Civil War 150th

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: nicwb

Its really fascinating to hear about these smaller fights. The big battles are usually well covered but there were obviously numerous smaller confrontations that have passed into obscurity.

Reading about them really makes the war seem that more alive.

According to Ken Burns' The Civil War, the war was fought in 10,000 places. So yes, most of those thousand's of battles have been ignored.

[Cyber Me]

The money had been in the State Bank of Lexington when the Union troops arrived. General Fremont ordered Col Mulligan to take possession of the money. The Union troops also confiscated the great seal of the state.

[ilovestrategy]

Well darn, we finally moved off the page where the spambot said my cats were lovely. Oh well, my 15 minutes of fame are over......[:D]

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In Missouri, it was the pro-Union side's turn to commit a war crime. A troop of Jayhawkers headed by Kansas Senator James Lane overran the town of Osceola, whose population of 2,500 souls made it likely the third largest in the state. Lane's men took 350 horses, 400 cattle, 3,000 bags of flour, 200 slaves, and quantities of supplies from all the town shops and stores. Nine local men were rounded up, given a kangaroo-court trial, and executed. All but three of the town's 800 buildings burned.

To this day the town's population has not recovered: the 2000 census listed 835 residents.

[ilovestrategy]

I bet the townsfolk were pissed. My god.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The first aerial artillery spotting in the history of warfare occurred as Thaddeus Lowe ascended to more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) near Arlington, Virginia. He signalled the position of Confederate forces located at Falls Church, Virginia, more than three miles (4.8 kilometers) away. Union guns were aimed and fired accurately, after Lowe's corrections, at the Rebel troops without actually being able to see them.

This triumph led Secretary of War Simon Cameron to direct Lowe to build four additional balloons. Word of the Americans' achievements even reached Europe, where the Prussian army sent a certain Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin to learn what he could from what was being done.

[ilovestrategy]

I always thought of the Crimean and Civil Wars has the first truly modern wars. 

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The Union Navy admitted blacks for military service for the first time, almost a year before the Army opened its ranks. In time, the Union Navy would see almost 16% of its ranks supplied by African Americans, performing in a wide range of enlisted roles. In contrast to the Army, the Navy from the outset paid equal wages between white and black sailors -- and those wages were significantly more. Food rations and medical care were also generally better, with the Navy benefiting from access to supplies from numerous Union-held ports.

The downside was that the work was frequently miserable. Blacks tended to be cabin boys, cooks, or stokers, and shoveling coal into boiler-room furnaces in the hot and humid Southern waters was just as bad as it sounds. And becoming a commissioned officer was still out of reach.

To its shame, after World War I the U. S. Navy would bar blacks entirely until 1932.

[planner 3]

During WW2 blacks were mostly utilized in Uncle Sams war Canoe club as stewards and cooks, near the end the started segregating into other ratings.

[ilovestrategy]

I'm not sure what's worst, being on a battlefield or being stuck on a ship off of the humid Southern Coast for months, even years. 

[Capt. Harlock]

Sometime in September 1861:

It was now clear to both sides that the war would be a long one. On the banks of the Augusta Canal in Georgia, construction began on the Confederate Powder Works. Seven months later, it would be producing gunpowder, and would run two miles along the canal, making it the second largest gunpowder factory in the world at the time. It would also be the only permanent structure built by the Confederate government.

The Confederate Powder Works supplied more than 50% of the gunpowder used by the Southern armies in the Civil War. The Wikipedia article claims that it was first-quality powder, but many historians have noted that Southern powder seemed to be inferior to what the Northerners had. (Much of the Union powder was supplied by Du Pont, which understandably grew to a major business during the war.) And virtually all of the explosive used in the conflict was gunpowder: nitroglycerin and guncotton had been discovered, but dynamite would not be invented until 1867, and guncotton would not be made safe enough for widespread use for at least a decade beyond that.

[ilovestrategy]

Which was the first biggest gunpowder factory at the time?

[Perturabo]

One thing that I love when watching the Civil War portraits is that soldiers could have these awesome beards and long hair.

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

One thing that I love when watching the Civil War portraits is that soldiers could have these awesome beards and long hair.

I've always thought that.

[RedArgo]

Regarding the Confederate Powder Works, since it made 50% of the south's powder, I wonder if the Union every attempted to sabotage the factory. Seems like a successful attempt would have been a huge victory for the north.

[Capt. Harlock]

I wonder if the Union every attempted to sabotage the factory. Seems like a successful attempt would have been a huge victory for the north.

As far as I'm aware, no. Sherman's famous march through Georgia bypassed it. The one successful raid I know of against a specific industrial site was the Second Battle of Saltville in Virginia, where the Federals managed to overrun the place that provided the majority of the salt for the northeastern Confederacy after Florida was cut off.

This was more important than it first appears, because before refrigeration, salt was the only real way to preserve meat. An army without salt could not carry enough rations to march very far, until Sherman decided to loot/forage the land as his army went through.

The Yankees didn't stay at Saltville, though, and the plant was back in operation in two months.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The Union gained Indian allies as the Delaware people proclaimed their alliance. The Delaware, or Lenape, tribe had a long history of allegiance to the U.S. government, despite their being removed to territories in Oklahoma and Kansas. During the war a remarkable 170 out of 201 Delaware men volunteered to serve in the Northern army.

[ilovestrategy]

There were Indians in the Union army? [X(][X(][X(]

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In western Virginia, Union General Joseph Reynolds gathered a force of about 5,000 men including plenty of artillery and moved to attack a Confederate encampment at Greenbrier River. What followed was the greatest artillery duel since Fort Sumter, with the Union guns firing about 11,000 rounds over five hours. The Confederates made a spirited if lesser reply, driving off at least one infantry advance with grapeshot. Eventually the Northerners packed up and went home when they observed nearly all of the camp's tents had been shredded.

However, final casualties were very light. The Union lost 8 men killed and 35 wounded, while the Confederates lost 6 men killed and 35 wounded also.

[Capt. Harlock]

There were Indians in the Union army? 

Indeed there were. Remarkably, two even managed to become generals, and one of those, Ely S. Parker by name, played a prominent role in the Appomattox surrender.