Posted on Sep 16, 2016
What was the most significant event on August 17 during the U.S. Civil War?
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Berdan Sharps breech-loading single shot preferred by many sharpshooters on both sides. The introduction of the Spencer repeating rifle was a game changer.
Skirmishes in 1862 at:
a. London, Kentucky: Col. John S. Scott was commanding a Confederate brigade when he entered London. Scott's force had ridden 160 miles to the southeastern part of Kentucky. He attacked the Union garrison and a 1-hour battle ensued. Only 65 Federals managed to escape to the nearby mountains. The federals suffered 50 killed & wounded and 75 captured.
b. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: a Union force arrived at Mammoth Cave and ran into a small group of Confederate guerrillas. A brief skirmish ensued, with the Confederates being captured.
Persistence against the bureaucracy pays off for the Union soldiers. In 1863, after being put off by the Federal War Department, Christopher Spencer the inventor of a new lever-action repeating rifle fed by a magazine tube of bullets met President Lincoln and showed him how to assemble it.
By 1863, the Confederacy's rail network had never been strong--and the loss of “57 engines, upwards of 400 cars, the depot buildings, machine-shops, several blacksmith-shops, and a quantity of ordnance and commissary stores, capturing about 50 railroad men and a number of prisoners” was a crippling blow. The Confederate transportation network was suffering from the blockade, had lost the inland waterways of the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers, and Union cavalry would increasingly target the Confederacy's railroads for destruction
Pictures: 1863-08 Swamp Angel Drawing; 7-shot wonder spencer-4; 1864-08-17 Lincoln and Grant Cartoon; 1863-08 Damage to Fort Sumter Frank Leslie Newspaper
A. 1862: Massacre in Minnesota by Dakota (Sioux). Dakota warriors were returning from an unsuccessful hunt when they stopped to steal some eggs from a white settlement in Acton, Minnesota. The youths soon picked a quarrel with the hen's owner, and the encounter turned tragic when the Dakotas killed five members of the family. Sensing that they would be attacked, Dakota leader Chief Little Crow (pictured) determined that war was at hand and seized the initiative.
For several weeks now, the Dakota (whose treaty stipulates that they will be given provisions from the Indian Bureau) have been going hungry and consequently asking for adequate rations. In July, the people had raided a government warehouse and taken flour from it.
B. 1862: Robert E. Lee prepares to move against John Pope's Army of Virginia. As George B. McClellan pulled out of the Peninsula at Harrison's Landing, Robert E. Lee was shifting his troops to Gordonsville, Virginia, opposite John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now, as the last of McClellan's forces pulled out, the Confederacy raced to complete the concentration of troops at Gordonsville.
Using railroads and interior lines, the Confederates would win the race to Gordonsville.
Lee's army was shifted quickly to the north to take the offensive against Pope while McClellan was still in transit from the Peninsula. The Peninsula Campaign comes to an end and the Campaign of Second Manassas begins.
C. 1863: Federal batteries and Admiral Dahlgren’s seven ironclads and six wooden warships began heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200-pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter. The Navy hammered Fort Wagner so heavily that the fort’s guns all fell silent---some of them disabled, and the rest abandoned as the crews seek shelter in the fort’s bombproofs.
Federal artillery fire does great damage to the walls of Fort Sumter, after firing over 900 shots at it, disabling seven of the fort’s guns. The Confederates do return fire, and gunfire from Fort Wagner kills Admiral Dahlgren’s chief of staff.
D. 1863: Catastrophe suffered by the Confederacy in Mississippi between August 17 and August 19, 1863.
William Tecumseh Sherman had driven Joseph E. Johnston's army out of Jackson, Mississippi and flattened anything of military value in the city including the destruction of key railroad bridges that the Confederates were unable to repair quickly. The break in the railroad left a large amount of Confederate railroad equipment trapped north of Jackson at Grenada, Mississippi. One force, sent by William T. Sherman from Vicksburg, had instructions to capture the railroad equipment for Union use. The other force, moving from the north, had orders from Stephen A. Hurlbut to destroy the trapped equipment. Hurlbut's men won the race by a few hours and the result was catastrophic for the Confederacy.
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Lisandro MurphySSgt David M. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. MSgt (Join to see) SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see) PO2 Tom Belcher COL (Join to see) SFC (Join to see)CWO4 Terrence Clark CSM Charles Hayden PO1 John Johnson
Skirmishes in 1862 at:
a. London, Kentucky: Col. John S. Scott was commanding a Confederate brigade when he entered London. Scott's force had ridden 160 miles to the southeastern part of Kentucky. He attacked the Union garrison and a 1-hour battle ensued. Only 65 Federals managed to escape to the nearby mountains. The federals suffered 50 killed & wounded and 75 captured.
b. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: a Union force arrived at Mammoth Cave and ran into a small group of Confederate guerrillas. A brief skirmish ensued, with the Confederates being captured.
Persistence against the bureaucracy pays off for the Union soldiers. In 1863, after being put off by the Federal War Department, Christopher Spencer the inventor of a new lever-action repeating rifle fed by a magazine tube of bullets met President Lincoln and showed him how to assemble it.
By 1863, the Confederacy's rail network had never been strong--and the loss of “57 engines, upwards of 400 cars, the depot buildings, machine-shops, several blacksmith-shops, and a quantity of ordnance and commissary stores, capturing about 50 railroad men and a number of prisoners” was a crippling blow. The Confederate transportation network was suffering from the blockade, had lost the inland waterways of the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers, and Union cavalry would increasingly target the Confederacy's railroads for destruction
Pictures: 1863-08 Swamp Angel Drawing; 7-shot wonder spencer-4; 1864-08-17 Lincoln and Grant Cartoon; 1863-08 Damage to Fort Sumter Frank Leslie Newspaper
A. 1862: Massacre in Minnesota by Dakota (Sioux). Dakota warriors were returning from an unsuccessful hunt when they stopped to steal some eggs from a white settlement in Acton, Minnesota. The youths soon picked a quarrel with the hen's owner, and the encounter turned tragic when the Dakotas killed five members of the family. Sensing that they would be attacked, Dakota leader Chief Little Crow (pictured) determined that war was at hand and seized the initiative.
For several weeks now, the Dakota (whose treaty stipulates that they will be given provisions from the Indian Bureau) have been going hungry and consequently asking for adequate rations. In July, the people had raided a government warehouse and taken flour from it.
B. 1862: Robert E. Lee prepares to move against John Pope's Army of Virginia. As George B. McClellan pulled out of the Peninsula at Harrison's Landing, Robert E. Lee was shifting his troops to Gordonsville, Virginia, opposite John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now, as the last of McClellan's forces pulled out, the Confederacy raced to complete the concentration of troops at Gordonsville.
Using railroads and interior lines, the Confederates would win the race to Gordonsville.
Lee's army was shifted quickly to the north to take the offensive against Pope while McClellan was still in transit from the Peninsula. The Peninsula Campaign comes to an end and the Campaign of Second Manassas begins.
C. 1863: Federal batteries and Admiral Dahlgren’s seven ironclads and six wooden warships began heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200-pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter. The Navy hammered Fort Wagner so heavily that the fort’s guns all fell silent---some of them disabled, and the rest abandoned as the crews seek shelter in the fort’s bombproofs.
Federal artillery fire does great damage to the walls of Fort Sumter, after firing over 900 shots at it, disabling seven of the fort’s guns. The Confederates do return fire, and gunfire from Fort Wagner kills Admiral Dahlgren’s chief of staff.
D. 1863: Catastrophe suffered by the Confederacy in Mississippi between August 17 and August 19, 1863.
William Tecumseh Sherman had driven Joseph E. Johnston's army out of Jackson, Mississippi and flattened anything of military value in the city including the destruction of key railroad bridges that the Confederates were unable to repair quickly. The break in the railroad left a large amount of Confederate railroad equipment trapped north of Jackson at Grenada, Mississippi. One force, sent by William T. Sherman from Vicksburg, had instructions to capture the railroad equipment for Union use. The other force, moving from the north, had orders from Stephen A. Hurlbut to destroy the trapped equipment. Hurlbut's men won the race by a few hours and the result was catastrophic for the Confederacy.
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Lisandro MurphySSgt David M. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. MSgt (Join to see) SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see) PO2 Tom Belcher COL (Join to see) SFC (Join to see)CWO4 Terrence Clark CSM Charles Hayden PO1 John Johnson
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The Confederacy began the war with almost 1,200 locomotives and captured a handful from the Union early in the war, but that was it. Locomotives were too bulky to be brought through the blockade in large numbers. The Confederacy had to rely on the 1,200 locomotives it had begun the war with. But in 1863, almost all of the Confederate rolling stock trapped west of the Pearl River--locomotives and train cars--were destroyed by marauding Union cavalry. Between August 17-19, 1863, the Confederacy lost roughly 5% of its locomotives and a significant portion of its rail cars. That was 5% of all the locomotives in the entire Confederacy, lost in a single day.
Below are a number of journal entries from 1861, 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln confessed himself not much of a theater fan as he writes a letter to actor James Hackett, whose role as Falstaff Lincoln enjoyed.
Saturday, August 17, 1861: From "A Rebel War Clerk's Diary" On August 17, 1861, John B. Jones noted the following in his diary. “August 17th.—Some apprehension is felt concerning the President’s health. If he were to die, what would be the consequences? I should stand by the Vice-President, of course, because “it is so nominated in the bond,” and because I think he would make as efficient an Executive as any other man in the Confederacy. But others think differently; and there might be trouble.
The President has issued a proclamation, in pursuance of the act of Congress passed on the 8th instant, commanding all alien enemies to leave in forty days; and the Secretary of War has indicated Nashville as the place of exit. This produces but little excitement, except among the Jews, some of whom are converting their effects into gold and departing.
Col. Bledsoe’s ankles are much too weak for his weighty body, but he can shuffle along quite briskly when in pursuit of a refractory clerk; and when he catches him, if he resists, the colonel is sure to leave him.”
Sunday, August 17, 1862: Surgeon Alfred L. Castleman writes in his journal about the differences between North and South in attitudes toward commerce: “To-night we lie at the mouth of the Chickahominy, under protection of our gun boats. What a commercial world this State of Virginia should be. Its navigable waters are nearly equal to that of all the Free States combined; yet there are single cities in the North which have a larger commerce than the whole of the Slave States. Why is this? Has the peculiar institution any thing to do with it? If so, God, nature— everything speaks aloud against it as a curse. The ground which we now occupy is one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most desirable sites for a city in America, high and dry, with an easy ascent from the water, presenting three fronts to the navigable rivers, with fine water views in all directions, as extensive as the range of vision, with business amounting to one house and a few cords of dry pine wood, which seems to be the article of export from this part of the State.”
Sunday, August 17, 1862: Capt. William L. Bolton, of the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry, records in his journal his own view of the wrangling and maneuvering between Pope and Lee in central Virginia: “Company A resting all day, other companies on picekt duty and repairing the roads. Another foraging party sent out to-day to the same place for corn and coming in sight of the corn-crib discovered the enemy loading from the same crib. The came back at a double-quick. We can plainly see Stonewall Jackson do-day pitching his tents on a high hill on Slaughter Mountain. Can see them signal with flags from Cedar Mountain in day light, and with lights at night.”
Monday, August 17, 1863: An interesting look into the President’s private life, such as it is: Pres. Abraham Lincoln confesses himself not much of a theater fan, although he writes this letter to actor James Hackett, whose role as Falstaff Lincoln enjoyed, and hopes to see more: “To J. H. HACKETT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON August 17, 1863. JAMES H. HACKETT, Esq. “MY DEAR SIR:—Months ago I should have acknowledged the receipt of your book and accompanying kind note; and I now have to beg your pardon for not having done so.
For one of my age I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay is to say, as I truly can, I am very anxious to see it again. Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read, while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any un-professional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.
Unlike you gentlemen of the profession, I think the soliloquy in Hamlet commencing “Oh, my offense is rank,” surpasses that commencing “To be or not to be.” But pardon this small attempt at criticism. I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard III. Will you not soon visit Washington again? If you do, please call and let me make your personal acquaintance.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN”
Monday, August 17, 1863: to Major-General HURLBUT at LA GRANGE and received at Headquarters Memphis, August 19, 1863. “The cavalry force sent from here on the 13th instant, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips, reached Grenada on the 17th instant, drove Slemons, with 2,000 men and three pieces of artillery, from the place, destroying 57 engines, upwards of 400 cars, the depot buildings, machine-shops, several blacksmith-shops, and a quantity of ordnance and commissary stores, capturing about 50 railroad men and a number of prisoners. After Colonel Phillips, with his command, had accomplished his work, Colonel Winslow appeared with a force from below. His brief report will be sent by to-day's train. J. K. MIZNER, Colonel, and Chief of Cavalry.”
Monday, August 17, 1863: David Lane of the 17th Michigan Infantry, recently from the Vicksburg Campaign, are now in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Lane comments on some of the habits of Kentuckians: “Their manners, forms of speech and customs all point to past ages. They are very loyal and very friendly when sober, but when filled with corn whiskey, hypocrisy and self-interest take a back seat, and they speak their real sentiments with a frankness and fluency that is not at all flattering to us “Yanks.” From what I have seen, I conclude all Kentuckians drink whiskey. There are distilleries in every little town, where the “genuine article” is turned out. I called at a farm house one day for a drink of water. The good woman was catechising her son—a lad of ten or twelve years—about ten cents she had given him with which to buy some little notion at the store. She gave me a drink of water, then, turning to the young hopeful, angrily inquired, “But where’s that ten cents I gave you?” “I guv five cents to Bill.” “Where’s the other five?” “Bought my dram with it.” The explanation appeared satisfactory.”
Pictures: wrecked-train-bull-run; 1865 A 200-pound Parrott rifle in Fort Gregg on Morris Island, South Carolina; 1861 Confederate Railroad Map; 1863 Third Lieutenant John Alphonso Beall, CSA, of Company D, 14th Texas Cavalry Regiment, with the single-shot, breech-loading Berdan Sharps rifle
A. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Massacre in Minnesota by Dakota (Sioux). Dakota warriors were returning from an unsuccessful hunt when they stopped to steal some eggs from a white settlement in Acton, Minnesota. The youths soon picked a quarrel with the hen's owner, and the encounter turned tragic when the Dakotas killed five members of the family. Sensing that they would be attacked, Dakota leader Chief Little Crow (pictured) determined that war was at hand and seized the initiative.
For several weeks now, the Dakota (whose treaty stipulates that they will be given provisions from the Indian Bureau) have been going hungry and consequently asking for adequate rations. In July, the people had raided a government warehouse and taken flour from it.
B. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Robert E. Lee prepares to move against John Pope's Army of Virginia. As George B. McClellan pulled out of the Peninsula at Harrison's Landing, Robert E. Lee was shifting his troops to Gordonsville, Virginia, opposite John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now, as the last of McClellan's forces pulled out, the Confederacy raced to complete the concentration of troops at Gordonsville.
Using railroads and interior lines, the Confederates would win the race to Gordonsville.
Lee's army was shifted quickly to the north to take the offensive against Pope while McClellan was still in transit from the Peninsula. The Peninsula Campaign comes to an end and the Campaign of Second Manassas begins.
C. Monday, August 17, 1863: In an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries began heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200-pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. They fire 938 shots at Fort Sumter, but the rubble and sand there form an impregnable bulwark. The Confederates do return fire, and gunfire from Fort Wagner kills Admiral Dahlgren’s chief of staff. Earlier 450 Union soldiers managed to move the 200-pounder Parrott gun nicknamed the “Swamp Angel” to its base
Siege of Charleston -- Today, after months of preparation, Federal guns open fire in a massive siege campaign against Charleston, in an effort to capture the city or at least the fortifications surrounding it. Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore commands the U.S. Army forces and the ground-based artillery; Admiral John A. Dahlgren commands the U.S. Navy fleet (seven ironclads and six wooden warships) operating in cooperation at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.
The principal goals are the seizure of Charleston itself, Fort Sumter, and Morris. Federal batteries on other part of Morris Island and other locations, at 5:00 AM, begin to shell the Rebel fortifications in a concerted effort. Dahlgren’s gunboats move in close to Fort Wagner and open fire. Federal artillery fire does great damage to the walls of Fort Sumter, after firing over 900 shots at it, disabling seven of the fort’s guns. The Navy hammers Fort Wagner so heavily that the fort’s guns all fall silent---some of them disabled, and the rest abandoned as the crews seek shelter in the fort’s bombproofs.
D. Monday, August 17, 1863: Confederate Catastrophe in Mississippi. Much is made of the exploits of Southern cavalry during the American Civil War. The deeds of Nathan Bedford Forrest and J.E.B. Stuart have become legendary. But neither Forrest or Stuart ever succeeded in inflicting the kind of damage suffered by the Confederacy in Mississippi between August 17 and August 19, 1863.
Earlier in the summer of 1863, William Tecumseh Sherman had driven Joseph E. Johnston's army out of Jackson, Mississippi and flattened anything of military value in the city. Included in the destruction were key railroad bridges that the Confederates were unable to repair quickly. The break in the railroad left a large amount of Confederate railroad equipment trapped north of Jackson at Grenada, Mississippi.
Early in August 1863, just as the Confederates were starting to think about how to recover the locomotives and rail cars trapped at Grenada, two separate Union cavalry forces set out to capture or destroy them. One force, sent by William T. Sherman from Vicksburg, had instructions to capture the railroad equipment for Union use. The other force, moving from the north, had orders from Stephen A. Hurlbut to destroy the trapped equipment. Hurlbut's men won the race by a few hours and the result was catastrophic for the Confederacy.
The Confederacy began the war with almost 1,200 locomotives and captured a handful from the Union early in the war, but that was it. Locomotives were too bulky to be brought through the blockade in large numbers. The Confederacy had to rely on the 1,200 locomotives it had begun the war with. On this day 150 years ago, almost all of the Confederate rolling stock trapped west of the Pearl River--locomotives and train cars--were destroyed by marauding Union cavalry. Between August 17-19, 1863, the Confederacy lost roughly 5% of its locomotives and a significant portion of its rail cars. That was 5% of all the locomotives in the entire Confederacy, lost in a single day.
1. Saturday, August 17, 1861: Witnesses exhibition of J. D. Mills' gun [dubbed by Lincoln "coffee mill gun"] near Washington Monument and advises government to pay double sum mechanics say it is worth if delivered in 30 days. The request gets lost in the bureaucracy.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-eighteen
2. Saturday, August 17, 1861: George Thomas appointed brigadier general of volunteers, Army of the Cumberland.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186108
3. Saturday, August 17, 1861: From "A Rebel War Clerk's Diary" On August 17, 1861, John B. Jones noted the following in his diary. “August 17th.—Some apprehension is felt concerning the President’s health. If he were to die, what would be the consequences? I should stand by the Vice-President, of course, because “it is so nominated in the bond,” and because I think he would make as efficient an Executive as any other man in the Confederacy. But others think differently; and there might be trouble.
The President has issued a proclamation, in pursuance of the act of Congress passed on the 8th instant, commanding all alien enemies to leave in forty days; and the Secretary of War has indicated Nashville as the place of exit. This produces but little excitement, except among the Jews, some of whom are converting their effects into gold and departing.
Col. Bledsoe’s ankles are much too weak for his weighty body, but he can shuffle along quite briskly when in pursuit of a refractory clerk; and when he catches him, if he resists, the colonel is sure to leave him.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1861
4. Saturday, August 17, 1861: Jefferson F. Davis and Alexander Stephens were two very different men and it's hard to imagine what would have happened if Davis had died in office and Stephens had replaced him. In August 1861, relations between the two men were still cordial, but that would change over time.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1861
5. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Surgeon Alfred L. Castleman writes in his journal about the differences between North and South in attitudes toward commerce: “To-night we lie at the mouth of the Chickahominy, under protection of our gun boats. What a commercial world this State of Virginia should be. Its navigable waters are nearly equal to that of all the Free States combined; yet there are single cities in the North which have a larger commerce than the whole of the Slave States. Why is this? Has the peculiar institution any thing to do with it? If so, God, nature— everything speaks aloud against it as a curse. The ground which we now occupy is one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most desirable sites for a city in America, high and dry, with an easy ascent from the water, presenting three fronts to the navigable rivers, with fine water views in all directions, as extensive as the range of vision, with business amounting to one house and a few cords of dry pine wood, which seems to be the article of export from this part of the State.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
6. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Capt. William L. Bolton, of the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry, records in his journal his own view of the wrangling and maneuvering between Pope and Lee in central Virginia: “Company A resting all day, other companies on picekt duty and repairing the roads. Another foraging party sent out to-day to the same place for corn and coming in sight of the corn-crib discovered the enemy loading from the same crib. The came back at a double-quick. We can plainly see Stonewall Jackson do-day pitching his tents on a high hill on Slaughter Mountain. Can see them signal with flags from Cedar Mountain in day light, and with lights at night.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
7. Sunday, August 17, 1862: London, Kentucky - On August 17, Col. John S. Scott was commanding a Confederate brigade when he entered London. Scott's force had ridden 160 miles to the southeastern part of Kentucky. He attacked the Union garrison and a 1-hour battle ensued. Only 65 Federals managed to escape to the nearby mountains. The federals suffered 50 killed & wounded and 75 captured.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
8. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Acton, Minnesota - On August 17, a Souix uprising occured at Acton. Acton is located in southwestern Minnesota. With dwindling amounts of food on their reservation, the Indians revolted by murdering several settlers near the small town of Acton.
This action with the Indians would be the beginning of a week of fighting between the Sioux and nearby settlements and Union forces.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
9. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky - On August 17, a Union force arrived at Mammoth Cave and ran into a small group of Confederate guerrillas. A brief skirmish ensued, with the Confederates being captured.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
10. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart prepares his brigades for a big raid behind Union lines to cut their supply route over the Rappahannock.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
11. Sunday, August 17, 1862: J. E. B. Stuart assumes command of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186208
12. Sunday, August 17, 1862: J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart (CSA) was appointed to lead all the cavalry forces of the Army of Northern Virginia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-one
13. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Manassas/Second Manassas Campaign: General J.E.B. Stuart assumes command of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
14. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Gen. William "Bull" Nelson is ordered by Gen. Buell to go to Kentucky to train and organize the new troops being sent there into a defense force in anticipation of Bragg’s invasion. Nelson is being given a few veteran troops to fill out the defensive force.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
15. Sunday, August 17, 1862: As Gen. James Blunt and his army approach Lone Jack, Missouri, there is more fighting there as the Rebels attack the Federal skirmishers vigorously while the main Rebel force retreats southward.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
16. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Confederate troops under Major General Kirby Smith (CSA) reinforced from General Braxton Bragg’s (CSA) army, contains the Federals in Cumberland Gap and moves into Kentucky.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-one
17. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Confederate Heartland Offensive: Morgan cuts the telegraph lines along the L&N Railroad.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
18. Monday, August 17, 1863: An interesting look into the President’s private life, such as it is: Pres. Abraham Lincoln confesses himself not much of a theater fan, although he writes this letter to actor James Hackett, whose role as Falstaff Lincoln enjoyed, and hopes to see more: “To J. H. HACKETT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON August 17, 1863. JAMES H. HACKETT, Esq. “MY DEAR SIR:—Months ago I should have acknowledged the receipt of your book and accompanying kind note; and I now have to beg your pardon for not having done so.
For one of my age I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay is to say, as I truly can, I am very anxious to see it again. Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read, while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any un-professional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.
Unlike you gentlemen of the profession, I think the soliloquy in Hamlet commencing “Oh, my offense is rank,” surpasses that commencing “To be or not to be.” But pardon this small attempt at criticism. I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard III. Will you not soon visit Washington again? If you do, please call and let me make your personal acquaintance.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
19. Monday, August 17, 1863: David Lane of the 17th Michigan Infantry, recently from the Vicksburg Campaign, are now in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Lane comments on some of the habits of Kentuckians: “Their manners, forms of speech and customs all point to past ages. They are very loyal and very friendly when sober, but when filled with corn whiskey, hypocrisy and self-interest take a back seat, and they speak their real sentiments with a frankness and fluency that is not at all flattering to us “Yanks.” From what I have seen, I conclude all Kentuckians drink whiskey. There are distilleries in every little town, where the “genuine article” is turned out. I called at a farm house one day for a drink of water. The good woman was catechising her son—a lad of ten or twelve years—about ten cents she had given him with which to buy some little notion at the store. She gave me a drink of water, then, turning to the young hopeful, angrily inquired, “But where’s that ten cents I gave you?” “I guv five cents to Bill.” “Where’s the other five?” “Bought my dram with it.” The explanation appeared satisfactory.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
20. Monday, August 17, 1863: After being put off by the War Department, Christopher Spencer, inventor of a new lever-action repeating rifle fed by a magazine tube of bullets, meets President Lincoln and shows him how to assemble it.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
21. Monday, August 17, 1863: To Major-General HURLBUT at LA GRANGE and received at Headquarters Memphis, August 19, 1863.) “The cavalry force sent from here on the 13th instant, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips, reached Grenada on the 17th instant, drove Slemons, with 2,000 men and three pieces of artillery, from the place, destroying 57 engines, upwards of 400 cars, the depot buildings, machine-shops, several blacksmith-shops, and a quantity of ordnance and commissary stores, capturing about 50 railroad men and a number of prisoners. After Colonel Phillips, with his command, had accomplished his work, Colonel Winslow appeared with a force from below. His brief report will be sent by to-day's train. J. K. MIZNER, Colonel, and Chief of Cavalry.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
22. Monday, August 17, 1863: The Confederacy's rail network had never been strong--and the loss of so many locomotives was a crippling blow. The Confederate transportation network was suffering from the blockade, had lost the inland waterways of the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers, and Union cavalry would increasingly target the Confederacy's railroads for destruction.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
23. Monday, August 17, 1863: Christopher M. Spencer meets Pres. Lincoln at the White House and presents him with a complimentary Spencer Rifle, a repeater that is his own invention.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
24. Monday, August 17, 1863: The steamer Nita, a Rebel blockade runner, is captured by the USS DeSoto while trying to run the blockade.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
25. Monday, August 17, 1863: Eastern Tennessee operations: After waiting in Kentucky because of Morgan’s Great Raid, as well as the loan of the IX Corps to General Grant during the Vicksburg Campaign, US General Ambrose Burnside starts off on the East Tennessee, or Knoxville Campaign. Grant has released the IX Corps back to him, but General-in-Chief Halleck orders Burnside to move now, taking at least 12,000 men to Knoxville, where he is to secure the city and then head south to connect up with General Rosecrans.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
26. Wednesday, August 17, 1864: At Petersburg, a truce is called to allow the two sides to retrieve their dead and wounded. Some action at Winchester, Virginia, as Lieut. General Jubal Early (CSA) attacks the rear guard of Major General Philip Sheridan (US) who is withdrawing toward Berryville, Virginia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-175
27. Wednesday, August 17, 1864: At South Newport, Georgia the Federals land and surprise the Rebels, capturing 38, in addition to 5 citizens and 51 Negroes, and burn the bridge over the South Newport River as they leave.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-175
28. Wednesday, August 17, 1864: Virginia operations, the Siege of Petersburg: Lincoln to Grant: “Cypher”
Lieut. Gen. Grant Executive Mansion, City Point, Va. Washington, August 17. 1864. I have seen your despatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bull-dog gripe, and chew & choke, as much as possible. A. LINCOLN”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/08/10/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-11-17-1864/
A Sunday, August 17, 1862: In Minnesota, for two decades, the Dakota (Sioux) were poorly treated by the Federal government, local traders, and settlers. They saw their hunting lands whittled down, and provisions promised by the government rarely arrived. Worse yet, a wave of white settlers surrounded them. Today, four young Dakota warriors were returning from an unsuccessful hunt when they stopped to steal some eggs from a white settlement in Acton, Minnesota. The youths soon picked a quarrel with the hen's owner, and the encounter turned tragic when the Dakotas killed five members of the family. Sensing that they would be attacked, Dakota leader Chief Little Crow (pictured) determined that war was at hand and seized the initiative.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-one
A+ Sunday, August 17, 1862: Massacre in Minnesota. In southwest Minnesota, the Dakota (Sioux) nation lives in peace on the south bank of the Minnesota River with white settlers, who live on the north bank. For several weeks now, the Dakota (whose treaty stipulates that they will be given provisions from the Indian Bureau) have been going hungry and consequently asking for adequate rations. In July, the people had raided a government warehouse and taken flour from it. The 5th Minnesota had been called in, but the Regiment’s commander insisted on giving the Dakota the food, over the protests of Galbraith, the Indian Agent. On this date, in Action, Minnesota, four young braves, frustrated at the lack of food, engage in a shooting match with Robinson Jones, owner of a public house and well-known to all of the Dakota. Jones is a fine marksman, and bests the four braves. After re-loading, for unknown reasons, the four braves shoot Jones and his wife to death, and shoot and kill a Mr. Webster and a Mr. Baker as well.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
B Sunday, August 17, 1862: Lee prepares to move against Pope. As George B. McClellan pulled out of the Peninsula at Harrison's Landing, Robert E. Lee was shifting his troops to Gordonsville, Virginia, opposite John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now, as the last of McClellan's forces pulled out, the Confederacy raced to complete the concentration of troops at Gordonsville.
Using railroads and interior lines, the Confederates would win the race to Gordonsville.
Lee's army was shifted quickly to the north to take the offensive against Pope while McClellan was still in transit from the Peninsula. The Peninsula Campaign comes to an end and the Campaign of Second Manassas begins.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
Sunday, August 17, 1862: RICHMOND, VA. Major-General GUSTAVUS W. SMITH, Commanding: “Move forward your division with the least delay practicable to re-enforce General Lee at Gordonsville. Trains will be in readiness in this city to take the troops as they arrive. I inclose a dispatch just received from General Lee, by which you will be governed in sending forward the other divisions of your command.
Very truly, S. COOPER, Adjutant and inspector-General.”
Sunday, August 17, 1862: To His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS: “DEAR SIR: I found on getting to the telegraph office a dispatch from General Hill announcing that the enemy had gone from the south side of the river and could not be seen on the north side. I repeated the telegram to General Lee and asked if McLaws' division should not be brought to the railroad. He has not answered, and in the mean time General Smith has announced that he has ordered General McLaws to make a reconnaissance and will report the result. Armistead's brigade went up yesterday and the rest of Anderson's division will go up to-day and to-morrow. We shall probably receive definite reports before the road is clear. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, G.W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
C Monday, August 17, 1863: 450 Union soldiers managed to move the 200-pounder Parrott gun to its base. It was nicknamed the “Swamp Angel” (pictured). All day, hundreds of men moved the required supplies to its base – gunpowder, shot etc.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-123
C+ Monday, August 17, 1863: In an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries begin heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200-pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. Although the initial attack is the heaviest, Federal assaults continue off and on until September, 1864.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186308
C++ Monday, August 17, 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: “An an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries begin heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200 pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. Although the initial attack is the heaviest, Federal assaults continue off and on until September, 1864.” They fire 938 shots at Fort Sumter, but the rubble and sand there form an impregnable bulwark.
The Confederates do return fire, and gunfire from Fort Wagner kills Admiral Dahlgren’s chief of staff.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
C++ Monday, August 17, 1863: Siege of Charleston -- Today, after months of preparation, Federal guns open fire in a massive siege campaign against Charleston, in an effort to capture the city or at least the fortifications surrounding it. Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore commands the U.S. Army forces and the ground-based artillery; Admiral John A. Dahlgren commands the U.S. Navy fleet (seven ironclads and six wooden warships) operating in cooperation at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.
Inside Fort Sumter during the Union bombardment
The principal goals are the seizure of Charleston itself, Fort Sumter, and Morris Island (the location of Fort Wagner, which the tragic assault of the 54th Massachusetts had failed to capture). Federal batteries on other part of Morris Island and other locations, at 5:00 AM, begin to shell the Rebel fortifications in a concerted effort. Dahlgren’s gunboats move in close to Fort Wagner and open fire. Federal artillery fire does great damage to the walls of Fort Sumter, after firing over 900 shots at it, disabling seven of the fort’s guns. The Navy hammers Fort Wagner so heavily that the fort’s guns all fall silent---some of them disabled, and the rest abandoned as the crews seek shelter in the fort’s bombproofs.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
D Monday, August 17, 1863: Confederate Catastrophe in Mississippi. Much is made of the exploits of Southern cavalry during the American Civil War. The deeds of Nathan Bedford Forrest and J.E.B. Stuart have become legendary. But neither Forrest or Stuart ever succeeded in inflicting the kind of damage suffered by the Confederacy in Mississippi between August 17 and August 19, 1863.
Earlier in the summer of 1863, William Tecumseh Sherman had driven Joseph E. Johnston's army out of Jackson, Mississippi and flattened anything of military value in the city. Included in the destruction were key railroad bridges that the Confederates were unable to repair quickly. The break in the railroad left a large amount of Confederate railroad equipment trapped north of Jackson at Grenada, Mississippi.
Early in August 1863, just as the Confederates were starting to think about how to recover the locomotives and rail cars trapped at Grenada, two separate Union cavalry forces set out to capture or destroy them. One force, sent by William T. Sherman from Vicksburg, had instructions to capture the railroad equipment for Union use. The other force, moving from the north, had orders from Stephen A. Hurlbut to destroy the trapped equipment. Hurlbut's men won the race by a few hours and the result was catastrophic for the Confederacy.
The Confederacy began the war with almost 1,200 locomotives and captured a handful from the Union early in the war, but that was it. Locomotives were too bulky to be brought through the blockade in large numbers. The Confederacy had to rely on the 1,200 locomotives it had begun the war with. On this day 150 years ago, almost all of the Confederate rolling stock trapped west of the Pearl River--locomotives and train cars--were destroyed by marauding Union cavalry. Between August 17-19, 1863, the Confederacy lost roughly 5% of its locomotives and a significant portion of its rail cars. That was 5% of all the locomotives in the entire Confederacy, lost in a single day.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle SSgt David M. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see) COL (Join to see) SFC (Join to see)CSM Charles HaydenTSgt George Rodriguez SFC Randy PurhamSMSgt David A Asbury SPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoySSG Donald H "Don" Bates
Below are a number of journal entries from 1861, 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln confessed himself not much of a theater fan as he writes a letter to actor James Hackett, whose role as Falstaff Lincoln enjoyed.
Saturday, August 17, 1861: From "A Rebel War Clerk's Diary" On August 17, 1861, John B. Jones noted the following in his diary. “August 17th.—Some apprehension is felt concerning the President’s health. If he were to die, what would be the consequences? I should stand by the Vice-President, of course, because “it is so nominated in the bond,” and because I think he would make as efficient an Executive as any other man in the Confederacy. But others think differently; and there might be trouble.
The President has issued a proclamation, in pursuance of the act of Congress passed on the 8th instant, commanding all alien enemies to leave in forty days; and the Secretary of War has indicated Nashville as the place of exit. This produces but little excitement, except among the Jews, some of whom are converting their effects into gold and departing.
Col. Bledsoe’s ankles are much too weak for his weighty body, but he can shuffle along quite briskly when in pursuit of a refractory clerk; and when he catches him, if he resists, the colonel is sure to leave him.”
Sunday, August 17, 1862: Surgeon Alfred L. Castleman writes in his journal about the differences between North and South in attitudes toward commerce: “To-night we lie at the mouth of the Chickahominy, under protection of our gun boats. What a commercial world this State of Virginia should be. Its navigable waters are nearly equal to that of all the Free States combined; yet there are single cities in the North which have a larger commerce than the whole of the Slave States. Why is this? Has the peculiar institution any thing to do with it? If so, God, nature— everything speaks aloud against it as a curse. The ground which we now occupy is one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most desirable sites for a city in America, high and dry, with an easy ascent from the water, presenting three fronts to the navigable rivers, with fine water views in all directions, as extensive as the range of vision, with business amounting to one house and a few cords of dry pine wood, which seems to be the article of export from this part of the State.”
Sunday, August 17, 1862: Capt. William L. Bolton, of the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry, records in his journal his own view of the wrangling and maneuvering between Pope and Lee in central Virginia: “Company A resting all day, other companies on picekt duty and repairing the roads. Another foraging party sent out to-day to the same place for corn and coming in sight of the corn-crib discovered the enemy loading from the same crib. The came back at a double-quick. We can plainly see Stonewall Jackson do-day pitching his tents on a high hill on Slaughter Mountain. Can see them signal with flags from Cedar Mountain in day light, and with lights at night.”
Monday, August 17, 1863: An interesting look into the President’s private life, such as it is: Pres. Abraham Lincoln confesses himself not much of a theater fan, although he writes this letter to actor James Hackett, whose role as Falstaff Lincoln enjoyed, and hopes to see more: “To J. H. HACKETT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON August 17, 1863. JAMES H. HACKETT, Esq. “MY DEAR SIR:—Months ago I should have acknowledged the receipt of your book and accompanying kind note; and I now have to beg your pardon for not having done so.
For one of my age I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay is to say, as I truly can, I am very anxious to see it again. Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read, while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any un-professional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.
Unlike you gentlemen of the profession, I think the soliloquy in Hamlet commencing “Oh, my offense is rank,” surpasses that commencing “To be or not to be.” But pardon this small attempt at criticism. I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard III. Will you not soon visit Washington again? If you do, please call and let me make your personal acquaintance.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN”
Monday, August 17, 1863: to Major-General HURLBUT at LA GRANGE and received at Headquarters Memphis, August 19, 1863. “The cavalry force sent from here on the 13th instant, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips, reached Grenada on the 17th instant, drove Slemons, with 2,000 men and three pieces of artillery, from the place, destroying 57 engines, upwards of 400 cars, the depot buildings, machine-shops, several blacksmith-shops, and a quantity of ordnance and commissary stores, capturing about 50 railroad men and a number of prisoners. After Colonel Phillips, with his command, had accomplished his work, Colonel Winslow appeared with a force from below. His brief report will be sent by to-day's train. J. K. MIZNER, Colonel, and Chief of Cavalry.”
Monday, August 17, 1863: David Lane of the 17th Michigan Infantry, recently from the Vicksburg Campaign, are now in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Lane comments on some of the habits of Kentuckians: “Their manners, forms of speech and customs all point to past ages. They are very loyal and very friendly when sober, but when filled with corn whiskey, hypocrisy and self-interest take a back seat, and they speak their real sentiments with a frankness and fluency that is not at all flattering to us “Yanks.” From what I have seen, I conclude all Kentuckians drink whiskey. There are distilleries in every little town, where the “genuine article” is turned out. I called at a farm house one day for a drink of water. The good woman was catechising her son—a lad of ten or twelve years—about ten cents she had given him with which to buy some little notion at the store. She gave me a drink of water, then, turning to the young hopeful, angrily inquired, “But where’s that ten cents I gave you?” “I guv five cents to Bill.” “Where’s the other five?” “Bought my dram with it.” The explanation appeared satisfactory.”
Pictures: wrecked-train-bull-run; 1865 A 200-pound Parrott rifle in Fort Gregg on Morris Island, South Carolina; 1861 Confederate Railroad Map; 1863 Third Lieutenant John Alphonso Beall, CSA, of Company D, 14th Texas Cavalry Regiment, with the single-shot, breech-loading Berdan Sharps rifle
A. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Massacre in Minnesota by Dakota (Sioux). Dakota warriors were returning from an unsuccessful hunt when they stopped to steal some eggs from a white settlement in Acton, Minnesota. The youths soon picked a quarrel with the hen's owner, and the encounter turned tragic when the Dakotas killed five members of the family. Sensing that they would be attacked, Dakota leader Chief Little Crow (pictured) determined that war was at hand and seized the initiative.
For several weeks now, the Dakota (whose treaty stipulates that they will be given provisions from the Indian Bureau) have been going hungry and consequently asking for adequate rations. In July, the people had raided a government warehouse and taken flour from it.
B. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Robert E. Lee prepares to move against John Pope's Army of Virginia. As George B. McClellan pulled out of the Peninsula at Harrison's Landing, Robert E. Lee was shifting his troops to Gordonsville, Virginia, opposite John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now, as the last of McClellan's forces pulled out, the Confederacy raced to complete the concentration of troops at Gordonsville.
Using railroads and interior lines, the Confederates would win the race to Gordonsville.
Lee's army was shifted quickly to the north to take the offensive against Pope while McClellan was still in transit from the Peninsula. The Peninsula Campaign comes to an end and the Campaign of Second Manassas begins.
C. Monday, August 17, 1863: In an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries began heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200-pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. They fire 938 shots at Fort Sumter, but the rubble and sand there form an impregnable bulwark. The Confederates do return fire, and gunfire from Fort Wagner kills Admiral Dahlgren’s chief of staff. Earlier 450 Union soldiers managed to move the 200-pounder Parrott gun nicknamed the “Swamp Angel” to its base
Siege of Charleston -- Today, after months of preparation, Federal guns open fire in a massive siege campaign against Charleston, in an effort to capture the city or at least the fortifications surrounding it. Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore commands the U.S. Army forces and the ground-based artillery; Admiral John A. Dahlgren commands the U.S. Navy fleet (seven ironclads and six wooden warships) operating in cooperation at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.
The principal goals are the seizure of Charleston itself, Fort Sumter, and Morris. Federal batteries on other part of Morris Island and other locations, at 5:00 AM, begin to shell the Rebel fortifications in a concerted effort. Dahlgren’s gunboats move in close to Fort Wagner and open fire. Federal artillery fire does great damage to the walls of Fort Sumter, after firing over 900 shots at it, disabling seven of the fort’s guns. The Navy hammers Fort Wagner so heavily that the fort’s guns all fall silent---some of them disabled, and the rest abandoned as the crews seek shelter in the fort’s bombproofs.
D. Monday, August 17, 1863: Confederate Catastrophe in Mississippi. Much is made of the exploits of Southern cavalry during the American Civil War. The deeds of Nathan Bedford Forrest and J.E.B. Stuart have become legendary. But neither Forrest or Stuart ever succeeded in inflicting the kind of damage suffered by the Confederacy in Mississippi between August 17 and August 19, 1863.
Earlier in the summer of 1863, William Tecumseh Sherman had driven Joseph E. Johnston's army out of Jackson, Mississippi and flattened anything of military value in the city. Included in the destruction were key railroad bridges that the Confederates were unable to repair quickly. The break in the railroad left a large amount of Confederate railroad equipment trapped north of Jackson at Grenada, Mississippi.
Early in August 1863, just as the Confederates were starting to think about how to recover the locomotives and rail cars trapped at Grenada, two separate Union cavalry forces set out to capture or destroy them. One force, sent by William T. Sherman from Vicksburg, had instructions to capture the railroad equipment for Union use. The other force, moving from the north, had orders from Stephen A. Hurlbut to destroy the trapped equipment. Hurlbut's men won the race by a few hours and the result was catastrophic for the Confederacy.
The Confederacy began the war with almost 1,200 locomotives and captured a handful from the Union early in the war, but that was it. Locomotives were too bulky to be brought through the blockade in large numbers. The Confederacy had to rely on the 1,200 locomotives it had begun the war with. On this day 150 years ago, almost all of the Confederate rolling stock trapped west of the Pearl River--locomotives and train cars--were destroyed by marauding Union cavalry. Between August 17-19, 1863, the Confederacy lost roughly 5% of its locomotives and a significant portion of its rail cars. That was 5% of all the locomotives in the entire Confederacy, lost in a single day.
1. Saturday, August 17, 1861: Witnesses exhibition of J. D. Mills' gun [dubbed by Lincoln "coffee mill gun"] near Washington Monument and advises government to pay double sum mechanics say it is worth if delivered in 30 days. The request gets lost in the bureaucracy.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-eighteen
2. Saturday, August 17, 1861: George Thomas appointed brigadier general of volunteers, Army of the Cumberland.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186108
3. Saturday, August 17, 1861: From "A Rebel War Clerk's Diary" On August 17, 1861, John B. Jones noted the following in his diary. “August 17th.—Some apprehension is felt concerning the President’s health. If he were to die, what would be the consequences? I should stand by the Vice-President, of course, because “it is so nominated in the bond,” and because I think he would make as efficient an Executive as any other man in the Confederacy. But others think differently; and there might be trouble.
The President has issued a proclamation, in pursuance of the act of Congress passed on the 8th instant, commanding all alien enemies to leave in forty days; and the Secretary of War has indicated Nashville as the place of exit. This produces but little excitement, except among the Jews, some of whom are converting their effects into gold and departing.
Col. Bledsoe’s ankles are much too weak for his weighty body, but he can shuffle along quite briskly when in pursuit of a refractory clerk; and when he catches him, if he resists, the colonel is sure to leave him.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1861
4. Saturday, August 17, 1861: Jefferson F. Davis and Alexander Stephens were two very different men and it's hard to imagine what would have happened if Davis had died in office and Stephens had replaced him. In August 1861, relations between the two men were still cordial, but that would change over time.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1861
5. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Surgeon Alfred L. Castleman writes in his journal about the differences between North and South in attitudes toward commerce: “To-night we lie at the mouth of the Chickahominy, under protection of our gun boats. What a commercial world this State of Virginia should be. Its navigable waters are nearly equal to that of all the Free States combined; yet there are single cities in the North which have a larger commerce than the whole of the Slave States. Why is this? Has the peculiar institution any thing to do with it? If so, God, nature— everything speaks aloud against it as a curse. The ground which we now occupy is one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most desirable sites for a city in America, high and dry, with an easy ascent from the water, presenting three fronts to the navigable rivers, with fine water views in all directions, as extensive as the range of vision, with business amounting to one house and a few cords of dry pine wood, which seems to be the article of export from this part of the State.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
6. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Capt. William L. Bolton, of the 51st Pennsylvania Infantry, records in his journal his own view of the wrangling and maneuvering between Pope and Lee in central Virginia: “Company A resting all day, other companies on picekt duty and repairing the roads. Another foraging party sent out to-day to the same place for corn and coming in sight of the corn-crib discovered the enemy loading from the same crib. The came back at a double-quick. We can plainly see Stonewall Jackson do-day pitching his tents on a high hill on Slaughter Mountain. Can see them signal with flags from Cedar Mountain in day light, and with lights at night.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
7. Sunday, August 17, 1862: London, Kentucky - On August 17, Col. John S. Scott was commanding a Confederate brigade when he entered London. Scott's force had ridden 160 miles to the southeastern part of Kentucky. He attacked the Union garrison and a 1-hour battle ensued. Only 65 Federals managed to escape to the nearby mountains. The federals suffered 50 killed & wounded and 75 captured.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
8. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Acton, Minnesota - On August 17, a Souix uprising occured at Acton. Acton is located in southwestern Minnesota. With dwindling amounts of food on their reservation, the Indians revolted by murdering several settlers near the small town of Acton.
This action with the Indians would be the beginning of a week of fighting between the Sioux and nearby settlements and Union forces.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
9. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky - On August 17, a Union force arrived at Mammoth Cave and ran into a small group of Confederate guerrillas. A brief skirmish ensued, with the Confederates being captured.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
10. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart prepares his brigades for a big raid behind Union lines to cut their supply route over the Rappahannock.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
11. Sunday, August 17, 1862: J. E. B. Stuart assumes command of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186208
12. Sunday, August 17, 1862: J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart (CSA) was appointed to lead all the cavalry forces of the Army of Northern Virginia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-one
13. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Manassas/Second Manassas Campaign: General J.E.B. Stuart assumes command of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
14. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Gen. William "Bull" Nelson is ordered by Gen. Buell to go to Kentucky to train and organize the new troops being sent there into a defense force in anticipation of Bragg’s invasion. Nelson is being given a few veteran troops to fill out the defensive force.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
15. Sunday, August 17, 1862: As Gen. James Blunt and his army approach Lone Jack, Missouri, there is more fighting there as the Rebels attack the Federal skirmishers vigorously while the main Rebel force retreats southward.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
16. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Confederate troops under Major General Kirby Smith (CSA) reinforced from General Braxton Bragg’s (CSA) army, contains the Federals in Cumberland Gap and moves into Kentucky.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-one
17. Sunday, August 17, 1862: Confederate Heartland Offensive: Morgan cuts the telegraph lines along the L&N Railroad.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
18. Monday, August 17, 1863: An interesting look into the President’s private life, such as it is: Pres. Abraham Lincoln confesses himself not much of a theater fan, although he writes this letter to actor James Hackett, whose role as Falstaff Lincoln enjoyed, and hopes to see more: “To J. H. HACKETT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON August 17, 1863. JAMES H. HACKETT, Esq. “MY DEAR SIR:—Months ago I should have acknowledged the receipt of your book and accompanying kind note; and I now have to beg your pardon for not having done so.
For one of my age I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring. Perhaps the best compliment I can pay is to say, as I truly can, I am very anxious to see it again. Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read, while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any un-professional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.
Unlike you gentlemen of the profession, I think the soliloquy in Hamlet commencing “Oh, my offense is rank,” surpasses that commencing “To be or not to be.” But pardon this small attempt at criticism. I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard III. Will you not soon visit Washington again? If you do, please call and let me make your personal acquaintance.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
19. Monday, August 17, 1863: David Lane of the 17th Michigan Infantry, recently from the Vicksburg Campaign, are now in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Lane comments on some of the habits of Kentuckians: “Their manners, forms of speech and customs all point to past ages. They are very loyal and very friendly when sober, but when filled with corn whiskey, hypocrisy and self-interest take a back seat, and they speak their real sentiments with a frankness and fluency that is not at all flattering to us “Yanks.” From what I have seen, I conclude all Kentuckians drink whiskey. There are distilleries in every little town, where the “genuine article” is turned out. I called at a farm house one day for a drink of water. The good woman was catechising her son—a lad of ten or twelve years—about ten cents she had given him with which to buy some little notion at the store. She gave me a drink of water, then, turning to the young hopeful, angrily inquired, “But where’s that ten cents I gave you?” “I guv five cents to Bill.” “Where’s the other five?” “Bought my dram with it.” The explanation appeared satisfactory.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
20. Monday, August 17, 1863: After being put off by the War Department, Christopher Spencer, inventor of a new lever-action repeating rifle fed by a magazine tube of bullets, meets President Lincoln and shows him how to assemble it.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
21. Monday, August 17, 1863: To Major-General HURLBUT at LA GRANGE and received at Headquarters Memphis, August 19, 1863.) “The cavalry force sent from here on the 13th instant, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips, reached Grenada on the 17th instant, drove Slemons, with 2,000 men and three pieces of artillery, from the place, destroying 57 engines, upwards of 400 cars, the depot buildings, machine-shops, several blacksmith-shops, and a quantity of ordnance and commissary stores, capturing about 50 railroad men and a number of prisoners. After Colonel Phillips, with his command, had accomplished his work, Colonel Winslow appeared with a force from below. His brief report will be sent by to-day's train. J. K. MIZNER, Colonel, and Chief of Cavalry.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
22. Monday, August 17, 1863: The Confederacy's rail network had never been strong--and the loss of so many locomotives was a crippling blow. The Confederate transportation network was suffering from the blockade, had lost the inland waterways of the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers, and Union cavalry would increasingly target the Confederacy's railroads for destruction.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
23. Monday, August 17, 1863: Christopher M. Spencer meets Pres. Lincoln at the White House and presents him with a complimentary Spencer Rifle, a repeater that is his own invention.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
24. Monday, August 17, 1863: The steamer Nita, a Rebel blockade runner, is captured by the USS DeSoto while trying to run the blockade.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
25. Monday, August 17, 1863: Eastern Tennessee operations: After waiting in Kentucky because of Morgan’s Great Raid, as well as the loan of the IX Corps to General Grant during the Vicksburg Campaign, US General Ambrose Burnside starts off on the East Tennessee, or Knoxville Campaign. Grant has released the IX Corps back to him, but General-in-Chief Halleck orders Burnside to move now, taking at least 12,000 men to Knoxville, where he is to secure the city and then head south to connect up with General Rosecrans.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
26. Wednesday, August 17, 1864: At Petersburg, a truce is called to allow the two sides to retrieve their dead and wounded. Some action at Winchester, Virginia, as Lieut. General Jubal Early (CSA) attacks the rear guard of Major General Philip Sheridan (US) who is withdrawing toward Berryville, Virginia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-175
27. Wednesday, August 17, 1864: At South Newport, Georgia the Federals land and surprise the Rebels, capturing 38, in addition to 5 citizens and 51 Negroes, and burn the bridge over the South Newport River as they leave.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-175
28. Wednesday, August 17, 1864: Virginia operations, the Siege of Petersburg: Lincoln to Grant: “Cypher”
Lieut. Gen. Grant Executive Mansion, City Point, Va. Washington, August 17. 1864. I have seen your despatch expressing your unwillingness to break your hold where you are. Neither am I willing. Hold on with a bull-dog gripe, and chew & choke, as much as possible. A. LINCOLN”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/08/10/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-11-17-1864/
A Sunday, August 17, 1862: In Minnesota, for two decades, the Dakota (Sioux) were poorly treated by the Federal government, local traders, and settlers. They saw their hunting lands whittled down, and provisions promised by the government rarely arrived. Worse yet, a wave of white settlers surrounded them. Today, four young Dakota warriors were returning from an unsuccessful hunt when they stopped to steal some eggs from a white settlement in Acton, Minnesota. The youths soon picked a quarrel with the hen's owner, and the encounter turned tragic when the Dakotas killed five members of the family. Sensing that they would be attacked, Dakota leader Chief Little Crow (pictured) determined that war was at hand and seized the initiative.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-one
A+ Sunday, August 17, 1862: Massacre in Minnesota. In southwest Minnesota, the Dakota (Sioux) nation lives in peace on the south bank of the Minnesota River with white settlers, who live on the north bank. For several weeks now, the Dakota (whose treaty stipulates that they will be given provisions from the Indian Bureau) have been going hungry and consequently asking for adequate rations. In July, the people had raided a government warehouse and taken flour from it. The 5th Minnesota had been called in, but the Regiment’s commander insisted on giving the Dakota the food, over the protests of Galbraith, the Indian Agent. On this date, in Action, Minnesota, four young braves, frustrated at the lack of food, engage in a shooting match with Robinson Jones, owner of a public house and well-known to all of the Dakota. Jones is a fine marksman, and bests the four braves. After re-loading, for unknown reasons, the four braves shoot Jones and his wife to death, and shoot and kill a Mr. Webster and a Mr. Baker as well.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
B Sunday, August 17, 1862: Lee prepares to move against Pope. As George B. McClellan pulled out of the Peninsula at Harrison's Landing, Robert E. Lee was shifting his troops to Gordonsville, Virginia, opposite John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now, as the last of McClellan's forces pulled out, the Confederacy raced to complete the concentration of troops at Gordonsville.
Using railroads and interior lines, the Confederates would win the race to Gordonsville.
Lee's army was shifted quickly to the north to take the offensive against Pope while McClellan was still in transit from the Peninsula. The Peninsula Campaign comes to an end and the Campaign of Second Manassas begins.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
Sunday, August 17, 1862: RICHMOND, VA. Major-General GUSTAVUS W. SMITH, Commanding: “Move forward your division with the least delay practicable to re-enforce General Lee at Gordonsville. Trains will be in readiness in this city to take the troops as they arrive. I inclose a dispatch just received from General Lee, by which you will be governed in sending forward the other divisions of your command.
Very truly, S. COOPER, Adjutant and inspector-General.”
Sunday, August 17, 1862: To His Excellency JEFFERSON DAVIS: “DEAR SIR: I found on getting to the telegraph office a dispatch from General Hill announcing that the enemy had gone from the south side of the river and could not be seen on the north side. I repeated the telegram to General Lee and asked if McLaws' division should not be brought to the railroad. He has not answered, and in the mean time General Smith has announced that he has ordered General McLaws to make a reconnaissance and will report the result. Armistead's brigade went up yesterday and the rest of Anderson's division will go up to-day and to-morrow. We shall probably receive definite reports before the road is clear. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, G.W. RANDOLPH, Secretary of War.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1862
C Monday, August 17, 1863: 450 Union soldiers managed to move the 200-pounder Parrott gun to its base. It was nicknamed the “Swamp Angel” (pictured). All day, hundreds of men moved the required supplies to its base – gunpowder, shot etc.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-123
C+ Monday, August 17, 1863: In an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries begin heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200-pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. Although the initial attack is the heaviest, Federal assaults continue off and on until September, 1864.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186308
C++ Monday, August 17, 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: “An an impressive display of firepower, Federal batteries begin heavy shelling of Confederate positions ringing Charleston Harbor including Fort Sumter. Using Parrott rifled cannon including the 200 pound Swamp Angel, the artillery is deadly accurate and easily breaches Sumter, but no assault is forthcoming. Although the initial attack is the heaviest, Federal assaults continue off and on until September, 1864.” They fire 938 shots at Fort Sumter, but the rubble and sand there form an impregnable bulwark.
The Confederates do return fire, and gunfire from Fort Wagner kills Admiral Dahlgren’s chief of staff.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
C++ Monday, August 17, 1863: Siege of Charleston -- Today, after months of preparation, Federal guns open fire in a massive siege campaign against Charleston, in an effort to capture the city or at least the fortifications surrounding it. Maj. Gen. Quincy Adams Gillmore commands the U.S. Army forces and the ground-based artillery; Admiral John A. Dahlgren commands the U.S. Navy fleet (seven ironclads and six wooden warships) operating in cooperation at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.
Inside Fort Sumter during the Union bombardment
The principal goals are the seizure of Charleston itself, Fort Sumter, and Morris Island (the location of Fort Wagner, which the tragic assault of the 54th Massachusetts had failed to capture). Federal batteries on other part of Morris Island and other locations, at 5:00 AM, begin to shell the Rebel fortifications in a concerted effort. Dahlgren’s gunboats move in close to Fort Wagner and open fire. Federal artillery fire does great damage to the walls of Fort Sumter, after firing over 900 shots at it, disabling seven of the fort’s guns. The Navy hammers Fort Wagner so heavily that the fort’s guns all fall silent---some of them disabled, and the rest abandoned as the crews seek shelter in the fort’s bombproofs.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
D Monday, August 17, 1863: Confederate Catastrophe in Mississippi. Much is made of the exploits of Southern cavalry during the American Civil War. The deeds of Nathan Bedford Forrest and J.E.B. Stuart have become legendary. But neither Forrest or Stuart ever succeeded in inflicting the kind of damage suffered by the Confederacy in Mississippi between August 17 and August 19, 1863.
Earlier in the summer of 1863, William Tecumseh Sherman had driven Joseph E. Johnston's army out of Jackson, Mississippi and flattened anything of military value in the city. Included in the destruction were key railroad bridges that the Confederates were unable to repair quickly. The break in the railroad left a large amount of Confederate railroad equipment trapped north of Jackson at Grenada, Mississippi.
Early in August 1863, just as the Confederates were starting to think about how to recover the locomotives and rail cars trapped at Grenada, two separate Union cavalry forces set out to capture or destroy them. One force, sent by William T. Sherman from Vicksburg, had instructions to capture the railroad equipment for Union use. The other force, moving from the north, had orders from Stephen A. Hurlbut to destroy the trapped equipment. Hurlbut's men won the race by a few hours and the result was catastrophic for the Confederacy.
The Confederacy began the war with almost 1,200 locomotives and captured a handful from the Union early in the war, but that was it. Locomotives were too bulky to be brought through the blockade in large numbers. The Confederacy had to rely on the 1,200 locomotives it had begun the war with. On this day 150 years ago, almost all of the Confederate rolling stock trapped west of the Pearl River--locomotives and train cars--were destroyed by marauding Union cavalry. Between August 17-19, 1863, the Confederacy lost roughly 5% of its locomotives and a significant portion of its rail cars. That was 5% of all the locomotives in the entire Confederacy, lost in a single day.
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+17%2C+1863
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle SSgt David M. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see) COL (Join to see) SFC (Join to see)CSM Charles HaydenTSgt George Rodriguez SFC Randy PurhamSMSgt David A Asbury SPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoySSG Donald H "Don" Bates
Part Eighteen - Hardeman County Tennessee Civil War History
150th Anniversary of the Great American Civil War -Explore the coming of war, with secession and sending our young men into battle. Living in Hardeman County Tennessee during this unsettled times, surely was hardship enough, but to have war hanging over them would be harder than we can imagine today.
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SPC Lyle Montgomery
This is an intresting good read. I hope that this country dosen't have another civil war. This time between the the socialist radical liberals and the rest of the freedom loving populace.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you my friend and brother-in-Christ SPC Lyle Montgomery . I concur with your assessment - hopefully that radical progressives will not create a civil war.
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Thanks for the share LTC Stephen F.. Those rifle must have created some pretty horrific wounds.
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LTC Stephen F.
You are very welcome my friend and brother-in-Christ SFC William Farrell Yes the rifles used and the French-designed Minie-ball caused sigifant dame to bones and flesh.
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