Civil War 150th

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

On the James River, dawn brought the light the Confederate flotilla needed to navigate past the sunken Union hulks towards the base at City Point. It had also brought the Union ships; double-turreted USS Onondaga (below), two gunboats, and a torpedo boat. The Northern commander had wanted to retreat farther downriver before giving battle, but an irate U. S. Grant had wired Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, and the orders came to attack.

The orders turned out to be an excellent idea, for disaster was quietly looming for the Southerners. They had forgotten that, close to the ocean, rivers are subject to the tides. Two of their ironclads, plus a torpedo boat and a gunboat, were now aground in the shallow water. As the morning light grew, the Union land batteries realized the situation and proceeded to blaze away at the immobilized Rebel ships. Virginia II and Richmond, being armored, stood the barrage with only light damage. But the other gunboats took various levels of damage. CSS Drewry in particular was being slowly shredded, and her crew abandoned her. They were none too soon, for only minutes later a Yankee shell found her magazine and she blew up so violently that she also fatally damaged the nearby torpedo boat CSS Scorpion.

Finally, the tide rose to where the Virginia II and Richmond could be freed. But it also allowed the little Union fleet to close the range. The USS Onondaga was one of the most powerful ironclads the Northerners built, for she mounted the massive 15-inch Dahlgren guns made especially for dealing with ironclads. The Yankee vessel dueled with CSS Virginia II, and the already damaged Confederate vessel found that her armor was not strong enough to handle the shot from the Dahlgrens. Reluctantly, the Southern commander ordered a retreat a short distance back up the river.

The Confederates waited until darkness fell, and then tried once more. By this time, however, the Yankees had erected "Drummonds lights" on the river banks, and with the illumination they were able to fire their shore batteries almost as accurately as if it were daytime. It was also found that the CSS Virginia II was almost unnavigable: her smokestack had been shot away, preventing her boilers from giving full power, and steam leaks rendered the helm virtually blind. The Southern commander called off the attempt. Now he had to get past the Union Fort Brady to return to the safety of Richmond.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Just after midnight on the James River, the Confederate flotilla made the run past Fort Brady. Knowing they were unlikely to slip past unseen, the Southerners instead bombarded the fort with nearly all the ammunition they had left, over a thousand shells. The Yankees had strengthened their defenses since the first passage of the fleet, so not much damage was done to the fort, but it did partly suppress the fort's return fire.

Nonetheless, when the Rebels returned to the safety of Richmond, the tally showed serious losses. One gunboat and one torpedo boat had been sunk, two out of the three ironclads damaged (Virginia II was effectively out of the war), and four of the smaller vessels were also damaged. At least ten men had been killed. In return, the Union had suffered only light damage to its ironclad, and lost three men. The Confederate commander was shortly replaced by Raphael Semmes, the famous captain of the raider Alabama.


In Richmond, Jefferson Davis summoned to his office Vice-President Alexander Stephens, Senator Robert Hunter, and Assistant Secretary of War John Campbell. The Confederate President gave the three men their instructions: they were to travel under flag of truce through the Union lines around Petersburg and act as "peace commisioners", pursuing the movement for peace started by Francis Blair, senior.

It is unlikely that Davis actually thought the effort would amount to anything, for he had sent a note to Lincoln that he would "renew the effort to enter into a conference with a view to secure peace between the two countries." Lincoln had replied to Blair (and not to Davis directly) that he was "ready to receive any agent ... with the view of securing peace to the people of our common country." This was not to Davis' liking, so he repeated his original words to the three peace commsioners: "In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln ...you are requested to proceed to Washington City for an informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace between the two countries."

In other words, Lincoln's idea of peace was for the South to surrender, and Davis' idea of peace was for the North to stop fighting and accept Southern independence. Neither side had a plan for compromise.

[Fred98]

25 January, 1865

Maritime history buffs are commemorating a little-known part of Victoria's history today, marking 150 years since a ship involved in America's civil war arrived in Melbourne

The Confederates' CSS Shenandoah was a raider ship used to disrupt Union supply ships, destroying dozens of ships, seizing goods and imprisoning merchant sailors.

It began its journey in England and was in the southern hemisphere searching for American whaling ships when it needed repairs.

The crew had only two options for the stopover: Cape Town, where the crew was likely to come across Union ships, and Melbourne, where the likelihood of crossing the enemy was low.


So the CSS Shenandoah docked in Melbourne on January 25, 1865.


During its visit, 42 Melbourne men secretly joined the Shenandoah's crew before it was sailed back out to sea to continue its attack on the way to the US, providing a rare Australian link to the war.

Four cannons were fired at midday at Williamstown on Sunday to mark the arrival of the ship.

One of the organisers of the commemoration, Peter Hemphill, said the visit had world significance.

"It destroyed the whaling fleet of the US, it had also fired the very last shots of the American Civil War," he said.

It's the only real link to America's civil war in Australia.

The ship started out known as the Sea King. It was bought by the Confederate navy secretly in England in late 1864.

It was spirited out of England off the coast of Africa, they changed its name to Shenandoah, loaded it with cannon, with supplies and marines.

It sailed to Australia and sank eight Yankee ships on its way. The captain, James Waddell, was trying to meet up with a mail run that was leaving Melbourne for the United States so he could report back to his commanders so they knew where he was.

He also needed repairs to his propeller. In the meantime the Yankees tried to get them arrested as pirates.

Mr Hemphill said at one point ship was surrounded by Australian police and military after accusations it was recruiting men, which was not allowed.

The crew spent time in Victoria, visiting the Melbourne Club and also Ballarat, where they held a "buccaneer's ball".

When they left, 42 Melbourne men bobbed up on deck and they were part of the crew that for the rest of the journey.

They went up to the northern Pacific and created havoc - just destroyed the Yankee whaling fleet.

They needed whale oil for greasing their cannon wheels and so forth, but it absolutely devastated the fleet for years to come.

Part of that happened after the war had ended. They sailed down the US coast and they found out the war had ended so they then stowed cannon in the hull ... and basically surrendered.

It fired the very last shot of the civil war.

[Capt. Harlock]

Late January 1865 :

W. T. Sherman had hoped to begin his march through South Carolina a week before, but the flooding of the rivers put a damper on his plans. He reluctantly moved the jump-off date to February 1st. This should have been greatly to the Confederates' advantage, for they were hurrying troops to the area to block Sherman's force. However, what troops they could scrape up were generally untrained, and more, poorly fed and equipped.

Even the Army of Northern Virginia was feeling the pinch. With the loss of Wilmington as a port, and the blocking of several of the railroads to Richmond, a hunger crisis had emerged. Gone were the days of eating beef; rations consisted mostly of corn meal and small amounts of bacon. Robert E. Lee pleaded more than once with the Confederate Congress, but little changed at first, for with the Georgia railroads wrecked, food, clothing, arms and ammunition from most of the South were cut off. Shoes and clothing for the winter weather were also desperately short. And as for weapons, Lee was even reduced to requesting that all private firearms in the area be turned over to his army.

Matters could scarcely have been more different on the Union side. Under Chief Quartermaster Montgomery Meigs, supplies flowed in generous amounts into the Federal camps. Innovations such as canned beans and dried vegetables (restored by boiling in water) gave the Yankees not only larger but more balanced meals. Warm coats, blankets, tents, and even wood to build huts were available. And where the Southerners were ordered to conserve ammunition, the Northern pickets complained of sore shoulders from the recoil of being assigned to fire a hundred shots a day. One observer wrote, "It was more than abundance, it was extravagance."

Not surprisingly, the contrast led to desertions from the Rebel ranks. There no longer seemed to be a point in freezing and starving for a government that could not provide for its soldiers, and more, would likely not survive another summer campaigning season. What was surprising was that a number of the deserting Confederates asked to be sent North under parole, so that they could take jobs and send money back to their needy families. The Northerners were happy to oblige: the farms and factories producing their food and equipment could use more laborers. Partly to put a stop to this, and partly because they were now thinking of using black soldiers themselves, the Confederates were coming around to the idea of re-starting the prisoner exchanges, accepting that black soldiers were to be exchanged on an equal basis with whites.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Francis Blair Sr.'s shuttle diplomacy had produced an agreement to send "peace commisioners" to meet with President Lincoln. On this date, the three Confederate peace commissioners appeared under flag of truce at the Union lines. However, U. S. Grant was apparently away for the moment, and Benjamin Butler had been recalled to Washington and relieved of command of the Army of the James. This left no one formally in command, and more, no one who had been informed of the peace commissioners. Naturally, there was a scramble to pass the responsibility upwards:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]HEADQUARTERS NINTH ARMY CORPS,
29th.[/right]
Maj. Gen. JOHN O. PARKE,
Headquarters Army of the Potomac:

Alex. H. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter, and J. A. Campbell desire to cross my lines, in accordance with an
understanding claimed to exist with Lieutenant-General Grant, on their way to Washington as peace
commissioners. Shall they be admitted? They desire an early answer, to come through immediately. Would like
to reach City Point to-night, if they can. If they cannot do this, they would like to come through at 10 a.m.
to-morrow morning.
[center]O. B. WILLCOX,
Major-General, Commanding Ninth Corps.[/center]


[right]HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC,
January 29, 1865--4 p.m.[/right]
Maj. Gen. E. O. C. ORD,
Headquarters Army of the James:

The following dispatch is forwarded to you for your action. Since I have no knowledge of General Grant’s
having had any understanding of this kind, I refer the matter to you as the ranking officer present in the two armies.
[center]JNO. G PARKE,
Major-General, Commanding.[/center][/font]

General Edward Ord in turn sent a telegram all the way to the Secretary of War for instructions. Secretary Stanton in turn passed the telegram on to the President (80 years before Truman's famous "The buck stops here").

[font="Times New Roman"][right]JANUARY 29---.8.30 p.m.[/right]
Respectfully referred to the President for such instructions as he may be pleased to give.
[center]EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.[/center][/font]

But Stanton also did send out some positive (or technically, negative) instructions:

[right][font="Times New Roman"]WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, January 29, 1865--10 p.m.
(Sent 2 a.m. 30th.)[/right]
Major-General ORD:

SIR: This Department has no knowledge of any understanding by General Grant to allow any person to come
within his lines as commissioner of any sort. You will therefore allow no one to come into your lines under such
character or profession until you receive the President’s instructions, to whom your telegram will be submitted for
his directions.
[center]EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.[/center][/size][/font]

The peace conference was off to a rather shaky start.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Washington, Lincoln had a tricky situation. The House vote on the 13th amendment abolishing slavery was the next day, and the estimate was that it would pass by a mere two votes. If it were known that there were peace negotiations under way, the anti-abolition Democrats would argue that a "yes" vote might spoil the chance to end the bloodshed. On the other hand, he could not very well allow the peace commissioners to come to Washington and then refuse to meet with them.

But there might easily be a valid reason to prevent the Southerners from crossing the Union lines -- whether or not they maintained that the Confederacy was a legitimate nation. Lincoln had always insisted that the Union was legally unbroken, and the Confederates were in rebellion against lawful United States federal authority. He summoned Major Thomas T. Eckert (below), who had been chosen to run the telegraph system at the War Department and had proved so efficient that he was occasionally assigned other important missions. Lincoln gave Eckert specific instructions:

[font="Times New Roman"][center]EXECUTIVE MANSION,
Washington, January 30, 1865.[/center]
Maj. T. T. ECKERT:
SIR: You will proceed with the documents placed in your hands, and on reaching General Ord will deliver
him the letter addressed to him by the Secretary of War; then, by General Ord’s assistance, procure an interview
with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, or any of them. Deliver to him or them the paper on which
your own letter is written. Note on the copy which you retain the time of delivery, and to whom delivered. Receive
their answer in writing, waiting a reasonable time for it, and which, if it contain their decision to come through,
without further condition, will be your warrant to ask General Ord to pass them through, as directed in the letter
of the Secretary of War to him. If, by their answer, they decline to come, or propose other terms, do not have them
passed through. And this being your whole duty, return and report to me.

Yours, truly,
[center]A. LINCOLN.[/center][/font]


But even as the preparations for Major Eckert's departure were underway, a message arrived from Ulysses S. Grant, who had returned to his headquarters at City Point:


[font="Times New Roman"]His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
President of the United States:

The following communication was received here last evening:

[right]PETERSBURG, VA., January 30, 1865.[/right]
Lieut. Gen. U.S. GRANT,
Commanding Armies of the United States:
SIR: We desire to pass your lines under safe conduct, and to proceed to Washington to hold a conference with
President Lincoln upon the subject of the existing war, and with a view of ascertaining upon what terms it may be
terminated, in pursuance of the course indicated by him in his letter to Mr. Blair of January 18, 1865, of which we
presume you have a copy; and if not, we wish to see you in person, if convenient, and to confer with you upon the
subject.
Very respectfully, yours,
[center]ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
J. A. CAMPBELL.
R. M. T. HUNTER.[/center]

I have sent directions to receive these gentlemen, and expect to have them at my quarters this evening awaiting
your instructions.

U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant-General,
Commanding Armies of the United States.[/font]

The three peace commissioners had been passed through the Union lines. Whether they would go any further was now a thorny problem, and one which turned on two countries or one.

[Ranger33]

Probably doesn't fit the timeline but thought this would be the best thread to stick this link into:

After 150 years, Confederate submarine's hull again revealed


It's crazy to think that this sub existed in 1864, seems like some kind of silly historical sci-fi movie!

Also, I've never ventured into this thread before for some reason. Gonna have to read from the beginning.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Richmond, the Confederate Congress defied the wishes of President Davis and established the position of General-in-Chief of the Confederate armies. There was, of course, only one man for the job: Robert E. Lee. The boost to Southern morale was immediate; besides Davis, the only people who criticized the move were those who thought it was already too late.


In the White House, Lincoln decided to dispatch Secretary of State Seward to meet the Southern peace commissioners at Grant's headquarters. The President wrote out a set of strict instructions:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]EXECUTIVE MANSION,
Washington, January 31, 1865.[/right]
Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State:
You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Va., there to meet and informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter,
and Campbell on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, esq., of January 18, l865, a copy of which you have.
You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to wit:
1st. The restoration of the national authority throughout all the States.
2d. No receding, by the Executive of the United States, on the slavery question, from the position assumed
thereon in the late annual message to Congress and in preceding documents.
3d. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the
Government.
You will inform them that all propositions of theirs, not inconsistent with the above, will be considered and
passed upon in a spirit of sincere liberality. You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to me.
You will not assume to definitely consummate anything.

[center]Yours, &c.,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.[/center][/font]

At the Capitol, the day had arrived for the House vote on the 13th amendment. No one could be certain what the result would be: the estimates showed that the amendment just barely had the necessary votes supporting it, and last-minute changes were more than likely. The gallery of spectators was packed, including a number of blacks, a still unusual sight in the chambers of Congress.

There was a last-minute problem that threatened to defeat the amendment. Rumors of the Confederate peace commissioners had reached the House, and the Democrats were arguing that a "yes" vote would destroy the prospects for peace. Lincoln sent a message to the House stating "So far as I know, there are no peace commissioners in the City, or likely to be in it." This was accurate enough, for the commissioners would never reach Washington. And the instructions Lincoln had given to Seward made it quite possible there would be no conference.

The voting began, and to the Republicans' relief, none of their members voted "no". Instead, 16 Democrats joined in voting "yes", nearly all of them "lame ducks" who had been promised government jobs in return for their support. The final tally was 119 to 56, just above the two-thirds required. The announcement of passage caused a moment of hushed silence followed by "an explosion, a storm of cheers, the like of which probably no Congress of the United States had ever heard before." The unprecedented breach of decorum was overlooked by the Speaker of the House, since the celebration almost instantly spread throughout the city, accompanied by artillery salutes.

There was still the matter of having it ratified by three-quarters of the states. This meant 27 states out of the then total of 36, and that included the eleven states in the Confederacy. Lincoln and his allies were counting on Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas, since they had installed "reconstructed" governments in the conquered capitals of those states. The real problem was the border states in the North, such as Kentucky. (Which would not approve the amendment until 1976.)

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Unlike the process for a Federal law, the President's signature is not required for an amendment to the Constitution. Nonetheless, Lincoln could not resist adding his mark to the 13th amendment. On this date, he wrote the word "Approved", and signed it.


In Illinois, the news of the amendment had been brought by telegraph, and Lincoln's home state lost no time, becoming the first state to ratify it.


In Virginia, Major Thomas Eckert met with the three Southern peace commissioners.

[right][font="Times New Roman"]CITY POINT, VA., February 1, 1865.[/right]
Messrs. ALEX. H. STEPHENS, J. A. CAMPBELL, and R. M. T. HUNTER:

GENTLEMEN: I am instructed by the President of the United States to place this paper in your hands, with
the information that, if you pass through the United States military lines, it will be understood that you do so for
the purpose of an informal conference, on the basis of the letter, a copy of which is on the reverse side of this sheet,
and that, if you choose to pass on such understanding, and so notify me in writing, I will procure the commanding
general to pass you through the lines and to Fortress Monroe, under such military precautions as he may deem
prudent, and at which place you will be met in due time by some person, or persons, for the purpose of such
informal conference; and, further, that you shall have protection, safe conduct, and safe return in all events.

[center]THOMAS T. ECKERT,
Major and Aide-de-Camp.[/center][/font]

Steohens, Campbell, and Hunter gave Eckert a reply in writing, which might have been unwise:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]CITY POINT, Va., February 1, 1865.[/right]
Maj. THOMAS T. ECKERT,
Aide-de-Camp:
MAJOR: Your note, delivered by yourself this day, has been considered. In reply, we have to say that we were
furnished with a copy of the letter of President Lincoln to Francis P. Blair, esq., of the 18th of January ultimo,
another copy of which is appended to your note.
Our instructions are contained in a letter, of which the following is a copy:

RICHMOND, January 28, 1865.
In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln, of which the foregoing is a copy, you are to proceed to
Washington City for informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the
purpose of securing peace to the two countries.
With great respect, your obedient servant,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.

The substantial object to be obtained by the informal conference is to ascertain upon what terms the existing
war can be terminated honorably.
Our instructions contemplate a personal interview between President Lincoln and ourselves at Washington
City, but with this explanation we are ready to meet any person or persons that President Lincoln may appoint, at
such place as he may designate.
Our earnest desire is that a just and honorable peace may be agreed upon, and we are prepared to receive or
to submit propositions which may possibly lead to the attainment of that end.

Very respectfully, yours,
[center]ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
R. M. T. HUNTER.
JOHN A. CAMPBELL.[/center][/font]

This contained the phrase "the two countries", and so was not acceptable to the Northerners. But two hours later there was a message from Grant with a possible opening. For the time being, it did not seem to be enough:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]CITY POINT, VA., February 1, 1865--10 p.m.[/right]
His Excellency A. LINCOLN,
President of the United States:
I have the honor to report the delivery of your communication and my letter at 4.15 this afternoon, to which
I received a reply at 6 p.m., but not satisfactory.
At 8 p.m. the following note addressed to General Grant was received:

CITY POINT, VA., February 1, 1865.
Lieutenant-General GRANT:
SIR: We desire to go to Washington City to confer informally with the President personally, in reference to
the matters mentioned in his letter to Mr. Blair of the 18th of January ultimo, without any personal compromise
on any question in the letter. We have the permission to do so from the authorities in Richmond.
Very respectfully, yours,
ALEX. H. STEPHENS.
R. M. T. HUNTER.
J. A. CAMPBELL.

At 9.30 p.m. I notified them that they could not proceed further unless they complied with the terms expressed
in my letter. The point of meeting designated in the above note would not, in my opinion, be insisted upon. Think
Fort Monroe would be acceptable. Having complied with my instructions I will return to Washington to-morrow
unless otherwise ordered.

[center]THOS. T. ECKERT,
Major, &c.[/center][/font]

Since the peace commissioners were still detained at City Point, when Secretary Seward arrived at Fort Monroe and the port of Hampton Roads, he found no Southerners waiting for him:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]FORT MONROE, VA., February 1, 1865--11.30 p.m.[/right]
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Arrived at 10 this evening. Richmond party not here. I remain here.
[center]WILLIAM H. SEWARD.[/center][/font]


While matters were stalemated in Virginia, just north of Savannah, William Tecumseh Sherman's army finally began the move into South Carolina:

[font="Times New Roman"] The actual strength of the army, as given in the following official tabular statements, was at the time sixty thousand and seventy-nine men, and sixty-eight guns. The trains were made up of about twenty-five hundred wagons, with six mules to each wagon, and about six hundred ambulances, with two horses each. The contents of the wagons embraced an ample supply of ammunition for a great battle; forage for about seven days, and provisions for twenty days, mostly of bread, sugar, coffee, and salt, depending largely for fresh meat on beeves driven on the hoof and such cattle, hogs, and poultry, as we expected to gather along our line of march.

[...]

All these columns started promptly on the 1st of February. We encountered Wheeler's cavalry, which had obstructed the road by felling trees, but our men picked these up and threw them aside, so that this obstruction hardly delayed us an hour. In person I accompanied the Fifteenth Corps (General Logan) by McPhersonville and Hickory Hill, and kept couriers going to and fro to General Slocum with instructions to hurry as much as possible, so as to make a junction of the whole army on the South Carolina Railroad about Blackville.

[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]



General-in-Chief Grant had tried to create another coordinated offensive as had happened in May of the previous year. He had ordered Edward Canby, commanding in Louisiana, to advance his forces against Mobile, and George Thomas, commanding in Tennessee, to advance into Georgia and North Carolina. Neither move would happen for nearly two months, allowing the Rebels to concentrate against Sherman's columns. Worse still, the Yankees were moving during the winter rainy season, across terrain that was largely swamp. Many Southerners believed that the Union march would meet the same fate as Burnside's "Mud March" of January 1863.

Sherman was well aware the task before his men would be difficult. He later rated the march in South Carolina as ten times more difficult than the March to the Sea. But he also had a major advantage: at that point in history, there were probably not sixty thousand more experienced or tougher soldiers anywhere in the world.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Washington, Abraham Lincoln read the dispatch from Major Eckert that the reply of the three Southern peace commissioners was "not satisfactory". He had made up his mind to recall Major Eckert and Secretary of State Seward, when a telegram written by General-in-Chief Grant arrived, pointing out that the original request to cross the lines had used words acceptable to the President:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]OFFICE U.S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH,
WAR DEPARTMENT,[/right]
The following telegram received at Washington, 4.35 a.m. February 2, 1865, from City Point, Va., February
1, 10.30 p.m., 1865:

Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War:

Now that the interview between Major Eckert, under his written instructions, and Mr. Stephens and party has
ended, I will state confidentially, but not officially to become a matter of record, that I am convinced, upon
conversation with Messrs. Stephens and Hunter, that their intentions are good and their desire sincere to restore
peace and union. I have not felt myself at liberty to express even views of my own or to account for my reticency.
This has placed me in an awkward position, which I could have avoided by not seeing them in the first instance.
I fear now their going back without any expression from any one in authority will have a bad influence. At the
same time I recognize the difficulties in the way of receiving these informal commissioners at this time, and do
not know what to recommend. I am sorry, however, that Mr. Lincoln cannot have an interview with the two named
in this dispatch, if not all three now within our lines. Their letter to me was all that the President’s instructions
contemplated, to secure their safe conduct, if they had used the same language to Major Eckert.

[center]U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant-General.[/center][/font]

According to Lincoln, "This dispatch of General Grant changed my purpose", and he made the decision to meet with the three peace commissioners after all. Ironically, though the Union had been trying to travel the distance from Washington to Richmond for nearly four years, the President was able to voyage by sea to the mouth of the James River in less than a day:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]FORT MONROE, VA., February 2, 1865-11.30 p. m.
(Received 1.20 a. m. 3rd.)[/right]
Honorable E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War:

I have the honor to report the arrival of the President at 10.30 p. m., and is now with Mr. Seward
on board the River Queen. The interview will take place in the morning. The vessels of both parties
are anchored half a mile out from dock.
[center]THOS. T. ECKERT,
Major, &c.[/center][/font]


The Rhode Island legislature approved the 13th amendment, the second state to do so.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The Hampton Roads Peace Conference between Lincoln and Seward, and C.S. Vice President Alexander Stephens, Sen. R.M.T. Hunter, and Assistant Secretary of War J.A. Campbell took place.

[font="Times New Roman"]On the morning of the 3d the three gentlemen—Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell--came
aboard of our steamer and had an interview with the Secretary of State and myself of several hours’
duration. No question of preliminaries to the meeting was then and there made or mentioned; no
other person was present; no papers were exchanged or produced; and it was, in advance, agreed that
the conversation was to be informal and verbal merely. On our part, the whole substance of the
instructions to the Secretary of State, hereinbefore recited, was stated and insisted upon, and nothing
was said inconsistent therewith; while, by the other party, it was not said that in any event or on any
condition they ever would consent to reunion, and yet they equally omitted to declare that they never
would so consent. They seemed to desire a postponement of that question, and the adoption of some
other course first, which, as some of them seemed to argue, might or might not lead to reunion, but
which course, we thought, would amount to an indefinite postponement. The conference ended
without result.
[center]ABRAHAM LINCOLN[/center][/font]

As Lincoln reported to Congress, none of the five men present took detailed notes, a disappointing fact for historians. According to some reports, Lincoln was willing to let the Confederates write almost any other terms as long as they agreed to return to the Union, accept the freeing of slaves, and lay down their arms. But rejoining the Union, and therefore submitting to United States authority, was exactly what Jefferson Davis had forbidden the peace commissioners to accept. Robert Hunter is reported to have argued for some intermediate agreement that would leave the South still not under U. S. rule. He pointed out that Charles I had entered into agreements with English rebels. Lincoln is reported to have replied, "I do not profess to be posted in history . . . All I distinctly remember about the case of Charles I is that he lost his head in the end."

The commissioners are also believed to have brought up the question of the slaves in the South. Lincoln reportedly told them that it was too late to halt the 13th amendment, but he proposed a sum of $200 million or $400 million (reports differ) to compensate for the loss of the slaves. Such a move would of course have to wait for the end of hostilities, which for Lincoln meant Southern surrender.

Lincoln's position was admittedly not very flexible, but on the other hand, the Confederates do not seem to have offered anything concrete at all. It is also worth noting that failed rebellions have been treated harshly throughout history. The decade before, the British had put down the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and executed a number of Sepoys by tying them to the muzzles of cannon. The next decade, the French army would retake Paris from the uprising of the Commune at a cost of 10,000 lives or more, a number shot after they had surrendered.

The one thing we can be sure of was that the only positive thing from the four-hour conference was an agreement to release Stephens' nephew Lieutenant John A. Stephens, held prisoner in a northern camp since mid-1863.


The 13th amendment was indeed gathering momentum. On this date, no less than five states -- Michigan, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia -- ratified it. Maryland was an especially good sign, since it had begun the war as a slave state, held in the Union by arresting most of the pro-secession leaders.


In South Carolina, the Confederates had what they hoped was a position that would block Sherman's advance. The Salkehatchie River was swollen, and all the bridges across it had been wrecked. But two Yankee brigades under Francis P. Blair, junior (the son of the man whose efforts had lead to the Hampton Roads peace conference) found a barely useable ford a few miles away. Wading through shoulder-high water in early February, the Federals flanked the Southerners' defensive line and sent them in rapid retreat. Freed of interference, the Northerners repaired the bridges, having lost only one day from their march.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

South of Petersburg, there had been a few days of reasonable weather, and U. S. Grant decided on another try against the Confederate lines. If his forces could advance around on his left, he might be able to close the Boydton Plank Road, which would force Lee to evacuate Petersburg and then Richmond itself. Grant ordered a cavalry raid, to be followed closely by an infantry advance. The result would be one of the battles of the war with the most names, being alternately called Dabney's Mill, Armstrong's Mill, Rowanty Creek, and Vaughn Road, but most often known as Hatcher's Run.

The cavalry raid was moderately successful, the Federals destroying 25 wagons and taking their teams as prisoners. But it also alerted the Southerners to the move, and they were well aware of the vital importance of the road. Troops were marched to the scene under General John Gordon, one of the rising stars in the Confederate army, and late in the afternoon the Rebels attempted to push the advanced Yankee infantry back. There was a sharp fight, but the Northerners rallied, and though their advance was stopped, they held their ground. Both sides sent reinforcements after sunset: it was not hard to guess that the morrow would bring further combat.

[Ranger33]

I just have to say, I had never checked into this thread until a few days ago when I posted a ACW related news article to it. I'm now officially hooked! This is as good or better reading than most historical texts. I'm still back in the early days of the war but I'll catch up eventually.

It's actually giving me the itch to pick up an ACW game. I've been playing Ultimate General: Gettysburg, which is fun, but looking for something more on the strategic level. Would AGEODs Civil War II be a good choice? I have some of the Roman ones and like the system, once you get past the quirks.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Richmond, Jefferson Davis was not at all downcast about the failure of the Hampton Roads peace conference. In fact, there is reason to think it was what he planned for all along. Davis lost no time making speeches on the matter, and on this date he sent a message to the Confederate Congress rejecting "degrading submission" and "humiliating surrender". He predicted that the Southern forces would "compel the Yankees, in less than twelve months, to petition us for peace on our own terms."

Vice-President Stephens was dismayed, for he believed that the Confederacy no longer had a chance. However, a surprising number of other Southerners took heart. The appointment of Robert E. Lee as General-in-Chief was also having a positive effect, both in morale and in the matter of supplies. Using his new authority, Lee was able to replace key officers in the Commissary department with more efficient men.


And there was some good news for the South on the battlefield. At Hatcher's Run, the Rebels managed a strong attack on the Union flank. Through the day, first one side had the advantage, and then the other, as reinforcements were fed in. Finally the Yankees were compelled to fall back from their lines, though they did not give in to panic or rout. The seizure of the ground came at a high cost to the Confederates, for General John Pegram, one of the most talented of the Army of Northern Virginia's younger generals, was killed.


Three weeks before, Pegram had been married in a ceremony attended by Richmond high society including President Davis.

[Ranger33]

Welp, I bought Civil War II due to the interest sparked by this thread. I'll need to keep reading here to have any clue as to how to (and how not to [:D]) conduct such a massive war. Great game so far, the tutorials seem a bit more thorough than previous games in the series.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Washington, Congress passed a resolution affirming that the Presidential signature to the 13th amendment was unnecessary. To this day, it remains the only ratified amendment signed by a President. Nonetheless, it continued to make progress towards the necessary 27 states, with Maine, Kansas, and Massachusetts approving on this date. The total now stood at 11.

In Virginia, the Battle of Hatcher's Run concluded with a Union counter-counter-attack. The Northerners regained the lines they had retreated from the day before, but went no further. The Boydton Plank Road remained open for Confederate supplies, but the lines of entrenchments had been extended even further, going significantly past Petersburg to the West.

Union losses were 1,539 total (171 killed, 1181 wounded, and 187 captured). the Confederates are reported to have lost 1,161 men in all (no breakdown is available). This represented a Yankee victory, because the proportional loss was greater for the Southerners. With losses and the continuing desertions, it was clear that eventually there would not be enough men to hold the entrenchments against the Northerners, no matter how well-constructed they might be. On this date, Robert E. Lee wrote another letter to the Confederate War Department, pointing out that the shortage of fodder for the horses had forced him to temporarily disband much of his cavalry, sending the horses elsewhere to where forage could be had.

[Capt. Harlock]

Early February, 1865:

Sherman's army was now making its way through South Carolina, and leaving ruin behind it. Almost to a man the Union soldiers felt a special antipathy for South Carolina, the state that had seceded first and fired the first shot. Where there were static lines between the Yankee and Rebel forces, it was not uncommon to see the pickets trading things like coffee and tobacco at one spot, while a neighboring South Carolina regiment would have to completely entrench, with the Federals firing as soon as a man showed himself. Resentment was not confined to the North: during the march through Georgia, the Southerners there had asked Sherman's men if they would do the same to South Carolina. They were doing considerably worse now, burning not only every foundry and mill, but the barns and even most of the private houses. What survived was mainly spared because the rains continued to fall.

The Confederates were surprised and dismayed that damping the fires seemed to be the only effect of the wet weather on the Yankees' progress. It was not supposed to be possible to cross the swampland of the state during the winter. True, the roads were indeed turned to mud, and occasionally even quicksand. Sherman used adjectives like "execrable" and "infamous" to describe them. But his Pioneer Corps solved the problem by "corduroying" the roads, that is, cutting logs and using them to pave the roads. The method had been extensively used before, but the Federals reached a new level of efficiency in the work, managing to advance ten miles (16 km) or more a day. Already they had cut the main rail line to Charleston. At that rate, the Northerners would reach Richmond in less than three months.

[Capt. Harlock]

Shenandoah Valley, Winter 1865:

Here, the Confederates were also having serious problems with supplies. It was a change from the first three years of the war, when the Valley had served as the breadbasket for Richmond and the Army of Northern Virginia. But "The Burning" of the previous Autumn, ruthless though it certainly was, had been effective. Philip Sheridan's destruction of food and forage had made it necessary to mostly evacuate what little the Southerners still held of the Valley:

[font="Times New Roman"]The great drought during the summer of 1864 had made the corn crop in the Valley a very short one, and, as Sheridan had destroyed a considerable quantity of small grain and hay, I found it impossible to sustain the horses of my cavalry and artillery where they were, and forage could not be obtained from elsewhere. I was therefore compelled to send Fitz. Lee's two brigades to General Lee, and Lomax's cavalry was brought from across the Blue Ridge, where the country was exhausted of forage, and sent west into the counties of Pendleton, Highland, Bath, Alleghany and Greenbrier, where hay could be obtained. Rosser's brigade had to be temporarily disbanded, and the men allowed to go to their homes with their horses, to sustain them, with orders to report when called on,--one or two companies, whose homes were down the Valley, being required to picket and scout in front of New Market.

The men and horses of Lieutenant Colonel King's artillery were sent to Southwestern Virginia to be wintered, and most of the horses of the other battalions were sent off under care of some of the men, who undertook to forage them until spring. Nelson's battalion, with some pieces of artillery with their horses, was retained with me and the remaining officers and men of the other battalions were sent, under the charge of Colonel Carter, to General Lee, to man stationary batteries on his lines. Brigadier General Long, who had been absent on sick leave for some time and had returned, remained with me, and most of the guns which were without horses were sent to Lynchburg by railroad. This was a deplorable state of things, but it could not be avoided, as the horses of the cavalry and artillery would have perished had they been kept in the Valley.

[...]

Echols' brigade of Wharton's division was subsequently sent to Southwestern Virginia to report to General Echols for special duty, and McNeil's company of partisan rangers, and Woodson's company of unattached Missouri cavalry, were sent to the county of Hardy, Major Harry Gilmor being likewise ordered to that county, with the remnant of his battalion, to take charge of the whole, and operate against the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; but he was surprised and captured there, at a private house, soon after his arrival. Two very small brigades of Wharton's division, and Nelson's battalion with the few pieces of artillery which had been retained, were left, as my whole available force, and these were in winter quarters near Fishersville, on the Central railroad between Staunton and Waynesboro. The telegraph to New Market and the signal stations from there to the lower Valley were kept up, and a few scouts sent to the rear of the enemy, and in this way was my front principally picketed, and I kept advised of the enemy's movements. Henceforth my efficient and energetic signal officer, Captain Welbourn, was the commander of my advance picket line.

The winter was a severe one, and all material operations were suspended until its close...

[center]--Jubal Early, Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States[/center][/font]

Early referred to winter weather conditions, rather than what the calendar said. Both Grant and Sheridan were impatient to eliminate the Confederate forces in the Valley entirely, so that Sheridan and his cavalry could return to the operations around Richmond. Things would begin to move before the month was out.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In South Carolina, W. T. Sherman and his men continued to have more trouble with weather and terrain than with the Rebels. The major reason for this was that the Confederates were still uncertain about where they were going. The commanders at Charleston, and Augusta, Georgia, were equally sure that they were the Yankees' objective, and demanded reinforcements at the same time as they were making plans to evacuate. Sherman helped this uncertainty by taking a town halfway between the two cities:

[font="Times New Roman"]All the heads of column reached this road, known as the Edgefield road, during the 12th, and the Seventeenth Corps turned to the right, against Orangeburg. When I reached the head of column opposite Orangeburg, I found Giles A. Smith's division halted, with a battery unlimbered, exchanging shots with a party on the opposite side of the Edisto. He reported that the bridge was gone, and that the river was deep and impassable. I then directed General Blair to send a strong division below the town, some four or five miles, to effect a crossing there. He laid his pontoon-bridge, but the bottom on the other side was overflowed, and the men had to wade through it, in places as deep as their waists. I was with this division at the time, on foot, trying to pick my way across the overflowed bottom; but, as soon as the head of column reached the sand-hills, I knew that the enemy would not long remain in Orangeburg, and accordingly returned to my horse, on the west bank, and rode rapidly up to where I had left Giles A. Smith. I found him in possession of the broken bridge, abreast of the town, which he was repairing, and I was among the first to cross over and enter the town. By and before the time either Force's or Giles A. Smith's skirmishers entered the place, several stores were on fire...

[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

With the Union blockade almost completely effective, cotton was now of little use to the Confederates. Nonetheless, after the fall of Savannah, it was apparently a point of pride to prevent any more cotton from being captured by the Yankees.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Uniforms were never completely standardized during the Civil War, and it was not uncommon to find men from the border states fighting for either side. On this date, W. T. Sherman gained an advantage from the situation, and found out just how effective his strategy of confusing the Confederates as to his objective had been:

[font="Times New Roman"]On the morning of the 13th I again joined the Fifteenth Corps, which crossed the North Edisto by Snilling's Bridge, and moved straight for Columbia, around the head of Caw-Caw Swamp. Orders were sent to all the columns to turn for Columbia, where it was supposed the enemy had concentrated all the men they could from Charleston, Augusta, and even from Virginia. That night I was with the Fifteenth Corps, twenty-one miles from Columbia, where my aide, Colonel Audenried, picked up a rebel officer on the road, who, supposing him to be of the same service with himself, answered all his questions frankly, and revealed the truth that there was nothing in Columbia except Hampton's cavalry. The fact was, that General Hardee, in Charleston, took it for granted that we were after Charleston; the rebel troops in Augusta supposed they were "our objective;" so they abandoned poor Columbia to the care of Hampton's cavalry, which was confused by the rumors that poured in on it, so that both Beauregard and Wade Hampton, who were in Columbia, seem to have lost their heads.

[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

Sherman was being less than fair to P.G.T. Beauregard, who was now suffering a bout of poor health. The Confederate commander had realized that Columbia was the target, but the Northerners had already damaged the state's railroads and bridges to the point where rapid Southern troop movements were not possible. It also did not help that in Richmond, the Davis administration was refusing to believe Beauregard's dispatches. Surely no Yankee army could advance that rapidly in winter. Joseph Johnston would later write: "When I learned that Sherman’s army was marching through the Salk swamps, making its own corduroy roads at the rate of a dozen miles a day, I made up my mind that there had been no such army in existence since the days of Julius Caesar."


Indiana approved the 13th amendment. The total now stood at 14 states, half-way to the needed 27.