Posted on May 25, 2016
What was the most significant event on May 24 during the U.S. Civil War?
1.78K
44
16
15
15
0
The 1st Union Officer is killed in Alexandria, VA 1861: Federal troops cross the Potomac River and occupy Alexandria, Virginia. One regiment, the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, is led by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, a young Chicago man who is personal friends with the Lincolns. Ellsworth rushes into the Marshall House Hotel and tears down the Confederate flag flying there. On his way down the stairs, he is met by the hotel owner, James Jackson, with a shotgun, who fires and kills Ellsworth on the spot. Corporal Brownell, of the 11th N.Y., fires and kills Jackson. Ellsworth provides the North with its first martyr. His body lies in state in the Capitol rotunda.
The Confederates flee Corinth MS 1862: Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry in the Army of the Tennessee, veterans of Shiloh, records this in his diary: “The Eleventh Iowa went out on picket at 5 o’clock this evening. It was reported in camp that General Beauregard is moving all of his heavy ordnance and his entire army to the south with a view of evacuating Corinth. The report says that teams loaded with munitions of war are leaving Corinth every day.”
1862: Mary Boykin Chestnut, in Columbia, So. Carolina, records in her diary the fear and misgivings about the Rebel cause, while at the same time revealing one tactic for dealing with such anxieties: “The enemy are landing at Georgetown. With a little more audacity where could they not land? But we have given them such a scare, they are cautious. If it be true, I hope some cool-headed white men will make the negroes save the rice for us. It is so much needed. They say it might have been done at Port Royal with a little more energy. South Carolinians have pluck enough, but they only work by fits and starts; there is no continuous effort; they can’t be counted on for steady work. They will stop to play—or enjoy life in some shape.
Without let or hindrance Halleck is being reenforced. Beauregard, unmolested, was making some fine speeches— and issuing proclamations, while we were fatuously looking for him to make a tiger’s spring on Huntsville. Why not? Hope springs eternal in the Southern breast. . . .
Columbia is the place for good living, pleasant people, pleasant dinners, pleasant drives. I feel that I have put the dinners in the wrong place. They are the climax of the good things here. This is the most hospitable place in the world, and the dinners are worthy of it.
In Washington, there was an endless succession of state dinners. I was kindly used. I do not remember ever being condemned to two dull neighbors: on one side or the other was a clever man; so I liked Washington dinners. . . .”
1863: Sergeant Alexander P. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, writes in his journal of what soon becomes a routine of the siege: “ The rebels tried to shell us again this morning, but could not get range of us. There was not much fighting today, our men having orders not to advance. Our siege guns, mortar boats and gunboats are throwing shells into the rebels day and night. We were relieved from picket this afternoon by another regiment.”
1864: Battle for the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, Charles City, Virginia. Union Victory. About 200 Confederate were killed or wounded in the abortive attack. Federal losses were six killed and 40 wounded. A few African-American soldiers were captured, and of these some were shot and one was sent to his master in Richmond. Materially, this action had little effect on the outcome of the war, but the North scored a propaganda victory. It was the first significant combat encounter between the Army of Northern Virginia and black soldiers, who had fought well in a defensive battle against a larger attacking force. Southerners, unwilling to acknowledge their defeat against a predominantly African-American force, claimed that six gunboats and substantial numbers of white Union soldiers were involved in the action. In his report, Fitz Lee minimized both his strength and his losses.
Pictures: 1864 North Anna May 24; 1862 The Federal retreat from Front Royal to Winchester and Jackson's pursuit; 1861 Colonel Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth as he appears in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.; 1861 The Death of Elmer Ellsworth, May 24
FYI CWO4 Terrence Clark MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. 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 McComasSPC Tina Jones
The Confederates flee Corinth MS 1862: Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry in the Army of the Tennessee, veterans of Shiloh, records this in his diary: “The Eleventh Iowa went out on picket at 5 o’clock this evening. It was reported in camp that General Beauregard is moving all of his heavy ordnance and his entire army to the south with a view of evacuating Corinth. The report says that teams loaded with munitions of war are leaving Corinth every day.”
1862: Mary Boykin Chestnut, in Columbia, So. Carolina, records in her diary the fear and misgivings about the Rebel cause, while at the same time revealing one tactic for dealing with such anxieties: “The enemy are landing at Georgetown. With a little more audacity where could they not land? But we have given them such a scare, they are cautious. If it be true, I hope some cool-headed white men will make the negroes save the rice for us. It is so much needed. They say it might have been done at Port Royal with a little more energy. South Carolinians have pluck enough, but they only work by fits and starts; there is no continuous effort; they can’t be counted on for steady work. They will stop to play—or enjoy life in some shape.
Without let or hindrance Halleck is being reenforced. Beauregard, unmolested, was making some fine speeches— and issuing proclamations, while we were fatuously looking for him to make a tiger’s spring on Huntsville. Why not? Hope springs eternal in the Southern breast. . . .
Columbia is the place for good living, pleasant people, pleasant dinners, pleasant drives. I feel that I have put the dinners in the wrong place. They are the climax of the good things here. This is the most hospitable place in the world, and the dinners are worthy of it.
In Washington, there was an endless succession of state dinners. I was kindly used. I do not remember ever being condemned to two dull neighbors: on one side or the other was a clever man; so I liked Washington dinners. . . .”
1863: Sergeant Alexander P. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, writes in his journal of what soon becomes a routine of the siege: “ The rebels tried to shell us again this morning, but could not get range of us. There was not much fighting today, our men having orders not to advance. Our siege guns, mortar boats and gunboats are throwing shells into the rebels day and night. We were relieved from picket this afternoon by another regiment.”
1864: Battle for the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, Charles City, Virginia. Union Victory. About 200 Confederate were killed or wounded in the abortive attack. Federal losses were six killed and 40 wounded. A few African-American soldiers were captured, and of these some were shot and one was sent to his master in Richmond. Materially, this action had little effect on the outcome of the war, but the North scored a propaganda victory. It was the first significant combat encounter between the Army of Northern Virginia and black soldiers, who had fought well in a defensive battle against a larger attacking force. Southerners, unwilling to acknowledge their defeat against a predominantly African-American force, claimed that six gunboats and substantial numbers of white Union soldiers were involved in the action. In his report, Fitz Lee minimized both his strength and his losses.
Pictures: 1864 North Anna May 24; 1862 The Federal retreat from Front Royal to Winchester and Jackson's pursuit; 1861 Colonel Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth as he appears in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.; 1861 The Death of Elmer Ellsworth, May 24
FYI CWO4 Terrence Clark MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. 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 McComasSPC Tina Jones
Posted in these groups: 
Civil War
American History
Civil War American History
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
5
5
0
Saturday, May 24, 1862: Rebel artilleryman George Michael Neese of Virginia, writes in his journal his view of the Yankee retreat: “Then we were ordered to Middletown, on the Valley pike, at which place we arrived about two o’clock this afternoon. Before we got in sight of the pike we saw a line of Yankee skirmishers. We fired on them, and at the first fire they ran away like wild men. When we came in sight of the pike we saw heavy clouds of dust rising all along the road, which we soon learned was caused by a hastily retreating army — with cavalry, artillery, infantry, wagons, ambulances, and sutler shops all in one mixed-up caravan—fleeing toward Winchester like clouds scudding before a driving storm. At a half mile range we opened on the flying mixture with all four of our guns, and as our shells plowed gap after gap through the serried column it caused consternation confounded, and vastly increased the speed of the hurrying mixed fugitive mass. . . . In the pursuit I saw abandoned baggage wagons, commissary wagons, wagons laden with medical stores, sutler goods, and all sorts of army equipments strewn along the track of the hastily retiring enemy. . . . After Jackson’s infantry came up and passed to the front and while our battery was awaiting orders, a few of us got permission from the proper authority to go on a twenty-minute pilfering raid among the debris and spoils scattered all along the road of Banks’ routed army.”
Sunday, May 24 1863: Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate Army hospital in Chattanooga, writes about the inaccurate rumors afflicting all loyal Southern hearts: “All kinds of bad news is floating about; viz: Jackson, Mississippi, burnt to the ground; Vicksburg fallen, etc. The fall of Vicksburg has cast a gloom over all, but it is not the Confederacy, and the enemy will have to do some hard fighting before they take that. Many are calling General Pemberton, who was in command, a traitor.”
Sunday, May 24 1863: Pres. Lincoln and Sen. Doolittle of Wisconsin visit three military hospitals in Washington. The New York Herald reports: "The President expressed his gratification at the excellent condition of the hospitals and the comfortable condition of the patients. He shook hands with over one thousand soldiers, nearly all of whom were able to stand up. The soldiers seemed highly delighted as the President grasped them by the hand."
Pictures: 1862 Jackson valley campaign 1862 May 21-June 9; 1864 During their march towards the North Anna River; 1864 Battle of Wilsons Wharf Map; Brig Gen Edward Wild
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Friday, May 24, 1861: Col. Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves is killed in the Marshall House Inn in Alexandria, Virginia, after he and his men removed a Confederate flag. He is generally regarded as the first officer killed while on duty in the American Civil War.
Federal troops cross the Potomac River and occupy Alexandria, Virginia. One regiment, the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, is led by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, a young Chicago man who is personal friends with the Lincolns. Ellsworth rushes into the Marshall House Hotel and tears down the Confederate flag flying there. On his way down the stairs, he is met by the hotel owner, James Jackson, with a shotgun, who fires and kills Ellsworth on the spot. Corporal Brownell, of the 11th N.Y., fires and kills Jackson. Ellsworth provides the North with its first martyr. His body lies in state in the Capitol rotunda.
B. Saturday, May 24, 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign: On May 24, the V Corps of Union general Nathaniel P. Banks retreated from Front Royal, Virginia to Winchester. He escaped with minimal loss because of poor coordination between Brig Gen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Brig Gen Richard S. Ewell; a lackluster performance by Confederate Brig Gen George H. Steuart, whose two cavalry regiments missed a chance to cut Banks's column in two at Middletown; and superior use of his own rear guard. On the night of May 24 Banks deployed his 3,500-man command south of Winchester. Although he knew that defeat was certain against Jackson's 16,000 troops, he elected to fight in order to give his trains of 550 wagons a head start toward Williamsport, 35 miles distant on the Potomac.
C. May 24, 1864: Battle for the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, Virginia. Union Victory. Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.
Around noon on May 24, Lee's men charged and drove in the Union pickets who were posted near the Charles City Road, about a 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the fort. By 1:30 p.m. the fort was invested and Lee sent two officers under a flag of truce with a message demanding the surrender of the garrison. He promised that the black soldiers would be taken to Richmond and treated as prisoners of war, but if they did not surrender, he would not be "answerable for the consequences." Wild and his men interpreted this to mean that some of the men would be returned to their former masters and others would be tried by state authorities for inciting insurrection. Wild sent back a written reply that said "We will try it" and verbally told the two officers "Take the fort if you can."
Lee planned a two-pronged attack. Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham's brigade moved east of the fort, concealed in ravines of Kennon Creek. To distract the Federals from Wickham's attack, Col. John Dunovant of the 5th South Carolina demonstrated on the western end of the fort. Dunovant's men advanced as far as the ditch and abatis, but were driven back by heavy fire. Wickham's men rushed forward across an open field and were met by interlocking fields of musket fire, canister rounds from two 10-pound Parrott rifles, and naval gunfire from the Dawn.
As Lee looked for a weak point in the fort's defenses, Union reinforcements arrived at about 4 p.m. on the steamer George Washington, carrying four companies of the 10th USCT. Lee ordered his men to withdraw to Charles City Court House and the next morning they rode back to Atlee's Station.
About 200 Confederate were killed or wounded in the abortive attack. Federal losses were six killed and 40 wounded. A few African-American soldiers were captured, and of these some were shot and one was sent to his master in Richmond. Materially, this action had little effect on the outcome of the war, but the North scored a propaganda victory. It was the first significant combat encounter between the Army of Northern Virginia and black soldiers, who had fought well in a defensive battle against a larger attacking force. Southerners, unwilling to acknowledge their defeat against a predominantly African-American force, claimed that six gunboats and substantial numbers of white Union soldiers were involved in the action. In his report, Fitz Lee minimized both his strength and his losses.
D. Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, Union general Winfield Scott Hancock's Second Corps moved across the river at Chesterfield Bridge and confronted little opposition. At 3 p.m. after crossing the North Anna River, Union general John Gibbon's men on the Union left wing encounter a line of well-defended Confederate trenches near Hanover Junction. Their advance is stymied. At first, Union general John Gibbon thought little of these forces, and kept feeding in men in an attempt to brush them out of his way. It soon became apparent, however, that these were not stragglers but members of Lee's army.
At 4 p.m. Union general James H. Ledlie attempts to take the Confederate lines at Ox Ford, where his men are promptly mauled by the hard-hitting veteran Confederate division under William Mahone.
At 6:45 p.m. - As fighting for the day ends, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's line becomes apparent to Union forces—a strong inverted V–shaped entrenchment with its apex at Ox Ford across the North Anna River. Contrary to reports from the morning, Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia remain in the area.
1. Friday, May 24, 1861: Federal forces occupy Alexandria, Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
2. Friday, May 24, 1861: Sterling Price refuses to disband his troops in Missouri
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
3. Friday, May 24, 1861: Benjamin Butler uses the term "contraband" to describe slaves who have crossed into the Northern camps
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
4. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- True to his expectations, Gen. Robert E. Lee, chief military advisor to Pres. Davis, and a sort of de facto Chief of Staff, sees his plans bear fruit. He has surmised that Jackson’s vigorous campaigning in the Shenandoah, amongst three Union armies with timid leaders, would lead to the Union cancelling any reinforcements headed for McClellan’s army, which is on the verge of attacking Richmond. Unbeknownst to him, on this date, Pres. Lincoln (prompted by the troubling disaster at Front Royal of yesterday) pens an order which summarily cancels the planned transfers of troops clockwise along the arc of Union forces in Virginia, and sends McDowell and the detached troops from Banks back to where they were.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
5. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- War Department, May 24, 1862-5 p. m. Major-General McDowell, Fredericksburg: “General Fremont has been ordered by telegraph to move from Franklin on Harrisonburg to relieve General Banks, and capture or destroy Jackson's and Ewell's forces.
You are instructed, laying aside for the present the movement on Richmond, to put 20,000 men in motion at once for the Shenandoah, moving on the line or in advance of the line of the Manassas Gap Railroad. Your object will be to capture the forces of Jackson and Ewell, either in co-operation with General Fremont or, in case want of supplies or of transportation interferes with his movements, it is believed that the force with which you move will be sufficient to accomplish this object alone. The information thus far received here makes it probable that if the enemy operate actively against General Banks you will not be able to count upon much assistance from him, but may even have to release him.
Reports received this moment are that Banks is fighting with Ewell 8 miles from Winchester.”
A. Lincoln
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
6. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Rebel artilleryman George Michael Neese of Virginia, writes in his journal his view of the Yankee retreat: Then we were ordered to Middletown, on the Valley pike, at which place we arrived about two o’clock this afternoon. Before we got in sight of the pike we saw a line of Yankee skirmishers. We fired on them, and at the first fire they ran away like wild men. When we came in sight of the pike we saw heavy clouds of dust rising all along the road, which we soon learned was caused by a hastily retreating army — with cavalry, artillery, infantry, wagons, ambulances, and sutler shops all in one mixed-up caravan—fleeing toward Winchester like clouds scudding before a driving storm. At a half mile range we opened on the flying mixture with all four of our guns, and as our shells plowed gap after gap through the serried column it caused consternation confounded, and vastly increased the speed of the hurrying mixed fugitive mass. . . . In the pursuit I saw abandoned baggage wagons, commissary wagons, wagons laden with medical stores, sutler goods, and all sorts of army equipments strewn along the track of the hastily retiring enemy. . . . After Jackson’s infantry came up and passed to the front and while our battery was awaiting orders, a few of us got permission from the proper authority to go on a twenty-minute pilfering raid among the debris and spoils scattered all along the road of Banks’ routed army.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
7. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Corinth, Mississippi: Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry in the Army of the Tennessee, veterans of Shiloh, records this in his diary: Saturday, 24th—The Eleventh Iowa went out on picket at 5 o’clock this evening. It was reported in camp that General Beauregard is moving all of his heavy ordnance and his entire army to the south with a view of evacuating Corinth. The report says that teams loaded with munitions of war are leaving Corinth every day.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
8. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Mary Boykin Chestnut, in Columbia, So. Carolina, records in her diary the fear and misgivings about the Rebel cause, while at the same time revealing one tactic for dealing with such anxieties: The enemy are landing at Georgetown. With a little more audacity where could they not land? But we have given them such a scare, they are cautious. If it be true, I hope some cool-headed white men will make the negroes save the rice for us. It is so much needed. They say it might have been done at Port Royal with a little more energy. South Carolinians have pluck enough, but they only work by fits and starts; there is no continuous effort; they can’t be counted on for steady work. They will stop to play—or enjoy life in some shape.
Without let or hindrance Halleck is being reenforced. Beauregard, unmolested, was making some fine speeches— and issuing proclamations, while we were fatuously looking for him to make a tiger’s spring on Huntsville. Why not? Hope springs eternal in the Southern breast. . . .
Columbia is the place for good living, pleasant people, pleasant dinners, pleasant drives. I feel that I have put the dinners in the wrong place. They are the climax of the good things here. This is the most hospitable place in the world, and the dinners are worthy of it.
In Washington, there was an endless succession of state dinners. I was kindly used. I do not remember ever being condemned to two dull neighbors: on one side or the other was a clever man; so I liked Washington dinners. . . .
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
9. Sunday, May 24 1863 --- Pres. Lincoln and Sen. Doolittle of Wisconsin visit three military hospitals in Washington. The New York Herald reports: "The President expressed his gratification at the excellent condition of the hospitals and the comfortable condition of the patients. He shook hands with over one thousand soldiers, nearly all of whom were able to stand up. The soldiers seemed highly delighted as the President grasped them by the hand."
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1863
10. Sunday, May 24 1863 --- Sergeant Alexander P. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, writes in his journal of what soon becomes a routine of the siege: Sunday, 24th — The rebels tried to shell us again this morning, but could not get range of us. There was not much fighting today, our men having orders not to advance. Our siege guns, mortar boats and gunboats are throwing shells into the rebels day and night. We were relieved from picket this afternoon by another regiment.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1863
11. Sunday, May 24 1863 --- Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate Army hospital in Chattanooga, writes about the inaccurate rumors afflicting all loyal Southern hearts: All kinds of bad news is floating about; viz: Jackson, Mississippi, burnt to the ground; Vicksburg fallen, etc. The fall of Vicksburg has cast a gloom over all, but it is not the Confederacy, and the enemy will have to do some hard fighting before they take that. Many are calling General Pemberton, who was in command, a traitor.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1863
12. Tuesday, May 24, 1864 --- Atlanta Campaign: Gen. Joseph Johnston realizes that Sherman is attempting to flank him again, and so he abandons Allatoona and speeds south to Dallas in order to keep in front of Sherman. Northern and Southern cavalry skirmish all along the way.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1864
13. Wednesday, May 24, 1865: Grand Review of Sherman's Army
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186505
A Friday, May 24, 1861: Col. Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves is killed in the Marshall House Inn in Alexandria, Virginia, after he and his men removed a Confederate flag. He is generally regarded as the first officer killed while on duty in the American Civil War.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
A+ Friday, May 24, 1861: Federal troops cross the Potomac River and occupy Alexandria, Virginia. One regiment, the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, is led by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, a young Chicago man who is personal friends with the Lincolns. Ellsworth rushes into the Marshall House Hotel and tears down the Confederate flag flying there. On his way down the stairs, he is met by the hotel owner, James Jackson, with a shotgun, who fires and kills Ellsworth on the spot. Corporal Brownell, of the 11th N.Y., fires and kills Jackson. Ellsworth provides the North with its first martyr. His body lies in state in the Capitol rotunda.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1861
B Saturday, May 24, 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign: On May 24, the V Corps of Union general Nathaniel P. Banks retreated from Front Royal, Virginia to Winchester. He escaped with minimal loss because of poor coordination between Brig Gen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Brig Gen Richard S. Ewell; a lackluster performance by Confederate Brig Gen George H. Steuart, whose two cavalry regiments missed a chance to cut Banks's column in two at Middletown; and superior use of his own rear guard. On the night of May 24 Banks deployed his 3,500-man command south of Winchester. Although he knew that defeat was certain against Jackson's 16,000 troops, he elected to fight in order to give his trains of 550 wagons a head start toward Williamsport, 35 miles distant on the Potomac.
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Shenandoah_Valley_Campaign_of_1862
B+ Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Eastern Theater, Shenandoah Valley Campaign - Gen. Banks, in retreating from Strasburg, has truly taken alarm at the still-unknown size of the Confederate force dogging his steps, as he puts his troops on two parallel roads pell-mell for Winchester, where there is a major supply base, and good ground to rally his troops for a defense. In doing so, he even abandons half of his supply wagons. Jackson and Ewell are chasing him and trying to get to Winchester first, also on several parallel roads. When Jackson and some of his troops, along with Ashby’s cavalry, shift over to the Valley Pike, which is also being used by the Union retreat. Ashby and other Confederate troops strike the tail of Banks’ remaining supply train, and chaos immediately clogs the Pike with skirmishing cavalry, overturned wagons, wounded and dead teamsters and draft animals, and looting Confederate troops, delighted with the gift of fully-loaded supply wagons. Jackson is appalled at this, and also frustrated with lack of information. By nightfall, he has his army on the road again, pressing Banks hard. His troops continue to drive forward in the night, and in the wee hours of the morning, are making only 6 miles in 6 hours, so exhausted and spent they are. One brigade commander begs Gen. Jackson for permission to rest his brigade, and Stonewall replies, “Colonel, I yield to no man in sympathy for the gallant men under my command; but I am obliged to sweat them tonight, that I may save their blood tomorrow. The line of hills southwest of Winchester must not be occupied by the enemy's artillery. My own must be there and in position by daylight. You shall, however, have two hours' rest.” True to his word, before Banks can fortify the hills south of town, Jackson has his guns on them, and unfurling his brigades into line of battle at first light.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
C Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle for Wilson's Wharf, Charles City, Virginia. Union Victory. Major General Fitzhugh Lee 's cavalry division (about 3,000 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf and was repulsed by two black regiments under Brigadier General Edward Wild (about 1,800 men). Estimated Casualties: 165 total
http://www.americancivilwar.com/statepic/va/va056.html
C+ Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.
Around noon on May 24, Lee's men charged and drove in the Union pickets who were posted near the Charles City Road, about a 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the fort. By 1:30 p.m. the fort was invested and Lee sent two officers under a flag of truce with a message demanding the surrender of the garrison. He promised that the black soldiers would be taken to Richmond and treated as prisoners of war, but if they did not surrender, he would not be "answerable for the consequences." Wild and his men interpreted this to mean that some of the men would be returned to their former masters and others would be tried by state authorities for inciting insurrection. Wild sent back a written reply that said "We will try it" and verbally told the two officers "Take the fort if you can."
Lee planned a two-pronged attack. Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham's brigade moved east of the fort, concealed in ravines of Kennon Creek. To distract the Federals from Wickham's attack, Col. John Dunovant of the 5th South Carolina demonstrated on the western end of the fort. Dunovant's men advanced as far as the ditch and abatis, but were driven back by heavy fire. Wickham's men rushed forward across an open field and were met by interlocking fields of musket fire, canister rounds from two 10-pound Parrott rifles, and naval gunfire from the Dawn.
As Lee looked for a weak point in the fort's defenses, Union reinforcements arrived at about 4 p.m. on the steamer George Washington, carrying four companies of the 10th USCT. Lee ordered his men to withdraw to Charles City Court House and the next morning they rode back to Atlee's Station.
About 200 Confederate were killed or wounded in the abortive attack. Federal losses were six killed and 40 wounded. A few African-American soldiers were captured, and of these some were shot and one was sent to his master in Richmond. Materially, this action had little effect on the outcome of the war, but the North scored a propaganda victory. It was the first significant combat encounter between the Army of Northern Virginia and black soldiers, who had fought well in a defensive battle against a larger attacking force. Southerners, unwilling to acknowledge their defeat against a predominantly African-American force, claimed that six gunboats and substantial numbers of white Union soldiers were involved in the action. In his report, Fitz Lee minimized both his strength and his losses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wilson%27s_Wharf
D Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, Hancock's Second Corps moved across the river at Chesterfield Bridge and confronted little opposition. At 3 p.m. after crossing the North Anna River, Union general John Gibbon's men on the Union left wing encounter a line of well-defended Confederate trenches near Hanover Junction. Their advance is stymied. At first, Union general John Gibbon thought little of these forces, and kept feeding in men in an attempt to brush them out of his way. It soon became apparent, however, that these were not stragglers but members of Lee's army.
May 24, 1864, 3 p.m. - After crossing the North Anna River, Union general John Gibbon's men on the Union left wing encounter a line of well-defended Confederate trenches near Hanover Junction. Their advance is stymied.
May 24, 1864, 4 p.m. - Union general James H. Ledlie attempts to take the Confederate lines at Ox Ford, where his men are promptly mauled by the hard-hitting veteran Confederate division under William Mahone.
May 24, 1864, 6:45 p.m. - As fighting for the day ends, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's line becomes apparent to Union forces—a strong inverted V–shaped entrenchment with its apex at Ox Ford across the North Anna River. Contrary to reports from the morning, Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia remain in the area.
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/north_anna_battle_of
Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, [May 23-26, 1864] Day 2: After working feverishly overnight, Gen. Lee’s engineers have fortified his inverted V-shape line (called a “hog’s snout” line), in order to necessarily cause the Federal forces to split itself to one side of the apex and the other. This morning, Gen . Grant orders more troops to cross the river and deploy. Hancock’s II Corps crosses to the east, at Chesterfield Bridge, in large numbers, not realizing that he faces two of the Confederate corps (Ewell and Anderson). On the west leg, Warren and Wright cross their two corps over the river. Grant, not yet understanding what Lee is doing, finds the ease of crossing the North Anna to be a sign that Lee is retreating. He order Burnside down to cross the river at Ox Ford, and the Yankees encounter opposition there, which the Federals assume to be a rear guard. Burnside sends Crittenden’s division to cross at Ox Ford, and sends Samuel Crawford’s division upstream to cross at Quarles Mills. As soon as Crittenden crosses, he sends his lead brigade of new Massachusetts regiments, under Brig. Gen. James Ledlie, to attack the Rebel lines. Ledlie is drunk, and in spite of the fortifications and the Rebel artillery, orders an attack anyway. His men are mowed down in large numbers, two of his regimental commanders (Weld and Chandler) are wounded, and Ledlie finally withdraws. (Despite the botched attack, Ledlie is cited for bravery and given division command later.)
Hancock’s troops go forward, and strike the right flank of the Confederate line. Gibbon’s division strikes the Southern earthworks, and a hot firefight engulfs and engages his entire division. About this time, a torrential thunderstorm breaks, and both armies slack off their rate of fire. A bit later, Gen. Birney’s Federal division moves in alongside Gibbon, and both divisions push, but are unable to make any headway. Gen. Lee had planned to make a push that would trap Hancock against the river and destroy his corps piecemeal, but Lee is debilitated by intestinal illness, and cannot stir from his cot. He has no other commanders that he can rely on (Anderson being new, Hill also being ill, and Ewell still shaken from the Spotsylvania disaster), and so nothing happens. Lee’s intended counter-blow at Hancock never materializes. When Grant hears about the disposition of Lee’s lines, he realizes Hancock’s peril, and orders more pontoon bridges built, in order to better reinforce either wing of his divided army. Gen. Hancock advises that the Rebel lines are as strong or stronger than at Spotsylvania.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1864
FYI SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Franklin BriantCPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell1stSgt Eugene Harless PO3 (Join to see)MSG Greg Kelly CPT (Join to see) LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant SPC Michael TerrellSPC Robert Treat GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad GySgt Jack Wallace PO1 Sam Deel LTC David Brown LTC (Join to see) SFC Eric Harmon SSG Bill McCoySPC (Join to see)
Sunday, May 24 1863: Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate Army hospital in Chattanooga, writes about the inaccurate rumors afflicting all loyal Southern hearts: “All kinds of bad news is floating about; viz: Jackson, Mississippi, burnt to the ground; Vicksburg fallen, etc. The fall of Vicksburg has cast a gloom over all, but it is not the Confederacy, and the enemy will have to do some hard fighting before they take that. Many are calling General Pemberton, who was in command, a traitor.”
Sunday, May 24 1863: Pres. Lincoln and Sen. Doolittle of Wisconsin visit three military hospitals in Washington. The New York Herald reports: "The President expressed his gratification at the excellent condition of the hospitals and the comfortable condition of the patients. He shook hands with over one thousand soldiers, nearly all of whom were able to stand up. The soldiers seemed highly delighted as the President grasped them by the hand."
Pictures: 1862 Jackson valley campaign 1862 May 21-June 9; 1864 During their march towards the North Anna River; 1864 Battle of Wilsons Wharf Map; Brig Gen Edward Wild
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Friday, May 24, 1861: Col. Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves is killed in the Marshall House Inn in Alexandria, Virginia, after he and his men removed a Confederate flag. He is generally regarded as the first officer killed while on duty in the American Civil War.
Federal troops cross the Potomac River and occupy Alexandria, Virginia. One regiment, the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, is led by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, a young Chicago man who is personal friends with the Lincolns. Ellsworth rushes into the Marshall House Hotel and tears down the Confederate flag flying there. On his way down the stairs, he is met by the hotel owner, James Jackson, with a shotgun, who fires and kills Ellsworth on the spot. Corporal Brownell, of the 11th N.Y., fires and kills Jackson. Ellsworth provides the North with its first martyr. His body lies in state in the Capitol rotunda.
B. Saturday, May 24, 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign: On May 24, the V Corps of Union general Nathaniel P. Banks retreated from Front Royal, Virginia to Winchester. He escaped with minimal loss because of poor coordination between Brig Gen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Brig Gen Richard S. Ewell; a lackluster performance by Confederate Brig Gen George H. Steuart, whose two cavalry regiments missed a chance to cut Banks's column in two at Middletown; and superior use of his own rear guard. On the night of May 24 Banks deployed his 3,500-man command south of Winchester. Although he knew that defeat was certain against Jackson's 16,000 troops, he elected to fight in order to give his trains of 550 wagons a head start toward Williamsport, 35 miles distant on the Potomac.
C. May 24, 1864: Battle for the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, Virginia. Union Victory. Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.
Around noon on May 24, Lee's men charged and drove in the Union pickets who were posted near the Charles City Road, about a 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the fort. By 1:30 p.m. the fort was invested and Lee sent two officers under a flag of truce with a message demanding the surrender of the garrison. He promised that the black soldiers would be taken to Richmond and treated as prisoners of war, but if they did not surrender, he would not be "answerable for the consequences." Wild and his men interpreted this to mean that some of the men would be returned to their former masters and others would be tried by state authorities for inciting insurrection. Wild sent back a written reply that said "We will try it" and verbally told the two officers "Take the fort if you can."
Lee planned a two-pronged attack. Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham's brigade moved east of the fort, concealed in ravines of Kennon Creek. To distract the Federals from Wickham's attack, Col. John Dunovant of the 5th South Carolina demonstrated on the western end of the fort. Dunovant's men advanced as far as the ditch and abatis, but were driven back by heavy fire. Wickham's men rushed forward across an open field and were met by interlocking fields of musket fire, canister rounds from two 10-pound Parrott rifles, and naval gunfire from the Dawn.
As Lee looked for a weak point in the fort's defenses, Union reinforcements arrived at about 4 p.m. on the steamer George Washington, carrying four companies of the 10th USCT. Lee ordered his men to withdraw to Charles City Court House and the next morning they rode back to Atlee's Station.
About 200 Confederate were killed or wounded in the abortive attack. Federal losses were six killed and 40 wounded. A few African-American soldiers were captured, and of these some were shot and one was sent to his master in Richmond. Materially, this action had little effect on the outcome of the war, but the North scored a propaganda victory. It was the first significant combat encounter between the Army of Northern Virginia and black soldiers, who had fought well in a defensive battle against a larger attacking force. Southerners, unwilling to acknowledge their defeat against a predominantly African-American force, claimed that six gunboats and substantial numbers of white Union soldiers were involved in the action. In his report, Fitz Lee minimized both his strength and his losses.
D. Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, Union general Winfield Scott Hancock's Second Corps moved across the river at Chesterfield Bridge and confronted little opposition. At 3 p.m. after crossing the North Anna River, Union general John Gibbon's men on the Union left wing encounter a line of well-defended Confederate trenches near Hanover Junction. Their advance is stymied. At first, Union general John Gibbon thought little of these forces, and kept feeding in men in an attempt to brush them out of his way. It soon became apparent, however, that these were not stragglers but members of Lee's army.
At 4 p.m. Union general James H. Ledlie attempts to take the Confederate lines at Ox Ford, where his men are promptly mauled by the hard-hitting veteran Confederate division under William Mahone.
At 6:45 p.m. - As fighting for the day ends, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's line becomes apparent to Union forces—a strong inverted V–shaped entrenchment with its apex at Ox Ford across the North Anna River. Contrary to reports from the morning, Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia remain in the area.
1. Friday, May 24, 1861: Federal forces occupy Alexandria, Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
2. Friday, May 24, 1861: Sterling Price refuses to disband his troops in Missouri
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
3. Friday, May 24, 1861: Benjamin Butler uses the term "contraband" to describe slaves who have crossed into the Northern camps
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
4. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- True to his expectations, Gen. Robert E. Lee, chief military advisor to Pres. Davis, and a sort of de facto Chief of Staff, sees his plans bear fruit. He has surmised that Jackson’s vigorous campaigning in the Shenandoah, amongst three Union armies with timid leaders, would lead to the Union cancelling any reinforcements headed for McClellan’s army, which is on the verge of attacking Richmond. Unbeknownst to him, on this date, Pres. Lincoln (prompted by the troubling disaster at Front Royal of yesterday) pens an order which summarily cancels the planned transfers of troops clockwise along the arc of Union forces in Virginia, and sends McDowell and the detached troops from Banks back to where they were.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
5. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- War Department, May 24, 1862-5 p. m. Major-General McDowell, Fredericksburg: “General Fremont has been ordered by telegraph to move from Franklin on Harrisonburg to relieve General Banks, and capture or destroy Jackson's and Ewell's forces.
You are instructed, laying aside for the present the movement on Richmond, to put 20,000 men in motion at once for the Shenandoah, moving on the line or in advance of the line of the Manassas Gap Railroad. Your object will be to capture the forces of Jackson and Ewell, either in co-operation with General Fremont or, in case want of supplies or of transportation interferes with his movements, it is believed that the force with which you move will be sufficient to accomplish this object alone. The information thus far received here makes it probable that if the enemy operate actively against General Banks you will not be able to count upon much assistance from him, but may even have to release him.
Reports received this moment are that Banks is fighting with Ewell 8 miles from Winchester.”
A. Lincoln
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
6. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Rebel artilleryman George Michael Neese of Virginia, writes in his journal his view of the Yankee retreat: Then we were ordered to Middletown, on the Valley pike, at which place we arrived about two o’clock this afternoon. Before we got in sight of the pike we saw a line of Yankee skirmishers. We fired on them, and at the first fire they ran away like wild men. When we came in sight of the pike we saw heavy clouds of dust rising all along the road, which we soon learned was caused by a hastily retreating army — with cavalry, artillery, infantry, wagons, ambulances, and sutler shops all in one mixed-up caravan—fleeing toward Winchester like clouds scudding before a driving storm. At a half mile range we opened on the flying mixture with all four of our guns, and as our shells plowed gap after gap through the serried column it caused consternation confounded, and vastly increased the speed of the hurrying mixed fugitive mass. . . . In the pursuit I saw abandoned baggage wagons, commissary wagons, wagons laden with medical stores, sutler goods, and all sorts of army equipments strewn along the track of the hastily retiring enemy. . . . After Jackson’s infantry came up and passed to the front and while our battery was awaiting orders, a few of us got permission from the proper authority to go on a twenty-minute pilfering raid among the debris and spoils scattered all along the road of Banks’ routed army.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
7. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Corinth, Mississippi: Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry in the Army of the Tennessee, veterans of Shiloh, records this in his diary: Saturday, 24th—The Eleventh Iowa went out on picket at 5 o’clock this evening. It was reported in camp that General Beauregard is moving all of his heavy ordnance and his entire army to the south with a view of evacuating Corinth. The report says that teams loaded with munitions of war are leaving Corinth every day.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
8. Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Mary Boykin Chestnut, in Columbia, So. Carolina, records in her diary the fear and misgivings about the Rebel cause, while at the same time revealing one tactic for dealing with such anxieties: The enemy are landing at Georgetown. With a little more audacity where could they not land? But we have given them such a scare, they are cautious. If it be true, I hope some cool-headed white men will make the negroes save the rice for us. It is so much needed. They say it might have been done at Port Royal with a little more energy. South Carolinians have pluck enough, but they only work by fits and starts; there is no continuous effort; they can’t be counted on for steady work. They will stop to play—or enjoy life in some shape.
Without let or hindrance Halleck is being reenforced. Beauregard, unmolested, was making some fine speeches— and issuing proclamations, while we were fatuously looking for him to make a tiger’s spring on Huntsville. Why not? Hope springs eternal in the Southern breast. . . .
Columbia is the place for good living, pleasant people, pleasant dinners, pleasant drives. I feel that I have put the dinners in the wrong place. They are the climax of the good things here. This is the most hospitable place in the world, and the dinners are worthy of it.
In Washington, there was an endless succession of state dinners. I was kindly used. I do not remember ever being condemned to two dull neighbors: on one side or the other was a clever man; so I liked Washington dinners. . . .
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
9. Sunday, May 24 1863 --- Pres. Lincoln and Sen. Doolittle of Wisconsin visit three military hospitals in Washington. The New York Herald reports: "The President expressed his gratification at the excellent condition of the hospitals and the comfortable condition of the patients. He shook hands with over one thousand soldiers, nearly all of whom were able to stand up. The soldiers seemed highly delighted as the President grasped them by the hand."
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1863
10. Sunday, May 24 1863 --- Sergeant Alexander P. Downing, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, writes in his journal of what soon becomes a routine of the siege: Sunday, 24th — The rebels tried to shell us again this morning, but could not get range of us. There was not much fighting today, our men having orders not to advance. Our siege guns, mortar boats and gunboats are throwing shells into the rebels day and night. We were relieved from picket this afternoon by another regiment.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1863
11. Sunday, May 24 1863 --- Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate Army hospital in Chattanooga, writes about the inaccurate rumors afflicting all loyal Southern hearts: All kinds of bad news is floating about; viz: Jackson, Mississippi, burnt to the ground; Vicksburg fallen, etc. The fall of Vicksburg has cast a gloom over all, but it is not the Confederacy, and the enemy will have to do some hard fighting before they take that. Many are calling General Pemberton, who was in command, a traitor.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1863
12. Tuesday, May 24, 1864 --- Atlanta Campaign: Gen. Joseph Johnston realizes that Sherman is attempting to flank him again, and so he abandons Allatoona and speeds south to Dallas in order to keep in front of Sherman. Northern and Southern cavalry skirmish all along the way.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1864
13. Wednesday, May 24, 1865: Grand Review of Sherman's Army
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186505
A Friday, May 24, 1861: Col. Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves is killed in the Marshall House Inn in Alexandria, Virginia, after he and his men removed a Confederate flag. He is generally regarded as the first officer killed while on duty in the American Civil War.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
A+ Friday, May 24, 1861: Federal troops cross the Potomac River and occupy Alexandria, Virginia. One regiment, the 11th New York Fire Zouaves, is led by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, a young Chicago man who is personal friends with the Lincolns. Ellsworth rushes into the Marshall House Hotel and tears down the Confederate flag flying there. On his way down the stairs, he is met by the hotel owner, James Jackson, with a shotgun, who fires and kills Ellsworth on the spot. Corporal Brownell, of the 11th N.Y., fires and kills Jackson. Ellsworth provides the North with its first martyr. His body lies in state in the Capitol rotunda.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1861
B Saturday, May 24, 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign: On May 24, the V Corps of Union general Nathaniel P. Banks retreated from Front Royal, Virginia to Winchester. He escaped with minimal loss because of poor coordination between Brig Gen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Brig Gen Richard S. Ewell; a lackluster performance by Confederate Brig Gen George H. Steuart, whose two cavalry regiments missed a chance to cut Banks's column in two at Middletown; and superior use of his own rear guard. On the night of May 24 Banks deployed his 3,500-man command south of Winchester. Although he knew that defeat was certain against Jackson's 16,000 troops, he elected to fight in order to give his trains of 550 wagons a head start toward Williamsport, 35 miles distant on the Potomac.
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Shenandoah_Valley_Campaign_of_1862
B+ Saturday, May 24, 1862 --- Eastern Theater, Shenandoah Valley Campaign - Gen. Banks, in retreating from Strasburg, has truly taken alarm at the still-unknown size of the Confederate force dogging his steps, as he puts his troops on two parallel roads pell-mell for Winchester, where there is a major supply base, and good ground to rally his troops for a defense. In doing so, he even abandons half of his supply wagons. Jackson and Ewell are chasing him and trying to get to Winchester first, also on several parallel roads. When Jackson and some of his troops, along with Ashby’s cavalry, shift over to the Valley Pike, which is also being used by the Union retreat. Ashby and other Confederate troops strike the tail of Banks’ remaining supply train, and chaos immediately clogs the Pike with skirmishing cavalry, overturned wagons, wounded and dead teamsters and draft animals, and looting Confederate troops, delighted with the gift of fully-loaded supply wagons. Jackson is appalled at this, and also frustrated with lack of information. By nightfall, he has his army on the road again, pressing Banks hard. His troops continue to drive forward in the night, and in the wee hours of the morning, are making only 6 miles in 6 hours, so exhausted and spent they are. One brigade commander begs Gen. Jackson for permission to rest his brigade, and Stonewall replies, “Colonel, I yield to no man in sympathy for the gallant men under my command; but I am obliged to sweat them tonight, that I may save their blood tomorrow. The line of hills southwest of Winchester must not be occupied by the enemy's artillery. My own must be there and in position by daylight. You shall, however, have two hours' rest.” True to his word, before Banks can fortify the hills south of town, Jackson has his guns on them, and unfurling his brigades into line of battle at first light.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1862
C Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle for Wilson's Wharf, Charles City, Virginia. Union Victory. Major General Fitzhugh Lee 's cavalry division (about 3,000 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf and was repulsed by two black regiments under Brigadier General Edward Wild (about 1,800 men). Estimated Casualties: 165 total
http://www.americancivilwar.com/statepic/va/va056.html
C+ Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia. They were repulsed by two African American regiments (about 1,100 men) of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward A. Wild, who were in the process of constructing a fortification there, which was subsequently named Fort Pocahontas. The battle was the first combat encounter of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with African-American troops.
Around noon on May 24, Lee's men charged and drove in the Union pickets who were posted near the Charles City Road, about a 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the fort. By 1:30 p.m. the fort was invested and Lee sent two officers under a flag of truce with a message demanding the surrender of the garrison. He promised that the black soldiers would be taken to Richmond and treated as prisoners of war, but if they did not surrender, he would not be "answerable for the consequences." Wild and his men interpreted this to mean that some of the men would be returned to their former masters and others would be tried by state authorities for inciting insurrection. Wild sent back a written reply that said "We will try it" and verbally told the two officers "Take the fort if you can."
Lee planned a two-pronged attack. Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham's brigade moved east of the fort, concealed in ravines of Kennon Creek. To distract the Federals from Wickham's attack, Col. John Dunovant of the 5th South Carolina demonstrated on the western end of the fort. Dunovant's men advanced as far as the ditch and abatis, but were driven back by heavy fire. Wickham's men rushed forward across an open field and were met by interlocking fields of musket fire, canister rounds from two 10-pound Parrott rifles, and naval gunfire from the Dawn.
As Lee looked for a weak point in the fort's defenses, Union reinforcements arrived at about 4 p.m. on the steamer George Washington, carrying four companies of the 10th USCT. Lee ordered his men to withdraw to Charles City Court House and the next morning they rode back to Atlee's Station.
About 200 Confederate were killed or wounded in the abortive attack. Federal losses were six killed and 40 wounded. A few African-American soldiers were captured, and of these some were shot and one was sent to his master in Richmond. Materially, this action had little effect on the outcome of the war, but the North scored a propaganda victory. It was the first significant combat encounter between the Army of Northern Virginia and black soldiers, who had fought well in a defensive battle against a larger attacking force. Southerners, unwilling to acknowledge their defeat against a predominantly African-American force, claimed that six gunboats and substantial numbers of white Union soldiers were involved in the action. In his report, Fitz Lee minimized both his strength and his losses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wilson%27s_Wharf
D Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, Hancock's Second Corps moved across the river at Chesterfield Bridge and confronted little opposition. At 3 p.m. after crossing the North Anna River, Union general John Gibbon's men on the Union left wing encounter a line of well-defended Confederate trenches near Hanover Junction. Their advance is stymied. At first, Union general John Gibbon thought little of these forces, and kept feeding in men in an attempt to brush them out of his way. It soon became apparent, however, that these were not stragglers but members of Lee's army.
May 24, 1864, 3 p.m. - After crossing the North Anna River, Union general John Gibbon's men on the Union left wing encounter a line of well-defended Confederate trenches near Hanover Junction. Their advance is stymied.
May 24, 1864, 4 p.m. - Union general James H. Ledlie attempts to take the Confederate lines at Ox Ford, where his men are promptly mauled by the hard-hitting veteran Confederate division under William Mahone.
May 24, 1864, 6:45 p.m. - As fighting for the day ends, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's line becomes apparent to Union forces—a strong inverted V–shaped entrenchment with its apex at Ox Ford across the North Anna River. Contrary to reports from the morning, Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia remain in the area.
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/north_anna_battle_of
Tuesday, May 24, 1864: Battle of the North Anna River, [May 23-26, 1864] Day 2: After working feverishly overnight, Gen. Lee’s engineers have fortified his inverted V-shape line (called a “hog’s snout” line), in order to necessarily cause the Federal forces to split itself to one side of the apex and the other. This morning, Gen . Grant orders more troops to cross the river and deploy. Hancock’s II Corps crosses to the east, at Chesterfield Bridge, in large numbers, not realizing that he faces two of the Confederate corps (Ewell and Anderson). On the west leg, Warren and Wright cross their two corps over the river. Grant, not yet understanding what Lee is doing, finds the ease of crossing the North Anna to be a sign that Lee is retreating. He order Burnside down to cross the river at Ox Ford, and the Yankees encounter opposition there, which the Federals assume to be a rear guard. Burnside sends Crittenden’s division to cross at Ox Ford, and sends Samuel Crawford’s division upstream to cross at Quarles Mills. As soon as Crittenden crosses, he sends his lead brigade of new Massachusetts regiments, under Brig. Gen. James Ledlie, to attack the Rebel lines. Ledlie is drunk, and in spite of the fortifications and the Rebel artillery, orders an attack anyway. His men are mowed down in large numbers, two of his regimental commanders (Weld and Chandler) are wounded, and Ledlie finally withdraws. (Despite the botched attack, Ledlie is cited for bravery and given division command later.)
Hancock’s troops go forward, and strike the right flank of the Confederate line. Gibbon’s division strikes the Southern earthworks, and a hot firefight engulfs and engages his entire division. About this time, a torrential thunderstorm breaks, and both armies slack off their rate of fire. A bit later, Gen. Birney’s Federal division moves in alongside Gibbon, and both divisions push, but are unable to make any headway. Gen. Lee had planned to make a push that would trap Hancock against the river and destroy his corps piecemeal, but Lee is debilitated by intestinal illness, and cannot stir from his cot. He has no other commanders that he can rely on (Anderson being new, Hill also being ill, and Ewell still shaken from the Spotsylvania disaster), and so nothing happens. Lee’s intended counter-blow at Hancock never materializes. When Grant hears about the disposition of Lee’s lines, he realizes Hancock’s peril, and orders more pontoon bridges built, in order to better reinforce either wing of his divided army. Gen. Hancock advises that the Rebel lines are as strong or stronger than at Spotsylvania.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+24%2C+1864
FYI SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Franklin BriantCPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell1stSgt Eugene Harless PO3 (Join to see)MSG Greg Kelly CPT (Join to see) LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant SPC Michael TerrellSPC Robert Treat GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad GySgt Jack Wallace PO1 Sam Deel LTC David Brown LTC (Join to see) SFC Eric Harmon SSG Bill McCoySPC (Join to see)
(5)
(0)
LTC Stephen F.
SP5 Mark Kuzinski - It is always my pleasure to put together these Civil War posts - some days there is lots of good information while other days it is tough to find verifiable stories.
(2)
(0)
SP5 Mark Kuzinski
I agree but you do such a great job of following the trail and it always leads to a great end LTC Stephen F. - Thank you!
(1)
(0)
(1)
(0)
3
3
0
I am going to go with 1861 First KIA, Thank you Stephen, I look forward to these~K
(3)
(0)
LTC Stephen F.
Thank you my Civil War history appreciator friend Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM for letting us know that you consider the most significant event on May 24 in the Civil War was the death of Col. Elmer Ellsworth, was commander of 11th New York Fire Zouaves rushes into the Marshall House Hotel and tears down the Confederate flag flying there. On his way down the stairs, he is met by the hotel owner, James Jackson, with a shotgun, who fires and kills Ellsworth on the spot. Corporal Brownell, of the 11th N.Y., fires and kills Jackson. Ellsworth provides the North with its first martyr. His body lies in state in the Capitol rotunda."
(0)
(0)
2
2
0
LTC Stephen F. I am going with 1863: Battle for Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, Virginia. Union Victory. Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry division (about 2,500 men) attacked the Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, on the James River in eastern Charles City, Virginia
(2)
(0)
LTC Stephen F.
Thank you my fellow Civil War history appreciator friend and brother-in-Christ SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL that you consider the most significant event on May 24 in the Civil War was the May 24, 1863: Battle for Union supply depot at Wilson's Wharf, Virginia.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google