Friday, August 25, 2006
An Amateur’s Look at the American Civil War: November
November 1
1861: Union General Fremont finally receives the order relieving him, but he arrests the messenger. Meanwhile, Confederate General Price has moved too far for Fremont to do anything.
Skirmishing continues in Western Virginia.
Union Naval fleet sailing for Port Royal, SC runs into weather problems off Cape Hatteras, NC, losing one transport (USS Sabine) in the process.
Union General Winfield Scott formally retires from the US Army. He had been in the service since the War of 1812.
1862: Confederates flee Plymouth, NC as Union naval forces seize the town.
Skirmishing at Philomont, VA.
An article in the Cincinnati, OH Gazette calls for the mechanization of farming to ease the labor shortage causes by many farmers joining the Union Army.
1863: Ft Sumter, SC bombarded by Federal siege batteries.
Union General Averill leads his cavalry on raids behind Confederate lines in WV.
Union General Sherman’s forces are enroute to Chattanooga, stopping at Eastport, TN.
1864: Confederate General Hood finds neither the rail line to Decatur, AL repaired nor has he received the supplies that he has ordered. This will hamper his operations.
Two divisions of the Union XVI Corps, who were recently in Missouri, move to rejoin General Thomas at Nashville, TN.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that he has arrived at Camp Lawton (Millen, GA).
November 2
1861: Union General Fremont sees the light and gives up command of the Department of Missouri.
1862: CSS Alabama leaves Nova Scotia for the waters near Bermuda.
Cavalry action at Bloomfield, VA.
Union General Grant moves his forces toward Holly Springs, MS to engage Confederate General Van Dorn’s troops.
1863: Union General Banks lands troops at Brazos Santiago, TX in another attempt to invade Texas.
US President Lincoln accepts a last minute invitation to say a few words at the dedication ceremony for a new military cemetery at Gettysburg, PA.
CS President Davis delivers a speech to embattled residents in Charleston, SC as Ft Sumter is bombarded again.
1864: New York, NY officials are warned of a Confederate plot to burn the city.
Confederate General Forrest’s fleet suffers a defeat at Johnsonville, TN.
November 3
1861: Small scale action in Western Virginia continues.
1862: Skirmishing continues in Loudon County, VA.
1863: Confederate cavalry attack Collierville, TN but are forced back to Mississippi when Union reinforcements arrive.
Union General Sherman detaches General Dodge’s division to rebuild the railroad from Memphis, TN to Stevenson, AL.
1864: Union IV Corps reaches Pulaski, TN. At the same time, one of Confederate General Forrest’s gunboats, the Undine, repulse three Federal boats on the Tennessee River.
November 4
1861: Union fleet regroups off Port Royal Sound, SC.
Union General McClellan has been organizing and training the Army of the Potomac, making himself popular in the process. He ignores calls from the Lincoln Administration to do any kind of offensive action. McClellan also begins criticizing the President, both publicly and privately.
Confederate General Jackson begins to moves his forces toward the Shenandoah Valley, VA.
1862: Union forces seize Hamilton, NC, chasing the same Confederates who fled Plymouth.
US Congressional elections end with Democrats gaining in many states, but Republicans maintain control of the US House of Representatives.
An article in the Philadelphia, PA Public Ledger illustrates the effect of a shortage of cotton on other industries, such as paper manufacturing.
An article in the Charleston, SC Mercury calls on Confederate citizens to save their rags for industrial use.
1863: Confederate General Bragg orders General Longstreet to move against Union General Burnside in Eastern Tennessee.
Union troops under General Banks capture Brownsville, TX.
1864: Confederate General Forrest attacks the Union supply base at Johnsonville, TN causing $2,000,000 in damage. This after he loses his fleet.
Confederate General Breckenridge leads a raid into east Tennessee from Virginia.
November 5
1861: Because of inclement weather, the Port Royal, SC assault is postponed until November 7.
1862: Union task force continues up the Roanoke River NC, but turns back when illness strikes the troops.
US President Lincoln orders General McClellan removed from command of the Army of the Potomac. General Burnside is assigned the command, even though he does not want it.
Skirmishing at Barbee’s Cross Roads and Chester’s Gap, VA.
Confederate attack on Nashville, TN is repulsed.
1863: Confederate Colonel Mosby and his Partisan Rangers continue to cause havoc for Union troops in Northern Virginia.
Union General Grant decides to allow General Burnside to hold Knoxville, TN while he concentrates on driving the Confederates from Chattanooga, TN.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a barrel of flour was sold at an auction for $100, and then sold for $120.
1864: Confederate General Forrest begins to move his forces to rejoin General Hood’s army. Meanwhile, Hood is holding a Council of War with his commanders. He wants to press the advance north while the others are concerned that Union General Sherman will not follow them.
November 6
1860: Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States. First Republican elected.
1861: Jefferson Davis elected 1st President of the Confederate States. He was previously the provisional President.
Union General Grant leads 3500 men from Cairo, IL down the Mississippi River.
1862: Confederate Generals Longstreet and Jackson are promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned as commanders of First and Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Skirmish at Gerrettsburg, KY.
1863: Union forces under General W.W. Averill defeat Confederates at Droop Mountain, WV, ending all Confederate attempts to reclaim Western Virginia.
Union forces under General Banks take Point Isabel and Brownsville, TX.
There is violent reaction to Maryland’s approval of a new state constitution in which slavery is outlawed. Local slave owners have refused to give up their slaves. One of the methods used to keep African-Americans in bondage was to “apprentice” the children for long periods. In other words, the parents were freed but the children kept.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a common shirt can be bought for $40 per pair. Beef sells for $1.50 a pound and pork for $2 a pound.
Union Sergeant John Ransom, a quartermaster with the 9th MI Cavalry, is captured near Rogersville, TN. He begins to document his experiences.
1864: Authorities in Chicago, IL arrest the leaders in a Confederate plot to liberate prisoners at Camp Douglas and burn down the city.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes about the Presidential election going on up north. He is mad that Union authorities had suspended the exchange system. During a mock vote in the prison, he votes for McClellan.
1865: CSS Shenandoah surrenders to British authorities at Liverpool, UK.
November 7
1861: A Union force under General Grant attacks Confederate positions near Belmont, MO. Confederate General Polk is slow to send aid at first because he thinks the main target of the attack is Columbus, KY. Reinforcements are then sent and Grant has to withdraw in the face of 13,000 men and heavy artillery fire.
Union fleet sweeps up the channel between Hilton Head and St Philip’s Islands, SC and engage the Confederate’s Ft Beauregard. By 11 a.m. the fort was silenced. Another fort, Ft Walker, was also silenced at noon. That afternoon, both islands were in Union hands, giving the Federals a base to support the blockade of the South Carolina Coast.
1862: Union General McClellan receives the order relieving him of command.
Skirmishes at Big Beaver Creek, Mo and Marianna, AR.
1863: Union forces capture Lewisburg, WV.
Union troops cross the Rappahannock River, capturing 1600 of Confederate General Early’s troops and forcing General Lee to retreat across the Rapidan just as his army was about to settle into winter quarters.
Federal troops depart Fayetteville, AR for an expedition into an area known as Frog Bayou.
1864: CS President Davis makes an upbeat address to the Confederate Congress. He then sends orders to General Hood to press on to the Ohio River, but Hood is not that optimistic.
November 8
1861: Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell leave Cuba aboard the British mail steamer Trent. In international waters, the Trent is stopped by USS San Jacinto, boarded, and Mason and Slidell taken aboard the Union warship. This is in violation of international treaty. This starts the Trent Incident.
1862: Union General Butler orders New Orleans breweries closed, not knowing that General Banks has been appointed to succeed him as commander.
Skirmish at Hudsonville, MS.
1863: Union General Meade’s advance continues with skirmishes at Warrenton and Culpepper Court house, VA.
Skirmishes at Vermillionville and Bayou Junica, LA.
Confederate General Bragg is conducting a purge of all senior commanders in his army. The latest to get his walking papers is General D.H. Hill, who is replaced by General Breckenridge.
1864: US President Lincoln elected to a second term.
November 9
1861: Union General Halleck is assigned command of the Department of the Missouri.
Union General Sherman is relieved of command after reporting numerous Confederate movements and stating that 200,000 troops are needed to win in the Mississippi valley. Sherman is reassigned to the Department of the Missouri amid accusations of insanity.
Union troops capture Beaufort, SC, cutting off communications between Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC.
Mary Chesnut writes, “Yankee invaders have succeeded in establishing themselves on our soil----Oh God help us!”
Pro-Union uprising in eastern Kentucky causing concern for Confederates there who want to hold the state for the CSA.
1862: Blockade runner Robert E. Lee captured off the North Carolina coast.
A Union reconnaissance force captures 34 Confederates at Fredericksburg, VA.
Union General Burnside officially assumes command of the Army of the Potomac.
1863: US President Lincoln attends a performance of Marble Heart starring the actor John Wilkes Booth.
Union troops head toward New Kent Court House, VA amid an early snowfall.
Skirmishing between Union troops and pro-Confederate Indians in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory (Oklahoma).
US President Lincoln receives a letter complaining that the draft is not being enforced in Pennsylvania.
1864; Union General Schofield and XXIII Corps passes through Nashville, TN and is heading toward Pulaski, TN.
Union General Sherman begins planning to advance on Savannah, GA. The overall plan is to march to Savannah, then swing north into the Carolinas. The long range goal is to join up with General Grant in Virginia, over 1000 miles away.
November 10
1861: Skirmishes at Guyandot and Gauley Bridge, VA.
1862: Union General McClellan departs the Army of the Potomac with much ceremony.
1863: Ft Sumter continues to be bombarded at the average rate of 600 shells a day.
1864: Confederate General Early takes one more shot at Union General Sheridan, despite the fact that Early’s army is mostly destroyed. Confederates move from New Market, VA.
Confederate General Breckenridge moves his forces into East Tennessee and finds Union forces waiting for him at Bull’s Gap.
Confederate General Forrest reaches Corinth, MS en route to join General Hood’s army.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that coal is selling for $90 for a 25 bushel load.
1865: Confederate Captain Henry Wirz, superintendent of Andersonville, GA prison, is executed in Washington, DC, the only one from either side to be convicted of war crimes.
November 11
1861: Celebrations marking the appointment of General McClellan as General-in-Chief of the Union Army include a torchlight parade through the streets of Washington, DC.
An article in the Keokuk, IA, Daily Gate City highlights the work of women in the US Sanitary Commission and calls for men not to limit them.
1862: Union General Burnside’s first act as army commander is to change the plan General McClellan had formed for an assault on Richmond, VA. Burnside begins formulating a plan to advance on the Confederate Capital by way of Fredericksburg, VA.
1863: Confederate General Longstreet and his troops reach the end of the rail line at Loudon, TN. Wagons are now used to carry supplies and the men start marching as they advance on Knoxville, TN.
Skirmishing at Greenleaf Prairie, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Natchez, MS, and Vermillion Bayou, LA.
1864: Union and Confederate forces clash at Bull’s Gap, TN starting two days of battles that result in Union troops being driven off. Battle ends on November 13 as a Confederate victory.
Union General Sherman’s troops begin destroying anything of value at Atlanta and Rome, GA. His army is amassing as much supplies as the wagons can carry and they plan to live off the land as they march. It is a major risk in 19th Century warfare to advance more than 100 miles without a supply base. Sherman has decided that there will not be a supply base for his march.
US President Lincoln reveals to his Cabinet in a meeting how he would have handled the situation if he lost the election. Secretary of State Seward remarked that McClellan would have done nothing during the transition period.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, refuses to take an oath not to escape from Millen, GA prison.
November 12
1861: Union General McClellan reforms the Union command structure with a series of departments. The overall Department of the West is divided into the Department of New Mexico (Colonel Canby), Department of Kansas, consisting of Kansas, the Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Nebraska, Colorado, and Dakota Territory (General Hunter), and the Department of Missouri, consisting of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Western Kentucky (General Halleck). Other departments include the Department of the Ohio (Eastern Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee) under General Buell and the Department of Western Virginia under General Rosecrans. General McClellan takes control of the Department of the Potomac, which includes Virginia.
1862: Union victories have left General Rosecrans overextended, fortunately the Confederates do not have a commander that can take advantage of the situation, they have General Bragg!
1863: Pro-Union delegates meet on how to get Arkansas back into the Union.
1864: Union and Confederate troops skirmish near Cedar Creek, VA.
Confederate General Longstreet’s forces on the move from Loudon, TN.
Union General Sherman’s troops begin pulling down most of the structures in Atlanta, GA.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, has become a clerk with a Surgeon White in the prison hospital.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that the prisoners receive news of US President Lincoln's re-election.
November 13
1861: US President Lincoln visits General McClellan at his home. Not only does the general ignore the President, but he heads for bed!
Dr Mary Walker writes a letter home describing conditions in her hospital, located in the US Patent Office in Washington, DC. She is currently helping 80 patients.
1862: Confederate General Bragg advances on Murfreesboro, TN as some of his troops clash with Union forces near Nashville, TN.
Union forces under General Grant take Holly Springs, MS.
1863: Skirmishing at Palmyra and Blythe’s Ferry, TN.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that flour now sells for $110 a pound, corn meal for $20 a bushel, bacon for $3 a hoground, lard for $2.30 a pound, butter for $4 a pound, eggs for $2.25 a dozen, regular potatoes for $8 a bushel, sweet potatoes for $12 a bushel, candles for $4 a pound, salt for .45 a pound, coffee for $9 a pound, sugar for $3.25 a pound, molasses for $15 a gallon, rice for .35 a pound, whiskey for as much as $70 a gallon, apple brandy for $50 a gallon, rum for $50 a gallon, French brandy for as much as $100 a gallon, beef and mutton selling for $1.50 a pound, pork for $2 a pound, shoe leather (sole) for $7.50 a pound, shoe leather (uppers) for $8 a pound, harness leather for $6 a pound, hides for $2.75 each, tanning oil for $5 a gallon, and common tobacco for $1.25 a pound.
Union Sergeant John Ransom and other Union prisoners have reached the Confederate Prison at Belle Island, located in the middle of the James River at Richmond, VA.
1864: Confederate General Early orders his army to rejoin General Lee at Petersburg, VA. Union forces have complete control of the Shenandoah Valley and will keep it for the remainder of the war.
Confederate General Hood establishes his headquarters at Florence, AL.
Union Sergeant John Ransom refuses a job as a clerk at Camp Lawton (Millen, GA).
November 14
1861: Union General McClellan orders General Halleck to clean up the corruption he believes was rampant in General Fremont’s former command.
1862: Union General Burnside organizes the Army of the Potomac into three “Grand Divisions.” Right Grand Division (General Sumner), made up of II Corps (General Couch) and IX Corps (General Wilcox), Center Grand Division (General Hooker), made up of III Corps (General Stoneman) and V Corps (General Butterfield), and the Left Grand Division (General Franklin), made up of I Corps (General Reynolds) and VI Corps (General Smith). Detached units include the XI Corps at Manassas Junction, VA and the XII Corps at Harper’s Ferry, WV.
1863: Union General Sherman and 17,000 men arrive at Bridgeport, AL.
A disadvantage of the Confederate Government’s decentralized system is made apparent when the threat of force is considered to make North Carolina farmers pay taxes. The farmers feel that they owe more to the state than the central government. Isn’t that what they are fighting for?
A letter from a US Christian Commission member makes it plain that not only is it their mission to help soldiers, but lead them to Christ as well.
1864: Bad weather forces Confederate General Breckenridge to order his troops back into Virginia.
After losing the Presidential Election, George McClellan resigns from the US Army.
Union General Schofield reaches Pulaski, TN, bringing the Union force there to 18,000 with 5000 in reserve.
Confederate General Forrest reaches Florence, AL and joins General Hood.
Union General Kilpatrick’s cavalry leaves Atlanta, GA while General Slocum’s XX Corps heads for Decatur, GA.
November 15
1861: USS San Jacinto reaches Hampton Roads, VA and the commander, Captain John Wilkes, reports that he has the Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell on board.
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) organizing assistance for Union hospitals.
1862: Union General Burnside begins moving his army from Warrenton, VA to Fredericksburg, VA.
1863: Confederate General Wheeler’s cavalry joined General Longstreet’s army.
Union General Grant plans for the breakout from Chattanooga, TN by using General Sherman’s and Hooker’s troops for the main push.
1864: Atlanta, GA is now a wasteland as Union troops prepare to leave.
November 16
1861: Upon the news of the captured Confederate commissioners reaching Washington, DC, US President Lincoln is urged to release them immediately in order to avoid diplomatic trouble with Britain. Lincoln refuses.
Private Robert Sneeden, 40th NY, writes about a theatre being built for the entertainment of Union soldiers in Alexandria, VA. He also describes the daily whiskey ration.
1862: Union General Burnside’s reasoning for going through Fredericksburg, VA is simple; Washington, DC can still be covered, supply routes are shorter, and the distance to Richmond, VA is only 75 miles. The only question is whether he can pull it off.
1863: Union forces capture Corpus Christi, TX.
Battle of Campbell’s Station, TN. Union commander: General Ambrose Burnside. Confederate commander: General James Longstreet. Both armies are on parallel roads but Burnside reaches Campbell’s Station first. Longstreet responds by attacking both Union flanks. Burnside decides to retreat back toward Knoxville, TN. Confederate victory. Longstreet besieges Knoxville.
An article in the Philadelphia Press calls for higher wages for workers as the costs of goods and services rise.
1864: March to the Sea begins as Union General Sherman severs all communications with the North and begins to move his army toward Savannah, GA. The force of 60,000 carries 20 day’s rations. Opposing them are 10,000 Confederate infantry, 300 militia, and 10,000 cavalry. The Union force is marching in two columns, the first toward Lovejoy Station, GA and the other towards Augusta, GA.
Skirmish at Strawberry Plains, TN.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that prisoners are now being taken out of Camp Lawton (Millen, GA), as word of Union General Sherman's army is known. Rumor is they are going to Florida.
November 17
1861: Provisional Confederate Congress gathers in Richmond, VA.
Union General McClellan writes a letter to his wife in which he makes disparaging remarks about President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward.
1862: Union vanguard reaches Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, VA and finds the Rappahannock River too deep to march across. Pontoon bridges are needed. A Confederate battery gives the Union troops a welcome but is soon suppressed. An idea was floated to send troops across to find suitable fords but General Burnside will not hear of it. He orders no action until the bridging material and the rest of the army arrives. Confederate General Lee is not idle, he is sending artillery and cavalry to the area to hold things until the rest of the army can get there.
CSS Alabama arrives at Martinique.
1863: Union troops drive off Confederates on Mustang Island, near Aransas Pass, TX.
US President Lincoln begins writing the speech he will give at Gettysburg, PA.
1864: CS President Davis denounces any plans by the seceded states to make a separate peach with the Union.
Skirmish at Flat Creek, TN.
November 18
1861: Confederate Congress opens its session in Richmond, VA. All is not united in the CSA as pro-Union groups meet in North Carolina and a secessionist government is formed in Kentucky, meaning that state has two governments.
Union Commodore Porter is assigned the task of amassing vessels for a planned attack on New Orleans.
1862: USS San Jacinto arrives off Martinique to prevent CSS Alabama from leaving. The Confederate ship does anyway.
Skirmish at Rural Hills, TN.
Confederate General Stuart has confirmed that the Union army has left Warrenton, VA and is headed for Fredericksburg, VA. General Lee orders General Longstreet to march there immediately.
1863: US President Lincoln departs Washington, DC for Gettysburg, PA. He is accompanied by Secretary of State Seward and the Ambassador from France. They will arrive that evening.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, is back in the field near Rappahannock Station, VA.
1864: Confederate General Hood finally gets his army across the Tennessee River at Florence, AL.
CS President Davis orders General Howard Cobb to do everything possible to stop Union General Sherman’s march in Georgia.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that to get in a months groceries would cost him $762.50. Three years ago that amount would buy a years worth.
November 19
1861: CS President Davis, in his inaugural message, calls for the building of additional rail links throughout the Confederacy in order to aid the war effort.
Union General Halleck assumes command of the Department of the Missouri in St Louis, MO.
Mary Chesnut writes, “The report is that Mason & Slidell are in Fortress Monroe--- taken from under the British flag. Oh that we could hear a growl from the British Lion.”
1862: James Seddon appointed Confederate Secretary of War.
Confederate General Jackson ordered to march his troops to Fredericksburg, VA in order to aid General Lee.
1863: US President Lincoln appears at the dedication of the first National Cemetery at Gettysburg, PA. After orator Edmund Everett delivers a two and one half hour speech, Lincoln then steps up and delivers a two minute speech that becomes one of the greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address. The speech was so quick that the photographer did not have time to set up his equipment, so there is no photographic record of the event except for a shot taken afterwards.
1864: Georgia Governor Brown calls on all men between 16 and 55 to help defend the state. Not many show up.
Confederate General Hood begins his invasion of Tennessee.
November 20
1861: Union General McClellan reviews 60,000 troops in Washington, DC.
Skirmish at Butler, MO.
Union troops engage Confederate sympathizers southeast of Los Angeles, CA.
1862: Confederate General Lee arrives at Fredericksburg, VA.
On the South Carolina Sea Islands, presently under Union occupation, newly freed African-Americans are being educated with great success.
1863: Union General Sherman’s movement at Chattanooga is hampered by rain, but they will soon be in place to hit the Confederate right flank.
1864: Union General Sherman’s army continues to advance through Georgia, skirmishing at Clinton, East Macon, and Griswoldville. Confederate defenders can not even slow the Federals down.
November 21
1861: Judah Benjamin replaces as Confederate Secretary of War by Leroy Walker.
Confederate General Tlighman is given command of Forts Henry and Donaldson in Tennessee.
1862: Confederate General Bragg sends General Forrest on a mission to cut Union communications.
Union General Burnside sends a letter to the Mayor of Fredericksburg, VA ordering the town’s surrender. The mayor’s reaction was to evacuate the town.
1863: US President Lincoln suffers a smallpox attack.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a suit of clothes can be sold in Richmond for $700 and boots for $200. He also saw an opossum in a butcher’s shop sold for $10. $18 Confederate now equals $1 in gold.
1864: Confederate General Hood is now in a race with Union General Schofield’s troops to the Duck River in Tennessee.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that $1 in gold will buy $40 Confederate. Oak wood is selling for $100 a cord. Apples are selling for $100 a barrel.
November 22
1861: Union held Ft Pickens, outside Pensacola, FL exchanges fire with Confederate batteries in the area.
1862: Union General Sumner sends his own message, promising not to fire on Fredericksburg, VA unless fired at.
1863: Union general Sherman’s troops are now ready to start the Battle of Chattanooga, TN.
1864: Union Generals Thomas and Schofield begin moving troops toward Columbia, TN in response to Confederate General Hood’s movements.
Advance Union units under General Slocum reach the Georgia capital of Milledgeville, southeast of Atlanta. (Atlanta was not the capital at the time.)
Union troops under General Charles Walcutt are stopped by Confederate cavalry under General Wheeler near Griswoldville, GA. They manage to hold off repeated attacks until reinforcements arrive.
Union Sergeant John Ransom has been taken out of Camp Lawton (Millen, GA) and placed in a train bound for Blackshear, GA, near the Florida line.
November 23
1861: A second day of artillery fire at Ft Pickens, FL convinces the Confederates that they can not take the fort. This fort will remain in Union hands during the entire war.
1862: The entire Union Army of the Potomac is on the bank of the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, VA and no bridging material has arrived. The time for an easy occupation of the town has now passed.
1863: Battle of Chattanooga, TN. Union commander: General Ulysses Grant. Confederate commander: General Braxton Bragg. Day One; Union troops under General Sherman seize Orchard Knob near Missionary Ridge.
1864: Confederate General Hardee assumes command of the troops trying to oppose Union General Sherman’s marching army. It is interesting to note the method used to procure supplies. Using volunteers called “bummers”; these men would leave the army as the day’s marching began, usually on foot. In the evening they would return on a horse or a mule, towing a cow, and loaded down with chickens, pigs, grain, bread, and vegetables, which were turned over to the quartermaster so dinner could be cooked. The horses and mules were employed in pulling wagons and artillery. Other bummers, who were bakers in civilian life, would take over a mill where they would grind grain into flour and then bake soft bread all day long. Afterwards the mill would be destroyed to deny its use to the Confederates. A few of the bummers were thieves in civilian life so a few valuables could be found on their person.
Union Sergeant John Ransom escapes from the prison train near Doctortown, GA and hides in nearby woods.
November 24
1861: Union forces take Tybee Island, Savannah, GA.
Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell are taken to Boston, MA and imprisoned.
1862; Skirmish at Beaver Creek, MO.
US President Lincoln writes to Union General Schurz criticizing fellow Republicans for trying to run the war for him.
1863: Battle of Chattanooga, TN. Day Two; Union General Hooker’s corps storm Lookout Mountain, with the resulting fight being called “The Battle Above the Clouds.” General Sherman attempts an assault on Missionary Ridge but is stopped by a ravine.
1864: Union General Schofield’s forces reach Columbia, TN and begin digging in, all the while being attacked by Confederate General Forrest’s cavalry.
Union General Kilpatrick makes a feint in order to get Confederate General Wheeler to concentrate his forces near Atlanta, GA.
In New York, NY, Confederate agents attempt to set several hotels on fire. The fires do not take hold and the agents are forced to flee to Canada.
November 25
1861: First load of armor needed to transform USS Merrimack into CSS Virginia reach Norfolk Navy Yard, VA.
CSS Sumter causing havoc in the Atlantis as another Federal ship is taken.
A blockade is taken off the South Carolina coast.
1862: Union General Grant has restored his lines of communication and is resuming the offensive against Vicksburg, MS.
1863: Battle of Chattanooga, TN. Day Three; Union General sends his men to the foot of Missionary Ridge but they proceed to the summit where they rout the Confederates. A brief counterattack splits the Federal line but that does not hold long. Bragg has no choice but to run and the Siege of Chattanooga ends. Union victory. A noted participant in the Union assault was a First Lieutenant named Arthur McArthur, who won the Medal of Honor. His son was General Douglas McArthur, commander of US forces in the Pacific during World War II.
1864: Confederate agents attempt to set New York, NY on fire by torching 10 hotels and Barnum’s Museum. This was a dismal failure, thankfully. They used a method of “Greek Fire” to start the blaze, but left the windows closed, so the oxygen in the room was used up.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that he is receiving help from slaves in the local area.
November 26
1861: Pro-Union delegates at Wheeling, Western Virginia call for the formation of State of West Virginia.
Captain Wilkes of USS San Jacinto treated to a lavish dinner at Boston, MA.
At Savannah, GA, Confederates at Ft Pulaski exchange fire with Federal warships with no effect.
Another Union ship falls to CSS Sumter in the Atlantic.
1862: Skirmish at Summerville, MS.
1863: Confederate General Hood’s infantry reach Columbia, TN and begin to probe Union defenses while looking to cross the Duck River.
Confederate General Wheeler’s cavalry engage two Union cavalry regiments near Atlanta, GA.
Union General Meade is attempting to turn Confederate General Lee’s right flank along the Rapidan River, VA.
Confederate General Cleburne’s troops fight a delaying action at Ringgold Gap, TN to cover General Bragg’s retreat to Dalton, GA.
1864: Heavy storms are making it difficult for Union General Schofield to cross the Duck River, TN as Confederate general Hood’s army arrives.
November 27
1861: British steamer Trent arrives in England. Reports about her boarding by USS San Jacinto are soon sent to London.
Preparations are made for the assault on New Orleans, LA with plans made to seize Ship Island, off Gulfport, MS, as a first step.
Union Secretary of War Cameron receives a letter from William Jones of Oberlin, OH expressing the desire of many African-Americans to serve in the Union Army and Navy.
1862: US President Lincoln visits the Army of the Potomac campsite near Fredericksburg, VA and confers with General Burnside.
1863: Confederate General Morgan and a few of his officers escape from a prison at Columbus, OH.
Union General Meade runs into Confederate General Lee’s right flank, now along positions Mine Run, VA.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, and several assistants were sleeping in an abandoned house near Culpepper, VA when they were captured by Confederates under Colonel Mosby.
1864: Union General Butler’s headquarters, the steamer Greyhound is blown up with no serious injuries.
Union General Schofield begins crossing the Duck River, TN in darkness.
Calvary engagement at Waynesboro, GA.
November 28
1861: Missouri is admitted to the Confederacy.
Union troops at Port Royal, SC seize slaves and foodstuffs in accordance with the Confiscation Act, allowing the seizure of any material that can help the Confederacy.
1862; Union General Grant continues his advance against Confederate General Van Dorn in Mississippi. Grant is now receiving assistance in the form of a Union column under General Hovey coming in from Arkansas.
1863: Union and Confederate troops skirmish along Mine Run, VA but nothing else develops. Union General Meade orders a corps to find a way around Confederate General Lee’s southern flank.
1864: Being hampered by bad weather and having spotted Confederate General Hood’s flanking maneuver, Union General Schofield pulls out of Columbia, TN and begin moving to the nearby town of Franklin.
Confederate General Wheeler engages Union General Kilpatrick at Buck Head Creek, but is forces to retire after high causalities among his troopers.
Joint Union Army/Navy force lands at Boyd’s Landing, SC to cut the Savannah-Charleston railroad.
Confederate General Rosser attacks the Baltimore and Ohio line at New Creek, VA.
November 29
1861: The former Federal frigate USS Merrimac, captured by the Confederates at Gosport Navy Yard, VA, has been renamed CSS Virginia and the process has begun to convert the vessel into an ironclad vessel.
1862; Confederate Army of Northern Virginia adopts a formal corps structure with General Longstreet commanding I Corps and General Jackson commanding II Corps.
Union troops building a supply base at Aquila Creek, VA to support the Fredericksburg operation.
Holly Springs, MS captured by Union troops.
Skirmish at Cane Hill, AR.
An article in the Chicago Times reported on a meeting in Dixon, Il to be held on December 1 to address what is felt to be an unfair advantage that Easterners have in getting military contracts and tax breaks.
1863: Confederate General Longstreet launches an attack on Ft Sanders, at Knoxville, TN, but stalls after 20 minutes.
The Union corps moving around Confederate General Lee’s right flank wave found the way clear and that the Confederates could be surrounded.
1864: Confederate General Hood’s forces converge at Spring Hill, TN to try and cut off Union General Schofield’s troops. Hood fails and Schofield completes his move to Franklin, TN.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes about finally going to Savannah, GA. Afterwards onwards to Charleston, SC to await exchange.
November 30
1861: British Government in extreme uproar about the boarding of the vessel Trent. Lord Russell, the Foreign Secretary labeled it an “act of aggression” and prepared to recall Lord Lyons, UK Minister (Ambassador) to the US.
A Quaker group publishes an article stating its opposition to war for any reason, even emancipation.
John Sullivan Dwight, a Boston, MA music critic, writes an article calling for people to go on with cultural pursuits as if no war is going on.
1862: Confederate Captain Semmes moves his base of operations to the Leeward Islands. While in transit his ship, CSS Alabama, is approached by USS Vanderbilt but the Federal vessel does not catch her.
Confederate General Jackson’s corps arrives at Fredericksburg, VA.
1863: Union V and VI Corps are sent around the Confederate left at mine Run, VA. When everything was in place, the attack is called off. It does not help that freezing rain is also falling.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes about reaching Richmond, VA and being placed into Libby prison.
1864: Battle of Franklin, TN. Union commander: General John Schofield. Confederate commander: General John Hood. Union forces reach Franklin at dawn and begin digging in. Hood arrives late and launches a frontal attack, breaking the Union line but not driving them off. At the end of the day, Hood has lost 6500 men, including five generals. Schofield manages to pull his troops out and move to Nashville. Confederates hold the field but the army is shattered. Hood decides to continue to advance on Nashville.
Joint Union Army/Navy force engage Confederates at Honey Hill, SC but pulls back after dark.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that he is once again a prisoner, having been betrayed by a local woman to Georgia home guards.
Birthdays:
Confederate Diplomat James Mason, 1798
Confederate General Theophilus Holmes, 1804
Union Admiral John Dahlgren, 1809
Confederate General Joseph Finegan, 1810
Union General Andrew Humphreys, 1810
Union Colonel August Willich, 1810
Confederate General Ben McCulloch, 1811
Confederate General Jesse Finley, 1812
Union General Joseph Hooker, 1814
Confederate General Joseph Hardee, 1815
Confederate General Jubal Early, 1816
Confederate General William Walker, 1816
Union general Edward Canby, 1817
John Bigelow, US Consul General to Paris, France, 1817
Union General Speed Smith Fry, 1817
Confederate General Richard Garnett, 1817
Union General Benjamin Butler, 1818
Confederate Quartermaster General Alexander Lawton, 1818
Union General Benjamin Prentiss, 1819
Confederate Captain Henry Wirz, commander of Andersonville, GA prison, 1823
Union General Franz Sigel, 1824
Confederate General Ambrose Powell (A.P.) Hill, 1825
Union general Edward Wild, 1825
Union General William Lytle, 1826
Union General Alfred Terry, 1827
Confederate mapmaker Jedediah Hotchkiss, 1828
Union General James Birdseye McPherson, 1828
Union General Oliver Howard, 1830
Confederate General Albert Jenkins, 1830
Union General James Garfield, 20th President of the United States, 1831
Union General William Averell, 1832
Dr Mary Walker, Union Surgeon, 1832
Union Nurse and author of Hospital Sketches and Little Women Louisa May Alcott, 1832
Union General Thomas Ransom, 1834
Lt Col Arthur J.L. Fremantle, a British officer who observed the Battle of Gettysburg, PA, 1835
Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee, 1835
Union General Godfrey Weitzel, 1835
Union Naval Lieutenant William Cushing, who led the raid on CSS Albemarle, 1842
1861: Union General Fremont finally receives the order relieving him, but he arrests the messenger. Meanwhile, Confederate General Price has moved too far for Fremont to do anything.
Skirmishing continues in Western Virginia.
Union Naval fleet sailing for Port Royal, SC runs into weather problems off Cape Hatteras, NC, losing one transport (USS Sabine) in the process.
Union General Winfield Scott formally retires from the US Army. He had been in the service since the War of 1812.
1862: Confederates flee Plymouth, NC as Union naval forces seize the town.
Skirmishing at Philomont, VA.
An article in the Cincinnati, OH Gazette calls for the mechanization of farming to ease the labor shortage causes by many farmers joining the Union Army.
1863: Ft Sumter, SC bombarded by Federal siege batteries.
Union General Averill leads his cavalry on raids behind Confederate lines in WV.
Union General Sherman’s forces are enroute to Chattanooga, stopping at Eastport, TN.
1864: Confederate General Hood finds neither the rail line to Decatur, AL repaired nor has he received the supplies that he has ordered. This will hamper his operations.
Two divisions of the Union XVI Corps, who were recently in Missouri, move to rejoin General Thomas at Nashville, TN.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that he has arrived at Camp Lawton (Millen, GA).
November 2
1861: Union General Fremont sees the light and gives up command of the Department of Missouri.
1862: CSS Alabama leaves Nova Scotia for the waters near Bermuda.
Cavalry action at Bloomfield, VA.
Union General Grant moves his forces toward Holly Springs, MS to engage Confederate General Van Dorn’s troops.
1863: Union General Banks lands troops at Brazos Santiago, TX in another attempt to invade Texas.
US President Lincoln accepts a last minute invitation to say a few words at the dedication ceremony for a new military cemetery at Gettysburg, PA.
CS President Davis delivers a speech to embattled residents in Charleston, SC as Ft Sumter is bombarded again.
1864: New York, NY officials are warned of a Confederate plot to burn the city.
Confederate General Forrest’s fleet suffers a defeat at Johnsonville, TN.
November 3
1861: Small scale action in Western Virginia continues.
1862: Skirmishing continues in Loudon County, VA.
1863: Confederate cavalry attack Collierville, TN but are forced back to Mississippi when Union reinforcements arrive.
Union General Sherman detaches General Dodge’s division to rebuild the railroad from Memphis, TN to Stevenson, AL.
1864: Union IV Corps reaches Pulaski, TN. At the same time, one of Confederate General Forrest’s gunboats, the Undine, repulse three Federal boats on the Tennessee River.
November 4
1861: Union fleet regroups off Port Royal Sound, SC.
Union General McClellan has been organizing and training the Army of the Potomac, making himself popular in the process. He ignores calls from the Lincoln Administration to do any kind of offensive action. McClellan also begins criticizing the President, both publicly and privately.
Confederate General Jackson begins to moves his forces toward the Shenandoah Valley, VA.
1862: Union forces seize Hamilton, NC, chasing the same Confederates who fled Plymouth.
US Congressional elections end with Democrats gaining in many states, but Republicans maintain control of the US House of Representatives.
An article in the Philadelphia, PA Public Ledger illustrates the effect of a shortage of cotton on other industries, such as paper manufacturing.
An article in the Charleston, SC Mercury calls on Confederate citizens to save their rags for industrial use.
1863: Confederate General Bragg orders General Longstreet to move against Union General Burnside in Eastern Tennessee.
Union troops under General Banks capture Brownsville, TX.
1864: Confederate General Forrest attacks the Union supply base at Johnsonville, TN causing $2,000,000 in damage. This after he loses his fleet.
Confederate General Breckenridge leads a raid into east Tennessee from Virginia.
November 5
1861: Because of inclement weather, the Port Royal, SC assault is postponed until November 7.
1862: Union task force continues up the Roanoke River NC, but turns back when illness strikes the troops.
US President Lincoln orders General McClellan removed from command of the Army of the Potomac. General Burnside is assigned the command, even though he does not want it.
Skirmishing at Barbee’s Cross Roads and Chester’s Gap, VA.
Confederate attack on Nashville, TN is repulsed.
1863: Confederate Colonel Mosby and his Partisan Rangers continue to cause havoc for Union troops in Northern Virginia.
Union General Grant decides to allow General Burnside to hold Knoxville, TN while he concentrates on driving the Confederates from Chattanooga, TN.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a barrel of flour was sold at an auction for $100, and then sold for $120.
1864: Confederate General Forrest begins to move his forces to rejoin General Hood’s army. Meanwhile, Hood is holding a Council of War with his commanders. He wants to press the advance north while the others are concerned that Union General Sherman will not follow them.
November 6
1860: Abraham Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States. First Republican elected.
1861: Jefferson Davis elected 1st President of the Confederate States. He was previously the provisional President.
Union General Grant leads 3500 men from Cairo, IL down the Mississippi River.
1862: Confederate Generals Longstreet and Jackson are promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned as commanders of First and Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia.
Skirmish at Gerrettsburg, KY.
1863: Union forces under General W.W. Averill defeat Confederates at Droop Mountain, WV, ending all Confederate attempts to reclaim Western Virginia.
Union forces under General Banks take Point Isabel and Brownsville, TX.
There is violent reaction to Maryland’s approval of a new state constitution in which slavery is outlawed. Local slave owners have refused to give up their slaves. One of the methods used to keep African-Americans in bondage was to “apprentice” the children for long periods. In other words, the parents were freed but the children kept.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a common shirt can be bought for $40 per pair. Beef sells for $1.50 a pound and pork for $2 a pound.
Union Sergeant John Ransom, a quartermaster with the 9th MI Cavalry, is captured near Rogersville, TN. He begins to document his experiences.
1864: Authorities in Chicago, IL arrest the leaders in a Confederate plot to liberate prisoners at Camp Douglas and burn down the city.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes about the Presidential election going on up north. He is mad that Union authorities had suspended the exchange system. During a mock vote in the prison, he votes for McClellan.
1865: CSS Shenandoah surrenders to British authorities at Liverpool, UK.
November 7
1861: A Union force under General Grant attacks Confederate positions near Belmont, MO. Confederate General Polk is slow to send aid at first because he thinks the main target of the attack is Columbus, KY. Reinforcements are then sent and Grant has to withdraw in the face of 13,000 men and heavy artillery fire.
Union fleet sweeps up the channel between Hilton Head and St Philip’s Islands, SC and engage the Confederate’s Ft Beauregard. By 11 a.m. the fort was silenced. Another fort, Ft Walker, was also silenced at noon. That afternoon, both islands were in Union hands, giving the Federals a base to support the blockade of the South Carolina Coast.
1862: Union General McClellan receives the order relieving him of command.
Skirmishes at Big Beaver Creek, Mo and Marianna, AR.
1863: Union forces capture Lewisburg, WV.
Union troops cross the Rappahannock River, capturing 1600 of Confederate General Early’s troops and forcing General Lee to retreat across the Rapidan just as his army was about to settle into winter quarters.
Federal troops depart Fayetteville, AR for an expedition into an area known as Frog Bayou.
1864: CS President Davis makes an upbeat address to the Confederate Congress. He then sends orders to General Hood to press on to the Ohio River, but Hood is not that optimistic.
November 8
1861: Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell leave Cuba aboard the British mail steamer Trent. In international waters, the Trent is stopped by USS San Jacinto, boarded, and Mason and Slidell taken aboard the Union warship. This is in violation of international treaty. This starts the Trent Incident.
1862: Union General Butler orders New Orleans breweries closed, not knowing that General Banks has been appointed to succeed him as commander.
Skirmish at Hudsonville, MS.
1863: Union General Meade’s advance continues with skirmishes at Warrenton and Culpepper Court house, VA.
Skirmishes at Vermillionville and Bayou Junica, LA.
Confederate General Bragg is conducting a purge of all senior commanders in his army. The latest to get his walking papers is General D.H. Hill, who is replaced by General Breckenridge.
1864: US President Lincoln elected to a second term.
November 9
1861: Union General Halleck is assigned command of the Department of the Missouri.
Union General Sherman is relieved of command after reporting numerous Confederate movements and stating that 200,000 troops are needed to win in the Mississippi valley. Sherman is reassigned to the Department of the Missouri amid accusations of insanity.
Union troops capture Beaufort, SC, cutting off communications between Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC.
Mary Chesnut writes, “Yankee invaders have succeeded in establishing themselves on our soil----Oh God help us!”
Pro-Union uprising in eastern Kentucky causing concern for Confederates there who want to hold the state for the CSA.
1862: Blockade runner Robert E. Lee captured off the North Carolina coast.
A Union reconnaissance force captures 34 Confederates at Fredericksburg, VA.
Union General Burnside officially assumes command of the Army of the Potomac.
1863: US President Lincoln attends a performance of Marble Heart starring the actor John Wilkes Booth.
Union troops head toward New Kent Court House, VA amid an early snowfall.
Skirmishing between Union troops and pro-Confederate Indians in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory (Oklahoma).
US President Lincoln receives a letter complaining that the draft is not being enforced in Pennsylvania.
1864; Union General Schofield and XXIII Corps passes through Nashville, TN and is heading toward Pulaski, TN.
Union General Sherman begins planning to advance on Savannah, GA. The overall plan is to march to Savannah, then swing north into the Carolinas. The long range goal is to join up with General Grant in Virginia, over 1000 miles away.
November 10
1861: Skirmishes at Guyandot and Gauley Bridge, VA.
1862: Union General McClellan departs the Army of the Potomac with much ceremony.
1863: Ft Sumter continues to be bombarded at the average rate of 600 shells a day.
1864: Confederate General Early takes one more shot at Union General Sheridan, despite the fact that Early’s army is mostly destroyed. Confederates move from New Market, VA.
Confederate General Breckenridge moves his forces into East Tennessee and finds Union forces waiting for him at Bull’s Gap.
Confederate General Forrest reaches Corinth, MS en route to join General Hood’s army.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that coal is selling for $90 for a 25 bushel load.
1865: Confederate Captain Henry Wirz, superintendent of Andersonville, GA prison, is executed in Washington, DC, the only one from either side to be convicted of war crimes.
November 11
1861: Celebrations marking the appointment of General McClellan as General-in-Chief of the Union Army include a torchlight parade through the streets of Washington, DC.
An article in the Keokuk, IA, Daily Gate City highlights the work of women in the US Sanitary Commission and calls for men not to limit them.
1862: Union General Burnside’s first act as army commander is to change the plan General McClellan had formed for an assault on Richmond, VA. Burnside begins formulating a plan to advance on the Confederate Capital by way of Fredericksburg, VA.
1863: Confederate General Longstreet and his troops reach the end of the rail line at Loudon, TN. Wagons are now used to carry supplies and the men start marching as they advance on Knoxville, TN.
Skirmishing at Greenleaf Prairie, Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Natchez, MS, and Vermillion Bayou, LA.
1864: Union and Confederate forces clash at Bull’s Gap, TN starting two days of battles that result in Union troops being driven off. Battle ends on November 13 as a Confederate victory.
Union General Sherman’s troops begin destroying anything of value at Atlanta and Rome, GA. His army is amassing as much supplies as the wagons can carry and they plan to live off the land as they march. It is a major risk in 19th Century warfare to advance more than 100 miles without a supply base. Sherman has decided that there will not be a supply base for his march.
US President Lincoln reveals to his Cabinet in a meeting how he would have handled the situation if he lost the election. Secretary of State Seward remarked that McClellan would have done nothing during the transition period.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, refuses to take an oath not to escape from Millen, GA prison.
November 12
1861: Union General McClellan reforms the Union command structure with a series of departments. The overall Department of the West is divided into the Department of New Mexico (Colonel Canby), Department of Kansas, consisting of Kansas, the Indian Territory (Oklahoma), Nebraska, Colorado, and Dakota Territory (General Hunter), and the Department of Missouri, consisting of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Western Kentucky (General Halleck). Other departments include the Department of the Ohio (Eastern Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Tennessee) under General Buell and the Department of Western Virginia under General Rosecrans. General McClellan takes control of the Department of the Potomac, which includes Virginia.
1862: Union victories have left General Rosecrans overextended, fortunately the Confederates do not have a commander that can take advantage of the situation, they have General Bragg!
1863: Pro-Union delegates meet on how to get Arkansas back into the Union.
1864: Union and Confederate troops skirmish near Cedar Creek, VA.
Confederate General Longstreet’s forces on the move from Loudon, TN.
Union General Sherman’s troops begin pulling down most of the structures in Atlanta, GA.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, has become a clerk with a Surgeon White in the prison hospital.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that the prisoners receive news of US President Lincoln's re-election.
November 13
1861: US President Lincoln visits General McClellan at his home. Not only does the general ignore the President, but he heads for bed!
Dr Mary Walker writes a letter home describing conditions in her hospital, located in the US Patent Office in Washington, DC. She is currently helping 80 patients.
1862: Confederate General Bragg advances on Murfreesboro, TN as some of his troops clash with Union forces near Nashville, TN.
Union forces under General Grant take Holly Springs, MS.
1863: Skirmishing at Palmyra and Blythe’s Ferry, TN.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that flour now sells for $110 a pound, corn meal for $20 a bushel, bacon for $3 a hoground, lard for $2.30 a pound, butter for $4 a pound, eggs for $2.25 a dozen, regular potatoes for $8 a bushel, sweet potatoes for $12 a bushel, candles for $4 a pound, salt for .45 a pound, coffee for $9 a pound, sugar for $3.25 a pound, molasses for $15 a gallon, rice for .35 a pound, whiskey for as much as $70 a gallon, apple brandy for $50 a gallon, rum for $50 a gallon, French brandy for as much as $100 a gallon, beef and mutton selling for $1.50 a pound, pork for $2 a pound, shoe leather (sole) for $7.50 a pound, shoe leather (uppers) for $8 a pound, harness leather for $6 a pound, hides for $2.75 each, tanning oil for $5 a gallon, and common tobacco for $1.25 a pound.
Union Sergeant John Ransom and other Union prisoners have reached the Confederate Prison at Belle Island, located in the middle of the James River at Richmond, VA.
1864: Confederate General Early orders his army to rejoin General Lee at Petersburg, VA. Union forces have complete control of the Shenandoah Valley and will keep it for the remainder of the war.
Confederate General Hood establishes his headquarters at Florence, AL.
Union Sergeant John Ransom refuses a job as a clerk at Camp Lawton (Millen, GA).
November 14
1861: Union General McClellan orders General Halleck to clean up the corruption he believes was rampant in General Fremont’s former command.
1862: Union General Burnside organizes the Army of the Potomac into three “Grand Divisions.” Right Grand Division (General Sumner), made up of II Corps (General Couch) and IX Corps (General Wilcox), Center Grand Division (General Hooker), made up of III Corps (General Stoneman) and V Corps (General Butterfield), and the Left Grand Division (General Franklin), made up of I Corps (General Reynolds) and VI Corps (General Smith). Detached units include the XI Corps at Manassas Junction, VA and the XII Corps at Harper’s Ferry, WV.
1863: Union General Sherman and 17,000 men arrive at Bridgeport, AL.
A disadvantage of the Confederate Government’s decentralized system is made apparent when the threat of force is considered to make North Carolina farmers pay taxes. The farmers feel that they owe more to the state than the central government. Isn’t that what they are fighting for?
A letter from a US Christian Commission member makes it plain that not only is it their mission to help soldiers, but lead them to Christ as well.
1864: Bad weather forces Confederate General Breckenridge to order his troops back into Virginia.
After losing the Presidential Election, George McClellan resigns from the US Army.
Union General Schofield reaches Pulaski, TN, bringing the Union force there to 18,000 with 5000 in reserve.
Confederate General Forrest reaches Florence, AL and joins General Hood.
Union General Kilpatrick’s cavalry leaves Atlanta, GA while General Slocum’s XX Corps heads for Decatur, GA.
November 15
1861: USS San Jacinto reaches Hampton Roads, VA and the commander, Captain John Wilkes, reports that he has the Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell on board.
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) organizing assistance for Union hospitals.
1862: Union General Burnside begins moving his army from Warrenton, VA to Fredericksburg, VA.
1863: Confederate General Wheeler’s cavalry joined General Longstreet’s army.
Union General Grant plans for the breakout from Chattanooga, TN by using General Sherman’s and Hooker’s troops for the main push.
1864: Atlanta, GA is now a wasteland as Union troops prepare to leave.
November 16
1861: Upon the news of the captured Confederate commissioners reaching Washington, DC, US President Lincoln is urged to release them immediately in order to avoid diplomatic trouble with Britain. Lincoln refuses.
Private Robert Sneeden, 40th NY, writes about a theatre being built for the entertainment of Union soldiers in Alexandria, VA. He also describes the daily whiskey ration.
1862: Union General Burnside’s reasoning for going through Fredericksburg, VA is simple; Washington, DC can still be covered, supply routes are shorter, and the distance to Richmond, VA is only 75 miles. The only question is whether he can pull it off.
1863: Union forces capture Corpus Christi, TX.
Battle of Campbell’s Station, TN. Union commander: General Ambrose Burnside. Confederate commander: General James Longstreet. Both armies are on parallel roads but Burnside reaches Campbell’s Station first. Longstreet responds by attacking both Union flanks. Burnside decides to retreat back toward Knoxville, TN. Confederate victory. Longstreet besieges Knoxville.
An article in the Philadelphia Press calls for higher wages for workers as the costs of goods and services rise.
1864: March to the Sea begins as Union General Sherman severs all communications with the North and begins to move his army toward Savannah, GA. The force of 60,000 carries 20 day’s rations. Opposing them are 10,000 Confederate infantry, 300 militia, and 10,000 cavalry. The Union force is marching in two columns, the first toward Lovejoy Station, GA and the other towards Augusta, GA.
Skirmish at Strawberry Plains, TN.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that prisoners are now being taken out of Camp Lawton (Millen, GA), as word of Union General Sherman's army is known. Rumor is they are going to Florida.
November 17
1861: Provisional Confederate Congress gathers in Richmond, VA.
Union General McClellan writes a letter to his wife in which he makes disparaging remarks about President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward.
1862: Union vanguard reaches Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, VA and finds the Rappahannock River too deep to march across. Pontoon bridges are needed. A Confederate battery gives the Union troops a welcome but is soon suppressed. An idea was floated to send troops across to find suitable fords but General Burnside will not hear of it. He orders no action until the bridging material and the rest of the army arrives. Confederate General Lee is not idle, he is sending artillery and cavalry to the area to hold things until the rest of the army can get there.
CSS Alabama arrives at Martinique.
1863: Union troops drive off Confederates on Mustang Island, near Aransas Pass, TX.
US President Lincoln begins writing the speech he will give at Gettysburg, PA.
1864: CS President Davis denounces any plans by the seceded states to make a separate peach with the Union.
Skirmish at Flat Creek, TN.
November 18
1861: Confederate Congress opens its session in Richmond, VA. All is not united in the CSA as pro-Union groups meet in North Carolina and a secessionist government is formed in Kentucky, meaning that state has two governments.
Union Commodore Porter is assigned the task of amassing vessels for a planned attack on New Orleans.
1862: USS San Jacinto arrives off Martinique to prevent CSS Alabama from leaving. The Confederate ship does anyway.
Skirmish at Rural Hills, TN.
Confederate General Stuart has confirmed that the Union army has left Warrenton, VA and is headed for Fredericksburg, VA. General Lee orders General Longstreet to march there immediately.
1863: US President Lincoln departs Washington, DC for Gettysburg, PA. He is accompanied by Secretary of State Seward and the Ambassador from France. They will arrive that evening.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, is back in the field near Rappahannock Station, VA.
1864: Confederate General Hood finally gets his army across the Tennessee River at Florence, AL.
CS President Davis orders General Howard Cobb to do everything possible to stop Union General Sherman’s march in Georgia.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that to get in a months groceries would cost him $762.50. Three years ago that amount would buy a years worth.
November 19
1861: CS President Davis, in his inaugural message, calls for the building of additional rail links throughout the Confederacy in order to aid the war effort.
Union General Halleck assumes command of the Department of the Missouri in St Louis, MO.
Mary Chesnut writes, “The report is that Mason & Slidell are in Fortress Monroe--- taken from under the British flag. Oh that we could hear a growl from the British Lion.”
1862: James Seddon appointed Confederate Secretary of War.
Confederate General Jackson ordered to march his troops to Fredericksburg, VA in order to aid General Lee.
1863: US President Lincoln appears at the dedication of the first National Cemetery at Gettysburg, PA. After orator Edmund Everett delivers a two and one half hour speech, Lincoln then steps up and delivers a two minute speech that becomes one of the greatest speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address. The speech was so quick that the photographer did not have time to set up his equipment, so there is no photographic record of the event except for a shot taken afterwards.
1864: Georgia Governor Brown calls on all men between 16 and 55 to help defend the state. Not many show up.
Confederate General Hood begins his invasion of Tennessee.
November 20
1861: Union General McClellan reviews 60,000 troops in Washington, DC.
Skirmish at Butler, MO.
Union troops engage Confederate sympathizers southeast of Los Angeles, CA.
1862: Confederate General Lee arrives at Fredericksburg, VA.
On the South Carolina Sea Islands, presently under Union occupation, newly freed African-Americans are being educated with great success.
1863: Union General Sherman’s movement at Chattanooga is hampered by rain, but they will soon be in place to hit the Confederate right flank.
1864: Union General Sherman’s army continues to advance through Georgia, skirmishing at Clinton, East Macon, and Griswoldville. Confederate defenders can not even slow the Federals down.
November 21
1861: Judah Benjamin replaces as Confederate Secretary of War by Leroy Walker.
Confederate General Tlighman is given command of Forts Henry and Donaldson in Tennessee.
1862: Confederate General Bragg sends General Forrest on a mission to cut Union communications.
Union General Burnside sends a letter to the Mayor of Fredericksburg, VA ordering the town’s surrender. The mayor’s reaction was to evacuate the town.
1863: US President Lincoln suffers a smallpox attack.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a suit of clothes can be sold in Richmond for $700 and boots for $200. He also saw an opossum in a butcher’s shop sold for $10. $18 Confederate now equals $1 in gold.
1864: Confederate General Hood is now in a race with Union General Schofield’s troops to the Duck River in Tennessee.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that $1 in gold will buy $40 Confederate. Oak wood is selling for $100 a cord. Apples are selling for $100 a barrel.
November 22
1861: Union held Ft Pickens, outside Pensacola, FL exchanges fire with Confederate batteries in the area.
1862: Union General Sumner sends his own message, promising not to fire on Fredericksburg, VA unless fired at.
1863: Union general Sherman’s troops are now ready to start the Battle of Chattanooga, TN.
1864: Union Generals Thomas and Schofield begin moving troops toward Columbia, TN in response to Confederate General Hood’s movements.
Advance Union units under General Slocum reach the Georgia capital of Milledgeville, southeast of Atlanta. (Atlanta was not the capital at the time.)
Union troops under General Charles Walcutt are stopped by Confederate cavalry under General Wheeler near Griswoldville, GA. They manage to hold off repeated attacks until reinforcements arrive.
Union Sergeant John Ransom has been taken out of Camp Lawton (Millen, GA) and placed in a train bound for Blackshear, GA, near the Florida line.
November 23
1861: A second day of artillery fire at Ft Pickens, FL convinces the Confederates that they can not take the fort. This fort will remain in Union hands during the entire war.
1862: The entire Union Army of the Potomac is on the bank of the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, VA and no bridging material has arrived. The time for an easy occupation of the town has now passed.
1863: Battle of Chattanooga, TN. Union commander: General Ulysses Grant. Confederate commander: General Braxton Bragg. Day One; Union troops under General Sherman seize Orchard Knob near Missionary Ridge.
1864: Confederate General Hardee assumes command of the troops trying to oppose Union General Sherman’s marching army. It is interesting to note the method used to procure supplies. Using volunteers called “bummers”; these men would leave the army as the day’s marching began, usually on foot. In the evening they would return on a horse or a mule, towing a cow, and loaded down with chickens, pigs, grain, bread, and vegetables, which were turned over to the quartermaster so dinner could be cooked. The horses and mules were employed in pulling wagons and artillery. Other bummers, who were bakers in civilian life, would take over a mill where they would grind grain into flour and then bake soft bread all day long. Afterwards the mill would be destroyed to deny its use to the Confederates. A few of the bummers were thieves in civilian life so a few valuables could be found on their person.
Union Sergeant John Ransom escapes from the prison train near Doctortown, GA and hides in nearby woods.
November 24
1861: Union forces take Tybee Island, Savannah, GA.
Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell are taken to Boston, MA and imprisoned.
1862; Skirmish at Beaver Creek, MO.
US President Lincoln writes to Union General Schurz criticizing fellow Republicans for trying to run the war for him.
1863: Battle of Chattanooga, TN. Day Two; Union General Hooker’s corps storm Lookout Mountain, with the resulting fight being called “The Battle Above the Clouds.” General Sherman attempts an assault on Missionary Ridge but is stopped by a ravine.
1864: Union General Schofield’s forces reach Columbia, TN and begin digging in, all the while being attacked by Confederate General Forrest’s cavalry.
Union General Kilpatrick makes a feint in order to get Confederate General Wheeler to concentrate his forces near Atlanta, GA.
In New York, NY, Confederate agents attempt to set several hotels on fire. The fires do not take hold and the agents are forced to flee to Canada.
November 25
1861: First load of armor needed to transform USS Merrimack into CSS Virginia reach Norfolk Navy Yard, VA.
CSS Sumter causing havoc in the Atlantis as another Federal ship is taken.
A blockade is taken off the South Carolina coast.
1862: Union General Grant has restored his lines of communication and is resuming the offensive against Vicksburg, MS.
1863: Battle of Chattanooga, TN. Day Three; Union General sends his men to the foot of Missionary Ridge but they proceed to the summit where they rout the Confederates. A brief counterattack splits the Federal line but that does not hold long. Bragg has no choice but to run and the Siege of Chattanooga ends. Union victory. A noted participant in the Union assault was a First Lieutenant named Arthur McArthur, who won the Medal of Honor. His son was General Douglas McArthur, commander of US forces in the Pacific during World War II.
1864: Confederate agents attempt to set New York, NY on fire by torching 10 hotels and Barnum’s Museum. This was a dismal failure, thankfully. They used a method of “Greek Fire” to start the blaze, but left the windows closed, so the oxygen in the room was used up.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that he is receiving help from slaves in the local area.
November 26
1861: Pro-Union delegates at Wheeling, Western Virginia call for the formation of State of West Virginia.
Captain Wilkes of USS San Jacinto treated to a lavish dinner at Boston, MA.
At Savannah, GA, Confederates at Ft Pulaski exchange fire with Federal warships with no effect.
Another Union ship falls to CSS Sumter in the Atlantic.
1862: Skirmish at Summerville, MS.
1863: Confederate General Hood’s infantry reach Columbia, TN and begin to probe Union defenses while looking to cross the Duck River.
Confederate General Wheeler’s cavalry engage two Union cavalry regiments near Atlanta, GA.
Union General Meade is attempting to turn Confederate General Lee’s right flank along the Rapidan River, VA.
Confederate General Cleburne’s troops fight a delaying action at Ringgold Gap, TN to cover General Bragg’s retreat to Dalton, GA.
1864: Heavy storms are making it difficult for Union General Schofield to cross the Duck River, TN as Confederate general Hood’s army arrives.
November 27
1861: British steamer Trent arrives in England. Reports about her boarding by USS San Jacinto are soon sent to London.
Preparations are made for the assault on New Orleans, LA with plans made to seize Ship Island, off Gulfport, MS, as a first step.
Union Secretary of War Cameron receives a letter from William Jones of Oberlin, OH expressing the desire of many African-Americans to serve in the Union Army and Navy.
1862: US President Lincoln visits the Army of the Potomac campsite near Fredericksburg, VA and confers with General Burnside.
1863: Confederate General Morgan and a few of his officers escape from a prison at Columbus, OH.
Union General Meade runs into Confederate General Lee’s right flank, now along positions Mine Run, VA.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, and several assistants were sleeping in an abandoned house near Culpepper, VA when they were captured by Confederates under Colonel Mosby.
1864: Union General Butler’s headquarters, the steamer Greyhound is blown up with no serious injuries.
Union General Schofield begins crossing the Duck River, TN in darkness.
Calvary engagement at Waynesboro, GA.
November 28
1861: Missouri is admitted to the Confederacy.
Union troops at Port Royal, SC seize slaves and foodstuffs in accordance with the Confiscation Act, allowing the seizure of any material that can help the Confederacy.
1862; Union General Grant continues his advance against Confederate General Van Dorn in Mississippi. Grant is now receiving assistance in the form of a Union column under General Hovey coming in from Arkansas.
1863: Union and Confederate troops skirmish along Mine Run, VA but nothing else develops. Union General Meade orders a corps to find a way around Confederate General Lee’s southern flank.
1864: Being hampered by bad weather and having spotted Confederate General Hood’s flanking maneuver, Union General Schofield pulls out of Columbia, TN and begin moving to the nearby town of Franklin.
Confederate General Wheeler engages Union General Kilpatrick at Buck Head Creek, but is forces to retire after high causalities among his troopers.
Joint Union Army/Navy force lands at Boyd’s Landing, SC to cut the Savannah-Charleston railroad.
Confederate General Rosser attacks the Baltimore and Ohio line at New Creek, VA.
November 29
1861: The former Federal frigate USS Merrimac, captured by the Confederates at Gosport Navy Yard, VA, has been renamed CSS Virginia and the process has begun to convert the vessel into an ironclad vessel.
1862; Confederate Army of Northern Virginia adopts a formal corps structure with General Longstreet commanding I Corps and General Jackson commanding II Corps.
Union troops building a supply base at Aquila Creek, VA to support the Fredericksburg operation.
Holly Springs, MS captured by Union troops.
Skirmish at Cane Hill, AR.
An article in the Chicago Times reported on a meeting in Dixon, Il to be held on December 1 to address what is felt to be an unfair advantage that Easterners have in getting military contracts and tax breaks.
1863: Confederate General Longstreet launches an attack on Ft Sanders, at Knoxville, TN, but stalls after 20 minutes.
The Union corps moving around Confederate General Lee’s right flank wave found the way clear and that the Confederates could be surrounded.
1864: Confederate General Hood’s forces converge at Spring Hill, TN to try and cut off Union General Schofield’s troops. Hood fails and Schofield completes his move to Franklin, TN.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes about finally going to Savannah, GA. Afterwards onwards to Charleston, SC to await exchange.
November 30
1861: British Government in extreme uproar about the boarding of the vessel Trent. Lord Russell, the Foreign Secretary labeled it an “act of aggression” and prepared to recall Lord Lyons, UK Minister (Ambassador) to the US.
A Quaker group publishes an article stating its opposition to war for any reason, even emancipation.
John Sullivan Dwight, a Boston, MA music critic, writes an article calling for people to go on with cultural pursuits as if no war is going on.
1862: Confederate Captain Semmes moves his base of operations to the Leeward Islands. While in transit his ship, CSS Alabama, is approached by USS Vanderbilt but the Federal vessel does not catch her.
Confederate General Jackson’s corps arrives at Fredericksburg, VA.
1863: Union V and VI Corps are sent around the Confederate left at mine Run, VA. When everything was in place, the attack is called off. It does not help that freezing rain is also falling.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes about reaching Richmond, VA and being placed into Libby prison.
1864: Battle of Franklin, TN. Union commander: General John Schofield. Confederate commander: General John Hood. Union forces reach Franklin at dawn and begin digging in. Hood arrives late and launches a frontal attack, breaking the Union line but not driving them off. At the end of the day, Hood has lost 6500 men, including five generals. Schofield manages to pull his troops out and move to Nashville. Confederates hold the field but the army is shattered. Hood decides to continue to advance on Nashville.
Joint Union Army/Navy force engage Confederates at Honey Hill, SC but pulls back after dark.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that he is once again a prisoner, having been betrayed by a local woman to Georgia home guards.
Birthdays:
Confederate Diplomat James Mason, 1798
Confederate General Theophilus Holmes, 1804
Union Admiral John Dahlgren, 1809
Confederate General Joseph Finegan, 1810
Union General Andrew Humphreys, 1810
Union Colonel August Willich, 1810
Confederate General Ben McCulloch, 1811
Confederate General Jesse Finley, 1812
Union General Joseph Hooker, 1814
Confederate General Joseph Hardee, 1815
Confederate General Jubal Early, 1816
Confederate General William Walker, 1816
Union general Edward Canby, 1817
John Bigelow, US Consul General to Paris, France, 1817
Union General Speed Smith Fry, 1817
Confederate General Richard Garnett, 1817
Union General Benjamin Butler, 1818
Confederate Quartermaster General Alexander Lawton, 1818
Union General Benjamin Prentiss, 1819
Confederate Captain Henry Wirz, commander of Andersonville, GA prison, 1823
Union General Franz Sigel, 1824
Confederate General Ambrose Powell (A.P.) Hill, 1825
Union general Edward Wild, 1825
Union General William Lytle, 1826
Union General Alfred Terry, 1827
Confederate mapmaker Jedediah Hotchkiss, 1828
Union General James Birdseye McPherson, 1828
Union General Oliver Howard, 1830
Confederate General Albert Jenkins, 1830
Union General James Garfield, 20th President of the United States, 1831
Union General William Averell, 1832
Dr Mary Walker, Union Surgeon, 1832
Union Nurse and author of Hospital Sketches and Little Women Louisa May Alcott, 1832
Union General Thomas Ransom, 1834
Lt Col Arthur J.L. Fremantle, a British officer who observed the Battle of Gettysburg, PA, 1835
Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee, 1835
Union General Godfrey Weitzel, 1835
Union Naval Lieutenant William Cushing, who led the raid on CSS Albemarle, 1842
# posted by FSPowers : 6:18 PM
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