Posted on Jun 25, 2016
What was the most significant event on June 23 during the U.S. Civil War?
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The Tullahoma Campaign began on June 23, 1863. While this campaign is not famous, the Spencer repeating rifle was first used by Federal forces in this campaign with devastating effects. The follow-on campaign which included the Battle of Chickamauga which would be fought in September is much more famous.
A housecat nearly disrupts a prayer meeting in 1862: Caroline Cowles Richards, of upstate New York, writes in her diary of an amusing set of incidents at worship services: “There was great excitement in prayer meeting last night, it seemed to Abbie Clark, Mary Field and me on the back seat where we always sit. Several people have asked us why we sit away back there by old Mrs Kinney, but we tell them that she sits on the other side of the stove from us and we like the seat, because we have occupied it so long. I presume we would see less and hear more if we sat in front. To-night just after Mr Walter Hubbell had made one of his most beautiful prayers and Mr Cyrus Dixon was praying, a big June bug came zipping into the room and snapped against the wall and the lights and barely escaped several bald heads. Anna kept dodging around in a most startling manner and I expected every moment to see her walk out and take Emma Wheeler with her, for if she is afraid of anything more than dogs it is June bugs. At this crisis the bug flew out and a cat stealthily walked in. We knew that dear Mrs Taylor was always unpleasantly affected by the sight of cats and we didn’t know what would happen if the cat should go near her. The cat very innocently ascended the steps to the desk and as Judge and Mrs Taylor always sit on the front seat, she couldn’t help observing the ambitious animal as it started to assist Dr Dagget in conducting the meeting. The result was that Mrs Taylor just managed to reach the outside door before fainting away. We were glad when the benediction was pronounced.”
British liaison officer notes that Lee’s Army in 1863 is much better equipped and motivated than the force that invaded Maryland in 1862: British observer Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his diary concerning his visit to Winchester, Virginia, and the damage done to it by the occupying Yankee forces: “I understand that Winchester used to be a most agreeable little town, and its society extremely pleasant. Many of its houses are now destroyed or converted into hospitals; the rest look miserable and dilapidated. Its female inhabitants (for the able-bodied males are all absent in the army) are familiar with the bloody realities of war. As many as 5000 wounded have been accommodated here at one time. All the ladies are accustomed to the bursting of shells and the sight of fighting, and all are turned into hospital nurses or cooks.
From the utter impossibility of procuring corn, I was forced to take the horses out grazing a mile beyond the town for four hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. As one mustn’t lose sight of them for a moment, this occupied me all day, while Lawley wrote in the house. In the evening we went to visit two wounded officers in Mrs ——’s house, a major and a captain in the Louisianian Brigade which stormed the forts last Sunday week. I am afraid the captain will die. Both are shot through the body, but are cheery. They served under Stonewall Jackson until his death, and they venerate his name, though they both agree that he has got an efficient successor in Ewell. . . . At no period of the war, they say, have the men been so well equipped, so well clothed, so eager for a fight, or so confident of success—a very different state of affairs from that which characterised the Maryland invasion of last year, when half of the army were barefooted stragglers, and many of the remainder unwilling and reluctant to cross the Potomac.”
Beginning of the Tullahoma Campaign in 1863: “During the spring, Rosecrans had repeatedly asked for more cavalry resources, which were denied by Washington, but he did receive permission to outfit an infantry brigade as a mounted unit. Col. John T. Wilder's brigade of Reynolds's division—1,500 men of the 17th and 72nd Indiana regiments and the 98th and 123rd Illinois—found horses and mules in the countryside and armed themselves with long handled hatchets for hand-to-hand combat, which caused their unit to be derisively nicknamed the "Hatchet Brigade". Their more lethal armament were the seven-shot Spencer repeating rifles carried by all the men. Wilder's brigade had the mobility and firepower, but also the high unit morale, necessary to lead the surprise advance on Hoover's Gap before it could be reinforced.
Our regiment lay on the hill side in mud and water, the rain pouring down in torrents, while each shell screamed so close to us as to make it seem that the next would tear us to pieces. Presently the enemy got near enough to us to make a charge on our battery, and on they came; our men are on their feet in an instant and a terrible fire from the "Spencers" causes the advancing regiment to reel and its colors fall to the ground, but in an instant their colors are up again and on they come, thinking to reach the battery before our guns can be reloaded, but they "reckoned without their host," they didn't know we had the "Spencers," and their charging yell was answered by another terrible volley, and another and another without cessation, until the poor regiment was literally cut to pieces, and but few men of that 20th Tennessee that attempted the charge will ever charge again.”
1863: Sibley, Missouri less than three months after the hijacking of the Sam Gaty, Captain Samuel A. Flagg (1834-1878) of the 4th Regiment of Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, led a detachment of 125 men (both cavalry and infantry) to rid the Sibley and Napoleon Bottoms area of partisan guerrillas. A few days prior, Captain Flagg stated that he had seen “many bands of guerrillas” in the Sibley and Napoleon area while on patrol from Lexington to Kansas City.
Shortly after dawn on June 23, Flagg ordered some of his cavalry to advance into Sibley where they were briefly engaged by partisans. A short fire-fight ensued, and Flagg reported two partisans killed and four wounded. He made no mention of any federal casualties. Captain Flagg then reported: “It being a general place of resort for the bushwhackers, and where they concentrated to fire into all the boats that pass for the purpose of plundering them, and as they used the houses for shelter to fire on my men, the town was burned, except one or two houses that were left, reported as Union property (Report of Capt. Samuel A. Flagg, Fourth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, 28 June 1863).”
A nearby resident, Mrs. Emily Steele, in a letter to her son on July 24, 1863, corroborated Flagg’s account by simply stating, “Nearly all of Sibley is burned…”
In a follow-up report, General Thomas Ewing, Jr., made the following comments regarding the burning of Sibley: “I think it probable that it was for the good of the service that the town was burned, for the reasons named by Captain Flagg; but, not feeling entirely satisfied, I will take care to ascertain the character of the people, and their conduct, as also the circumstances under which the town was burned (Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr, U.S. Army, commanding District of the Border, June 30, 1863).”
Pictures: 1863-06-23 Tullahoma Campaign Map; 1863 gettysburg-campaign-map-925; 1863-06-11 Morgan’s Invasion of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana; Two Union soldiers with Spencer carbines
A. 1862: Skirmish at Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. Union Victory. Major Miller leading the Second Wisconsin Cavalry arrived at Pineville at 0630 and discovered a force of Confederates commanded by Major David Russell nearby. The Federals attacked, forcing a rout of the Confederates and taking several prisoners, horses, mules, and other property.
B. 1863: Morgan's Raid. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee.
C. 1863: Tullahoma Campaign. The first movements of the campaign had actually begun on June 23 when elements of the Reserve Corps under Granger, with a cavalry division under Mitchell, moved due west from Murfreesboro to Triune to begin an elaborate feint. This was designed to play into General Braxton Bragg's assumption that the main attack would come on his left flank in the direction of Shelbyville. At the same time, the XXI Corps division of John Palmer moved to Bradyville, well beyond the Confederate right flank, where he could push back Confederate cavalry and move in the direction of Manchester, getting into the Confederate rear. It was only after these movements were under way that Rosecrans brought his corps commanders together to hear the detailed orders for the upcoming campaign.
Background: Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans's elaborate plan, which would test the extensive training program he had spent the six months conducting, was to slide Granger's corps to the left, covering the Shelbyville approaches, and perform a giant right wheel of the army. While Bragg's attention was focused on the strongly fortified Shelbyville, Thomas's corps would march southeast on the Manchester Pike, headed for Hoover's Gap on Hardee's right flank. Since the gap was lightly manned, speed was of the essence to Rosecrans's plan.
D. 1865: The blockade of all Southern ports was lifted by President Johnson. The blockade had been a huge success as it starved the South of a great many things they needed to fight the war. By 1865, 470 Union warships patrolled the eastern coastline and any blockade runner had very little chance of getting in to or out of a Southern port.
FYI CWO4 Terrence Clark 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. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
A housecat nearly disrupts a prayer meeting in 1862: Caroline Cowles Richards, of upstate New York, writes in her diary of an amusing set of incidents at worship services: “There was great excitement in prayer meeting last night, it seemed to Abbie Clark, Mary Field and me on the back seat where we always sit. Several people have asked us why we sit away back there by old Mrs Kinney, but we tell them that she sits on the other side of the stove from us and we like the seat, because we have occupied it so long. I presume we would see less and hear more if we sat in front. To-night just after Mr Walter Hubbell had made one of his most beautiful prayers and Mr Cyrus Dixon was praying, a big June bug came zipping into the room and snapped against the wall and the lights and barely escaped several bald heads. Anna kept dodging around in a most startling manner and I expected every moment to see her walk out and take Emma Wheeler with her, for if she is afraid of anything more than dogs it is June bugs. At this crisis the bug flew out and a cat stealthily walked in. We knew that dear Mrs Taylor was always unpleasantly affected by the sight of cats and we didn’t know what would happen if the cat should go near her. The cat very innocently ascended the steps to the desk and as Judge and Mrs Taylor always sit on the front seat, she couldn’t help observing the ambitious animal as it started to assist Dr Dagget in conducting the meeting. The result was that Mrs Taylor just managed to reach the outside door before fainting away. We were glad when the benediction was pronounced.”
British liaison officer notes that Lee’s Army in 1863 is much better equipped and motivated than the force that invaded Maryland in 1862: British observer Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his diary concerning his visit to Winchester, Virginia, and the damage done to it by the occupying Yankee forces: “I understand that Winchester used to be a most agreeable little town, and its society extremely pleasant. Many of its houses are now destroyed or converted into hospitals; the rest look miserable and dilapidated. Its female inhabitants (for the able-bodied males are all absent in the army) are familiar with the bloody realities of war. As many as 5000 wounded have been accommodated here at one time. All the ladies are accustomed to the bursting of shells and the sight of fighting, and all are turned into hospital nurses or cooks.
From the utter impossibility of procuring corn, I was forced to take the horses out grazing a mile beyond the town for four hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. As one mustn’t lose sight of them for a moment, this occupied me all day, while Lawley wrote in the house. In the evening we went to visit two wounded officers in Mrs ——’s house, a major and a captain in the Louisianian Brigade which stormed the forts last Sunday week. I am afraid the captain will die. Both are shot through the body, but are cheery. They served under Stonewall Jackson until his death, and they venerate his name, though they both agree that he has got an efficient successor in Ewell. . . . At no period of the war, they say, have the men been so well equipped, so well clothed, so eager for a fight, or so confident of success—a very different state of affairs from that which characterised the Maryland invasion of last year, when half of the army were barefooted stragglers, and many of the remainder unwilling and reluctant to cross the Potomac.”
Beginning of the Tullahoma Campaign in 1863: “During the spring, Rosecrans had repeatedly asked for more cavalry resources, which were denied by Washington, but he did receive permission to outfit an infantry brigade as a mounted unit. Col. John T. Wilder's brigade of Reynolds's division—1,500 men of the 17th and 72nd Indiana regiments and the 98th and 123rd Illinois—found horses and mules in the countryside and armed themselves with long handled hatchets for hand-to-hand combat, which caused their unit to be derisively nicknamed the "Hatchet Brigade". Their more lethal armament were the seven-shot Spencer repeating rifles carried by all the men. Wilder's brigade had the mobility and firepower, but also the high unit morale, necessary to lead the surprise advance on Hoover's Gap before it could be reinforced.
Our regiment lay on the hill side in mud and water, the rain pouring down in torrents, while each shell screamed so close to us as to make it seem that the next would tear us to pieces. Presently the enemy got near enough to us to make a charge on our battery, and on they came; our men are on their feet in an instant and a terrible fire from the "Spencers" causes the advancing regiment to reel and its colors fall to the ground, but in an instant their colors are up again and on they come, thinking to reach the battery before our guns can be reloaded, but they "reckoned without their host," they didn't know we had the "Spencers," and their charging yell was answered by another terrible volley, and another and another without cessation, until the poor regiment was literally cut to pieces, and but few men of that 20th Tennessee that attempted the charge will ever charge again.”
1863: Sibley, Missouri less than three months after the hijacking of the Sam Gaty, Captain Samuel A. Flagg (1834-1878) of the 4th Regiment of Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, led a detachment of 125 men (both cavalry and infantry) to rid the Sibley and Napoleon Bottoms area of partisan guerrillas. A few days prior, Captain Flagg stated that he had seen “many bands of guerrillas” in the Sibley and Napoleon area while on patrol from Lexington to Kansas City.
Shortly after dawn on June 23, Flagg ordered some of his cavalry to advance into Sibley where they were briefly engaged by partisans. A short fire-fight ensued, and Flagg reported two partisans killed and four wounded. He made no mention of any federal casualties. Captain Flagg then reported: “It being a general place of resort for the bushwhackers, and where they concentrated to fire into all the boats that pass for the purpose of plundering them, and as they used the houses for shelter to fire on my men, the town was burned, except one or two houses that were left, reported as Union property (Report of Capt. Samuel A. Flagg, Fourth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, 28 June 1863).”
A nearby resident, Mrs. Emily Steele, in a letter to her son on July 24, 1863, corroborated Flagg’s account by simply stating, “Nearly all of Sibley is burned…”
In a follow-up report, General Thomas Ewing, Jr., made the following comments regarding the burning of Sibley: “I think it probable that it was for the good of the service that the town was burned, for the reasons named by Captain Flagg; but, not feeling entirely satisfied, I will take care to ascertain the character of the people, and their conduct, as also the circumstances under which the town was burned (Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr, U.S. Army, commanding District of the Border, June 30, 1863).”
Pictures: 1863-06-23 Tullahoma Campaign Map; 1863 gettysburg-campaign-map-925; 1863-06-11 Morgan’s Invasion of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana; Two Union soldiers with Spencer carbines
A. 1862: Skirmish at Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. Union Victory. Major Miller leading the Second Wisconsin Cavalry arrived at Pineville at 0630 and discovered a force of Confederates commanded by Major David Russell nearby. The Federals attacked, forcing a rout of the Confederates and taking several prisoners, horses, mules, and other property.
B. 1863: Morgan's Raid. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee.
C. 1863: Tullahoma Campaign. The first movements of the campaign had actually begun on June 23 when elements of the Reserve Corps under Granger, with a cavalry division under Mitchell, moved due west from Murfreesboro to Triune to begin an elaborate feint. This was designed to play into General Braxton Bragg's assumption that the main attack would come on his left flank in the direction of Shelbyville. At the same time, the XXI Corps division of John Palmer moved to Bradyville, well beyond the Confederate right flank, where he could push back Confederate cavalry and move in the direction of Manchester, getting into the Confederate rear. It was only after these movements were under way that Rosecrans brought his corps commanders together to hear the detailed orders for the upcoming campaign.
Background: Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans's elaborate plan, which would test the extensive training program he had spent the six months conducting, was to slide Granger's corps to the left, covering the Shelbyville approaches, and perform a giant right wheel of the army. While Bragg's attention was focused on the strongly fortified Shelbyville, Thomas's corps would march southeast on the Manchester Pike, headed for Hoover's Gap on Hardee's right flank. Since the gap was lightly manned, speed was of the essence to Rosecrans's plan.
D. 1865: The blockade of all Southern ports was lifted by President Johnson. The blockade had been a huge success as it starved the South of a great many things they needed to fight the war. By 1865, 470 Union warships patrolled the eastern coastline and any blockade runner had very little chance of getting in to or out of a Southern port.
FYI CWO4 Terrence Clark 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. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
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In 1862 the Peninsula campaign was unfolding, in 1863 in the eastern theater of operations the Gettysburg campaign was developing as Confederate forces and Federal forces moved north across the Potomac River while other federal forces moved from the north. In 1863 the western theater of operations had the army of the Cumberland equipped with Spencer Repeating rifles moving south in the Tullahoma Campaign.
Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Gettysburg campaign: The Army of Northern Virginia begins crossing the Potomac from Harper’s Ferry into Maryland, heading for Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, US Generals Hooker and Halleck have been bickering and are still unsure of where Lee actually is.
Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Vicksburg, June 23, 1863. To General JOSEPH E. Johnston, Jackson: “If I cut my way out, this important position is lost, and many of my men, too. Can we afford that? If I cannot cut my way out, both position and all my men are lost. This we cannot afford. Should suggest the probability of Grant’s being open to terms that can result more to our advantage than either of the above actions. Not knowing your force or plans, he may accede to your proposition to pass this army out with all its arms and equipage . This proposal would come with greater prospects of success and better grace from you, while it necessarily could not come at all from me. You could make the showing of my ability and strength to still hold out for several week longer, which, together with his impression regarding your strength, might operate upon him to comply with your terms. While I make this suggestion, I still renew my hope of your being, by force of arms, enabled to act with me in saving this vital point. I will strain every nerve to hold out, if there is hope of our ultimate relief, for FIFTEEN days longer. It is reported that some of the enemy’s forces are moving up toward the Yazoo. It is also reported that some of his forces have moved along the Hall’s Ferry road to Big Bayou, near Warrenton, where they are temporarily massing. These movements indicate the lengthening of the enemy’s lines, and the increase of the area of his operations. J. C. PEMBERTON.”
Tuesday, June 23, 1863 “Maj. Gen. J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart continues probing to discover the exact location of Hooker’s army, since Lee has tasked Stuart with determining whether Hooker has crossed the Potomac yet, or whether the Yankees will remain inactive. Lee’s discretionary orders are actually quite ambiguous, and leave room for Stuart to ride north following Ewell’s path, or to detach two brigades and take the rest for a ride around the Union army, which he is undoubtedly eager to do. And yet, he is expected to keep in touch with Ewell’s right.”
Thursday, June 23, 1864: Siege of Petersburg. The battle of Jerusalem Plank Road continues. Siege of Petersburg: The Wilson-Kautz (USA) raid: The raiders head west along the Southside Railroad, destroying track and facilities. Kautz goes to Burkeville Junction. Wilson hits Black and White’s Station at about noon, destroying the place and burning loads of cotton. Wilson then meets CS General Rooney Lee‘s cavalry near Nottoway Court House around 2 p.m.. After a sharp fight Wilson decides to turn south along the Richmond & Danville railroad. Kautz, in the meantime, reaches Burkeville Junction at about 3 p.m., sending two brigades to destroy the Southside and Richmond & Danville lines. Kautz then is ordered to rejoin Wilson.
Below are a number of journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Monday, June 23, 1862: Stephen Minot Weld, of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, writes home to his father; his letter reveals how common amongst the rank and file was the attitude of their commander, McClellan, that conspiracies in Washington were responsible for McClellan not being able to move: “From present appearances, we shall stay here all summer sweltering under this powerful sun, our ranks daily decreasing from sickness and exposure, all from want of reinforcements. Unless we are attacked by the enemy, or unless General McClellan gets some very favorable chance to attack them, there will be no fighting for some time, and in case of a battle the result, to say the least, is extremely doubtful. They greatly outnumber us, and are daily throwing up trenches and batteries right opposite our army. In the face of all these facts, and notwithstanding McClellan’s frequent and earnest appeals for more troops, the Government at Washington refuses us any reinforcements. The Abolitionists in Congress have a great deal to do with this, and are purposely protracting the war in order to render emancipation necessary, and are so endangering our existence as a nation united and whole. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
Monday, June 23, 1862: George Michael Neese, a Confederate soldier in Chew’s Horse Artillery, relates his impression of Sunday services: “We had preaching in camp to-day again, and we are getting in a goodly supply of heavenly ammunition from the arsenal of truth — in double doses, preaching in the morning and prayer meeting at night. The ammunition is fixed and ready to fire at all times and under all circumstances, and I hope that we may all pack at least some of it away in the cartridge box of fortitude for immediate and constant use, and not act like the great majority of the world, both saints and sinners, who use it all up in empty ceremonials on Sunday, having not enough left on Monday morning to make a decent skirmish against the inroads of wrongdoing, hypocrisy, and rascality.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
Tuesday, June 23, 1863: John C. West, of the 4th Texas Infantry (in Longstreet’s corps in Lee’s army), writes to Miss Decca Smith of Columbia, South Carolina, detailing the miseries of an infantryman on a brisk campaign march: “Dear Decca: Yours of the 6th inst., with one from Miss Nannie Norton of the same date reached me about eight days ago, and I have not had a moment since to answer you, and even now cannot tell whether I shall be interrupted before I am half done this. I am writing on my knee, with everything packed ready to move at the sound of the bugle. I wrote you last on the 6th of June from near Culpepper Court House. On that day we took a hard march of eighteen miles through the rain, and on very muddy roads. We halted about 10 o’clock at night. I was wet and very tired.
There was an order against making tires, as we were near the enemy, being on the same ground on which Stuart fought them a few days afterwards. Of course I slept; a soldier, if he knows his own interest, will sleep whenever opportunity offers, but there were 10,000 or 12,000 men huddled on the side of the road in a promiscuous mass, just as you have seen cattle about a barn lot; no one knowing how much mud or filth he reposed in until the generous light of day revealed it. It rained a good deal during the night and kept me thoroughly soaked. . . .
On the 13th we received orders to be ready to march or fight, but it turned out to be only a march of five miles, which we accomplished in an hour and reached Cedar Run, the scene of one of Stonewall Jackson’s battles last August. There were a great many unburied skeletons, presenting a very ghastly appearance. There were forty-nine skulls in one little ditch. . . . A hand or a foot might be seen protruding from the earth, here and there, to mark the last resting place of the patriotic victims of this horrible war.
We left this camp on the 15th and marched through Culpepper towards Winchester. This was one of the hottest days and one of the hottest marches I have yet experienced. Over 500 men fell out by the road side from fatigue and exhaustion, and several died where they fell; this was occasioned by being overheated and drinking cold water in immoderate quantities, and the enforcement of the order requiring us to wade through creeks and rivers up to our waists without the privilege of even taking off our shoes. I felt quite sick and giddy with a severe pain in my head as I was climbing the hill after wading the Rappahannock, but it passed off, and I kept with the company, though I saw two dead men during the time and several others fall.
Oh! how I would have enjoyed one of mother’s mint juleps then as we rested in “the shade of the trees.” I slept gloriously that night on a bed of clover and blue grass. . . . On the 16th we marched twenty miles without so much suffering, though the day was very warm, and many fell by the way, and like the seed in the parable, “on stony ground,” for we were getting towards the mountains. . . .
All the country we have passed through is perfectly charming, and I cannot see why any Virginian ever leaves Virginia. All that I have seen so far fills my ideal of the-”promised land.” On the 18th we marched to the Shenandoah, ten miles, and waded it with positive orders not to take off any clothing. The water was deep and cold. I put my cartridge box on my head. The water came to my arm pits. We camped about a mile beyond the river. A tremendous rain drenched us before night, so we were reconciled to the wading. My blankets and everything that I had was soaked, except Mary’s daguerreotype, which Colonel B. F. Carter took charge of for me. I slept in clothes and blankets soaked wet. On the 19th we marched down the river about ten miles over a very muddy road, . . . and here about dark we experienced the hardest storm of wind and rain I ever saw. It seemed to me as if the cold and rain, like the two-edged sword of holy writ, penetrated to the very joints and marrow. I laid down but did not sleep a wink until about an hour before day, and woke up cold and stiff. More than half the soldiers spent the night in a desperate effort to keep the fire burning, which was done with great difficulty.
I took off my clothes, one garment at a time, and dried them, and baked myself until I felt tolerably well; but truly a soldier knows not what a day may bring forth. Just as I was thoroughly dried, up came another cloud and soaked us again, and then came an order to fall into line “without arms.” . . . we discovered that we had been encamped in a cloud on the mountain top, right in the heart of the rain factory, the summer resort of Æolus himself. . . . I have quite a severe cold, though I am better to-day than I was yesterday. Don’t write this to Mary. I hope we will soon get through our demonstrations and come to the fighting part of the drama.
I have not heard from home yet, though it is more than two months since I left Texas, and there are several letters in the regiment of recent date. I understand there is a large mail for our brigade at the Texas depot, in Richmond, awaiting an opportunity to be sent to us.”
Pictures: 7-shot wonder spencer-4: CSA Pvt Isaiah Presley Markham, in uniform of the Orange Grays, 6th NC; 1861-04-13_Scott-anaconda_Blockade_Plan; Hunters raid civil war
A. Monday, June 23, 1862: Skirmish at Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. Union Victory. Major Miller leading the Second Wisconsin Cavalry arrived at Pineville at 0630 and discovered a force of Confederates commanded by Major David Russell nearby. The Federals attacked, forcing a rout of the Confederates and taking several prisoners, horses, mules, and other property.
B. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Morgan's Raid. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee.
C. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Tullahoma Campaign. The first movements of the campaign had actually begun on June 23 when elements of the Reserve Corps under Granger, with a cavalry division under Mitchell, moved due west from Murfreesboro to Triune to begin an elaborate feint. This was designed to play into General Braxton Bragg's assumption that the main attack would come on his left flank in the direction of Shelbyville. At the same time, the XXI Corps division of John Palmer moved to Bradyville, well beyond the Confederate right flank, where he could push back Confederate cavalry and move in the direction of Manchester, getting into the Confederate rear. It was only after these movements were under way that Rosecrans brought his corps commanders together to hear the detailed orders for the upcoming campaign.
Background: Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans's elaborate plan, which would test the extensive training program he had spent the six months conducting, was to slide Granger's corps to the left, covering the Shelbyville approaches, and perform a giant right wheel of the army. While Bragg's attention was focused on the strongly fortified Shelbyville, Thomas's corps would march southeast on the Manchester Pike, headed for Hoover's Gap on Hardee's right flank. Since the gap was lightly manned, speed was of the essence to Rosecrans's plan.
D. Friday, June 23, 1865: The blockade of all Southern ports was lifted by President Johnson. The blockade had been a huge success as it starved the South of a great many things they needed to fight the war. By 1865, 470 Union warships patrolled the eastern coastline and any blockade runner had very little chance of getting in to or out of a Southern port.
1. Sunday, June 23, 1861: Thomas Jackson destroys 42 engines and nearly 400 cars of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg, Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186106
2. Sunday, June 23, 1861: Two large Confederate armies gathered. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Beauregard, and the Army of the Shenandoah, commanded by General Joseph E Johnson. To both commanders, Virginia seemed to be the likely state where major confrontations would take place.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1861/
3. Monday, June 23, 1862: near Raytown, Missouri - On June 23, a skirmish between the Union and Confederate forces occurred near Raytown. The Confederates were able to force the Federals into a rout.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
4. Monday, June 23, 1862: Robert E. Lee plans a counterattack against Union forces preparing to lay siege to Richmond at the Dabbs House
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186206
5. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Stonewall Jackson arrives in Richmond, at the head of his divisions making their way by stages on the railroad to join him. (There is still apparently no clue that the Federals still suspect he and his troops have left the Shenandoah Valley.) Gen. Lee calls a conference at his new headquarters outside of the city. Having over 85,000 overall, the largest strength ever reached by the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee plans to leave 30,000 men under Generals Huger and Magruder to guard Richmond to the south of the Chickahominy River, versus the bulk of the Union army. The Plan: to attack FitzJohn Porter’s V Corps isolated north of the Chickahominy and destroy it, and then to drive for the Federal rear, taking the supply base at White House landing on the York River. Jackson is to march east and then cut south to hit Porter in the right flank and rear, and A.P. Hill is to drive forward to strike at Porter’s other flank near the river, and thus cut off Porter’s access to the bridge near Mechanicsville. Then, Longstreet and D.H. Hill are to join in the attack, altogether bringing 56,000 Confederate troops against the lone V Corps of Yankees. The plan depends on Gen. McClelland and his 130,000 Army of the Potomac doing nothing, as usual.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
6. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- In the West, Halleck begins breaking up his Grand Army that had captured Corinth, Mississippi, into its component parts. Gen. Buell, with his Army of the Ohio, on June 11th began a campaign toward Chattanooga, but by this date had only reached Tuscumbia, Alabama. Buell is wary, and is moving slowly. Advance troops have already penetrated as far as Chattanooga, but not in enough strength to hold the city. Bragg, newly appointed commander of the Confederate army, minus Price’s and Van Dorn’s troops, is planning a campaing to join up with Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith in eastern Tennessee with 20,000 men, and to strike north.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
7. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, once again in control of the Army of the Tennessee, establishes headquarters at Memphis, where Mrs. Grant and his children soon join him.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
8. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Pres. Lincoln proposes a generous loan to Mexico to assist the neighboring nation in its struggle against French domination.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
9. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- The 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, on special assignment, patrols Gloucester and Mathews Counties in Virginia to control the impredations of Rebel cavalry who are raiding the communities there to arrest deserters from the Confederate army and others who are avoiding conscription.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
10. Monday, June 23, 1862: Western Theater: General Grant arrives in Memphis. General Pope has been called to Washington from Corinth, Mississippi, by Secretaries Stanton and Chase. President Lincoln goes by special train to New York, where he will visit West Point to consult with General Winfield Scott, General McClellan’s predecessor. The Lincoln Log says that General Pope accompanied President Lincoln to New York, while the above link to Mr. Lincoln’s White House says that the president was already out of town, on his visit to General Scott, when Pope arrived in Washington. Given the momentous announcement of Pope’s appointment on the 26th (next week!) and Lincoln’s remarkable downplaying of his visit to General Scott while answering reporters’ questions, I wonder if the Lincoln Log indeed is correct and President Lincoln perhaps may have had Scott interview Pope for the job.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/06/18/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-18-24-1862/
11. Monday, June 23, 1862: Peninsula Campaign: The weather around Richmond has turned sunny, and the roads are drying out. US General McClellan is planning his next move on Richmond. CS General Jackson arrives and meets General Lee near Richmond in the afternoon, having ridden 50 miles ahead of his men. Also at the meeting are Generals D. H. Hill (Jackson’s brother-in-law), Longstreet and A. P. Hill. Lee tells the generals that they are going to attack the Army of the Potomac within days and that the purpose of this meeting is to set a timetable. Jackson has the farthest to travel to get in position, so the timing of the attack hinges upon his ability to move his column. They decide to start the assault on the morning of June 26. When the meeting is over, Jackson rides more than 40 miles back to his men.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/06/18/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-18-24-1862/
12. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Stephen Minot Weld, of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, writes home to his father; his letter reveals how common amongst the rank and file was the attitude of their commander, McClellan, that conspiracies in Washington were responsible for McClellan not being able to move: “From present appearances, we shall stay here all summer sweltering under this powerful sun, our ranks daily decreasing from sickness and exposure, all from want of reinforcements. Unless we are attacked by the enemy, or unless General McClellan gets some very favorable chance to attack them, there will be no fighting for some time, and in case of a battle the result, to say the least, is extremely doubtful. They greatly outnumber us, and are daily throwing up trenches and batteries right opposite our army. In the face of all these facts, and notwithstanding McClellan’s frequent and earnest appeals for more troops, the Government at Washington refuses us any reinforcements. The Abolitionists in Congress have a great deal to do with this, and are purposely protracting the war in order to render emancipation necessary, and are so endangering our existence as a nation united and whole. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
13. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- George Michael Neese, a Confederate soldier in Chew’s Horse Artillery, relates his impression of Sunday services: “We had preaching in camp to-day again, and we are getting in a goodly supply of heavenly ammunition from the arsenal of truth — in double doses, preaching in the morning and prayer meeting at night. The ammunition is fixed and ready to fire at all times and under all circumstances, and I hope that we may all pack at least some of it away in the cartridge box of fortitude for immediate and constant use, and not act like the great majority of the world, both saints and sinners, who use it all up in empty ceremonials on Sunday, having not enough left on Monday morning to make a decent skirmish against the inroads of wrongdoing, hypocrisy, and rascality.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
14. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Caroline Cowles Richards, of upstate New York, writes in her diary of an amusing set of incidents at worship services: “There was great excitement in prayer meeting last night, it seemed to Abbie Clark, Mary Field and me on the back seat where we always sit. Several people have asked us why we sit away back there by old Mrs Kinney, but we tell them that she sits on the other side of the stove from us and we like the seat, because we have occupied it so long. I presume we would see less and hear more if we sat in front. To-night just after Mr Walter Hubbell had made one of his most beautiful prayers and Mr Cyrus Dixon was praying, a big June bug came zipping into the room and snapped against the wall and the lights and barely escaped several bald heads. Anna kept dodging around in a most startling manner and I expected every moment to see her walk out and take Emma Wheeler with her, for if she is afraid of anything more than dogs it is June bugs. At this crisis the bug flew out and a cat stealthily walked in. We knew that dear Mrs Taylor was always unpleasantly affected by the sight of cats and we didn’t know what would happen if the cat should go near her. The cat very innocently ascended the steps to the desk and as Judge and Mrs Taylor always sit on the front seat, she couldn’t help observing the ambitious animal as it started to assist Dr Dagget in conducting the meeting. The result was that Mrs Taylor just managed to reach the outside door before fainting away. We were glad when the benediction was pronounced.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
15. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Day 32
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
16. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 27
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
17. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Army of the Cumberland begins the Tullahoma Campaign against the Army of Tennessee. Georgia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
18. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Forward units of the Army of Northern Virginia begin crossing the Potomac River into Maryland northwest of Harper's Ferry.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
19. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy, writes in his journal of a Cabinet meeting this day, and the apparent condition of the President: “Neither Seward nor Stanton was at the Cabinet-meeting. Mr. Bates has left for Missouri. The President was with General Hooker at the War Department when we met, but soon came in. His countenance was sad and careworn, and impressed me painfully.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
20. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- British observer Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his diary concerning his visit to Winchester, Virginia, and the damage done to it by the occupying Yankee forces: “I understand that Winchester used to be a most agreeable little town, and its society extremely pleasant. Many of its houses are now destroyed or converted into hospitals; the rest look miserable and dilapidated. Its female inhabitants (for the able-bodied males are all absent in the army) are familiar with the bloody realities of war. As many as 5000 wounded have been accommodated here at one time. All the ladies are accustomed to the bursting of shells and the sight of fighting, and all are turned into hospital nurses or cooks.
From the utter impossibility of procuring corn, I was forced to take the horses out grazing a mile beyond the town for four hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. As one mustn’t lose sight of them for a moment, this occupied me all day, while Lawley wrote in the house. In the evening we went to visit two wounded officers in Mrs ——’s house, a major and a captain in the Louisianian Brigade which stormed the forts last Sunday week. I am afraid the captain will die. Both are shot through the body, but are cheery. They served under Stonewall Jackson until his death, and they venerate his name, though they both agree that he has got an efficient successor in Ewell. . . . At no period of the war, they say, have the men been so well equipped, so well clothed, so eager for a fight, or so confident of success—a very different state of affairs from that which characterised the Maryland invasion of last year, when half of the army were barefooted stragglers, and many of the remainder unwilling and reluctant to cross the Potomac.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
21. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- John C. West, of the 4th Texas Infantry (in Longstreet’s corps in Lee’s army), writes to Miss Decca Smith of Columbia, South Carolina, detailing the miseries of an infantryman on a brisk campaign march: “Dear Decca: Yours of the 6th inst., with one from Miss Nannie Norton of the same date reached me about eight days ago, and I have not had a moment since to answer you, and even now cannot tell whether I shall be interrupted before I am half done this. I am writing on my knee, with everything packed ready to move at the sound of the bugle. I wrote you last on the 6th of June from near Culpepper Court House. On that day we took a hard march of eighteen miles through the rain, and on very muddy roads. We halted about 10 o’clock at night. I was wet and very tired.
There was an order against making tires, as we were near the enemy, being on the same ground on which Stuart fought them a few days afterwards. Of course I slept; a soldier, if he knows his own interest, will sleep whenever opportunity offers, but there were 10,000 or 12,000 men huddled on the side of the road in a promiscuous mass, just as you have seen cattle about a barn lot; no one knowing how much mud or filth he reposed in until the generous light of day revealed it. It rained a good deal during the night and kept me thoroughly soaked. . . .
On the 13th we received orders to be ready to march or fight, but it turned out to be only a march of five miles, which we accomplished in an hour and reached Cedar Run, the scene of one of Stonewall Jackson’s battles last August. There were a great many unburied skeletons, presenting a very ghastly appearance. There were forty-nine skulls in one little ditch. . . . A hand or a foot might be seen protruding from the earth, here and there, to mark the last resting place of the patriotic victims of this horrible war.
We left this camp on the 15th and marched through Culpepper towards Winchester. This was one of the hottest days and one of the hottest marches I have yet experienced. Over 500 men fell out by the road side from fatigue and exhaustion, and several died where they fell; this was occasioned by being overheated and drinking cold water in immoderate quantities, and the enforcement of the order requiring us to wade through creeks and rivers up to our waists without the privilege of even taking off our shoes. I felt quite sick and giddy with a severe pain in my head as I was climbing the hill after wading the Rappahannock, but it passed off, and I kept with the company, though I saw two dead men during the time and several others fall.
Oh! how I would have enjoyed one of mother’s mint juleps then as we rested in “the shade of the trees.” I slept gloriously that night on a bed of clover and blue grass. . . . On the 16th we marched twenty miles without so much suffering, though the day was very warm, and many fell by the way, and like the seed in the parable, “on stony ground,” for we were getting towards the mountains. . . .
All the country we have passed through is perfectly charming, and I cannot see why any Virginian ever leaves Virginia. All that I have seen so far fills my ideal of the-”promised land.” On the 18th we marched to the Shenandoah, ten miles, and waded it with positive orders not to take off any clothing. The water was deep and cold. I put my cartridge box on my head. The water came to my arm pits. We camped about a mile beyond the river. A tremendous rain drenched us before night, so we were reconciled to the wading. My blankets and everything that I had was soaked, except Mary’s daguerreotype, which Colonel B. F. Carter took charge of for me. I slept in clothes and blankets soaked wet. On the 19th we marched down the river about ten miles over a very muddy road, . . . and here about dark we experienced the hardest storm of wind and rain I ever saw. It seemed to me as if the cold and rain, like the two-edged sword of holy writ, penetrated to the very joints and marrow. I laid down but did not sleep a wink until about an hour before day, and woke up cold and stiff. More than half the soldiers spent the night in a desperate effort to keep the fire burning, which was done with great difficulty.
I took off my clothes, one garment at a time, and dried them, and baked myself until I felt tolerably well; but truly a soldier knows not what a day may bring forth. Just as I was thoroughly dried, up came another cloud and soaked us again, and then came an order to fall into line “without arms.” . . . we discovered that we had been encamped in a cloud on the mountain top, right in the heart of the rain factory, the summer resort of Æolus himself. . . . I have quite a severe cold, though I am better to-day than I was yesterday. Don’t write this to Mary. I hope we will soon get through our demonstrations and come to the fighting part of the drama.
I have not heard from home yet, though it is more than two months since I left Texas, and there are several letters in the regiment of recent date. I understand there is a large mail for our brigade at the Texas depot, in Richmond, awaiting an opportunity to be sent to us.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
22. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Gen. Robert E. Lee writes to Pres. Davis with a plan to divert Federal attention away from his movement into Pennsylvania, which would look like this: detach Gen. Beauregard with troops from North and South Carolina (since recently diminished Federal troop strength there indicates no Northern offensive planned there for the near future), and send this force up to the Rappahannock River around Culpeper, to threaten Washington from that front.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
23. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland (U.S.), puts his army on the road out of Murfreesboro to execute his planned campaign of maneuver against Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Tullahoma.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
24. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Sibley, Missouri less than three months after the hijacking of the Sam Gaty, Captain Samuel A. Flagg (1834-1878) of the 4th Regiment of Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, led a detachment of 125 men (both cavalry and infantry) to rid the Sibley and Napoleon Bottoms area of partisan guerrillas. A few days prior, Captain Flagg stated that he had seen “many bands of guerrillas” in the Sibley and Napoleon area while on patrol from Lexington to Kansas City.
Shortly after dawn on June 23, Flagg ordered some of his cavalry to advance into Sibley where they were briefly engaged by partisans. A short fire-fight ensued, and Flagg reported two partisans killed and four wounded. He made no mention of any federal casualties. Captain Flagg then reported: “It being a general place of resort for the bushwhackers, and where they concentrated to fire into all the boats that pass for the purpose of plundering them, and as they used the houses for shelter to fire on my men, the town was burned, except one or two houses that were left, reported as Union property (Report of Capt. Samuel A. Flagg, Fourth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, 28 June 1863).”
A nearby resident, Mrs. Emily Steele, in a letter to her son on July 24, 1863, corroborated Flagg’s account by simply stating, “Nearly all of Sibley is burned…”
In a follow-up report, General Thomas Ewing, Jr., made the following comments regarding the burning of Sibley: “I think it probable that it was for the good of the service that the town was burned, for the reasons named by Captain Flagg; but, not feeling entirely satisfied, I will take care to ascertain the character of the people, and their conduct, as also the circumstances under which the town was burned (Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr, U.S. Army, commanding District of the Border, June 30, 1863).”
http://historicsibleymo.com/civilwar/the-burning-of-sibley/
25. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Gettysburg campaign: The Army of Northern Virginia begins crossing the Potomac from Harper’s Ferry into Maryland, heading for Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, US Generals Hooker and Halleck have been bickering and are still unsure of where Lee actually is.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/06/17/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-17-23-1863/
26. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Vicksburg, June 23, 1863. To General JOSEPH E. Johnston, Jackson: “If I cut my way out, this important position is lost, and many of my men, too. Can we afford that? If I cannot cut my way out, both position and all my men are lost. This we cannot afford. Should suggest the probability of Grant’s being open to terms that can result more to our advantage than either of the above actions. Not knowing your force or plans, he may accede to your proposition to pass this army out with all its arms and equipage . This proposal would come with greater prospects of success and better grace from you, while it necessarily could not come at all from me. You could make the showing of my ability and strength to still hold out for several week longer, which, together with his impression regarding your strength, might operate upon him to comply with your terms. While I make this suggestion, I still renew my hope of your being, by force of arms, enabled to act with me in saving this vital point. I will strain every nerve to hold out, if there is hope of our ultimate relief, for FIFTEEN days longer. It is reported that some of the enemy’s forces are moving up toward the Yazoo. It is also reported that some of his forces have moved along the Hall’s Ferry road to Big Bayou, near Warrenton, where they are temporarily massing. These movements indicate the lengthening of the enemy’s lines, and the increase of the area of his operations. J. C. PEMBERTON.”
https://bjdeming.com/2013/06/17/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-17-23-1863/
27. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart continues probing to discover the exact location of Hooker’s army, since Lee has tasked Stuart with determining whether Hooker has crossed the Potomac yet, or whether the Yankees will remain inactive. Lee’s discretionary orders are actually quite ambiguous, and leave room for Stuart to ride north following Ewell’s path, or to detach two brigades and take the rest for a ride around the Union army, which he is undoubtedly eager to do. And yet, he is expected to keep in touch with Ewell’s right.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
28. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Siege of Petersburg. The battle of Jerusalem Plank Road continues. Siege of Petersburg: The Wilson-Kautz (USA) raid: The raiders head west along the Southside Railroad, destroying track and facilities. Kautz goes to Burkeville Junction. Wilson hits Black and White’s Station at about noon, destroying the place and burning loads of cotton. Wilson then meets CS General Rooney Lee‘s cavalry near Nottoway Court House around 2 p.m.. After a sharp fight Wilson decides to turn south along the Richmond & Danville railroad. Kautz, in the meantime, reaches Burkeville Junction at about 3 p.m., sending two brigades to destroy the Southside and Richmond & Danville lines. Kautz then is ordered to rejoin Wilson.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
29. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Virginia/West Virginia operations: Hunter’s Raid. US General David Hunter, heading for West Virginia, realizes that CS General Jubal Early is not pursuing him. Hunter believes Early has gone back to Lee but doesn’t know for sure where Early is. Generals Grant and Halleck have no idea where General Hunter is or what his plans are. This day, however, Hunter does get news from Grant, current up through the 22nd. General Hunter also decides to continue to West Virginia and not try to come to General Sigel’s aid.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
30. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Mississippi operations: CS General Nathan Bedford Forrest, having learned from reliable sources that a very large is preparing to move against him from Memphis, sends 200 men to Ripley to watch the converging roads there.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
31. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Atlanta campaign: Per General Sherman (15): “On the 23d of June I telegraphed to General Halleck this summary, which I cannot again better state: “We continue to press forward on the principle of an advance against fortified positions. The whole country is one vast fort, and Johnston must have at least fifty miles of connected trenches, with abatis and finished batteries. We gain ground daily, fighting all the time. On the 21st General Stanley gained a position near the south end of Kenesaw, from which the enemy attempted in vain to drive him; and the same day General T. J. Wood’s division took a hill, which the enemy assaulted three times at night without success, leaving more than a hundred dead on the ground. Yesterday the extreme right (Hooker and Schofield) advanced on the Powder Springs road to within three miles of Marietta. The enemy made a strong effort to drive them away, but failed signally, leaving more than two hundred dead on the field. Our lines are now in close contact, and the fighting is incessant, with a good deal of artillery-fire. As fast as we gain one position the enemy has another all ready, but I think he will soon have to let go Kenesaw, which is the key to the whole country. The weather is now better, and the roads are drying up fast. Our losses are light, and, not-withstanding the repeated breaks of the road to our rear, supplies are ample.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
32. Friday, June 23, 1865: Samuel DuPont dies unexpectedly in Philadelphia, PA
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186506
A Monday, June 23, 1862: Pineville, Missouri - On June 23, a Union force arrived at Pineville and discovered a force of Confederates nearby. The Federals attacked, forcing a rout of the Confederates.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
A+ Monday, June 23, 1862: Pineville, Missouri. There was a skirmish at Pineville between the Second Wisconsin Cavalry and the Confederates under Major Russell. The latter were defeated, with the loss of several prisoners and considerable property.
http://www.librarymail.org/genehist/sturgesbookv2_2.pdf
A++ JUNE 23, 1862.-Skirmish at Pineville, Mo. Report of Brigadier General W. Scott Ketchum, U. S. Army.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Saint Louis, June 24, 1862.
Major Miller, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, routed rebels under Major Russell at Pineville yesterday morning 6.30, taking several prisoners, horses, mules, and other property.
Another expedition from Cassville is out. W. SCOTT KETCHUM, Brigadier-General, Acting Inspector-General.
https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/019/0129
B Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Morgan's Raid. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corydon
C Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Military events: Middle Tennessee operations/Tullahoma Campaign (preliminary): General Rosecrans issues orders to move.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/06/17/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-17-23-1863/
C+ Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Tullahoma Campaign. The first movements of the campaign had actually begun on June 23 when elements of the Reserve Corps under Granger, with a cavalry division under Mitchell, moved due west from Murfreesboro to Triune to begin an elaborate feint. This was designed to play into Bragg's assumption that the main attack would come on his left flank in the direction of Shelbyville. At the same time, the XXI Corps division of John Palmer moved to Bradyville, well beyond the Confederate right flank, where he could push back Confederate cavalry and move in the direction of Manchester, getting into the Confederate rear. It was only after these movements were under way that Rosecrans brought his corps commanders together to hear the detailed orders for the upcoming campaign.
Rosecrans's elaborate plan, which would test the extensive training program he had spent the six months conducting, was to slide Granger's corps to the left, covering the Shelbyville approaches, and perform a giant right wheel of the army. While Bragg's attention was focused on the strongly fortified Shelbyville, Thomas's corps would march southeast on the Manchester Pike, headed for Hoover's Gap on Hardee's right flank. Since the gap was lightly manned, speed was of the essence to Rosecrans's plan.
During the spring, Rosecrans had repeatedly asked for more cavalry resources, which were denied by Washington, but he did receive permission to outfit an infantry brigade as a mounted unit. Col. John T. Wilder's brigade of Reynolds's division—1,500 men of the 17th and 72nd Indiana regiments and the 98th and 123rd Illinois—found horses and mules in the countryside and armed themselves with long handled hatchets for hand-to-hand combat, which caused their unit to be derisively nicknamed the "Hatchet Brigade". Their more lethal armament were the seven-shot Spencer repeating rifles carried by all the men. Wilder's brigade had the mobility and firepower, but also the high unit morale, necessary to lead the surprise advance on Hoover's Gap before it could be reinforced.
Our regiment lay on the hill side in mud and water, the rain pouring down in torrents, while each shell screamed so close to us as to make it seem that the next would tear us to pieces. Presently the enemy got near enough to us to make a charge on our battery, and on they came; our men are on their feet in an instant and a terrible fire from the "Spencers" causes the advancing regiment to reel and its colors fall to the ground, but in an instant their colors are up again and on they come, thinking to reach the battery before our guns can be reloaded, but they "reckoned without their host," they didn't know we had the "Spencers," and their charging yell was answered by another terrible volley, and another and another without cessation, until the poor regiment was literally cut to pieces, and but few men of that 20th Tennessee that attempted the charge will ever charge again.
Major James A. Connolly, Wilder's Brigade
Wilder's brigade was successful in racing toward Hoover's Gap and capturing it on the first day of battle, which led to his unit's subsequent nickname, the Lightning Brigade. Their opponents, the 1st Kentucky Cavalry, skirmished briefly and withdrew under pressure, but were unable to reach the gap before the better-fed horses of the Lightning Brigade. The Kentuckians fell apart as a unit and, unluckily for the Confederates, failed in their cavalry mission to provide intelligence of the Union movement to their higher headquarters. Although Wilder's main infantry support was well behind his mounted brigade, he determined to continue pushing through the Gap and hold it before the Confederate reinforcements could arrive. The Confederate brigade of Brig. Gen. William B. Bate, supported by Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's brigade and some artillery, assaulted Wilder's position, but was driven back by the concentrated fire of the Spencers, losing 146 killed and wounded (almost a quarter of his force) to Wilder's 61. Wilder's brigade held the Gap until the main infantry units of the XIV Corps arrived to secure the position against any further assaults. The corps commander, General Thomas, shook Wilder's hand and told him, "You have saved the lives of a thousand men by your gallant conduct today. I didn't expect to get to this gap for three days."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tullahoma_Campaign
D Friday, June 23, 1865: The blockade of all Southern ports was lifted by President Johnson. The blockade had been a huge success as it starved the South of a great many things they needed to fight the war. By 1865, 470 Union warships patrolled the eastern coastline and any blockade runner had very little chance of getting in to or out of a Southern port.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1865/
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 LTC Thomas Tennant GySgt Jack Wallace LTC David BrownLTC (Join to see) SSG Bill McCoySPC (Join to see) MAJ Byron Oyler SSG (Join to see) Sgt Axel HastingA1C Pamela G Russell Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SSgt David M.
Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Gettysburg campaign: The Army of Northern Virginia begins crossing the Potomac from Harper’s Ferry into Maryland, heading for Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, US Generals Hooker and Halleck have been bickering and are still unsure of where Lee actually is.
Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Vicksburg, June 23, 1863. To General JOSEPH E. Johnston, Jackson: “If I cut my way out, this important position is lost, and many of my men, too. Can we afford that? If I cannot cut my way out, both position and all my men are lost. This we cannot afford. Should suggest the probability of Grant’s being open to terms that can result more to our advantage than either of the above actions. Not knowing your force or plans, he may accede to your proposition to pass this army out with all its arms and equipage . This proposal would come with greater prospects of success and better grace from you, while it necessarily could not come at all from me. You could make the showing of my ability and strength to still hold out for several week longer, which, together with his impression regarding your strength, might operate upon him to comply with your terms. While I make this suggestion, I still renew my hope of your being, by force of arms, enabled to act with me in saving this vital point. I will strain every nerve to hold out, if there is hope of our ultimate relief, for FIFTEEN days longer. It is reported that some of the enemy’s forces are moving up toward the Yazoo. It is also reported that some of his forces have moved along the Hall’s Ferry road to Big Bayou, near Warrenton, where they are temporarily massing. These movements indicate the lengthening of the enemy’s lines, and the increase of the area of his operations. J. C. PEMBERTON.”
Tuesday, June 23, 1863 “Maj. Gen. J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart continues probing to discover the exact location of Hooker’s army, since Lee has tasked Stuart with determining whether Hooker has crossed the Potomac yet, or whether the Yankees will remain inactive. Lee’s discretionary orders are actually quite ambiguous, and leave room for Stuart to ride north following Ewell’s path, or to detach two brigades and take the rest for a ride around the Union army, which he is undoubtedly eager to do. And yet, he is expected to keep in touch with Ewell’s right.”
Thursday, June 23, 1864: Siege of Petersburg. The battle of Jerusalem Plank Road continues. Siege of Petersburg: The Wilson-Kautz (USA) raid: The raiders head west along the Southside Railroad, destroying track and facilities. Kautz goes to Burkeville Junction. Wilson hits Black and White’s Station at about noon, destroying the place and burning loads of cotton. Wilson then meets CS General Rooney Lee‘s cavalry near Nottoway Court House around 2 p.m.. After a sharp fight Wilson decides to turn south along the Richmond & Danville railroad. Kautz, in the meantime, reaches Burkeville Junction at about 3 p.m., sending two brigades to destroy the Southside and Richmond & Danville lines. Kautz then is ordered to rejoin Wilson.
Below are a number of journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Monday, June 23, 1862: Stephen Minot Weld, of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, writes home to his father; his letter reveals how common amongst the rank and file was the attitude of their commander, McClellan, that conspiracies in Washington were responsible for McClellan not being able to move: “From present appearances, we shall stay here all summer sweltering under this powerful sun, our ranks daily decreasing from sickness and exposure, all from want of reinforcements. Unless we are attacked by the enemy, or unless General McClellan gets some very favorable chance to attack them, there will be no fighting for some time, and in case of a battle the result, to say the least, is extremely doubtful. They greatly outnumber us, and are daily throwing up trenches and batteries right opposite our army. In the face of all these facts, and notwithstanding McClellan’s frequent and earnest appeals for more troops, the Government at Washington refuses us any reinforcements. The Abolitionists in Congress have a great deal to do with this, and are purposely protracting the war in order to render emancipation necessary, and are so endangering our existence as a nation united and whole. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
Monday, June 23, 1862: George Michael Neese, a Confederate soldier in Chew’s Horse Artillery, relates his impression of Sunday services: “We had preaching in camp to-day again, and we are getting in a goodly supply of heavenly ammunition from the arsenal of truth — in double doses, preaching in the morning and prayer meeting at night. The ammunition is fixed and ready to fire at all times and under all circumstances, and I hope that we may all pack at least some of it away in the cartridge box of fortitude for immediate and constant use, and not act like the great majority of the world, both saints and sinners, who use it all up in empty ceremonials on Sunday, having not enough left on Monday morning to make a decent skirmish against the inroads of wrongdoing, hypocrisy, and rascality.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
Tuesday, June 23, 1863: John C. West, of the 4th Texas Infantry (in Longstreet’s corps in Lee’s army), writes to Miss Decca Smith of Columbia, South Carolina, detailing the miseries of an infantryman on a brisk campaign march: “Dear Decca: Yours of the 6th inst., with one from Miss Nannie Norton of the same date reached me about eight days ago, and I have not had a moment since to answer you, and even now cannot tell whether I shall be interrupted before I am half done this. I am writing on my knee, with everything packed ready to move at the sound of the bugle. I wrote you last on the 6th of June from near Culpepper Court House. On that day we took a hard march of eighteen miles through the rain, and on very muddy roads. We halted about 10 o’clock at night. I was wet and very tired.
There was an order against making tires, as we were near the enemy, being on the same ground on which Stuart fought them a few days afterwards. Of course I slept; a soldier, if he knows his own interest, will sleep whenever opportunity offers, but there were 10,000 or 12,000 men huddled on the side of the road in a promiscuous mass, just as you have seen cattle about a barn lot; no one knowing how much mud or filth he reposed in until the generous light of day revealed it. It rained a good deal during the night and kept me thoroughly soaked. . . .
On the 13th we received orders to be ready to march or fight, but it turned out to be only a march of five miles, which we accomplished in an hour and reached Cedar Run, the scene of one of Stonewall Jackson’s battles last August. There were a great many unburied skeletons, presenting a very ghastly appearance. There were forty-nine skulls in one little ditch. . . . A hand or a foot might be seen protruding from the earth, here and there, to mark the last resting place of the patriotic victims of this horrible war.
We left this camp on the 15th and marched through Culpepper towards Winchester. This was one of the hottest days and one of the hottest marches I have yet experienced. Over 500 men fell out by the road side from fatigue and exhaustion, and several died where they fell; this was occasioned by being overheated and drinking cold water in immoderate quantities, and the enforcement of the order requiring us to wade through creeks and rivers up to our waists without the privilege of even taking off our shoes. I felt quite sick and giddy with a severe pain in my head as I was climbing the hill after wading the Rappahannock, but it passed off, and I kept with the company, though I saw two dead men during the time and several others fall.
Oh! how I would have enjoyed one of mother’s mint juleps then as we rested in “the shade of the trees.” I slept gloriously that night on a bed of clover and blue grass. . . . On the 16th we marched twenty miles without so much suffering, though the day was very warm, and many fell by the way, and like the seed in the parable, “on stony ground,” for we were getting towards the mountains. . . .
All the country we have passed through is perfectly charming, and I cannot see why any Virginian ever leaves Virginia. All that I have seen so far fills my ideal of the-”promised land.” On the 18th we marched to the Shenandoah, ten miles, and waded it with positive orders not to take off any clothing. The water was deep and cold. I put my cartridge box on my head. The water came to my arm pits. We camped about a mile beyond the river. A tremendous rain drenched us before night, so we were reconciled to the wading. My blankets and everything that I had was soaked, except Mary’s daguerreotype, which Colonel B. F. Carter took charge of for me. I slept in clothes and blankets soaked wet. On the 19th we marched down the river about ten miles over a very muddy road, . . . and here about dark we experienced the hardest storm of wind and rain I ever saw. It seemed to me as if the cold and rain, like the two-edged sword of holy writ, penetrated to the very joints and marrow. I laid down but did not sleep a wink until about an hour before day, and woke up cold and stiff. More than half the soldiers spent the night in a desperate effort to keep the fire burning, which was done with great difficulty.
I took off my clothes, one garment at a time, and dried them, and baked myself until I felt tolerably well; but truly a soldier knows not what a day may bring forth. Just as I was thoroughly dried, up came another cloud and soaked us again, and then came an order to fall into line “without arms.” . . . we discovered that we had been encamped in a cloud on the mountain top, right in the heart of the rain factory, the summer resort of Æolus himself. . . . I have quite a severe cold, though I am better to-day than I was yesterday. Don’t write this to Mary. I hope we will soon get through our demonstrations and come to the fighting part of the drama.
I have not heard from home yet, though it is more than two months since I left Texas, and there are several letters in the regiment of recent date. I understand there is a large mail for our brigade at the Texas depot, in Richmond, awaiting an opportunity to be sent to us.”
Pictures: 7-shot wonder spencer-4: CSA Pvt Isaiah Presley Markham, in uniform of the Orange Grays, 6th NC; 1861-04-13_Scott-anaconda_Blockade_Plan; Hunters raid civil war
A. Monday, June 23, 1862: Skirmish at Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. Union Victory. Major Miller leading the Second Wisconsin Cavalry arrived at Pineville at 0630 and discovered a force of Confederates commanded by Major David Russell nearby. The Federals attacked, forcing a rout of the Confederates and taking several prisoners, horses, mules, and other property.
B. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Morgan's Raid. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee.
C. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Tullahoma Campaign. The first movements of the campaign had actually begun on June 23 when elements of the Reserve Corps under Granger, with a cavalry division under Mitchell, moved due west from Murfreesboro to Triune to begin an elaborate feint. This was designed to play into General Braxton Bragg's assumption that the main attack would come on his left flank in the direction of Shelbyville. At the same time, the XXI Corps division of John Palmer moved to Bradyville, well beyond the Confederate right flank, where he could push back Confederate cavalry and move in the direction of Manchester, getting into the Confederate rear. It was only after these movements were under way that Rosecrans brought his corps commanders together to hear the detailed orders for the upcoming campaign.
Background: Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans's elaborate plan, which would test the extensive training program he had spent the six months conducting, was to slide Granger's corps to the left, covering the Shelbyville approaches, and perform a giant right wheel of the army. While Bragg's attention was focused on the strongly fortified Shelbyville, Thomas's corps would march southeast on the Manchester Pike, headed for Hoover's Gap on Hardee's right flank. Since the gap was lightly manned, speed was of the essence to Rosecrans's plan.
D. Friday, June 23, 1865: The blockade of all Southern ports was lifted by President Johnson. The blockade had been a huge success as it starved the South of a great many things they needed to fight the war. By 1865, 470 Union warships patrolled the eastern coastline and any blockade runner had very little chance of getting in to or out of a Southern port.
1. Sunday, June 23, 1861: Thomas Jackson destroys 42 engines and nearly 400 cars of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Martinsburg, Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186106
2. Sunday, June 23, 1861: Two large Confederate armies gathered. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Beauregard, and the Army of the Shenandoah, commanded by General Joseph E Johnson. To both commanders, Virginia seemed to be the likely state where major confrontations would take place.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1861/
3. Monday, June 23, 1862: near Raytown, Missouri - On June 23, a skirmish between the Union and Confederate forces occurred near Raytown. The Confederates were able to force the Federals into a rout.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
4. Monday, June 23, 1862: Robert E. Lee plans a counterattack against Union forces preparing to lay siege to Richmond at the Dabbs House
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186206
5. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Stonewall Jackson arrives in Richmond, at the head of his divisions making their way by stages on the railroad to join him. (There is still apparently no clue that the Federals still suspect he and his troops have left the Shenandoah Valley.) Gen. Lee calls a conference at his new headquarters outside of the city. Having over 85,000 overall, the largest strength ever reached by the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee plans to leave 30,000 men under Generals Huger and Magruder to guard Richmond to the south of the Chickahominy River, versus the bulk of the Union army. The Plan: to attack FitzJohn Porter’s V Corps isolated north of the Chickahominy and destroy it, and then to drive for the Federal rear, taking the supply base at White House landing on the York River. Jackson is to march east and then cut south to hit Porter in the right flank and rear, and A.P. Hill is to drive forward to strike at Porter’s other flank near the river, and thus cut off Porter’s access to the bridge near Mechanicsville. Then, Longstreet and D.H. Hill are to join in the attack, altogether bringing 56,000 Confederate troops against the lone V Corps of Yankees. The plan depends on Gen. McClelland and his 130,000 Army of the Potomac doing nothing, as usual.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
6. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- In the West, Halleck begins breaking up his Grand Army that had captured Corinth, Mississippi, into its component parts. Gen. Buell, with his Army of the Ohio, on June 11th began a campaign toward Chattanooga, but by this date had only reached Tuscumbia, Alabama. Buell is wary, and is moving slowly. Advance troops have already penetrated as far as Chattanooga, but not in enough strength to hold the city. Bragg, newly appointed commander of the Confederate army, minus Price’s and Van Dorn’s troops, is planning a campaing to join up with Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith in eastern Tennessee with 20,000 men, and to strike north.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
7. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, once again in control of the Army of the Tennessee, establishes headquarters at Memphis, where Mrs. Grant and his children soon join him.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
8. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Pres. Lincoln proposes a generous loan to Mexico to assist the neighboring nation in its struggle against French domination.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
9. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- The 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, on special assignment, patrols Gloucester and Mathews Counties in Virginia to control the impredations of Rebel cavalry who are raiding the communities there to arrest deserters from the Confederate army and others who are avoiding conscription.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
10. Monday, June 23, 1862: Western Theater: General Grant arrives in Memphis. General Pope has been called to Washington from Corinth, Mississippi, by Secretaries Stanton and Chase. President Lincoln goes by special train to New York, where he will visit West Point to consult with General Winfield Scott, General McClellan’s predecessor. The Lincoln Log says that General Pope accompanied President Lincoln to New York, while the above link to Mr. Lincoln’s White House says that the president was already out of town, on his visit to General Scott, when Pope arrived in Washington. Given the momentous announcement of Pope’s appointment on the 26th (next week!) and Lincoln’s remarkable downplaying of his visit to General Scott while answering reporters’ questions, I wonder if the Lincoln Log indeed is correct and President Lincoln perhaps may have had Scott interview Pope for the job.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/06/18/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-18-24-1862/
11. Monday, June 23, 1862: Peninsula Campaign: The weather around Richmond has turned sunny, and the roads are drying out. US General McClellan is planning his next move on Richmond. CS General Jackson arrives and meets General Lee near Richmond in the afternoon, having ridden 50 miles ahead of his men. Also at the meeting are Generals D. H. Hill (Jackson’s brother-in-law), Longstreet and A. P. Hill. Lee tells the generals that they are going to attack the Army of the Potomac within days and that the purpose of this meeting is to set a timetable. Jackson has the farthest to travel to get in position, so the timing of the attack hinges upon his ability to move his column. They decide to start the assault on the morning of June 26. When the meeting is over, Jackson rides more than 40 miles back to his men.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/06/18/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-18-24-1862/
12. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Stephen Minot Weld, of the 18th Massachusetts Infantry, writes home to his father; his letter reveals how common amongst the rank and file was the attitude of their commander, McClellan, that conspiracies in Washington were responsible for McClellan not being able to move: “From present appearances, we shall stay here all summer sweltering under this powerful sun, our ranks daily decreasing from sickness and exposure, all from want of reinforcements. Unless we are attacked by the enemy, or unless General McClellan gets some very favorable chance to attack them, there will be no fighting for some time, and in case of a battle the result, to say the least, is extremely doubtful. They greatly outnumber us, and are daily throwing up trenches and batteries right opposite our army. In the face of all these facts, and notwithstanding McClellan’s frequent and earnest appeals for more troops, the Government at Washington refuses us any reinforcements. The Abolitionists in Congress have a great deal to do with this, and are purposely protracting the war in order to render emancipation necessary, and are so endangering our existence as a nation united and whole. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
13. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- George Michael Neese, a Confederate soldier in Chew’s Horse Artillery, relates his impression of Sunday services: “We had preaching in camp to-day again, and we are getting in a goodly supply of heavenly ammunition from the arsenal of truth — in double doses, preaching in the morning and prayer meeting at night. The ammunition is fixed and ready to fire at all times and under all circumstances, and I hope that we may all pack at least some of it away in the cartridge box of fortitude for immediate and constant use, and not act like the great majority of the world, both saints and sinners, who use it all up in empty ceremonials on Sunday, having not enough left on Monday morning to make a decent skirmish against the inroads of wrongdoing, hypocrisy, and rascality.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
14. Monday, June 23, 1862 --- Caroline Cowles Richards, of upstate New York, writes in her diary of an amusing set of incidents at worship services: “There was great excitement in prayer meeting last night, it seemed to Abbie Clark, Mary Field and me on the back seat where we always sit. Several people have asked us why we sit away back there by old Mrs Kinney, but we tell them that she sits on the other side of the stove from us and we like the seat, because we have occupied it so long. I presume we would see less and hear more if we sat in front. To-night just after Mr Walter Hubbell had made one of his most beautiful prayers and Mr Cyrus Dixon was praying, a big June bug came zipping into the room and snapped against the wall and the lights and barely escaped several bald heads. Anna kept dodging around in a most startling manner and I expected every moment to see her walk out and take Emma Wheeler with her, for if she is afraid of anything more than dogs it is June bugs. At this crisis the bug flew out and a cat stealthily walked in. We knew that dear Mrs Taylor was always unpleasantly affected by the sight of cats and we didn’t know what would happen if the cat should go near her. The cat very innocently ascended the steps to the desk and as Judge and Mrs Taylor always sit on the front seat, she couldn’t help observing the ambitious animal as it started to assist Dr Dagget in conducting the meeting. The result was that Mrs Taylor just managed to reach the outside door before fainting away. We were glad when the benediction was pronounced.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1862
15. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Day 32
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
16. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 27
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
17. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Army of the Cumberland begins the Tullahoma Campaign against the Army of Tennessee. Georgia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
18. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Forward units of the Army of Northern Virginia begin crossing the Potomac River into Maryland northwest of Harper's Ferry.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
19. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy, writes in his journal of a Cabinet meeting this day, and the apparent condition of the President: “Neither Seward nor Stanton was at the Cabinet-meeting. Mr. Bates has left for Missouri. The President was with General Hooker at the War Department when we met, but soon came in. His countenance was sad and careworn, and impressed me painfully.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
20. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- British observer Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his diary concerning his visit to Winchester, Virginia, and the damage done to it by the occupying Yankee forces: “I understand that Winchester used to be a most agreeable little town, and its society extremely pleasant. Many of its houses are now destroyed or converted into hospitals; the rest look miserable and dilapidated. Its female inhabitants (for the able-bodied males are all absent in the army) are familiar with the bloody realities of war. As many as 5000 wounded have been accommodated here at one time. All the ladies are accustomed to the bursting of shells and the sight of fighting, and all are turned into hospital nurses or cooks.
From the utter impossibility of procuring corn, I was forced to take the horses out grazing a mile beyond the town for four hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. As one mustn’t lose sight of them for a moment, this occupied me all day, while Lawley wrote in the house. In the evening we went to visit two wounded officers in Mrs ——’s house, a major and a captain in the Louisianian Brigade which stormed the forts last Sunday week. I am afraid the captain will die. Both are shot through the body, but are cheery. They served under Stonewall Jackson until his death, and they venerate his name, though they both agree that he has got an efficient successor in Ewell. . . . At no period of the war, they say, have the men been so well equipped, so well clothed, so eager for a fight, or so confident of success—a very different state of affairs from that which characterised the Maryland invasion of last year, when half of the army were barefooted stragglers, and many of the remainder unwilling and reluctant to cross the Potomac.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
21. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- John C. West, of the 4th Texas Infantry (in Longstreet’s corps in Lee’s army), writes to Miss Decca Smith of Columbia, South Carolina, detailing the miseries of an infantryman on a brisk campaign march: “Dear Decca: Yours of the 6th inst., with one from Miss Nannie Norton of the same date reached me about eight days ago, and I have not had a moment since to answer you, and even now cannot tell whether I shall be interrupted before I am half done this. I am writing on my knee, with everything packed ready to move at the sound of the bugle. I wrote you last on the 6th of June from near Culpepper Court House. On that day we took a hard march of eighteen miles through the rain, and on very muddy roads. We halted about 10 o’clock at night. I was wet and very tired.
There was an order against making tires, as we were near the enemy, being on the same ground on which Stuart fought them a few days afterwards. Of course I slept; a soldier, if he knows his own interest, will sleep whenever opportunity offers, but there were 10,000 or 12,000 men huddled on the side of the road in a promiscuous mass, just as you have seen cattle about a barn lot; no one knowing how much mud or filth he reposed in until the generous light of day revealed it. It rained a good deal during the night and kept me thoroughly soaked. . . .
On the 13th we received orders to be ready to march or fight, but it turned out to be only a march of five miles, which we accomplished in an hour and reached Cedar Run, the scene of one of Stonewall Jackson’s battles last August. There were a great many unburied skeletons, presenting a very ghastly appearance. There were forty-nine skulls in one little ditch. . . . A hand or a foot might be seen protruding from the earth, here and there, to mark the last resting place of the patriotic victims of this horrible war.
We left this camp on the 15th and marched through Culpepper towards Winchester. This was one of the hottest days and one of the hottest marches I have yet experienced. Over 500 men fell out by the road side from fatigue and exhaustion, and several died where they fell; this was occasioned by being overheated and drinking cold water in immoderate quantities, and the enforcement of the order requiring us to wade through creeks and rivers up to our waists without the privilege of even taking off our shoes. I felt quite sick and giddy with a severe pain in my head as I was climbing the hill after wading the Rappahannock, but it passed off, and I kept with the company, though I saw two dead men during the time and several others fall.
Oh! how I would have enjoyed one of mother’s mint juleps then as we rested in “the shade of the trees.” I slept gloriously that night on a bed of clover and blue grass. . . . On the 16th we marched twenty miles without so much suffering, though the day was very warm, and many fell by the way, and like the seed in the parable, “on stony ground,” for we were getting towards the mountains. . . .
All the country we have passed through is perfectly charming, and I cannot see why any Virginian ever leaves Virginia. All that I have seen so far fills my ideal of the-”promised land.” On the 18th we marched to the Shenandoah, ten miles, and waded it with positive orders not to take off any clothing. The water was deep and cold. I put my cartridge box on my head. The water came to my arm pits. We camped about a mile beyond the river. A tremendous rain drenched us before night, so we were reconciled to the wading. My blankets and everything that I had was soaked, except Mary’s daguerreotype, which Colonel B. F. Carter took charge of for me. I slept in clothes and blankets soaked wet. On the 19th we marched down the river about ten miles over a very muddy road, . . . and here about dark we experienced the hardest storm of wind and rain I ever saw. It seemed to me as if the cold and rain, like the two-edged sword of holy writ, penetrated to the very joints and marrow. I laid down but did not sleep a wink until about an hour before day, and woke up cold and stiff. More than half the soldiers spent the night in a desperate effort to keep the fire burning, which was done with great difficulty.
I took off my clothes, one garment at a time, and dried them, and baked myself until I felt tolerably well; but truly a soldier knows not what a day may bring forth. Just as I was thoroughly dried, up came another cloud and soaked us again, and then came an order to fall into line “without arms.” . . . we discovered that we had been encamped in a cloud on the mountain top, right in the heart of the rain factory, the summer resort of Æolus himself. . . . I have quite a severe cold, though I am better to-day than I was yesterday. Don’t write this to Mary. I hope we will soon get through our demonstrations and come to the fighting part of the drama.
I have not heard from home yet, though it is more than two months since I left Texas, and there are several letters in the regiment of recent date. I understand there is a large mail for our brigade at the Texas depot, in Richmond, awaiting an opportunity to be sent to us.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
22. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Gen. Robert E. Lee writes to Pres. Davis with a plan to divert Federal attention away from his movement into Pennsylvania, which would look like this: detach Gen. Beauregard with troops from North and South Carolina (since recently diminished Federal troop strength there indicates no Northern offensive planned there for the near future), and send this force up to the Rappahannock River around Culpeper, to threaten Washington from that front.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
23. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland (U.S.), puts his army on the road out of Murfreesboro to execute his planned campaign of maneuver against Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Tullahoma.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
24. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Sibley, Missouri less than three months after the hijacking of the Sam Gaty, Captain Samuel A. Flagg (1834-1878) of the 4th Regiment of Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, led a detachment of 125 men (both cavalry and infantry) to rid the Sibley and Napoleon Bottoms area of partisan guerrillas. A few days prior, Captain Flagg stated that he had seen “many bands of guerrillas” in the Sibley and Napoleon area while on patrol from Lexington to Kansas City.
Shortly after dawn on June 23, Flagg ordered some of his cavalry to advance into Sibley where they were briefly engaged by partisans. A short fire-fight ensued, and Flagg reported two partisans killed and four wounded. He made no mention of any federal casualties. Captain Flagg then reported: “It being a general place of resort for the bushwhackers, and where they concentrated to fire into all the boats that pass for the purpose of plundering them, and as they used the houses for shelter to fire on my men, the town was burned, except one or two houses that were left, reported as Union property (Report of Capt. Samuel A. Flagg, Fourth Missouri State Militia Cavalry, 28 June 1863).”
A nearby resident, Mrs. Emily Steele, in a letter to her son on July 24, 1863, corroborated Flagg’s account by simply stating, “Nearly all of Sibley is burned…”
In a follow-up report, General Thomas Ewing, Jr., made the following comments regarding the burning of Sibley: “I think it probable that it was for the good of the service that the town was burned, for the reasons named by Captain Flagg; but, not feeling entirely satisfied, I will take care to ascertain the character of the people, and their conduct, as also the circumstances under which the town was burned (Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing, Jr, U.S. Army, commanding District of the Border, June 30, 1863).”
http://historicsibleymo.com/civilwar/the-burning-of-sibley/
25. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Gettysburg campaign: The Army of Northern Virginia begins crossing the Potomac from Harper’s Ferry into Maryland, heading for Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, US Generals Hooker and Halleck have been bickering and are still unsure of where Lee actually is.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/06/17/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-17-23-1863/
26. Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Vicksburg, June 23, 1863. To General JOSEPH E. Johnston, Jackson: “If I cut my way out, this important position is lost, and many of my men, too. Can we afford that? If I cannot cut my way out, both position and all my men are lost. This we cannot afford. Should suggest the probability of Grant’s being open to terms that can result more to our advantage than either of the above actions. Not knowing your force or plans, he may accede to your proposition to pass this army out with all its arms and equipage . This proposal would come with greater prospects of success and better grace from you, while it necessarily could not come at all from me. You could make the showing of my ability and strength to still hold out for several week longer, which, together with his impression regarding your strength, might operate upon him to comply with your terms. While I make this suggestion, I still renew my hope of your being, by force of arms, enabled to act with me in saving this vital point. I will strain every nerve to hold out, if there is hope of our ultimate relief, for FIFTEEN days longer. It is reported that some of the enemy’s forces are moving up toward the Yazoo. It is also reported that some of his forces have moved along the Hall’s Ferry road to Big Bayou, near Warrenton, where they are temporarily massing. These movements indicate the lengthening of the enemy’s lines, and the increase of the area of his operations. J. C. PEMBERTON.”
https://bjdeming.com/2013/06/17/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-17-23-1863/
27. Tuesday, June 23, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart continues probing to discover the exact location of Hooker’s army, since Lee has tasked Stuart with determining whether Hooker has crossed the Potomac yet, or whether the Yankees will remain inactive. Lee’s discretionary orders are actually quite ambiguous, and leave room for Stuart to ride north following Ewell’s path, or to detach two brigades and take the rest for a ride around the Union army, which he is undoubtedly eager to do. And yet, he is expected to keep in touch with Ewell’s right.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+23%2C+1863
28. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Siege of Petersburg. The battle of Jerusalem Plank Road continues. Siege of Petersburg: The Wilson-Kautz (USA) raid: The raiders head west along the Southside Railroad, destroying track and facilities. Kautz goes to Burkeville Junction. Wilson hits Black and White’s Station at about noon, destroying the place and burning loads of cotton. Wilson then meets CS General Rooney Lee‘s cavalry near Nottoway Court House around 2 p.m.. After a sharp fight Wilson decides to turn south along the Richmond & Danville railroad. Kautz, in the meantime, reaches Burkeville Junction at about 3 p.m., sending two brigades to destroy the Southside and Richmond & Danville lines. Kautz then is ordered to rejoin Wilson.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
29. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Virginia/West Virginia operations: Hunter’s Raid. US General David Hunter, heading for West Virginia, realizes that CS General Jubal Early is not pursuing him. Hunter believes Early has gone back to Lee but doesn’t know for sure where Early is. Generals Grant and Halleck have no idea where General Hunter is or what his plans are. This day, however, Hunter does get news from Grant, current up through the 22nd. General Hunter also decides to continue to West Virginia and not try to come to General Sigel’s aid.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
30. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Mississippi operations: CS General Nathan Bedford Forrest, having learned from reliable sources that a very large is preparing to move against him from Memphis, sends 200 men to Ripley to watch the converging roads there.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
31. Thursday, June 23, 1864: Atlanta campaign: Per General Sherman (15): “On the 23d of June I telegraphed to General Halleck this summary, which I cannot again better state: “We continue to press forward on the principle of an advance against fortified positions. The whole country is one vast fort, and Johnston must have at least fifty miles of connected trenches, with abatis and finished batteries. We gain ground daily, fighting all the time. On the 21st General Stanley gained a position near the south end of Kenesaw, from which the enemy attempted in vain to drive him; and the same day General T. J. Wood’s division took a hill, which the enemy assaulted three times at night without success, leaving more than a hundred dead on the ground. Yesterday the extreme right (Hooker and Schofield) advanced on the Powder Springs road to within three miles of Marietta. The enemy made a strong effort to drive them away, but failed signally, leaving more than two hundred dead on the field. Our lines are now in close contact, and the fighting is incessant, with a good deal of artillery-fire. As fast as we gain one position the enemy has another all ready, but I think he will soon have to let go Kenesaw, which is the key to the whole country. The weather is now better, and the roads are drying up fast. Our losses are light, and, not-withstanding the repeated breaks of the road to our rear, supplies are ample.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/22/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-23-29-1864/
32. Friday, June 23, 1865: Samuel DuPont dies unexpectedly in Philadelphia, PA
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186506
A Monday, June 23, 1862: Pineville, Missouri - On June 23, a Union force arrived at Pineville and discovered a force of Confederates nearby. The Federals attacked, forcing a rout of the Confederates.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
A+ Monday, June 23, 1862: Pineville, Missouri. There was a skirmish at Pineville between the Second Wisconsin Cavalry and the Confederates under Major Russell. The latter were defeated, with the loss of several prisoners and considerable property.
http://www.librarymail.org/genehist/sturgesbookv2_2.pdf
A++ JUNE 23, 1862.-Skirmish at Pineville, Mo. Report of Brigadier General W. Scott Ketchum, U. S. Army.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Saint Louis, June 24, 1862.
Major Miller, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, routed rebels under Major Russell at Pineville yesterday morning 6.30, taking several prisoners, horses, mules, and other property.
Another expedition from Cassville is out. W. SCOTT KETCHUM, Brigadier-General, Acting Inspector-General.
https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/019/0129
B Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Morgan's Raid. Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan led a cavalry division consisting of two brigades, totaling nearly 2,500 men, and two batteries of artillery, northward from Tennessee in the Confederacy. His movements began as a ride into Kentucky to disrupt the communications of the Union Army of the Cumberland in support of Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign. Bragg had ordered Morgan to attack any settlements of his choosing in Kentucky, but not to cross the Ohio River into Union territory. Bragg was worried about Morgan getting too far from the main army and being unable to come to his aid should it be needed. Morgan was already planning to disregard the orders and had sent scouts beyond the river before leaving Tennessee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Corydon
C Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Military events: Middle Tennessee operations/Tullahoma Campaign (preliminary): General Rosecrans issues orders to move.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/06/17/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-17-23-1863/
C+ Tuesday, June 23, 1863: Tullahoma Campaign. The first movements of the campaign had actually begun on June 23 when elements of the Reserve Corps under Granger, with a cavalry division under Mitchell, moved due west from Murfreesboro to Triune to begin an elaborate feint. This was designed to play into Bragg's assumption that the main attack would come on his left flank in the direction of Shelbyville. At the same time, the XXI Corps division of John Palmer moved to Bradyville, well beyond the Confederate right flank, where he could push back Confederate cavalry and move in the direction of Manchester, getting into the Confederate rear. It was only after these movements were under way that Rosecrans brought his corps commanders together to hear the detailed orders for the upcoming campaign.
Rosecrans's elaborate plan, which would test the extensive training program he had spent the six months conducting, was to slide Granger's corps to the left, covering the Shelbyville approaches, and perform a giant right wheel of the army. While Bragg's attention was focused on the strongly fortified Shelbyville, Thomas's corps would march southeast on the Manchester Pike, headed for Hoover's Gap on Hardee's right flank. Since the gap was lightly manned, speed was of the essence to Rosecrans's plan.
During the spring, Rosecrans had repeatedly asked for more cavalry resources, which were denied by Washington, but he did receive permission to outfit an infantry brigade as a mounted unit. Col. John T. Wilder's brigade of Reynolds's division—1,500 men of the 17th and 72nd Indiana regiments and the 98th and 123rd Illinois—found horses and mules in the countryside and armed themselves with long handled hatchets for hand-to-hand combat, which caused their unit to be derisively nicknamed the "Hatchet Brigade". Their more lethal armament were the seven-shot Spencer repeating rifles carried by all the men. Wilder's brigade had the mobility and firepower, but also the high unit morale, necessary to lead the surprise advance on Hoover's Gap before it could be reinforced.
Our regiment lay on the hill side in mud and water, the rain pouring down in torrents, while each shell screamed so close to us as to make it seem that the next would tear us to pieces. Presently the enemy got near enough to us to make a charge on our battery, and on they came; our men are on their feet in an instant and a terrible fire from the "Spencers" causes the advancing regiment to reel and its colors fall to the ground, but in an instant their colors are up again and on they come, thinking to reach the battery before our guns can be reloaded, but they "reckoned without their host," they didn't know we had the "Spencers," and their charging yell was answered by another terrible volley, and another and another without cessation, until the poor regiment was literally cut to pieces, and but few men of that 20th Tennessee that attempted the charge will ever charge again.
Major James A. Connolly, Wilder's Brigade
Wilder's brigade was successful in racing toward Hoover's Gap and capturing it on the first day of battle, which led to his unit's subsequent nickname, the Lightning Brigade. Their opponents, the 1st Kentucky Cavalry, skirmished briefly and withdrew under pressure, but were unable to reach the gap before the better-fed horses of the Lightning Brigade. The Kentuckians fell apart as a unit and, unluckily for the Confederates, failed in their cavalry mission to provide intelligence of the Union movement to their higher headquarters. Although Wilder's main infantry support was well behind his mounted brigade, he determined to continue pushing through the Gap and hold it before the Confederate reinforcements could arrive. The Confederate brigade of Brig. Gen. William B. Bate, supported by Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's brigade and some artillery, assaulted Wilder's position, but was driven back by the concentrated fire of the Spencers, losing 146 killed and wounded (almost a quarter of his force) to Wilder's 61. Wilder's brigade held the Gap until the main infantry units of the XIV Corps arrived to secure the position against any further assaults. The corps commander, General Thomas, shook Wilder's hand and told him, "You have saved the lives of a thousand men by your gallant conduct today. I didn't expect to get to this gap for three days."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tullahoma_Campaign
D Friday, June 23, 1865: The blockade of all Southern ports was lifted by President Johnson. The blockade had been a huge success as it starved the South of a great many things they needed to fight the war. By 1865, 470 Union warships patrolled the eastern coastline and any blockade runner had very little chance of getting in to or out of a Southern port.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1865/
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 LTC Thomas Tennant GySgt Jack Wallace LTC David BrownLTC (Join to see) SSG Bill McCoySPC (Join to see) MAJ Byron Oyler SSG (Join to see) Sgt Axel HastingA1C Pamela G Russell Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SSgt David M.
The American Civil War 150 Years Ago Today: Search results for June 23, 1862
A no-frills day-by-day account of what was happening 150 years ago, this blog is intended to be a way that we can experience or remember the Civil War with more immediacy, in addition to understanding the flow of time as we live in it.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
LTC Stephen F. great read and share; very informative. I learn something new everyday.
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Great selections on this day in Civil War history, thanks LTC Stephen F.! 1862 is my selection.
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LTC Stephen F.
You are very welcome my friend and brother-in-Christ TSgt Joe C. and thanks for letting us know that you consider the Skirmish at Pineville, McDonald County, Missouri. Union Victory on June 23, 1862 the most significant event of June 23 during the Civil War.
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Thank You Brother Steve for all this info on the Civil War. So glad to see you enjoying your hobby.
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