Civil War 150th

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

At Camden, Arkansas, Frederick Steele's Union force needed more foodstuffs. A report came in of a supply of corn about twenty miles (32 km) away. Steele dispatched a brigade of about 1,100 men with about 200 wagons to get it. The report was accurate, and the Northerners loaded the corn onto their wagons and began the march back.

But they were attacked by three times their number of Confederate cavalry and infantry at a place called Poison Springs. The First Kansas Colored Infantry held off two Rebel attacks, but broke under a third well-coordinated assault. With their defensive line gone, the Northerners made a headlong retreat, abandoning all their wagons and the corn with them.

Casualties were about 300 killed, wounded, and missing for the Union, and 110 for the Confederates. The first Kansas Colored Infantry suffered especially hard, because it had taken the brunt of the attacks but also very likely because some of its members were shot while trying to surrender or killed after being wounded. There are even reports of black soldiers being scalped by Choctaw Indians in the Southern ranks.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Virginia, April had more than lived up to its reputation as the month of showers. U. S. Grant had no intention of repeating the "Mud March" that had made his predecessor Ambrose Burnside a laughingstock. He therefore dispatched a letter to his friend W. T. Sherman, tentatively naming Saturday, April 30 as the starting date for the grand coordinated offensive. The letter also mentioned that both of the two major armies of the Confederacy (Joseph E. Johnston and Robert E. Lee's commands) were to be kept busy so that neither could spare troops to reinforce the other.


At 4:00 a.m. on the Roanoke River in North Carolina, Union lookouts spotted the CSS Albemarle coming downstream to engage the Northern squadron. It was not unexpected, for Confederate land forces were already laying seige to the Union fortifications around the coastal town of Plymouth. The sound of Albemarle's guns being exercised the two days before had not gone unnoticed. Charles W. Flusser, skipper of the Federal gunboat Miami and commander of the little fleet, had made plans to defeat the Rebel ironclad by tangling her in a chain between his ship and another gunboat named Southfield. Both sides prepared for action.

Both sides had other vessels along, but the fight was essentially between the Confederate "ram" and the two Union warships. The Albemarle outmaneuvered her opponents by steaming close to the riverbank so that the chain could not be passed around her. At just the right moment she put on a burst of speed and turned to ram. The Miami was hit at an angle, tearing open a hole above her waterline, and then the Albemarle bounced away and struck Southfield, punching through the hull and starting to flood the Yankee ship's fireroom. Northern commander Flusser tried to take advantage of the close range, personally firing a 9-inch Dahlgren gun point-blank at the Southern vessel. It was a poor move, for even at that samll distance the shell bounced off Albemarle's armor plates, and exploded on the deck of Miami. Flusser was killed almost instantly.

Without her skipper, Miami continued on course, heading away from the Albemarle and towards the shallows. Meanwhile, Southfield began to sink, and threatened to take Albemarle down with her. As had happend more than once before, the metal ram on the rammer's prow had become stuck in the Union vessel. Albemarle was tilted to the point where water began to come into her forward gunports.

Albemarle's captain ordered full astern, and for once Southern steam engines delivered, pulling the ram free from her victim. On the Union side, Miami was also saved when a lieutenant from the Southfield managed to get aboard, take command, and steer her away from grounding. But it was now clear that the Northerners had nothing that could seriously damage the Confederate ironclad, and the entire flotilla retreated. Albemarle now controlled that section of the river, and Plymouth with its Yankee garrison was cut off.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

At Camden, Arkansas, the Yankees under Frederick Steele had a bit of good luck. Their first attempt at gathering food from the surrounding countryside had failed, but on this date they managed to take in wagonloads of provisions from the direction of Pine Bluff. It was promising, but not enough for a march to Louisiana.


At Plymouth, North Carolina, the Confederates were not slow to take advantage of their new control of the Roanoke River. Their ground troops under General Robert Hoke (below) had already captured one of the outlying forts, driving most of the Union soldiers into the main fort, Fort Williams. This now became a trap for the Federals, because Fort Williams had been built on the assumption that the Northerners would always have naval superiority.

The CSS Albemarle moved in and began lobbing shells into the fort. She was joined by Confederate Army artillery on the other three sides. It became tragically clear that there were few safe places inside the fort, particularly not at the cannons. Unable to reply to any effect, and with no chance of relief, the Northerners ran up the white flag by 10 a.m. As many as 2,800 Union soldiers went into the bag, and Plymouth returned to Confederate control.

It was alleged that the Southerners committed another massacre of the black troops in the fort, but this time the weight of the evidence is against it. For instance, in a week the Richmond Examiner would apparently express disappointment that General Hoke and his men had not "made such thorough work" as Forrest had at Fort Pillow.

[Capt. Harlock]

Late April, 1864:

W. T. Sherman now realized that the two divisions he had lent to Nathaniel Banks' Red River expedition were not going to be returned to him in time. He had sent orders to General A. J. Smith to begin the march back to meet the rest of Sherman's army near Chattanooga. But Banks had countermanded those orders, declaring that he must have the troops to defend against the pesky Confederates harassing his army as he withdrew back down the river. (Banks did not realize that because the Southerners were now trying to concentrate against Frederick Steele's force in Arkansas, he now outnumbered them by about six to one.)

Sherman faced Joseph Johnston's Army of Tennessee, which had used the winter months building very strong fortifications. (Sherman did not know that Johnston had also fortified several fall-back positions as well, but he would find out.) A full-on frontal attack was out of the question, so Sherman had planned to "demonstrate" in front of the fortifications with a large force, while a second force went around Johnston's flank and cut him off from the rear. But now, although Sherman's forces still had more numbers, there were not enough spares so that the flanking force could match the Rebel army should it turn on them during the march. Sherman drew up a new plan, so that the flanking force would not be far from support while it moved. This meant Sherman could not make as great a sweep as he would have liked -- which would have consequences.


At his headquarters in Culpepper Court House, Virginia, Grant also found his choices narrowed:

[font="Times New Roman"] At this time I was not entirely decided as to whether I should move the Army of the Potomac by the right flank of the enemy, or by his left. Each plan presented advantages. If by his right--my left--the Potomac, Chesapeake Bay and tributaries would furnish us an easy hauling distance of every position the army could occupy from the Rapidan to the James River. But Lee could, if he chose, detach or move his whole army north on a line rather interior to the one I would have to take in following. A movement by his left--our right--would obviate this; but all that was done would have to be done with the supplies and ammunition we started with. All idea of adopting this latter plan was abandoned when the limited quantity of supplies possible to take with us was considered. The country over which we would have to pass was so exhausted of all food or forage that we would be obliged to carry everything with us.

[center]--The Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant[/center][/font]

The chances of achieving tactical surprise over Lee and his army looked slim. Strategic surprise was, of course, out of the question. By this time everyone, North and South, knew that a major campaign was coming.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

One Yankee expedition for supplies had been defeated, and one had been successful. Now General Frederick Steele gambled on a third attempt, and sent out a brigade reinforced by cavalry. In all, there were 1,750 men with 240 wagons, led by a Colonel with the promising name of Francis M. Drake. Unfortunately, Drake was a far less competent commander than his seafaring English namesake. Patrols reported movement in nearby woods and abandoned campsites, but the Colonel dismissed the possibility of any sizeable Confederate forces in the area. Unknown to him, his brigade was up against two divisions, sent by Edmund Kirby Smith now that the Federals were in retreat down the Red River. And the Federals were not traveling as fast as they might have. By this time in the war, whenever there was a large body of Union troops moving through southern territory, the word quickly spread and numbers of slaves ran away to follow the Northerners to the freedom granted by the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Federals encountered the Confederates in a bad place, called Marks' Mills. Much of the countryside was woods, but there was a large clear area where first contact was made. Colonel Drake threw his troops forward, only to have more and more Rebels come in from the sides. The Union cavalry attempted to prevent the brigade from being surrounded, but eventually was unsuccessful. After four hours of furious combat, the Northerners surrendered.
The Confederate losses are estimated at 41 killed, 108 wounded, and 144 missing. About 190 Union soldiers managed to escape the trap, but all of the remainder were killed or captured, along with with 240 wagons. Again there were reports of black troops being massacred after the surrender, along with a number of the "runaways".

The one benefit for the Union out of the disaster was that Steele now knew there were large Confederate forces in the area, and no further chance of collecting supplies. The time had come to abandon his intended march to Louisiana, and retreat back to his starting base while he still could.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Camden, Arkansas, Frederick Steele and his small Union army were now in serious trouble, with provisions for just a few more days and more and more Confederate troops arriving in the area. The only hope was a march back to their starting point, Little Rock. The Northerners spent the day preparing for a movement that would be as quiet as possible, muffling the wheels on their wagons and artillery. When night fell, they began the march out of the town and across the river, making sure not to walk in lock-step so that the noise of their boots would not be combined. It worked to perfection: the Rebels had no idea their enemy was slipping away.


However, in Louisiana, the Yankees had to accept a loss. The level of the Red River was falling, and the Union vessels that had gone above the rapids at Alexandria now found themselves trapped. Although the Confederates were now reduced in manpower with the bulk of their forces trying to crush the Yankees in Arkansas, there were still enough troops to give Admiral Porter's flotilla a hard time. Sharpshooters and land-based artillery did some damage to several ships, and brought further salvage work on the mine-damaged USS Eastport to a halt. Realizing the inevitable, the Northerners set the ship, previously the pride of the fleet, on fire. The flames reached the magazine in short order, and the ironclad blew up.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

It was Ulysses S. Grant's 42nd birthday, and he dashed off a letter to his wife. Among other items, he wrote: "Don’t know exactly the day when I will start or whether Lee will come here before I am ready to move. Would not tell you if I did know." But later, in his memoirs, he would write: "By the 27th of April spring had so far advanced as to justify me in fixing a day for the great move. On that day Burnside left Annapolis to occupy Meade's position between Bull Run and the Rappahannock. Meade was notified and directed to bring his troops forward to his advance."


At Camden, Arkansas, the Confederates under General Edmund Kirby Smith advanced into a town now empty of Union soldiers. Kirby Smith hoped to destroy the Northern army before it could get back to its base at Little Rock, but the Federals had inconsiderately destroyed their bridge behind them. The Southerners had pontoons for bridges, but they were in the rear of their columns. They would lose over twenty-four hours in what had now become a high-stakes race, with the state of Arkansas going to the winner.


In Richmond, things seemed to be looking up after the gloom of the second half of 1863. Except for Sherman's temporary success of the Meridian Campaign, the Northerners had won nothing so far in 1864. Nonetheless, the article printed by the Daily Richmond Examiner certainly seems like an exercise in overconfidence:

[font="Times New Roman"]From the head-waters of the Red River to the coast of North Carolina, the horizon is fairly radiant with Confederate victory. Forcing its way through the darkness of Yankee concealment, BANKS' defeat tells that all is well in the Trans-Mississippi Department. FORREST, at Fort pillow, undoes in an hour the year's work of Grant, and obstructs, in a very inconvenient manner, the free navigation of the Mississippi. Confederate horsemen career confidently In Western Kentucky, and white flags are hanging out at Columbus.

It was proper that these brilliant affairs in the West should be furnished with a pendant in the East, and nobly has it been done by HOKE at Plymouth. There, too, has storming been the order of the day, and success has been as complete as at Fort Pillow. Hitherto, though often led against field-works, the Confederate soldiers have rarely been called upon to assail permanent fortifications. These two brilliant examples fully attest their prowess in this trying mode of warfare, and evince that striking superiority of élan which most signally elevates them above the Yankee soldier. Not an instance in the war can be mentioned of the Yankees having driven our men from intrenched positions.

These cheering victories coming in such rapid succession from so many different quarters are auspicious of final success. They resemble those minor combats which so often, on the eve of great battles, have seemed to cast the shadow of coming events before them, and to give an earnest of future victory. While the two great armies are collecting their strength and preparing for a decisive spring, these hopeful auguries cannot fall to inspirit the one and to throw a gloom over the other. Thus far the year has been marked by a series of unbroken triumphs for the Confederate arms. Should the stream continue to set a little longer in the same direction, it will sweep away all the impediments in the course of our youthful Republic.

The facility with which we have achieved these triumphs is encouraging in another point of view. The enemy must have weakened his armies of occupation in the various districts he has overrun. His garrisons are a mixture of whites and blacks, enough probably, of the former to prevent the Africans from following their own inclination and surrendering at the first summons. By such a disposition it was thought that their conquests might be retained, and the negro soldiery be made to serve a useful purpose. The event has disappointed these expectations. They have lost their hard-won conquests, and as yet have failed to strike any compensating blow by means of the concentration for the sake of which they have weakened themselves elsewhere.

The details of the affair at Plymouth are not yet fully ascertained. It is, however, safe to pronounce it one of the most brilliant affairs of the war. Its immediate fruits are important. Those which may ultimately flow from it, the possession of an abundant country, and the possible command of the inland waters of North Carolina, (though as yet the subject of uncertain speculation,) may well excite high hopes for the future.

Gen. HOKE. judging from the large number of his prisoners, does not seem to have made such thorough work as that by which Forrest has so shocked the tender souls and frozen the warm blood of the Yankees. The resistance he encountered was, probably, not so desperate, and the blood of the victors was not so heated; though in a fortification carried by storm, the loss of the garrison must inevitably be large.

The strict laws of civilized warfare acknowledge the power of the victor to put all to the sword in such cases. However severe such an example might seem, it would strike a salutary terror in the Yankees, which will be useful to them in the end, and their melancholy whine at meeting a part of the punishment their barbarities merit is absurd.

In the rapid fall of these positions which the Yankees gained so easily, we see something like a revulsion of the gunboat mania. At that period they made most of the acquisitions which they have since held apparently in a firm grasp. The reflux of the tide is no less sudden than its advance. The year 1864 may undo the work of 1862, and suggest a solution of many difficulties which seemed almost insurmountable.[/font]

(Note this image is not of the paper on the actual date, but is given as an example of the format.)

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Arkansas, the near-starving Union army arrived at the Saline River, the last major stream standing between them and their base at Little Rock. Happily, they had remembered to bring their pontoons and other bridging material, and they promptly set to construction. Before long Confederate cavalry caught up with them, but the Yankees had anticipated that. A strong rear-guard had been set up, and infantry in close order backed by artillery was too tough a nut for horse troopers to do very much. The Rebels would need strong infantry forces of their own.

Just such forces were on the way. The Southerners had lost twenty-four hours when Camden was evacuated, but they were trying very hard to catch up. A number of units marched throughout the night, catching only one or two hours of sleep. By the next day, there would be enough grey-clad troops for a serious assault on the spot where the Yankees hoped to complete their bridge -- a place called Jenkins' Ferry, which those who have seen the Speilberg movie "Lincoln" will recognize as the battle scene in the first part of the film.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In the New York Gold Room, the price of gold climbed to 184. After the Confederate successes of the year, speculators were starting to wonder if the South might achieve its independence after all.


In Richmond, the Richmond Enquirer put forth its rationale that there had been no massacre at Fort Pillow:

[font="Times New Roman"]“The ‘so-called’ massacre at Fort Pillow is merely an offset to the damaging truths that have made the names of BUTLER, MCNEILL and TURCHIN infamous all over the world. In this light it will be understood and appreciated as merely another false-hood … We have seen no evidence of any ‘massacre’ whatever, but should it become necessary to put a garrison to the sword, under the law of war, we should expect the whites to be shot and the negroes to be sold. A negro at $5,000 is too valuable to be shot.”[/font]

But at the Presidential residence there was tragedy. Davis' son Joseph Evan Davis, just twelve days after his fifth birthday, was exploring some scaffolding left by repairmen. He slipped and fell onto the paved patio, suffering fatal injuries. Diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut was with Mrs. Davis when she received the news:

[font="Times New Roman"]That evening, as we walked up to Mrs. Davis's carriage, which was waiting for us at the landing, Dr. Garnett with Maggie Howell, Major Hall with me, suddenly I heard her scream, and some one stepped back in the dark and said in a whisper. "Little Joe! he has killed himself!" I felt reeling, faint, bewildered. A chattering woman clutched my arm: "Mrs. Davis's son? Impossible."
-- Mary Boykin Chesnut, A Diary From Dixie[/font]

Both Davis and Lincoln had suffered the loss of a son while in office.


At Jenkins' Ferry in Arkansas, the Union rear-guard had established an excellent defensive position. The flanks could not be turned, for there was a flooded creek on the right and swamp on the left. A successful attack by the Confederates needed a coordinated assault over the entire line, looking for a weak spot to break while pressure against the other parts of the line prevented reinforcement.

But it was a wet, foggy morning, preventing signals from being seen for any distance and interfering with couriers. The Rebel attacks went in piecemeal. The images in Spielberg's "Lincoln" are probably a good representation; for the combat turned into a nightmare of mud and tired but desperate men going on adrenaline and not much else. The Northerners were near starving, the Southerners near exhausted from all-night marching. Finally, after a Confederate assault was beaten back, the Second Kansas Colored Infantry counter-charged. Enraged by the reports of killings of blacks at Fort Pillow, Poison Springs, and Marks' Mills, they granted little quarter of their own, bayoneting a number of Southern soldiers trying to surrender. They may have gone even further, for there are reports of mutilated bodies found afterwards.

Shortly after noon, the Confederate commander had seen enough, and called off any further attacks. The Federals withdrew across the now completed bridge, then burned it, for the way was now clear to Little Rock. Reported casualties were Union: 63 killed, 413 wounded, 45 missing, Confederate: 86 killed, 356 wounded, and one missing. Actual losses were very likely higher, since some units did not make reports.

[Capt. Harlock]

Beginning of May 1864:

The Civil War was one of the last conflicts where it was possible for the two sides to look at each other from a distance, without being able to effectively attack. In Virginia, on top of an elevation called Clark's Mountain, Robert E. Lee had an excellent view of the forces under Ulysses S. Grant. Lee even correctly guessed the route Grant had chosen to advance, but the Confederate commander made no change in his dispositions. If he was right, he would be able to intercept the Northerners, and if he was wrong, it would open the way to Richmond. It was too big a risk to take.

At Little Rock, Arkansas, the small Union army under Frederick Steele made it back to its base, and finally, some square meals. They did delay just a short while to straighten their ranks and prominently display the three Confederate artillery pieces they had captured when marching into town.

At Alexandria, Louisiana, the larger Union army that had been planned to be the hammer to Steele's anvil paused in the retreat back to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Partly this was because General John McClernand, whose intrigues had given Grant so much trouble the year before, had returned with a few reinforcements. This gave rise to a three-way struggle for command, between McClernand, Nathaniel Banks, and A. J. Smith, who was inferior in rank to the other two, but under orders to leave with his two divisions.

All three generals, however, agreed on the necessity of saving the Union gunboats and transports which were now trapped above the rapids at Alexandria. Since the Confederates had lowered the level of the river by destroying a levee, a Lieutenant Colonel of engineers named Joseph Bailey suggested that the level could be raised back up at that particular spot by building a dam. Nathaniel Banks for once showed intelligence and decision by promptly adopting the suggestion, and soon 3,000 soldiers were working night and day on the dam.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

[font="Times New Roman"] Soon after midnight, May 3d-4th, the Army of the Potomac moved out from its position north Rapidan, to start upon that memorable campaign, destined to result in the capture of the Confederate capital and the army defending it. This was not to be accomplished, however, without as desperate fighting as the world has ever witnessed; not to be consummated in a day, a week, a month, single season.

[ . . . ]

As soon as the crossing of the infantry was assured, the cavalry pushed forward, Wilson's division by Wilderness Tavern to Parker's store, on the Orange Plank Road; Gregg to the left towards Chancellorsville. Warren followed Wilson and reached the Wilderness Tavern by noon, took position there and intrenched. Sedgwick followed Warren. He was across the river and in camp on the south bank, on the right of Warren, by sundown. Hancock, with the 2d corps, moved parallel with Warren and camped about six miles east of him. Before night all the troops ... were safely on the south side of the river.
[center]--The Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant[/center][/font]

So far, so good; the Army of the Potomac had successfully crossed the Rapidan River, and entered the area known as The Wilderness. It was roughly the same location where the western part of the Battle of Chancellorsville had been fought almost exactly one year before. And now Grant made an error similar to that of his predecessor Joe Hooker -- he halted his army before it reached the open ground, where his numbers and his artillery would have given him the advantage.

Robert E. Lee was not slow to take advantage of the mistake. His scouts and cavalry gave him a much better idea of where the Union army was than the Northerners had of his dispositions. Two Corps, under Richard Ewell and A. P. Hill, were sent marching to engage the Yankees before they could emerge from the woods.


Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

On the Roanoke River in North Carolina, the formidable ironclad CSS Albemarle along with CSS Bombshell, a captured steamer, were escorting the troop-laden CSS Cotton Plant. They met Northern gunboats: their old foe USS Miami, now supported by USS Mattabesett, USS Sassacus, and USS Wyalusing. Albemarle fired first, and scored a hit on Mattabesett. The counter-salvoes from the Union flotilla were powerful, however; Bombshell was disabled and re-captured, and Cotton Plant forced to flee the scene.

Lt. Commander Francis Roe, commanding Sassucus, decided to ram. The Union gunboat covered the 400 yards (370 m) and struck the Southern ironclad square on the broadside, which broke the timbers of her own bow and twisted off her bronze ramming spur. Unfortunately for the Sassucus, one of Albemarle's guns was now almost touching her hull. The Rebels got off two shells, one of them puncturing the Northern ship's boilers. Amazingly, the crew was not driven off the ship by the live steam, but just managed to back her away.

Albemarle was now distracted from finishing off Sassucus by the attack of the Miami. Since their previous encouter, the Union vessel had been equipped with a spar torpedo, which she now tried to use. The Albemarle was alive to the danger, and managed to evade. Miami's crew then went to the back-up plan, and tried to entangle the Southerner's propellers with a net. Albemarle dodged again, but by this time Sassucus had retreated safely, and the leak from the ramming and the numerous shells fired by the other Federal warships had begun to take their toll.

With the approach of darkness, the Southern ironclad turned and headed back upriver. Her smokestack had been holed repeatedly, which meant that her fires were not drawing well enough to provide the power needed to steam against the current. The captain had the larders opened, and threw in all the butter and bacon fat on board, which made the fires sufficiently hot for her return to base, and some much-needed repairs.

Many accounts credit this action as a Southern victory. It is true that Albemarle had inflicted considerably more damage than she had received, but the Confederates had lost a ship, and the Federals managed to save all of theirs. More, with Albemarle out of action for months, the Confederate drive to recapture New Bern stalled. And, if this can be counted as a Northern victory, it is likely the only one in history scored by wooden warships against an ironclad.


In the Virginia wilderness, it was not long before first contact was made between the two advancing forces. The first fighting erupted in the north and west of the area, along the Orange Turnpike. Jubal Early gave a good description in his memoirs:

[font="Times New Roman"]ON the morning of the 5th, Ewell's corps was put in motion, my division bringing up the rear. A short distance from the Old Wilderness Tavern, and just in advance of the place where a road diverges to the left from the old Stone Pike to the Germana Ford road, the enemy, in heavy force, was encountered, and Jones' brigade, of Johnson's division, and Battle's brigade, of Rodes' division, were driven back in some confusion. My division was ordered up, and formed across the pike, Gordon's brigade being on the right of the road. This brigade, as soon as it was brought into line, was ordered forward, and advanced through a dense pine thicket in gallant style. In conjunction with Daniel's, Doles' and Ramseur's brigades, of Rodes' division, it drove the enemy back with heavy loss, capturing several hundred prisoners, and gaining a commanding position on the right. Johnson, at the same time, was heavily engaged in his front, his division being on the left of the pike and extending across the road to the Germana Ford road, which has been mentioned. After the enemy had been repulsed, Hays' brigade was sent to Johnson's left...
[center]--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States[/center][/font]

So fierce had been the Confederate attack that the famous Northern "Iron Brigade" was driven from the field for the first time in its history -- and they had fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. The Federals deployed their artillery, but it was worse than useless; the shells started fires in the woods which made the already difficult visibility bad enough that the combat deteriorated into a large number of individual or squad-sized actions instead of organized lines.

To the south and east at the Orange Plank Road, the Yankees fared a little better. The advancing Rebels under A. P. Hill were detected, and a Union division supported by cavalry slowed them until most of II Corps under Winfield S. Hancock, probably the best Northern Corps in the Eastern theater, could come up. By 4 p.m. General Meade considered that he had enough troops for a successful attack, and ordered the men to go forward.

The terrain was bad, however, and the first assault was pinned down by heavy Confederate defensive fire. Undiscouraged, the Northerners comitted more and more units, and Lee was forced to send in his last reserve division in that area to hold them. Furious fighting continued until nightfall, with the Federals unable to break through, but the Rebels unable to drive their foes back.

In the meantime, the situation for the Union attack along the Orange Turnpike had gone downhill even more. The Southerners had managed to establish a defensive position out of the chaos:

[font="Times New Roman"]Pegram's brigade was subsequently sent to take position on Hays' left; and, just before night, a very heavy attack was made on its front, which was repulsed with severe loss to the enemy. In this affair, General Pegram received a severe wound in the leg, which disabled him for the field for some months. During the afternoon there was heavy skirmishing along the whole line, several attempts having been made by the enemy, without success, to regain the position from which he had been driven; and the fighting extended to General Lee's right on the Plank road. Gordon occupied the position which he had gained, on the right, until after dark, when he was withdrawn to the extreme left, and his place occupied by part of Rodes' division.

The troops encountered, in the beginning of the fight, consisted of the 5th corps, under Warren; but other troops were brought to his assistance. At the close of the day, Ewell's corps had captured over a thousand prisoners, besides inflicting on the enemy very heavy losses in killed and wounded. Two pieces of artillery had been abandoned by the enemy, just in front of the point at which Johnson's right and Rodes' left joined, and were subsequently secured by our troops.
[center]--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States[/center][/font]

Serious losses had been sustained by both sides. But the Battle of the Wilderness, as it would come to be known, was only half over, and the Overland Campaign was just beginning.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[Lecivius]

As an interesting side note

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/04/us/civil- ... ?hpt=hp_t3

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Other parts of Grant's strategy began to roll. In northern Georgia, Sherman sent the Army of the Tennessee under James McPherson through Snake Creek Gap, ready to strike at the supply line of the Rebel Army of Tennessee. The Federals encountered no resistance; Joseph Johnston had not risked dividing his force in the presence of an enemy outnumbering him two to one. On the Virginia Peninsula, Benjamin Butler advanced the Army of the James up its namesake river, moving towards Richmond from the southeast. The Yankee advance probes were stopped by a Confederate brigade, but this would clearly be no match for the Union main body.

But all eyes were now on the Virginia wilderness. Grant and Lee both had the same idea: attack as early as practicable. In the northwest sector along the Orange Turnpike, things went badly for the Northerners:

[font="Times New Roman"] Early on the morning of the 6th, the fighting was resumed, and a very heavy attack was made on the front occupied by Pegram's brigade (now under the command of Colonel Hoffman of the 31st Virginia Regiment); but it was handsomely repulsed, as were several subsequent attacks on the same point.

These attacks were so persistent, that two regiments of Johnson's division were moved to the rear of Pegram's brigade, for the purpose of supporting it; and when an offer was made to relieve it, under the apprehension that its ammunition might be exhausted, the men of that gallant brigade begged that they might be allowed to retain their position, stating that they were getting along very well indeed and wanted no help.

During the morning, the fact was communicated to General Ewell, by our cavalry scouts, that a column of the enemy's infantry was moving between our left and the river, with the apparent purpose of turning our left flank; and information was also received that Burnside's corps had crossed the river, and was in rear of the enemy's right. I received directions to watch this column, and take steps to prevent its getting to our rear; and Johnston's brigade, of Rodes' division, which had just arrived from Hanover Junction, was sent to me for that purpose. This brigade, with some artillery, was put in position, some distance to my left, so as to command some by-roads coming in from the river. In the meantime General Gordon had sent out a scouting party on foot, which discovered what was supposed to be the enemy's right flank resting in the woods, in front of my division; and, during my absence while posting Johnston's brigade, he reported the fact to General Ewell, and suggested the propriety of attacking this flank of the enemy with his brigade, which was not engaged ...

As soon as Gordon started, which was a very short time before sunset, I rode to my line and threw forward Pegram's brigade in a position to move when required. In the meantime Gordon had become engaged, and, while Pegram's brigade was being formed in line, I saw some of Gordon's men coming back in confusion, and Colonel Evans, of the 31st Georgia Regiment, endeavoring to rally them...

...Notwithstanding the confusion in part of his brigade, Gordon succeeded in throwing the enemy's right flank into great confusion, capturing two brigadier generals (Seymour and Shaler), and several hundred prisoners, all of the 6th corps, under Sedgwick. The advance of Pegram's brigade, and the demonstration of Johnston's brigade in the rear, where it encountered a part of the enemy's force and captured some prisoners, contributed materially to the result. It was fortunate, however, that darkness came to close this affair, as the enemy, if he had been able to discover the disorder on our side, might have brought up fresh troops and availed himself of our condition. As it was, doubtless, the lateness of the hour caused him to be surprised, and the approaching darkness increased the confusion in his ranks, as he could not see the strength of the attacking force...
[center]--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States[/center][/font]

To the southeast, along the Orange Plank Road, the Northern attack under Hankock went so well at first that it seemed it might score a decisive breakthrough. But after an hour of Confederate retreating, a brigade of Texans arrived, the vanguard of James longstreet's Corps. Anxious to stabilize his lines, Lee himself showed up and started to accompany the Texans into battle. At this, however, the men halted and demanded that their commanding general retire to the rear. They knew well that if Lee were to be lost, it would mean the collapse of the Army of Northern Virginia.

They were wise: their charge halted the Union advance for a time, but 550 of the 800 men became casualties. The time they had bought, however, was enough for Longstreet to bring up the rest of his Corps, and deliver a punishing counter-attack -- at a cost to Longstreet himself:

[font="Times New Roman"]As soon as the troops struck Hancock his line began to break, first slowly, then rapidly. Somehow, as they retreated, a fire was accidentally started in the dry leaves, and began to spread as the Confederates advanced. Mahone’s brigade approached the burning leaves and part of it broke off a little to get around, but the Twelfth Virginia was not obstructed by the blaze and moved directly on. At the Plank road Colonel Sorrel rode back to join us. All of the enemy’s battle on the right of the Plank road was broken up, and General Field was fighting severely with his three brigades on the left against Wadsworth and Stevenson, pushing them a little. The Twelfth Virginia Regiment got to the Plank road some little time before the other regiments of the brigade, and, viewing the contention on the farther side between Field’s and Wadsworth’s divisions, dashed across and struck the left of Wadsworth’s line. This relieved Field a little, and, under this concentrating push and fire, Wadsworth fell mortally wounded. In a little while followed the general break of the Union battle.
[...]
As the Twelfth Regiment marched back to find its place on the other side of the Plank road, it was mistaken, in the wood, for an advance of the enemy, and fire was opened on it from the other regiments of the brigade. The men threw themselves to the ground to let the fire pass. Just then our party of officers was up and rode under the fire. General Jenkins had not finished the expressions of joyful congratulations which I have quoted when he fell mortally wounded. Captain Doby and the orderly, Bowen, of Kershaw’s staff, were killed. General Kershaw turned to quiet the troops, when Jenkins’s brigade with levelled guns were in the act of returning the fire of the supposed enemy concealed in the wood, but as Kershaw’s clear voice called out “F-r-i-e-n-d-s!” the arms were recovered, without a shot in return, and the men threw themselves down upon their faces. At the moment that Jenkins fell I received a severe shock from a minie ball passing through my throat and right shoulder. The blow lifted me from the saddle, and my right arm dropped to my side, but I settled back to my seat, and started to ride on, when in a minute the flow of blood admonished me that my work for the day was done. As I turned to ride back, members of the staff, seeing me about to fall, dismounted and lifted me to the ground.
[center]--James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox: Memoirs of The Civil War in America[/center] [/font]

And now, to the horror of both sides, fires which had caused inconvenient smoke the day before became a lethal force:

[font="Times New Roman"]The ground fought over had varied in width, but averaged three-quarters of a mile. The killed, and many of the severely wounded, of both armies, lay within this belt where it was impossible to reach them. The woods were set on fire by the bursting shells, and the conflagration raged. The wounded who had not strength to move themselves were either suffocated or burned to death. Finally the fire communicated with our breastworks, in places. Being constructed of wood, they burned with great fury. But the battle still raged, our men firing through the flames until it became too hot to remain longer.
[center]--The Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant[/center][/font]

Night again brought the fighting to a halt. The Confederates had inflicted considerably more casualties than they had received, but how many more is not clear. The most detailed breakdown lists Union losses as 2,246 killed, 12,037 wounded, 3,383 missing or captured, with Confederate losses as 1,495 killed, 7,928 wounded, and 1,702 missing or captured. The National Park Service estimates nearly a thousand more Union casualties.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In the Virginia wilderness, daylight revealed that the Confederates had put up strong fortifications during the night. Grant still had a roughly two-to-one superiority in men, but the bloody fighting of the last two days showed that meant little in woods and brush. The Northerners would push Lee's army back at tremendous cost, if at all. Faced with similar situations, previous Union drives had been called off. But Grant was a different sort of commander. If he could not go through, he would go around.

He gave orders to pull out the wagons, and then the troops. The majority of the Army of the Potomac assumed they were retreating back across the Rapidan River, and it was one more failure. But at a key crossroads, the columns turned south, and the morale changed from gloomy to elated:

[font="Times New Roman"]Soon after dark Warren withdrew from the front of the enemy, and was soon followed by Sedgwick. Warren's march carried him immediately behind the works where Hancock's command lay on the Brock Road. With my staff and a small escort of cavalry I preceded the troops. Meade with his staff accompanied me. The greatest enthusiasm was manifested by Hancock's men as we passed by. No doubt it was inspired by the fact that the movement was south. It indicated to them that they had passed through the "beginning of the end" in the battle just fought. The cheering was so lusty that the enemy must have taken it for a night attack. At all events it drew from him a furious fusillade of artillery and musketry, plainly heard but not felt by us.
[center]--The Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant[/center][/font]


In northern Georgia, Sherman put the second part of his plan into motion. The Army of the Cumberland, the largest of the three armies under his command, moved forward against the main body of the Confederate army. The two armies had not been in close contact, so there was an important railroad tunnel at a place called, simply enough, Tunnel Hill. This the Yankees captured without much more than skirmishing. Joseph E. Johnston took some pride in his memoirs that it took until 11:00 a.m. to seize the ground, but according to Sherman, he had neglected a simple precaution:

[font="Times New Roman"]... on the 7th General Thomas moved in force against Tunnel Hill, driving off a mere picket-guard of the enemy, and I was agreeably surprised to find that no damage had been done to the tunnel or the railroad.
[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

This was a considerable help in bringing up supplies, but the really important action was still the advance of James McPherson's column through Snake Creek Gap. Some scouting reports on the Yankees reached Joseph Johnston, but he was getting a number of reports from different places. And none of the messages mentioned that there were a full 23,000 Federals on the move. For the time being, Johnston decided to concentrate on the threat to his front.

Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[Capt. Harlock]

As an interesting side note

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/04/us/civil- ... ?hpt=hp_t3

It is indeed a dark note in America's history. And it didn't have to be that way: possibly the best of the Civil War prisons was also to be found in the South:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/20 ... rn-prison/

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

James Longstreet had been shot by Confederate troops, just as Stonewall Jackson had been in roughly the same area a year before. But Longstreet was more fortunate: although badly wounded, he had been struck by only one bullet. And while Jackson's left arm had been amputated, Longstreet's right arm was only paralyzed. (He would eventually regain the use of it by an early form of physical therapy, moving his right arm with his left.) Nonetheless, Longstreet was hors de combat for months, and the Confederate First Corps needed a new commander.

Lee selected Major General Richard (Fightin' Dick) Anderson. It was a risky choice, because Anderson had not distinguished himself at Gettysburg the year before. But on this date, whether by luck or wisdom, Anderson performed invaluable service to the Army of Northern Virginia. He had marched his men nearly the entire night before past Todd's Tavern, and so was in position to block the Union attempt to seize the key town of Spotsylvania Court House. (Grant would later claim it was by luck; the Confederates had marched so far to get away from the fires and smoke from the Wilderness battlefield.)


The two Northern corps under Warren and Sedgwick probed the area, but Anderson was supported by Richard Ewell's corps, and had quickly erected good defensive lines. Warren sent back to Grant that he could do no more with what was at hand. This would need the entire Army of the Potomac.


Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com

[dublish]

Grant biographer Brooks D. Simpson has a pretty good day-by-day of the Overland campaign going on at his blog if anybody's looking for a supplement.

Keep up the hard work, Harlock. This thread is fantastic.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

On the Red River at Alexandria, Louisiana, the Northern dam-building effort received a setback. Two of the barges being used broke loose, and much of the water being held back surged downstream. This was an opportunity for the ships that were ready, but few of them were. The USS Lexington and three other ships managed to pass through the rapids, using the brief swell, but the remainder of Admiral Porter's flotilla were still trapped.

However, in northern Georgia, things were looking up for the Union:

[font="Times New Roman"] I had constant communication with all parts of the army, and on the 9th McPherson's head of column entered and passed through Snake Creek, perfectly undefended, and accomplished a complete surprise to the enemy. At its farther debouche he met a cavalry brigade, easily driven, which retreated hastily north toward Dalton, and doubtless carried to Johnston the first serious intimation that a heavy force of infantry and artillery was to his rear and within a few miles of his railroad. I got a short note from McPherson that day (written at 2 p.m., when he was within a mile and a half of the railroad, above and near Resaca), and we all felt jubilant.
[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

In Virginia, the armies of Lee and Grant were busy putting up fortifications for the battle which both sides knew was coming. They took care to leave some distance between their two lines, but the Yankees at least still didn't feel safe, and kept their heads down. Corps commander John Sedgwick was not happy that the work was thus slowed, and rode along the lines. He chided his men for ducking, saying several times "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance. " But he had not reckoned with the Whitworth rifle in the hands of Rebel marksmen. A bullet hit him squarely just below the right eye, killing him instantly.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The good cheer at Sherman's headquarters over James McPherson's advance through Snake Creek Gap turned out to be premature:

[font="Times New Roman"]McPherson had startled Johnston in his fancied security, but had not done the full measure of his work. He had in hand twenty-three thousand of the best men of the army, and could have walked into Resaca (then held only by a small brigade), or he could have placed his whole force astride the railroad above Resaca, and there have easily withstood the attack of all of Johnston’s army, with the knowledge that Thomas and Schofield were on his heels. Had he done so, I am certain that Johnston would not have ventured to attack him in position, but would have retreated eastward by Spring Place, and we should have captured half his army and all his artillery and wagons at the very beginning of the campaign ... but at the critical moment McPherson seems to have been a little timid.
[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

McPherson pulled back his advance force,opening the way for the Confederates to retreat. And now Joseph Johnston realized the size of the force coming into his rear, and gave the order to head south. What could have been an immediate and smashing victory would now become a long and difficult campaign. There would be many miles of marching through hilly terrain, and worries about a narrow and ever - lengthening supply line. Sherman's disappointment is clear in his Memoirs, according to one report at least, he did not harshly criticize McPherson when his subordinate reported to his headquarters. Sherman merely said, "Well, Mac, you missed the opportunity of your life."

Sherman was even more right than he knew, for McPherson's life had only a few more weeks to run.


In Virginia, the Confederate army had solidly entrenched in a roughly U-shaped line that would come to be known as the Mule Shoe. This made it difficult to turn the flanks. The situation was now not too far from what the generals of WWI would face half a century later, and like the Germans of 1918, an intelligent young Colonel named Emory Upton came up with a surprisingly effective idea. Something like the storm-troopers, Upton planned an assault on a narrow front, with a column of picked men punching through a section of the line, then fanning out to hit the defenses from the sides.

At first, it worked surprisingly well, but Upton's men were not supported. The Confederates rallied and pushed the Yankees back,inflicting many casualties including the wounding of Upton himself. But the Northerners now had a new instrument in their arsenal of tactics.