russellville, Glasgow and near Louisville.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Newtonia.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish Goodlettsville.

Western Virginia
There is a skirmish at Glenville.

Georgia
From this day until October 3 there is a Union reconnaissance on the Savannah River.

South Carolina/Florida
From this day until October 13 there is a Union sea-land from Hilton Head, South Carolina to Saint John's Bluff, Florida.

___________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Thursday, September 29, 2011

29 September 1862: Monday

Confederacy - Military
Mississippi

The Army of West Tennessee, 22,000 strong under Van Dorn, marched out of Ripley, Mississippi heading toward Corinth.

Union - Military/Government
Major General John F. REynolds assumes command of the First Army Corps.

Kentucky

Union Brigadier General Jefferson Columbus Davis shot and mortally wounded Brigadier General William "Bull" Nelson during a quarrel in a hotel in Louisville.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish on the Elizabethtown Road, and near New Haven.

Virginia
A Union expedition from Centreville to Warrenton and Buckland Mills.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Elmhurst, IL: Intimate Letters from Elmhurst Family During Civil War on Display at Historical Museum

From Elmhurst Patch: Intimate Letters from Elmhurst Family During Civil War on Display at Historical Museum
Typically, a link wouldn’t be made between Elmhurst and the American Civil War, which is exactly why next week’s opening of the Letters From Home exhibit at the Elmhurst Historical Museum is so extraordinary.

The Letters from Home exhibit features 29 letters written by the Fischer family, who farmed on the north side of Elmhurst in unincorporated DuPage County near Grand Avenue and Church Street, while two of their sons, Frederick and Augustus, served in separate camps during the Civil War.

The exhibit Museum Director Lance Tawzer refers to as a “hybrid” is not a typical Civil War exhibit that features “rusty things in old cases” and lots of descriptions of bloody battles, he said.

“Really, what you’re going to find there is more human family drama," Tawzer said.

The final product is 29 letters presented more than 150 years after they were penned against the colorful and vibrant backdrop of contemporary artwork created by local artists. A dramatic reading of the letters by members of Elmhurst’s Greenman Theatre Troupe adds to the unique experience for museum-goers.

A Local ‘Love Fest’ of Collaboration

“Karen [Exiner] told me the Elmhurst Artists Guild had expressed interest in doing something about the Civil War, but the artist gallery (at the Art Museum) was booked up through this year, so they weren’t able to do it over there,” Tawzer said.

Normally, the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild finds its home at the Elmhurst Art Museum, where one of the galleries is always devoted to local artists.

“We have a first-class art museum in town, so I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes there,” Tawzer said.

Still, he and Guild member Karen Exiner had been looking for an opportunity to collaborate somehow. The Civil War exhibit, including photography from the traveling exhibit Between the States from the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, presented the perfect opportunity.

Tawzer suggested that the letters might provide some inspiration for a collection of artwork. Exiner wholeheartedly agreed.

Tawzer provided copies of the letters to the artists so they could read through them and pick out specific letters or even phrases or paragraphs that inspired them.

“Then Lance came up with a great idea,” Exiner said. “He asked [the artists] to send the sentences of the letters that inspire the paintings. He contacted the GreenMan Theatre Troupe of Elmhurst to record those sentences. It’s like a love fest!”

Cory Sandrock, who was director for GreenMan’s role in the project, said his actors jumped at the opportunity to narrate the letters. Each of the west suburban actors plays the role of one of the letter writers. The recordings, produced at the Elmhurst College recording studio, will play for museum visitors as they work their way through the exhibit.

“All the letters are from the assorted Fischer family to Frederick Fischer, one of two sons serving in the Civil War,” Sandrock said. “The other brother, Augustus, writes to Frederick, too. One letter is from his 10-year-old sister. The rest of the brothers were either older and living in Elmhurst, or much younger and weren’t of fighting age yet.

Some of the letters are light and everyday, such as the sister’s letter that talks about the recent snowfall in Elmhurst and her plans to go ice skating.

But there is drama too—a reflection of the pain and sacrifice felt by families involved in war.

“There is a very sad letter where one of the brothers [in Elmhurst] has to write to Frederick to let him know that the other brother had just been killed in the Civil War,” Tawzer said.

“What you take away from the content of the letters is the regard they had for each other,” he said. “The formality with which they wrote back in the day is quite nice, but you’re talking about the father, Henry Fischer, who is an off-the-boat German immigrant. He would write, ‘Your affectionate father, H.D. Fischer.’ ”

The result is an exhibit that places a very national story in a local setting, while utilizing a wide array of local talent.

“We hope we’ve fostered a little community cultural partnership, which is something we haven’t had a lot of in my time,” he said. “Everybody has their own agenda, and I get that, but every once in a while, you get together and you do something mutually beneficial and rewarding in different ways.

“We’re in Elmhurst, Illinois, the northern part of a northern state,” Tawzer continued. “The Civil War doesn’t have the same kind of passionate draw as in some of the other southern states. We didn’t have any battles anywhere near us. But it touched so many people.

“So many people went off to war, and so many people did not come back. I think the human aspect is where it’s actually going to reach people. I’d like to think this is an angle people haven’t seen before.”

Letters from Home opens Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Elmhurst Historical Museum in conjunction with the Between the States Civil War photography exhibit. Letters from Home is underwritten by Dr. David Pezen. Admission is free.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

28 September 1862: Sunday

Confederacy- Government
President Davis writes General Lee of his concern over enrollment of conscripts to "fill up the thinned ranks of your regiments."

Union - Military
Kentucky

There is a skirmish near Lebanon Junction.

Mississippi
There is a skirmish at Friar's Point.

Western Virginia
There is a skirmish at Standing Stone.

Kentucky/Tennesseee
A Union scout takes place from from Columbus, Kentucky to Covington, Durhamville and Fort Randolph, Tennessee.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

27 September 1862: Saturday

Union - Government
President Lincoln interrogates Major John J. Key and ordered his dismissal from military service for alleedly saying that the object of the Battle of Antietam was "that neither Army shall get much advantage of the other; that both shall be kept in the field til they are exhausted, when we will make a compromise and save slavery."

Such views had reportedly been rife in McClellan's army. The President was "much perturbed" over McClellan's lack of aggressive actionb since Antietam.

Union - Government/Military
Louisiana

The first regiment of free Negroes was mustered in at New Orleans as the First Regiment Louisiana Native Guards. The regiment called themselves "Chasseurs d'Afrique." General Butler had authorized enlistment of free Negroes on August 22.

Government - Confederacy
The Second Conscription Act of the Confederate Congress authorized President Davis to call out men between 35 and 45.

Union - Military
Virginia

Troops carry out a reconnaissance from Harper's Ferry toward Charlestown, West Virginia.

Texas
There is a skirmish at Taylor's Bayou.

Kentucky
There are skirmishes at Augusta and Brookville.

Mississippi
There is a skirmish near Iuka, Mississippi.
_____________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Seattle: Passionate Civil War expert offers course; Also looks at early 20th Century

From West Seattle Herald: Passionate Civil War expert offers course; Also looks at early 20th Century
SSCC Continuing Education, and Daystar Retirement Village
By Steve Shay
2011-09-24
Historian and Civil War expert Pete Mazza returns to South Seattle Community College Continuing Education with his series The American Civil War – Beyond the Battles focusing on a unique look at the Civil War, to start Thursday, Sept. 29 and run for 8 weeks ending Nov. 17. All are welcome to enroll.

Mazza also offers a free course at Daystar Retirement Village, 20th Century History, From the Franco Prussian War to Korea and Beyond scheduled weekly to begin Tuesday, October 4th from 1:15 to 2:45 and ending Nov. 22. All are welcome to enroll.

To sign up for the Civil War courses, visit www.learnatsouth.org or call (206) 934-5339.

This will be Mazza's third time teaching there, and Daystar points out that people can attend one session that covers their favorite topic, and need not feel obligated to attend all sessions. They add that folks of all ages seem to appreciate Mazza's passion for history.

To sign up, call Daystar at: (206) 937-6122. Again, no charge.

SSCC Course outline for his Civil War series:

Session 1. Ante Bellum Years - The Seeds of Dissention - Washington & Jefferson – Unspoken & Unresolved Conflicts – Failed Compromises – Fanning the Flames – Dred Scott Case - Political, Social & Economic Divisions – The Election of 1860 – Lincoln’s Inaugural - Secession of the Lower South - a House Divided – The Stage is Set.

Session 2. On the Eve of Destruction – Civil Discourse Ends – April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter – Lincoln’s a Call to Arms – The Upper South Secedes - Saving the Border States - Military & Non- Military Advantages & Disadvantages of Both Sides - The Anaconda Plan – 1st Manassas/Bull Run – The Trent Affair – Iron Ships, the Naval War & Blockade

Session 3. Prelude to the Western Campaign – Shiloh, the Western Rivers & Beyond - The Price of a Union Victory – The Tools of Death – McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign – Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign – 2nd Manassas/Bull Run.

Session 4. Pressure for Emancipation - Impact of the Underground Railroad - Antietam, a Technical Victory – Announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation – The Confederate Heartland Campaign – Disaster at Fredericksburg - Lincoln’s Dilemma, the Need for Military Leadership – The Dismal End of 1862 - the Engine Room of the War: Finances and Supply - Women at War.

Session 5. 1863, the Fulcrum Year - the Emancipation Proclamation Becomes Effective- Chancellorsville – Lee’s Greatest Victory & His Greatest Loss – Grant’s Siege of Vicksburg – Ironclad Gunboats on the Rivers, Commodore Foote and Admiral Farragut – the Gettysburg Campaign, Leaders and Slackers – the Famous “High Water Mark” for the Confederacy.

Session 6. Chickamauga, Chattanooga & the Battle Above the Clouds, the Confederacy’s Last Gasp in the West– Rosecrans’ Blunder - George Thomas Saves the Union Line – Grant to the Rescue and Victory - Grant’s Overland Campaign Strategy – Grant Presses on from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania to Cold harbor.

Session 7. Sherman’s Campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta – Sherman’s Capture of Atlanta Assures Lincoln a Second term - Atlanta to Savannah and the Sea – Gen. Joe Johnston’s Delaying Actions – Lincoln in a Landslide - Savannah Falls, a Christmas Present from Sherman to Lincoln – Then on to Charleston –- The Confederacy Unraveling – Recognition of the Inevitable is Sinking In.

Session 8. Grant’s Focus Moves to Petersburg – the Grinding Siege and the Long Hot Summer - Richmond Abandoned by Confederate Government – Gordon’s Last Attempt to Break Out – Grant’s Final Assault – Lee’s Final Retreat -Appomattox and the End – Surrender – Lincoln’s 2nd Inauguration – John Wilkes Booth Standing Nearby -- The Assassination and Aftermath – The Phases of Reconstruction - The Lives of Key Players After the War – What If They Had Done It Differently?????
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This schedule below may be tweaked based on time and pacing of lectures:

20th Century course outline offered at Daystar:

Class Session # 1
Introduction to the Chain of Historical Events – Causes and Results, Roots of French - German Hostility, Events Leading to the Franco Prussian War, the Northern and Southern German Confederation, the War Begins, Prussian Confederation Allies, the Fall of Napoleon III – Defeat and Capture, Creation of the 3rd French Republic, France’s Surrender, 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt – and the Seeds of War to Come.the

Class Session # 2
Otto von Bismarck & Creation of the German Nation State, “Realpolitik”, Wilhelm I & the Hohenzollern Dynasty, 1888- The Year of the Three Emperors, the Spanish American War, Dominance of “Realpolitik”, Tangle of European Alliances, the Ticking Time Bomb, 1914 & Sarajevo, Clash of Alliances & WWI Begins, US Isolationism & the “Atlantic Moat”, the US Enters the War, the Clash of Trench Warfare, Germany Sues for Peace, Kaiser Wilhelm Flees to the Netherlands, the Treaty of Versailles – the Seeds of Future Conflict are Sown

Class Session # 3
The Roaring 20’s, Clouds of Revolution in Russia, Cairo Conference of 1921, the Great Depression, from Hoover to Roosevelt, the Effects of Versailles, Rise of Hitler & the 3rd Reich, The Inter- War Period, German Violations of the Treaty of Versailles, Churchill’s Warnings, Chamberlain’s Appeasement and Hitler’s Subterfuge, Parallel Track – Russian Revolution, Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky & Vladimir Lenin – Bolsheviks & Mensheviks, Overthrow of Czar Nicholas, the Rise of Stalin, Russia Become the USSR, Italian Fascism & Benito Mussolini,

Class Session # 4
WW II as Hitler Invades Poland, British & French Alliances with Poland are Triggered, Early German Success on the Western Front, The Fall of France & Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, US Ambivalence & Isolationist Mentality, FDR’s Lend Lease as Britain Stands Alone, Nazi Invasion of Russia - Operation Barbarossa, Russia’s Two Great Generals at Stalingrad, Japan’s Rise to Power, Part of the Axis Alliance, Economic and Military Buildup, Isolation from the West, Ultimatums and Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Theater Begins, Yamamoto – the Best They Had.

Class Session # 5
The North Africa Campaign, the Italian Campaign, the End of Mussolini, the Coming Allied Invasion of Western Europe – Years in the Making, Normandy and Beyond, Field Marshall Montgomery and Operation Market Garden. The Pacific War – Post Pearl Harbor, Doolittle’s Raid, the Battle of the Coral Sea, General Douglas MacArthur – a Soldier’s Story, the Battle of Midway and the Aleutians, The Pacific Theater After Midway, Island Hopping, the Southeast Asia War, British General William Slim, Battle of Leyte Gulf,- the End of Japan’s Navy, the Allied European Campaigns Begin to Strangle the Wehrmacht, Siege of Bastogne & Battle of the Bulge – the Turning Point,

Class Session # 6
Yalta Conference, the Death of Roosevelt – His Record & Legacy, the Final Victory in Europe Approaches, the Potsdam Conference – Now with Truman and Clement Atlee, the Manhattan Project, Tinian, the Enola Gay –“Little Boy” & Hiroshima, Japan’s Desperate Attempts to Avoid Surrender, Their negotiations with the Soviet Union, “Fat Man” and Nagasaki & the End of the Pacific War - Final Surrender on the USS Missouri., Surrender in Europe.

Class Session # 7
The Partition of Germany, a World Divided, the Plight of the Allied Nations, the Genius of George Marshall – the Architect of Victory, the Marshall Plan, Churchill’s Political Defeat & Warnings for the Future, Mao Zedong and China’s Transition, the Ascendency of the United States, the Berlin Blockade & Soviet Sub-Plot, NATO & the Warsaw Pact, Korea the U. S. & the UN to the Rescue, the Berlin Wall, the Cold War & New Alliances, a World Divided..

Class Session # 8
The Cuban Missile Crisis, US Economic & Financial History – Post W W II, the Creation of Israel as a Nation State, Independence of India, Organizations and Treaties – Organization of American States - OAS, South East Asia Treaty Organization - SEATO, Australia New Zealand United States - ANZUS, Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare of the ‘50s, the Legacy of our President’s – Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush.

Monday, September 26, 2011

26 September 1862: Friday

Union - government

President Lincoln and his CAbinet confer on colonization of the Negroes.
Military - Union
Arkansas

There are Union expeditions from Helena to La Grange, and HElena to Heffersonville and Marianna, Tennessee.

Virginia
There is a skirmish at Catlett's Station.

Western Virginia
There is a Union expedition from Point Pleasant to Buffalo.

Dakota Territory
There is a skirmish at Fort Abercrombie.

__________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Lawrence, MA: It's Civil War weekend on Campagnone Common

You missed it this weekend, but mark it on your calendar for next weekend:

From the Eagle Tribune: It's Civil War weekend on Campagnone Common
LAWRENCE — There will be cannon volleys and officers yelling commands during cavalry and artillery drills as Campagnone Common is transformed into a Civil War encampment this weekend.

"It's living history, and you get the feeling that you're actually there; it's very surreal," said Elizabeth Charlton, vice president of the Lawrence Civil War Memorial Guard, one of the sponsors of the Civil War Weekend.

This is the ninth year of the event, which will feature Civil War re-enactors from Maryland, Maine and Massachusetts, a children's muster, a concert by the U.S. Navy Band and artifact exhibits.

It will be held rain or shine.

"We get a lot of enjoyment out of it and have an opportunity to educate people about what the war was like," Charlton said.

Louise Sandberg, archivist in the Special Collection at Lawrence Public Library said 2,497 men from Lawrence fought in the Civil War, including 93 commissioned officers. Out of those, 202 did not survive.

There will be two exhibits at City Hall.

One of them will be about the Lawrence involvement in the Baltimore rebellion on April 19, 1861, when members of the Sixth Massachusetts Militia went south to fight the Confederates. When they arrived in Baltimore, they were attacked, suffering Lawrence's first casualty, Sumner Needham, who died 10 days later.

The other exhibit is the Irish involvement in the Civil War, highlighting local Irishmen who served, put together by Frank Ford of Methuen.

"It's U.S. early history and as for Lawrence, one of the significant conflicts on American soil involving Lawrence soldiers," said Joseph Bella, a member of the Lawrence Civil War Memorial Guard.


If you go:

What: Civil War Encampment featuring re-enactment, historic walk around the Common, pie eating contest and children's muster.

When: Tomorrow 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with the Navy band performing Civil War era music at 5:30 p.m. ; Sunday 10 to 4 p.m.

Where: Campagnone Common

Ceremony remembers Delaware's Buffalo Soldiers

From Delaware Online: Ceremony remembers Delaware's Buffalo Soldiers
When Joletta Watson heard the names of her relatives called out today as a bell tolled, she felt her ancestors were finally getting the honor they deserved for military service.

"Just to hear their names means a lot to me and my family,” Watson said.

Watson, of Newark, was one of a few dozen people who attended a ceremony at Fort duPont State Park near Delaware City to honor African American troops who had died. There are about 900 known African American Civil War troops from Delaware, but so far only 300 grave sites have been identified. Each of those 300 names was read aloud Saturday by the Greater Delaware Area Chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers, a nonprofit group named for the African American troops who were called “buffalo soliers” by American Indians.

“We seek to promote the service of these troops and this event fell right in line with that,” said president Robert Jackson, of Middletown.

Saturday's event is sponsored by the nonprofit Delaware Military Heritage & Education Foundation -- dedicated to preserving the military history of the state and its residents -- as part of a commemoration recognizing this year as the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

The salute to these African American troops was organized to bring awareness to their sacrifice and because many did not return home to parades and other gestures of gratitude when they returned from war.

The Junior ROTC from William Penn High School and the Delaware City Civil Air Patrol presented the state and national flag for a salute at the beginning of the event. Soon after Willis Phelps, a retired member of the Delaware National Guard, marched to the front of the room dressed as a Civil War soldier. He sang “Battle Cry of Freedom,” a patriotic song written during the Civil War, as he marched.

Shortly before the names were read, Bill Conley, the event coordinator, encouraged visitors to remember that each name represented a young man. And that young person fought for the Union despite great personal risk, including being captured while fighting in the South.

“These 300 names that we will read ... at least we gave them one moment in time when we recognized their service,” Conley said.

The names were read by Jackson, William Storey, Robert Wilkins and Phelps, who took turns reading from the 13 pages.

Phelps ended the service by reading “Only a Soldiers Grave,” by S.A. Jones. It was a sad tribute to servicemen that told a story about a forgotten soldier’s grave.

Yet, we should mark it -- the soldier's grave,
Some one may seek him in hope to save!
Some of the dear ones, far away,
Would bear him home to his native clay:
'Twere sad, indeed, should they wander nigh,
Find not the hillock, and pass him by.

Balloons, Civil War style


John De Perro of Warrenton, Va. left, and John Boyer of Denver, Colo. make the final preparations to launch a gas air balloon filled with helium as the Civil War Balloon Corp sets up their exhibit at Leesylvania State Park for the 150th anniversary of the Potomac River Blockade in Woodbridge on Saturday, September 24, 2011. De Perro was portraying Clovis Lowe, who with son Thadeus Lowe were the first American Civil War aeronauts for the Union.

From InsideNova.com: Balloons, Civil War style
At the beginning of the Civil War Thaddeus Lowe, a balloonist or aeronaut, had the idea that balloons could be used to help fighters on the ground.

To make his point, Lowe flew a tethered hydrogen balloon over the National Mall on July 18, 1861.

He took a telegraph aloft with him and sent the first air-to-ground telegraph message to President Lincoln, said Kevin N. Knapp a Civil War Balloon Corps Historian.

In the message, Lowe told Lincoln that he could see for 25 miles from a height of 500 feet and proposed that balloons could help fight the war, said Knapp, who played a Civil War aeronaut at Leesylvania State Park Saturday during the commemoration of the Confederacy’s Blockade of the Potomac River 150 years ago.

The South made the six-month blockade in an attempt to deny Union ships access to Washington, D.C.

Lincoln was impressed with Lowe’s idea and asked him to the White House right after the demonstration, said Knapp, a retired U.S. Army Major.

“He spent that evening and the night in the White House discussing balloons with Lincoln and how they could be used for the cause,” Knapp said.

Lincoln wrote a short note to Gen. Winfield Scott who was then commander-in-chief of the Army, Knapp said.

The note advised Scott to make use of Lowe’s ideas.

Lowe made no less than ten visits to Scott’s office with poor results, so Lincoln got personally involved, Knapp said.

“Lowe couldn’t get through the gatekeepers to see Gen. Scott. He went back to President Lincoln and President Lincoln actually escorted him, knocked the door down and said, ‘Gen. Scott, you will use the balloons,’” Knapp said.

Bill Percival came to the event with his wife Jamie and said he wasn’t surprised at Lowe’s woes with the feds.

“Nothing has changed much. He tried to sell an idea to the government and the government wasn’t moving. Didn’t like new things,” Percival said.

The North eventually contracted to have seven balloons built and flew more than 3,000 missions.

The South had two balloons that flew less than 10 times, Knapp said.

Balloons were initially used for reconnaissance, but later came to be used more actively.

While the south used volunteer observers, the North had professional balloonists who went aloft to help artillery units hit what they were aiming at.

“It was the first air-to-ground directed artillery fire,” said Knapp a professional balloon pilot.“With the balloons in the air you could say, ‘You’re long. You’re short. You’re left. You’re right.’ It was real-time intelligence that could be put together by military leaders.”

It was dangerous work, Knapp said.

“The balloons were the most shot at than any of the units in the military even though they weren’t in the military. They were civilian contractors, for want of a better term,” Knapp said.

25 September 1862: Thursday

Union - Military
Kentucky

Buell's Union army arrives at Louisville, beating Bragg's advancing Confederates to the vital city on the Ohio.

There are skirmishes at Snow's Pond and Ashbysburg.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish at Davis' Bridge on the Hatchie River.


Western Virginia

There is a Union reconnaissance from Shepherdstown, and an expedition from Centreville to Bristoe Station and Warrenton, Virginia.

_________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Saturday, September 24, 2011

24 September 1862: Wednesday

Union - Government
President Lincoln issues a new proclamation suspending the privilege of the writ of habeus corpus and providing for military trial of "all Rebels and Insurgents, their aiders and abettors within the United States, and all persons discouraging voluntary enlistments, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of disloyal practice, affording comfort to Rebels against the authority of the United States."

Regarding the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln told a crowd, "I can only trust in God I have made no mistake."

Fourteen Northern governors meet in Altoona, Pennsylvania and approve emancipation, although the conference had been called earlier by those deploring the Administration's policy on slavery and the unsatisfactory progress of the war.

The Secretary of War creates the office of Provost Marshall General.

Union - Military/Government
Major General Samuel R. Curtis assumes command of the Federal Department of Missouri.

Union - Military
South Carolina

There is a skirmish at Skull Creek.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Granby.

Texas
There is a skirmish at Sabine Pass.

Confederacy - Military/Government
Confederate General P.G.T Beauregard supersedes Major General John C. Pemberton in command of the Department of South Carolina and Georgia.

The Confederate Senate adopts a seal for the Confederacy.

_____________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Friday, September 23, 2011

News: Marker honoring Admiral Farragut removed from landowner's property


From KnoxNews.com: Marker honoring Admiral Farragut removed from landowner's property
The owner of what's widely considered to be the birthplace of noted U.S. naval figure David Farragut says she has given away a 111-year-old marker honoring the admiral.

Lylan Fitzgerald, who owns the Stony Point property off Northshore Drive, said she had no other choice but to have the marker removed.

Fitzgerald said she has had problems with vandals and trespassers, both official and unofficial, ever since a group of local historians started to discuss the historic significance of the site a few years ago. She felt compelled to act.

"It's a relief to me that it's gone," she said.

The Daughters of the American Revolution installed the stone in 1900, honoring America's first admiral amidst much fanfare.

The marker is in the hands of a historic collector who appreciates it and will take good care of it, Fitzgerald said. Rumors that the marker was moved to Texas are "a distinct possibility," she said.

West Knox County resident Margot Kline has been advocating development of a park or memorial at the site, which was deeded in 1796 to Farragut's father, Spanish immigrant and Revolutionary War veteran Jorge Farragut.

Kline said she was very disappointed to learn the monument had been moved.

"It's a big loss for our community," she said.

Kline said a friend of hers noticed the missing marker when he was boating off Stony Point on Fort Loudoun Lake in August.

The site and the marker are extremely historic, worthy of recent consideration by the National Park Service for inclusion as a National Historic Landmark, she said.

"Farragut is one of the most important military figures in the history of this country. He is known around the world." she said.

Farragut served during the Civil War. He died in August 1870 and is buried in the Bronx, New York.

At the dedication of the monument in 1900, parades were held, schools were closed and paddleboats carried visitors from Knoxville to the ceremony, attended by Admiral of the Navy George Dewey.

For at least 90 years, the public was allowed to visit the monument, possibly creating a "presumptive easement" that has since been disputed by Fitzgerald, Kline said.

Fitzgerald, who said she once tried to give the monument to the county, said historians have had over a hundred years to make proper arrangements for the preservation and display of the marker.

"They don't even have proof he was born here," she said.

TVA deeded to the county the land 50 feet above the waterline for recreational use. The length of the easement inland is about 25 feet short of where the marker stood.

The Bonny Kate chapter of the DAR recently voted to create a memorial park within the easement. The DAR is preparing to take steps to maintain public access to the park. Kline said.

An old boat ramp that could be used to access the site through a strip of land along the water has been closed due to safety issues. Fitzgerald lives on the property and controls all other access through the locked gates at the entrance to the Stony Point subdivision, Kline said.

The monument was about 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide and 2 feet thick and weighed as much as several tons, Kline said.

Kline said the DAR is very concerned about the marker and will try to establish historical ownership in order to have the memorial returned to Knox County or placed at a proper historic venue such as a museum.

23 September 1862: Tuesday

Union - Civilian
Word of the Preliminary Emancipation spreads over the North and will soon penetrate the South as well.

Union - Military
Dakota Territory
Indians rebel at Fort Abercrombie.

Minnesota
At Wood Lake, near Yellow Medicine, H. H. Sibley wins an important victory over the Sioux.

Arkansas
There is a skirmish at McGuire's Ferry.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish at Wolf Creek Bridge near Memphis.

Confederates - Military
Kentucky

On the Ohio River, Confederate guerrillas plunder the steamer Emma at Foster's Landing.

Tennessee
On the Mississippi, the Eugene is attacked but gets away. Union troops take revenge by burning the town of Randolph.


____________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Thursday, September 22, 2011

22 September 1862: Monday: Emancipation Proclamation

Union - Government
President Lincoln presents the Emancipation Proclamation to Congress.

"That on the first day of January in the year of Our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves, within any state, or designated part of state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

After long contemplation the President had awaited a military victory and now, after Antietam, came the public announcement of the proclamation.

He also called for the restoration of the Union and congressional approval of compensated emancipation.

Virginia
Union troops reoccupy Harper's Ferry, which had been evacuated by the Confederates.

There is a skirmish at Ashby's Gap.

______________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

21 September 1862: Sunday

Union - Civilians
Citizens of San Francisco contribute $100,000 for relief of Union sick and wounded soldiers.

Military - Confederacy
Kentucky

Braxton Bragg's army marches to Bardstown in order to rendezvous with Kirby Smith's command, but the move leaves the door open for Buell to beat the Confederates to Louisville.

Union troops re-occupy Munfordville.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Cassville.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish at Van Buren.

Louisiana
A Union expedition begins this day from Carrollton to Donaldsville, which will last until the 25th.



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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

20 September 1862: Saturday

Union - Government
In the White House, President Lincoln prepares the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, long discussed by Cabinet and President.

Union - Military
Maryland

McClellan sends two divisions across the Potomac in a mild pursuit of Lee. Opposed by A.P. Hill, the Union troops fell back and Lee's army withdraws to the valley of Opequon Creek. The active part of the campaign ends with fighting near Shepherdstown, Hagerstown. Williamsport, and Ashby's Gap.

Mississippi
There is a skirmish on Fulton Road south of Iuka.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Munfordville.

Missouri

There is a skirmish at Shirley's Ford on Spring River near Carthage.

Tennessee
From this day to the 22nd there is a Union expedition from Bolivar to Grand Junction and La Grange.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Monday, September 19, 2011

19 September, 1862: Friday - Battle of Iuka, Mississippi

Union - Government/Military
The Federal Department of the Missouri is re-established and the Department of Kansas discontinued.

Union - Military
Maryland/Virginia

Along the Potomac, McClellan's cavalry pursue the retreating Confederates but are halted by Southern batteries. Fitz John Porter also pushed forward and by evening had crossed the Potomac to gain a foothold on the southern shore.

Maryland
There are skirmishes at Sharpsburg, Shepherdstown, and near Williamsport.

Confederacy - Military
Mississippi

In Mississippi, Confederates had been attempting to prevent Union soldiers under Grant from reinforcing Buell, who was opposing Bragg in Kentucky.

Sterling Price had moved his Southern force to Iuka on September 14, from Tupelo, and was awaiting the arrival of Earl van Dorn's men.

On the Union side, Grant, with William S. Rosencrans leading the main advance, drove at Iuka from Corinth.

Rosencrans, after a hard fight, bested Price, who knowing that Grant with a column under E. O. C. Ord was nearby, pulled out southward during the night.

Union casualties
141 killed, 613 wounded, 36 missing for a total of 790 out of about 17,000 in the area.

Confederate casualties
263 killed, 692 wounded, 561 captured for 1,516 out of 14,000 in the area.

(Indications are that in the battle, it was 4,500 Union troops versus 3,200 Confederates.

Elsewhere in Mississippi, fighting took place at Barnett's Corners, Peyton's Mill, and Prentiss. Also, Confederates attacked a Union gunboat, the Queen of the West, near Bolivar.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Hickory Grove and at Mount Vernon.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Horse Cave, Southerland's Farm, and Bear Wallow.

Arkansas
There is a skirmish at Helena.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish at Brentwood.

_________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Sunday, September 18, 2011

18 September, 1862: Thursday

Union - Military/Government
General James H. Carleton takes over for Brigadier General E. R. S. Canby in command of the Department of New Mexico.

Confederacy - Military
Maryland
Confederate officers advise Lee to withdraw across the Potomac on the night of the 17th, but he remained at Sharpsburg, finally pulling out of Maryland on the night of 18-19 at Boteler's or Blackford's Ford.

McClellan, despite the arrival of 12,000 men plus some 24,000 others who had seen little or no action, allows the day to pass without attack. Even with his greatly superior numbers, McClellan feared the consequences of defeat. Lee's Maryland campaign was over, but the aftermaths were many.

Kentucky
There are skirmishes at Glasgow, Florence, Owensborough and Cave City.

At Glasgow, General Braxton Bragg proclaims that his Confederate army had come to that state to free the people from tyranny and not as conquerors and despoilers.
Mississippi
There is a skirmish at Rienzi.

Tennessee
There are skirmishes around Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, which will continue until the 23rd.

Atlantic Ocean
The Alabama continues its marauding - capturing and burning the New Bedford, Mass whaler Elisha Dunbar.

_____________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Saturday, September 17, 2011

17 September 1862: Wednesday: Battle of Antietam

Union - Military/Government
Major General Ormsby M. Mitchel, US Army, assumes command of the Department of the South stationed along the southeast coast.

Union - Civilian
Pro-Unionists in the Tennessee mountains suffer a setback when Brigadier General George W. Morgan is forced to evacuate Cumberland Gap due to the Confederate invasion of Kentucky.

Military - Confederacy
Maryland

This September day along Antietam Creek was one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. Badly outnumbered, Lee made his stand in Maryland and McClellan attacked, throwing in his corps piecemeal and failing to use his very strong reserve.

At first the fight raged on the Confederate left against Jackson in the woods, the cornfield, the Bloody Lane, and the Dunkard Church. Union gains were small and costly.

The roar of battle moved south, with uncoordinated Northern attacks on the center. Then Burnside with the Union left finally drove in against the right at what became known as Burnside Bridge, crossed the antietam, and headed for the town.

At the critical moment A.P. Hill's "Light Division" arrived at Antietam after a hurried March from Harper's Ferry and the Union advance was halted.

Thus ended a savage day of five main Union drives with dreadful losses.

Union casualties:
2,010 killed, 9,416 wounded, 1,043 missing for a total of 12,469 out of over 75,000 estimated effectives.


Confederate casualties
:
2,700 killed, 9,024 wounded, about 2,000 missing for a total of 13,724 casualties out of about 40,000 engaged.

Nightfall finds the Confederate army holding its position in the face of an overpowering enemy.

Kentucky
The Union garrison of slightly over 4,000 men under Colonel John T. Wilder at Munfordville, surrendered to Bragg's Confederates.

Also in Kentucky, there is skirmishing near Falmouth and on Bowling Green Road and at Merry Roads.

Florida
There is a skirmish at St. John's Bluff.

North Carolina
There is a skirmish around Shiloh.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Friday, September 16, 2011

16 September 1862: Tuesday

Government - Union
The still-worried President Lincoln wired Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania, "What do you hear from General McClellan's army." Later in the day he will hear from his general.

Military - Confederacy
Maryland

Along the Antietam Creek, Lee gathers his forces and forms his lines.

A hard night march had brought Stonewall Jackson from Harper's Ferry and McLaws is on his way. A division under A. P. Hill remains at the Ferry to complete surrender arrangements.

Kirby Smith's Confederates continue their withdrawal from the Ohio River near Cincinnati back toward Lexington.

Military - Union
Maryland

Union forces move forward cautiously from Keedysville; there is some desultory firing, but no major firing by General McClellan and his Army of the Potomac. Many will say later that a great opportunity was thereby lost.

Virginia
There is a Union reconnaissance toward Thoroughfare Gap and Aldie, and from this day to the 19th, a reconnaissance from Upton's Hill to Leesburg.

Kentucky
Some four thousand Union troops are surrounded at Munfordville by Braxton Bragg.

There is skirmishing near Oakland Station.

Missouri
There is a skirmish in Monroe County.

Mississippi
There is a skirmish near Iuka.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Thursday, September 15, 2011

15 September 1862: Monday. Confederates capture Harper's Ferry

Confederates - Military
Virginia

Harper's Ferry falls to Stonewall Jackson's command after short resistance. They capture about 12,000 Union prisoners. Dixon S. Miles , who led the Union defense, was mortally wounded.

Confederates at South Mountain, faced by McClellan's army, fall back to Sharpsburg, Maryland. Lee is concentrating his scattered force at the small village prepatory to withdrawing across the Potomac. But after hearing that Harper's FErry had fallen, Lee reversed his plan and established a line to the west ofAntietam Creek.

Lafayette McLaws withdrew his division from Maryland HEights, crossed the Potomac, and joined Jackson at Harper's Ferry.

Meanwhile, the Union Army of the Potomac pushes through South Mouth Mountain Passes to Keedysville, and a skirmish ensues. There is also a skirmish at Boonesborough.

Kentucky
E. Kirby Smith appears before Covington, Kentucky, on the Ohio Riber across from Cincinatti, but retires rapidly.

Bragg is beseiging Munfordville, Kentucky, to the south.

Union - Military
Missouri

From Sept 15 to the 20th, a Union scout occurs in Ralls County.

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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

14 September 1862: Sunday (Battle of Stone Mountain)

Union - Military
Maryland/Virginia

The left wing of McClellan's army under Major GEneral William B. Franklin moves toward Crampton's Gap in an effort to relieve the Harper's Ferry garrison and to cut off the Confederates advancing toward that stronghold.

Franklin "carries the pass" against Confederate forces under Lafayette McLaws, , but believing he was outnumbered, entrenched and did not push on from Pleasant Valley toward Harper's Ferry.

At South Mountain, at Fox Gap and at Turner Gap, Union cavalry under Pleasonton fight with d.H. Hill's Confederates until the two Union corps under Reno and Hooker, from Burnside's right wing, come up.

After severe fighting, the Confederates withdraw late in the evening, both flanks enveloped.

Union Major General Jesse L. Reno is the highest ranking officer killed that day.

Union casualties:
443 killed, 1807 wounded, 75 missing, for a total of 2,325 out of more than 28,000.

Confederate casualties (estimated):
325 killed, 1,560 wounded, 800 missing for a total of 2.685 out of about 18,000 engaged.

These battles are known variously as South Mountain, Boonsborough, Boonsborough Gap, Turner's Gap, Compton's Gap and Compton's Pass.

There is a skirmish near Petersville, Maryland.

Meanehile, Jackson and McLaws besiege Harper's Ferry.

Military - Confederates
Kentucky

In the West, Bragg's forces move on Munfordville. Advance units are repulsed.

There is a skirmish at Henderson, as troops under Union General Don Carlos Buell, marching rapidly north from Tennessee to head off Bragg, reach Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Mississippi
To the south in Mississippi, the third prong of the Confederate offensive is in operatin, with Sterling Price occuping Iuka, near Corinth.







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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

13 September 2011: Saturday "LOST ORDER" Found

Union - Military/Government
Louisiana
In New Orleans, General Butler orders all foreigners to register with occupation authorities.

Union - Military
Maryland

In the morning, two Union soldiers pick up a paper wrapped around a few cigars. It was a lost copy of Lee's orders for the Maryland campaign. The "Lost Order of Antietam" is rushed to mcClellan, and he begins to move accordingly and a little more rapidly, though not entirely trusting this fortuitous inteligence. [How the order was lost has never been fully explained.]

By evening McClellan was pushing west toward the mountains beyond Frederick.

West Virginia
Union troops evacuate Charleston, after some fighting, in the face of the Confederate offensive under W.W. Lording in the Kanawha Valley.

Missouri
There are skirmishes at Newtonia, at Bragg's Faerm near Whaley's Mill, and at Strother Fork of Black River in Iron County.

Mississippi
There is a skirmish at Iuka.

Texas
There is a skirmish at Flour Bluffs.

Confederacy - Military
Maryland

Lee has Stuart and his cavalry at South Mountain and other troops nearby. Longstreet was near Hagerstown, Jackson was near Harper's Ferry.

That night, Stuart learns of the lost order and informs Lee that it is in McClellan's possession.

_________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Monday, September 12, 2011

Harper's Ferry - a little background


Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. In many books the town is called "Harper's Ferry" with an apostrophe, but this is incorrect. It is situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers where the U.S. states of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet. The town is located on a low-lying flood plain created by the two rivers and surrounded by higher ground. Historically, Harpers Ferry is best known for John Brown's raid on the Armory in 1859 and its role in the American Civil War. As of the 2009 United States Census Bureau estimates, the town had a population of 313 people.

The lower part of Harpers Ferry is located within Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Most of the remainder, which includes the more highly populated area, is included in the separate Harpers Ferry Historic District. Two other National Register of Historic Places properties adjoin the town: the B & O Railroad Potomac River Crossing and St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) headquarters is located in Harpers Ferry and the town is one of only a few through which the Appalachian Trail passes directly. Harpers Ferry is also an outdoor recreation destination. Popular activities include white water rafting, fishing, mountain biking, tubing, canoeing, hiking, and rock climbing.

History
Earlier years
In about 1750 the English colonist Robert Harper was given a patent on 125 acres (0.5 km²) at the present location of the town. In 1761 Harper established a ferry across the Potomac, making the town a starting point for European-American settlers moving into the Shenandoah Valley and further west. In 1763 the Virginia General Assembly established the town of "Shenandoah Falls at Mr. Harper's Ferry."

On October 25, 1783, Thomas Jefferson visited Harpers Ferry. He viewed "the passage of the Potomac though the Blue Ridge" from a rock which is now named for him. This stop took place as Jefferson was traveling to Philadelphia and passed through Harpers Ferry with his daughter Patsy. Jefferson called the site "perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature."

George Washington, as president of the Patowmack Company (which was formed to complete river improvements on the Potomac and its tributaries), traveled to Harpers Ferry during the summer of 1785 to determine the need for bypass canals. In 1794 Washington's familiarity with the area led him to propose the site for a new United States armory and arsenal. Some of Washington's family moved to the area; his great-great-nephew, Colonel Lewis Washington, was held hostage during John Brown's raid in 1859.

In 1796 the federal government purchased a 125-acre (0.5 km2) parcel of land from the heirs of Robert Harper. In 1799 construction began on the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

This was one of only two such facilities in the U.S., the other being Springfield, Massachusetts. Together they produced most of the small arms for the U.S. Army. The town was transformed into an industrial center; between 1801 and 1861, when it was destroyed to prevent capture during the Civil War, the armory produced more than 600,000 muskets, rifles and pistols. Inventor Captain John H. Hall pioneered the use of interchangeable parts in firearms manufactured at his rifle works at the armory between 1820 and 1840; his M1819 Hall rifle was the first breech-loading weapon adopted by the U.S. Army.

Industrialization continued in 1833 when the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal reached Harpers Ferry, linking it with Washington, D.C. A year later, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad began train service through the town.

John Brown's raid
On October 16, 1859, the radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of 21 men in a raid on the arsenal. Five of the men were African American: three free African Americans, one a freed slave and one a fugitive slave. During this time assisting fugitive slaves was illegal under the Dred Scott decision. Brown attacked and captured several buildings; he hoped to use the captured weapons to initiate a slave uprising throughout the South. The first shot mortally wounded Hayward Shepherd,[6] a free black man who had been a night baggage porter for the B&O Railroad running through Harpers Ferry near the armory.

The noise from that shot roused Dr. John Starry from his sleep shortly after 1:00 am. He walked from his nearby home to investigate the shooting and was confronted by Brown's men. Starry stated that he was a doctor but could do nothing more for Shepherd, and Brown's men allowed him to leave. Instead of going home Starry went to the livery and rode to neighboring towns and villages, alerting residents to the raid.

When he reached nearby Charles Town, they rang the church bells and aroused the citizens from their sleep. John Brown's men were quickly pinned down by local citizens and militia, and forced to take refuge in the engine house adjacent to the armory.

The secretary of war asked for the assistance of the Navy Department for a unit of United States Marines, the nearest troops. Lieutenant Israel Greene was ordered to take a force of 86 Marines to the town. In need of an officer to lead the expedition, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee was found on leave nearby and was assigned as commander along with Lt. J. E. B. Stuart as his aide-de-camp. Lee led the unit in his regular civilian clothes, as none of his uniforms were available when he accepted the command.

The whole contingent arrived by train on October 18, and after negotiation failed they stormed the fire house and captured most of the raiders, killing a few and suffering a single casualty themselves. Brown was tried for treason against the State of Virginia, convicted and hanged in nearby Charles Town. Starry's testimony was integral to his conviction. Following the prosecution (by Andrew Hunter), "John Brown captured the attention of the nation like no other abolitionist or slave owner before or since." The Marines returned to their barracks and Col. Lee returned to finish his leave. The raid was one of the catalysts for the Civil War.

Civil War
The Civil War was disastrous for Harpers Ferry, which changed hands eight times between 1861 and 1865. When Virginia seceded in April 1861, the U.S. garrison attempted to burn the arsenal and destroy the machinery, to prevent the Confederates from using it. Locals saved the equipment, which the Confederate Army transferred to a more secure location in its capital of Richmond. The US Army never renewed arms production in Harpers Ferry.

Because of the town's strategic location on the railroad and at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, both Union and Confederate troops moved through Harpers Ferry frequently. The town's garrison of 14,000 Federal troops played a key role in the Confederate invasion of Maryland in September 1862. Gen. Robert E. Lee did not want to continue on to Pennsylvania without capturing the town. It was on his supply line and could control one of his possible routes of retreat if the invasion did not go well.

Dividing his army of approximately 40,000 into four sections, Lee used the cover of the mountains to send three columns under Stonewall Jackson to surround and capture the town.

The Battle of Harpers Ferry started with light fighting September 13 as the Confederates tried to capture the Maryland Heights to the northeast, while John Walker moved back over the Potomac to capture Loudoun Heights south of town. After a Confederate artillery bombardment on September 14 and 15, the Federal garrison surrendered. With 12,419 Federal troops captured, the surrender at Harpers Ferry was the largest surrender of US military personnel until the Battle of Bataan in World War II.

Because of the delay in capturing Harpers Ferry and the movement of Federal forces to the west, Lee was forced to regroup at the town of Sharpsburg. Two days later he commanded troops in the Battle of Antietam, which had the highest number of deaths among troops of any single day in United States military history.

By July 1864, the Union again had control of Harpers Ferry. On 4 July 1864, the Union commanding Gen. Franz Sigel withdrew his troops to Maryland Heights. From there he resisted Jubal Anderson Early's attempt to enter the town and drive the Federal garrison from Maryland Heights.

Because of the counties' strategic geographic importance, shortly after the end of the Civil War, the US government transferred Berkeley and Jefferson counties from Virginia and incorporated them into the new West Virginia, which was loyal to the Union. Harpers Ferry was included in the transaction. Many of the inhabitants of the counties, as well as the Virginia legislature, protested, but the federal government proceeded. This action formed the current West Virginia "panhandle".

12 September 1862: Friday

Confederacy - Government
President Jefferson Davis writes to the governors of Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, and Arkansas, attempting to reassure them that he was not neglecting the Trans-Mississippi area.

The Confederate Congress debates the propriety of the invasion of the North.

Union - Government
President Lincoln wires to McClellan, "How does it look now?" and was told by the general that he was concerned that Lee would recross the Potomac before the Union forces could get to him.

President Lincoln also wires the military authorities in Louisville, Kentucky: "Where is the enemy which you dread in Louisville?" How near to you?" [E. Kirby Smith's main body of troops is less than 50 miles away, Bragg's troops were aobut 100 miles to the south.]

Union - Civilian
Pennsylvania

The archives, bonds, and treasure of the state of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg and Philadelphia are sent to New York.

The mayor of New York is given is given full power to defend the city.

Union - Military/Government
The First, Second and Third Corps of the Army of Virginia were designated the Eleventh, Twelfth, and First Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. The Army of Virginia was no more.

Union - Military
Maryland

The Army of the Potomac, marching northward, begins to move into Frederick, as the Confederates were dispersing about their assigned tasks.

Confederate - Military
Virginia

Stonewall Jackson's men converge on Harper's Ferry.

Maryland
There is a skirmish near Frederick.

Kentucky
Confederates occupy Glasgow.

There is a skirmish at Brandenburg and near Woodburn.

Mississippi
There is a skirmish at Coldwater Railroad Bridge.

___________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Sunday, September 11, 2011

11 September 1862: Thursday

Union - Civilian
Pennsylvania

Governor Andrew G. Curtin calls for 50,000 men to volunteer.

Confederates - Military
Maryland

Confederate forces enter Hagerstown.

Kentucky
Maysville is occupied by the forces of E. Kirby Smith.

Ohio
Confederate units push to within seven miles of Cincinnati with considerable skirmishing.

Florida
There is a skirmish at St. John's Bluff.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Bloomfield.

Western Virginia
There is a skirmish at Gauley, in the Kanawha Valley.
___________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Saturday, September 10, 2011

10 September 1862: Wednesday

Union - Civilian
Tension is riding high in Maryland, Pennsylvania and along the Ohio River. A thousand "squirrel hunters" from the Ohio Valley volunteer ytheir services in Cincinatti as home guards. No one is quite sure how far the Confederate invasions east or west would go.

Union - Military
Virginia/Maryland

Cavalry reports inform McClellan that Lee has fallen back across the Monocacy away from Frederick, and he speeds up his hitherto extremely cautious puruit of the Confederates.

There are skirmishes near Boonsborough, Frederick and Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland.

Western Virginia
There is a skirmish at Fayetteville, which ends in a Union defeat.

South Carolina
There is a skirmish on the Kilkenny River.

Tennessee
There are skirmishes at Rogers' and Big Creek Gaps.

Kentucky
There are skirmishes at Fort Mitchel near Covington, and at Woodburn and Log Church.



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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Friday, September 9, 2011

9 September, 1862: Tuesday

Union - Military/Government
Union Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman is put in command of the defenses of Washington south of the Potomac.

Confederates - Military
Maryland

At Frederick, General Lee issues field orders for future operations. Special Orders No. 191 calls for Stonewall Jackson to march on Harper's Ferry; other troops are to be sent to Crampton's Gap. Much of Longstreet's corps is to go to Boonesborough, and a rear guard is also provided for.

There are skirmishes at Monocacy Church and Barnesville.

Virginia
A small-scale Confederate attack fails at Williamsburg.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Big Creek.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish at Columbia.

Mississippi
There are skirmishes at Cockrum Cross Roads and Rienzi.

__________________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Thursday, September 8, 2011

General Felix Zollicoffer



Felix Kirk Zollicoffer (May 19, 1812 – January 19, 1862) was a newspaperman, three-term United States Congressman from Tennessee, officer in the United States Army, and a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War. He led the first Confederate invasion of eastern Kentucky and was killed in action at the Battle of Mill Springs, the first Confederate general to perish in the Western Theater.

Early life and careerZollicoffer was born on a plantation in Bigbyville in Maury County, Tennessee, son of John Jacob and Martha (Kirk) Zollicoffer. He was a descendant of immigrants from Switzerland who had settled in North Carolina in 1710. His grandfather George had served as a captain in the Revolutionary War, and had been granted a tract of land in Tennessee as a reward for his military service. Young Zollicoffer attended the "field schools" in the area and spent one year at Jackson College in Columbia, Tennessee.

He left school at the age of sixteen, became an apprentice printer, and engaged in newspaper work in Paris, Tennessee, from 1828–1830. When the paper failed, he moved to Knoxville in 1831 and spent two years as a journeyman printer working for a local newspaper, the Knoxville Register.

He became editor and part owner of the Columbia Observer in 1834. He was elected State Printer of Tennessee in 1835. On September 24, 1835, he was married in Columbia to Louisa Pocahontas Gordon. She would bear him fourteen children, but only six lived through infancy.

He also edited the Mercury in Huntsville, Alabama. Volunteering for the army in 1836, he served as a lieutenant in the Second Seminole War in Florida. He returned home and became the owner and editor of the Columbia Observer and the Southern Agriculturist in 1837 and the editor of the Republican Banner, the state organ of the Whig Party, in 1843.

The latter role engaged Zollicoffer in political circles, and he soon was named as Comptroller of the State Treasury from 1845–1849, as well as serving as Adjutant General for the state. He was a delegate in the State Senate from 1849 until 1852 and was a delegate to the Whig National Convention in 1852, supporting the candidacy of General Winfield Scott. Zollicoffer was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third United States Congress and reelected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1859). During the first campaign, he fought a duel with the editor of the rival Nashville Union newspaper.

He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1858 and retired to private life. He strongly supported fellow Tennessee moderate John Bell (CU) for president in the election of 1860.

With war clouds threatening and firebrand Tennesseans pushing for the right to secede from the Union, Zollicoffer served as a member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C. in an effort to devise a means to prevent the impending war. Although a strong supporter of states rights, Zollicoffer was not in favor of secession.

Civil War
When Tennessee seceded, Zollicoffer offered his services to the Provisional Army of Tennessee. Despite his brief combat experience, he was appointed as a brigadier general on May 9, 1861, by Governor Isham Harris.

On July 9, he transferred to the Confederate States Army with the same rank and was given command of a department within the District of East Tennessee on August 1. On July 26, 1861, Harris ordered Zollicoffer and 4,000 raw recruits to Knoxville to suppress the East Tennessee resistance to secession, appointing him to command the District of East Tennessee.

On September 17, he led a force of 5,400 men from Tennessee through the Cumberland Gap along the Wilderness Road in an effort to seize eastern Kentucky, a state whose declared neutrality in the conflict had been violated by Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk's invasion in early September.

After winning the first Confederate victory in the commonwealth at the relatively minor Battle of Barbourville, he suffered a reversal at the subsequent Battle of Wildcat Mountain and was forced to retreat back into rural eastern Tennessee, an area that was unsympathetic to the Confederate cause. Zollicoffer treated peaceful Unionists fairly but imposed harsher measures after Union guerrillas burned several railroad bridges in November.

Although Zollicoffer's main responsibility was to guard the Cumberland Gap, in November 1861 he advanced westward back into southeastern Kentucky to strengthen control in the area around Somerset. He found a strong defensive position at Mill Springs and decided to make it his winter quarters. He fortified the area, especially both sides of the Cumberland River. On December 8, he was superseded by the arrival of Maj. Gen. George B. Crittenden, who assumed command of the department, but retained Zollicoffer as commander of the 1st Brigade in his army.

Union Brig. Gen. George H. Thomas received orders to drive the Confederates across the Cumberland River and break up Crittenden's army. He left Lebanon and slowly marched through rain-soaked country, arriving at Logan's Crossroads on January 17, where he waited for Brig. Gen. Albin F. Schoepf's troops from Somerset to join him. Two days later, they attacked Crittenden and Zollicoffer at the Battle of Mill Springs.

The southern bank of the Cumberland River at Mill Springs was a bluff and a strong defensive position, whereas the northern bank was low and flat. Zollicoffer chose to move most of his men to the north bank where they would be closer to nearby Union troops, incorrectly assuming that it was more defensible. Both Crittenden and Albert Sidney Johnston ordered Zollicoffer to relocate south of the river, but he could not comply—he had insufficient boats to cross the unfordable river quickly and was afraid his brigade would be caught by the enemy halfway across.

Zollicoffer's men were routed from the field. Some accounts claim that Union Colonel Speed S. Fry shot Zollicoffer as the battle waned. He had inadvertently wandered into the Union position, thinking they were Confederate soldiers with his nearsightedness and the gathering darkness. He was struck several times by enemy bullets and soon died from his wounds.

Interment
The Federals respected Zollicoffer's body; he was embalmed by a Union surgeon and was eventually returned to Tennessee and finally interred in the Old City Cemetery in Nashville.

Zollicoffer Park
Zollicoffer Park, a Confederate cemetery containing a mass grave of the Confederate fallen, lies just outside of Nancy. (There is also a Union cemetery located in Nancy, Mill Springs National Cemetery, the oldest of all National Cemeteries still receiving burials other than Arlington National Cemetery). This public park receives at least two memorial events each year, one on January 19, ("that somber sabbath morn") and the other on Memorial Day. There have also been re-enactments of the Battle of Mill Springs.

What was the Confederate's Kentucky Line?

From: The Dark and Bloody Ground
http://www.civilwarhome.com/darkandbloodyground.htm

When the Civil War began, Albert Johnston, a good friend of Confederate President Jefferson Finis Davis, was assigned command of the Department No. 2, the Department of the West, the main defense of which was an army of ragged Tennesseans and Kentuckians known as the Kentucky Line. General Felix Kirk Zollicoffer was in charge of the men.

The troops had been called to duty on September 18th, 1861.

8 September 1862: Monday

Union - Government
President Lincoln wires to McClellan at Rockville. "How does it look now?"

Union - Military
Major General Nathaniel P. Banks assumes command of thedefenses of WAshington. The West India Squadron is formed uder Commodore Charles Wilkes to protect commerce from Confederate raiders.

Union - Civilian
Maryland and Pennsylvania

Apprehension becomes more intense in Maryland and Pennsylvania under the threat of Lee's invasion.

Confederates - Civilian/Government
Maryland

To the people of Maryland, General Lee proclaimes: "The people of the Confederate States have long watched with the deepest sympathy the wrongs and outrages that have been inflicted upon the citizens... We know no enemies among you, and will protect all, of every opinion. It is for you to decide your destiny freely and without constraint. This army will respect your choice, whatever it may be."

Maryland
There is a skirmish at Poolesville.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Barboursville, and an affair known as the Kentucky Line.

Tennessee
There is a skirmish at Pine Mountain.


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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

7 September 1862: Sunday

Confederacy - Government
President Davis writes his advancing generals, Lee, Bragg and E. Kirby Smith, that they should make clear to the people "that the Confederate Government is waging this war solely for self defense, that it has no design of conquest or any other purpose than to secure peace and the abandonment by the United States of its pretensions to govern a people who have never been their subjects and who prefer self-government to a Union with them."

Union - Government
President Lincoln, concerned over two fronts, east and west, asks "Where is GEneral Bragg?" and "What about Harper's Ferry?"

Union - Civilian
Harrisburg, PA, Hagerstown, MD, Baltimore and others were scenes of "tremendous excitement." Streets were thronged, rumors rampant, citizens armed; some fled the reported coming out of Southern troops.

Union - Military
DC/Maryland

The Army of the Potomac under General McClellan moves slowly northward from Washington, protecting the capitol and Baltimore, not knowing the enemy's whereabouts or plans.

Unbeknownst to them, most of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was concentrating now at Frederick, Maryland.

Virginia
Union garrisons at Harper's Ferry and Martinburg are virtually cut off from Washington.

Confederates - Military
Tennessee

Confederate GEneral Braxton Bragg in Tennessee moved steadily north toward Kentucky, bypassing the main Union force under Buell at Murfreesboro and Nashville.

There are skirmishes at Murfreesboro and Pine Mountain Gap.

The town of Clarksville is retaken by Union forces.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Shephersville.
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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

6 September 1862:

Union - Military/Government
John Pope is formally assigned to the Department of the Northwest, newly created out of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska and Dakota territories. His main job was to cope with the Sioux uprising.

Confederates - Military
Maryland

tonewall Jackson's men occupy Frederick, as thr Army of Northern Virginia establishes their base of operations north of the Potomac. Skirmishes with Union cavalry will take place every day until the 16th.

The Confederates had expected to pick up recruits in Maryland, but as they entered Frederick, all stores were shut, and no flags flew.

The Southerners treated Frederick courteously for the most part - there was little or no pillaging or looting.

Union - Military
Virginia

The Union evacuates Aquia Creek, near Fredericksburg, leaving much property destroyed at the important rail and port facility.

Dakota Territory
The Sioux unsuccessfully attack Fort Abercrombie, Dakota Territory, for the second time.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Roanoke.

North Carolina
There is a skirmish at Washington (not to be confused with Washington, DC!)

Tennessee
There is a skirmish on the Gallatin Road.

_____________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Monday, September 5, 2011

Union General Don Carlos Buell

From Wikipedia:
Don Carlos Buell (March 23, 1818 – November 19, 1898) was a career United States Army officer who fought in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War. Buell led Union armies in two great Civil War battles—Shiloh and Perryville. The nation was angry at his failure to defeat the outnumbered Confederates after Perryville, or to secure East Tennessee. Historians concur that he was brave and industrious, and a master of logistics, but was too cautious and too rigid to meet the great challenges he faced in 1862. Buell was relieved of field command in late 1862 and made no more significant military contributions.

Early life
Buell was born in Lowell, Ohio. He was a first cousin of George P. Buell, also a Union general.

He lived in Indiana for a time before the Civil War. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1841 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Infantry regiment. In the Mexican-American War, he served under both Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He was breveted three times for bravery and was wounded at Churubusco. Between the wars he served in the U.S. Army Adjutant General's office and as an adjutant in California.

Civil War
Early commandsAt the start of the Civil War, Buell was an early organizer of the Army of the Potomac and briefly commanded one of its divisions. He was promoted to brigadier general, with seniority dating from May 17, 1861.

In November 1861, he succeeded Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman in command at Louisville, Kentucky. Buell's command was designated the Department of the Ohio and his troops the Army of the Ohio (later the Army of the Cumberland). Buell's superiors wanted him to operate in eastern Tennessee, an area with Union sympathies and considered important to the political efforts in the war. However, Buell essentially disregarded his orders and moved against Nashville instead, which he captured on February 25, 1862, against little opposition.

(Confederate attentions were elsewhere at this time, as Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was capturing Forts Henry and Donelson.) On March 21, he was promoted to major general of volunteers, but Buell lost his independent status when his command was incorporated within the new Department of the Mississippi, under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck.

Shiloh
At the Battle of Shiloh, Buell reinforced Grant with three of the five divisions of the Army of the Ohio, about 20,000 men, helping him defeat the Confederates on April 7, 1862. Buell considered that his arrival was the primary reason that Grant avoided a major defeat. Halleck had to continually prod Buell to get his army to Pittsburg Landing in order to reinforce Grant, concentrating for a planned attack on the Confederate stronghold at Corinth. Although Buell's army was only 90 miles east at Columbia, it took one month to reach Pittsburg Landing, just in time for Grant to launch a counterattack on the Confederate Army of Mississippi. Buell made excuses that the Army of the Ohio's march overland toward Pittsburg Landing was hindered by "swollen rivers" and rain.

While acknowledging these delays with criticism, many newspapers and some Federal soldiers credited Buell with "saving" Grant in the battle. Buell considered himself the victor of the battle and denigrated Grant's contribution, writing after the war that he had no "marked influence that he exerted upon the fortune of the day." Contemporary historians, such as Larry Daniels and Kenneth W. Noe, consider that Grant actually saved himself by the conclusion of the first day of battle and that the rivalry between Grant and Buell hampered the conduct of battle on the second day. The commanders operated almost completely independently of each other and Buell "proved slow and hesitant to commit himself."

After Grant's successful counterattack at Shiloh, Buell continued under Halleck's command in the Siege of Corinth. In June and July, Buell started a leisurely movement of four divisions towards Chattanooga, but his supply lines were disrupted by Confederate cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest and his offensive ground to a halt.

Buell got himself into more political difficulties during this period. Some Northerners suspected that Buell was a Southern sympathizer because he was one of the few Federal officers who was a slaveholder (he inherited the slaves from his wife's family).

Suspicions continued as Buell enforced a strict policy of non-interference with Southern civilians during his operations in Tennessee and Alabama. A serious incident occurred on May 2, 1862 when the town of Athens, Alabama, was pillaged by Union soldiers. Buell, noted for his iron discipline, was infuriated and brought charges against his subordinate on the scene, John B. Turchin.

President Abraham Lincoln succumbed to pressure from Tennessee politicians and ordered Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas to replace Buell on September 30, 1862. However, Thomas refused the command and Lincoln relented, leaving Buell in command. Turchin was court-martialled but not cashiered from service as Buell wanted, and was in fact promoted to brigadier general.

Grant, despite his professional rivalry following Shiloh, addressed these charges against Buell in his memoirs, writing:
General Buell was a brave, intelligent officer, with as much professional pride and ambition of a commendable sort as I ever knew. ... [He] became an object of harsh criticism later, some going so far as to challenge his loyalty. No one who knew him ever believed him capable of a dishonorable act, and nothing could be more dishonorable than to accept high rank and command in war and then betray the trust. When I came into command of the army in 1864, I requested the Secretary of War to restore General Buell to duty. ...

The opportunity frequently occurred for me to defend General Buell against what I believed to be most unjust charges. On one occasion a correspondent put in my mouth the very charge I had so often refuted—of disloyalty. This brought from General Buell a very severe retort, which I saw in the New York World some time before I received the letter itself. I could very well understand his grievance at seeing untrue and disgraceful charges apparently sustained by an officer who, at the time, was at the head of the army. I replied to him, but not through the press. I kept no copy of my letter, nor did I ever see it in print; neither did I receive an answer.

Kentucky
In the fall of 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg invaded Kentucky and Buell was forced to pursue him to defend Louisville, Kentucky, and the Ohio River. A single corps of Buell's army was attacked by Bragg at the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862, while Buell, a couple of miles behind the action, was not aware that a battle was taking place until late in the day and thus did not effectively engage the full strength of his army to defeat the smaller enemy force. Although Perryville was tactically indecisive, it halted the Confederate invasion of Kentucky and forced their withdrawal back into Tennessee. When he failed to pursue Bragg's withdrawal, Buell was relieved of command on October 24, replaced by Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.

Buell spent the next year and a half in Indianapolis, in military limbo, hoping that a military commission would exonerate him of blame; he claimed he had not pursued Bragg because he lacked supplies. Exoneration never came, and he left military service on May 23, 1864. Although he had been offered a command at the express recommendation of Grant, Buell declined it, saying that it would be degradation to serve under either Sherman or Edward Canby because he ranked them both. In his memoirs, Grant called this "the worst excuse a soldier can make for declining service."

Postbellum life
Following the war Buell lived again in Indiana, and then in Kentucky, employed in the iron and coal industry as president of the Green River Iron Company. From 1885 to 1889 he was a government pension agent. He died at his home in Rockport, Kentucky, and is buried in St. Louis, Missouri, at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Honors
Buell Armory on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky, is named for General Buell.

5 September, 1862: Friday

Union - Civilian
Indiana

Governor Morton of Indiana calls upon citizens to form military companies in areas along the Ohio River, believed to be threatened by E. Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg.

Union - Government/Military
General Pope sends a message to Halleck about the status of his command. General-in-Chief Halleck replies that the Army of Virginia was being consolidated with the Army of the Potomac under McClellan and that Pope should report for orders.

Tennessee
Union troops from Fort Donelson leave on a 5-day expedition to Clarksville, fighting several skirmishes en route.

There is a skirmish at Burnt Bridge near Humboldt.

Mississippi
Union troops mount a scout toward Holly Springs.

Missouri
There is a skirmish at Neosho.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Madisonville.

Alabama
Union General Don Carlos Buell pulls out of northern Alabama, withdrawing to Murfreesboro, southeast of Nashville.

Confederacy - Military
Tennessee

General Braxton Bragg proclains that Alabama "is redeemed. Tenneseeans! your Capital and State are almost restored without firing a gun. You return conquerors. Kentuckians! the first great blow has been struck for your freedom"



______________
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Sept 8, 2011, Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio - Save the Date

From Times-Reporter.com: Bill Given to lead tour of Civil War exhibit
COSHOCTON —

Civil War authority Bill Given will lead a personal tour of Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum’s special exhibit, The American Civil War: A 150th Anniversary Exhibit of Military Memorabilia, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8.

The exhibit features hundreds of items from the Civil War such as firearms, swords, uniforms, medals, photographs, letters and official documents. Given will point out the historical relevance of the objects as he leads participants around the room.

Many of the exhibited objects are on loan from local residents. Others are rare objects of particular value to collectors. Given will give the scoop on these items, whether they are of local or national significance.

Given also will discuss the art of collecting, describing how one goes about collecting historical objects and providing information on how to assure that what you are purchasing is an authentic artifact.

He also will give an overview of the process, including the traps and the thrills of discovery.

For those who prefer to sit during the program, chairs will be available.

The American Civil War exhibit is sponsored by the John Bando VFW Post 1330.

For more information, contact the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum at 740-622-8710 or email jhmuseum@jhmuseum.org.

The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. daily through October and is located at 300 N. Whitewoman St., in Coshocton’s Historic Roscoe Village. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children. Friends of the Museum are free.

Information is available at the museum’s web site, www.jhmuseum.org.

The Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum is a general interest museum located in Historic Roscoe Village, a restored canal town in east central Ohio.
2011 Special Exhibits
August 12 - October 9, 2011 The American Civil War: 150th Anniversary of Military Memorabilia
Over 200 objects on display--Firearms, Swords,
Medals, Uniforms, Personal Letters, Documents

4 September 1862: Thursday

Union - Military
McClellan continues to reorganize the Army of the Potomac amid Cabinet discussions in Washington.

Union troops begin evacuating Frederick, Maryland.

Minnesota
Skirmishing with the Sioux continues at Hutchinson.

Missouri
There are skirmishes in Callaway County and at Prairie Chapel.

Kentucky
There is a skirmish at Shelbyville.

Louisiana
There are skirmishes at Boutte Station and Bayou des Allemands.

Confederacy - Military
Virginia

Lee's army begins its principal crossing of the Potomac by fords in the Leesburg area, an operation which continues until the 7th. The Confederates are on their way to Maryland.

Western Virginia
Confederate Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins culminates his raiding in Western Virginia by crossing the Ohio River in the Point Pleasant area for a brief excursion into the North.

Maryland
There is skirmishing at Point of Rocks, Berlin, Poolsville, and Monocacy Aqueduct.

Kentucky
John Hunt Morgan and his men join E. Kirby Smith at Lexington.
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Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

Civil War veteran honored with headstone

From LenConnect.com: Civil War veteran honored with headstone
OGDEN TWP., Mich. —

More than 93 years after he was first laid to rest in the Ogden Zion Cemetery, William Harrison Marshall has a headstone.

On Thursday, members of the Marshall family, members of Nash-Hodges Camp #43 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the director of the Michigan Historical Museum helped dedicate the previously unmarked grave of the Civil War veteran, who died April 18, 1918. His remains are in the Ogden Zion Cemetery in Ogden Township.

“This is a great day to be an American and to be a member of the Marshall family,” said Mark Lindke of Ann Arbor, great-grandson of William Harrison Marshall.

Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan Historical Museum, told the gathering it was fitting to dedicate the headstone on Sept. 1, as on this date in 1864, the city of Atlanta fell to the army of Union Gen. William T. Sherman. Marshall, while not part of Sherman’s army, was stationed in Nashville as a 19-year-old private in Company C of the 18th Michigan — one of the units protecting Sherman’s rear.

Clark talked about the diary Marshall kept, which detailed his many days on duty as a picket and the day-to-day drudgery a soldier endured. She detailed Marshall’s experience on Sept. 24, 1864, when his unit was attacked by an overwhelming force of Confederates near Decatur, Tenn.

Marshall’s unit was in bad shape, Clark said. They reached fortifications near Decatur, only to find they were still in the hands of the rebels. At this point, the young Michigan man made a crucial decision.

“Instead of surrendering, like many of the others did, he hid in a thicket until dark and made his way back to Union lines,” Clark said. “Without that split-second decision, it is possible many of you wouldn’t be here today.”

Only three of Marshall’s comrades made it back that day. Those who surrendered were sent to the infamous Andersonville Prison Camp in Georgia. Many who survived that ordeal were on the steamboat Sultana, which sank April 26, 1865, on the Mississippi River with the loss of 1,700 lives.

Clark said much of Marshall’s diary covered the daily routine of picket duty as well as life and death in the army camps. The diary had many of the same details other books covering that era had, but Marshall’s entries were different, she said.

“It gives a reality to the statistics of the day,” she said. “More than half of the deaths in the Civil War were from disease or as a result of wounds. His words make the Civil War come alive.”

Gary Naugle of Tecumseh, commander of the Sons of Union Veterans, led the dedication ceremony, which included a procession with the honor guard of the Sons of Union Veterans, bagpiper Herm Steinman and Chaplain William McAfee. Naugle presented William Kirkham Marshall, the veteran’s grandson, with a flag, along with the thanks of a grateful nation. The 82-year-old disabled Marine is a veteran of the Korean War.

Resting against the new headstone were a Civil War musket, backpack, satchel and cap. The grave was covered with a ground tarp on top of which rested the American flag. During the ceremony, a wreath, white rose and laurel wreath were placed on the gravesite.

Clark appeared as part of Michigan’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. The museum is featuring the “Plowshares into Swords” special exhibit exploring how the war changed the lives of Michigan people.