Posted on Jun 16, 2016
What was the most significant event on June 15 during the U.S. Civil War?
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Final Invasion of the North in 1863: Robert E. Lee had been moving forces toward Pennsylvania since June Confederate cavalry under Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night on June 15, 1863.
1864: in a brilliant tactical maneuver, Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant marched his army around the Army of Northern Virginia, crossed the James River unopposed, and advanced his forces to Petersburg. Knowing that the fall of Petersburg would mean the fall of Richmond, Robert E. Lee raced to reinforce the city’s defenses. The mass of Grant’s army arrived first.
1862: Gen Pierre G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi in the area of Tupelo, Mississippi, citing poor health as a reason, takes a leave of absence and turns over temporary command of the army to Braxton Bragg. He says, “I have concluded to take advantage of the present lull in the operations of this army, due to the necessity of attending of the enemy, for absenting myself a short while from here, hoping to be back in time to assume the offensive at the earliest moment practicable.” Time will prove that there will not be a moment practicable.
1862: Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, in an unwonted display of loquaciousness, issues a statement to the troops under his command in Lee’s army, and says, “Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self-possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your comrades may be relied on to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you.
Stand well to your duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of peace falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land will be a sufficient reward for the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make.
Pictures: 1864-06-15 Petersburg June 15-16; Maj. Gen. Robert Milroy, USA; Gettysburg Campaign Map;
A. 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army. Downstream on the Chickahominy, meantime, Lieutenant- Colonel Beale, early on the ground, had rebuilt a bridge, but the column did not know of this easy crossing until one of the limbers had been caught hopelessly in the swampy ford above. Had the artillery been sent down the island to Beale's bridge, Stuart might have been able to report that, except for the death of Captain Latane, and the runaway of a few horses which he had replaced five for one, he had sustained no casualties and had lost nothing entrusted to him.
When on the right bank of the Chickahominy at last, Stuart was thirty-five miles from Richmond. Twenty miles of this distance was East of the left flank of the enemy." The return meant tedious riding for the troopers and more suffering for their worn horses, but it was nothing compared with what had been endured on the other side of the river. Stuart himself turned over the command to Fitz Lee, and hurried on to report. He rested for two hours at Thomas Christian's, then rode on to judge Isaac Christian's plantation near Charles City Court House, stopped again for a cup of coffee at Rowland's Mill and, on the morning of June 15, forty-eight hours from the time he had left the Winston Farm at the beginning of the ride, reported to General Lee." The column moved more slowly from the river to Buckland, the seat of Col. J. M. Wilcox, and arrived in Richmond on the i6th, to receive a conqueror's welcome.
In the eyes of a jubilant city and an applauding South, the glamour of Stuart's exploit was not dimmed by the enemy's incredible slowness and lack of organization in pursuit. First news of the raid had been received at Federal cavalry headquarters in rumors of a direct attack on the camps. Countermoves were complicated by the insistence of a cavalry Lieutenant that he had seen not less than seven regiments of infantry with Stuart. The commander of the cavalry reserve, Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, whose service Virginia had coveted a year previously, proved himself utterly incapable of grasping his military problem or of acting promptly." There was no pursuit directly from Old Church. The first Federals to reach Tunstall's were infantry who arrived at midnight on the I3th-'4th, when Stuart was leaving Talleysville. Union cavalry did not get to Tunstall's until 2 A.M. The party that pushed on to Forge Bridge, ten minutes after the crossing of the Confederate rearguard, consisted of only eight men under Maj. Robert Morris of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Although none of these circumstances was known, the Confederacy rejoiced that Stuart the son-in-law had outwitted Cooke the father-in-law. Honors were heaped upon the man who had "ridden around McClellan." Governor Letcher, to whom Stuart had sent a verbal report while he hastened personally to General Lee, rewarded him with a sword."'
B. 1863: Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3. Johnson's attack at Stephenson's Depot. Near dawn on June 15, Johnson's skirmishers encountered the head of Milroy's retreating column near the intersection of the Valley Pike and old Charles Town road. Milroy faced his column to the right on the pike and prepared to fight his way out of a "murderous trap" by enveloping the enemy. Johnson deployed his regiments along Milburn Road as they came up and advanced to the railroad and placed two guns on either side of the Charles Town Road railroad bridge. The rest of the artillery was deployed on the heights east of Milburn Road. As it grew light, Federal forces made several desperate but uncoordinated attacks against the bridge and railroad embankment. The Confederates were being steadily reinforced and repulsed each attempt. Nicholl's Brigade crushed the final Federal attack and the Stonewall Brigade then came up in line of battle north of the road and advanced to cut the Valley Pike. This was the final blow; and some remaining Federal regiments hoisted the white flag. At some point Milroy's horse was shot out from under him, and the Division as a whole scattered in various directions to the northwest, north, and northeast, with some small groups even managing to escape covertly to the southeast toward and through Manassas Gap into Federally controlled territory.
Milroy and his staff, his cavalry, and other small units, totaling about 1,200 escaped to Harpers Ferry. Additionally, in the days following the battle "2,700 more turned up in Bloody Run, Pennsylvania"[21] Milroy's command ceased to exist, and the scattered remnants of what was the 2nd Division, VIII Corps were assimilated back into the Middle Department, while Milroy was placed under arrest. The Confederates had merely hoped to re-supply and forage, but with the easy capture of Winchester, they captured enough artillery and horses to equip a battalion of infantry and cavalry, including 28 guns (23 at Winchester and 5 at Martinsburg) and 300 horses in total. Additionally, the Confederates captured a great quantity of food, clothing, small arms ammunition and medical stores in Winchester.
C. 1863: Gettysburg Campaign. On June 15, when CSA Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins, with 1,600 cavalry entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins divided his cavalry force into two where they destroyed railroad bridges and cut telegraph wires. Arriving at Greencastle, General Jenkins’ took up headquarters briefly at the home of the editor of the Repository. Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night.
D. 1864: Battle of Petersburg. The first day of the Battle of Petersburg, some 10,000 Union troops under General William F. “Baldy” Smith moved against the Confederate defenders of Petersburg, standing in his way were powerful fortifications—such as the earthworks here at Battery 5. Ringing the city on three sides and stretching for nearly ten miles, the Confederate defenses presented a formidable obstacle. However, with Lee still defending Richmond, a scratch force of only 2,200 soldiers under Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard stood guard in Petersburg’s eastern defenses—from Battery 1 on the Appomattox River to Battery 16 nearly three miles to the south.
Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith cautiously led his Eighteenth Corps—the vanguard of Grant’s legions—westward from City Point on June 15, impressed by the intimidating works that confronted him here east of Petersburg. Smith delayed his assault until 7:00 p.m., expecting the momentary arrival of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps. With daylight waning, the best chance to capture Petersburg with relatively little fighting was gone.
Once under way, the Union attack proved anti-climactic. Federal troops utilized the ravine, through which Highway 36 now runs, to gain the rear of Battery Five, throwing the defenders from the 26th Virginia and a single battery of artillery into a panic. In short order, the Confederates surrendered. Shortly thereafter, Batteries 3 through 8 also fell.
E. All of the above; None of the above; or other [please explain] many other actions are mentioned in my response below.
FYI CWO4 Terrence Clark SSG Michael Scott MSG Roy Cheever Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SMSgt Lawrence McCarter PO3 Edward Riddle MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Byron Hewett CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw COL (Join to see) SPC Michael Terrell COL Lisandro Murphy SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL] MAJ Ken Landgren LTC Trent Klug CWO3 Dennis M. CPT Kevin McComas]SSgt David M.
1864: in a brilliant tactical maneuver, Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant marched his army around the Army of Northern Virginia, crossed the James River unopposed, and advanced his forces to Petersburg. Knowing that the fall of Petersburg would mean the fall of Richmond, Robert E. Lee raced to reinforce the city’s defenses. The mass of Grant’s army arrived first.
1862: Gen Pierre G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi in the area of Tupelo, Mississippi, citing poor health as a reason, takes a leave of absence and turns over temporary command of the army to Braxton Bragg. He says, “I have concluded to take advantage of the present lull in the operations of this army, due to the necessity of attending of the enemy, for absenting myself a short while from here, hoping to be back in time to assume the offensive at the earliest moment practicable.” Time will prove that there will not be a moment practicable.
1862: Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, in an unwonted display of loquaciousness, issues a statement to the troops under his command in Lee’s army, and says, “Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self-possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your comrades may be relied on to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you.
Stand well to your duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of peace falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land will be a sufficient reward for the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make.
Pictures: 1864-06-15 Petersburg June 15-16; Maj. Gen. Robert Milroy, USA; Gettysburg Campaign Map;
A. 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army. Downstream on the Chickahominy, meantime, Lieutenant- Colonel Beale, early on the ground, had rebuilt a bridge, but the column did not know of this easy crossing until one of the limbers had been caught hopelessly in the swampy ford above. Had the artillery been sent down the island to Beale's bridge, Stuart might have been able to report that, except for the death of Captain Latane, and the runaway of a few horses which he had replaced five for one, he had sustained no casualties and had lost nothing entrusted to him.
When on the right bank of the Chickahominy at last, Stuart was thirty-five miles from Richmond. Twenty miles of this distance was East of the left flank of the enemy." The return meant tedious riding for the troopers and more suffering for their worn horses, but it was nothing compared with what had been endured on the other side of the river. Stuart himself turned over the command to Fitz Lee, and hurried on to report. He rested for two hours at Thomas Christian's, then rode on to judge Isaac Christian's plantation near Charles City Court House, stopped again for a cup of coffee at Rowland's Mill and, on the morning of June 15, forty-eight hours from the time he had left the Winston Farm at the beginning of the ride, reported to General Lee." The column moved more slowly from the river to Buckland, the seat of Col. J. M. Wilcox, and arrived in Richmond on the i6th, to receive a conqueror's welcome.
In the eyes of a jubilant city and an applauding South, the glamour of Stuart's exploit was not dimmed by the enemy's incredible slowness and lack of organization in pursuit. First news of the raid had been received at Federal cavalry headquarters in rumors of a direct attack on the camps. Countermoves were complicated by the insistence of a cavalry Lieutenant that he had seen not less than seven regiments of infantry with Stuart. The commander of the cavalry reserve, Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, whose service Virginia had coveted a year previously, proved himself utterly incapable of grasping his military problem or of acting promptly." There was no pursuit directly from Old Church. The first Federals to reach Tunstall's were infantry who arrived at midnight on the I3th-'4th, when Stuart was leaving Talleysville. Union cavalry did not get to Tunstall's until 2 A.M. The party that pushed on to Forge Bridge, ten minutes after the crossing of the Confederate rearguard, consisted of only eight men under Maj. Robert Morris of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Although none of these circumstances was known, the Confederacy rejoiced that Stuart the son-in-law had outwitted Cooke the father-in-law. Honors were heaped upon the man who had "ridden around McClellan." Governor Letcher, to whom Stuart had sent a verbal report while he hastened personally to General Lee, rewarded him with a sword."'
B. 1863: Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3. Johnson's attack at Stephenson's Depot. Near dawn on June 15, Johnson's skirmishers encountered the head of Milroy's retreating column near the intersection of the Valley Pike and old Charles Town road. Milroy faced his column to the right on the pike and prepared to fight his way out of a "murderous trap" by enveloping the enemy. Johnson deployed his regiments along Milburn Road as they came up and advanced to the railroad and placed two guns on either side of the Charles Town Road railroad bridge. The rest of the artillery was deployed on the heights east of Milburn Road. As it grew light, Federal forces made several desperate but uncoordinated attacks against the bridge and railroad embankment. The Confederates were being steadily reinforced and repulsed each attempt. Nicholl's Brigade crushed the final Federal attack and the Stonewall Brigade then came up in line of battle north of the road and advanced to cut the Valley Pike. This was the final blow; and some remaining Federal regiments hoisted the white flag. At some point Milroy's horse was shot out from under him, and the Division as a whole scattered in various directions to the northwest, north, and northeast, with some small groups even managing to escape covertly to the southeast toward and through Manassas Gap into Federally controlled territory.
Milroy and his staff, his cavalry, and other small units, totaling about 1,200 escaped to Harpers Ferry. Additionally, in the days following the battle "2,700 more turned up in Bloody Run, Pennsylvania"[21] Milroy's command ceased to exist, and the scattered remnants of what was the 2nd Division, VIII Corps were assimilated back into the Middle Department, while Milroy was placed under arrest. The Confederates had merely hoped to re-supply and forage, but with the easy capture of Winchester, they captured enough artillery and horses to equip a battalion of infantry and cavalry, including 28 guns (23 at Winchester and 5 at Martinsburg) and 300 horses in total. Additionally, the Confederates captured a great quantity of food, clothing, small arms ammunition and medical stores in Winchester.
C. 1863: Gettysburg Campaign. On June 15, when CSA Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins, with 1,600 cavalry entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins divided his cavalry force into two where they destroyed railroad bridges and cut telegraph wires. Arriving at Greencastle, General Jenkins’ took up headquarters briefly at the home of the editor of the Repository. Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night.
D. 1864: Battle of Petersburg. The first day of the Battle of Petersburg, some 10,000 Union troops under General William F. “Baldy” Smith moved against the Confederate defenders of Petersburg, standing in his way were powerful fortifications—such as the earthworks here at Battery 5. Ringing the city on three sides and stretching for nearly ten miles, the Confederate defenses presented a formidable obstacle. However, with Lee still defending Richmond, a scratch force of only 2,200 soldiers under Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard stood guard in Petersburg’s eastern defenses—from Battery 1 on the Appomattox River to Battery 16 nearly three miles to the south.
Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith cautiously led his Eighteenth Corps—the vanguard of Grant’s legions—westward from City Point on June 15, impressed by the intimidating works that confronted him here east of Petersburg. Smith delayed his assault until 7:00 p.m., expecting the momentary arrival of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps. With daylight waning, the best chance to capture Petersburg with relatively little fighting was gone.
Once under way, the Union attack proved anti-climactic. Federal troops utilized the ravine, through which Highway 36 now runs, to gain the rear of Battery Five, throwing the defenders from the 26th Virginia and a single battery of artillery into a panic. In short order, the Confederates surrendered. Shortly thereafter, Batteries 3 through 8 also fell.
E. All of the above; None of the above; or other [please explain] many other actions are mentioned in my response below.
FYI CWO4 Terrence Clark SSG Michael Scott MSG Roy Cheever Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SMSgt Lawrence McCarter PO3 Edward Riddle MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Byron Hewett CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw COL (Join to see) SPC Michael Terrell COL Lisandro Murphy SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL] MAJ Ken Landgren LTC Trent Klug CWO3 Dennis M. CPT Kevin McComas]SSgt David M.
Civil War
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American History
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Below are a number of journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Sunday, June 15, 1862: Judith White McGuire, of Richmond, speculates on the irony of Gen. Philip St. George Cooke commanding the blue cavalry that chased Stuart---haplessly, as it turned out---on the Rebel’s now-famous raid: “General Stuart must have gone, it is said, within a few miles, perhaps nearer, of his father-in-law, the Federal General Cooke. I wonder what the old renegade Virginian thinks of his dashing son-in-law? If he has a spark of proper feeling left in his obdurate heart, he must be proud of him.”
Monday, June 15, 1863: Gov. Thomas Curtin of Pennsylvania issues this public proclamation in impassioned rhetoric, calling upon all citizens to take up arms: “I now appeal to all the citizens of Pennsylvania who love liberty and are mindful of the history and traditions of their revolutionary fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and maintain the free institutions of our country, who hate treason and its abettors, and who are willing to defend their homes and their firesides, and do invoke them to rise in their might, and rush to the rescue in this hour imminent peril. The issue is one of preservation or destruction. It invokes considerations paramount to all matters of mere expediency; and all questions of local interest, all ties, social and political, all impulses of a personal and partisan character, sink by comparison into insignificance. It is now to be determined by deeds, and not by words alone, who are for us and who are against us. That it is the purpose of the enemy to invade our borders with all the strength he can command is now apparent. Our only dependence rests upon the determined action of the citizens of our free Commonwealth. I now, therefore, call upon the people of Pennsylvania capable of bearing arms to enroll themselves in military organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection of the State and the salvation of our common country.
Pictures: Colonel Brown narrowly avoided capture at Second Winchester when the Confederate left flank was overrun; 1862-06-12 Route of Brig. Gen. James Ewell Brown Stuart’s Raid; 1864-06-15 Petersburg, VA Forever stamp; 1863-06-15 CSA Brig General Jenkins;
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Sunday, June 15, 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army. Downstream on the Chickahominy, meantime, Lieutenant- Colonel Beale, early on the ground, had rebuilt a bridge, but the column did not know of this easy crossing until one of the limbers had been caught hopelessly in the swampy ford above. Had the artillery been sent down the island to Beale's bridge, Stuart might have been able to report that, except for the death of Captain Latane, and the runaway of a few horses which he had replaced five for one, he had sustained no casualties and had lost nothing entrusted to him.
When on the right bank of the Chickahominy at last, Stuart was thirty-five miles from Richmond. Twenty miles of this distance was East of the left flank of the enemy." The return meant tedious riding for the troopers and more suffering for their worn horses, but it was nothing compared with what had been endured on the other side of the river. Stuart himself turned over the command to Fitz Lee, and hurried on to report. He rested for two hours at Thomas Christian's, then rode on to judge Isaac Christian's plantation near Charles City Court House, stopped again for a cup of coffee at Rowland's Mill and, on the morning of June 15, forty-eight hours from the time he had left the Winston Farm at the beginning of the ride, reported to General Lee." The column moved more slowly from the river to Buckland, the seat of Col. J. M. Wilcox, and arrived in Richmond on the i6th, to receive a conqueror's welcome.
In the eyes of a jubilant city and an applauding South, the glamour of Stuart's exploit was not dimmed by the enemy's incredible slowness and lack of organization in pursuit. First news of the raid had been received at Federal cavalry headquarters in rumors of a direct attack on the camps. Countermoves were complicated by the insistence of a cavalry Lieutenant that he had seen not less than seven regiments of infantry with Stuart. The commander of the cavalry reserve, Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, whose service Virginia had coveted a year previously, proved himself utterly incapable of grasping his military problem or of acting promptly." There was no pursuit directly from Old Church. The first Federals to reach Tunstall's were infantry who arrived at midnight on the I3th-'4th, when Stuart was leaving Talleysville. Union cavalry did not get to Tunstall's until 2 A.M. The party that pushed on to Forge Bridge, ten minutes after the crossing of the Confederate rearguard, consisted of only eight men under Maj. Robert Morris of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Although none of these circumstances was known, the Confederacy rejoiced that Stuart the son-in-law had outwitted Cooke the father-in-law. Honors were heaped upon the man who had "ridden around McClellan." Governor Letcher, to whom Stuart had sent a verbal report while he hastened personally to General Lee, rewarded him with a sword."'
B. Monday, June 15, 1863: Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3. Johnson's attack at Stephenson's Depot. Near dawn on June 15, Johnson's skirmishers encountered the head of Milroy's retreating column near the intersection of the Valley Pike and old Charles Town road. Milroy faced his column to the right on the pike and prepared to fight his way out of a "murderous trap" by enveloping the enemy. Johnson deployed his regiments along Milburn Road as they came up and advanced to the railroad and placed two guns on either side of the Charles Town Road railroad bridge. The rest of the artillery was deployed on the heights east of Milburn Road. As it grew light, Federal forces made several desperate but uncoordinated attacks against the bridge and railroad embankment. The Confederates were being steadily reinforced and repulsed each attempt. Nicholl's Brigade crushed the final Federal attack and the Stonewall Brigade then came up in line of battle north of the road and advanced to cut the Valley Pike. This was the final blow; and some remaining Federal regiments hoisted the white flag. At some point Milroy's horse was shot out from under him, and the Division as a whole scattered in various directions to the northwest, north, and northeast, with some small groups even managing to escape covertly to the southeast toward and through Manassas Gap into Federally controlled territory.
Milroy and his staff, his cavalry, and other small units, totaling about 1,200 escaped to Harpers Ferry. Additionally, in the days following the battle "2,700 more turned up in Bloody Run, Pennsylvania"[21] Milroy's command ceased to exist, and the scattered remnants of what was the 2nd Division, VIII Corps were assimilated back into the Middle Department, while Milroy was placed under arrest. The Confederates had merely hoped to re-supply and forage, but with the easy capture of Winchester, they captured enough artillery and horses to equip a battalion of infantry and cavalry, including 28 guns (23 at Winchester and 5 at Martinsburg) and 300 horses in total. Additionally, the Confederates captured a great quantity of food, clothing, small arms ammunition and medical stores in Winchester.
Following this battle, a Court of Inquiry was held, and both President Abraham Lincoln and Halleck desired to know who disobeyed the orders to "evacuate Winchester". President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Milroy: I have never doubted your courage and devotion to the cause... but... I have scarcely seen anything from you at any time that did not contain imputations against your superiors and a chafing against acting the part they have assigned you. You have constantly urged the idea that you were persecuted because you did not come from West Point, and you repeat it in these letters. This, my dear general, is, I fear, the rock on which you have split...”
C. Monday, June 15, 1863: Gettysburg Campaign. On June 15, when CSA Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins, with 1,600 cavalry entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins divided his cavalry force into two where they destroyed railroad bridges and cut telegraph wires. Arriving at Greencastle, General Jenkins’ took up headquarters briefly at the home of the editor of the Repository. Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night.
In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with Hood’s division in front.
D. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. The first day of the Battle of Petersburg, some 10,000 Union troops under General William F. “Baldy” Smith moved against the Confederate defenders of Petersburg, standing in his way were powerful fortifications—such as the earthworks here at Battery 5. Ringing the city on three sides and stretching for nearly ten miles, the Confederate defenses presented a formidable obstacle. However, with Lee still defending Richmond, a scratch force of only 2,200 soldiers under Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard stood guard in Petersburg’s eastern defenses—from Battery 1 on the Appomattox River to Battery 16 nearly three miles to the south.
Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith cautiously led his Eighteenth Corps—the vanguard of Grant’s legions—westward from City Point on June 15, impressed by the intimidating works that confronted him here east of Petersburg. Smith delayed his assault until 7:00 p.m., expecting the momentary arrival of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps. With daylight waning, the best chance to capture Petersburg with relatively little fighting was gone.
Once under way, the Union attack proved anti-climactic. Federal troops utilized the ravine, through which Highway 36 now runs, to gain the rear of Battery Five, throwing the defenders from the 26th Virginia and a single battery of artillery into a panic. In short order, the Confederates surrendered. Shortly thereafter, Batteries 3 through 8 also fell.
But by then, darkness had enveloped the battlefield. Smith, joined at last by Hancock, decided to postpone further offensive action until dawn, thus rejecting the opportunity to capture Petersburg that night. It would be 291 days before the American flag would fly over Petersburg again.
1. June 15, 1846: The Treaty of Washington (Oregon Treaty) is signed
http://blueandgraytrail.com/date/June_15
2. Tuesday, June 15, 1858: Abraham Lincoln makes his "House Divided" speech before the Illinois Republican Convention to kick off his senatorial run against Stephen Douglas
http://blueandgraytrail.com/date/June_15
3. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- James Island, South Carolina: South Atlantic Theater - Gen. Henry Benham of the Union army has two divisions of troops on James Island, adjacent to Charleston, and finds himself frustrated by being under Confederate artillery fire daily and having to way to retaliate effectively. This is the closest Union forces have come to the Cradle of Secession, and many Northerners expect to hear of Charleston’s fall on a daily basis. Although instructed by the theater commander, Gen. David Hunter, to “make no attempt to advance on Charleston or to attack Fort Johnson until largely re-enforced or until you receive specific instructions from these headquarters to that effect,” Benham has encountered heavy skirmishing and probing attacks by the Rebels, especially a very sharp fight on June 10, and is considering doing something about it. He instructs his two division commanders, Gen. Isaac Stevens and Gen. Horatio Wright, to prepare for an attack, in spite of Stevens’ protests.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
4. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- Gen Pierre G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi in the area of Tupelo, Mississippi, citing poor health as a reason, takes a leave of absence and turns over temporary command of the army to Braxton Bragg. He says, “I have concluded to take advantage of the present lull in the operations of this army, due to the necessity of attending of the enemy, for absenting myself a short while from here, hoping to be back in time to assume the offensive at the earliest moment practicable.” Time will prove that there will not be a moment practicable.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
5. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, in an unwonted display of loquaciousness, issues a statement to the troops under his command in Lee’s army, and says, “Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self-possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your comrades may be relied on to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you.
Stand well to your duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of peace falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land will be a sufficient reward for the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
6. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- A New York Times editorial offers some views of the conflict, and how perceptions have changed, especially in regard to the question of whether a democratic republic can maintain itself, and whether a self-privileged aristocracy can win wars on the basis of being “high-borne”: “Another error exploded by the war is the belief of European politicians, that the American Republic had no inherent central and saving power to preserve it from intestine discord. Against foreign Governments the Union had always proved a unit. But monarchists and imperialists never believed the bond more than a rope of sand, if it should come to be tried by internal agitation. In the growing alienation between North and South, for some years past, these Anti-Republican prophets plainly foresaw the downfall of a Power of which they had become fearful and jealous. But time has falsified their faith, and henceforth the American Union will be regarded with an interest far deeper than ever before, by the so-called “leading Powers” of the old world. It is not likely that a new convention could be called to meet in London, or near any other European Court, to decide the fate of Mexico, or any other country on this continent, to which the United States Government had not been invited to send a Commissioner, and found it agreeable to do so. . . . The boasted “chivalry” of the South, which Southerners always arrogated, and which many Northern citizens somewhat reluctantly conceded, and Europe accepted as a fact, has been dissipated as a cheat and delusion.
“Chivalry” implied many things to the Southern mind. It meant high birth, to begin with. And here the ardent imagination of the Southrons reveled in complacent pride. . . . “Blood will tell,” boasted these arrogant slaveholders. They were high born, therefore they possessed all the traits that adorn high positions — a palpable non-sequitur, as history so uniformly shows. . . .
Where has any extraordinary achievement signalized either the army or the navy of the rebels? Not at Fort Donelson, where two Generals ran away, and an army of 15,000 men surrendered without a death-struggle for escape or for victory; not at New-Orleans, where two forts, a formidable fleet and a large army succumbed, without losing one hundred men, all told; . . . not at Yorktown, where the flower and strength of the rebel army grew pale behind their gigantic defences, and fled from the approaches of MCCLELLAN.
Nowhere on all the theatre of war, can we find a spot that will live in history as a Southern Thermopylae, made memorable by the heroic endurance or courage of Southern rebels — fighting, as they claim, for their homes, their negroes and their native land. Most wofully has the “Southern chivalry” failed to make good its claims. . . .
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
7. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- Judith White McGuire, of Richmond, speculates on the irony of Gen. Philip St. George Cooke commanding the blue cavalry that chased Stuart---haplessly, as it turned out---on the Rebel’s now-famous raid: “General Stuart must have gone, it is said, within a few miles, perhaps nearer, of his father-in-law, the Federal General Cooke. I wonder what the old renegade Virginian thinks of his dashing son-in-law? If he has a spark of proper feeling left in his obdurate heart, he must be proud of him.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
8. Sunday, June 15, 1862: Reports from scouting parties convinced Lee that McClellan’s communication lines were very weak. In an attempt to outthink McClellan, Lee sent 10,000 in the direction of the Shenandoah Valley ostensibly to support Jackson– even though they would never get there as Jackson’s men were marching at speed for Richmond. Lee hoped that McClellan’s poor communication would convince him to keep his 60,000 men in the Valley to fight the extra 10,000 men who marched to be seen by the Unionists – but who were never intended to get to the Shenandoah Valley.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1862/
9. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Day 24
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
10. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 19
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
11. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Several northern states respond to Pres. Lincoln’s call for 100,000 militia to help repel the expected Rebel invasion. Maj. Gen. Darius Couch is to be given command of the militia units, east of the Susquehanna River.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
12. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Gov. Thomas Curtin of Pennsylvania issues this public proclamation in impassioned rhetoric, calling upon all citizens to take up arms: “I now appeal to all the citizens of Pennsylvania who love liberty and are mindful of the history and traditions of their revolutionary fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and maintain the free institutions of our country, who hate treason and its abettors, and who are willing to defend their homes and their firesides, and do invoke them to rise in their might, and rush to the rescue in this hour imminent peril. The issue is one of preservation or destruction. It invokes considerations paramount to all matters of mere expediency; and all questions of local interest, all ties, social and political, all impulses of a personal and partisan character, sink by comparison into insignificance. It is now to be determined by deeds, and not by words alone, who are for us and who are against us. That it is the purpose of the enemy to invade our borders with all the strength he can command is now apparent. Our only dependence rests upon the determined action of the citizens of our free Commonwealth. I now, therefore, call upon the people of Pennsylvania capable of bearing arms to enroll themselves in military organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection of the State and the salvation of our common country.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
13. Monday, June 15, 1863: The Confederates captured Winchester. They took 4,500 men prisoner along with 200,000 rounds of ammunition, 300 wagons and 300 horses.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1863/
14. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: General Sherman, learning of the defeat at Brice's Crossroads, writes Edwin Stanton "But Forrest is the very devil, ...There never will be peace in Tennessee till Forrest is dead."
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186406
15. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: [Occurred on May 10, 1864] on the Arkansas River, Arkansas - On June 15, Col. Stand Watie and his Confederate Indian force captured the USS J.R. Williams on the Arkansas River. The Williams contained $100,000 worth of supplies.
Watie was awarded a promotion to brigadier general for this victory and given a command of his own brigade.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html
16. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Siege of Petersburg begins.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186406
17. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. William F. Smith [US] and Winfield Scott Hancock [US], with a combined army of nearly 30,000 men are held off by General P. G. T. Beauregard with about 4,000 men. Union force only gain Battery No. 5 and about a mile of the Dimmock Line
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186406
18. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: The North started a major assault on Petersburg, the ‘backdoor to Richmond’.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1864/
A Sunday, June 15, 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army," raiding supplies and battling small groups of Yankees during the Peninsula Campaign.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186206
A+ Sunday, June 15, 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army. Downstream on the Chickahominy, meantime, Lieutenant- Colonel Beale, early on the ground, had rebuilt a bridge, but the column did not know of this easy crossing until one of the limbers had been caught hopelessly in the swampy ford above. Had the artillery been sent down the island to Beale's bridge, Stuart might have been able to report that, except for the death of Captain Latane, and the runaway of a few horses which he had replaced five for one, he had sustained no casualties and had lost nothing entrusted to him.
When on the right bank of the Chickahominy at last, Stuart was thirty-five miles from Richmond. Twenty miles of this distance was East of the left flank of the enemy." The return meant tedious riding for the troopers and more suffering for their worn horses, but it was nothing compared with what had been endured on the other side of the river. Stuart himself turned over the command to Fitz Lee, and hurried on to report. He rested for two hours at Thomas Christian's, then rode on to judge Isaac Christian's plantation near Charles City Court House, stopped again for a cup of coffee at Rowland's Mill and, on the morning of June 15, forty-eight hours from the time he had left the Winston Farm at the beginning of the ride, reported to General Lee." The column moved more slowly from the river to Buckland, the seat of Col. J. M. Wilcox, and arrived in Richmond on the i6th, to receive a conqueror's welcome.
In the eyes of a jubilant city and an applauding South, the glamour of Stuart's exploit was not dimmed by the enemy's incredible slowness and lack of organization in pursuit. First news of the raid had been received at Federal cavalry headquarters in rumors of a direct attack on the camps. Countermoves were complicated by the insistence of a cavalry Lieutenant that he had seen not less than seven regiments of infantry with Stuart. The commander of the cavalry reserve, Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, whose service Virginia had coveted a year previously, proved himself utterly incapable of grasping his military problem or of acting promptly." There was no pursuit directly from Old Church. The first Federals to reach Tunstall's were infantry who arrived at midnight on the I3th-'4th, when Stuart was leaving Talleysville. Union cavalry did not get to Tunstall's until 2 A.M. The party that pushed on to Forge Bridge, ten minutes after the crossing of the Confederate rearguard, consisted of only eight men under Maj. Robert Morris of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Although none of these circumstances was known, the Confederacy rejoiced that Stuart the son-in-law had outwitted Cooke the father-in-law. Honors were heaped upon the man who had "ridden around McClellan." Governor Letcher, to whom Stuart had sent a verbal report while he hastened personally to General Lee, rewarded him with a sword."' A few days after the expedition, when Stuart rode in to see the Governor, a crowd gathered in front of the Executive Mansion and demanded a speech. Stuart duly appeared "and acknowledged the compliment paid him in a few remarks full of spirit and good cheer." He told the crowd that "he had been to the Chickahominy to visit some of his old friends of the United States Army, but they, very uncivilly, turned their backs upon him." The early chronicler of this incident added: "Seeing a manifest desire on the part of the people to make for him an ovation, the General then mounted his charger and galloped off amid the shouts of the crowd, which by this time had increased to more than a thousand persons." 'O' In his own congratulatory order to the command, Stuart spoke of himself as "the general of cavalry," and in his formal report, written two days after his return, he minimized nothing of his own achievement; but, in an accompanying letter to Lee, he listed those of his subordinates who had most distinguished themselves and he urged their promotion."' The immediate reply of the commanding General was an order in which he took "great pleasure in expressing his admiration of the courage and skill so conspicuously exhibited throughout by the general and the officers and men under his command. Stuart's satisfaction was as boyish as his feat had been extraordinary. Whether the raid was well conceived by Lee--whether it did or did not put McClellan on guard for the security of his right flank-is a question much disputed. That the whole was flawlessly executed, none would dispute. Stuart became the hero of his troopers and one of the idols of the public. Lee's confidence in him and his confidence in himself were confirmed. What was not less important, the cavalry was shown to be as trustworthy as the infantry.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/stuartsride.html
B Monday, June 15, 1863: Final day of Battle of Winchester, Virginia. Ordered to withdraw because of the approach of the Army of Northern Virginia, Major General Robert Milroy [US] tried to hold his position in Winchester. By afternoon on the 14th, he realized his mistake and decided to withdraw that evening. Dick Ewell [CS] ordered a division to camp north of the town to prevent such a move and Milroy found himself trapped. Confederates captured or killed the 6000 men in the city.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
B+ Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3: As the day breaks, Ewell is ready to spring his trap. Milroy has withdrawn most of his Federal troops into the several forts and fortified strong points around Winchester. However, after realizing that they are surrounded, and after conferring with his officers, Milroy decides that they should abandon Winchester, leaving his artillery behind.
His troops assemble quietly and simply walk out of the city without a shot being fired, on the road to Martinsburg, through the gap left open between Early’s and Johnson’s advanced units. At Stephenson’s depot, just north of town, Johnson’s Confederates attack the head of Milroy’s escaping column, as regiment after regiment in gray are added to the line as they come up, in addition to nearly 30 guns placed. The Federals rally and counterattack, but the attacks are not coordinated. The Rebels again advance, Nicholls and his Louisiana Brigade break up the Yankee line before them, followed by the Stonewall Brigade striking on the far northern Federal flank, and cutting the escape route of the Valley Pike. The Union units begin to dissolve at this point, and some regiments surrender outright. The entire Union force scatters, some even escaping southeast, through Manassas Gap. In addition to bagging 23 cannon, the Rebels capture over 4,000 prisoners, having inflicted nearly 500 Federal casualties. As bits and pieces of Milroy’s command straggle into Harper’s Ferry, there are no more than 1,200 which escaped the Southern trap. Milroy is relieved of command, and placed under arrest. This has been an overwhelming Confederate Victory.
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured/Missing Total
Union 95 348 4,000 4,443
Confederate 47 293 3 343
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
B++ Monday, June 15, 1863: Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3. Johnson's attack at Stephenson's Depot. Near dawn on June 15, Johnson's skirmishers encountered the head of Milroy's retreating column near the intersection of the Valley Pike and old Charles Town road. Milroy faced his column to the right on the pike and prepared to fight his way out of a "murderous trap" by enveloping the enemy. Johnson deployed his regiments along Milburn Road as they came up and advanced to the railroad and placed two guns on either side of the Charles Town Road railroad bridge. The rest of the artillery was deployed on the heights east of Milburn Road. As it grew light, Federal forces made several desperate but uncoordinated attacks against the bridge and railroad embankment. The Confederates were being steadily reinforced and repulsed each attempt. Nicholl's Brigade crushed the final Federal attack and the Stonewall Brigade then came up in line of battle north of the road and advanced to cut the Valley Pike. This was the final blow; and some remaining Federal regiments hoisted the white flag. At some point Milroy's horse was shot out from under him, and the Division as a whole scattered in various directions to the northwest, north, and northeast, with some small groups even managing to escape covertly to the southeast toward and through Manassas Gap into Federally controlled territory.
Casualty reports. Both Union and Confederate Official Record reports on casualties are practically identical. Ewell reported: "The fruits of this victory were 23 pieces of artillery (nearly all rifled), 4,000 prisoners, 300 loaded wagons, more than 300 horses, and quite a large amount of commissary and quartermaster's stores."
This prisoner count seems to include the capture of all the Federal wounded hospitalized in Winchester, since Ewell's topographer, Jedediah Hotchkiss counts about 2,000 prisoners from the town, along with an estimate of about 1,500 that escaped to Harper's Ferry, along with more prisoners captured during pursuits from the Confederate cavalry. When Milroy appeared later in Harpers Ferry, he was immediately placed under arrest. Shortly after Schenck reported Milroy's arrest had expired, Aide-de-Camp Capt. Frederick A. Palmer, 18th Connecticut Infantry, reported in an extensive and detailed table of all units, summarized:
Killed: 7 Officers, 88 Enlisted men, Wounded: 12 Officers, 336 Enlisted men, Captured or missing: 144 Officers, 3856 Enlisted men.
Thus, while Ewell reports 4,000 captured, the VIII Corps reports 144 Officers and 3856 Enlisted men missing or captured, which also adds to 4,000. Captain Palmer summarized the Union losses at a total of 4,443 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades from the 2nd Division, VIII Corps including all independent attachments.
Johnson's Division, alone, captured 3,500 prisoners in the action at Stephenson's Depot, and this is not surprising, since this is the only major engagement of the war in which an entire Division column was attacked at night while route-marching on a road. General Johnson claimed to have taken 30 prisoners "with his opera glass!" as well as "11 stands of colors, 175 horses, and arms and accoutrements of every description".
Some casualty estimates range lower. Eicher writes that Confederate casualties were 269 (47 killed, 219 wounded, 3 missing); Union 3,801 (95 killed, 348 wounded, 3,358 missing or captured). Difficult to account for in the records are additional numbers of captured Union soldiers from the many hospitals in Winchester.
The casualty ratio in this engagement of two divisions against one was an amazing 269 to 4,443 or 0.06 ... the most lopsided for an engagement of this size in the entire war. It's no wonder that Confederate artillerist Maj. Robert Stiles wrote, "This battle of Winchester ... was one of the most perfect pieces of work the Army of Northern Virginia ever did."
A division lost, two battalions gained. Milroy and his staff, his cavalry, and other small units, totaling about 1,200 escaped to Harpers Ferry. Additionally, in the days following the battle "2,700 more turned up in Bloody Run, Pennsylvania"[21] Milroy's command ceased to exist, and the scattered remnants of what was the 2nd Division, VIII Corps were assimilated back into the Middle Department, while Milroy was placed under arrest. The Confederates had merely hoped to re-supply and forage, but with the easy capture of Winchester, they captured enough artillery and horses to equip a battalion of infantry and cavalry, including 28 guns (23 at Winchester and 5 at Martinsburg) and 300 horses in total. Additionally, the Confederates captured a great quantity of food, clothing, small arms ammunition and medical stores in Winchester.
Following this battle, a Court of Inquiry was held, and both President Abraham Lincoln and Halleck desired to know who disobeyed the orders to "evacuate Winchester". President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Milroy: I have never doubted your courage and devotion to the cause... but... I have scarcely seen anything from you at any time that did not contain imputations against your superiors and a chafing against acting the part they have assigned you. You have constantly urged the idea that you were persecuted because you did not come from West Point, and you repeat it in these letters. This, my dear general, is, I fear, the rock on which you have split...”
The nature of the inquiry was later changed from investigating who disobeyed orders to evacuate Winchester, to the discovery of the events and nature of the retreat from Winchester. Milroy was exonerated and claimed that his brilliant defensive action at Winchester was instrumental in causing the timing of the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to the overall Union victory for the campaign. Despite this, Halleck insisted that Milroy not be given any more commands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Winchester
C Monday, June 15, 1863: Gettysburg Campaign. On June 15, when CSA Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins, with 1,600 cavalry entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins divided his cavalry force into two where they destroyed railroad bridges and cut telegraph wires. Arriving at Greencastle, General Jenkins’ took up headquarters briefly at the home of the editor of the Repository. Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night.
In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with Hood’s division in front.
http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/civil_war/jenkins_brigade.htm
C+ Monday, June 15, 1863 --- In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with Hood’s division in front.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
C++ Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Jenkins’s cavalry brigade, assigned to Ewell’s corps, is with Rodes’ division (who were not engaged at Winchester). Gen. Rodes sends Jenkins posting north over the Potomac to dash forward and secure Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. By late tonight, Jenkins’ troops reach Chambersburg. Also, some of Rodes’ infantry crosses the Potomac. The invasion has begun.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
D Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. In June 1864, in a brilliant tactical maneuver, Grant marched his army around the Army of Northern Virginia, crossed the James River unopposed, and advanced his forces to Petersburg. Knowing that the fall of Petersburg would mean the fall of Richmond, Lee raced to reinforce the city’s defenses. The mass of Grant’s army arrived first. On June 15, the first day of the Battle of Petersburg, some 10,000 Union troops under General William F. Smith moved against the Confederate defenders of Petersburg, made up of only a few thousand armed old men and boys commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard. However, the Confederates had the advantage of formidable physical defenses, and they held off the overly cautious Union assault. The next day, more Federal troops arrived, but Beauregard was reinforced by Lee, and the Confederate line remained unbroken during several Union attacks occurring over the next two days.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-petersburg-begins
D+ Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. Grant used stealth and deception to slip away from the lines around Cold Harbor and shift his army south of the James River. By the morning of June 15, he was ready to launch his attack.
Standing in his way were powerful fortifications—such as the earthworks here at Battery 5. Ringing the city on three sides and stretching for nearly ten miles, the Confederate defenses presented a formidable obstacle. However, with Lee still defending Richmond, a scratch force of only 2,200 soldiers under Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard stood guard in Petersburg’s eastern defenses—from Battery 1 on the Appomattox River to Battery 16 nearly three miles to the south.
Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith cautiously led his Eighteenth Corps—the vanguard of Grant’s legions—westward from City Point on June 15, impressed by the intimidating works that confronted him here east of Petersburg. Smith delayed his assault until 7:00 p.m., expecting the momentary arrival of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps. With daylight waning, the best chance to capture Petersburg with relatively little fighting was gone.
Once under way, the Union attack proved anti-climactic. Federal troops utilized the ravine, through which Highway 36 now runs, to gain the rear of Battery Five, throwing the defenders from the 26th Virginia and a single battery of artillery into a panic. In short order, the Confederates surrendered. Shortly thereafter, Batteries 3 through 8 also fell.
But by then, darkness had enveloped the battlefield. Smith, joined at last by Hancock, decided to postpone further offensive action until dawn, thus rejecting the opportunity to capture Petersburg that night. It would be 291 days before the American flag would fly over Petersburg again.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/petersburg.html?tab=facts
FYI SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Franklin BriantCPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell1stSgt Eugene Harless PO3 (Join to see)MSG Greg Kelly CPT (Join to see) LTC Thomas Tennant GySgt Jack Wallace LTC David BrownLTC (Join to see) SFC Eric Harmon SSG Bill McCoySPC (Join to see) MAJ Byron Oyler SSG (Join to see) Sgt Axel HastingA1C Pamela G Russell
Sunday, June 15, 1862: Judith White McGuire, of Richmond, speculates on the irony of Gen. Philip St. George Cooke commanding the blue cavalry that chased Stuart---haplessly, as it turned out---on the Rebel’s now-famous raid: “General Stuart must have gone, it is said, within a few miles, perhaps nearer, of his father-in-law, the Federal General Cooke. I wonder what the old renegade Virginian thinks of his dashing son-in-law? If he has a spark of proper feeling left in his obdurate heart, he must be proud of him.”
Monday, June 15, 1863: Gov. Thomas Curtin of Pennsylvania issues this public proclamation in impassioned rhetoric, calling upon all citizens to take up arms: “I now appeal to all the citizens of Pennsylvania who love liberty and are mindful of the history and traditions of their revolutionary fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and maintain the free institutions of our country, who hate treason and its abettors, and who are willing to defend their homes and their firesides, and do invoke them to rise in their might, and rush to the rescue in this hour imminent peril. The issue is one of preservation or destruction. It invokes considerations paramount to all matters of mere expediency; and all questions of local interest, all ties, social and political, all impulses of a personal and partisan character, sink by comparison into insignificance. It is now to be determined by deeds, and not by words alone, who are for us and who are against us. That it is the purpose of the enemy to invade our borders with all the strength he can command is now apparent. Our only dependence rests upon the determined action of the citizens of our free Commonwealth. I now, therefore, call upon the people of Pennsylvania capable of bearing arms to enroll themselves in military organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection of the State and the salvation of our common country.
Pictures: Colonel Brown narrowly avoided capture at Second Winchester when the Confederate left flank was overrun; 1862-06-12 Route of Brig. Gen. James Ewell Brown Stuart’s Raid; 1864-06-15 Petersburg, VA Forever stamp; 1863-06-15 CSA Brig General Jenkins;
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Sunday, June 15, 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army. Downstream on the Chickahominy, meantime, Lieutenant- Colonel Beale, early on the ground, had rebuilt a bridge, but the column did not know of this easy crossing until one of the limbers had been caught hopelessly in the swampy ford above. Had the artillery been sent down the island to Beale's bridge, Stuart might have been able to report that, except for the death of Captain Latane, and the runaway of a few horses which he had replaced five for one, he had sustained no casualties and had lost nothing entrusted to him.
When on the right bank of the Chickahominy at last, Stuart was thirty-five miles from Richmond. Twenty miles of this distance was East of the left flank of the enemy." The return meant tedious riding for the troopers and more suffering for their worn horses, but it was nothing compared with what had been endured on the other side of the river. Stuart himself turned over the command to Fitz Lee, and hurried on to report. He rested for two hours at Thomas Christian's, then rode on to judge Isaac Christian's plantation near Charles City Court House, stopped again for a cup of coffee at Rowland's Mill and, on the morning of June 15, forty-eight hours from the time he had left the Winston Farm at the beginning of the ride, reported to General Lee." The column moved more slowly from the river to Buckland, the seat of Col. J. M. Wilcox, and arrived in Richmond on the i6th, to receive a conqueror's welcome.
In the eyes of a jubilant city and an applauding South, the glamour of Stuart's exploit was not dimmed by the enemy's incredible slowness and lack of organization in pursuit. First news of the raid had been received at Federal cavalry headquarters in rumors of a direct attack on the camps. Countermoves were complicated by the insistence of a cavalry Lieutenant that he had seen not less than seven regiments of infantry with Stuart. The commander of the cavalry reserve, Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, whose service Virginia had coveted a year previously, proved himself utterly incapable of grasping his military problem or of acting promptly." There was no pursuit directly from Old Church. The first Federals to reach Tunstall's were infantry who arrived at midnight on the I3th-'4th, when Stuart was leaving Talleysville. Union cavalry did not get to Tunstall's until 2 A.M. The party that pushed on to Forge Bridge, ten minutes after the crossing of the Confederate rearguard, consisted of only eight men under Maj. Robert Morris of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Although none of these circumstances was known, the Confederacy rejoiced that Stuart the son-in-law had outwitted Cooke the father-in-law. Honors were heaped upon the man who had "ridden around McClellan." Governor Letcher, to whom Stuart had sent a verbal report while he hastened personally to General Lee, rewarded him with a sword."'
B. Monday, June 15, 1863: Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3. Johnson's attack at Stephenson's Depot. Near dawn on June 15, Johnson's skirmishers encountered the head of Milroy's retreating column near the intersection of the Valley Pike and old Charles Town road. Milroy faced his column to the right on the pike and prepared to fight his way out of a "murderous trap" by enveloping the enemy. Johnson deployed his regiments along Milburn Road as they came up and advanced to the railroad and placed two guns on either side of the Charles Town Road railroad bridge. The rest of the artillery was deployed on the heights east of Milburn Road. As it grew light, Federal forces made several desperate but uncoordinated attacks against the bridge and railroad embankment. The Confederates were being steadily reinforced and repulsed each attempt. Nicholl's Brigade crushed the final Federal attack and the Stonewall Brigade then came up in line of battle north of the road and advanced to cut the Valley Pike. This was the final blow; and some remaining Federal regiments hoisted the white flag. At some point Milroy's horse was shot out from under him, and the Division as a whole scattered in various directions to the northwest, north, and northeast, with some small groups even managing to escape covertly to the southeast toward and through Manassas Gap into Federally controlled territory.
Milroy and his staff, his cavalry, and other small units, totaling about 1,200 escaped to Harpers Ferry. Additionally, in the days following the battle "2,700 more turned up in Bloody Run, Pennsylvania"[21] Milroy's command ceased to exist, and the scattered remnants of what was the 2nd Division, VIII Corps were assimilated back into the Middle Department, while Milroy was placed under arrest. The Confederates had merely hoped to re-supply and forage, but with the easy capture of Winchester, they captured enough artillery and horses to equip a battalion of infantry and cavalry, including 28 guns (23 at Winchester and 5 at Martinsburg) and 300 horses in total. Additionally, the Confederates captured a great quantity of food, clothing, small arms ammunition and medical stores in Winchester.
Following this battle, a Court of Inquiry was held, and both President Abraham Lincoln and Halleck desired to know who disobeyed the orders to "evacuate Winchester". President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Milroy: I have never doubted your courage and devotion to the cause... but... I have scarcely seen anything from you at any time that did not contain imputations against your superiors and a chafing against acting the part they have assigned you. You have constantly urged the idea that you were persecuted because you did not come from West Point, and you repeat it in these letters. This, my dear general, is, I fear, the rock on which you have split...”
C. Monday, June 15, 1863: Gettysburg Campaign. On June 15, when CSA Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins, with 1,600 cavalry entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins divided his cavalry force into two where they destroyed railroad bridges and cut telegraph wires. Arriving at Greencastle, General Jenkins’ took up headquarters briefly at the home of the editor of the Repository. Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night.
In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with Hood’s division in front.
D. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. The first day of the Battle of Petersburg, some 10,000 Union troops under General William F. “Baldy” Smith moved against the Confederate defenders of Petersburg, standing in his way were powerful fortifications—such as the earthworks here at Battery 5. Ringing the city on three sides and stretching for nearly ten miles, the Confederate defenses presented a formidable obstacle. However, with Lee still defending Richmond, a scratch force of only 2,200 soldiers under Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard stood guard in Petersburg’s eastern defenses—from Battery 1 on the Appomattox River to Battery 16 nearly three miles to the south.
Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith cautiously led his Eighteenth Corps—the vanguard of Grant’s legions—westward from City Point on June 15, impressed by the intimidating works that confronted him here east of Petersburg. Smith delayed his assault until 7:00 p.m., expecting the momentary arrival of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps. With daylight waning, the best chance to capture Petersburg with relatively little fighting was gone.
Once under way, the Union attack proved anti-climactic. Federal troops utilized the ravine, through which Highway 36 now runs, to gain the rear of Battery Five, throwing the defenders from the 26th Virginia and a single battery of artillery into a panic. In short order, the Confederates surrendered. Shortly thereafter, Batteries 3 through 8 also fell.
But by then, darkness had enveloped the battlefield. Smith, joined at last by Hancock, decided to postpone further offensive action until dawn, thus rejecting the opportunity to capture Petersburg that night. It would be 291 days before the American flag would fly over Petersburg again.
1. June 15, 1846: The Treaty of Washington (Oregon Treaty) is signed
http://blueandgraytrail.com/date/June_15
2. Tuesday, June 15, 1858: Abraham Lincoln makes his "House Divided" speech before the Illinois Republican Convention to kick off his senatorial run against Stephen Douglas
http://blueandgraytrail.com/date/June_15
3. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- James Island, South Carolina: South Atlantic Theater - Gen. Henry Benham of the Union army has two divisions of troops on James Island, adjacent to Charleston, and finds himself frustrated by being under Confederate artillery fire daily and having to way to retaliate effectively. This is the closest Union forces have come to the Cradle of Secession, and many Northerners expect to hear of Charleston’s fall on a daily basis. Although instructed by the theater commander, Gen. David Hunter, to “make no attempt to advance on Charleston or to attack Fort Johnson until largely re-enforced or until you receive specific instructions from these headquarters to that effect,” Benham has encountered heavy skirmishing and probing attacks by the Rebels, especially a very sharp fight on June 10, and is considering doing something about it. He instructs his two division commanders, Gen. Isaac Stevens and Gen. Horatio Wright, to prepare for an attack, in spite of Stevens’ protests.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
4. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- Gen Pierre G.T. Beauregard, in command of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi in the area of Tupelo, Mississippi, citing poor health as a reason, takes a leave of absence and turns over temporary command of the army to Braxton Bragg. He says, “I have concluded to take advantage of the present lull in the operations of this army, due to the necessity of attending of the enemy, for absenting myself a short while from here, hoping to be back in time to assume the offensive at the earliest moment practicable.” Time will prove that there will not be a moment practicable.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
5. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- Maj. Gen. James Longstreet, in an unwonted display of loquaciousness, issues a statement to the troops under his command in Lee’s army, and says, “Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self-possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your comrades may be relied on to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you.
Stand well to your duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of peace falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land will be a sufficient reward for the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
6. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- A New York Times editorial offers some views of the conflict, and how perceptions have changed, especially in regard to the question of whether a democratic republic can maintain itself, and whether a self-privileged aristocracy can win wars on the basis of being “high-borne”: “Another error exploded by the war is the belief of European politicians, that the American Republic had no inherent central and saving power to preserve it from intestine discord. Against foreign Governments the Union had always proved a unit. But monarchists and imperialists never believed the bond more than a rope of sand, if it should come to be tried by internal agitation. In the growing alienation between North and South, for some years past, these Anti-Republican prophets plainly foresaw the downfall of a Power of which they had become fearful and jealous. But time has falsified their faith, and henceforth the American Union will be regarded with an interest far deeper than ever before, by the so-called “leading Powers” of the old world. It is not likely that a new convention could be called to meet in London, or near any other European Court, to decide the fate of Mexico, or any other country on this continent, to which the United States Government had not been invited to send a Commissioner, and found it agreeable to do so. . . . The boasted “chivalry” of the South, which Southerners always arrogated, and which many Northern citizens somewhat reluctantly conceded, and Europe accepted as a fact, has been dissipated as a cheat and delusion.
“Chivalry” implied many things to the Southern mind. It meant high birth, to begin with. And here the ardent imagination of the Southrons reveled in complacent pride. . . . “Blood will tell,” boasted these arrogant slaveholders. They were high born, therefore they possessed all the traits that adorn high positions — a palpable non-sequitur, as history so uniformly shows. . . .
Where has any extraordinary achievement signalized either the army or the navy of the rebels? Not at Fort Donelson, where two Generals ran away, and an army of 15,000 men surrendered without a death-struggle for escape or for victory; not at New-Orleans, where two forts, a formidable fleet and a large army succumbed, without losing one hundred men, all told; . . . not at Yorktown, where the flower and strength of the rebel army grew pale behind their gigantic defences, and fled from the approaches of MCCLELLAN.
Nowhere on all the theatre of war, can we find a spot that will live in history as a Southern Thermopylae, made memorable by the heroic endurance or courage of Southern rebels — fighting, as they claim, for their homes, their negroes and their native land. Most wofully has the “Southern chivalry” failed to make good its claims. . . .
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
7. Sunday, June 15, 1862 --- Judith White McGuire, of Richmond, speculates on the irony of Gen. Philip St. George Cooke commanding the blue cavalry that chased Stuart---haplessly, as it turned out---on the Rebel’s now-famous raid: “General Stuart must have gone, it is said, within a few miles, perhaps nearer, of his father-in-law, the Federal General Cooke. I wonder what the old renegade Virginian thinks of his dashing son-in-law? If he has a spark of proper feeling left in his obdurate heart, he must be proud of him.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1862
8. Sunday, June 15, 1862: Reports from scouting parties convinced Lee that McClellan’s communication lines were very weak. In an attempt to outthink McClellan, Lee sent 10,000 in the direction of the Shenandoah Valley ostensibly to support Jackson– even though they would never get there as Jackson’s men were marching at speed for Richmond. Lee hoped that McClellan’s poor communication would convince him to keep his 60,000 men in the Valley to fight the extra 10,000 men who marched to be seen by the Unionists – but who were never intended to get to the Shenandoah Valley.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1862/
9. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Day 24
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
10. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 19
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
11. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Several northern states respond to Pres. Lincoln’s call for 100,000 militia to help repel the expected Rebel invasion. Maj. Gen. Darius Couch is to be given command of the militia units, east of the Susquehanna River.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
12. Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Gov. Thomas Curtin of Pennsylvania issues this public proclamation in impassioned rhetoric, calling upon all citizens to take up arms: “I now appeal to all the citizens of Pennsylvania who love liberty and are mindful of the history and traditions of their revolutionary fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and maintain the free institutions of our country, who hate treason and its abettors, and who are willing to defend their homes and their firesides, and do invoke them to rise in their might, and rush to the rescue in this hour imminent peril. The issue is one of preservation or destruction. It invokes considerations paramount to all matters of mere expediency; and all questions of local interest, all ties, social and political, all impulses of a personal and partisan character, sink by comparison into insignificance. It is now to be determined by deeds, and not by words alone, who are for us and who are against us. That it is the purpose of the enemy to invade our borders with all the strength he can command is now apparent. Our only dependence rests upon the determined action of the citizens of our free Commonwealth. I now, therefore, call upon the people of Pennsylvania capable of bearing arms to enroll themselves in military organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection of the State and the salvation of our common country.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
13. Monday, June 15, 1863: The Confederates captured Winchester. They took 4,500 men prisoner along with 200,000 rounds of ammunition, 300 wagons and 300 horses.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1863/
14. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: General Sherman, learning of the defeat at Brice's Crossroads, writes Edwin Stanton "But Forrest is the very devil, ...There never will be peace in Tennessee till Forrest is dead."
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186406
15. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: [Occurred on May 10, 1864] on the Arkansas River, Arkansas - On June 15, Col. Stand Watie and his Confederate Indian force captured the USS J.R. Williams on the Arkansas River. The Williams contained $100,000 worth of supplies.
Watie was awarded a promotion to brigadier general for this victory and given a command of his own brigade.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html
16. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Siege of Petersburg begins.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186406
17. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. William F. Smith [US] and Winfield Scott Hancock [US], with a combined army of nearly 30,000 men are held off by General P. G. T. Beauregard with about 4,000 men. Union force only gain Battery No. 5 and about a mile of the Dimmock Line
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186406
18. Wednesday, June 15, 1864: The North started a major assault on Petersburg, the ‘backdoor to Richmond’.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1864/
A Sunday, June 15, 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army," raiding supplies and battling small groups of Yankees during the Peninsula Campaign.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186206
A+ Sunday, June 15, 1862: Final day of J. E. B. Stuart "rides around the Union Army. Downstream on the Chickahominy, meantime, Lieutenant- Colonel Beale, early on the ground, had rebuilt a bridge, but the column did not know of this easy crossing until one of the limbers had been caught hopelessly in the swampy ford above. Had the artillery been sent down the island to Beale's bridge, Stuart might have been able to report that, except for the death of Captain Latane, and the runaway of a few horses which he had replaced five for one, he had sustained no casualties and had lost nothing entrusted to him.
When on the right bank of the Chickahominy at last, Stuart was thirty-five miles from Richmond. Twenty miles of this distance was East of the left flank of the enemy." The return meant tedious riding for the troopers and more suffering for their worn horses, but it was nothing compared with what had been endured on the other side of the river. Stuart himself turned over the command to Fitz Lee, and hurried on to report. He rested for two hours at Thomas Christian's, then rode on to judge Isaac Christian's plantation near Charles City Court House, stopped again for a cup of coffee at Rowland's Mill and, on the morning of June 15, forty-eight hours from the time he had left the Winston Farm at the beginning of the ride, reported to General Lee." The column moved more slowly from the river to Buckland, the seat of Col. J. M. Wilcox, and arrived in Richmond on the i6th, to receive a conqueror's welcome.
In the eyes of a jubilant city and an applauding South, the glamour of Stuart's exploit was not dimmed by the enemy's incredible slowness and lack of organization in pursuit. First news of the raid had been received at Federal cavalry headquarters in rumors of a direct attack on the camps. Countermoves were complicated by the insistence of a cavalry Lieutenant that he had seen not less than seven regiments of infantry with Stuart. The commander of the cavalry reserve, Gen. Philip St. George Cooke, whose service Virginia had coveted a year previously, proved himself utterly incapable of grasping his military problem or of acting promptly." There was no pursuit directly from Old Church. The first Federals to reach Tunstall's were infantry who arrived at midnight on the I3th-'4th, when Stuart was leaving Talleysville. Union cavalry did not get to Tunstall's until 2 A.M. The party that pushed on to Forge Bridge, ten minutes after the crossing of the Confederate rearguard, consisted of only eight men under Maj. Robert Morris of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Although none of these circumstances was known, the Confederacy rejoiced that Stuart the son-in-law had outwitted Cooke the father-in-law. Honors were heaped upon the man who had "ridden around McClellan." Governor Letcher, to whom Stuart had sent a verbal report while he hastened personally to General Lee, rewarded him with a sword."' A few days after the expedition, when Stuart rode in to see the Governor, a crowd gathered in front of the Executive Mansion and demanded a speech. Stuart duly appeared "and acknowledged the compliment paid him in a few remarks full of spirit and good cheer." He told the crowd that "he had been to the Chickahominy to visit some of his old friends of the United States Army, but they, very uncivilly, turned their backs upon him." The early chronicler of this incident added: "Seeing a manifest desire on the part of the people to make for him an ovation, the General then mounted his charger and galloped off amid the shouts of the crowd, which by this time had increased to more than a thousand persons." 'O' In his own congratulatory order to the command, Stuart spoke of himself as "the general of cavalry," and in his formal report, written two days after his return, he minimized nothing of his own achievement; but, in an accompanying letter to Lee, he listed those of his subordinates who had most distinguished themselves and he urged their promotion."' The immediate reply of the commanding General was an order in which he took "great pleasure in expressing his admiration of the courage and skill so conspicuously exhibited throughout by the general and the officers and men under his command. Stuart's satisfaction was as boyish as his feat had been extraordinary. Whether the raid was well conceived by Lee--whether it did or did not put McClellan on guard for the security of his right flank-is a question much disputed. That the whole was flawlessly executed, none would dispute. Stuart became the hero of his troopers and one of the idols of the public. Lee's confidence in him and his confidence in himself were confirmed. What was not less important, the cavalry was shown to be as trustworthy as the infantry.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/stuartsride.html
B Monday, June 15, 1863: Final day of Battle of Winchester, Virginia. Ordered to withdraw because of the approach of the Army of Northern Virginia, Major General Robert Milroy [US] tried to hold his position in Winchester. By afternoon on the 14th, he realized his mistake and decided to withdraw that evening. Dick Ewell [CS] ordered a division to camp north of the town to prevent such a move and Milroy found himself trapped. Confederates captured or killed the 6000 men in the city.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
B+ Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3: As the day breaks, Ewell is ready to spring his trap. Milroy has withdrawn most of his Federal troops into the several forts and fortified strong points around Winchester. However, after realizing that they are surrounded, and after conferring with his officers, Milroy decides that they should abandon Winchester, leaving his artillery behind.
His troops assemble quietly and simply walk out of the city without a shot being fired, on the road to Martinsburg, through the gap left open between Early’s and Johnson’s advanced units. At Stephenson’s depot, just north of town, Johnson’s Confederates attack the head of Milroy’s escaping column, as regiment after regiment in gray are added to the line as they come up, in addition to nearly 30 guns placed. The Federals rally and counterattack, but the attacks are not coordinated. The Rebels again advance, Nicholls and his Louisiana Brigade break up the Yankee line before them, followed by the Stonewall Brigade striking on the far northern Federal flank, and cutting the escape route of the Valley Pike. The Union units begin to dissolve at this point, and some regiments surrender outright. The entire Union force scatters, some even escaping southeast, through Manassas Gap. In addition to bagging 23 cannon, the Rebels capture over 4,000 prisoners, having inflicted nearly 500 Federal casualties. As bits and pieces of Milroy’s command straggle into Harper’s Ferry, there are no more than 1,200 which escaped the Southern trap. Milroy is relieved of command, and placed under arrest. This has been an overwhelming Confederate Victory.
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured/Missing Total
Union 95 348 4,000 4,443
Confederate 47 293 3 343
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
B++ Monday, June 15, 1863: Second Battle of Winchester – Day 3. Johnson's attack at Stephenson's Depot. Near dawn on June 15, Johnson's skirmishers encountered the head of Milroy's retreating column near the intersection of the Valley Pike and old Charles Town road. Milroy faced his column to the right on the pike and prepared to fight his way out of a "murderous trap" by enveloping the enemy. Johnson deployed his regiments along Milburn Road as they came up and advanced to the railroad and placed two guns on either side of the Charles Town Road railroad bridge. The rest of the artillery was deployed on the heights east of Milburn Road. As it grew light, Federal forces made several desperate but uncoordinated attacks against the bridge and railroad embankment. The Confederates were being steadily reinforced and repulsed each attempt. Nicholl's Brigade crushed the final Federal attack and the Stonewall Brigade then came up in line of battle north of the road and advanced to cut the Valley Pike. This was the final blow; and some remaining Federal regiments hoisted the white flag. At some point Milroy's horse was shot out from under him, and the Division as a whole scattered in various directions to the northwest, north, and northeast, with some small groups even managing to escape covertly to the southeast toward and through Manassas Gap into Federally controlled territory.
Casualty reports. Both Union and Confederate Official Record reports on casualties are practically identical. Ewell reported: "The fruits of this victory were 23 pieces of artillery (nearly all rifled), 4,000 prisoners, 300 loaded wagons, more than 300 horses, and quite a large amount of commissary and quartermaster's stores."
This prisoner count seems to include the capture of all the Federal wounded hospitalized in Winchester, since Ewell's topographer, Jedediah Hotchkiss counts about 2,000 prisoners from the town, along with an estimate of about 1,500 that escaped to Harper's Ferry, along with more prisoners captured during pursuits from the Confederate cavalry. When Milroy appeared later in Harpers Ferry, he was immediately placed under arrest. Shortly after Schenck reported Milroy's arrest had expired, Aide-de-Camp Capt. Frederick A. Palmer, 18th Connecticut Infantry, reported in an extensive and detailed table of all units, summarized:
Killed: 7 Officers, 88 Enlisted men, Wounded: 12 Officers, 336 Enlisted men, Captured or missing: 144 Officers, 3856 Enlisted men.
Thus, while Ewell reports 4,000 captured, the VIII Corps reports 144 Officers and 3856 Enlisted men missing or captured, which also adds to 4,000. Captain Palmer summarized the Union losses at a total of 4,443 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades from the 2nd Division, VIII Corps including all independent attachments.
Johnson's Division, alone, captured 3,500 prisoners in the action at Stephenson's Depot, and this is not surprising, since this is the only major engagement of the war in which an entire Division column was attacked at night while route-marching on a road. General Johnson claimed to have taken 30 prisoners "with his opera glass!" as well as "11 stands of colors, 175 horses, and arms and accoutrements of every description".
Some casualty estimates range lower. Eicher writes that Confederate casualties were 269 (47 killed, 219 wounded, 3 missing); Union 3,801 (95 killed, 348 wounded, 3,358 missing or captured). Difficult to account for in the records are additional numbers of captured Union soldiers from the many hospitals in Winchester.
The casualty ratio in this engagement of two divisions against one was an amazing 269 to 4,443 or 0.06 ... the most lopsided for an engagement of this size in the entire war. It's no wonder that Confederate artillerist Maj. Robert Stiles wrote, "This battle of Winchester ... was one of the most perfect pieces of work the Army of Northern Virginia ever did."
A division lost, two battalions gained. Milroy and his staff, his cavalry, and other small units, totaling about 1,200 escaped to Harpers Ferry. Additionally, in the days following the battle "2,700 more turned up in Bloody Run, Pennsylvania"[21] Milroy's command ceased to exist, and the scattered remnants of what was the 2nd Division, VIII Corps were assimilated back into the Middle Department, while Milroy was placed under arrest. The Confederates had merely hoped to re-supply and forage, but with the easy capture of Winchester, they captured enough artillery and horses to equip a battalion of infantry and cavalry, including 28 guns (23 at Winchester and 5 at Martinsburg) and 300 horses in total. Additionally, the Confederates captured a great quantity of food, clothing, small arms ammunition and medical stores in Winchester.
Following this battle, a Court of Inquiry was held, and both President Abraham Lincoln and Halleck desired to know who disobeyed the orders to "evacuate Winchester". President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Milroy: I have never doubted your courage and devotion to the cause... but... I have scarcely seen anything from you at any time that did not contain imputations against your superiors and a chafing against acting the part they have assigned you. You have constantly urged the idea that you were persecuted because you did not come from West Point, and you repeat it in these letters. This, my dear general, is, I fear, the rock on which you have split...”
The nature of the inquiry was later changed from investigating who disobeyed orders to evacuate Winchester, to the discovery of the events and nature of the retreat from Winchester. Milroy was exonerated and claimed that his brilliant defensive action at Winchester was instrumental in causing the timing of the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to the overall Union victory for the campaign. Despite this, Halleck insisted that Milroy not be given any more commands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Winchester
C Monday, June 15, 1863: Gettysburg Campaign. On June 15, when CSA Brigadier General A. G. Jenkins, with 1,600 cavalry entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle, Jenkins divided his cavalry force into two where they destroyed railroad bridges and cut telegraph wires. Arriving at Greencastle, General Jenkins’ took up headquarters briefly at the home of the editor of the Repository. Jenkins then moved on to Chambersburg arriving at 11 o’clock at night.
In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with Hood’s division in front.
http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/civil_war/jenkins_brigade.htm
C+ Monday, June 15, 1863 --- In Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee starts the rest of his army on the march, as Longstreet’s I Corps begins its march from Culpeper, with Hood’s division in front.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
C++ Monday, June 15, 1863 --- Jenkins’s cavalry brigade, assigned to Ewell’s corps, is with Rodes’ division (who were not engaged at Winchester). Gen. Rodes sends Jenkins posting north over the Potomac to dash forward and secure Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. By late tonight, Jenkins’ troops reach Chambersburg. Also, some of Rodes’ infantry crosses the Potomac. The invasion has begun.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+15%2C+1863
D Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. In June 1864, in a brilliant tactical maneuver, Grant marched his army around the Army of Northern Virginia, crossed the James River unopposed, and advanced his forces to Petersburg. Knowing that the fall of Petersburg would mean the fall of Richmond, Lee raced to reinforce the city’s defenses. The mass of Grant’s army arrived first. On June 15, the first day of the Battle of Petersburg, some 10,000 Union troops under General William F. Smith moved against the Confederate defenders of Petersburg, made up of only a few thousand armed old men and boys commanded by General P.G.T. Beauregard. However, the Confederates had the advantage of formidable physical defenses, and they held off the overly cautious Union assault. The next day, more Federal troops arrived, but Beauregard was reinforced by Lee, and the Confederate line remained unbroken during several Union attacks occurring over the next two days.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-petersburg-begins
D+ Wednesday, June 15, 1864: Battle of Petersburg. Grant used stealth and deception to slip away from the lines around Cold Harbor and shift his army south of the James River. By the morning of June 15, he was ready to launch his attack.
Standing in his way were powerful fortifications—such as the earthworks here at Battery 5. Ringing the city on three sides and stretching for nearly ten miles, the Confederate defenses presented a formidable obstacle. However, with Lee still defending Richmond, a scratch force of only 2,200 soldiers under Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard stood guard in Petersburg’s eastern defenses—from Battery 1 on the Appomattox River to Battery 16 nearly three miles to the south.
Union General William F. “Baldy” Smith cautiously led his Eighteenth Corps—the vanguard of Grant’s legions—westward from City Point on June 15, impressed by the intimidating works that confronted him here east of Petersburg. Smith delayed his assault until 7:00 p.m., expecting the momentary arrival of General Winfield S. Hancock’s Second Corps. With daylight waning, the best chance to capture Petersburg with relatively little fighting was gone.
Once under way, the Union attack proved anti-climactic. Federal troops utilized the ravine, through which Highway 36 now runs, to gain the rear of Battery Five, throwing the defenders from the 26th Virginia and a single battery of artillery into a panic. In short order, the Confederates surrendered. Shortly thereafter, Batteries 3 through 8 also fell.
But by then, darkness had enveloped the battlefield. Smith, joined at last by Hancock, decided to postpone further offensive action until dawn, thus rejecting the opportunity to capture Petersburg that night. It would be 291 days before the American flag would fly over Petersburg again.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/petersburg.html?tab=facts
FYI SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Franklin BriantCPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell1stSgt Eugene Harless PO3 (Join to see)MSG Greg Kelly CPT (Join to see) LTC Thomas Tennant GySgt Jack Wallace LTC David BrownLTC (Join to see) SFC Eric Harmon SSG Bill McCoySPC (Join to see) MAJ Byron Oyler SSG (Join to see) Sgt Axel HastingA1C Pamela G Russell
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General Jenkins, in and of themselves, were not that big of a deal but the wheels that were put into motion would be crucial in the final out come. The first domino was toppled and nothing would stop the rest from falling.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you my friend MSG Brad Sand for making us awre that you consider the effort by CSA BG Jenkins with 1,600 cavalry as they crossed the border and entered Pennsylvania and advanced on Greencastle to be the most significant event of June 15 during the civil war..
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