Friday, August 25, 2006
An Amateur’s Look at the American Civil War: September
September 1
1861: Union offensive in Western Virginia continues as engagements occur at Boone’s Court House, Blue Creek, and Burlington.
Union General Grant arrives at Cape Girardeau, MO as skirmishing occurs at Bennet’s Mills, MO.
1862: Battle of Chantilly, VA. Union commanders: Generals I.I. Stevens and Phil Kearney. Confederate commander: General Thomas Jackson. Jackson’s troops are in pursuit of General Pope’s army when they run into a blocking force under Stevens and Kearny. The ensuing battle took place in a thunderstorm, which creates a lot of confusion during which both Stevens and Kearny are killed. Jackson is forced to halt his attack and the Federals continue their withdrawal. Confederate victory because the Union forces left the field. As a result of both victories, General Lee begins to envision a plan to take the war into the North.
1863: Confederate troops under General Cabell ambushed Federals at Devil’s Backbone, AR, with no success.
Ft Sumter, SC attacked by USS New Ironsides and six monitors.
Most of Union General Rosecrans’ army has crossed the Tennessee River.
One effect of Northern farmers going off to war is that farm machinery is increasingly in use. The South does not have that luxury.
1864: Union troops cut Confederate General Hardee’s supply and communication lines forcing a retreat toward Lovejoy’s Station, GA. That evening, General Hood orders Atlanta, GA evacuated.
September 2
1861: US President Lincoln rescinds General Fremont’s order freeing slaves in Missouri.
Leonidas Polk, Episcopalian Bishop of Louisiana, is made a Confederate General and given command of troops in Arkansas and Missouri.
Skirmishing at Dallas and dry Wood (Fort Scott), MO.
1862: US president Lincoln orders General McClellan to leave the field and take command of the Washington. DC defenses. Lincoln did complement the general by saying, “If he can’t fight himself, he excels in making others ready to fight.” McClellan has not much time to pull the army together as the Confederates begin to strike north.
Lexington, KY occupied by Confederate troops.
Union General Buell moves toward Nashville, TN.
Union troops withdraw from the Shenandoah Valley, VA leaving a large amount of supplies for the Confederates.
1863: Union troops under General Burnside capture Knoxville, TN.
A Union strike denies the Confederates the use of two captured steamers at Port Conway, VA.
Confederate troops rout a Mexican bandit force that had crossed into Texas.
1864: A telegram is sent from Union General Sherman to US President Lincoln, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won,” as his army captures the city. The 2nd MA is the first into the city.
Union General Grant extends his lines to the southwest of Petersburg, VA cutting off more Confederate avenues of supply.
Confederate General Lee proposes the drafting of slaves as a labor force, freeing white laborers for the ranks.
September 3
1861: Confederate troops under General Gideon Pillow enter Kentucky on their way to occupy the town of Columbus. This violates the proclaimed neutrality of Kentucky.
1862: Confederate troops under General Kirby Smith occupy Frankfort, KY.
USS Essex is fired on by batteries at Natchez, MS. The Federals return fire causes the town’s surrender.
Union General Pope issues a report blaming everyone but himself for the defeat at Manassas, VA. This will result in his removal and reassignment.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, hears about the resignation of Union General Pope and records it in his journal.
1864: US President Lincoln declares September 5 as a day of thanksgiving for the recent victories at Atlanta, GA and Mobile Bat, AL.
Intelligence is received concerning Confederate cavalry around Greenville, TN. Union troopers are sent to investigate.
Confederate General Early, in response to an order from General Lee, sends General R.H. Anderson’s corps to Petersburg, VA. On the way there, they find Union General Sheridan’s army going into camp at Berryville, MD. A short attack on the camp of Union General Crook has no effect.
Spotswood Rice, an African-American serving in the Union Army, expresses hope in a letter to his family that they will be soon reunited as free people.
1865: Around this time, all Indian tribes that were aligned with the Confederacy signs a treaty pledging loyalty to the US.
September 4
1861: Columbus, KY occupied by Confederate troops.
1862: Confederate General Smith’s forces are reinforced in Lexington, KY by General John Morgan’s raiders.
CSS Florida reaches Mobile Bay, AL despite the Federal blockade and that some of the crew are ill with yellow fever. The blockade runner Oreto accomplishes the same feat.
Confederate General Lee begins positioning his army to invade the North.
1863: Union General Rosecrans’ troops have completed the crossing of the Tennessee River, forcing Confederate General Bragg out of his position near Chattanooga, TN.
Rioting in Mobile, AL as a result of food and clothing shortages.
Union gunboats are launched from New Orleans, LA in order to conduct operations along the TX/LA coastline.
Union General Grant, at New Orleans, is injured in a fall from a horse, causing in allegations from his detractors that he was drunk, a charge that would dog him for the rest of the war.
1864: At Greenville, TN, Union cavalry catches Confederate cavalry by surprise, resulting in Confederate General John Morgan being killed and most of his troops either killed or captured.
Confederate General Early brings his whole army up to face Union General Sheridan ay Berryville, MD, but soon has to pull back.
Union General Sheridan orders the city of Atlanta, GA evacuated.
September 5
1861: Union General Grant moves on Paducah, KY in response to the Confederate occupation of Columbus, KY.
US President Lincoln had doubts that General Fremont can handle the situation in Missouri.
1862: CSS Alabama captures a Union merchant vessel off the Azores.
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia begins to march into Maryland.
Meta Morris Grimball writes in her diary that several families that she knows have learned to read and write in order to communicate with their sons now in the Confederate Army.
1863: Union General Rosecrans had divided his army into three columns for the planned assault on Chattanooga, TN.
Union troops bombard Battery Wagner, SC.
An international incident is avoided when the British Government orders two ironclad ships being built for the CS Navy kept in the port of Liverpool.
Poet Walt Whitman writes on his experiences as a nurse in Washington, DC.
1864: Citizens in the Federal occupied areas of Louisiana who have taken a loyalty oath to the US vote to abolish slavery in the state.
Clashes between Confederate General Early’s and Union General Sheridan’s troops at Opequon Creek, VA.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that, "The loss of Atlanta is a stunning blow."
September 6
1861: Union General Grant’s troops seized Paducah, KY. He places General Charles Smith in command while Grant returns to Cairo, IL.
1862: Between September 6-9, CSS Alabama will destroy four more Union ships.
Union General McClellan begins moving his army to shield Washington, DC from Confederate General Lee’s army. No one has figured out where Lee is doing.
Lee, meanwhile, is crossing the Potomac River into Maryland, hoping to get support and volunteers from the state. Lee, Longstreet and Jackson are suffering from minor injuries while A.P. Hill and John Hood are under arrest.
Union General Pope is given command of troops in the Northwest and tasked with putting down a Sioux uprising in Minnesota.
1863: At Little Rock, AR, there is a duel between Confederate Generals Lucius Walker and John Marmaduke. Walker is killed.
During the night, Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island, near Charleston, SC.
Confederate General Bragg orders Chattanooga, TN evacuated.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes in Richmond, VA that apples sell for $35 per barrel, bacon for $2.10 pre hoground, butter for $3 per package, cheese for $2 per pound, corn for $9 per bushel, flour for $25 per barrel, onions for $40 per barrel, potatoes for $6 per bushel, oats for $6 per bushel, wheat for $5 per bushel, lard for $1.75 per pound, eggs for $1.50 per dozen, herb seeds for $10 per bushel, clover for $45 per bushel, brown sugar for $2.15 per pound, coffee for $4.75 per pound, molasses for $15 per gallon, rice for .25 a pound, salt for .45 per pound, soap for .80, candles for $3 a pound, corn whisky for $25 a gallon, rye whisky for $40 per gallon, apple brandy for $30 per gallon, and rum for $28 per gallon.
1864: Bombardment of Ft Sumter, SC resumes.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that the exchange rumors are this time for real. He now has a chance to leave Camp Sumter (Andersonville, GA).
September 7
1861: Union General Rosecrans begins moving against Confederates in Western Virginia. The Confederate force is now under the overall command of General Robert E. Lee.
1862: Union General Buell leaves Nashville, TN with five divisions to protect the Federal supply base at Bowling Green, KY.
Union Army of the Potomac is formed at Rockville, MD while panic grips Washington, DC.
1863: Union forces storm Battery Wagner, SC but find it already evacuated.
1864: Skirmishing continues at Winchester, VA.
Skirmishing at Searcy, AR and Centralia, MO.
The Rev. S.M. Chase, an African-American minister, gives a speech in Baltimore, MD praising US President Lincoln’s work on emancipation.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes about two English cannon arriving in Richmond, VA.
Union Sergeant John Ransom is released from Camp Sumter (Andersonville, GA) and taken to a hospital near Savannah, GA.
September 8
1861: Union troops defeat Confederates at Summersville, Western Virginia.
1862: Union General Banks is given command of the Washington DC defenses while General McClellan takes to the field.
Confederate General Lee issues a proclamation to Maryland that the Army of Northern Virginia is here to liberate the state and to call on Marylanders to rally to the Confederate flag.
1863: Confederate General Bragg pulls back from Chattanooga, TN and heads toward Georgia.
US Marines attempt to storm Ft Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, SC, but are repulsed.
Confederate General Longstreet’s corps is detached and sent to assist General Bragg near Chattanooga, TN.
Union flotilla attempts to sail up Sabine Pass, TX and take Ft Griffin. The attack is halted by 44 Confederates and very accurate artillery fire.
1864: George McClellan accepted the Democratic nomination for President, but shies away from the anti-war platform.
September 9
1861: Union General David Hunter is sent to Missouri to assist General Fremont over the furor over his handling of the situation in the state.
1862: The proclamation that Confederate General Lee issued the previous day has fallen on deaf ears. No one shows up to join the CS Army. At Frederick, MD, Lee issues General Order 191, ordering his army split into three groups. General Jackson will take Harpers Ferry, VA. General McLaws will take Maryland Heights. General Longstreet will move on Boonsboro, MD. Army will reunite after Harpers Ferry has fallen. Afterwards they would press into Pennsylvania. Copies of the order are made and distributed. One of those copies is used as a wrapper for three cigars. That package is soon lost!
1863: CS President Davis orders General Longstreet’s corps to come to the aid of General Bragg.
Union General Rosecrans’ troops advance on a 40-mile front and have separated themselves by as much as a 2-3 day march in mountainous country. Confederate General Bragg has stopped his withdrawal and is preparing to meet Rosecrans.
1864: Engagement at Warrensburg, MO.
Federal ship J.D. Perry attacked at Clarendon, AR.
September 10
1861: Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston is given command of Confederate armies in the West.
Union General Rosecrans attacks Confederate positions at Carnifix Ferry, western, VA forcing a withdrawal of Confederate troops from the region.
1862: Union General McClellan begins to move his army toward Frederick, MD as Confederate General Lee’s army departs. General Jackson begins attacking Harpers Ferry, WV as Generals Longstreet and D.H. Hill head for Hagerstown, MD.
US President Lincoln writes to a group of clergymen based in Chicago who sent him a letter stating that is was God’s Will that the slaves be freed. Lincoln was impatient with ministers who claim to speak for God in certain matters, and he told them that he would seek the “will of Providence” in the matter of emancipation.
1863: Union troops capture Little Rock, AR
Confederate General Bragg launched an attack on Union General Rosecrans’ forces with little success. The Federals push on with no idea to the massive Confederate force waiting for them.
1864: Union forces take Ft Hell, a part of the Confederate defenses surrounding Petersburg, VA.
Union General Grant sends a telegram to General Sherman urging to resume the offensive against Confederate General Hood.
September 11
1861: Confederate General Lee launches an attack on Union forces at Cheat Mountain, Western Virginia, but bad weather and poor coordination of troops causes the attack to fail.
US President Lincoln sends Judge Joseph Holt to St Louis, MO in order to convince General Fremont to soften his stand on freeing Missouri’s slaves.
1862: CS President Davis appoints General Van Dorn commander of Confederate forces in Missouri, except that the army he is supposed to take over, still led by General Price, is marching on Iuka, MO and is intending to head into Tennessee.
1863: Confederate General Bragg receives word that Longstreet’s corps from Virginia is en route to reinforce him. An order to General Polk to attack Federal infantry supporting the cavalry screen but nothing is done.
1864: A 10-day truce is put into effect in order for Atlanta to be evacuated of civilians.
In what is now Oklahoma, pro-Union and pro-Confederate Indians fight each other within the lands of the Cherokee Nation.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes that a mass escape took place, with about 31 escaping. Most were recaptured in a short time.
September 12
1861: Confederate General Sterling price besieges Union forces at Lexington, MO.
Maryland legislators suspected of secessionist leanings are arrested between 12-17 September. The state remains loyal to the Union.
Confederate General Lee has managed to concentrate his forces at Meadow Bridge, Western Virginia in order to counter Union General Rosecrans’ moves.
1862: Union General McClellan’s army enters Frederick, MD to the delight of its citizens.
1863: Union XXI Corps (General Crittenden) is found isolated southeast of Chattanooga, TN, but Confederate General Polk refuses to attack.
1864: US President Lincoln sends an order to General Grant to reinforce General Sheridan as Confederate General Early is still a threat to Washington, DC and the nearby rail links to the West.
Union General Sherman answers a letter from Atlanta, GA civic leaders who wanted him to rescind the evacuation order. Sherman says that not only he would not rescind the order, but it is necessary to deny the Confederate Army the use of Atlanta’s railroads and industry to continue the war with. Hence, his plan to destroy the city.
September 13
1861: Confederate Generals Lee and Wise are recalled to Richmond, VA. Having been left in command, General Floyd orders his army into winter quarters.
1862: Confederate General Bragg reaches Glasgow, KY.
Confederate troops under General W.W. Loring forces the Federals to abandon Charleston, Western Virginia.
Federal troops had just reached Frederick, MD when Private Billy W. Mitchell finds three cigars wrapped in a piece of paper. The paper looked official, so it was given to his lieutenant. (No one knows what happened to the cigars.) The paper ends up at General McClellan’s headquarters, where it is determined to be a copy of Confederate General Lee’s Special Order 191, outlining the Confederate battle plan. McClellan proclaims, “I now have a paper in which if I can not whip Bobby Lee, I’m willing to go home.”
US President Lincoln writes to a Chicago, IL religious group who had wrote to him stating that it was God’s Will that the war be fought for emancipation. Lincoln states that “I hope that it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others an a point so connected with my duty, it might by supposed that he would reveal it directly to me: for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter.”
1863: Confederate General Lee withdraws from Culpepper Court House, VA which is immediately occupied by Federals.
Union General Rosecrans learns that the Confederates are no longer running from Chattanooga, TN and orders his army concentrated. The farthest away is XX Corps (General McCook) who begins a 57 mile march.
1864: Skirmishing continues at Bunker Hill, VA.
September 14
1861: USS Colorado sinks the blockade runner Judah off Pensacola, FL.
1862: Union General Buell reaches Bowling Green, KY.
Confederate General Price’s army enters Iuka, MS.
Confederate troops attack a Union garrison at Munfordville, TN
Union General McClellan implements his own plan to destroy Confederate General Lee’s army by attacking General D.H. Hill’s position at South Mountain, MD. The Confederate line breaks but Longstreet’s timely arrival prevents a collapse. However the southernmost pass, Crampton’s Gap is in Union hands by evening.
Confederate General McLaws troops reaches Maryland Heights but is attacked by Union forces under General Franklin. The Confederate line breaks but the Federals do not pursue.
Confederate General Lee, seeing his plan unraveling, orders his army concentrated near Sharpsburg, MD.
1863: Confederate General Bragg refuses to believe that Federal troops are scattered (they are now concentrating) and issues orders to his commanders that are not in line with the situation. Bragg never got along with his subordinates, which contributed to his failing as an army commander.
1864: A Confederate corps under General Anderson has left the Shenandoah Valley to join General Lee at Petersburg, VA. This is needed because the fighting there is bleeding the Army of Northern Virginia white.
September 15
1861: Minor action at Darnestown, VA.
Confederate General Price continues his assault on Lexington, MO. The Union commander, a Colonel Mulligan, has called for reinforcements but all the couriers have been captured.
1862: Confederate General Jackson captures Harpers Ferry, VA and leaves a division under General A.P. Hill while he takes the rest of his force toward Sharpsburg, MD.
Lettie Kennedy, a resident of Jasper County, MS writes to the Confederate War Office asking for troops to guard their town because all of the men are away in the Army.
1863: Confederate General Bragg plans to maneuver around Union General Rosecrans’ troops and get between him and Chattanooga, TN. Orders to that effect are delayed by his poor performing staff.
1864: Union General Grant leaves Petersburg, VA to confer with General Sheridan.
Skirmish at Snake Creek Gap, GA.
September 16
1861: Confederate forces at Lexington, MO stop their assault in order to get more ammunition sent in.
Confederates evacuate Ship Island, MS, which would soon become a major Union base in the Gulf of Mexico.
1862: Confederate troops surround Munfordville, TN, forcing the surrender of the Federal garrison.
Union Army of the Potomac and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia gather near Sharpsburg, MD as long range artillery duels take place.
1863: Union General Rosecrans has concentrated his army around Lee and Gordon’s Mills on Chickamauga Creek, south of Chattanooga, TN.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a decrepit house in Richmond, VA will now rent for $800 per year. He is paying $500 per year on his house, which can fetch $1200 a year now.
1864: Confederate General Forrest leaves Verona, MS to raid Union General Sherman’s supply lines.
Union Generals Grant and Sheridan meet at Charles Town, VA to discuss the situation in the Shenandoah Valley.
Confederate General Wade Hampton attacks a Union supply train heading to Petersburg, VA taking 2400 cows and 300 prisoners.
September 17
1861: Federal naval forces destroy Confederate defenses at Ocracoke Inlet, NC.
Federal naval forces seize Ship Island, MS for use as a base.
There is a shakeup in the Confederate Cabinet as Leroy P. Walker resigns as Secretary of War. Following this, Judah Benjamin resigned as Attorney General and was named the new Secretary of War. Finally, Thomas Bragg was named the new Attorney General.
1862: Battle of Antietam Creek (Sharpsburg, MD). Union commander: General George McClellan. Confederate commander: General Robert E. Lee. At dawn, General Hooker’s corps begins to advance but is held up by artillery fire. Meanwhile a brigade under Union General Gibbon attacks Confederates in a cornfield and fails to drive them out. The Confederates refuse to budge and with reinforcements coming in for both sides, losses are heavy. (This field became known as The Cornfield.) Confederates are driven off by 9 a.m. Between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Union troops under General Sumner make repeated attacks on Confederate General D.H. Hill’s troops, who were in a sunken road. Those attacks fail to dislodge the Confederates until a mistake allows Federal troops to flank the position, allowing a cross fire. (The road is now known as Bloody Lane.) The federal troops advance until stopped by General Longstreet’s corps. At 10 a.m. a Union corps under General Burnside attempts to cross the Antietam at Rohrbach Bridge (now called Burnside’s Bridge), southeast of Sharpsburg. It takes three hours and several attacks to finally cross the creek. The amazing thing was that the ridges across the creek were lightly held by Georgia troops. General Lee is beginning to think that his army might be destroyed when A.P. Hill’s troops arrive and help drive back Burnside’s advance. Fighting dies away at dusk. Battle ends as a Union victory. This is the bloodiest day in US history with 23,000 causalities. Followed only by the attacks of 9/11/2001 and the attack on Pearl Harbor, HI on 12/7/1941.
Union General Grant attempts to take on Confederate General Price near Iuka, MS.
Confederate General Bragg captures Mumfordville, KY.
1863: Union General Rosecrans is now convinced that Confederate General Bragg will now fight. He places General McCook’s troops at Pond Spring (right flank), General Thomas’ at Crawfish Springs (middle), and General Crittenden’s troops covering the main road to Chattanooga, TN (left flank).
1864: Confederate General Early is back in the Shenandoah Valley, planning on hitting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad near Martinsburg, VA.
Former Union General John Fremont withdraws from the 1864 Presidential Campaign.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes that he was part of a group of prisoners selected for exchange and has been placed on a train for Savannah, GA.
September 18
1861: There is now a clamor to have Union General Fremont replaced as commander of Union forces in Missouri.
Confederate General Price managed to get his troops resupplied and has resumed the assault on Lexington, MO.
1862: Confederate General Lee learns that the Federals near Sharpsburg, MD have 30000 fresh troops, while his army has been fully used up.
1863: Confederate General Bragg, now reinforced by General Longstreet and learning of the Federal army concentrating, halts his retreat from Chattanooga, TN and turns to face Union General Rosecrans army. Bragg now has 75,000 to face Rosecrans’ 57,000.
1864: Confederate General Early’s force is split near Bunker Hill, VA. Union General Sheridan begins moving toward him.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that $1 on gold equals $25 Confederate.
September 19
1861: Confederate forces attacking Lexington, MO have not only surrounded the town, but have sealed off river traffic to the town, preventing the Union defenders from resupply.
1862: Confederates begin pulling back into Virginia. Union General McClellan does not order a pursuit.
Battle of Iuka, MS. Union commanders: Generals Edward Ord and William Rosecrans. Confederate commander: General Sterling Price. Ord attacks Price from the north of the town, but Rosecrans is delayed, allowing Price to escape. Union victory.
1863: Battle of Chickamauga, Northern Georgia and Southern Tennessee. Union commander: General William Rosecrans. Confederate commander: General Braxton Bragg. Day One: Union General Thomas sends two brigades against what was believed to be a weak Confederate brigade and end up engaging Bragg’s reserve corps as well as Forrest’s cavalry. Reinforcements from both sides pour in and soon control of the battle is lost. At 11 a.m. Union troops form a command and control structure with Generals Thomas in the middle, Crittenden on the left, and McCook on the right. By noon, a hole has formed in the Union lines which the confederates try to exploit, but with no success. Fighting ends at nightfall with no decision. A noted participant is the future novelist Ambrose Bierce, a 1st Lieutenant in the 9th IN.
1864: Confederate General Price leads a raid into Missouri with the target being St Louis, MO. This will be a last desperate move since of the 12,000 men marching with Price, only 8000 of them are armed.
Battle of Opequon Creek, VA. Union commander: General Philip Sheridan. Confederate commander; General Jubal Early. Early tries to delay Sheridan’s advance toward Winchester, VA. Confederates are thrown back with General Robert Rhodes being killed. Union victory.
Confederate agents seize the vessel Philo Parsons after leaving Detroit, MI. The plan was to free Confederate POWs held at Johnson’s Island. The plan falls apart and the agents flee to Canada.
September 20
1861: Lexington, MO falls to Confederate forces.
1862: Union armies under Generals Thomas and Buell link up at Bowling Green, KY and begin to move toward Louisville, KY
Union General McClellan still has not moved from Sharpsburg, MD.
Confederate troops under General Price have begun a withdrawal from Iuka, MS.
1863: Battle of Chickamauga, Day Two. Confederate General Polk moves to attack two hours late. By 9:00 a.m. the Union left is smashed, causing Thomas (now on the left) to call for reinforcements. It is believed that the request was poorly interpreted and the result was that a huge hole was created in the Union lines, which is found quickly. Longstreet launches an assault at 11:15 with 20000 men and forces a collapse of the Union defense. The Army of the Cumberland (Union) is split in two and falls back in panic, except for Thomas’ troops, who placed themselves on Horseshoe Ridge and hold off Confederate attacks for the rest of the day. It is noted that several of Thomas’s regiments were equipped with Henry repeating rifles, which were instrumental in holding the Confederates at bay. The Confederates are soon spent and Thomas begins an orderly retreat toward Chattanooga, TN where the Union army will soon be besieged. Thomas would soon become known as “The Rock of Chickamauga.” Confederate victory, the only such major victory for the CSA in the West. One of those killed in the battle was Confederate General Ben Hardin Helm, brother-in-law of US President Lincoln.
1864: Union General Sheridan is now in pursuit of Confederate General Early’s troops, hitting them at Middletown and Strasburg, VA.
Confederate General Price captures Keytesville, MO.
Confederate General Forrest and his troopers are in Northern Alabama and plan to raid into Tennessee.
September 21
1862: A Federal reconnaissance force crosses the Potomac River at Blackford’s Ford, VA and skirmishes with elements of Confederate General A. P. Hill’s corps that was covering the Confederate retreat back into Virginia.
Confederate General Bragg’s troops leave Mumfordville, KY for Bardstown, KY in order to link up with General Smith’s forces. This move leaves the door open for Union General Buell to advance on Louisville, KY.
1863: Union General Rosecrans is collecting his army in Chattanooga, TN while the Confederates waste time looting captured Federal supplies. It is late afternoon before Confederate General Bragg orders a pursuit. This angers the cavalry commander, General Forrest, who told Bragg that “every hour is worth a thousand men.”
1864: Confederate General Forrest gets close to the Union garrison at Athens, TN.
Battle of Fisher’s Hill (Cedar Creek), VA. Union commander: General Philip Sheridan. Confederate commander: General Jubal Early. Sheridan’s attack pushed back the Confederate picket line and captures the high ground. Fighting ends at night fall. During the night, Union General Crook’s Army of West Virginia move into concealed positions to await morning.
September 22
1861: Pro-Union raiders burn the town of Osceola, MO.
Skirmishes at Papinsville and Elliot’s Mills, MO
1862: US President Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation, citing the recent Union victory at Sharpsburg, MD. On January 1, 1863, all slaves in areas still in rebellion will be declared free. This now puts the Union war effort as both the restoration of the Union and the freeing of the slaves. This also puts the US on the moral high ground and also closes the door on any British of French recognition of the CSA.
1863: Union General Burnside begins the East Tennessee Campaign by attacking Confederate troops at Blountsville, TN defeating them.
Confederate General Bragg’s forces run into entrenched Union positions near Chattanooga, TN and another chance to destroy a Union force is lost.
News of the Union defeat at Chickamauga has reached US President Lincoln and he is wondering if Rosecrans can even hold Chattanooga, TN.
1864: Battle of Fisher’s Hill (Cedar Creek), VA. Day Two. Union General Crook’s troops launch an attack that collapses the Confederate line. Early retreats toward Rockfish Gap, losing 20 cannon in the process and opening the entire Shenandoah Valley to Sheridan. Union victory.
September 23
1861: Small engagement at Hanging Rock, Western Virginia.
1862: Union General McClellan has stopped his army on the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry, WV. He believes that Confederate General Lee will force another crossing. In fact, Lee has no other plans than to reassemble his army near Winchester, VA.
1863: US President Lincoln is awakened at the Soldiers’ Home with the news that Secretary of War Stanton has called a Council of War. (During the summer, Lincoln slept at the Soldier’s Home because the White House was not well ventilated.)
1864: Confederate General Early’s shattered army falls back toward New Market, VA.
September 24
1861: Adding to the list of things to be held against him, Union General Fremont orders the St Louis Evening News closed and the editor arrested after an editorial is printed chiding him for his inaction concerning the Union defeat at Lexington, MO.
1862: Troops under Union General Buell reach Louisville, KY.
US President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in cases involving interference with recruitment and draft efforts.
1863: Confederate General Bragg’s forces have positioned them on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, effectively cutting Union General Rosecrans’ supply line and sealing his army in Chattanooga, TN.
US President Lincoln meets with Secretaries Stanton (War), Seward (State), Chase (Treasury), and General-in-Chief Halleck to discuss the situation in Tennessee. Recognizing that Chattanooga TN, is the key to any future offensive into the Deep South, Orders are prepared to have Generals Grant and Burnside send reinforcements, as well as 20,000 from the Army of the Potomac.
1864: Union General Sheridan begins a scorched earth policy in the Shenandoah Valley, VA. Anything of any value to the Confederacy is burned. It was said at the time that the destruction would be so complete that “birds flying across the valley would have to carry their own provender.”
Confederate troops under General Price attack Fayette, MO.
Confederate General Forrest captures Athens, AL.
September 25
1861: US Navy Secretary Gideon Welles gives orders that “contrabands” (escaped slaves) can enlist in the Navy, almost two years before the same would be authorized for the Army.
Skirmish at Chapmanville, Western Virginia.
Skirmish at Canada Alamosa, New Mexico Territory.
Minot engagement at Lewinsville, VA.
1862: Union General McClellan sends in demands for supplies, uniforms, and reinforcements. Supplies and uniforms are sent, but not a single man is released from the Washington, DC defenses.
1863: Union 11th and 12th Corps, under General Hooker, begins to deploy to Chattanooga, TN to reinforce General Rosecrans.
Union General Burnside receives orders to reinforce General Rosecrans at Chattanooga but instead heads for Jonesboro, TN.
1864: Confederate General Early is forced to retreat to Brown’s Pass, VA. In the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Confederate General Forrest captures the Sulphur Branch Trestle in northern Alabama, disrupting Federal rail traffic.
CS President Davis visits General Hood at Palmetto, GA to discuss the current situation.
September 26
1861: Skirmish at Lucas Bend, KY.
1862: The Confederate Foreign Policy Committee issues a report calling for the Mississippi River to be kept open for trade, following a Confederate victory in the war, and that favored trade status be given to the Northwestern States.
Confederate General Bragg issues a proclamation calling on Northwest states to force the US government to stop the war.
1863: Union General Hooker’s troops reach Alexandria, VA to take trains for Tennessee.
1864: Skirmishes occur at Port Republic and Brown’s Gap, VA as Union General Sheridan’s troops press Confederate General Early.
Confederate General Forrest strikes a Federal garrison neat Pulaski, TN.
Confederate General Price’s troops engage Federals at Arcadia Valley, Shut-in-Gap, and Ironton, MO.
September 27
1861: Union General McClellan meets with US President Lincoln and the Cabinet about a new offensive into Virginia.
Confederates abandon a fort at Munson’s Hill, VA.
1862: There is panic in Louisville, KY as Confederate General Bragg’s forces approach and there is no confidence that Union General Buell’s troops will arrive in time.
1863: It took the better part of a day, but all of the horses and artillery of Union General Hooker’s force are on trains heading for Tennessee.
1864: Confederate General Price attacks the Union garrison at Ft Davidson, MO. He fails to capture the fort but the garrison escapes during the night.
Confederate raiders under William “Bloody Bill” Anderson attack and kill 24 unarmed Union soldiers at Centralia, MO. He then attacks the Union troops coming to reinforce the garrison.
September 28
1861: An early indication of how Union General McClellan operates is made apparent when he states that he can not conduct an offensive with any less than 150,000 men. McClellan cites reports that the Confederates have at least 150,000 (in fact, they did not have even 50,000).
1862: Union General McClellan is still under the assumption that he is outnumbered, not realizing that he has 100,000 troops and that Confederate General Lee only had 53,000.
1863: Battle of Fordoche Bridge, LA. Union commander: General Napoleon Dana. Confederate commander: General Tom Green. Union forces were marching in support of General Banks’ attempt to attack Texas when Dana’s troops were attacked by the Confederates. Skirmishing began at dawn while the battle proper was in full force at mid-day. Union lines were broken and only the cavalry escaped getting captured. Confederate victory.
Union General Rosecrans has brought charges against Generals McCook and Crittenden and they are ordered to Indianapolis, IN to stand before a court of inquiry. The main problem with that is they are all trapped in Chattanooga, TN. The only effect of this is a lowering of the morale of the besieged troops. This on top of the already short rations.
1864: Confederate General Price resumes his advance toward St Louis, MO.
Atlanta, GA is now reportedly clear of civilians. Atlanta Campaign ends.
Union Admiral Farragut takes sick leave, leaving Admiral David Porter in charge of the Union blockade and Admiral S.P. Lee (a relation to Confederate General Lee) in command of US Naval forces on the Mississippi River.
CS President Davis orders General Hardee relieved from command of a corps of General Hood’s army and reassigned him to command the Department of South Carolina.
Private James Henry Gooding, a private in the 54th MA, writes US President Lincoln to complain about the lower pay African-American soldiers are receiving.
September 29
1861; Munson’s Hill, VA is occupied by Federal troops. A friendly fire incident occurred nearby when the 69th PA fired on the 71st PA, killing nine.
Robert Knox Sneeden, a private who had joined the Union Army as a member of the 40th NY, writes about participating in an exercise which ended in a fistfight between members of the regiment.
1862: In Louisville, KY there was a duel between Union Generals Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to CS President Davis) and William Nelson. Nelson is killed. The incident never comes to trial. This happen on the same day that General Buell’s forces reach the city.
1863: Union General Grant received orders to send troops to the aid of the trapped Union force in Chattanooga, TN. General Sherman’s corps is already headed east and most of General McPherson’s corps has left Vicksburg, MS and is also heading east.
1864: Confederate cavalry under General Forrest skirmish with Federals neat Lynchburg, TN.
Confederates in Cuba seize the US vessel Roanoke in violation of Spanish neutrality (Cuba at the time was a Spanish possession).
Union General Sheridan’s and Confederate General Early’s troops skirmish near Waynesboro, VA.
Union Generals Birney and Ord launch an assault on the Richmond, VA defenses. XVII Corps (Ord) manages to take Ft Harrison but X Corps (Birney) is repulsed at Ft Gilmer.
Union forces push from Weldon Railroad towards the Southside Railroad near Petersburg, VA.
Action at Leesburg and Cuba, MO.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes about having breakfast with a Mr. Tyler. The meal consisted of two loaves of bread, two cups of coffee and six eggs. The bill came to $16.
September 30
1861: Things have settled down, but there are still problems. Skirmishing is still taking place in Missouri and Union General Fremont is causing a firestorm with recent actions. Kentucky is about to become a major war zone. Western Virginia is turning out in favor of the Union. Above all this, there is a major public clamor for a Union offensive into Virginia.
1862: Photographer Matthew Brady opens an exhibit of photographs taken on the Antietam, MD battlefield. Called “The Dead of Antietam,” this exhibit allows civilians to view the aftermath of a battle for the first time.
Engagement at Newtonia, MO.
1863: Confederate cavalry under General Wheeler begin disrupting lines of communication and supply to the Union army now trapped in Chattanooga, TN. The Siege of Chattanooga has begun.
Even if women could not vote in elections, they were still urged to get their men out to vote, as evidence during a campaign to re-elect Andrew Curtin Governor of Pennsylvania.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that in Richmond, VA, butter sells for $4 a pound, bacon for $3 a pound, lard for $2.25 a pound, beef for $1.25 a pound, lamb for $1.25 a pound, veal for $1.50 a pound, sausages for $1 each, chickens for $7 per pair, ducks for $5 a pair, salted herrings for $4 per dozen, cabbage for $1.50 each, green corn for $2 per dozen, sweet potatoes for $26 a bushel, regular potatoes for .75 a quart, butter-beans for $1.50 per quart, , onions for $1.50 per quart, eggplant for $2 each, tomatoes for $1 a quart, and soap for $1.50 a pound. Buying a pair of boots will take $100, shoes for $60, a mattress will set you back $40, blankets for $40, and sheets for $25 each.
1864: Union General Grant extends his lines southwest of Petersburg, VA, capturing Ft Archer from the Confederates.
Confederate General Lee attempts to take back Ft Harrison from the Federals, but fails. Lee now has only 50,000 troops to cover 35 miles of trenches.
Birthdays:
US Attorney General Edward Bates, 1793
John Burns, the civilian "Hero of Gettysburg", 1793
Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan, 1800
Union Admiral Samuel DuPont, 1803
Union General Samuel Heintzelman, 1805
Union Admiral Andrew Foote, 1806
Confederate General Sterling Price, 1809
Confederate Naval Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of CSS Alabama, 1809
Union General Alphesus Williams, 1810
Union General John Sedgewick, 1813
Confederate General Francis Bartow, 1816
Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor of the Gatling Gun, 1818
US Consul in Liverpool, England Thomas Dudley, 1819
Union General Henry Hunt, 1819
Union General William Rosecrans, 1819
Union General John Reynolds, 1820
Confederate General Earl Van Dorn, 1820
Union General Alvin Hovey, 1821
Union General Baron Adolf Wilhelm August Friedrich von Steinwehr, 1822
Union General Hiram Berdan, who created two regiments of United States Sharpshooters, 1823
Union General Truman Seymour, 1824
Union General Charles Stone, 1824
Union General Henry Slocum, 1827
Union General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who initially led the 20th ME at Gettysburg, PA, 1828
Union General George Crook, 1828
Founder of the US Signal Corps, Union Colonel Albert Myer, 1828
Union General George Crook, 1829
Confederate General States Rights Gist, 1831
Union General John Schofield, 1831
Confederate General George Washington Custis Lee, 1832
Union Colonel Paul Joseph Revere, commander of the 20th MA and grandson of famed
Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere, 1832
Confederate General Joseph Wheeler, 1836
Union General James Wilson, 1837
Confederate Major John Pelham, the "Gallant Pelham", 1838
Political Cartoonist Thomas Nast, 1840
1861: Union offensive in Western Virginia continues as engagements occur at Boone’s Court House, Blue Creek, and Burlington.
Union General Grant arrives at Cape Girardeau, MO as skirmishing occurs at Bennet’s Mills, MO.
1862: Battle of Chantilly, VA. Union commanders: Generals I.I. Stevens and Phil Kearney. Confederate commander: General Thomas Jackson. Jackson’s troops are in pursuit of General Pope’s army when they run into a blocking force under Stevens and Kearny. The ensuing battle took place in a thunderstorm, which creates a lot of confusion during which both Stevens and Kearny are killed. Jackson is forced to halt his attack and the Federals continue their withdrawal. Confederate victory because the Union forces left the field. As a result of both victories, General Lee begins to envision a plan to take the war into the North.
1863: Confederate troops under General Cabell ambushed Federals at Devil’s Backbone, AR, with no success.
Ft Sumter, SC attacked by USS New Ironsides and six monitors.
Most of Union General Rosecrans’ army has crossed the Tennessee River.
One effect of Northern farmers going off to war is that farm machinery is increasingly in use. The South does not have that luxury.
1864: Union troops cut Confederate General Hardee’s supply and communication lines forcing a retreat toward Lovejoy’s Station, GA. That evening, General Hood orders Atlanta, GA evacuated.
September 2
1861: US President Lincoln rescinds General Fremont’s order freeing slaves in Missouri.
Leonidas Polk, Episcopalian Bishop of Louisiana, is made a Confederate General and given command of troops in Arkansas and Missouri.
Skirmishing at Dallas and dry Wood (Fort Scott), MO.
1862: US president Lincoln orders General McClellan to leave the field and take command of the Washington. DC defenses. Lincoln did complement the general by saying, “If he can’t fight himself, he excels in making others ready to fight.” McClellan has not much time to pull the army together as the Confederates begin to strike north.
Lexington, KY occupied by Confederate troops.
Union General Buell moves toward Nashville, TN.
Union troops withdraw from the Shenandoah Valley, VA leaving a large amount of supplies for the Confederates.
1863: Union troops under General Burnside capture Knoxville, TN.
A Union strike denies the Confederates the use of two captured steamers at Port Conway, VA.
Confederate troops rout a Mexican bandit force that had crossed into Texas.
1864: A telegram is sent from Union General Sherman to US President Lincoln, “Atlanta is ours, and fairly won,” as his army captures the city. The 2nd MA is the first into the city.
Union General Grant extends his lines to the southwest of Petersburg, VA cutting off more Confederate avenues of supply.
Confederate General Lee proposes the drafting of slaves as a labor force, freeing white laborers for the ranks.
September 3
1861: Confederate troops under General Gideon Pillow enter Kentucky on their way to occupy the town of Columbus. This violates the proclaimed neutrality of Kentucky.
1862: Confederate troops under General Kirby Smith occupy Frankfort, KY.
USS Essex is fired on by batteries at Natchez, MS. The Federals return fire causes the town’s surrender.
Union General Pope issues a report blaming everyone but himself for the defeat at Manassas, VA. This will result in his removal and reassignment.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, hears about the resignation of Union General Pope and records it in his journal.
1864: US President Lincoln declares September 5 as a day of thanksgiving for the recent victories at Atlanta, GA and Mobile Bat, AL.
Intelligence is received concerning Confederate cavalry around Greenville, TN. Union troopers are sent to investigate.
Confederate General Early, in response to an order from General Lee, sends General R.H. Anderson’s corps to Petersburg, VA. On the way there, they find Union General Sheridan’s army going into camp at Berryville, MD. A short attack on the camp of Union General Crook has no effect.
Spotswood Rice, an African-American serving in the Union Army, expresses hope in a letter to his family that they will be soon reunited as free people.
1865: Around this time, all Indian tribes that were aligned with the Confederacy signs a treaty pledging loyalty to the US.
September 4
1861: Columbus, KY occupied by Confederate troops.
1862: Confederate General Smith’s forces are reinforced in Lexington, KY by General John Morgan’s raiders.
CSS Florida reaches Mobile Bay, AL despite the Federal blockade and that some of the crew are ill with yellow fever. The blockade runner Oreto accomplishes the same feat.
Confederate General Lee begins positioning his army to invade the North.
1863: Union General Rosecrans’ troops have completed the crossing of the Tennessee River, forcing Confederate General Bragg out of his position near Chattanooga, TN.
Rioting in Mobile, AL as a result of food and clothing shortages.
Union gunboats are launched from New Orleans, LA in order to conduct operations along the TX/LA coastline.
Union General Grant, at New Orleans, is injured in a fall from a horse, causing in allegations from his detractors that he was drunk, a charge that would dog him for the rest of the war.
1864: At Greenville, TN, Union cavalry catches Confederate cavalry by surprise, resulting in Confederate General John Morgan being killed and most of his troops either killed or captured.
Confederate General Early brings his whole army up to face Union General Sheridan ay Berryville, MD, but soon has to pull back.
Union General Sheridan orders the city of Atlanta, GA evacuated.
September 5
1861: Union General Grant moves on Paducah, KY in response to the Confederate occupation of Columbus, KY.
US President Lincoln had doubts that General Fremont can handle the situation in Missouri.
1862: CSS Alabama captures a Union merchant vessel off the Azores.
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia begins to march into Maryland.
Meta Morris Grimball writes in her diary that several families that she knows have learned to read and write in order to communicate with their sons now in the Confederate Army.
1863: Union General Rosecrans had divided his army into three columns for the planned assault on Chattanooga, TN.
Union troops bombard Battery Wagner, SC.
An international incident is avoided when the British Government orders two ironclad ships being built for the CS Navy kept in the port of Liverpool.
Poet Walt Whitman writes on his experiences as a nurse in Washington, DC.
1864: Citizens in the Federal occupied areas of Louisiana who have taken a loyalty oath to the US vote to abolish slavery in the state.
Clashes between Confederate General Early’s and Union General Sheridan’s troops at Opequon Creek, VA.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that, "The loss of Atlanta is a stunning blow."
September 6
1861: Union General Grant’s troops seized Paducah, KY. He places General Charles Smith in command while Grant returns to Cairo, IL.
1862: Between September 6-9, CSS Alabama will destroy four more Union ships.
Union General McClellan begins moving his army to shield Washington, DC from Confederate General Lee’s army. No one has figured out where Lee is doing.
Lee, meanwhile, is crossing the Potomac River into Maryland, hoping to get support and volunteers from the state. Lee, Longstreet and Jackson are suffering from minor injuries while A.P. Hill and John Hood are under arrest.
Union General Pope is given command of troops in the Northwest and tasked with putting down a Sioux uprising in Minnesota.
1863: At Little Rock, AR, there is a duel between Confederate Generals Lucius Walker and John Marmaduke. Walker is killed.
During the night, Confederates evacuate Battery Wagner and Morris Island, near Charleston, SC.
Confederate General Bragg orders Chattanooga, TN evacuated.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes in Richmond, VA that apples sell for $35 per barrel, bacon for $2.10 pre hoground, butter for $3 per package, cheese for $2 per pound, corn for $9 per bushel, flour for $25 per barrel, onions for $40 per barrel, potatoes for $6 per bushel, oats for $6 per bushel, wheat for $5 per bushel, lard for $1.75 per pound, eggs for $1.50 per dozen, herb seeds for $10 per bushel, clover for $45 per bushel, brown sugar for $2.15 per pound, coffee for $4.75 per pound, molasses for $15 per gallon, rice for .25 a pound, salt for .45 per pound, soap for .80, candles for $3 a pound, corn whisky for $25 a gallon, rye whisky for $40 per gallon, apple brandy for $30 per gallon, and rum for $28 per gallon.
1864: Bombardment of Ft Sumter, SC resumes.
Union Sergeant John Ransom writes that the exchange rumors are this time for real. He now has a chance to leave Camp Sumter (Andersonville, GA).
September 7
1861: Union General Rosecrans begins moving against Confederates in Western Virginia. The Confederate force is now under the overall command of General Robert E. Lee.
1862: Union General Buell leaves Nashville, TN with five divisions to protect the Federal supply base at Bowling Green, KY.
Union Army of the Potomac is formed at Rockville, MD while panic grips Washington, DC.
1863: Union forces storm Battery Wagner, SC but find it already evacuated.
1864: Skirmishing continues at Winchester, VA.
Skirmishing at Searcy, AR and Centralia, MO.
The Rev. S.M. Chase, an African-American minister, gives a speech in Baltimore, MD praising US President Lincoln’s work on emancipation.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes about two English cannon arriving in Richmond, VA.
Union Sergeant John Ransom is released from Camp Sumter (Andersonville, GA) and taken to a hospital near Savannah, GA.
September 8
1861: Union troops defeat Confederates at Summersville, Western Virginia.
1862: Union General Banks is given command of the Washington DC defenses while General McClellan takes to the field.
Confederate General Lee issues a proclamation to Maryland that the Army of Northern Virginia is here to liberate the state and to call on Marylanders to rally to the Confederate flag.
1863: Confederate General Bragg pulls back from Chattanooga, TN and heads toward Georgia.
US Marines attempt to storm Ft Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, SC, but are repulsed.
Confederate General Longstreet’s corps is detached and sent to assist General Bragg near Chattanooga, TN.
Union flotilla attempts to sail up Sabine Pass, TX and take Ft Griffin. The attack is halted by 44 Confederates and very accurate artillery fire.
1864: George McClellan accepted the Democratic nomination for President, but shies away from the anti-war platform.
September 9
1861: Union General David Hunter is sent to Missouri to assist General Fremont over the furor over his handling of the situation in the state.
1862: The proclamation that Confederate General Lee issued the previous day has fallen on deaf ears. No one shows up to join the CS Army. At Frederick, MD, Lee issues General Order 191, ordering his army split into three groups. General Jackson will take Harpers Ferry, VA. General McLaws will take Maryland Heights. General Longstreet will move on Boonsboro, MD. Army will reunite after Harpers Ferry has fallen. Afterwards they would press into Pennsylvania. Copies of the order are made and distributed. One of those copies is used as a wrapper for three cigars. That package is soon lost!
1863: CS President Davis orders General Longstreet’s corps to come to the aid of General Bragg.
Union General Rosecrans’ troops advance on a 40-mile front and have separated themselves by as much as a 2-3 day march in mountainous country. Confederate General Bragg has stopped his withdrawal and is preparing to meet Rosecrans.
1864: Engagement at Warrensburg, MO.
Federal ship J.D. Perry attacked at Clarendon, AR.
September 10
1861: Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston is given command of Confederate armies in the West.
Union General Rosecrans attacks Confederate positions at Carnifix Ferry, western, VA forcing a withdrawal of Confederate troops from the region.
1862: Union General McClellan begins to move his army toward Frederick, MD as Confederate General Lee’s army departs. General Jackson begins attacking Harpers Ferry, WV as Generals Longstreet and D.H. Hill head for Hagerstown, MD.
US President Lincoln writes to a group of clergymen based in Chicago who sent him a letter stating that is was God’s Will that the slaves be freed. Lincoln was impatient with ministers who claim to speak for God in certain matters, and he told them that he would seek the “will of Providence” in the matter of emancipation.
1863: Union troops capture Little Rock, AR
Confederate General Bragg launched an attack on Union General Rosecrans’ forces with little success. The Federals push on with no idea to the massive Confederate force waiting for them.
1864: Union forces take Ft Hell, a part of the Confederate defenses surrounding Petersburg, VA.
Union General Grant sends a telegram to General Sherman urging to resume the offensive against Confederate General Hood.
September 11
1861: Confederate General Lee launches an attack on Union forces at Cheat Mountain, Western Virginia, but bad weather and poor coordination of troops causes the attack to fail.
US President Lincoln sends Judge Joseph Holt to St Louis, MO in order to convince General Fremont to soften his stand on freeing Missouri’s slaves.
1862: CS President Davis appoints General Van Dorn commander of Confederate forces in Missouri, except that the army he is supposed to take over, still led by General Price, is marching on Iuka, MO and is intending to head into Tennessee.
1863: Confederate General Bragg receives word that Longstreet’s corps from Virginia is en route to reinforce him. An order to General Polk to attack Federal infantry supporting the cavalry screen but nothing is done.
1864: A 10-day truce is put into effect in order for Atlanta to be evacuated of civilians.
In what is now Oklahoma, pro-Union and pro-Confederate Indians fight each other within the lands of the Cherokee Nation.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes that a mass escape took place, with about 31 escaping. Most were recaptured in a short time.
September 12
1861: Confederate General Sterling price besieges Union forces at Lexington, MO.
Maryland legislators suspected of secessionist leanings are arrested between 12-17 September. The state remains loyal to the Union.
Confederate General Lee has managed to concentrate his forces at Meadow Bridge, Western Virginia in order to counter Union General Rosecrans’ moves.
1862: Union General McClellan’s army enters Frederick, MD to the delight of its citizens.
1863: Union XXI Corps (General Crittenden) is found isolated southeast of Chattanooga, TN, but Confederate General Polk refuses to attack.
1864: US President Lincoln sends an order to General Grant to reinforce General Sheridan as Confederate General Early is still a threat to Washington, DC and the nearby rail links to the West.
Union General Sherman answers a letter from Atlanta, GA civic leaders who wanted him to rescind the evacuation order. Sherman says that not only he would not rescind the order, but it is necessary to deny the Confederate Army the use of Atlanta’s railroads and industry to continue the war with. Hence, his plan to destroy the city.
September 13
1861: Confederate Generals Lee and Wise are recalled to Richmond, VA. Having been left in command, General Floyd orders his army into winter quarters.
1862: Confederate General Bragg reaches Glasgow, KY.
Confederate troops under General W.W. Loring forces the Federals to abandon Charleston, Western Virginia.
Federal troops had just reached Frederick, MD when Private Billy W. Mitchell finds three cigars wrapped in a piece of paper. The paper looked official, so it was given to his lieutenant. (No one knows what happened to the cigars.) The paper ends up at General McClellan’s headquarters, where it is determined to be a copy of Confederate General Lee’s Special Order 191, outlining the Confederate battle plan. McClellan proclaims, “I now have a paper in which if I can not whip Bobby Lee, I’m willing to go home.”
US President Lincoln writes to a Chicago, IL religious group who had wrote to him stating that it was God’s Will that the war be fought for emancipation. Lincoln states that “I hope that it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others an a point so connected with my duty, it might by supposed that he would reveal it directly to me: for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter.”
1863: Confederate General Lee withdraws from Culpepper Court House, VA which is immediately occupied by Federals.
Union General Rosecrans learns that the Confederates are no longer running from Chattanooga, TN and orders his army concentrated. The farthest away is XX Corps (General McCook) who begins a 57 mile march.
1864: Skirmishing continues at Bunker Hill, VA.
September 14
1861: USS Colorado sinks the blockade runner Judah off Pensacola, FL.
1862: Union General Buell reaches Bowling Green, KY.
Confederate General Price’s army enters Iuka, MS.
Confederate troops attack a Union garrison at Munfordville, TN
Union General McClellan implements his own plan to destroy Confederate General Lee’s army by attacking General D.H. Hill’s position at South Mountain, MD. The Confederate line breaks but Longstreet’s timely arrival prevents a collapse. However the southernmost pass, Crampton’s Gap is in Union hands by evening.
Confederate General McLaws troops reaches Maryland Heights but is attacked by Union forces under General Franklin. The Confederate line breaks but the Federals do not pursue.
Confederate General Lee, seeing his plan unraveling, orders his army concentrated near Sharpsburg, MD.
1863: Confederate General Bragg refuses to believe that Federal troops are scattered (they are now concentrating) and issues orders to his commanders that are not in line with the situation. Bragg never got along with his subordinates, which contributed to his failing as an army commander.
1864: A Confederate corps under General Anderson has left the Shenandoah Valley to join General Lee at Petersburg, VA. This is needed because the fighting there is bleeding the Army of Northern Virginia white.
September 15
1861: Minor action at Darnestown, VA.
Confederate General Price continues his assault on Lexington, MO. The Union commander, a Colonel Mulligan, has called for reinforcements but all the couriers have been captured.
1862: Confederate General Jackson captures Harpers Ferry, VA and leaves a division under General A.P. Hill while he takes the rest of his force toward Sharpsburg, MD.
Lettie Kennedy, a resident of Jasper County, MS writes to the Confederate War Office asking for troops to guard their town because all of the men are away in the Army.
1863: Confederate General Bragg plans to maneuver around Union General Rosecrans’ troops and get between him and Chattanooga, TN. Orders to that effect are delayed by his poor performing staff.
1864: Union General Grant leaves Petersburg, VA to confer with General Sheridan.
Skirmish at Snake Creek Gap, GA.
September 16
1861: Confederate forces at Lexington, MO stop their assault in order to get more ammunition sent in.
Confederates evacuate Ship Island, MS, which would soon become a major Union base in the Gulf of Mexico.
1862: Confederate troops surround Munfordville, TN, forcing the surrender of the Federal garrison.
Union Army of the Potomac and Confederate Army of Northern Virginia gather near Sharpsburg, MD as long range artillery duels take place.
1863: Union General Rosecrans has concentrated his army around Lee and Gordon’s Mills on Chickamauga Creek, south of Chattanooga, TN.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that a decrepit house in Richmond, VA will now rent for $800 per year. He is paying $500 per year on his house, which can fetch $1200 a year now.
1864: Confederate General Forrest leaves Verona, MS to raid Union General Sherman’s supply lines.
Union Generals Grant and Sheridan meet at Charles Town, VA to discuss the situation in the Shenandoah Valley.
Confederate General Wade Hampton attacks a Union supply train heading to Petersburg, VA taking 2400 cows and 300 prisoners.
September 17
1861: Federal naval forces destroy Confederate defenses at Ocracoke Inlet, NC.
Federal naval forces seize Ship Island, MS for use as a base.
There is a shakeup in the Confederate Cabinet as Leroy P. Walker resigns as Secretary of War. Following this, Judah Benjamin resigned as Attorney General and was named the new Secretary of War. Finally, Thomas Bragg was named the new Attorney General.
1862: Battle of Antietam Creek (Sharpsburg, MD). Union commander: General George McClellan. Confederate commander: General Robert E. Lee. At dawn, General Hooker’s corps begins to advance but is held up by artillery fire. Meanwhile a brigade under Union General Gibbon attacks Confederates in a cornfield and fails to drive them out. The Confederates refuse to budge and with reinforcements coming in for both sides, losses are heavy. (This field became known as The Cornfield.) Confederates are driven off by 9 a.m. Between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Union troops under General Sumner make repeated attacks on Confederate General D.H. Hill’s troops, who were in a sunken road. Those attacks fail to dislodge the Confederates until a mistake allows Federal troops to flank the position, allowing a cross fire. (The road is now known as Bloody Lane.) The federal troops advance until stopped by General Longstreet’s corps. At 10 a.m. a Union corps under General Burnside attempts to cross the Antietam at Rohrbach Bridge (now called Burnside’s Bridge), southeast of Sharpsburg. It takes three hours and several attacks to finally cross the creek. The amazing thing was that the ridges across the creek were lightly held by Georgia troops. General Lee is beginning to think that his army might be destroyed when A.P. Hill’s troops arrive and help drive back Burnside’s advance. Fighting dies away at dusk. Battle ends as a Union victory. This is the bloodiest day in US history with 23,000 causalities. Followed only by the attacks of 9/11/2001 and the attack on Pearl Harbor, HI on 12/7/1941.
Union General Grant attempts to take on Confederate General Price near Iuka, MS.
Confederate General Bragg captures Mumfordville, KY.
1863: Union General Rosecrans is now convinced that Confederate General Bragg will now fight. He places General McCook’s troops at Pond Spring (right flank), General Thomas’ at Crawfish Springs (middle), and General Crittenden’s troops covering the main road to Chattanooga, TN (left flank).
1864: Confederate General Early is back in the Shenandoah Valley, planning on hitting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad near Martinsburg, VA.
Former Union General John Fremont withdraws from the 1864 Presidential Campaign.
Private Robert Sneeden, mapmaker for III Corps, writes that he was part of a group of prisoners selected for exchange and has been placed on a train for Savannah, GA.
September 18
1861: There is now a clamor to have Union General Fremont replaced as commander of Union forces in Missouri.
Confederate General Price managed to get his troops resupplied and has resumed the assault on Lexington, MO.
1862: Confederate General Lee learns that the Federals near Sharpsburg, MD have 30000 fresh troops, while his army has been fully used up.
1863: Confederate General Bragg, now reinforced by General Longstreet and learning of the Federal army concentrating, halts his retreat from Chattanooga, TN and turns to face Union General Rosecrans army. Bragg now has 75,000 to face Rosecrans’ 57,000.
1864: Confederate General Early’s force is split near Bunker Hill, VA. Union General Sheridan begins moving toward him.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that $1 on gold equals $25 Confederate.
September 19
1861: Confederate forces attacking Lexington, MO have not only surrounded the town, but have sealed off river traffic to the town, preventing the Union defenders from resupply.
1862: Confederates begin pulling back into Virginia. Union General McClellan does not order a pursuit.
Battle of Iuka, MS. Union commanders: Generals Edward Ord and William Rosecrans. Confederate commander: General Sterling Price. Ord attacks Price from the north of the town, but Rosecrans is delayed, allowing Price to escape. Union victory.
1863: Battle of Chickamauga, Northern Georgia and Southern Tennessee. Union commander: General William Rosecrans. Confederate commander: General Braxton Bragg. Day One: Union General Thomas sends two brigades against what was believed to be a weak Confederate brigade and end up engaging Bragg’s reserve corps as well as Forrest’s cavalry. Reinforcements from both sides pour in and soon control of the battle is lost. At 11 a.m. Union troops form a command and control structure with Generals Thomas in the middle, Crittenden on the left, and McCook on the right. By noon, a hole has formed in the Union lines which the confederates try to exploit, but with no success. Fighting ends at nightfall with no decision. A noted participant is the future novelist Ambrose Bierce, a 1st Lieutenant in the 9th IN.
1864: Confederate General Price leads a raid into Missouri with the target being St Louis, MO. This will be a last desperate move since of the 12,000 men marching with Price, only 8000 of them are armed.
Battle of Opequon Creek, VA. Union commander: General Philip Sheridan. Confederate commander; General Jubal Early. Early tries to delay Sheridan’s advance toward Winchester, VA. Confederates are thrown back with General Robert Rhodes being killed. Union victory.
Confederate agents seize the vessel Philo Parsons after leaving Detroit, MI. The plan was to free Confederate POWs held at Johnson’s Island. The plan falls apart and the agents flee to Canada.
September 20
1861: Lexington, MO falls to Confederate forces.
1862: Union armies under Generals Thomas and Buell link up at Bowling Green, KY and begin to move toward Louisville, KY
Union General McClellan still has not moved from Sharpsburg, MD.
Confederate troops under General Price have begun a withdrawal from Iuka, MS.
1863: Battle of Chickamauga, Day Two. Confederate General Polk moves to attack two hours late. By 9:00 a.m. the Union left is smashed, causing Thomas (now on the left) to call for reinforcements. It is believed that the request was poorly interpreted and the result was that a huge hole was created in the Union lines, which is found quickly. Longstreet launches an assault at 11:15 with 20000 men and forces a collapse of the Union defense. The Army of the Cumberland (Union) is split in two and falls back in panic, except for Thomas’ troops, who placed themselves on Horseshoe Ridge and hold off Confederate attacks for the rest of the day. It is noted that several of Thomas’s regiments were equipped with Henry repeating rifles, which were instrumental in holding the Confederates at bay. The Confederates are soon spent and Thomas begins an orderly retreat toward Chattanooga, TN where the Union army will soon be besieged. Thomas would soon become known as “The Rock of Chickamauga.” Confederate victory, the only such major victory for the CSA in the West. One of those killed in the battle was Confederate General Ben Hardin Helm, brother-in-law of US President Lincoln.
1864: Union General Sheridan is now in pursuit of Confederate General Early’s troops, hitting them at Middletown and Strasburg, VA.
Confederate General Price captures Keytesville, MO.
Confederate General Forrest and his troopers are in Northern Alabama and plan to raid into Tennessee.
September 21
1862: A Federal reconnaissance force crosses the Potomac River at Blackford’s Ford, VA and skirmishes with elements of Confederate General A. P. Hill’s corps that was covering the Confederate retreat back into Virginia.
Confederate General Bragg’s troops leave Mumfordville, KY for Bardstown, KY in order to link up with General Smith’s forces. This move leaves the door open for Union General Buell to advance on Louisville, KY.
1863: Union General Rosecrans is collecting his army in Chattanooga, TN while the Confederates waste time looting captured Federal supplies. It is late afternoon before Confederate General Bragg orders a pursuit. This angers the cavalry commander, General Forrest, who told Bragg that “every hour is worth a thousand men.”
1864: Confederate General Forrest gets close to the Union garrison at Athens, TN.
Battle of Fisher’s Hill (Cedar Creek), VA. Union commander: General Philip Sheridan. Confederate commander: General Jubal Early. Sheridan’s attack pushed back the Confederate picket line and captures the high ground. Fighting ends at night fall. During the night, Union General Crook’s Army of West Virginia move into concealed positions to await morning.
September 22
1861: Pro-Union raiders burn the town of Osceola, MO.
Skirmishes at Papinsville and Elliot’s Mills, MO
1862: US President Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclamation, citing the recent Union victory at Sharpsburg, MD. On January 1, 1863, all slaves in areas still in rebellion will be declared free. This now puts the Union war effort as both the restoration of the Union and the freeing of the slaves. This also puts the US on the moral high ground and also closes the door on any British of French recognition of the CSA.
1863: Union General Burnside begins the East Tennessee Campaign by attacking Confederate troops at Blountsville, TN defeating them.
Confederate General Bragg’s forces run into entrenched Union positions near Chattanooga, TN and another chance to destroy a Union force is lost.
News of the Union defeat at Chickamauga has reached US President Lincoln and he is wondering if Rosecrans can even hold Chattanooga, TN.
1864: Battle of Fisher’s Hill (Cedar Creek), VA. Day Two. Union General Crook’s troops launch an attack that collapses the Confederate line. Early retreats toward Rockfish Gap, losing 20 cannon in the process and opening the entire Shenandoah Valley to Sheridan. Union victory.
September 23
1861: Small engagement at Hanging Rock, Western Virginia.
1862: Union General McClellan has stopped his army on the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry, WV. He believes that Confederate General Lee will force another crossing. In fact, Lee has no other plans than to reassemble his army near Winchester, VA.
1863: US President Lincoln is awakened at the Soldiers’ Home with the news that Secretary of War Stanton has called a Council of War. (During the summer, Lincoln slept at the Soldier’s Home because the White House was not well ventilated.)
1864: Confederate General Early’s shattered army falls back toward New Market, VA.
September 24
1861: Adding to the list of things to be held against him, Union General Fremont orders the St Louis Evening News closed and the editor arrested after an editorial is printed chiding him for his inaction concerning the Union defeat at Lexington, MO.
1862: Troops under Union General Buell reach Louisville, KY.
US President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in cases involving interference with recruitment and draft efforts.
1863: Confederate General Bragg’s forces have positioned them on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, effectively cutting Union General Rosecrans’ supply line and sealing his army in Chattanooga, TN.
US President Lincoln meets with Secretaries Stanton (War), Seward (State), Chase (Treasury), and General-in-Chief Halleck to discuss the situation in Tennessee. Recognizing that Chattanooga TN, is the key to any future offensive into the Deep South, Orders are prepared to have Generals Grant and Burnside send reinforcements, as well as 20,000 from the Army of the Potomac.
1864: Union General Sheridan begins a scorched earth policy in the Shenandoah Valley, VA. Anything of any value to the Confederacy is burned. It was said at the time that the destruction would be so complete that “birds flying across the valley would have to carry their own provender.”
Confederate troops under General Price attack Fayette, MO.
Confederate General Forrest captures Athens, AL.
September 25
1861: US Navy Secretary Gideon Welles gives orders that “contrabands” (escaped slaves) can enlist in the Navy, almost two years before the same would be authorized for the Army.
Skirmish at Chapmanville, Western Virginia.
Skirmish at Canada Alamosa, New Mexico Territory.
Minot engagement at Lewinsville, VA.
1862: Union General McClellan sends in demands for supplies, uniforms, and reinforcements. Supplies and uniforms are sent, but not a single man is released from the Washington, DC defenses.
1863: Union 11th and 12th Corps, under General Hooker, begins to deploy to Chattanooga, TN to reinforce General Rosecrans.
Union General Burnside receives orders to reinforce General Rosecrans at Chattanooga but instead heads for Jonesboro, TN.
1864: Confederate General Early is forced to retreat to Brown’s Pass, VA. In the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Confederate General Forrest captures the Sulphur Branch Trestle in northern Alabama, disrupting Federal rail traffic.
CS President Davis visits General Hood at Palmetto, GA to discuss the current situation.
September 26
1861: Skirmish at Lucas Bend, KY.
1862: The Confederate Foreign Policy Committee issues a report calling for the Mississippi River to be kept open for trade, following a Confederate victory in the war, and that favored trade status be given to the Northwestern States.
Confederate General Bragg issues a proclamation calling on Northwest states to force the US government to stop the war.
1863: Union General Hooker’s troops reach Alexandria, VA to take trains for Tennessee.
1864: Skirmishes occur at Port Republic and Brown’s Gap, VA as Union General Sheridan’s troops press Confederate General Early.
Confederate General Forrest strikes a Federal garrison neat Pulaski, TN.
Confederate General Price’s troops engage Federals at Arcadia Valley, Shut-in-Gap, and Ironton, MO.
September 27
1861: Union General McClellan meets with US President Lincoln and the Cabinet about a new offensive into Virginia.
Confederates abandon a fort at Munson’s Hill, VA.
1862: There is panic in Louisville, KY as Confederate General Bragg’s forces approach and there is no confidence that Union General Buell’s troops will arrive in time.
1863: It took the better part of a day, but all of the horses and artillery of Union General Hooker’s force are on trains heading for Tennessee.
1864: Confederate General Price attacks the Union garrison at Ft Davidson, MO. He fails to capture the fort but the garrison escapes during the night.
Confederate raiders under William “Bloody Bill” Anderson attack and kill 24 unarmed Union soldiers at Centralia, MO. He then attacks the Union troops coming to reinforce the garrison.
September 28
1861: An early indication of how Union General McClellan operates is made apparent when he states that he can not conduct an offensive with any less than 150,000 men. McClellan cites reports that the Confederates have at least 150,000 (in fact, they did not have even 50,000).
1862: Union General McClellan is still under the assumption that he is outnumbered, not realizing that he has 100,000 troops and that Confederate General Lee only had 53,000.
1863: Battle of Fordoche Bridge, LA. Union commander: General Napoleon Dana. Confederate commander: General Tom Green. Union forces were marching in support of General Banks’ attempt to attack Texas when Dana’s troops were attacked by the Confederates. Skirmishing began at dawn while the battle proper was in full force at mid-day. Union lines were broken and only the cavalry escaped getting captured. Confederate victory.
Union General Rosecrans has brought charges against Generals McCook and Crittenden and they are ordered to Indianapolis, IN to stand before a court of inquiry. The main problem with that is they are all trapped in Chattanooga, TN. The only effect of this is a lowering of the morale of the besieged troops. This on top of the already short rations.
1864: Confederate General Price resumes his advance toward St Louis, MO.
Atlanta, GA is now reportedly clear of civilians. Atlanta Campaign ends.
Union Admiral Farragut takes sick leave, leaving Admiral David Porter in charge of the Union blockade and Admiral S.P. Lee (a relation to Confederate General Lee) in command of US Naval forces on the Mississippi River.
CS President Davis orders General Hardee relieved from command of a corps of General Hood’s army and reassigned him to command the Department of South Carolina.
Private James Henry Gooding, a private in the 54th MA, writes US President Lincoln to complain about the lower pay African-American soldiers are receiving.
September 29
1861; Munson’s Hill, VA is occupied by Federal troops. A friendly fire incident occurred nearby when the 69th PA fired on the 71st PA, killing nine.
Robert Knox Sneeden, a private who had joined the Union Army as a member of the 40th NY, writes about participating in an exercise which ended in a fistfight between members of the regiment.
1862: In Louisville, KY there was a duel between Union Generals Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to CS President Davis) and William Nelson. Nelson is killed. The incident never comes to trial. This happen on the same day that General Buell’s forces reach the city.
1863: Union General Grant received orders to send troops to the aid of the trapped Union force in Chattanooga, TN. General Sherman’s corps is already headed east and most of General McPherson’s corps has left Vicksburg, MS and is also heading east.
1864: Confederate cavalry under General Forrest skirmish with Federals neat Lynchburg, TN.
Confederates in Cuba seize the US vessel Roanoke in violation of Spanish neutrality (Cuba at the time was a Spanish possession).
Union General Sheridan’s and Confederate General Early’s troops skirmish near Waynesboro, VA.
Union Generals Birney and Ord launch an assault on the Richmond, VA defenses. XVII Corps (Ord) manages to take Ft Harrison but X Corps (Birney) is repulsed at Ft Gilmer.
Union forces push from Weldon Railroad towards the Southside Railroad near Petersburg, VA.
Action at Leesburg and Cuba, MO.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes about having breakfast with a Mr. Tyler. The meal consisted of two loaves of bread, two cups of coffee and six eggs. The bill came to $16.
September 30
1861: Things have settled down, but there are still problems. Skirmishing is still taking place in Missouri and Union General Fremont is causing a firestorm with recent actions. Kentucky is about to become a major war zone. Western Virginia is turning out in favor of the Union. Above all this, there is a major public clamor for a Union offensive into Virginia.
1862: Photographer Matthew Brady opens an exhibit of photographs taken on the Antietam, MD battlefield. Called “The Dead of Antietam,” this exhibit allows civilians to view the aftermath of a battle for the first time.
Engagement at Newtonia, MO.
1863: Confederate cavalry under General Wheeler begin disrupting lines of communication and supply to the Union army now trapped in Chattanooga, TN. The Siege of Chattanooga has begun.
Even if women could not vote in elections, they were still urged to get their men out to vote, as evidence during a campaign to re-elect Andrew Curtin Governor of Pennsylvania.
CS War Department clerk John B. Jones writes that in Richmond, VA, butter sells for $4 a pound, bacon for $3 a pound, lard for $2.25 a pound, beef for $1.25 a pound, lamb for $1.25 a pound, veal for $1.50 a pound, sausages for $1 each, chickens for $7 per pair, ducks for $5 a pair, salted herrings for $4 per dozen, cabbage for $1.50 each, green corn for $2 per dozen, sweet potatoes for $26 a bushel, regular potatoes for .75 a quart, butter-beans for $1.50 per quart, , onions for $1.50 per quart, eggplant for $2 each, tomatoes for $1 a quart, and soap for $1.50 a pound. Buying a pair of boots will take $100, shoes for $60, a mattress will set you back $40, blankets for $40, and sheets for $25 each.
1864: Union General Grant extends his lines southwest of Petersburg, VA, capturing Ft Archer from the Confederates.
Confederate General Lee attempts to take back Ft Harrison from the Federals, but fails. Lee now has only 50,000 troops to cover 35 miles of trenches.
Birthdays:
US Attorney General Edward Bates, 1793
John Burns, the civilian "Hero of Gettysburg", 1793
Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan, 1800
Union Admiral Samuel DuPont, 1803
Union General Samuel Heintzelman, 1805
Union Admiral Andrew Foote, 1806
Confederate General Sterling Price, 1809
Confederate Naval Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of CSS Alabama, 1809
Union General Alphesus Williams, 1810
Union General John Sedgewick, 1813
Confederate General Francis Bartow, 1816
Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor of the Gatling Gun, 1818
US Consul in Liverpool, England Thomas Dudley, 1819
Union General Henry Hunt, 1819
Union General William Rosecrans, 1819
Union General John Reynolds, 1820
Confederate General Earl Van Dorn, 1820
Union General Alvin Hovey, 1821
Union General Baron Adolf Wilhelm August Friedrich von Steinwehr, 1822
Union General Hiram Berdan, who created two regiments of United States Sharpshooters, 1823
Union General Truman Seymour, 1824
Union General Charles Stone, 1824
Union General Henry Slocum, 1827
Union General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who initially led the 20th ME at Gettysburg, PA, 1828
Union General George Crook, 1828
Founder of the US Signal Corps, Union Colonel Albert Myer, 1828
Union General George Crook, 1829
Confederate General States Rights Gist, 1831
Union General John Schofield, 1831
Confederate General George Washington Custis Lee, 1832
Union Colonel Paul Joseph Revere, commander of the 20th MA and grandson of famed
Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere, 1832
Confederate General Joseph Wheeler, 1836
Union General James Wilson, 1837
Confederate Major John Pelham, the "Gallant Pelham", 1838
Political Cartoonist Thomas Nast, 1840
# posted by FSPowers : 6:30 PM
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