What was the most significant event on October 11 during the U.S. Civil War?

In 1862, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart confederate cavalry troopers arrived at the small town of Chambersburg. Pennsylvania. Gen. Stuart ordered his men to torch the railroad yards, machine shops, and U.S. Army warehouses in Chambersburg, since they are unable to destroy the railroad bridge. Stuart then decided to return to Virginia by a different route—and once again had the audacity to ride completely around Maj Gen George B. McClellan’s army. He turned his brigade east towards Gettysburg, but then turned south at Cashtown to Fairfield. By evening, the Rebels have reached Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Between 1861 and 1863 the CSA did their best to break the Federal blockade while the USA did their best to enforce the blockade. The south developed fast steam-powered blockade runners and armored gunboats which were designed to ram and sink Union blockading vessels.
The north relied on fast vessels to intercept the blockade runners and armored gunboats to battle the confederate gunboats/rams. In the end the union won this strategic battle but the south put up a valiant fight to export their goods and import necessary materiel.

Saturday, October 11, 1862: Stuart to ride around McClellan yet again! “The average cavalier in Jeb Stuart’s band of 1,800 knew where he was, but few knew where they were going. They had made their beds in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, near enough to the Mason-Dixon Line, to be sure, but still well into the Keystone State. The night that passed was one of worry. The sporadic rains of the previous day had turned into a steady letting, and Stuart was fearful that the fords across the Potomac River would be too flooded to allow a crossing.
The bugles were blown at dawn and the men began to gather in the streets. There was, however, a bit of business to attend to. The object of the raid had been the destruction of a railroad bridge just north of town. It was discovered that the bridge was made of iron and apparently indestructible.
Rather than leaving empty handed, a few men were dispatched to set fire to the railroad depot and machine shops. A warehouse containing ammunition previously captured from General Longstreet’s men was also put to the torch. More than a few items were spared from the conflagration. Some of the railroad cars and part of the warehouse had been dedicated to United State Army supplies. Clothing, hats, boots and some arms and ammunition from those stores were liberally distributed among the men. Some fellows, perhaps planning for the future, were adorned with as many as three hats.
By 7am, Stuart was up and sitting on his horse in the center of town, readying his men. Though none knew for sure, most figured that they would be heading west, returning to Virginia the way they came. But Stuart had a different idea – one he probably had from the start. Rather than returning the way they came, couldn’t he just as easily return via the fords south of Harpers Ferry?
They were already well behind Union lines. The main body of the Army of the Potomac was at Harpers Ferry and fairly stationary. Reentering Virginia around Poolesville wouldn’t be too much more dangerous and would give them the honor of circling McClellan’s Army for a second time.
It was to the east they rode, down the Gettysburg Pike. By all appearances, Stuart was about to attack that sleepy little town. When his command reached Cashtown, they turned south, but not before raiding the cellars of the Cashtown Inn. From Fairfield, they continued south, crossing again the state line.
The deeper they moved into Maryland, the more chance there was of an encounter with Federal cavalry. Though many troopers had two or three fine Pennsylvania horses tied up to their mount, Stuart welcomed a fight. The rub was that only sabers were to be used. Artillery and even pistols made too much of a racket and might draw an unwanted crowd.
The rains of the previous night continued through much of the day, but eventually tapered off. The wet roads were a boon as it eliminated the huge dust clouds a column of cavalry would normally kick up.
By evening, Emmitsburg, Maryland was reached. Stuart forbade any civilians from leaving the town, worried as he was that a local Unionist or two might try to be a hero and alert the Federals. For the most part, however, they were greeted with cheers and thanks, Emmitsburg was for the Confederacy. Stuart had received word that he had missed a detachment of Union cavalry by about an hour.
The rest in Emmitsburg was short-lived and the whole column was marching south into darkness, as the men prepared themselves for a dreaded night march.
It is no small tax upon one’s endurance to remain marching all night; during the day there is always something to attract the attention and amuse, but at night there is nothing. The monotonous jingle of arms and accoutrements mingles with the tramp of horses’ feet into a drowsy hum all along the marching column, which makes one extremely sleepy, and to be sleepy and not to be allowed to sleep is exquisite torture.
Through the night, some men walked their mounts, while others simply snored away the hours. By dawn the next day, after traveling sixty-five miles in twenty-four hours, they arrived in Hayattstown, twenty miles west of Harpers Ferry and the Army of the Potomac.
Throughout the day (October 11th), the Union response to Stuart’s raid was varied. McClellan had been fooled once by Stuart and he didn’t want to be fooled again. Rather than sending a force of cavalry to chase after the Rebels, he decided to wait it out and see where they were going. Thanks in large part to Alexander McClure of Chambersburg, who relayed Stuart’s arrival and departure from town, McClellan had a fairly good idea that the Confederates were going to try another ride around his army.
The problem was, so said McClellan in his official report, he had only 800 cavalrymen to mount the pursuit. In truth, the actual numbers were much closer to 5,000 – they were just abysmally utilized. McClellan sent one column to follow Stuart, but they didn’t seem to care much for that duty. The other column was sent to guard the fords south of the main body of his army, figuring that Stuart would try to circle him. Other, smaller detachments, were sent to prowl the main roads leading from Chambersburg, and to cover the Potomac crossings near Poolesville. He also dispatched infantry. Ambrose Burnside was ordered to send two brigades to Monocacy.
All this, figured McClellan, should have been enough to catch and destroy Stuart’s Confederate Cavalry. [1]
[1] Sources: Bold Dragoon by Emory Thomas; War Years with Jeb Stuart by William Willis Blackford; Riding in Circles by Arnold M. Pavlovsky; Report of Major-General George B. McClellan Upon the Organization of the Army of the Potomac and Its Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, p137-138.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/stuart-to-ride-around-mcclellan-yet-again/
Tuesday, October 11, 1864: Sherman would rather be ‘smashing things to the sea’ “William Tecumseh Sherman had completely lost track of General Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee. And mostly, he didn’t care. If he knew where Hood’s army was located and their intended destination, he would have to go on the defensive, and being bogged down north of Atlanta trying to defend lines of supply was the last thing he wanted.
“I would infinitely prefer to make a wreck of the road and of the country from Chattanooga to Atlanta, including the latter city,” he wrote to Grant on this date, “send back all my wounded and worthless, and, with my effective army, move through Georgia, smashing things to the sea. […] Instead of being on the defensive, I would be on the offensive; instead of guess at what he means to do, he would have to guess at my plans.”
Sherman wanted to start immediately, and he bade Grant to “answer quick, as I know we will not have the telegraph long.” And until he heard back from Grant, he would continue searching for Hood. He had dispersed his cavalry and their scouts far and wide, but as of yet there were but rumors.
The Federal outposts stretched wide, from Kingston to Rome to small detachments at Resaca and Dalton. Before the sun rose to noon, nobody even seemed to know if it was Hood’s entire force or just his cavalry crossing the Coosa River west of Rome.
And as the day wore on, scouts reported that was on the Armuchee River, having bypassed Rome, but even that was hardly helpful. Directing his cavalry divisions, General William Elliott was unsure “whether he [Hood] means Resaca and Dalton or Bridgeport.” He had two divisions, commanded by Kenner Garrard and Judson Kilpatrick. The former was searching north of Hood’s army, while the latter was trying to nip at his tail. Neither were having very much luck.
If Hood was indeed headed for Bridgeport, twenty miles west of Chattanooga, there was little Sherman could do but leave him in the hands of George Thomas, who would hopefully best the Rebels before they could take the city. But if the Confederates were making for Resaca, Sherman had to act quickly.
“In case you are threated,” he wrote to Resaca’s commanding officer on the morning of this date, “you should concentrate your force at the forts at the bridge. Have abatis made at once on the land side. Keep a strong cavalry picket at Snake Creek Gap.”
Resaca’s commanding officer was Col. Clark Wever, and while throwing out a strong cavalry picket sounded like a fine idea he could “mount but thirty-five men, too small a force to put at the gap.”
Though Wever commanded a brigade, it was spread out. “Shall I order the trops from block-house near Kingston to this point?” he asked General Green Raum, division commander. He had only been head of the brigade for a week and a half, having been promoted form the 17th Iowa.
At Resaca, where he made his headquarters, he had hardly more than a regiment. The 18th Ohio was joined by two companies of the 10th Missouri and 6th Kentucky Cavalry. His old regiment was six miles away at Tilton, and two companies in between. He had wondered if he might call upon Col. J.P. Hall at Calhoun and Adairsville, fifteen miles to the south. With a little effort and a day’s notice, he might be able to assemble most of his brigade.
Since taking command on October 1st, he had heard daily rumors of Hood’s army streaming north to attack him. And though they were but rumors, “every available means was made use of to strengthen our position so as to make the most obstinate resistance possible with the force at hand. At Resaca new rifle pits were made, the old ones deepened and repaired, and rude palisades set around the works until we considered them quite formidable.”
He called upon Tilton to do the same and to be ready to abandon the town if they were needed at Resaca. He had kept a vigilant eye, but thus far had seen only small bands of Rebel cavalry here and there.
But on the evening of this date, he “received information through citizens that [Joseph] Wheeler’s cavalry and a heavy force of infantry were camped on John’s Creek,” a couple of ridges to the west. With this information, he called to Resaca the troops from Calhoun and Adairsville. By midnight, he had about three regiments worth of men.
Then there was the town of Dalton, situated no more than twenty miles north of Resaca. This post was commanded by Col. Lewis Johnson, and held by the 44th United States Colored Troops.
Sherman had, for the longest time, refused to allow black soldiers in his army. Abraham Lincoln, understanding the politcial ramifications of forcing a victorious general to do anything, allowed Sherman to have his way for the fighting troops, but by this point in the war, Sherman had assented to black troops garrisoning unimportant places like Dalton.
On October 3rd, Joseph Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry had summoned Johnson and his garrison to surrender, but the Rebel begged off before a fight could be had. And while Resaca was threatened, Dalton seemed more or less off the radar.
But Dalton, along with Resaca, were precisely where Hood was aimed, though not even Sherman really understood this. By nightfall, Sherman had moved his headquarters to Rome and pushed some cavalry, along with the Twenty-third Corps, across the Oostenaula. Meanwhile, the rest of the army held back south of Kingston.
But Dalton, along with Resaca, was precisely where Hood was aimed, though not even Sherman really understood this. By nightfall, Sherman had moved his headquarters to Rome and pushed some cavalry, along with the Twenty-third Corps, across the Oostenaula, but even though they were close behind Hood, they could not find him.
All this, however, might have soon been rendered moot. That night, General Grant in Virginia had replied to Sherman’s plea to allow him to more or less abandon Hood and wage hell across Georgia. Grant’s reply was short, but decisive: “If you are satisfied the trip to the sea-coast can be made, holding the line of the Tennessee firmly, you may make it, destroying all the railroad south of Dalton or Chattanooga, as you think best.”
Now, if only he could find Hood to tell him the good news. [1]
[1] Sources: Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 39, Part 1, p717-718, 752-753; Part 3, p53, 201-202, 205, 207-208; Advance and Retreat by John Bell Hood; Memoirs by William Tecumseh Sherman; The Confederacy’s Last Hurrah by Wiley Sword.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/sherman-would-rather-be-smashing-things-to-the-sea/

Below are several journal entries from 1861, 1862, 1863 and 1864 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. … I am including journal entries from Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, "Crocker's Brigade," Sixth Division of the Seventeenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee for each year. I have been spending some time researching Civil War journals and diaries and editing them to fit into this series of Civil War discussions.
In 1862, (a) U.S. Navy, Gideon Welles, noted in his journal about the first news of Stuart’s raid; (b) the New York Times editorialized somewhat more generously than yesterday on Buell’s performance as a general; (c) the Richmond Daily Dispatch, ever ready to protest violations of civil liberties of white people by Lincoln’s government; and (d) Sergeant Alexander G. Dowling, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, recorded some interesting details in his journal about the army rations.
In 1863, (a) George Michael Neese, a Southern artilleryman with Stuart’s cavalry, wrote of the action his battery was in, and the disabling of his gun and (b) George Templeton Strong wrote in his journal as he traveled to Washington, musing on the old slaveholding Maryland aristocratic planter class, and the fading of old ways:
Friday, October 11, 1861: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “My company, E, has ninety-seven men. They are of several different nationalities, as follows: Three from Canada, four from Ireland, two from England, two from Germany, and one from France; the rest are American-born, as follows: Twenty-three from Ohio, twenty-one from Pennsylvania, sixteen from New York, eight from Indiana, six from Iowa, two each from Michigan and Vermont, and one each from Maryland and Maine. The average age is less than twenty years, and there are eight married men.
Saturday, October 11, 1862: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “We were routed out this morning at 1 o'clock and started for Corinth, seventy miles distant. It soon began raining, and after marching six miles in the rain we met our provision train. We stacked our arms by the roadside, drew some rations and had a good square meal again. The hard-tack and coffee, with the bacon broiled on our ramrods in the fire, tasted mighty good — better than any pound cake eaten at home. While resting here and feasting, a number of the boys who had gone into the negro huts, caught up with us. They were in the cabins, nice and dry, and thought when we were routed out in the night, that it was to form in line, but in the morning found out their mistake and hastened to catch up with the command. A few of them were taken prisoners by the rebel cavalry following us. After our meal, we continued our march till we reached the Tallahatchie river, and bivouacked in heavy timber on the banks of the river. We traveled thirty-five miles today, the weather being quite cool.
Saturday, October 11, 1862: Sec. of the U.S. Navy, Gideon Welles, notes in his journal about the first news of Stuart’s raid: “October 11, Saturday. We have word which seems reliable that Stuart’s Rebel cavalry have been to Chambersburg in the rear of McClellan, while he was absent in Philadelphia stopping at the Continental Hotel. I hope neither statement is correct. But am apprehensive that both may be true.”
Saturday, October 11, 1862: On this date, the New York Times editorializes somewhat more generously than yesterday on Buell’s performance as a general: “We may not yet know the full extent of the collision between the great armies, at Perryville, nor the results which its issue will bring. Perhaps other and harder fights are yet to be fought on or near that ground. But what we have heard is the index of all that will follow. The army of Gen. BUELL is one that will fight to annihilation; retreat or surrender, or pause in its work — never!”
Saturday, October 11, 1862: The Richmond Daily Dispatch, ever ready to protest violations of civil liberties of white people by Lincoln’s government, publishes an editorial: “A few days since some Black Republican speculators in the substitute business, who had violated the orders of the War Department, were sent to Fort Lafayette. The Abolition papers, however, made a great howl over it, and they have been released. There are, however, scores of better men and truer patriots in there than those released, in whose behalf not a word is uttered. . . . If there is but one man unjustly deprived of his liberty, it ought to arouse every American to instant action. The principle is the same. Our liberties are overthrown, and the rights of the individual are left to the whim or caprice of some upstart official. There is a day of retribution coming, however, for the murderers of liberty and the persecutors of Democrats amongst us. As Mr. Valiandignam says in his excellent speech, which we publish this week, "the measure they have meted out to us shall be measured to them again." Yes, that it will, "shaken down and pressed together.""The arrest of Dr. Olds," chuckles the Abolition tyrants of the Evening Post,"and the summary squelching of Charles Ingersoll, show that the Government is wide awake!" Yes, indeed, it is wide awake. It can conquer unarmed men, and that seems to be about the extent of its victories.”
Saturday, October 11, 1862: Sergeant Alexander G. Dowling, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, records some interesting details in his journal (upon his regiment’s return to Corinth) about the army rations, which most of us in our day would find surprising. Recording yesterday that they had no regular rations, and had been eating fresh beef and sweet potatoes, they now get their regular rations again: “Saturday, 11th—We were routed out this morning at 1 o’clock and started for Corinth, seventy miles distant. It soon began raining, and after marching six miles in the rain we met our provision train. We stacked our arms by the roadside, drew some rations and had a good square meal again. The hard-tack and coffee, with the bacon broiled on our ramrods in the fire, tasted mighty good—better than any pound cake eaten at home.
But, then, perhaps his mother made very poor pound cake.”
Sunday, October 11, 1863: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade “Crocker's Brigade,” “We left this morning according to orders and marched fifteen miles, when we stopped to eat dinner. We then continued our march about five miles farther, and at 4 o'clock we reached the Black river bridge, just ten miles out from Vicksburg, thus making a circuit of twenty miles to reach this important point.
Sunday, October 11, 1863: Of the fighting on this day, George Michael Neese, a Southern artilleryman with Stuart’s cavalry, writes of the action his battery was in, and the disabling of his gun: “When we put our gun in position right near the Barbour house the Yankee battery was firing on our cavalry and artillery in its immediate front, and paid no attention to us; but when we opened fire the whole Yankee battery turned its fire on my one lonely gun, and before I could make my third shot a thunderbolt from a twelve-pound gun struck my piece and crushed one of the wheels to smithers, and slightly wounded two of my cannoneers. We had just loaded our gun and were ready to fire when the twelve-pound solid shot came crashing through a little house that stood near our position and struck the gun carriage, then whizzed past us at a fearful speed and unhealthily close. When I saw the debris of the little house, such as shivered weather boarding, pieces of window sash, and fractured glass flying at us, and very sensibly felt the concussion of the solid shot, I thought that the hill had exploded.
The Yankee battery fired some six or eight shots at our position after our gun was disabled, but they were wasting their ammunition on a dead gun, for the time being. Soon after the Yankee battery ceased firing at our hill our cavalry made a bold advance on the enemy’s whole line, and successfully charged and captured the battery that disabled my gun.
This last fight occurred just as the sun dipped behind the crest of the distant Blue Ridge, and by the time the twilight changed into the dusky shades of night the last sound of battle had died away and the Yankee cavalrymen were moving once more with their faces turned toward the friendly infantry camps along the banks of the Rappahannock.
We are camped to-night one mile south of Brandy Station.”
Sunday, October 11, 1863: George Templeton Strong writes in his journal as he travels to Washington, musing on the old slaveholding Maryland aristocratic planter class, and the fading of old ways: “Went to Washington by the usual unavoidable railroad Monday. . . . The ride presented no incidents, unless it might be the lovely glimpses of the arms of the Chesapeake which the railroad traverses—beautiful bays, bordered by golden autumnal woodland. Genteel seceshdom has its had along their sequestered shores and waxes fat on soft-shell crabs and canvasback ducks. But Maryland seceshdom is nearly played out. It will soon be what Jacobitism was in England sixty years ago or seventy, the sentimental tradition of a few old families. A new order of society is coming there, and the patriarchs must clear the track.”
Tuesday, October 11, 1864: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “The weather has been cool and pleasant for several days. Our entire corps started early this morning at 2 o'clock, going as we suppose, to Kingston. We marched through to Cartersville, where we went into camp for the night. We hear that there was a hard fight at Altoona yesterday with fearful loss of life on both sides, but Hood had to give up trying to capture the place. It is reported that Hood is now moving toward Rome, Georgia.

A. Friday, October 11, 1861: Major General John C. Fremont made a plan to concentrate his scattered army. The 40,000 men of General Fremont’s Army of the West were still scattered across central Missouri. After the defeat at Lexington, over three weeks past, the victorious CSA Major General Sterling Price had moved the Missouri State Guard south towards the Arkansas border, hoping to link up with a Confederate army. Fremont had made an attempt to give chase, but little had materialized, aside from reorganizing his Army and marching them somewhat southwestward.
Knowing that Secretary of War Simon Cameron and Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas were en route, Fremont made sure that he looked busy. According to a report submitted by Fremont, these were the forces he had under his command: “On this date, he scripted a plan to advance upon the retiring Price, who was, by this time, moving closer to Neosho in the southwestern corner of the state. Each of the five Divisions were given specific marching orders which would concentrate them around Leesville and Warsaw. Additionally, the troops in Kansas City would fall in on the right flank of the nearly-assembled Army of the West, at Clinton.”
Fremont’s thin line, stretched along a seventy mile front from Georgetown to Jefferson City, would soon occupy a ten mile line from Leesville to Warsaw, complete with both flanks guarded at Clinton and Duroc Ferry. [2]
However, as Brigadier General John Pope and Major General David Hunter, both commanding wings of Fremont’s Army, knew, the troops were in no condition to fight. The men were poorly trained, rations were scarce, none of the five divisions had enough wagons, organization was nearly impossible and many troops were inadequately armed. Little could change by the time Secretary Cameron and Adjutant-General Thomas caught up with Fremont at Tipton, just two days away, by rail. [3]
[2] Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 4, p530-531.
[3] General John Pope; A Life for the Nation by Peter Cozzens
B. Saturday, October 11, 1862: Naval actions on the coast.
1) Near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, the U.S.S. Restless, on blockade duty, captured the C.S.S Elmira Cornelius attempting to run the blockade.
2) In nearby Charleston, South Carolina, the Confederate Navy launched a new ironclad gunboat named the C.S.S. Palmetto State, a ship paid for entirely by subscription and fundraising by the ladies of South Carolina.
3) the C.S.S. Alabama overhauled and captured the U.S.S. Manchester, a U.S. ship loaded with grain and cotton. After re-supplying from the Yankee ship, the Rebel sailors burn the Manchester.
C. Sunday, October 11, 1863: Bristoe Station Campaign: Soon, the entire Army of the Potomac is in retreat northward. Meade knows now that Lee is attempting to get in position to attack either his right or his rear, although erroneous reports to the contrary spread confusion for much of the day. The cavalry of both armies boisterously skirmish with each other at various points along the way, and discover little about enemy positions. Lee, who has intended to attack the flank of the Union army at Culpeper, finds that they have moved also, and that Lee’s cavalry has little idea where the Yankees actually are. By this point, nearly all of the attacking force (Hill and Ewell) are north of Culpeper Court House, and Meade has managed to get almost all of his army across the Rappahannock to the northeast bank of that river. Lee then writes to President Davis that he is determined to continue his march to Manassas in order to get in Meade’s rear and hopefully cut him off from Washington.
Details: Meade retreats across the Rappahannock, ultimately regrets it. “I am falling back to the Rappahannock,” wrote General George Meade to President Lincoln, who had asked for the second time how things were shaping up between the Rapidan and Rappahannock Rivers. “The enemy are either moving to my right and rear or moving down on my flank, I cannot tell which, as their movements are not developed. I am prepared for either emergency.”
This wasn’t yet quite true, but the previous night, he had issued orders for the entire army to fall back. It was fortunate that he recalled his previous orders calling for three of his corps to cross the Rapidan to the south and pursue what he believed to be the retreating enemy. But even after he wired Lincoln, John Buford’s Cavalry was still on the southern side of the Rapidan and engaged in a skirmish with their Confederate counterparts. Meade’s order to fall back had taken over half a day to reach them, and it wasn’t until 9am when they were able to extricate themselves from the situation.
This put Buford’s Cavalry in the position of rear guard. While General Lee’s entire army had marched north on Meade’s right flank, elements of Fitz Lee’s Cavalry had stayed behind as a screen. Now, with Buford retiring, they crossed to the north bank and gave chase, following the Yankees toward Stevensburg. Much of the morning had devolved into charges, countercharges and general skirmishing. Buford’s Division took a stand against Fitz Lee’s troopers, hoping to delay the Rebels enough to allow the rest of the army to cross the Rappahannock.
Meanwhile, Meade’s Army streamed back towards the Rappahannock, racing to get out of the way of whatever it was that General Lee was trying to do to the west of Culpeper. Though Meade may not have known exactly what Lee was about, he knew that an attack would either fall upon his right flank or rear. Either way, he wanted none of it. Through the morning, the corps below Culpeper passed through the town, but the cavalry held the heights to the west. Some corps crossed the river in the early afternoon, while others continued to march.
Serving as rear guard for Meade’s right, Judson Kilpatrick’s Cavalry skirmished with Jeb Stuart’s dispersed cavalry west and then north of town. As Kilpatrick fell back with the army, Stuart, who was outnumbered, nipped at his heels. Had he more men, he might have launched some kind of stab toward the Federal wagons he could clearly see rolling slowly to the north. Seeing that Kilpatrick was following the railroad, however, Stuart raced around his right flank, hoping to beat him to Brandy Station.
Around 1pm, John Sedgwick, commanding the VI Corps observed what he believed to be the Confederates returning to their former positions along the Rapidan. What he saw was probably some infantry that had been left behind to support Fitz Lee’s Cavalry, but he interpreted it to mean something quite different. He could see artillery dotted along the whole line. Unfortunately for Sedgwick, these were Quaker guns – logs painted black and placed so to confuse a Yankee onlooker. The ruse worked and Sedgwick’s report heavily inferred that Lee had given up his designs upon Meade’s flank and rear.
Lee had not, of course. Though his army did no fighting at all on this day, they marched north to the Sperryville Pike, before turning right and heading for Culpeper, where Lee desperately hoped Meade still remained. By this time, however, much of Meade’s army was either across the Rapphannock or waiting at the fords.
Falling back from Stevensburg was John Buford’s Federal Cavalry, with Fitz Lee close behind. After they crossed Mountain Creek, their backs were soon toward the railroad, where Judson Kilpatrick’s Division was likewise falling back. For a time, the confusion allowed Fitz Lee’s artillery to fire upon Stuart, believing his force to be Union reinforcements. It was through this confusion that Buford’s Division made good their escape.
Here, Fitz Lee and Stuart’s commands were united, as Kilpatrick’s force broke through Stuart’s lines and joined with Buford. By the time this happened, Meade’s entire army was across the river. The V Corps held Rappahannock Station, and lent artillery support to Buford and Kilpatrick, while the III Corps did the same, but on Stuart’s left, and still on the south side of the river, holding a different crossing. By dark, however, Stuart was neutralized. Lee’s infantry had made their way past Culpeper, but had not arrived in time to catch Meade or even give aid to Stuart.
That night, General Meade needed to make a decision. As it stood now, Stuart’s Cavalry indicated to him that Lee’s army had taken Culpeper. But what they were doing there, he could not know. Other reports, such as Sedgwick’s that indicated Lee’s infantry was far to the south, added to the confusion. Buford reported that it was not only cavalry, but infantry that had followed him from Stevensburg. Nothing seemed to indicate that Lee was racing north. For the time, it seemed that the best thing he could do was maintain his new position.
For General Lee’s part, he too was uncertain what should be done. The opportunity to fall upon Meade’s flank was gone. He could, perhaps, return to his former lines along the Rapidan. He also considered simply, like Meade, maintaining his position northeast of Culpeper. Since neither of these were a true victory, Lee dismissed them both. Instead, as he wrote President Davis, he was “determined to make another effort to reach him [Meade].”
And so he determined to make another flank march. His troops were to step off toward Warrenton and beat Meade to Manassas, cutting him off completely from Washington.
Meade had no idea that Lee would attempt such a move. In fact, he believed his adversary to be somewhere between Culpeper and Brandy Station, not positioned to the northeast and ready to strike farther north at dawn. With all of his corps bivouacked on the north side of the Rappahannock, Meade issued orders for the II, V, and VI Corps to recross the river the next morning and make a probe toward Culpeper, attempting to discover Lee’s true position.
D. Tuesday, October 11, 1864: In the North. the elections are today for some governorships as well as the House and one-third of the Senate. Lincoln in Washington was deeply afraid that voters after almost 4 years of sending their sons off to fight; might decide that it was not worth fighting any longer to keep a part of the country that wanted to leave. Lincoln stays half the night in the telegraph room of the War Department waiting for the results to come in. Lincoln’s Republican Party make gains in both the House and Senate, slashing any hopes for the South that this war would end by negotiation. Maryland votes to abolish slavery within the state.


Pictures: 1863-10 Bristoe Campaign Map; 1863-10-11 burning of the Rappahannock Bridge; 1862-10 Map of J. E. B. Stuart's raid through Pennsylvania in October, 1862; 1864-10 The foraging system soon would begin to show disorganization. The system was originally designed for a brigade to send out a foraging party of fifty men

1. Friday, October 11, 1861: Memphis Daily Appeal tell us: “The Huntsville Advocate learns that Gov. Moore has promised to send to the Ladies' Aid Society their cloth enough to make 300 overcoats for our soldiers, and that the society will make them up. These coats are to be given to the destitute soldiers in the service who have no one at home to provide for their wants. Those who are able to buy overcoats for their sons or relatives in the army are expected to do so. It is only the destitute ones that the State authorities are now trying to provide for against the severity of winter.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-six
2. Saturday, October 11, 1862: The previous day, Jefferson Davis requested to the Confederate Congress that 4500 African Americans be drafted in to build defences around Richmond. The Confederate Congress agreed with Davis but stipulated that anyone who owned twenty slaves or more was exempt from this call-up. This decision was not well received and the less well-off slave owners in the Confederacy started to comment that it was “a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
3. Saturday, October 11, 1862: Seventeen miles from Winchester, Virginia, a detachment of 300 Federal cavalry, under Colonel McReynolds, falls upon the camp of Confederate cavalry under the command of Col. John Imboden, and capture "a major, lieutenant, twenty-five privates, a large number of horses and mules, one thousand blankets, a quantity of ammunition, brass cannon, wagons, firearms, clothing, and Colonel Imboden’s private papers."
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
4. Saturday, October 11, 1862: The Cincinnati Gazette publishes a notice of a small battle near Helena, Arkansas, where Maj. Rector of the 4th Iowa Cavalry encountered a larger force of Texas Rangers, under Lt. Col. Giddings. The Iowa troopers routed the Rebels, capturing a host of prisoners, including Lt. Col. Giddings.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
5. Saturday, October 11, 1862: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania - On October 11, a Confederate force, commanded by Maj. Gen. JEB Stuart, arrived at the small town of Chambersburg. They quickly captured the town.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
6. Saturday, October 11, 1862: Gen. Stuart’s Wild Ride, Part 3 - Early this morning, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart orders his men to torch the railroad yards, machine shops, and U.S. Army warehouses in Chambersburg, since they are unable to destroy the railroad bridge.
Stuart then decides to return by a different route—and once again have the audacity to ride completely around McClellan’s army. He turns his brigade east towards Gettysburg, but turns south at Cashtown to Fairfield. By evening, the Rebels have reached Emmitsburg, Maryland. They rest briefly and, having heard of Federal cavalry patrols nearby, decide to move on. The ride continues through the night. William Blackford, one of Stuart’s troopers, records his memories of the night march: “It is no small tax upon one’s endurance to remain marching all night; during the day there is always something to attract the attention and amuse, but at night there is nothing. The monotonous jingle of arms and accoutrements mingles with the tramp of horses’ feet into a drowsy hum all along the marching column, which makes one extremely sleepy, and to be sleepy and not to be allowed to sleep is exquisite torture.”
By the morning of the 12th, the gray troopers are in Hyattstown, Maryland, directly east of McClellan’s Federals in Harper’s Ferry. McClellan, in response, sends out a host of small detachments to scour the countryside.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862Saturday, October 11, 1862: Sec. of the U.S. Navy, Gideon Welles, notes in his journal about the first news of Stuart’s raid: “October 11, Saturday. We have word which seems reliable that Stuart’s Rebel cavalry have been to Chambersburg in the rear of McClellan, while he was absent in Philadelphia stopping at the Continental Hotel. I hope neither statement is correct. But am apprehensive that both may be true.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
7. Saturday, October 11, 1862: On this date, the New York Times editorializes somewhat more generously than yesterday on Buell’s performance as a general: “We may not yet know the full extent of the collision between the great armies, at Perryville, nor the results which its issue will bring. Perhaps other and harder fights are yet to be fought on or near that ground. But what we have heard is the index of all that will follow. The army of Gen. BUELL is one that will fight to annihilation; retreat or surrender, or pause in its work — never!”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
8. Saturday, October 11, 1862: The Richmond Daily Dispatch, ever ready to protest violations of civil liberties of white people by Lincoln’s government, publishes an editorial: “A few days since some Black Republican speculators in the substitute business, who had violated the orders of the War Department, were sent to Fort Lafayette. The Abolition papers, however, made a great howl over it, and they have been released. There are, however, scores of better men and truer patriots in there than those released, in whose behalf not a word is uttered. . . . If there is but one man unjustly deprived of his liberty, it ought to arouse every American to instant action. The principle is the same. Our liberties are overthrown, and the rights of the individual are left to the whim or caprice of some upstart official. There is a day of retribution coming, however, for the murderers of liberty and the persecutors of Democrats amongst us. As Mr. Valiandignam says in his excellent speech, which we publish this week, "the measure they have meted out to us shall be measured to them again." Yes, that it will, "shaken down and pressed together.""The arrest of Dr. Olds," chuckles the Abolition tyrants of the Evening Post,"and the summary squelching of Charles Ingersoll, show that the Government is wide awake!" Yes, indeed, it is wide awake. It can conquer unarmed men, and that seems to be about the extent of its victories.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
9. Saturday, October 11, 1862: Sergeant Alexander G. Dowling, of the 11th Iowa Infantry, records some interesting details in his journal (upon his regiment’s return to Corinth) about the army rations, which most of us in our day would find surprising. Recording yesterday that they had no regular rations, and had been eating fresh beef and sweet potatoes, they now get their regular rations again: “Saturday, 11th—We were routed out this morning at 1 o’clock and started for Corinth, seventy miles distant. It soon began raining, and after marching six miles in the rain we met our provision train. We stacked our arms by the roadside, drew some rations and had a good square meal again. The hard-tack and coffee, with the bacon broiled on our ramrods in the fire, tasted mighty good—better than any pound cake eaten at home.
But, then, perhaps his mother made very poor pound cake.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
10. Sunday, October 11, 1863: The blockade runner Spaulding, a British-owned ship, is captured off Charleston Harbor, in addition to the Duoro, which is driven ashore by U.S. Navy blockading forces.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1863
11. Sunday, October 11, 1863: General Longstreet (CSA), who played such an important role in the victory at Chickamauga, again asked President Davis to replace General Bragg (CSA). Once again, Davis refused.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-131
12. Sunday, October 11, 1863: Boonville, Missouri - On October 11, Col. Jo Shelby and his Confederate cavalry force entered the town of Boonville. The town's few defenders quickly decided that they would not have a chance to defend the town from the Confederates. They then gathered together and surrendered the town to Shelby.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html
13. Sunday, October 11, 1863: Of the fighting on this day, George Michael Neese, a Southern artilleryman with Stuart’s cavalry, writes of the action his battery was in, and the disabling of his gun: “When we put our gun in position right near the Barbour house the Yankee battery was firing on our cavalry and artillery in its immediate front, and paid no attention to us; but when we opened fire the whole Yankee battery turned its fire on my one lonely gun, and before I could make my third shot a thunderbolt from a twelve-pound gun struck my piece and crushed one of the wheels to smithers, and slightly wounded two of my cannoneers. We had just loaded our gun and were ready to fire when the twelve-pound solid shot came crashing through a little house that stood near our position and struck the gun carriage, then whizzed past us at a fearful speed and unhealthily close. When I saw the debris of the little house, such as shivered weather boarding, pieces of window sash, and fractured glass flying at us, and very sensibly felt the concussion of the solid shot, I thought that the hill had exploded.
The Yankee battery fired some six or eight shots at our position after our gun was disabled, but they were wasting their ammunition on a dead gun, for the time being. Soon after the Yankee battery ceased firing at our hill our cavalry made a bold advance on the enemy’s whole line, and successfully charged and captured the battery that disabled my gun.
This last fight occurred just as the sun dipped behind the crest of the distant Blue Ridge, and by the time the twilight changed into the dusky shades of night the last sound of battle had died away and the Yankee cavalrymen were moving once more with their faces turned toward the friendly infantry camps along the banks of the Rappahannock.
We are camped to-night one mile south of Brandy Station.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1863
14. Sunday, October 11, 1863: George Templeton Strong writes in his journal as he travels to Washington, musing on the old slaveholding Maryland aristocratic planter class, and the fading of old ways: “Went to Washington by the usual unavoidable railroad Monday. . . . The ride presented no incidents, unless it might be the lovely glimpses of the arms of the Chesapeake which the railroad traverses—beautiful bays, bordered by golden autumnal woodland. Genteel seceshdom has its had along their sequestered shores and waxes fat on soft-shell crabs and canvasback ducks. But Maryland seceshdom is nearly played out. It will soon be what Jacobitism was in England sixty years ago or seventy, the sentimental tradition of a few old families. A new order of society is coming there, and the patriarchs must clear the track.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1863
15. Sunday, October 11, 1863: Brig. General James R. Chalmers (CSA) attacks the train at Collierville, Tennessee with US General William Tecumseh Sherman on board. After a short battle Chalmers retired late in the afternoon as Union General John M. Corse (US) approached from Memphis with his brigade of Union troops, keeping the railroad in Union hands. General Chalmers (CSA) men did manage to steal General Sherman’s (US) horse. They also rummaged the General’s train car, taking from it his coat and a number of articles of baggage belonging to the members of his staff.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-131
16. Tuesday, October 11, 1864: Newton, Virginia - On October 11, Lt. Dolly Richards and a group of 35 Confederate raiders discovered a Union ambulance and a 50-man escort from the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry near Newton. Newton was located just south of Winchester. The Confederates charged into the Federals. After a brief resistance, the Federals fled into the nearby woods. 12 federals were captured.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html
17. Tuesday, October 11, 1864: Clarendon, Arkansas - On October 11, a group of Confederate bushwhackers were on the White River, near Clarendon, when they spotted the Union steamer USS Reolute coming their way. They laid in hiding until the ship was near and then attacked it. They Resolute was soon forced away.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html
18.

A Friday, October 11, 1861: Fremont makes a plan to concentrate his scattered army. The 40,000 men of General Fremont’s Army of the West were still scattered across central Missouri. After the defeat at Lexington, over three weeks past, the victorious General Sterling Price had moved south towards the Arkansas border, hoping to link up with a Confederate army. Fremont had made an attempt to give chase, but little had materialized, aside from reorganizing his Army and marching them somewhat southwestward.
Knowing that Cameron and Thomas were en route, Fremont made sure that he looked busy. According to a report submitted by Fremont, these were the forces he had under his command: “On this date, he scripted a plan to advance upon the retiring Price, who was, by this time, moving closer to Neosho in the southwestern corner of the state. Each of the five Divisions were given specific marching orders which would concentrate them around Leesville and Warsaw. Additionally, the troops in Kansas City would fall in on the right flank of the nearly-assembled Army of the West, at Clinton.”
Fremont’s thin line, stretched along a seventy mile front from Georgetown to Jefferson City, would soon occupy a ten mile line from Leesville to Warsaw, complete with both flanks guarded at Clinton and Duroc Ferry. [2]
However, as Generals Pope and Hunter, both commanding wings of Fremont’s Army, knew, the troops were in no condition to fight. The men were poorly trained, rations were scarce, none of the five divisions had enough wagons, organization was nearly impossible and many troops were inadequately armed. Little could change by the time Secretary Cameron and Adjutant-General Thomas caught up with Fremont at Tipton, just two days away, by rail. [3]
[2] Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 4, p530-531.
[3] General John Pope; A Life for the Nation by Peter Cozzens
http://civilwardailygazette.com/cameron-and-thomas-arrive-fremont-makes-a-plan/
B Saturday, October 11, 1862: Near Bulls Bay, South Carolina, the U.S.S. Restless, on blockade duty, captures the Elmira Cornelius attempting to run the blockade.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
B+ Saturday, October 11, 1862: In nearby Charleston, the Confederate Navy launches a new ironclad gunboat named the Palmetto State, a ship paid for entirely by subscription and fundraising by the ladies of South Carolina.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
B++ Saturday, October 11, 1862: On this date, the CSS Alabama overhauls and captures the S.S. Manchester, a U.S. ship loaded with grain and cotton. After re-supplying from the Yankee ship, the Rebel sailors burn the Manchester.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1862
C Sunday, October 11, 1863: Bristoe Station Campaign: Soon, the entire Army of the Potomac is in retreat northward. Meade knows now that Lee is attempting to get in position to attack either his right or his rear, although erroneous reports to the contrary spread confusion for much of the day. The cavalry of both armies boisterously skirmish with each other at various points along the way, and discover little about enemy positions. Lee, who has intended to attack the flank of the Union army at Culpeper, finds that they have moved also, and that Lee’s cavalry has little idea where the Yankees actually are. By this point, nearly all of the attacking force (Hill and Ewell) are north of Culpeper Court House, and Meade has managed to get almost all of his army across the Rappahannock to the northeast bank of that river. Lee then writes to President Davis that he is determined to continue his march to Manassas in order to get in Meade’s rear and hopefully cut him off from Washington.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+11%2C+1863
D Tuesday, October 11, 1864: In the North. the elections are today for some governorships as well as the House and one-third of the Senate. Lincoln in Washington was deeply afraid that voters after almost 4 years of sending their sons off to fight; might decide that it was not worth fighting any longer to keep a part of the country that wanted to leave. Lincoln stays half the night in the telegraph room of the War Department waiting for the results to come in. Lincoln’s Republican Party make gains in both the House and Senate, slashing any hopes for the South that this war would end by negotiation. Maryland votes to abolish slavery within the state.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-183
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace CWO4 Terrence Clark SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LTC Trent Klug SFC Bernard WalkoSSG Franklin Briant SSG Byron Howard Sr CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw SPC Lyle MontgomeryPO2 Marco MonsalveSPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSgt Christopher Collins SPC (Join to see) SPC Gary C. PO3 Lynn Spalding

LTC Stephen F., another fine read in Civil War history for Oct 11th. I found that 1864 to be the most important event on this day; 1864: In the North, the Republican Party made gains in both the House and Senate in the Federal election. That result slashed any hopes for the South that the Civil War would end by negotiation. Maryland voted to abolish slavery within the state.

Thank-you, Col., for another outstanding post. Your map submissions are always top notch. Where as I went with all of the above, the 1864 election cycle probably was the most important. The events of the war trounced the South along with total defeat for everyone of its field armies. The tragedy of it all was brother on brother killing, the mobilization of huge troop forces that pulverized one another, and the ruin of large tracts of the South. The effect can be seen to this day through the rows of graves in Civil War cemeteries and the memories passed down through generations.