Posted on May 29, 2016
What was the most significant event on May 28 during the U.S. Civil War?
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1862: William C. Holton, serving in the U.S. Navy on board the USS Hartford, on the Mississippi River, records this incident at Baton Rouge, as the flotilla is descending the river back to New Orleans: “Everything looked quiet, and the dingey was sent ashore with Chief Engineer Kimball, manned by four boys. On landing at the levee, they were attacked by a body of guerilla cavalry, and immediately shoved off; but the guerillas poured a volley of slugs and shot into the boat, wounding the Chief Engineer and two of the boys. They then scampered off on horseback as fast as they could go, while our boat was picked up by a gunboat which was anchored below us. We immediately opened our battery on them, raking the streets and firing some twenty shots, when the men were with difficulty compelled to cease firing. The excitement on board our ship was intense, and each man desired to see the city in ashes. During the afternoon, several Northern ladies came off for protection, and the Mayor of the city, with those of secesh proclivities, had already skedaddled, leaving the place nearly desolate.”
First Black Regiment departs Boston, Massachusetts 1863: This morning, in Boston, Massachusetts, large crowds line the streets of the city as the newly trained 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a black regiment, parades on its way to transports that will ship the regiment south to South Carolina to assume its first assignment at the front. Commanding the regiment is Col. Robert Gould Shaw, 25 years old and newly married. Shaw is a combat veteran who served in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry as a lieutenant and then captain. Gov. John Andrew purposely calls upon Shaw since his family are wealthy Bostonian bluebloods who are prominent socially and in also prominent in the Abolition movement. Frederick Douglass has two sons, Charles and Lewis, who join the regiment. Most of the soldiers are free blacks from the Boston area, with also a good number of men from New York and Pennsylvania, and a contingent of African-Canadian volunteers from Toronto. The 54th ships out today.
1863: John C. West, a soldier serving in one of the Texas infantry regiments in Hood’s division in the Army of Northern Virginia, writes in his journal about the daily life of a Confederate soldier: “While we are encamped life is so monotonous that I do not usually regard it as necessary to keep a diary, but occasionally we have a little variety and spice which is exciting and pleasant. Yesterday we received notice early in the morning to prepare to march five miles to attend a review of our division which was to take place about a mile beyond General Hood’s headquarters. We left our camp about 8 o’clock a. m. and reached the muster ground about 10 o’clock. We found the artillery posted on the extreme right about three quarters of a mile from our regiment.
The brigades, Anderson’s, Laws’, Robertson’s and Benning’s, were drawn up in line of battle, being over a mile long; our regiment a little to the left of the center. As we were properly formed General Hood and staff galloped down the entire length of the line in front and back again in the rear, after which he took his position about 300 yards in front of the center. The whole division was then formed into companies, preceded by the artillery of about twenty pieces; passed in review before the General, occupying about an hour and a march of over two miles and a half for each company before reaching its original position. The spectacle was quite imposing and grand, and I wish Mary and the children could see such a sight. After passing in review we rested awhile and were then again placed in line of battle, and the artillery divided into two batteries, came out on opposite hills in front of us, where they practiced half an hour or more with blank cartridges. This was the most exciting scene of the day except the one which immediately followed, viz: We were ordered to fix bayonets and the whole line to charge with a yell, and sure enough I heard and joined in the regular Texas war whoop. This was the closing scene of the day, after which we marched back to camp. . . .”
Bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station 1864: Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church, Virginia: “In an effort to learn of Grant’s intentions, Lee orders two cavalry brigades under his son Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton to probe the Federal positions. As they do so, Federal cavalry discover them, and organize a charge. The Rebels dismount and form a line, repelling the charges, again and again. Finally, an additional division in blue is brought up, and Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his brigade of Michigan regiments makes an attack dismounted, and they overrun the Rebel lines. The graycoats withdraw and mount up, leaving the Federals exhausted, but victorious.”
1864: George Templeton Strong, of New York City, notes with alarm the impact of the war news on trade and the market: “Gold reached 189 today! We are in a bad way, unless Grant or Sherman soon win a decisive victory. But I see no symptoms yet of debility in the backbones of loyal and patriotic men, or, in other words, of the community minus Peace Democrats, McClellan-maniacs, mere traders and capitalists, and the brutal herd of ignorant Celts and profligate bullies and gamblers and “sporting men” that have so large a share in the government of our cities.”
Pictures: 1864 Battle of Haws Shop Map; 1862 Union army advances on and conducts siege of Corinth; 1863 Col. Robert Gould Shaw, 54th Mass. Infantry; 1862 Gunboat Hartford in the Mississippi River
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 McComasKim Bolen RN CCM ACM
First Black Regiment departs Boston, Massachusetts 1863: This morning, in Boston, Massachusetts, large crowds line the streets of the city as the newly trained 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a black regiment, parades on its way to transports that will ship the regiment south to South Carolina to assume its first assignment at the front. Commanding the regiment is Col. Robert Gould Shaw, 25 years old and newly married. Shaw is a combat veteran who served in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry as a lieutenant and then captain. Gov. John Andrew purposely calls upon Shaw since his family are wealthy Bostonian bluebloods who are prominent socially and in also prominent in the Abolition movement. Frederick Douglass has two sons, Charles and Lewis, who join the regiment. Most of the soldiers are free blacks from the Boston area, with also a good number of men from New York and Pennsylvania, and a contingent of African-Canadian volunteers from Toronto. The 54th ships out today.
1863: John C. West, a soldier serving in one of the Texas infantry regiments in Hood’s division in the Army of Northern Virginia, writes in his journal about the daily life of a Confederate soldier: “While we are encamped life is so monotonous that I do not usually regard it as necessary to keep a diary, but occasionally we have a little variety and spice which is exciting and pleasant. Yesterday we received notice early in the morning to prepare to march five miles to attend a review of our division which was to take place about a mile beyond General Hood’s headquarters. We left our camp about 8 o’clock a. m. and reached the muster ground about 10 o’clock. We found the artillery posted on the extreme right about three quarters of a mile from our regiment.
The brigades, Anderson’s, Laws’, Robertson’s and Benning’s, were drawn up in line of battle, being over a mile long; our regiment a little to the left of the center. As we were properly formed General Hood and staff galloped down the entire length of the line in front and back again in the rear, after which he took his position about 300 yards in front of the center. The whole division was then formed into companies, preceded by the artillery of about twenty pieces; passed in review before the General, occupying about an hour and a march of over two miles and a half for each company before reaching its original position. The spectacle was quite imposing and grand, and I wish Mary and the children could see such a sight. After passing in review we rested awhile and were then again placed in line of battle, and the artillery divided into two batteries, came out on opposite hills in front of us, where they practiced half an hour or more with blank cartridges. This was the most exciting scene of the day except the one which immediately followed, viz: We were ordered to fix bayonets and the whole line to charge with a yell, and sure enough I heard and joined in the regular Texas war whoop. This was the closing scene of the day, after which we marched back to camp. . . .”
Bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station 1864: Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church, Virginia: “In an effort to learn of Grant’s intentions, Lee orders two cavalry brigades under his son Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton to probe the Federal positions. As they do so, Federal cavalry discover them, and organize a charge. The Rebels dismount and form a line, repelling the charges, again and again. Finally, an additional division in blue is brought up, and Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his brigade of Michigan regiments makes an attack dismounted, and they overrun the Rebel lines. The graycoats withdraw and mount up, leaving the Federals exhausted, but victorious.”
1864: George Templeton Strong, of New York City, notes with alarm the impact of the war news on trade and the market: “Gold reached 189 today! We are in a bad way, unless Grant or Sherman soon win a decisive victory. But I see no symptoms yet of debility in the backbones of loyal and patriotic men, or, in other words, of the community minus Peace Democrats, McClellan-maniacs, mere traders and capitalists, and the brutal herd of ignorant Celts and profligate bullies and gamblers and “sporting men” that have so large a share in the government of our cities.”
Pictures: 1864 Battle of Haws Shop Map; 1862 Union army advances on and conducts siege of Corinth; 1863 Col. Robert Gould Shaw, 54th Mass. Infantry; 1862 Gunboat Hartford in the Mississippi River
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 McComasKim Bolen RN CCM ACM
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Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Charles Wright Wills, an officer of the 8th Illinois Infantry, currently serving with a headquarters staff, writes of the progress of the operations against Corinth in his journal: “We moved up here this morning under the hottest sun and over the dustiest roads, and I then helped the major lay off the camp, and pitched our tents ourselves. Gracious, how hot it was! I worked and sweated and blessed General Pope for ordering us forward on such a day. I’ll wager we are the only field and staff that pitch and strike our head quarter’s tents without the aid of the men. But I can’t bear the idea of making men who are our equals at home do our work here. Soldiering in the ranks spoils a man for acting officer “a-la-regular.” . . . There has been the liveliest kind of cannonading along the whole lines to-day. Our whole army advanced about a mile. I think that at almost any point on the line we can throw shot into their works. Distances vary from one and one half miles to two and a quarter or two and one-half. Many of the generals think that to-morrow there will be a general fight. . . . Many think that Halleck has commenced a regular siege. He has left a line of splendid defences to-day, and if he forms new works on the position taken up to-day, we will know that we are in for a long fight, a-la-Yorktown. . . .”
Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Kate Cumming, a nurse at the Confederate Army hospital in Corinth, writes in her diary about the famous Rebel cavalry raider John Hunt Morgan, and the common hero-worship and celebrity culture of the South in the 18th Century: “The weather is oppressively warm, and I do not feel very well; but hearing that John Morgan was to pass, I could not resist the temptation of seeing so great a lion; for he is one of the greatest of the age. I was introduced to him by Mrs. Jarboe. . . . I then stated that I hoped to hear much of him, and the good that he would do our cause. He replied that he wished that he might hear of himself twenty years hence. I answered that if prayer would save him, he would be preserved, as I knew that many were offered up for him, along with those for the rest of our brave defenders. He is extremely modest. I paid him one or two compliments—deserved ones—and he blushed like a schoolgirl. He has a fine, expressive countenance; his eye reminded me of a description of Burns by Walter Scott. . . . He told us about a train of cars which he had captured in Tennessee, and that the ladies on the train were as frightened as if he intended to eat them. He said, “You know that I would not do that.” He related a very amusing adventure he had had lately at Corinth. He made a call on General Buell in disguise. In the course of conversation with General B., he informed him that John Morgan was in Corinth. General B. answered that he knew better; that he knew where he was; he was in Kentucky. Morgan has great command over his features; can disguise himself, and go where he pleases without being discovered.
When the train left, the men gave him three cheers. He looked abashed, and blushed again. Mrs. Thornton said that she had rather see him than any of our great men.”
Thursday, May 28, 1863: British Army officer, Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his journal some of the details of his visit to the camp of the Army of Tennessee---in the course of which, he meets exiled Copperhead Clement Vallandigham: “When I arrived I found that General Hardee was in company with General Polk and Bishop Elliott of Georgia, and also with Mr Vallandigham. The latter (called the Apostle of Liberty) is a good-looking man, apparently not much over forty, and had been turned out of the North three days before. Rosecrans had wished to hand him over to Bragg by flag of truce; but as the latter declined to receive him in that manner, he was, as General Hardee expressed it, “dumped down” in the neutral ground between the lines, and left there. He then received hospitality from the Confederates in the capacity of a destitute stranger. They do not in any way receive him officially, and it does not suit the policy of either party to be identified with one another. He is now living at a private house in Shelbyville, and had come over for the day, with General Polk, on a visit to Hardee. He told the generals, that if Grant was severely beaten in Mississippi by Johnston, he did not think the war could be continued on its present great scale.
When I presented my letters of introduction, General Hardee received me with the unvarying kindness and hospitality which I had experienced from all other Confederate officers. He is a fine soldier-like man, broad-shouldered and tall. He looks rather like a French officer, and is a Georgian by birth. He bears the reputation of, being a thoroughly good soldier, and he is the author of the drill-book still in use by both armies. Until quite lately he was commanding officer of the military college at West Point. He distinguished himself at the battles of Corinth and Murfreesborough, and now commands the 2d corps d’arme’e of Bragg’s army. He is a widower, and has the character of being a great admirer of the fair sex. . . . General Hardee’s headquarters were on the estate of Mrs ——, a very hospitable lady. The two daughters of the General were staying with her, and also a Mrs ——, who is a very pretty woman. These ladies are more violent against the Yankees than it is possible for a European to conceive; they beat their male relations hollow in their denunciations and hopes of vengeance. It was quite depressing to hear their innumerable stories of Yankee brutality, and I was much relieved when, at a later period of the evening, they subsided into music.”
Pictures: 1864 battle of Dallas, Georgia May-28; 1864 General Logan at the Battle of Dallas, Georgia; 1863 Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg, which spanned 97-days, included the 47-day Siege of Vicksburg Map; Shirleys White House Vicksburg 1863.
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. Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Bridge Creek, Mississippi. Heavy skirmishing near Corinth, Mississippi with some artillery dueling. Maj. Gen. Nelson ordered Colonel Sedgewick to seize a Confederate-held crossing of Bridge Creek, a small tributary of the Tuscumbia River. Sedgewick moved his brigade out from the main Union trenches with the 2nd and 20th Kentucky infantry regiments in the lead. Sedgewick drove in the Confederate pickets then encountered a larger force guarding the bridge. The Kentucky infantry managed to gain hold of the eastern end of the bridge while Sedgewick ordered forward the 31st Indiana infantry and Captain John Mendenhall's artillery battery. These reinforcements and artillery forced the Confederates to abandon the bridge completely.
Retreat
With the Federal army preparing to lay siege to the town, a Confederate counsel of war decided to retreat. Confederate commander General P. G. T. Beauregard saved his army by a hoax. Some of the men were given three days' rations and ordered to prepare for an attack. As expected, one or two went over to the Union with that news. The preliminary bombardment began, and Union forces maneuvered for position. During the night of May 29, the Confederate army moved out. They used the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to carry the sick and wounded, the heavy artillery, and tons of supplies. When a train arrived, the troops cheered as though reinforcements were arriving. They set up dummy Quaker Guns along the defensive earthworks. Camp fires were kept burning, and buglers and drummers played. The rest of the men slipped away undetected, withdrawing to Tupelo, Mississippi. When Union patrols entered Corinth on the morning of May 30, they found the Confederate troops gone. The Union forces took control and made it the base for their operations to seize control of the Mississippi River Valley, and especially the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
B. Thursday, May 28, 1863: Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi continues. As the Union forces approached Vicksburg, Pemberton could put only 18,500 troops in his lines. Grant had over 35,000, with more on the way. However, Pemberton had the advantage of terrain and fortifications that made his defense nearly impregnable. The defensive line around Vicksburg ran approximately 6.5 miles, based on terrain of varying elevations that included hills and knobs with steep angles for an attacker to ascend under fire. The perimeter included many gun pits, forts, trenches, redoubts, and lunettes. The major fortifications of the line included Fort Hill, on a high bluff north of the city; the Stockade Redan, dominating the approach to the city on Graveyard Road from the northeast; the 3rd Louisiana Redan; the Great Redoubt; the Railroad Redoubt, protecting the gap for the railroad line entering the city; the Square Fort (Fort Garrott); a salient along the Hall's Ferry Road; and the South Fort.
Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army of the Tennessee brought three corps to the battle: the XIII Corps, under Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; the XV Corps, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman; and the XVII Corps, under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson.
Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Confederate Army of Mississippi inside the Vicksburg line consisted of four divisions, under Maj. Gens. Carter L. Stevenson, John H. Forney, Martin L. Smith, and John S. Bowen.
C. Saturday, May 28, 1864: Battle of Dallas, Georgia. Having been forced to cancel Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's attack against the Federals' left, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston saw an opportunity on their other flank. Gen. William T. Sherman was clearly moving troops eastward and Johnston thought the Yankees might be withdrawing troops from their right. Johnston instructed Gen. William Hardee to have Brig. Gen. William B. Bate's division, on the Confederate left, to "develop the enemy" near Dallas and "ascertain his strength and position, as it is believed he is not in force." Some of Bate's men already knew that the enemy lines ahead were fortified and still occupied with the infantry and artillery of Gen. James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee. Lt. Col. Franklin Montgomery of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry wrote that he had taken "a good look at a part of their works, which seemed very strong, and I no doubt were well manned." But General Bate believed that he faced only an enemy skirmish line. Kentuckian John S. Jackman commented in his diary, "the boys generally know what is in front and could have told Gen. Bate better."
By 3:00pm, Bate had formed his plan. Brig. Gen. Frank Armstrong's brigade of dismounted cavalry would charge the Yankee line; if they encountered strong opposition, they were to retire. If not, they would press their attack toward the right. Two artillery shots would signal Bate's three infantry brigades to then advance.
Around 3:45pm, Armstrong's troops sallied forth, so suddenly that they drove the Yankees back and captured three cannon. But Maj. Gen. John A. Logan organized a counterattack that drove the Mississippians back to their lines. General Bate sent couriers to his three brigade commanders to cancel their attack, but only one of them received the order. The brigades of Col. Robert Bullock and Brig. Gen. Joseph Lewis charged the strong Federal lines and were bloodily repulsed. Confederate losses totaled 1,200. Logan reported 379 casualties in his three divisions engaged.
D. Saturday, May 28, 1864: The Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church, Virginia lasted for over seven hours and was the bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station in 1863. It is often overshadowed by the Battle of Cold Harbor five days later. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton, newly appointed Confederate cavalry chief after the death of JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern, attempted a reconnaisance in force of the Army of the Potomac approaching Richmond fielding three veteran cavalry brigades (Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. Wickham, Thomas Rosser), a battery of horse artillery, and three regiments of untried mounted infantry (Matthew C. Butler) newly arrived from South Carolina.
At the time Federal infantry from Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s command were attempting to cross a pontoon bridge over the Pamunkey River erected by the 50th NY Engineers. Maj. Gen. David McMurtrie Gregg led his Federal cavalry division probing west toward a major intersection on the Hanovertown-Richmond Turnpike, searching for R.E. Lee’s flank. Three miles west of Hanovertown and a mile beyond the large blacksmith shop of John Haw, called Haw's Shop, Gregg's troopers ran into Hampton’s men near Enon Church, finding the Confederate cavalrymen dismounted in a wooded area behind a swamp. Here the Confederates hastily erected breastworks made of logs and rails between a stream and a mill pond with the approach well-covered by the accompanying horse artillery.
Brig. Gen. Henry E. Davies, Jr., of Gregg's cavalry division deployed skirmishers from the 10th New York Cavalry to Hampton's front, but found it was impossible to turn the flanks of the position. Despite being outnumbered, Gregg chose to launch a frontal assault that the Confederates met with a wall of fire. Gregg's first attack ground to a halt, and a second attack (Col. J. Irwin Gregg’s brigade) also failed to dislodge the Confederates. Hampton's men then moved out from their works and started a series of counterattacks forcing Gregg to send for reinforcements from Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who released two brigades from Maj. Gen. Alfred Torbert's 1 st Cavalry Division (formerly under John Buford who had been killed).
After fighting near the Haw House, including a failed mounted attack in column down the turnpike by the 2nd VA Cavalry, the Confederates fell back a short distance. A brigade under Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt extended Greg's line to the right, thwarting Hampton's attempted flanking maneuver. Sheridan also threw Brig. Gen. George Custer's brigade (4 regiments of Michigan cavalry) into the fight. Due to the heavily wooded terrain, Custer had his brigade dismount and deploy in a long, double-ranked line of battle, as if they were infantrymen. Some of the relatively inexperienced South Carolina infantry mistook a Union shift in position for a retreat and charged after them, only to run into Custer's men, who captured 80 of the Confederates. The enthusiastic S.C. charge near Enon Church caused the Federals to withdraw. Forty one of the Union cavalrymen fell in the attack. Fitzhugh Lee apparently ordered the overall withdrawal because he mistook Custer’s dismounted cavalry for reinforcing Federal infantry. Since the Confederates withdrew, the battle was technically a Federal victory. Nonetheless, Hampton and his men had delayed the Federal advance for several hours, and Gen. R. E. Lee was able to shift the Army of Northern Virginia to a new position at Cold Harbor (which would be the site of the bloodiest 15 minutes of the Civil War). It should be noted that the South Carolina mounted infantry carried Enfield rifles, which outranged the carbines carried by the Federal cavalry. The Federals were armed with seven-shot Spencer repeating carbines. One Federal trooper estimated that the 200 men in his unit had fired 18,000 rounds. Their carbines got so hot that from time to time the men had to pause to let them cool.
John Haw owned the blacksmith’s shop around which the battle raged. His family lived in a house in an oak grove about a mile from the battle line, and this building was used as a field hospital and Federal horse artillery position during the fight. After the fight Haw’s reported 44 dead horses in and near his home. Union casualties were 256 men in Gregg's division and another 41 from Custer's brigade, including Private John Huff, the cavalryman from the 5th Michigan who had fatally shot Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart at Yellow Tavern. Confederate losses were never tabulated officially, but Union reports claimed they buried 187 enemy bodies after the battle, recovered 40 to 50 wounded men, and captured 80 South Carolinians. Total casualties for both sides were between 700 and 800 killed, wounded, or missing.
1. Tuesday, May 28, 1861: Robert Anderson assumes command of the Department of Kentucky. Irvin McDowell assumes command of the Department of Northeastern Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
2. Tuesday, May 28, 1861: Confederates seize the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Point of Rocks to Cumberland
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
3. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Pres. Lincoln, astute enough to see the exaggeration in McClellan’s claims over the battle at Hanover Court House—and to have a better grasp of the strategic situation--sends this message to the general: Washington City, D.C. To Maj. Gen. McClellan May 28, 1862. 8.40 P.M. “I am very glad of Gen. F. J. Porter's victory. Still, if it was a total rout of the enemy, I am puzzled to know why the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad was not seized. Again, as you say you have all the Railroads but the Richmond and Fredericksburg, I am puzzled to see how, lacking that, you can have any, except the scrap from Richmond to West-Point. The scrap of the Virginia Central from Richmond to Hanover Junction, without more, is simply nothing.
That the whole force of the enemy is concentrating in Richmond, I think can not be certainly known to you or me. Saxton, at Harper's Ferry, informs us that a large force (supposed to be Jackson's and Ewells) forced his advance from Charlestown to-day. Gen. King telegraphs us from Fredericksburg that contrabands give certain information that fifteen thousand left Hanover Junction Monday morning to re-inforce Jackson. I am painfully impressed with the importance of the struggle before you; and I shall aid you all I can consistently with my view of due regard to all points.
A. LINCOLN
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1862
4. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- William C. Holton, serving in the U.S. Navy on board the USS Hartford, on the Mississippi River, records this incident at Baton Rouge, as the flotilla is descending the river back to New Orleans: “ Everything looked quiet, and the dingey was sent ashore with Chief Engineer Kimball, manned by four boys. On landing at the levee, they were attacked by a body of guerilla cavalry, and immediately shoved off; but the guerillas poured a volley of slugs and shot into the boat, wounding the Chief Engineer and two of the boys. They then scampered off on horseback as fast as they could go, while our boat was picked up by a gunboat which was anchored below us. We immediately opened our battery on them, raking the streets and firing some twenty shots, when the men were with difficulty compelled to cease firing. The excitement on board our ship was intense, and each man desired to see the city in ashes. During the afternoon, several Northern ladies came off for protection, and the Mayor of the city, with those of secesh proclivities, had already skedaddled, leaving the place nearly desolate.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1862
5. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Charles Wright Wills, an officer of the 8th Illinois Infantry, currently serving with a headquarters staff, writes of the progress of the operations against Corinth in his journal: “We moved up here this morning under the hottest sun and over the dustiest roads, and I then helped the major lay off the camp, and pitched our tents ourselves. Gracious, how hot it was! I worked and sweated and blessed General Pope for ordering us forward on such a day. I’ll wager we are the only field and staff that pitch and strike our head quarter’s tents without the aid of the men. But I can’t bear the idea of making men who are our equals at home do our work here. Soldiering in the ranks spoils a man for acting officer “a-la-regular.” . . . There has been the liveliest kind of cannonading along the whole lines to-day. Our whole army advanced about a mile. I think that at almost any point on the line we can throw shot into their works. Distances vary from one and one half miles to two and a quarter or two and one-half. Many of the generals think that to-morrow there will be a general fight. . . . Many think that Halleck has commenced a regular siege. He has left a line of splendid defences to-day, and if he forms new works on the position taken up to-day, we will know that we are in for a long fight, a-la-Yorktown.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1862
6. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Four companies of the 9th Illinois Cavalry skirmish with Rebel mounted troops near Cache River Bridge in Arkansas, defeating the Rebels and capturing some.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1862
7. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Kate Cumming, a nurse at the Confederate Army hospital in Corinth, writes in her diary about the famous Rebel cavalry raider John Hunt Morgan, and the common hero-worship and celebrity culture of the South in the 18th Century: “The weather is oppressively warm, and I do not feel very well; but hearing that John Morgan was to pass, I could not resist the temptation of seeing so great a lion; for he is one of the greatest of the age. I was introduced to him by Mrs. Jarboe. . . . I then stated that I hoped to hear much of him, and the good that he would do our cause. He replied that he wished that he might hear of himself twenty years hence. I answered that if prayer would save him, he would be preserved, as I knew that many were offered up for him, along with those for the rest of our brave defenders. He is extremely modest. I paid him one or two compliments—deserved ones—and he blushed like a schoolgirl. He has a fine, expressive countenance; his eye reminded me of a description of Burns by Walter Scott. . . . He told us about a train of cars which he had captured in Tennessee, and that the ladies on the train were as frightened as if he intended to eat them. He said, “You know that I would not do that.” He related a very amusing adventure he had had lately at Corinth. He made a call on General Buell in disguise. In the course of conversation with General B., he informed him that John Morgan was in Corinth. General B. answered that he knew better; that he knew where he was; he was in Kentucky. Morgan has great command over his features; can disguise himself, and go where he pleases without being discovered.
When the train left, the men gave him three cheers. He looked abashed, and blushed again. Mrs. Thornton said that she had rather see him than any of our great men.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1862
8. Thursday, May 28, 1863: 1st black regiment (54 Mass) leaves Boston to fight in Civil War.
http://www.onthisday.com/events/may/28
9. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- This morning, in Boston, Massachusetts, large crowds line the streets of the city as the newly trained 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a black regiment, parades on its way to transports that will ship the regiment south to South Carolina to assume its first assignment at the front. Commanding the regiment is Col. Robert Gould Shaw, 25 years old and newly married. Shaw is a combat veteran who served in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry as a lieutenant and then captain. Gov. John Andrew purposely calls upon Shaw since his family are wealthy Bostonian bluebloods who are prominent socially and in also prominent in the Abolition movement. Frederick Douglass has two sons, Charles and Lewis, who join the regiment. Most of the soldiers are free blacks from the Boston area, with also a good number of men from New York and Pennsylvania, and a contingent of African-Canadian volunteers from Toronto. The 54th ships out today.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1863
10. Thursday, May 28, 1863: Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186305
11. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana Day 1
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12. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi Day 6
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13. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- John C. West, a soldier serving in one of the Texas infantry regiments in Hood’s division in the Army of Northern Virginia, writes in his journal about the daily life of a Confederate soldier: “While we are encamped life is so monotonous that I do not usually regard it as necessary to keep a diary, but occasionally we have a little variety and spice which is exciting and pleasant. Yesterday we received notice early in the morning to prepare to march five miles to attend a review of our division which was to take place about a mile beyond General Hood’s headquarters. We left our camp about 8 o’clock a. m. and reached the muster ground about 10 o’clock. We found the artillery posted on the extreme right about three quarters of a mile from our regiment.
The brigades, Anderson’s, Laws’, Robertson’s and Benning’s, were drawn up in line of battle, being over a mile long; our regiment a little to the left of the center. As we were properly formed General Hood and staff galloped down the entire length of the line in front and back again in the rear, after which he took his position about 300 yards in front of the center. The whole division was then formed into companies, preceded by the artillery of about twenty pieces; passed in review before the General, occupying about an hour and a march of over two miles and a half for each company before reaching its original position. The spectacle was quite imposing and grand, and I wish Mary and the children could see such a sight. After passing in review we rested awhile and were then again placed in line of battle, and the artillery divided into two batteries, came out on opposite hills in front of us, where they practiced half an hour or more with blank cartridges. This was the most exciting scene of the day except the one which immediately followed, viz: We were ordered to fix bayonets and the whole line to charge with a yell, and sure enough I heard and joined in the regular Texas war whoop. This was the closing scene of the day, after which we marched back to camp. . . .
To-day Companies B and F are variously employed. There is one squad fishing, another has made a drag of brush and are attempting to catch fish by the wholesale. Two or three other squads are intensely interested in games of poker; some are engaged on the edge of the water washing divers soiled garments as well as their equally soiled skins. I belonged to this latter class for a while, and have spent the remainder of the morning watching the varying success or failure of the fishermen and poker-players, and in reading a few chapters and Psalms in the Old Testament and the history of the crucifixion in the New. . . . I went up to a house to-day about half a mile from our picket camp and found a negro woman with some corn bread and butter milk. A friend who was with me gave her a dollar for her dinner, which we enjoyed very much. The woman was a kind-hearted creature and looked at me very sympathetically, remarking that I did not look like I was used to hard work, and that I was a very nice looking man to be a soldier, etc., etc.
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14. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- British Army officer Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his journal some of the details of his visit to the camp of the Army of Tennessee---in the course of which, he meets exiled Copperhead Clement Vallandigham: “When I arrived I found that General Hardee was in company with General Polk and Bishop Elliott of Georgia, and also with Mr Vallandigham. The latter (called the Apostle of Liberty) is a good-looking man, apparently not much over forty, and had been turned out of the North three days before. Rosecrans had wished to hand him over to Bragg by flag of truce; but as the latter declined to receive him in that manner, he was, as General Hardee expressed it, “dumped down” in the neutral ground between the lines, and left there. He then received hospitality from the Confederates in the capacity of a destitute stranger. They do not in any way receive him officially, and it does not suit the policy of either party to be identified with one another. He is now living at a private house in Shelbyville, and had come over for the day, with General Polk, on a visit to Hardee. He told the generals, that if Grant was severely beaten in Mississippi by Johnston, he did not think the war could be continued on its present great scale.
When I presented my letters of introduction, General Hardee received me with the unvarying kindness and hospitality which I had experienced from all other Confederate officers. He is a fine soldier-like man, broad-shouldered and tall. He looks rather like a French officer, and is a Georgian by birth. He bears the reputation of, being a thoroughly good soldier, and he is the author of the drill-book still in use by both armies. Until quite lately he was commanding officer of the military college at West Point. He distinguished himself at the battles of Corinth and Murfreesborough, and now commands the 2d corps d’arme’e of Bragg’s army. He is a widower, and has the character of being a great admirer of the fair sex. . . . General Hardee’s headquarters were on the estate of Mrs ——, a very hospitable lady. The two daughters of the General were staying with her, and also a Mrs ——, who is a very pretty woman. These ladies are more violent against the Yankees than it is possible for a European to conceive; they beat their male relations hollow in their denunciations and hopes of vengeance. It was quite depressing to hear their innumerable stories of Yankee brutality, and I was much relieved when, at a later period of the evening, they subsided into music.”
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15. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton is put in temporary command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, as Gen. Stoneman has taken a leave of absence for his health. Pleasonton finds the Corps over 60% understrength, and begins refurbishing his troops. His scouts obtain information that indicates that the Rebels are on the move, and Pleasonton opines to Gen. Hooker, “The Rebels always mean something when their scouts become numerous.” Pleasonton ramps up the watch on the river crossings, with the aid of V Corps infantry under Meade. He also dispatches the Reserve Brigade of cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Buford farther upstream towards “Mosby’s Confederacy” in an attempt to interdict Mosby’s raids in that area.
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16. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- The Washington Chronicle publishes a report from some recently-exchanged naval officers who tell of what they saw while being held in Vicksburg: “The streets of Vicksburgh were fairly studded with rifle pits, and every favorable spot along the wharves or in the suburbs, had there kind of defences constructed on them. Where it was necessary, yards of houses were taken and used in the above manner, and very often earthworks were thrown up around the dwellings. In consequence of these obstructions very few wagons were seen in the streets.
The rebel reports that the people of Vicksburgh had plenty to eat, are pronounced by these officers to be untrue. Very little else but corn bread and small quantities of meat were to be had, these being the only fare of our officers.”
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17. Saturday, May 28, 1864: Battle of Dallas, Georgia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186405
18. Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- Virginia: Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, in a forced march, moves eastward in an effort to get in front of Grant’s army at Cold Harbor, where Lee correctly divines that Grant wants to go. Cold Harbor is a crossroads important to Grant for approaching Richmond. Lee decides to keep the Chickahominy River at his back, in order to deny to the Northern forces access to the crossings.
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19. Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- George Templeton Strong, of New York City, notes with alarm the impact of the war news on trade and the market: . . . Gold reached 189 today! We are in a bad way, unless Grant or Sherman soon win a decisive victory. But I see no symptoms yet of debility in the backbones of loyal and patriotic men, or, in other words, of the community minus Peace Democrats, McClellan-maniacs, mere traders and capitalists, and the brutal herd of ignorant Celts and profligate bullies and gamblers and “sporting men” that have so large a share in the government of our cities.
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A Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Heavy skirmishing continues between the lines of the two armies near Corinth, Mississippi with some artillery dueling.
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A+ Siege of Corinth Skirmish at Bridge Creek on Corinth, Mississippi siege line. On May 28 Maj. Gen. Nelson ordered Colonel Sedgewick to seize a Confederate-held crossing of Bridge Creek, a small tributary of the Tuscumbia River. Sedgewick moved his brigade out from the main Union trenches with the 2nd and 20th Kentucky infantry regiments in the lead. Sedgewick drove in the Confederate pickets then encountered a larger force guarding the bridge. The Kentucky infantry managed to gain hold of the eastern end of the bridge while Sedgewick ordered forward the 31st Indiana infantry and Captain John Mendenhall's artillery battery. These reinforcements and artillery forced the Confederates to abandon the bridge completely.
Retreat
With the Federal army preparing to lay siege to the town, a Confederate counsel of war decided to retreat. Confederate commander General P. G. T. Beauregard saved his army by a hoax. Some of the men were given three days' rations and ordered to prepare for an attack. As expected, one or two went over to the Union with that news. The preliminary bombardment began, and Union forces maneuvered for position. During the night of May 29, the Confederate army moved out. They used the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to carry the sick and wounded, the heavy artillery, and tons of supplies. When a train arrived, the troops cheered as though reinforcements were arriving. They set up dummy Quaker Guns along the defensive earthworks. Camp fires were kept burning, and buglers and drummers played. The rest of the men slipped away undetected, withdrawing to Tupelo, Mississippi. When Union patrols entered Corinth on the morning of May 30, they found the Confederate troops gone. The Union forces took control and made it the base for their operations to seize control of the Mississippi River Valley, and especially the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Corinth
B Thursday, May 28, 1863: Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi continues. As the Union forces approached Vicksburg, Pemberton could put only 18,500 troops in his lines. Grant had over 35,000, with more on the way. However, Pemberton had the advantage of terrain and fortifications that made his defense nearly impregnable. The defensive line around Vicksburg ran approximately 6.5 miles, based on terrain of varying elevations that included hills and knobs with steep angles for an attacker to ascend under fire. The perimeter included many gun pits, forts, trenches, redoubts, and lunettes. The major fortifications of the line included Fort Hill, on a high bluff north of the city; the Stockade Redan, dominating the approach to the city on Graveyard Road from the northeast; the 3rd Louisiana Redan; the Great Redoubt; the Railroad Redoubt, protecting the gap for the railroad line entering the city; the Square Fort (Fort Garrott); a salient along the Hall's Ferry Road; and the South Fort.
Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army of the Tennessee brought three corps to the battle: the XIII Corps, under Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; the XV Corps, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman; and the XVII Corps, under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson.
Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Confederate Army of Mississippi inside the Vicksburg line consisted of four divisions, under Maj. Gens. Carter L. Stevenson, John H. Forney, Martin L. Smith, and John S. Bowen.
C Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- Battle of Dallas: In northern Georgia, sporadic fighting continues all along the lines. Gen. Hood is ordered to attack the Yankees’ left flank, which is reaching farther to the east—but Hood finds the Yankee fortifications there too firm for an assault.
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C+ Saturday, May 28, 1864: Battle of Dallas, Georgia. Having been forced to cancel Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's attack against the Federals' left, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston saw an opportunity on their other flank. Gen. William T. Sherman was clearly moving troops eastward and Johnston thought the Yankees might be withdrawing troops from their right. Johnston instructed Gen. William Hardee to have Brig. Gen. William B. Bate's division, on the Confederate left, to "develop the enemy" near Dallas and "ascertain his strength and position, as it is believed he is not in force." Some of Bate's men already knew that the enemy lines ahead were fortified and still occupied with the infantry and artillery of Gen. James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee. Lt. Col. Franklin Montgomery of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry wrote that he had taken "a good look at a part of their works, which seemed very strong, and I no doubt were well manned." But General Bate believed that he faced only an enemy skirmish line. Kentuckian John S. Jackman commented in his diary, "the boys generally know what is in front and could have told Gen. Bate better."
By 3:00pm, Bate had formed his plan. Brig. Gen. Frank Armstrong's brigade of dismounted cavalry would charge the Yankee line; if they encountered strong opposition, they were to retire. If not, they would press their attack toward the right. Two artillery shots would signal Bate's three infantry brigades to then advance.
Around 3:45pm, Armstrong's troops sallied forth, so suddenly that they drove the Yankees back and captured three cannon. But Maj. Gen. John A. Logan organized a counterattack that drove the Mississippians back to their lines. General Bate sent couriers to his three brigade commanders to cancel their attack, but only one of them received the order. The brigades of Col. Robert Bullock and Brig. Gen. Joseph Lewis charged the strong Federal lines and were bloodily repulsed. Confederate losses totaled 1,200. Logan reported 379 casualties in his three divisions engaged.
Both sides spent May 29 watchfully waiting in lines anywhere from 200 yards to a half-mile apart. Skirmishers were active, peppering the other side, and artillerymen kept up their fire. "During the day all rather quiet Sharpshooting," recorded an officer on Johnston's staff. On the 30th, Sherman wanted his forces to start withdrawing from the Dallas-New Hope-Pickett's Mill lines for a move back toward the railroad. He had flanked Johnston out of Allatoona, and now it was time to move back to his line of supply, and on to Acworth. McPherson, however, had difficulty disengaging from the Rebels (Bate's division in his front). On June 1, the Army of the Tennessee carefully withdrew and started marching northeastward.
Johnston received reports of the enemy movement from observers in Elsberry Mountain. To parallel Sherman's eastward march and to block his next advance, Johnston chose to place his next defensive line at Lost Mountain, six miles southeast of the Confederates' New Hope line. On June 3, when Sherman's advance reached the railroad at Acworth, Johnston issued orders for the march to Lost Mountain.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/dallas.html?tab=facts
D+ Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church: “In an effort to learn of Grant’s intentions, Lee orders two cavalry brigades under his son Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton to probe the Federal positions. As they do so, Federal cavalry discover them, and organie a charge. The Rebels dismount and form a line, repelling the charges, again and again. Finally, an additional division in blue is brought up, and Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his brigade of Michigan regiments makes an attack dismounted, and they overrun the Rebel lines. The graycoats withdraw and mount up, leaving the Federals exhausted, but victorious.”
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D Saturday, May 28, 1864: The Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church lasted for over seven hours and was the bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station in 1863. It is often overshadowed by the Battle of Cold Harbor five days later. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton, newly appointed Confederate cavalry chief after the death of JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern, attempted a reconnaisance in force of the Army of the Potomac approaching Richmond fielding three veteran cavalry brigades (Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. Wickham, Thomas Rosser), a battery of horse artillery, and three regiments of untried mounted infantry (Matthew C. Butler) newly arrived from South Carolina.
At the time Federal infantry from Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s command were attempting to cross a pontoon bridge over the Pamunkey River erected by the 50th NY Engineers. Maj. Gen. David McMurtrie Gregg led his Federal cavalry division probing west toward a major intersection on the Hanovertown-Richmond Turnpike, searching for R.E. Lee’s flank. Three miles west of Hanovertown and a mile beyond the large blacksmith shop of John Haw, called Haw's Shop, Gregg's troopers ran into Hampton’s men near Enon Church, finding the Confederate cavalrymen dismounted in a wooded area behind a swamp. Here the Confederates hastily erected breastworks made of logs and rails between a stream and a mill pond with the approach well-covered by the accompanying horse artillery.
Brig. Gen. Henry E. Davies, Jr., of Gregg's cavalry division deployed skirmishers from the 10th New York Cavalry to Hampton's front, but found it was impossible to turn the flanks of the position. Despite being outnumbered, Gregg chose to launch a frontal assault that the Confederates met with a wall of fire. Gregg's first attack ground to a halt, and a second attack (Col. J. Irwin Gregg’s brigade) also failed to dislodge the Confederates. Hampton's men then moved out from their works and started a series of counterattacks forcing Gregg to send for reinforcements from Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who released two brigades from Maj. Gen. Alfred Torbert's 1 st Cavalry Division (formerly under John Buford who had been killed).
After fighting near the Haw House, including a failed mounted attack in column down the turnpike by the 2nd VA Cavalry, the Confederates fell back a short distance. A brigade under Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt extended Greg's line to the right, thwarting Hampton's attempted flanking maneuver. Sheridan also threw Brig. Gen. George Custer's brigade (4 regiments of Michigan cavalry) into the fight. Due to the heavily wooded terrain, Custer had his brigade dismount and deploy in a long, double-ranked line of battle, as if they were infantrymen. Some of the relatively inexperienced South Carolina infantry mistook a Union shift in position for a retreat and charged after them, only to run into Custer's men, who captured 80 of the Confederates. The enthusiastic S.C. charge near Enon Church caused the Federals to withdraw. Forty one of the Union cavalrymen fell in the attack. Fitzhugh Lee apparently ordered the overall withdrawal because he mistook Custer’s dismounted cavalry for reinforcing Federal infantry.
Since the Confederates withdrew, the battle was technically a Federal victory. Nonetheless, Hampton and his men had delayed the Federal advance for several hours, and Gen. R. E. Lee was able to shift the Army of Northern Virginia to a new position at Cold Harbor (which would be the site of the bloodiest 15 minutes of the Civil War). It should be noted that the South Carolina mounted infantry carried Enfield rifles, which outranged the carbines carried by the Federal cavalry. The Federals were armed with seven-shot Spencer repeating carbines. One Federal trooper estimated that the 200 men in his unit had fired 18,000 rounds. Their carbines got so hot that from time to time the men had to pause to let them cool.
John Haw owned the blacksmith’s shop around which the battle raged. His family lived in a house in an oak grove about a mile from the battle line, and this building was used as a field hospital and Federal horse artillery position during the fight. After the fight Haw’s reported 44 dead horses in and near his home. Union casualties were 256 men in Gregg's division and another 41 from Custer's brigade, including Private John Huff, the cavalryman from the 5th Michigan who had fatally shot Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart at Yellow Tavern. Confederate losses were never tabulated officially, but Union reports claimed they buried 187 enemy bodies after the battle, recovered 40 to 50 wounded men, and captured 80 South Carolinians. Total casualties for both sides were between 700 and 800 killed, wounded, or missing.
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Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Kate Cumming, a nurse at the Confederate Army hospital in Corinth, writes in her diary about the famous Rebel cavalry raider John Hunt Morgan, and the common hero-worship and celebrity culture of the South in the 18th Century: “The weather is oppressively warm, and I do not feel very well; but hearing that John Morgan was to pass, I could not resist the temptation of seeing so great a lion; for he is one of the greatest of the age. I was introduced to him by Mrs. Jarboe. . . . I then stated that I hoped to hear much of him, and the good that he would do our cause. He replied that he wished that he might hear of himself twenty years hence. I answered that if prayer would save him, he would be preserved, as I knew that many were offered up for him, along with those for the rest of our brave defenders. He is extremely modest. I paid him one or two compliments—deserved ones—and he blushed like a schoolgirl. He has a fine, expressive countenance; his eye reminded me of a description of Burns by Walter Scott. . . . He told us about a train of cars which he had captured in Tennessee, and that the ladies on the train were as frightened as if he intended to eat them. He said, “You know that I would not do that.” He related a very amusing adventure he had had lately at Corinth. He made a call on General Buell in disguise. In the course of conversation with General B., he informed him that John Morgan was in Corinth. General B. answered that he knew better; that he knew where he was; he was in Kentucky. Morgan has great command over his features; can disguise himself, and go where he pleases without being discovered.
When the train left, the men gave him three cheers. He looked abashed, and blushed again. Mrs. Thornton said that she had rather see him than any of our great men.”
Thursday, May 28, 1863: British Army officer, Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his journal some of the details of his visit to the camp of the Army of Tennessee---in the course of which, he meets exiled Copperhead Clement Vallandigham: “When I arrived I found that General Hardee was in company with General Polk and Bishop Elliott of Georgia, and also with Mr Vallandigham. The latter (called the Apostle of Liberty) is a good-looking man, apparently not much over forty, and had been turned out of the North three days before. Rosecrans had wished to hand him over to Bragg by flag of truce; but as the latter declined to receive him in that manner, he was, as General Hardee expressed it, “dumped down” in the neutral ground between the lines, and left there. He then received hospitality from the Confederates in the capacity of a destitute stranger. They do not in any way receive him officially, and it does not suit the policy of either party to be identified with one another. He is now living at a private house in Shelbyville, and had come over for the day, with General Polk, on a visit to Hardee. He told the generals, that if Grant was severely beaten in Mississippi by Johnston, he did not think the war could be continued on its present great scale.
When I presented my letters of introduction, General Hardee received me with the unvarying kindness and hospitality which I had experienced from all other Confederate officers. He is a fine soldier-like man, broad-shouldered and tall. He looks rather like a French officer, and is a Georgian by birth. He bears the reputation of, being a thoroughly good soldier, and he is the author of the drill-book still in use by both armies. Until quite lately he was commanding officer of the military college at West Point. He distinguished himself at the battles of Corinth and Murfreesborough, and now commands the 2d corps d’arme’e of Bragg’s army. He is a widower, and has the character of being a great admirer of the fair sex. . . . General Hardee’s headquarters were on the estate of Mrs ——, a very hospitable lady. The two daughters of the General were staying with her, and also a Mrs ——, who is a very pretty woman. These ladies are more violent against the Yankees than it is possible for a European to conceive; they beat their male relations hollow in their denunciations and hopes of vengeance. It was quite depressing to hear their innumerable stories of Yankee brutality, and I was much relieved when, at a later period of the evening, they subsided into music.”
Pictures: 1864 battle of Dallas, Georgia May-28; 1864 General Logan at the Battle of Dallas, Georgia; 1863 Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg, which spanned 97-days, included the 47-day Siege of Vicksburg Map; Shirleys White House Vicksburg 1863.
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. Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Bridge Creek, Mississippi. Heavy skirmishing near Corinth, Mississippi with some artillery dueling. Maj. Gen. Nelson ordered Colonel Sedgewick to seize a Confederate-held crossing of Bridge Creek, a small tributary of the Tuscumbia River. Sedgewick moved his brigade out from the main Union trenches with the 2nd and 20th Kentucky infantry regiments in the lead. Sedgewick drove in the Confederate pickets then encountered a larger force guarding the bridge. The Kentucky infantry managed to gain hold of the eastern end of the bridge while Sedgewick ordered forward the 31st Indiana infantry and Captain John Mendenhall's artillery battery. These reinforcements and artillery forced the Confederates to abandon the bridge completely.
Retreat
With the Federal army preparing to lay siege to the town, a Confederate counsel of war decided to retreat. Confederate commander General P. G. T. Beauregard saved his army by a hoax. Some of the men were given three days' rations and ordered to prepare for an attack. As expected, one or two went over to the Union with that news. The preliminary bombardment began, and Union forces maneuvered for position. During the night of May 29, the Confederate army moved out. They used the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to carry the sick and wounded, the heavy artillery, and tons of supplies. When a train arrived, the troops cheered as though reinforcements were arriving. They set up dummy Quaker Guns along the defensive earthworks. Camp fires were kept burning, and buglers and drummers played. The rest of the men slipped away undetected, withdrawing to Tupelo, Mississippi. When Union patrols entered Corinth on the morning of May 30, they found the Confederate troops gone. The Union forces took control and made it the base for their operations to seize control of the Mississippi River Valley, and especially the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
B. Thursday, May 28, 1863: Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi continues. As the Union forces approached Vicksburg, Pemberton could put only 18,500 troops in his lines. Grant had over 35,000, with more on the way. However, Pemberton had the advantage of terrain and fortifications that made his defense nearly impregnable. The defensive line around Vicksburg ran approximately 6.5 miles, based on terrain of varying elevations that included hills and knobs with steep angles for an attacker to ascend under fire. The perimeter included many gun pits, forts, trenches, redoubts, and lunettes. The major fortifications of the line included Fort Hill, on a high bluff north of the city; the Stockade Redan, dominating the approach to the city on Graveyard Road from the northeast; the 3rd Louisiana Redan; the Great Redoubt; the Railroad Redoubt, protecting the gap for the railroad line entering the city; the Square Fort (Fort Garrott); a salient along the Hall's Ferry Road; and the South Fort.
Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army of the Tennessee brought three corps to the battle: the XIII Corps, under Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; the XV Corps, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman; and the XVII Corps, under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson.
Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Confederate Army of Mississippi inside the Vicksburg line consisted of four divisions, under Maj. Gens. Carter L. Stevenson, John H. Forney, Martin L. Smith, and John S. Bowen.
C. Saturday, May 28, 1864: Battle of Dallas, Georgia. Having been forced to cancel Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's attack against the Federals' left, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston saw an opportunity on their other flank. Gen. William T. Sherman was clearly moving troops eastward and Johnston thought the Yankees might be withdrawing troops from their right. Johnston instructed Gen. William Hardee to have Brig. Gen. William B. Bate's division, on the Confederate left, to "develop the enemy" near Dallas and "ascertain his strength and position, as it is believed he is not in force." Some of Bate's men already knew that the enemy lines ahead were fortified and still occupied with the infantry and artillery of Gen. James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee. Lt. Col. Franklin Montgomery of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry wrote that he had taken "a good look at a part of their works, which seemed very strong, and I no doubt were well manned." But General Bate believed that he faced only an enemy skirmish line. Kentuckian John S. Jackman commented in his diary, "the boys generally know what is in front and could have told Gen. Bate better."
By 3:00pm, Bate had formed his plan. Brig. Gen. Frank Armstrong's brigade of dismounted cavalry would charge the Yankee line; if they encountered strong opposition, they were to retire. If not, they would press their attack toward the right. Two artillery shots would signal Bate's three infantry brigades to then advance.
Around 3:45pm, Armstrong's troops sallied forth, so suddenly that they drove the Yankees back and captured three cannon. But Maj. Gen. John A. Logan organized a counterattack that drove the Mississippians back to their lines. General Bate sent couriers to his three brigade commanders to cancel their attack, but only one of them received the order. The brigades of Col. Robert Bullock and Brig. Gen. Joseph Lewis charged the strong Federal lines and were bloodily repulsed. Confederate losses totaled 1,200. Logan reported 379 casualties in his three divisions engaged.
D. Saturday, May 28, 1864: The Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church, Virginia lasted for over seven hours and was the bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station in 1863. It is often overshadowed by the Battle of Cold Harbor five days later. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton, newly appointed Confederate cavalry chief after the death of JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern, attempted a reconnaisance in force of the Army of the Potomac approaching Richmond fielding three veteran cavalry brigades (Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. Wickham, Thomas Rosser), a battery of horse artillery, and three regiments of untried mounted infantry (Matthew C. Butler) newly arrived from South Carolina.
At the time Federal infantry from Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s command were attempting to cross a pontoon bridge over the Pamunkey River erected by the 50th NY Engineers. Maj. Gen. David McMurtrie Gregg led his Federal cavalry division probing west toward a major intersection on the Hanovertown-Richmond Turnpike, searching for R.E. Lee’s flank. Three miles west of Hanovertown and a mile beyond the large blacksmith shop of John Haw, called Haw's Shop, Gregg's troopers ran into Hampton’s men near Enon Church, finding the Confederate cavalrymen dismounted in a wooded area behind a swamp. Here the Confederates hastily erected breastworks made of logs and rails between a stream and a mill pond with the approach well-covered by the accompanying horse artillery.
Brig. Gen. Henry E. Davies, Jr., of Gregg's cavalry division deployed skirmishers from the 10th New York Cavalry to Hampton's front, but found it was impossible to turn the flanks of the position. Despite being outnumbered, Gregg chose to launch a frontal assault that the Confederates met with a wall of fire. Gregg's first attack ground to a halt, and a second attack (Col. J. Irwin Gregg’s brigade) also failed to dislodge the Confederates. Hampton's men then moved out from their works and started a series of counterattacks forcing Gregg to send for reinforcements from Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who released two brigades from Maj. Gen. Alfred Torbert's 1 st Cavalry Division (formerly under John Buford who had been killed).
After fighting near the Haw House, including a failed mounted attack in column down the turnpike by the 2nd VA Cavalry, the Confederates fell back a short distance. A brigade under Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt extended Greg's line to the right, thwarting Hampton's attempted flanking maneuver. Sheridan also threw Brig. Gen. George Custer's brigade (4 regiments of Michigan cavalry) into the fight. Due to the heavily wooded terrain, Custer had his brigade dismount and deploy in a long, double-ranked line of battle, as if they were infantrymen. Some of the relatively inexperienced South Carolina infantry mistook a Union shift in position for a retreat and charged after them, only to run into Custer's men, who captured 80 of the Confederates. The enthusiastic S.C. charge near Enon Church caused the Federals to withdraw. Forty one of the Union cavalrymen fell in the attack. Fitzhugh Lee apparently ordered the overall withdrawal because he mistook Custer’s dismounted cavalry for reinforcing Federal infantry. Since the Confederates withdrew, the battle was technically a Federal victory. Nonetheless, Hampton and his men had delayed the Federal advance for several hours, and Gen. R. E. Lee was able to shift the Army of Northern Virginia to a new position at Cold Harbor (which would be the site of the bloodiest 15 minutes of the Civil War). It should be noted that the South Carolina mounted infantry carried Enfield rifles, which outranged the carbines carried by the Federal cavalry. The Federals were armed with seven-shot Spencer repeating carbines. One Federal trooper estimated that the 200 men in his unit had fired 18,000 rounds. Their carbines got so hot that from time to time the men had to pause to let them cool.
John Haw owned the blacksmith’s shop around which the battle raged. His family lived in a house in an oak grove about a mile from the battle line, and this building was used as a field hospital and Federal horse artillery position during the fight. After the fight Haw’s reported 44 dead horses in and near his home. Union casualties were 256 men in Gregg's division and another 41 from Custer's brigade, including Private John Huff, the cavalryman from the 5th Michigan who had fatally shot Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart at Yellow Tavern. Confederate losses were never tabulated officially, but Union reports claimed they buried 187 enemy bodies after the battle, recovered 40 to 50 wounded men, and captured 80 South Carolinians. Total casualties for both sides were between 700 and 800 killed, wounded, or missing.
1. Tuesday, May 28, 1861: Robert Anderson assumes command of the Department of Kentucky. Irvin McDowell assumes command of the Department of Northeastern Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
2. Tuesday, May 28, 1861: Confederates seize the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Point of Rocks to Cumberland
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
3. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Pres. Lincoln, astute enough to see the exaggeration in McClellan’s claims over the battle at Hanover Court House—and to have a better grasp of the strategic situation--sends this message to the general: Washington City, D.C. To Maj. Gen. McClellan May 28, 1862. 8.40 P.M. “I am very glad of Gen. F. J. Porter's victory. Still, if it was a total rout of the enemy, I am puzzled to know why the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad was not seized. Again, as you say you have all the Railroads but the Richmond and Fredericksburg, I am puzzled to see how, lacking that, you can have any, except the scrap from Richmond to West-Point. The scrap of the Virginia Central from Richmond to Hanover Junction, without more, is simply nothing.
That the whole force of the enemy is concentrating in Richmond, I think can not be certainly known to you or me. Saxton, at Harper's Ferry, informs us that a large force (supposed to be Jackson's and Ewells) forced his advance from Charlestown to-day. Gen. King telegraphs us from Fredericksburg that contrabands give certain information that fifteen thousand left Hanover Junction Monday morning to re-inforce Jackson. I am painfully impressed with the importance of the struggle before you; and I shall aid you all I can consistently with my view of due regard to all points.
A. LINCOLN
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4. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- William C. Holton, serving in the U.S. Navy on board the USS Hartford, on the Mississippi River, records this incident at Baton Rouge, as the flotilla is descending the river back to New Orleans: “ Everything looked quiet, and the dingey was sent ashore with Chief Engineer Kimball, manned by four boys. On landing at the levee, they were attacked by a body of guerilla cavalry, and immediately shoved off; but the guerillas poured a volley of slugs and shot into the boat, wounding the Chief Engineer and two of the boys. They then scampered off on horseback as fast as they could go, while our boat was picked up by a gunboat which was anchored below us. We immediately opened our battery on them, raking the streets and firing some twenty shots, when the men were with difficulty compelled to cease firing. The excitement on board our ship was intense, and each man desired to see the city in ashes. During the afternoon, several Northern ladies came off for protection, and the Mayor of the city, with those of secesh proclivities, had already skedaddled, leaving the place nearly desolate.”
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5. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Charles Wright Wills, an officer of the 8th Illinois Infantry, currently serving with a headquarters staff, writes of the progress of the operations against Corinth in his journal: “We moved up here this morning under the hottest sun and over the dustiest roads, and I then helped the major lay off the camp, and pitched our tents ourselves. Gracious, how hot it was! I worked and sweated and blessed General Pope for ordering us forward on such a day. I’ll wager we are the only field and staff that pitch and strike our head quarter’s tents without the aid of the men. But I can’t bear the idea of making men who are our equals at home do our work here. Soldiering in the ranks spoils a man for acting officer “a-la-regular.” . . . There has been the liveliest kind of cannonading along the whole lines to-day. Our whole army advanced about a mile. I think that at almost any point on the line we can throw shot into their works. Distances vary from one and one half miles to two and a quarter or two and one-half. Many of the generals think that to-morrow there will be a general fight. . . . Many think that Halleck has commenced a regular siege. He has left a line of splendid defences to-day, and if he forms new works on the position taken up to-day, we will know that we are in for a long fight, a-la-Yorktown.”
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6. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Four companies of the 9th Illinois Cavalry skirmish with Rebel mounted troops near Cache River Bridge in Arkansas, defeating the Rebels and capturing some.
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7. Wednesday, May 28, 1862 --- Kate Cumming, a nurse at the Confederate Army hospital in Corinth, writes in her diary about the famous Rebel cavalry raider John Hunt Morgan, and the common hero-worship and celebrity culture of the South in the 18th Century: “The weather is oppressively warm, and I do not feel very well; but hearing that John Morgan was to pass, I could not resist the temptation of seeing so great a lion; for he is one of the greatest of the age. I was introduced to him by Mrs. Jarboe. . . . I then stated that I hoped to hear much of him, and the good that he would do our cause. He replied that he wished that he might hear of himself twenty years hence. I answered that if prayer would save him, he would be preserved, as I knew that many were offered up for him, along with those for the rest of our brave defenders. He is extremely modest. I paid him one or two compliments—deserved ones—and he blushed like a schoolgirl. He has a fine, expressive countenance; his eye reminded me of a description of Burns by Walter Scott. . . . He told us about a train of cars which he had captured in Tennessee, and that the ladies on the train were as frightened as if he intended to eat them. He said, “You know that I would not do that.” He related a very amusing adventure he had had lately at Corinth. He made a call on General Buell in disguise. In the course of conversation with General B., he informed him that John Morgan was in Corinth. General B. answered that he knew better; that he knew where he was; he was in Kentucky. Morgan has great command over his features; can disguise himself, and go where he pleases without being discovered.
When the train left, the men gave him three cheers. He looked abashed, and blushed again. Mrs. Thornton said that she had rather see him than any of our great men.”
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8. Thursday, May 28, 1863: 1st black regiment (54 Mass) leaves Boston to fight in Civil War.
http://www.onthisday.com/events/may/28
9. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- This morning, in Boston, Massachusetts, large crowds line the streets of the city as the newly trained 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a black regiment, parades on its way to transports that will ship the regiment south to South Carolina to assume its first assignment at the front. Commanding the regiment is Col. Robert Gould Shaw, 25 years old and newly married. Shaw is a combat veteran who served in the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry as a lieutenant and then captain. Gov. John Andrew purposely calls upon Shaw since his family are wealthy Bostonian bluebloods who are prominent socially and in also prominent in the Abolition movement. Frederick Douglass has two sons, Charles and Lewis, who join the regiment. Most of the soldiers are free blacks from the Boston area, with also a good number of men from New York and Pennsylvania, and a contingent of African-Canadian volunteers from Toronto. The 54th ships out today.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1863
10. Thursday, May 28, 1863: Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186305
11. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana Day 1
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1863
12. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi Day 6
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13. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- John C. West, a soldier serving in one of the Texas infantry regiments in Hood’s division in the Army of Northern Virginia, writes in his journal about the daily life of a Confederate soldier: “While we are encamped life is so monotonous that I do not usually regard it as necessary to keep a diary, but occasionally we have a little variety and spice which is exciting and pleasant. Yesterday we received notice early in the morning to prepare to march five miles to attend a review of our division which was to take place about a mile beyond General Hood’s headquarters. We left our camp about 8 o’clock a. m. and reached the muster ground about 10 o’clock. We found the artillery posted on the extreme right about three quarters of a mile from our regiment.
The brigades, Anderson’s, Laws’, Robertson’s and Benning’s, were drawn up in line of battle, being over a mile long; our regiment a little to the left of the center. As we were properly formed General Hood and staff galloped down the entire length of the line in front and back again in the rear, after which he took his position about 300 yards in front of the center. The whole division was then formed into companies, preceded by the artillery of about twenty pieces; passed in review before the General, occupying about an hour and a march of over two miles and a half for each company before reaching its original position. The spectacle was quite imposing and grand, and I wish Mary and the children could see such a sight. After passing in review we rested awhile and were then again placed in line of battle, and the artillery divided into two batteries, came out on opposite hills in front of us, where they practiced half an hour or more with blank cartridges. This was the most exciting scene of the day except the one which immediately followed, viz: We were ordered to fix bayonets and the whole line to charge with a yell, and sure enough I heard and joined in the regular Texas war whoop. This was the closing scene of the day, after which we marched back to camp. . . .
To-day Companies B and F are variously employed. There is one squad fishing, another has made a drag of brush and are attempting to catch fish by the wholesale. Two or three other squads are intensely interested in games of poker; some are engaged on the edge of the water washing divers soiled garments as well as their equally soiled skins. I belonged to this latter class for a while, and have spent the remainder of the morning watching the varying success or failure of the fishermen and poker-players, and in reading a few chapters and Psalms in the Old Testament and the history of the crucifixion in the New. . . . I went up to a house to-day about half a mile from our picket camp and found a negro woman with some corn bread and butter milk. A friend who was with me gave her a dollar for her dinner, which we enjoyed very much. The woman was a kind-hearted creature and looked at me very sympathetically, remarking that I did not look like I was used to hard work, and that I was a very nice looking man to be a soldier, etc., etc.
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14. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- British Army officer Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle writes in his journal some of the details of his visit to the camp of the Army of Tennessee---in the course of which, he meets exiled Copperhead Clement Vallandigham: “When I arrived I found that General Hardee was in company with General Polk and Bishop Elliott of Georgia, and also with Mr Vallandigham. The latter (called the Apostle of Liberty) is a good-looking man, apparently not much over forty, and had been turned out of the North three days before. Rosecrans had wished to hand him over to Bragg by flag of truce; but as the latter declined to receive him in that manner, he was, as General Hardee expressed it, “dumped down” in the neutral ground between the lines, and left there. He then received hospitality from the Confederates in the capacity of a destitute stranger. They do not in any way receive him officially, and it does not suit the policy of either party to be identified with one another. He is now living at a private house in Shelbyville, and had come over for the day, with General Polk, on a visit to Hardee. He told the generals, that if Grant was severely beaten in Mississippi by Johnston, he did not think the war could be continued on its present great scale.
When I presented my letters of introduction, General Hardee received me with the unvarying kindness and hospitality which I had experienced from all other Confederate officers. He is a fine soldier-like man, broad-shouldered and tall. He looks rather like a French officer, and is a Georgian by birth. He bears the reputation of, being a thoroughly good soldier, and he is the author of the drill-book still in use by both armies. Until quite lately he was commanding officer of the military college at West Point. He distinguished himself at the battles of Corinth and Murfreesborough, and now commands the 2d corps d’arme’e of Bragg’s army. He is a widower, and has the character of being a great admirer of the fair sex. . . . General Hardee’s headquarters were on the estate of Mrs ——, a very hospitable lady. The two daughters of the General were staying with her, and also a Mrs ——, who is a very pretty woman. These ladies are more violent against the Yankees than it is possible for a European to conceive; they beat their male relations hollow in their denunciations and hopes of vengeance. It was quite depressing to hear their innumerable stories of Yankee brutality, and I was much relieved when, at a later period of the evening, they subsided into music.”
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15. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton is put in temporary command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, as Gen. Stoneman has taken a leave of absence for his health. Pleasonton finds the Corps over 60% understrength, and begins refurbishing his troops. His scouts obtain information that indicates that the Rebels are on the move, and Pleasonton opines to Gen. Hooker, “The Rebels always mean something when their scouts become numerous.” Pleasonton ramps up the watch on the river crossings, with the aid of V Corps infantry under Meade. He also dispatches the Reserve Brigade of cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Buford farther upstream towards “Mosby’s Confederacy” in an attempt to interdict Mosby’s raids in that area.
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16. Thursday, May 28, 1863 --- The Washington Chronicle publishes a report from some recently-exchanged naval officers who tell of what they saw while being held in Vicksburg: “The streets of Vicksburgh were fairly studded with rifle pits, and every favorable spot along the wharves or in the suburbs, had there kind of defences constructed on them. Where it was necessary, yards of houses were taken and used in the above manner, and very often earthworks were thrown up around the dwellings. In consequence of these obstructions very few wagons were seen in the streets.
The rebel reports that the people of Vicksburgh had plenty to eat, are pronounced by these officers to be untrue. Very little else but corn bread and small quantities of meat were to be had, these being the only fare of our officers.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1863
17. Saturday, May 28, 1864: Battle of Dallas, Georgia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186405
18. Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- Virginia: Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, in a forced march, moves eastward in an effort to get in front of Grant’s army at Cold Harbor, where Lee correctly divines that Grant wants to go. Cold Harbor is a crossroads important to Grant for approaching Richmond. Lee decides to keep the Chickahominy River at his back, in order to deny to the Northern forces access to the crossings.
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19. Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- George Templeton Strong, of New York City, notes with alarm the impact of the war news on trade and the market: . . . Gold reached 189 today! We are in a bad way, unless Grant or Sherman soon win a decisive victory. But I see no symptoms yet of debility in the backbones of loyal and patriotic men, or, in other words, of the community minus Peace Democrats, McClellan-maniacs, mere traders and capitalists, and the brutal herd of ignorant Celts and profligate bullies and gamblers and “sporting men” that have so large a share in the government of our cities.
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A Wednesday, May 28, 1862: Heavy skirmishing continues between the lines of the two armies near Corinth, Mississippi with some artillery dueling.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1862
A+ Siege of Corinth Skirmish at Bridge Creek on Corinth, Mississippi siege line. On May 28 Maj. Gen. Nelson ordered Colonel Sedgewick to seize a Confederate-held crossing of Bridge Creek, a small tributary of the Tuscumbia River. Sedgewick moved his brigade out from the main Union trenches with the 2nd and 20th Kentucky infantry regiments in the lead. Sedgewick drove in the Confederate pickets then encountered a larger force guarding the bridge. The Kentucky infantry managed to gain hold of the eastern end of the bridge while Sedgewick ordered forward the 31st Indiana infantry and Captain John Mendenhall's artillery battery. These reinforcements and artillery forced the Confederates to abandon the bridge completely.
Retreat
With the Federal army preparing to lay siege to the town, a Confederate counsel of war decided to retreat. Confederate commander General P. G. T. Beauregard saved his army by a hoax. Some of the men were given three days' rations and ordered to prepare for an attack. As expected, one or two went over to the Union with that news. The preliminary bombardment began, and Union forces maneuvered for position. During the night of May 29, the Confederate army moved out. They used the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to carry the sick and wounded, the heavy artillery, and tons of supplies. When a train arrived, the troops cheered as though reinforcements were arriving. They set up dummy Quaker Guns along the defensive earthworks. Camp fires were kept burning, and buglers and drummers played. The rest of the men slipped away undetected, withdrawing to Tupelo, Mississippi. When Union patrols entered Corinth on the morning of May 30, they found the Confederate troops gone. The Union forces took control and made it the base for their operations to seize control of the Mississippi River Valley, and especially the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Corinth
B Thursday, May 28, 1863: Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi continues. As the Union forces approached Vicksburg, Pemberton could put only 18,500 troops in his lines. Grant had over 35,000, with more on the way. However, Pemberton had the advantage of terrain and fortifications that made his defense nearly impregnable. The defensive line around Vicksburg ran approximately 6.5 miles, based on terrain of varying elevations that included hills and knobs with steep angles for an attacker to ascend under fire. The perimeter included many gun pits, forts, trenches, redoubts, and lunettes. The major fortifications of the line included Fort Hill, on a high bluff north of the city; the Stockade Redan, dominating the approach to the city on Graveyard Road from the northeast; the 3rd Louisiana Redan; the Great Redoubt; the Railroad Redoubt, protecting the gap for the railroad line entering the city; the Square Fort (Fort Garrott); a salient along the Hall's Ferry Road; and the South Fort.
Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Union Army of the Tennessee brought three corps to the battle: the XIII Corps, under Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; the XV Corps, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman; and the XVII Corps, under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson.
Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's Confederate Army of Mississippi inside the Vicksburg line consisted of four divisions, under Maj. Gens. Carter L. Stevenson, John H. Forney, Martin L. Smith, and John S. Bowen.
C Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- Battle of Dallas: In northern Georgia, sporadic fighting continues all along the lines. Gen. Hood is ordered to attack the Yankees’ left flank, which is reaching farther to the east—but Hood finds the Yankee fortifications there too firm for an assault.
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C+ Saturday, May 28, 1864: Battle of Dallas, Georgia. Having been forced to cancel Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood's attack against the Federals' left, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston saw an opportunity on their other flank. Gen. William T. Sherman was clearly moving troops eastward and Johnston thought the Yankees might be withdrawing troops from their right. Johnston instructed Gen. William Hardee to have Brig. Gen. William B. Bate's division, on the Confederate left, to "develop the enemy" near Dallas and "ascertain his strength and position, as it is believed he is not in force." Some of Bate's men already knew that the enemy lines ahead were fortified and still occupied with the infantry and artillery of Gen. James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee. Lt. Col. Franklin Montgomery of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry wrote that he had taken "a good look at a part of their works, which seemed very strong, and I no doubt were well manned." But General Bate believed that he faced only an enemy skirmish line. Kentuckian John S. Jackman commented in his diary, "the boys generally know what is in front and could have told Gen. Bate better."
By 3:00pm, Bate had formed his plan. Brig. Gen. Frank Armstrong's brigade of dismounted cavalry would charge the Yankee line; if they encountered strong opposition, they were to retire. If not, they would press their attack toward the right. Two artillery shots would signal Bate's three infantry brigades to then advance.
Around 3:45pm, Armstrong's troops sallied forth, so suddenly that they drove the Yankees back and captured three cannon. But Maj. Gen. John A. Logan organized a counterattack that drove the Mississippians back to their lines. General Bate sent couriers to his three brigade commanders to cancel their attack, but only one of them received the order. The brigades of Col. Robert Bullock and Brig. Gen. Joseph Lewis charged the strong Federal lines and were bloodily repulsed. Confederate losses totaled 1,200. Logan reported 379 casualties in his three divisions engaged.
Both sides spent May 29 watchfully waiting in lines anywhere from 200 yards to a half-mile apart. Skirmishers were active, peppering the other side, and artillerymen kept up their fire. "During the day all rather quiet Sharpshooting," recorded an officer on Johnston's staff. On the 30th, Sherman wanted his forces to start withdrawing from the Dallas-New Hope-Pickett's Mill lines for a move back toward the railroad. He had flanked Johnston out of Allatoona, and now it was time to move back to his line of supply, and on to Acworth. McPherson, however, had difficulty disengaging from the Rebels (Bate's division in his front). On June 1, the Army of the Tennessee carefully withdrew and started marching northeastward.
Johnston received reports of the enemy movement from observers in Elsberry Mountain. To parallel Sherman's eastward march and to block his next advance, Johnston chose to place his next defensive line at Lost Mountain, six miles southeast of the Confederates' New Hope line. On June 3, when Sherman's advance reached the railroad at Acworth, Johnston issued orders for the march to Lost Mountain.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/dallas.html?tab=facts
D+ Saturday, May 28, 1864 --- Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church: “In an effort to learn of Grant’s intentions, Lee orders two cavalry brigades under his son Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton to probe the Federal positions. As they do so, Federal cavalry discover them, and organie a charge. The Rebels dismount and form a line, repelling the charges, again and again. Finally, an additional division in blue is brought up, and Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his brigade of Michigan regiments makes an attack dismounted, and they overrun the Rebel lines. The graycoats withdraw and mount up, leaving the Federals exhausted, but victorious.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+28%2C+1864
D Saturday, May 28, 1864: The Battle of Haw's Shop, or Enon Church lasted for over seven hours and was the bloodiest cavalry battle since Brandy Station in 1863. It is often overshadowed by the Battle of Cold Harbor five days later. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton, newly appointed Confederate cavalry chief after the death of JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern, attempted a reconnaisance in force of the Army of the Potomac approaching Richmond fielding three veteran cavalry brigades (Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. Wickham, Thomas Rosser), a battery of horse artillery, and three regiments of untried mounted infantry (Matthew C. Butler) newly arrived from South Carolina.
At the time Federal infantry from Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s command were attempting to cross a pontoon bridge over the Pamunkey River erected by the 50th NY Engineers. Maj. Gen. David McMurtrie Gregg led his Federal cavalry division probing west toward a major intersection on the Hanovertown-Richmond Turnpike, searching for R.E. Lee’s flank. Three miles west of Hanovertown and a mile beyond the large blacksmith shop of John Haw, called Haw's Shop, Gregg's troopers ran into Hampton’s men near Enon Church, finding the Confederate cavalrymen dismounted in a wooded area behind a swamp. Here the Confederates hastily erected breastworks made of logs and rails between a stream and a mill pond with the approach well-covered by the accompanying horse artillery.
Brig. Gen. Henry E. Davies, Jr., of Gregg's cavalry division deployed skirmishers from the 10th New York Cavalry to Hampton's front, but found it was impossible to turn the flanks of the position. Despite being outnumbered, Gregg chose to launch a frontal assault that the Confederates met with a wall of fire. Gregg's first attack ground to a halt, and a second attack (Col. J. Irwin Gregg’s brigade) also failed to dislodge the Confederates. Hampton's men then moved out from their works and started a series of counterattacks forcing Gregg to send for reinforcements from Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who released two brigades from Maj. Gen. Alfred Torbert's 1 st Cavalry Division (formerly under John Buford who had been killed).
After fighting near the Haw House, including a failed mounted attack in column down the turnpike by the 2nd VA Cavalry, the Confederates fell back a short distance. A brigade under Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt extended Greg's line to the right, thwarting Hampton's attempted flanking maneuver. Sheridan also threw Brig. Gen. George Custer's brigade (4 regiments of Michigan cavalry) into the fight. Due to the heavily wooded terrain, Custer had his brigade dismount and deploy in a long, double-ranked line of battle, as if they were infantrymen. Some of the relatively inexperienced South Carolina infantry mistook a Union shift in position for a retreat and charged after them, only to run into Custer's men, who captured 80 of the Confederates. The enthusiastic S.C. charge near Enon Church caused the Federals to withdraw. Forty one of the Union cavalrymen fell in the attack. Fitzhugh Lee apparently ordered the overall withdrawal because he mistook Custer’s dismounted cavalry for reinforcing Federal infantry.
Since the Confederates withdrew, the battle was technically a Federal victory. Nonetheless, Hampton and his men had delayed the Federal advance for several hours, and Gen. R. E. Lee was able to shift the Army of Northern Virginia to a new position at Cold Harbor (which would be the site of the bloodiest 15 minutes of the Civil War). It should be noted that the South Carolina mounted infantry carried Enfield rifles, which outranged the carbines carried by the Federal cavalry. The Federals were armed with seven-shot Spencer repeating carbines. One Federal trooper estimated that the 200 men in his unit had fired 18,000 rounds. Their carbines got so hot that from time to time the men had to pause to let them cool.
John Haw owned the blacksmith’s shop around which the battle raged. His family lived in a house in an oak grove about a mile from the battle line, and this building was used as a field hospital and Federal horse artillery position during the fight. After the fight Haw’s reported 44 dead horses in and near his home. Union casualties were 256 men in Gregg's division and another 41 from Custer's brigade, including Private John Huff, the cavalryman from the 5th Michigan who had fatally shot Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart at Yellow Tavern. Confederate losses were never tabulated officially, but Union reports claimed they buried 187 enemy bodies after the battle, recovered 40 to 50 wounded men, and captured 80 South Carolinians. Total casualties for both sides were between 700 and 800 killed, wounded, or missing.
http://www.civil-war-history.com/whats_new.html
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)
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CSM Charles Hayden
LTC Stephen F. It is noted that Charles Wright Wills was proud of being a member of a 'staff' that erected their own tents!
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4
4
0
0
0
0
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