Posted on Oct 30, 2016
What was the most significant event on September 10 during the U.S. Civil War?
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In 1861 CSA President Jefferson Davis placed Gen Albert Sidney Johnston in command of the Confederate West ("Department Number Two"). While George Thomas relieved William 'Bull' Nelson at Camp Dick Robinson with General Nelson was ordered to Eastern Kentucky.
In 1862, CSA Gen Robert E. Lee was marshalling his forces to strike into Pennsylvania and reduce the Federal defenses at Harpers Ferry and employing J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry to both screen his scattered forces movements and gain intelligence on the Federal army movements. Maj Gen George B. McClellan was unsure “whether it was [Lee’s] intention to cross their whole force with a view to turn Washington by a flank movement down the north bank of the Potomac, to move on Baltimore, or to invade Pennsylvania.” Meanwhile Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania issued a call for 50,000 able-bodied “freemen” to arm and report for military drill to defend against the Rebel invasion which, it was believed, would drive up into Pennsylvania and possibly head for Harrisburg or Philadelphia.
In Nashville in 1863 the “Bureau of United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T) opened for business. George Luther Stearns, an abolitionist and later a leader in the Freedmen's Bureau, was placed in charge of recruiting U.S.C.T. in Tennessee. Stearns was John Brown’s largest financial backer and even owned the rifles Brown had used at Harper’s Ferry. He had earlier recruited the Union’s first African American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, later to be featured in the movie “Glory.” More than 20,000 of the 180,000 U.S.C.T. were from Tennessee, and over 5,000 U.S.C.T. casualties occurred in the state.”
Robert E. Lee’s divided Army on the move through Maryland in 1862. “Stonewall Jackson wasn’t exactly lying. While his men rose and began their march, he casually asked several citizens of Frederick, Maryland the best way to get to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He asked for maps and inquired about towns far to the north in the Keystone State. The people of Frederick, by this time, probably believed that the entire Rebel army was about to cross the Mason-Dixon line. Used to Jackson’s secretive ways, however, his staff should have known by now that, though they could not tell where Stonewall was going, Chambersburg was most definitely not the place. Perhaps the General was simply curious.
The Confederates headed west, along the same road British General Braddock British General Edward Braddock and Lt. Colonel George Washington trod during the French and Indian War in 1755. Jackson, who, according to Lee’s Special Orders No. 191, was to turn off at Middletown, led the column towards Boonsboro, through the South Mountain pass at Turner’s Gap.
Originally, Jackson wanted to march through Sharpsburg and then through Shepherdstown, by-passing the town of Martinsburg to the north, which was believed to be abandoned by the Yankees. There, he could advance towards Harpers Ferry from the north.
Old Quaker Lady of Maryland, anticipating the seizure of her House by Lee's Troops, puts out a Washing Stand as a desirable preliminary step thereto. The Rebel Scouts mistake the—to them—Strange Apparatus for an Infernal Machine, and Skedaddle.
Union General John Wool, commander over Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry (though in Baltimore) had ordered General Julius White to hold Martinsburg to the last extremity with his 2,500 – 3,000 men. By evening, White knew exactly where Jackson was, but wasn’t sure where he was going. Boonsboro rests at a crossroads that could take the traveler to Hagerstown, Williamsport (and thus Martinsburg) or Sharpsburg (and thus Harpers Ferry). Only time would tell which route Stonewall would take, though White suspected (and probably hoped) Hagerstown.
While in Boonsboro, Jackson learned that his plans had to change. Word had come in from advance pickets that Martinsburg was occupied. If Jackson continued as planned, he would have an unknown Federal force in his rear. Now, he would have to add sixty miles to his route in order to deal with Martinsburg.
To the south, Confederate Generals Lafayette McLaws and John Walker were on their way to hit Harpers Ferry from the south. McLaws was to move his 8,000 men to Maryland Heights, while Walker was to take his 3,400 to Loudoun Heights. Jackson had hoped that their movements towards the town would be enough to cause the surrender of Union forces. Now, with sixty miles added to his path, he must have wished it even more.
Just as Jackson had received a report that changed his route, General Lee received word that changed everything. Apparently, a Union force of unknown strength was marching towards Hagerstown via Chambersburg. Lee’s entire plan hinged upon the Confederate control of Hagerstown. Originally, while Jackson, McLaws and Walker marched towards Harpers Ferry, General James Longstreet was to hold at Boonsboro. This could no longer happen.
Having already divided his army into four columns, Lee divided it again, ordering Longstreet to march with his force to Hagerstown, leaving 5,000 men under D.H. Hill to guard the South Mountain passes. Longstreet, who never wanted to divide the army up to begin with, was incredibly unhappy about the new order. “General,” he reportedly said to Lee, “I wish we could stand still and let the damned Yankees come to us!”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/lees-divided-army-on-the-move-through-maryland-lincoln-wonders-about-the-west/
Confederate retreat at Carnifex Ferry in 1861. “General Rosecrans and his three Union brigades had marched over 100 miles from Clarksburg, Western Virginia. Their objective was to aide General Cox who was holed up at Gauley Bridge, an adequate defensive position had it not been for the Confederate Army of the Kanawha.
Luckily for Cox, the Rebel Army was divided into two wings commanded by Generals Floyd and Wise who simply couldn’t get along. Cox feared that Floyd would attack from the north, via Carnifex Ferry, while Wise attacked from the east, via Hawks Nest. Gauley was the key to the Kanawha Valley. If the Confederates defeated Cox, they would hold the Kanawha River and give the South access to the Ohio. Rosecrans was on his way to stop this from happening and was, on the morning of this date, he occupied Summersville, ten miles northeast of Carnifex Ferry and Floyd.
Meanwhile, a flurry of exchanges between Floyd and Wise, seventeen miles apart, crossed each other in the morning and early afternoon. Floyd ordered Wise to send 1,000 troops, which would have depleted the entire command at Hawks Nest. Wise, again, refused to send troops. Floyd, again, acted surprised and reissued the order. Wise, yet again, refused. He had, twice before, obeyed orders to move his command to Carnifex and twice before, upon his arrival, he was ordered to return.
The loyal Unionists of Summersville told Rosecrans that Floyd was entrenched just south of Cross Lanes, along the road that crossed the ferry and would eventually lead to Dogwood Gap and the rear of General Wise’s men. Wanting to either “whip or pass” Floyd to unite with General Cox at Gauley, Rosecrans marched on, reaching Cross Lanes, two miles from Rebel lines, by 1pm.
He sent forward a small reconnoitering party to suss out the Confederate defenses. As they poked their way through the thick vegetation, they found no sign of the enemy. At 2:30, Rosecrans pushed forward.
Floyd had not disappeared, his entrenchments were just hard to see through the dense foliage. His troops occupied a bend in the river, with its right flank secure to the water’s edge. The center, which the road to the ferry ran through, was held by artillery, while the left flank dangled in the open, not quite reaching the other side of the river’s bend.
To the Confederate rear were cliffs and an unfordable river. Floyd may have been convinced that his position was impregnable, but one of his regimental commanders, Col. Henry Heth, knew better and constructed a rope bridge across the river, just in case.
Rosecrans ordered his lead brigade forward. They formed into a line of battle in a field and advanced into the woods and towards the waiting, but unseen, Confederates. As they marched forward, muskets at the ready, the brigade commander neglected to deploy skirmishers to feel out the enemy position. They moved deeper into the woods where the field of vision was dramatically diminished. The brigade stumbled on and nearly into the Confederate lines.
The first indication that they were upon the enemy was a Rebel volley of musketry and artillery that roared into the Union line, stopping one regiment cold. The Union brigade commander sent his other two regiments forward and sent back to Rosecrans for reinforcements.
Finally, the Union troops returned fire, the opening volley sending a ball into the right arm of General Floyd, who fell and was taken to the surgeon who quickly bandaged him up. Before too long, he was back on the field commanding his troops.
Meanwhile, Rosecrans held nothing back. After the call for reinforcements, he formed the two remaining brigades and went to the front to see for himself what needed to be done. After looking over the Rebel works, he concluded that they only way to take them was by a frontal assault. It wasn’t until just before dusk that his plan came to fruition.
A brigade held the Union left, along the river, and pushed towards the Confederate right. The force of the assault dislodged the Rebel flank from the river and pushed it towards the center of their line. By this time, however, it was nearly dark. The flank wavered, but did not break. Darkness cloaked the battlefield and fatigue put an end to the attack.
In the early night, Rosecrans withdrew to the open fields from where he launched the battle and made plans to try again the next day.
Floyd, still not realizing that his impregnable position was anything but, debated with Col. Heth about what to do. Heth allowed that the right flank was indeed secure, but the left still hung in the open and it was there that the Union attack would come. Deciding to try Wise one last time, Floyd ordered most of Wise’s Legion to Carnifex. Two hours after he sent for Wise, Floyd decided to retreat. His entire force made use of Heth’s rope bridge and the ferry boats (which they destroyed after using). Once on the other side of the river, Floyd’s entire command marched south on Sunday Road towards the Turnpike and General Wise, who was not informed that Floyd was no longer at Carnifex Ferry.
The Union suffered 17 killed and 141 wounded, while the Confederates lost no more than a few (they claimed to have lost not a man).”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/confederate-retreat-at-carnifex-ferry-lincolns-visit-from-mrs-fremont/
Pictures: Historic Art of John Paul Strain; pontoon Aikens made; 1862-09 Maryland Campaign Map; 1861-09-10 Carnifex Ferry Battle Map Sketch
A. Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA Brig. Gen. John Floyd. Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
B. 1862: Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign. Fog of War. Robert E. Lee divides his force. Pennsylvania mobilizes militia and McClellan is unsure of the direction of Lee’s attack. Gen. Lee divided his army in the face of protests from Gen. Longstreet. Maj Gen. D.H. Hill and his division of 5,000 ordered to guard the passes through South Mountain while rest of Longstreet Corps march north to Hagerstown.
General Lee hoped to draw Federal forces out of Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg to ensure uninterrupted communication lines back to Richmond. Gen Halleck kept Union garrisons in both places; Lee tried to capture Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg, since McClellan is moving slowly. Lee moves Stonewall Jackson’s Corp up the valley.
C. 1863: Union victory at Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas. After building a pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River downstream from Little Rock Maj. Gen. Fred Steele sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson’s 6,000 cavalry troopers across river to move on Little Rock, while he took other 6,000 troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke Confederate 7,000 troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening. Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock’s fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
The Federals deploy in a strong line with their right flank anchored on the river, and facing north. The Rebels under Marmaduke attack and prevail for a while, but counterattacks by Steele’s forces drive them steadily back on Little Rock. Sterling Price evacuates Little Rock, and Steele’s Federals occupy the city. Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown)
D. 1864: The Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864 was radically different than that of 1862. The North has interior lines of communication. Maj Gen Philip Sheridan defensive stance involved his cavalry having their way with their Southern counterparts. Day after day, the troopers under William Averell handily whipped those under Lunsford Lomax. Averell “The cavalry of Lomax were brought forward, with artillery, and compelled my First Brigade to retire, it having, however, nearly exhausted its ammunition.” And so even if his own troopers had to retreat, it wasn’t because of the attacking enemy, but because they had shot at this enemy too much to continuing shooting at them some more. Things would continue in this manner until Sheridan knew for sure that the Rebel numbers were dwindled.
FYI SGT Mark Anderson PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL (Join to see) SSgt David M.] SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see)LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant LTC David Brown LTC (Join to see) CWO3 (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SFC (Join to see) CPL Ronald Keyes Jr
In 1862, CSA Gen Robert E. Lee was marshalling his forces to strike into Pennsylvania and reduce the Federal defenses at Harpers Ferry and employing J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry to both screen his scattered forces movements and gain intelligence on the Federal army movements. Maj Gen George B. McClellan was unsure “whether it was [Lee’s] intention to cross their whole force with a view to turn Washington by a flank movement down the north bank of the Potomac, to move on Baltimore, or to invade Pennsylvania.” Meanwhile Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania issued a call for 50,000 able-bodied “freemen” to arm and report for military drill to defend against the Rebel invasion which, it was believed, would drive up into Pennsylvania and possibly head for Harrisburg or Philadelphia.
In Nashville in 1863 the “Bureau of United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T) opened for business. George Luther Stearns, an abolitionist and later a leader in the Freedmen's Bureau, was placed in charge of recruiting U.S.C.T. in Tennessee. Stearns was John Brown’s largest financial backer and even owned the rifles Brown had used at Harper’s Ferry. He had earlier recruited the Union’s first African American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, later to be featured in the movie “Glory.” More than 20,000 of the 180,000 U.S.C.T. were from Tennessee, and over 5,000 U.S.C.T. casualties occurred in the state.”
Robert E. Lee’s divided Army on the move through Maryland in 1862. “Stonewall Jackson wasn’t exactly lying. While his men rose and began their march, he casually asked several citizens of Frederick, Maryland the best way to get to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He asked for maps and inquired about towns far to the north in the Keystone State. The people of Frederick, by this time, probably believed that the entire Rebel army was about to cross the Mason-Dixon line. Used to Jackson’s secretive ways, however, his staff should have known by now that, though they could not tell where Stonewall was going, Chambersburg was most definitely not the place. Perhaps the General was simply curious.
The Confederates headed west, along the same road British General Braddock British General Edward Braddock and Lt. Colonel George Washington trod during the French and Indian War in 1755. Jackson, who, according to Lee’s Special Orders No. 191, was to turn off at Middletown, led the column towards Boonsboro, through the South Mountain pass at Turner’s Gap.
Originally, Jackson wanted to march through Sharpsburg and then through Shepherdstown, by-passing the town of Martinsburg to the north, which was believed to be abandoned by the Yankees. There, he could advance towards Harpers Ferry from the north.
Old Quaker Lady of Maryland, anticipating the seizure of her House by Lee's Troops, puts out a Washing Stand as a desirable preliminary step thereto. The Rebel Scouts mistake the—to them—Strange Apparatus for an Infernal Machine, and Skedaddle.
Union General John Wool, commander over Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry (though in Baltimore) had ordered General Julius White to hold Martinsburg to the last extremity with his 2,500 – 3,000 men. By evening, White knew exactly where Jackson was, but wasn’t sure where he was going. Boonsboro rests at a crossroads that could take the traveler to Hagerstown, Williamsport (and thus Martinsburg) or Sharpsburg (and thus Harpers Ferry). Only time would tell which route Stonewall would take, though White suspected (and probably hoped) Hagerstown.
While in Boonsboro, Jackson learned that his plans had to change. Word had come in from advance pickets that Martinsburg was occupied. If Jackson continued as planned, he would have an unknown Federal force in his rear. Now, he would have to add sixty miles to his route in order to deal with Martinsburg.
To the south, Confederate Generals Lafayette McLaws and John Walker were on their way to hit Harpers Ferry from the south. McLaws was to move his 8,000 men to Maryland Heights, while Walker was to take his 3,400 to Loudoun Heights. Jackson had hoped that their movements towards the town would be enough to cause the surrender of Union forces. Now, with sixty miles added to his path, he must have wished it even more.
Just as Jackson had received a report that changed his route, General Lee received word that changed everything. Apparently, a Union force of unknown strength was marching towards Hagerstown via Chambersburg. Lee’s entire plan hinged upon the Confederate control of Hagerstown. Originally, while Jackson, McLaws and Walker marched towards Harpers Ferry, General James Longstreet was to hold at Boonsboro. This could no longer happen.
Having already divided his army into four columns, Lee divided it again, ordering Longstreet to march with his force to Hagerstown, leaving 5,000 men under D.H. Hill to guard the South Mountain passes. Longstreet, who never wanted to divide the army up to begin with, was incredibly unhappy about the new order. “General,” he reportedly said to Lee, “I wish we could stand still and let the damned Yankees come to us!”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/lees-divided-army-on-the-move-through-maryland-lincoln-wonders-about-the-west/
Confederate retreat at Carnifex Ferry in 1861. “General Rosecrans and his three Union brigades had marched over 100 miles from Clarksburg, Western Virginia. Their objective was to aide General Cox who was holed up at Gauley Bridge, an adequate defensive position had it not been for the Confederate Army of the Kanawha.
Luckily for Cox, the Rebel Army was divided into two wings commanded by Generals Floyd and Wise who simply couldn’t get along. Cox feared that Floyd would attack from the north, via Carnifex Ferry, while Wise attacked from the east, via Hawks Nest. Gauley was the key to the Kanawha Valley. If the Confederates defeated Cox, they would hold the Kanawha River and give the South access to the Ohio. Rosecrans was on his way to stop this from happening and was, on the morning of this date, he occupied Summersville, ten miles northeast of Carnifex Ferry and Floyd.
Meanwhile, a flurry of exchanges between Floyd and Wise, seventeen miles apart, crossed each other in the morning and early afternoon. Floyd ordered Wise to send 1,000 troops, which would have depleted the entire command at Hawks Nest. Wise, again, refused to send troops. Floyd, again, acted surprised and reissued the order. Wise, yet again, refused. He had, twice before, obeyed orders to move his command to Carnifex and twice before, upon his arrival, he was ordered to return.
The loyal Unionists of Summersville told Rosecrans that Floyd was entrenched just south of Cross Lanes, along the road that crossed the ferry and would eventually lead to Dogwood Gap and the rear of General Wise’s men. Wanting to either “whip or pass” Floyd to unite with General Cox at Gauley, Rosecrans marched on, reaching Cross Lanes, two miles from Rebel lines, by 1pm.
He sent forward a small reconnoitering party to suss out the Confederate defenses. As they poked their way through the thick vegetation, they found no sign of the enemy. At 2:30, Rosecrans pushed forward.
Floyd had not disappeared, his entrenchments were just hard to see through the dense foliage. His troops occupied a bend in the river, with its right flank secure to the water’s edge. The center, which the road to the ferry ran through, was held by artillery, while the left flank dangled in the open, not quite reaching the other side of the river’s bend.
To the Confederate rear were cliffs and an unfordable river. Floyd may have been convinced that his position was impregnable, but one of his regimental commanders, Col. Henry Heth, knew better and constructed a rope bridge across the river, just in case.
Rosecrans ordered his lead brigade forward. They formed into a line of battle in a field and advanced into the woods and towards the waiting, but unseen, Confederates. As they marched forward, muskets at the ready, the brigade commander neglected to deploy skirmishers to feel out the enemy position. They moved deeper into the woods where the field of vision was dramatically diminished. The brigade stumbled on and nearly into the Confederate lines.
The first indication that they were upon the enemy was a Rebel volley of musketry and artillery that roared into the Union line, stopping one regiment cold. The Union brigade commander sent his other two regiments forward and sent back to Rosecrans for reinforcements.
Finally, the Union troops returned fire, the opening volley sending a ball into the right arm of General Floyd, who fell and was taken to the surgeon who quickly bandaged him up. Before too long, he was back on the field commanding his troops.
Meanwhile, Rosecrans held nothing back. After the call for reinforcements, he formed the two remaining brigades and went to the front to see for himself what needed to be done. After looking over the Rebel works, he concluded that they only way to take them was by a frontal assault. It wasn’t until just before dusk that his plan came to fruition.
A brigade held the Union left, along the river, and pushed towards the Confederate right. The force of the assault dislodged the Rebel flank from the river and pushed it towards the center of their line. By this time, however, it was nearly dark. The flank wavered, but did not break. Darkness cloaked the battlefield and fatigue put an end to the attack.
In the early night, Rosecrans withdrew to the open fields from where he launched the battle and made plans to try again the next day.
Floyd, still not realizing that his impregnable position was anything but, debated with Col. Heth about what to do. Heth allowed that the right flank was indeed secure, but the left still hung in the open and it was there that the Union attack would come. Deciding to try Wise one last time, Floyd ordered most of Wise’s Legion to Carnifex. Two hours after he sent for Wise, Floyd decided to retreat. His entire force made use of Heth’s rope bridge and the ferry boats (which they destroyed after using). Once on the other side of the river, Floyd’s entire command marched south on Sunday Road towards the Turnpike and General Wise, who was not informed that Floyd was no longer at Carnifex Ferry.
The Union suffered 17 killed and 141 wounded, while the Confederates lost no more than a few (they claimed to have lost not a man).”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/confederate-retreat-at-carnifex-ferry-lincolns-visit-from-mrs-fremont/
Pictures: Historic Art of John Paul Strain; pontoon Aikens made; 1862-09 Maryland Campaign Map; 1861-09-10 Carnifex Ferry Battle Map Sketch
A. Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA Brig. Gen. John Floyd. Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
B. 1862: Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign. Fog of War. Robert E. Lee divides his force. Pennsylvania mobilizes militia and McClellan is unsure of the direction of Lee’s attack. Gen. Lee divided his army in the face of protests from Gen. Longstreet. Maj Gen. D.H. Hill and his division of 5,000 ordered to guard the passes through South Mountain while rest of Longstreet Corps march north to Hagerstown.
General Lee hoped to draw Federal forces out of Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg to ensure uninterrupted communication lines back to Richmond. Gen Halleck kept Union garrisons in both places; Lee tried to capture Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg, since McClellan is moving slowly. Lee moves Stonewall Jackson’s Corp up the valley.
C. 1863: Union victory at Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas. After building a pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River downstream from Little Rock Maj. Gen. Fred Steele sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson’s 6,000 cavalry troopers across river to move on Little Rock, while he took other 6,000 troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke Confederate 7,000 troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening. Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock’s fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
The Federals deploy in a strong line with their right flank anchored on the river, and facing north. The Rebels under Marmaduke attack and prevail for a while, but counterattacks by Steele’s forces drive them steadily back on Little Rock. Sterling Price evacuates Little Rock, and Steele’s Federals occupy the city. Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown)
D. 1864: The Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864 was radically different than that of 1862. The North has interior lines of communication. Maj Gen Philip Sheridan defensive stance involved his cavalry having their way with their Southern counterparts. Day after day, the troopers under William Averell handily whipped those under Lunsford Lomax. Averell “The cavalry of Lomax were brought forward, with artillery, and compelled my First Brigade to retire, it having, however, nearly exhausted its ammunition.” And so even if his own troopers had to retreat, it wasn’t because of the attacking enemy, but because they had shot at this enemy too much to continuing shooting at them some more. Things would continue in this manner until Sheridan knew for sure that the Rebel numbers were dwindled.
FYI SGT Mark Anderson PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL (Join to see) SSgt David M.] SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see)LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant LTC David Brown LTC (Join to see) CWO3 (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SFC (Join to see) CPL Ronald Keyes Jr
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Fog of war hampered the timid and emboldened the more intrepid throughout the civil war. Able cavalry scouts could be worth more than their weight in gold is discerning intents of enemy forces.
In 1863 during the Chickamauga Campaign: “Reconnaissance from Alpine toward Rome, Lafayette, and Summerville. Skirmishes at Summerville, Pea Vine Creek and near Graysville, Georgia.
At Summerville, General McCook realizes that Bragg is not retreating and he himself is in a very isolated position. Unable to attempt to meet up with General Thomas because of Confederate forces, McCook sits there through the 13th. “Fortunately for the Federal commander, the Confederate General [Bragg] was neither able to take in the true situation, nor gather its advantages.”
Circumstances have prevented General D. H. Hill from moving up, so Bragg orders General Simon Buckner in with two divisions. Meanwhile, General Negley, convinced that no Confederates are in the area, crosses Chickamauga Creek, planning to cross Pigeon Mountain and capture Lafayette. They camp for the night at Davis Crossroads, having put the creek, which is really more of a river at this point, between themselves and help.
Buckner joins Hindman around 4 in the afternoon. Hindman delays action. Bragg, hearing that Negley has crossed the Chickamauga, now decides to destroy Thomas’s vanguard with a double envelopement.
Meanwhile, General Forrest is ordered north again to find Crittenden’s forces and see where they are heading. In the afternoon, Forrest finds the US troops [I’m not sure if this was Negley’s group or another of Crittenden’s units, but think it was the latter] across the Chickamauga. He sends couriers to Generals Bragg and Polk (both of them about six miles away). He readies his troopers to get to the rear of the US forces and seize the bridge they crossed over, trapping them. After getting no reply from his generals, Forrest rides off to urge and attack and finds that Bragg has gone to Lafayette. The opportunity has been lost. “
https://bjdeming.com/2013/09/09/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-9-15-1863/
In 1864 a mail boat is burned by a CSA gunboat: “The Fawn was an inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lt. Cmdr. Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, N.C., determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.”
In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln was concerned about the western theater as well as the eastern theater and asking “Where is General Bragg?” “As Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia began their separated slide towards Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown, President Abraham Lincoln continued to keep his eye on the other Confederate invasion of the North. In Kentucky and Tennessee, Rebels under Braxton Bragg and Kirby Smith were looking towards Louisville and Cincinnati. The largest force opposing them was under Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio, roughly 50,000-strong.
In fact, the past several days found President Lincoln wondering if Bragg hadn’t moved his 27,000 men east to aid Lee’s invasion of Maryland. “Where is General Bragg?” wired Lincoln to General Jeremiah Boyle in Louisville. To General Horatio Wright, head of the Department of the Ohio in Cincinnati, he wrote, “Do you know to any certainty where General Bragg is? May he not be in Virginia?”
That was certainly an interesting idea – one the General Lee himself had discussed with President Jefferson Davis the week before.10 Asking further, Lincoln contacted Buell, asking: “What degree of certainty have you that Bragg with his command is not now in the valley of the Shenandoah, Virginia?”
Buell, on this date, replied with some good news: “Bragg is certainly this side of the Cumberland Mountains with his whole force, except what is in Kentucky under Smith. His movements will probably depend on mine.” Along with some bad: “I expect that for the want of supplies I can neither follow him nor remain here. Think I must withdraw from Tennessee. I shall not abandon Tennessee while it is possible to hold on. Cut off effectually from supplies, it is impossible for me to operate in force where I am; but I shall endeavor to hold Nashville, and at the same time drive Smith out of Kentucky and hold my communications.”
This was more than a little confusing, especially considering that Buell had already given orders for his force to leave Nashville and all of Tennessee for Bowling Green, Kentucky. Rather than asking about Bragg’s location, Lincoln might have been better off asking about Buell’s.
While Bragg was moving his army across the Cumberland River at Gainesboro, making time for Glasgow, Kentucky, Buell’s Army of the Ohio was on its way to Bowling Green. For at least a day, Bragg contemplated hitting Buell rather than racing him north through Kentucky. On this day, he ordered General Leonidas Polk to hold up at Glasgow, “where the army will be concentrated for the purpose of striking a blow at Bowling Green.” Polk was to gather as many provisions as he could while he waited.
The real action, however, was farther to the north, along the Ohio River. Confederates under Kirby Smith, 9,000-strong, had taken Lexington and were threatening Louisville and Cincinnati. Though Smith would not advance beyond his present location, he sent a force under General Henry Heth to Cynthiana. Heth was ordered not to attack until reinforcements came up. Smith was confident that there would be “nothing to oppose us but raw levees.”
While true, there were a lot of raw levees, lovingly called “Squirrel Hunters,” pouring in from rural Ohio. Around this time, there were probably 20,000 or so drilling, waiting and digging trenches around Cincinnati.17 General Lew Wallace, was in command just across the river from Cincinnati, at Covington, Kentucky. Governor David Tod of Ohio, wrote General Wright that he was sending 8,000 men to Cincinnati immediately and promised that more “will pour in upon you by thousands.” To Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, he got more specific: “I shall send him to-day and to-morrow at least 50,000.”
Of course, this was overkill on almost every level. Smith’s force consisted of around 9,000 with a few more thousand on the way. Generals Wright and Wallace, however, were receiving reports that the Rebels nearing Cincinnati numbered upwards of 30,000 and were poised to take the panic-stricken city.”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/lees-divided-army-on-the-move-through-maryland-lincoln-wonders-about-the-west/
Below are several journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Wednesday, September 10, 1862: In answer to Pres. Lincoln’s queries, Gen. Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio, 50,000 strong, gives a puzzling and ambivalent answer as to Bragg’s whereabouts. Bragg has about 25,000 troops, and Gen. Kirby-Smith in Lexington, Kentucky has about 9,000---even combined, no match for Buell. Buell appears to be loath to give up Nashville, even though Kirby-Smith is already in northern Kentucky and threatening Cincinnati, and Bragg (by this point) is clearly heading northward and not toward Nashville. Buell’s letter reveals uncertainty and yet a desire to show that he is on top of things: NASHVILLE, TENN., September 10, 1862 – 12 m. His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “Bragg is certainly this side of the Cumberland Mountains with his whole force, except what is in Kentucky under Smith. His movements will probably depend on mine. I except that for the want of supplies I can neither follow him nor remain here. Think I must withdraw from Tennessee. I shall not abandon Tennessee while it is possible to hold on. Cut off effectually from supplies, it is impossible for me to operate enforce where I am; but I shall endeavor to hold Nashville, and at the same time drive Smith out of Kentucky and hold my communications.
D. C. BUELL, Major-General.”
Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Gen. Braxton Bragg writes his concern about the moral corruption of his army, in a letter to a friend. He is also clearly defending his actions as a strict disciplinarian, for which he becomes notorious in future months: “No man in power can expect to do his duty and escape detraction. All mortals are fallible, and I have no doubt my errors are many and great.–With a conscientious conviction, however, that my course is right, I shall pursue it; and if at the end of this war, when our independence, is secured, an enlightened public judgment shall condemn me, after hearing the testimony of those who are now with me, gallantly and nobly defending their colors, as well as of those who have basely deserted to their homes to slander and revile their officers, in justification of their dishonor, I shall utter no murmur, but endeavor in silence to repent of my errors. In any event, I shall enjoy the consolation of having done something to prevent the moral degradation of our armies and our society.
Had not the reformation of grog-shops, gambling-houses, &c., commenced by me at Pensacola and Mobile, been approved and enforced by the Government, we should now be a degraded and enslaved people. . . .”
Wednesday, September 10, 1862: U.S. Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles cogitates over the generals who run the army, worried about McClellan’s well-known liabilities at this moment of crisis; he is likewise wary of Halleck’s lack of “edge,” revealing a keen appreciation of the political situation: “There are muttering denunciations on every side, and if McClellan fails to whip the Rebels in Maryland, the wrath and indignation against him and the Administration will be great and unrestrained. If he succeeds, there will be instant relief, and a willing disposition to excuse alleged errors which ought to be investigated.
General Halleck is nominally General-in-Chief and discharging many of the important functions of the War Department. I have as yet no intimacy with him and have seen but little of him. He has a scholarly intellect and, I suppose, some military acquirements, but his mind is heavy and irresolute. It appears to me he does not possess originality and that he has little real military talent. What he has is educational. He is here, and came from the West, the friend of Pope, and is in some degree indebted to Pope for his position. . . . Halleck, destitute of originality, bewildered by the conduct of McClellan and his generals, without military resources, could devise nothing and knew not what to advise or do after Pope’s discomfiture. He saw that the dissatisfied generals triumphed in Pope’s defeat, that Pope and the faction that Stanton controlled against McClellan were unequal to the task they were expected to perform. . . .”
Thursday, September 10, 1863: Mary Boykin Chestnut, of South Carolina, is witness to Longstreet’s troops who are now en route to join Bragg in Georgia, and her reflections on their fate: “At Kingsville I caught a glimpse of our army. Longstreet’s corps was going West. God bless the gallant fellows! Not one man was intoxicated; not one rude word did I hear. It was a strange sight—one part of it. There were miles, apparently, of platform cars, soldiers rolled in their blankets, lying in rows, heads all covered, fast asleep. In their gray blankets, packed in regular order, they looked like swathed mummies. One man near where I sat was writing on his knee. He used his cap for a desk and he was seated on a rail. I watched him, wondering to whom that letter was to go—home, no doubt. Sore hearts for him there.
A feeling of awful depression laid hold of me. All these fine fellows were going to kill or be killed. Why? And a phrase got to beating about my head like an old song,”The Unreturning Brave.” When a knot of boyish, laughing, young creatures passed me, a queer thrill of sympathy shook me. Ah, I know how your home-folks feel, poor children!”
Pictures: 1863-09-10 The Battle of Bayou Forche, 1863; Union pontoon bridge over the James River; 1864-08 through 10 Shenandoah Valley Map; CSS Albemarle
A. Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. General William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA General John Floyd. Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an important Civil War battle site. On September 10, 1861, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
B. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign. Robert E. Lee divides his force.
Hearing that an unknown force of Federals is in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and is reported heading south to Hagerstown, Maryland, Gen. Lee divides his army again, in the face of protests from Gen. Longstreet. Lee orders Longstreet to detail off Gen. D.H. Hill and his division of 5,000 to guard the passes through South Mountain, and then to take the rest of his corps and march north to Hagerstown.
Having drawn Federal forces away from Washington by his occupation of Frederick, Maryland, General Lee now intends to transfer his army west of the mountains (“South Mountain [as the Blue Ridge range is called in Maryland]”), keeping the Federals far from their supply base and support. Lee’s communications with Richmond will be through the Shenandoah Valley; he had hoped that the Confederate presence in Maryland would have drawn Federal forces out of Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg, leaving a good area of resupply open, as well as ensuring uninterrupted communication lines back to Richmond.
Indeed, General McClellan ordered the withdrawal of those forces, but General Halleck has overruled him, keeping Union garrisons in both places; Lee decides to try to capture them, since McClellan is moving slowly. McClellan is unsure “whether it was [Lee’s] intention to cross their whole force with a view to turn Washington by a flank movement down the north bank of the Potomac, to move on Baltimore, or to invade Pennsylvania.”
Today Lee’s commanders start moving out, according to Special Order No. 191, one copy of which, unbeknownst to the Confederates, has been lost. General Jackson heads toward Martinsburg, to drive that Federal force out and toward Harper’s Ferry by the 12th. Others spread out to surround Harper’s Ferry, while part of Longstreet’s command and D. H. Hill’s division head to Boonesborough at the western base of South Mountain, with the plan that Longstreet will move on to Hagerstown to secure supplies and meet an advancing Union force, while Hill’s force supports General Stuart’s cavalry, which is remaining east of the mountains, as well as to close off that escape route from Harper’s Ferry.
C. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Union victory at Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas. Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, Army of Arkansas commander, sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson’s cavalry division across the Arkansas River to move on Little Rock, while he took other troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke Confederate troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening. Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock’s fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown)
Details: During the night, Federal troops are able to build a pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River downstream from Little Rock, and the Rebels move artillery there to contest the crossing. The Union artillery proves superior, and sweeps the field. Infantry well-placed by Gen. Davidson also keep the Rebels at bay. The Union men cross, and deploy. Gen. Price has a total of 7,000 to face Gen. Steele’s 12,000 men, about 6,000 infantry under Steele himself and 6,000 cavalry under Davidson. The Federals deploy in a strong line with their right flank anchored on the river, and facing north. The Rebels under Marmaduke attack and prevail for a while, but counterattacks by Steele’s forces drive them steadily back on Little Rock. Price evacuates Little Rock, and Steele’s Federals occupy the city.
D. Saturday, September 10, 1864: The Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864 was radically different than that of 1862. Sheridan still waiting for Early. Philip Sheridan had been on the defensive for some time now, believing the Confederates before him near Winchester too strong to attack. This he did with the sanction of General Grant, who had believed that perhaps the Confederates were leaching troops away from the Shenandoah Valley to bolter their lines near Petersburg. But now he could see this was not so.
“I would not have you make an attack with the advantage against you,” he wrote the day previous, “but would prefer just the course you seem to be pursuing – that is, pressing closely upon the enemy, and when he moves, follow him up, being ready at all time to pounce upon him if he detaches any considerable force.”
This strategy could effectively hold Jubal Early’s entire Army of the Valley in place, barring it from being any use at all to General Lee. Conversely, however, it also meant that most of the Shenandoah Valley still remained in Southern hands. This was not ideal, but Grant had larger plans.
“We are strengthening our position here [near Petersburg] so that a small force can hold the present line, and leave the greater part of the army to act on a given point when I chose.”
Part of Sheridan’s defensive stance involved his cavalry having their way with their Southern counterparts. Day after day, the troopers under William Averell handily whipped those under Lunsford Lomax. On the 9th, however, things began to change. The Union cavalry appeared below Brucetown [near White Hall on the map], setting fire to a few mills along the Opequon, but was there met by a division of infantry.
And then on this date, Early moved two divisions under Robert Rodes and Stephen Ramseur from the defenses near Winchester, north through Bunker Hill and then to Darkesville [Bucklestown on the map].
“We had a very hard rain in the morning, with thunder and lightening,” wrote cartographer Jed Hotchkiss. “We marched through. Our infantry marched just beyond Darkesville. Our cavalry drove the Yankees through Martinsburg after the infantry hard started them from Darkesville.” Lomax and his cavalry gave chase, while the infantry returned to Bunker Hill.
Averell, of course, told a similar tale, though it differed in some fairly obvious areas. “The enemy was repulsed and driven back to Bunker Hill,” he wrote. This wasn’t exactly true in the strictest sense, but he soon told a more truthful story. “The cavalry of Lomax were brought forward, with artillery, and compelled my First Brigade to retire, it having, however, nearly exhausted its ammunition.” And so even if his own troopers had to retreat, it wasn’t because of the attacking enemy, but because they had shot at this enemy too much to continuing shooting at them some more.
Things would continue in this manner until Sheridan knew for sure that the Rebel numbers were dwindled.
1. Tuesday, September 10, 1861: George Thomas ordered to relieve William 'Bull' Nelson at Camp Dick Robinson. General Nelson is ordered to Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
2. Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Jefferson Davis places Albert Sidney Johnston in command of the Confederate West ("Department Number Two").
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
3. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania issues a call for 50,000 able-bodied “freemen” to arm and report for military drill to defend against the Rebel invasion which, it was believed, would drive up into Pennsylvania and possibly head for Harrisburg or Philadelphia.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
4. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Gen. George McClellan (US) was sure of only two things: his country was being invaded, and he had no good information as to where the invaders were. He was starting to get indications, though: reports from cavalry scouts today informed him that the Army of Northern Virginia (CSA) had departed from the area of the Monocacy River, and were heading away from Frederick, Maryland. Lee split his men in two forces, with Jackson ordered to capture Harper’s Ferry, while he would lead his men to Hagerstown, Maryland.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-74
5. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: In Bolivar, TN, John Houston Bills tells us in his diary, “Mrs. Neely & Mrs. J.R. Fentress start to Corinth to visit General Grant for to procure the release of their husbands who are political prisoners at Alton.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-74
6. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: In answer to Pres. Lincoln’s queries, Gen. Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio, 50,000 strong, gives a puzzling and ambivalent answer as to Bragg’s whereabouts. Bragg has about 25,000 troops, and Gen. Kirby-Smith in Lexington, Kentucky has about 9,000---even combined, no match for Buell. Buell appears to be loath to give up Nashville, even though Kirby-Smith is already in northern Kentucky and threatening Cincinnati, and Bragg (by this point) is clearly heading northward and not toward Nashville. Buell’s letter reveals uncertainty and yet a desire to show that he is on top of things: NASHVILLE, TENN., September 10, 1862 – 12 m. His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “Bragg is certainly this side of the Cumberland Mountains with his whole force, except what is in Kentucky under Smith. His movements will probably depend on mine. I except that for the want of supplies I can neither follow him nor remain here. Think I must withdraw from Tennessee. I shall not abandon Tennessee while it is possible to hold on. Cut off effectually from supplies, it is impossible for me to operate enforce where I am; but I shall endeavor to hold Nashville, and at the same time drive Smith out of Kentucky and hold my communications.
D. C. BUELL, Major-General.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
7. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Gen. Braxton Bragg writes his concern about the moral corruption of his army, in a letter to a friend. He is also clearly defending his actions as a strict disciplinarian, for which he becomes notorious in future months: “No man in power can expect to do his duty and escape detraction. All mortals are fallible, and I have no doubt my errors are many and great.–With a conscientious conviction, however, that my course is right, I shall pursue it; and if at the end of this war, when our independence, is secured, an enlightened public judgment shall condemn me, after hearing the testimony of those who are now with me, gallantly and nobly defending their colors, as well as of those who have basely deserted to their homes to slander and revile their officers, in justification of their dishonor, I shall utter no murmur, but endeavor in silence to repent of my errors. In any event, I shall enjoy the consolation of having done something to prevent the moral degradation of our armies and our society.
Had not the reformation of grog-shops, gambling-houses, &c., commenced by me at Pensacola and Mobile, been approved and enforced by the Government, we should now be a degraded and enslaved people. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
8. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: U.S. Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles cogitates over the generals who run the army, worried about McClellan’s well-known liabilities at this moment of crisis; he is likewise wary of Halleck’s lack of “edge,” revealing a keen appreciation of the political situation: “There are muttering denunciations on every side, and if McClellan fails to whip the Rebels in Maryland, the wrath and indignation against him and the Administration will be great and unrestrained. If he succeeds, there will be instant relief, and a willing disposition to excuse alleged errors which ought to be investigated.
General Halleck is nominally General-in-Chief and discharging many of the important functions of the War Department. I have as yet no intimacy with him and have seen but little of him. He has a scholarly intellect and, I suppose, some military acquirements, but his mind is heavy and irresolute. It appears to me he does not possess originality and that he has little real military talent. What he has is educational. He is here, and came from the West, the friend of Pope, and is in some degree indebted to Pope for his position. . . . Halleck, destitute of originality, bewildered by the conduct of McClellan and his generals, without military resources, could devise nothing and knew not what to advise or do after Pope’s discomfiture. He saw that the dissatisfied generals triumphed in Pope’s defeat, that Pope and the faction that Stanton controlled against McClellan were unequal to the task they were expected to perform. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
9. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Mary Boykin Chestnut, of South Carolina, is witness to Longstreet’s troops who are now en route to join Bragg in Georgia, and her reflections on their fate: “At Kingsville I caught a glimpse of our army. Longstreet’s corps was going West. God bless the gallant fellows! Not one man was intoxicated; not one rude word did I hear. It was a strange sight—one part of it. There were miles, apparently, of platform cars, soldiers rolled in their blankets, lying in rows, heads all covered, fast asleep. In their gray blankets, packed in regular order, they looked like swathed mummies. One man near where I sat was writing on his knee. He used his cap for a desk and he was seated on a rail. I watched him, wondering to whom that letter was to go—home, no doubt. Sore hearts for him there.
A feeling of awful depression laid hold of me. All these fine fellows were going to kill or be killed. Why? And a phrase got to beating about my head like an old song,”The Unreturning Brave.” When a knot of boyish, laughing, young creatures passed me, a queer thrill of sympathy shook me. Ah, I know how your home-folks feel, poor children!”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1863
10. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Battle of Davis Cross Roads (Dug Gap), Georgia: Gen. James Negley and his Federal division from Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland moves up into Dug Gap to test the Rebel presence there. Gen. Thomas Hindman skirmishes with Negley, with Patrick Cleburne’s division in support. The Rebels wait for additional reinforcements.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1863
11. Thursday, September 10, 1863: September 10-11. Battle of Davis Crossroads Georgia. Braxton Bragg; Chickamauga Campaign
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
12. Thursday, September 10, 1863: After a full day of battles near Little Rock, Arkansas, it too falls to Union control. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans - Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-126
13. Thursday, September 10, 1863: In Nashville, the Bureau of United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T) opened for business. George Luther Stearns, (pictured) an abolitionist and later a leader in the Freedmen's Bureau, was placed in charge of recruiting U.S.C.T. in Tennessee. Stearns was John Brown’s largest financial backer and even owned the rifles Brown had used at Harper’s Ferry. He had earlier recruited the Union’s first African American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, later to be featured in the movie “Glory.” More than 20,000 of the 180,000 U.S.C.T. were from Tennessee, and over 5,000 U.S.C.T. casualties occurred in the state.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-126
14. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Battle of Bayou Forche (Little Rock), Arkansas.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
15. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Sterling Price [CS] withdraws from Little Rock, Arkansas.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
16. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Arkansas operations/Little Rock Campaign. Bayou Fourche/Little Rock.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/09/09/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-9-15-1863/
17. Saturday, September 10, 1864: “The Fawn was an inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lt. Cmdr. Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, N.C., determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/09/08/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-8-14-1864/
18. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Military and civilian riots against two newspapers in Raleigh, North Carolina: the Standard, which has been advocating peace and rejoining the Union; and the Journal, apparently because the citizens didn’t like the editor.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/09/09/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-9-15-1863/
19. Saturday, September 10, 1864: General U. S. Grant encourages Sherman to continue being aggressive. https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-178
20. Saturday, September 10, 1864: General Joe Wheeler (CSA) returns to Confederate lines following a raid into North Georgia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-178
21. Saturday, September 10, 1864: Joe Wheeler [CS] returns to Confederate lines following a raid into North Georgia.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186409
22. Saturday, September 10, 1864: The New York Times reports: “A scout just arrived from Savannah, Tenn., says all males between the ages of 15 and 45 have been conscripted in Mississippi. The country was full of stragglers.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-178
A Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. General William S. Rosecrans [US] defeats General John Floyd [CS]
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
A+ Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an important Civil War battle site. On September 10, 1861, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
B Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Hearing that an unknown force of Federals is in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and is reported heading south to Hagerstown, Maryland, Gen. Lee divides his army again, in the face of protests from Gen. Longstreet. Lee orders Longstreet to detail off Gen. D.H. Hill and his division of 5,000 to guard the passes through South Mountain, and then to take the rest of his corps and march north to Hagerstown.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
B+ Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign. Having drawn Federal forces away from Washington by his occupation of Frederick, Maryland, General Lee now intends to transfer his army west of the mountains (“South Mountain [as the Blue Ridge range is called in Maryland]”), keeping the Federals far from their supply base and support. Lee’s communications with Richmond will be through the Shenandoah Valley; he had hoped that the Confederate presence in Maryland would have drawn Federal forces out of Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg, leaving a good area of resupply open, as well as ensuring uninterrupted communication lines back to Richmond.
Indeed, General McClellan ordered the withdrawal of those forces, but General Halleck has overruled him, keeping Union garrisons in both places; Lee decides to try to capture them, since McClellan is moving slowly. McClellan is unsure “whether it was [Lee’s] intention to cross their whole force with a view to turn Washington by a flank movement down the north bank of the Potomac, to move on Baltimore, or to invade Pennsylvania.”
Today Lee’s commanders start moving out, according to Special Order No. 191, one copy of which, unbeknownst to the Confederates, has been lost. General Jackson heads toward Martinsburg, to drive that Federal force out and toward Harper’s Ferry by the 12th. Others spread out to surround Harper’s Ferry, while part of Longstreet’s command and D. H. Hill’s division head to Boonesborough at the western base of South Mountain, with the plan that Longstreet will move on to Hagerstown to secure supplies and meet an advancing Union force, while Hill’s force supports General Stuart’s cavalry, which is remaining east of the mountains, as well as to close off that escape route from Harper’s Ferry.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/10/15/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-10-16-1862/
C Thursday, September 10, 1863: Union victory at Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas. Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, Army of Arkansas commander, sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson’s cavalry division across the Arkansas River to move on Little Rock, while he took other troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke Confederate troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening. Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock’s fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown)
https://www.nps.gov/abpp/battles/ar010a.htm
C++ Thursday, September 10, 1863: Battle of Bayou Fourche / Little Rock – During the night, Federal troops are able to build a pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River downstream from Little Rock, and the Rebels move artillery there to contest the crossing. The Union artillery proves superior, and sweeps the field. Infantry well-placed by Gen. Davidson also keep the Rebels at bay. The Union men cross, and deploy. Gen. Price has a total of 7,000 to face Gen. Steele’s 12,000 men, about 6,000 infantry under Steele himself and 6,000 cavalry under Davidson. The Federals deploy in a strong line with their right flank anchored on the river, and facing north. The Rebels under Marmaduke attack and prevail for a while, but counterattacks by Steele’s forces drive them steadily back on Little Rock. Price evacuates Little Rock, and Steele’s Federals occupy the city.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1863
D Saturday, September 10, 1864: Sheridan still waiting for Early. Philip Sheridan had been on the defensive for some time now, believing the Confederates before him near Winchester too strong to attack. This he did with the sanction of General Grant, who had believed that perhaps the Confederates were leaching troops away from the Shenandoah Valley to bolter their lines near Petersburg. But now he could see this was not so.
“I would not have you make an attack with the advantage against you,” he wrote the day previous, “but would prefer just the course you seem to be pursuing – that is, pressing closely upon the enemy, and when he moves, follow him up, being ready at all time to pounce upon him if he detaches any considerable force.”
This strategy could effectively hold Jubal Early’s entire Army of the Valley in place, barring it from being any use at all to General Lee. Conversely, however, it also meant that most of the Shenandoah Valley still remained in Southern hands. This was not ideal, but Grant had larger plans.
“We are strengthening our position here [near Petersburg] so that a small force can hold the present line, and leave the greater part of the army to act on a given point when I chose.”
Part of Sheridan’s defensive stance involved his cavalry having their way with their Southern counterparts. Day after day, the troopers under William Averell handily whipped those under Lunsford Lomax. On the 9th, however, things began to change. The Union cavalry appeared below Brucetown [near White Hall on the map], setting fire to a few mills along the Opequon, but was there met by a division of infantry.
And then on this date, Early moved two divisions under Robert Rodes and Stephen Ramseur from the defenses near Winchester, north through Bunker Hill and then to Darkesville [Bucklestown on the map].
“We had a very hard rain in the morning, with thunder and lightening,” wrote cartographer Jed Hotchkiss. “We marched through. Our infantry marched just beyond Darkesville. Our cavalry drove the Yankees through Martinsburg after the infantry hard started them from Darkesville.” Lomax and his cavalry gave chase, while the infantry returned to Bunker Hill.
Averell, of course, told a similar tale, though it differed in some fairly obvious areas. “The enemy was repulsed and driven back to Bunker Hill,” he wrote. This wasn’t exactly true in the strictest sense, but he soon told a more truthful story. “The cavalry of Lomax were brought forward, with artillery, and compelled my First Brigade to retire, it having, however, nearly exhausted its ammunition.” And so even if his own troopers had to retreat, it wasn’t because of the attacking enemy, but because they had shot at this enemy too much to continuing shooting at them some more.
Things would continue in this manner until Sheridan knew for sure that the Rebel numbers were dwindled.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/sheridan-still-waiting-for-early/
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In 1863 during the Chickamauga Campaign: “Reconnaissance from Alpine toward Rome, Lafayette, and Summerville. Skirmishes at Summerville, Pea Vine Creek and near Graysville, Georgia.
At Summerville, General McCook realizes that Bragg is not retreating and he himself is in a very isolated position. Unable to attempt to meet up with General Thomas because of Confederate forces, McCook sits there through the 13th. “Fortunately for the Federal commander, the Confederate General [Bragg] was neither able to take in the true situation, nor gather its advantages.”
Circumstances have prevented General D. H. Hill from moving up, so Bragg orders General Simon Buckner in with two divisions. Meanwhile, General Negley, convinced that no Confederates are in the area, crosses Chickamauga Creek, planning to cross Pigeon Mountain and capture Lafayette. They camp for the night at Davis Crossroads, having put the creek, which is really more of a river at this point, between themselves and help.
Buckner joins Hindman around 4 in the afternoon. Hindman delays action. Bragg, hearing that Negley has crossed the Chickamauga, now decides to destroy Thomas’s vanguard with a double envelopement.
Meanwhile, General Forrest is ordered north again to find Crittenden’s forces and see where they are heading. In the afternoon, Forrest finds the US troops [I’m not sure if this was Negley’s group or another of Crittenden’s units, but think it was the latter] across the Chickamauga. He sends couriers to Generals Bragg and Polk (both of them about six miles away). He readies his troopers to get to the rear of the US forces and seize the bridge they crossed over, trapping them. After getting no reply from his generals, Forrest rides off to urge and attack and finds that Bragg has gone to Lafayette. The opportunity has been lost. “
https://bjdeming.com/2013/09/09/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-9-15-1863/
In 1864 a mail boat is burned by a CSA gunboat: “The Fawn was an inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lt. Cmdr. Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, N.C., determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.”
In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln was concerned about the western theater as well as the eastern theater and asking “Where is General Bragg?” “As Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia began their separated slide towards Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown, President Abraham Lincoln continued to keep his eye on the other Confederate invasion of the North. In Kentucky and Tennessee, Rebels under Braxton Bragg and Kirby Smith were looking towards Louisville and Cincinnati. The largest force opposing them was under Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio, roughly 50,000-strong.
In fact, the past several days found President Lincoln wondering if Bragg hadn’t moved his 27,000 men east to aid Lee’s invasion of Maryland. “Where is General Bragg?” wired Lincoln to General Jeremiah Boyle in Louisville. To General Horatio Wright, head of the Department of the Ohio in Cincinnati, he wrote, “Do you know to any certainty where General Bragg is? May he not be in Virginia?”
That was certainly an interesting idea – one the General Lee himself had discussed with President Jefferson Davis the week before.10 Asking further, Lincoln contacted Buell, asking: “What degree of certainty have you that Bragg with his command is not now in the valley of the Shenandoah, Virginia?”
Buell, on this date, replied with some good news: “Bragg is certainly this side of the Cumberland Mountains with his whole force, except what is in Kentucky under Smith. His movements will probably depend on mine.” Along with some bad: “I expect that for the want of supplies I can neither follow him nor remain here. Think I must withdraw from Tennessee. I shall not abandon Tennessee while it is possible to hold on. Cut off effectually from supplies, it is impossible for me to operate in force where I am; but I shall endeavor to hold Nashville, and at the same time drive Smith out of Kentucky and hold my communications.”
This was more than a little confusing, especially considering that Buell had already given orders for his force to leave Nashville and all of Tennessee for Bowling Green, Kentucky. Rather than asking about Bragg’s location, Lincoln might have been better off asking about Buell’s.
While Bragg was moving his army across the Cumberland River at Gainesboro, making time for Glasgow, Kentucky, Buell’s Army of the Ohio was on its way to Bowling Green. For at least a day, Bragg contemplated hitting Buell rather than racing him north through Kentucky. On this day, he ordered General Leonidas Polk to hold up at Glasgow, “where the army will be concentrated for the purpose of striking a blow at Bowling Green.” Polk was to gather as many provisions as he could while he waited.
The real action, however, was farther to the north, along the Ohio River. Confederates under Kirby Smith, 9,000-strong, had taken Lexington and were threatening Louisville and Cincinnati. Though Smith would not advance beyond his present location, he sent a force under General Henry Heth to Cynthiana. Heth was ordered not to attack until reinforcements came up. Smith was confident that there would be “nothing to oppose us but raw levees.”
While true, there were a lot of raw levees, lovingly called “Squirrel Hunters,” pouring in from rural Ohio. Around this time, there were probably 20,000 or so drilling, waiting and digging trenches around Cincinnati.17 General Lew Wallace, was in command just across the river from Cincinnati, at Covington, Kentucky. Governor David Tod of Ohio, wrote General Wright that he was sending 8,000 men to Cincinnati immediately and promised that more “will pour in upon you by thousands.” To Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, he got more specific: “I shall send him to-day and to-morrow at least 50,000.”
Of course, this was overkill on almost every level. Smith’s force consisted of around 9,000 with a few more thousand on the way. Generals Wright and Wallace, however, were receiving reports that the Rebels nearing Cincinnati numbered upwards of 30,000 and were poised to take the panic-stricken city.”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/lees-divided-army-on-the-move-through-maryland-lincoln-wonders-about-the-west/
Below are several journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Wednesday, September 10, 1862: In answer to Pres. Lincoln’s queries, Gen. Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio, 50,000 strong, gives a puzzling and ambivalent answer as to Bragg’s whereabouts. Bragg has about 25,000 troops, and Gen. Kirby-Smith in Lexington, Kentucky has about 9,000---even combined, no match for Buell. Buell appears to be loath to give up Nashville, even though Kirby-Smith is already in northern Kentucky and threatening Cincinnati, and Bragg (by this point) is clearly heading northward and not toward Nashville. Buell’s letter reveals uncertainty and yet a desire to show that he is on top of things: NASHVILLE, TENN., September 10, 1862 – 12 m. His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “Bragg is certainly this side of the Cumberland Mountains with his whole force, except what is in Kentucky under Smith. His movements will probably depend on mine. I except that for the want of supplies I can neither follow him nor remain here. Think I must withdraw from Tennessee. I shall not abandon Tennessee while it is possible to hold on. Cut off effectually from supplies, it is impossible for me to operate enforce where I am; but I shall endeavor to hold Nashville, and at the same time drive Smith out of Kentucky and hold my communications.
D. C. BUELL, Major-General.”
Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Gen. Braxton Bragg writes his concern about the moral corruption of his army, in a letter to a friend. He is also clearly defending his actions as a strict disciplinarian, for which he becomes notorious in future months: “No man in power can expect to do his duty and escape detraction. All mortals are fallible, and I have no doubt my errors are many and great.–With a conscientious conviction, however, that my course is right, I shall pursue it; and if at the end of this war, when our independence, is secured, an enlightened public judgment shall condemn me, after hearing the testimony of those who are now with me, gallantly and nobly defending their colors, as well as of those who have basely deserted to their homes to slander and revile their officers, in justification of their dishonor, I shall utter no murmur, but endeavor in silence to repent of my errors. In any event, I shall enjoy the consolation of having done something to prevent the moral degradation of our armies and our society.
Had not the reformation of grog-shops, gambling-houses, &c., commenced by me at Pensacola and Mobile, been approved and enforced by the Government, we should now be a degraded and enslaved people. . . .”
Wednesday, September 10, 1862: U.S. Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles cogitates over the generals who run the army, worried about McClellan’s well-known liabilities at this moment of crisis; he is likewise wary of Halleck’s lack of “edge,” revealing a keen appreciation of the political situation: “There are muttering denunciations on every side, and if McClellan fails to whip the Rebels in Maryland, the wrath and indignation against him and the Administration will be great and unrestrained. If he succeeds, there will be instant relief, and a willing disposition to excuse alleged errors which ought to be investigated.
General Halleck is nominally General-in-Chief and discharging many of the important functions of the War Department. I have as yet no intimacy with him and have seen but little of him. He has a scholarly intellect and, I suppose, some military acquirements, but his mind is heavy and irresolute. It appears to me he does not possess originality and that he has little real military talent. What he has is educational. He is here, and came from the West, the friend of Pope, and is in some degree indebted to Pope for his position. . . . Halleck, destitute of originality, bewildered by the conduct of McClellan and his generals, without military resources, could devise nothing and knew not what to advise or do after Pope’s discomfiture. He saw that the dissatisfied generals triumphed in Pope’s defeat, that Pope and the faction that Stanton controlled against McClellan were unequal to the task they were expected to perform. . . .”
Thursday, September 10, 1863: Mary Boykin Chestnut, of South Carolina, is witness to Longstreet’s troops who are now en route to join Bragg in Georgia, and her reflections on their fate: “At Kingsville I caught a glimpse of our army. Longstreet’s corps was going West. God bless the gallant fellows! Not one man was intoxicated; not one rude word did I hear. It was a strange sight—one part of it. There were miles, apparently, of platform cars, soldiers rolled in their blankets, lying in rows, heads all covered, fast asleep. In their gray blankets, packed in regular order, they looked like swathed mummies. One man near where I sat was writing on his knee. He used his cap for a desk and he was seated on a rail. I watched him, wondering to whom that letter was to go—home, no doubt. Sore hearts for him there.
A feeling of awful depression laid hold of me. All these fine fellows were going to kill or be killed. Why? And a phrase got to beating about my head like an old song,”The Unreturning Brave.” When a knot of boyish, laughing, young creatures passed me, a queer thrill of sympathy shook me. Ah, I know how your home-folks feel, poor children!”
Pictures: 1863-09-10 The Battle of Bayou Forche, 1863; Union pontoon bridge over the James River; 1864-08 through 10 Shenandoah Valley Map; CSS Albemarle
A. Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. General William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA General John Floyd. Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an important Civil War battle site. On September 10, 1861, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
B. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign. Robert E. Lee divides his force.
Hearing that an unknown force of Federals is in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and is reported heading south to Hagerstown, Maryland, Gen. Lee divides his army again, in the face of protests from Gen. Longstreet. Lee orders Longstreet to detail off Gen. D.H. Hill and his division of 5,000 to guard the passes through South Mountain, and then to take the rest of his corps and march north to Hagerstown.
Having drawn Federal forces away from Washington by his occupation of Frederick, Maryland, General Lee now intends to transfer his army west of the mountains (“South Mountain [as the Blue Ridge range is called in Maryland]”), keeping the Federals far from their supply base and support. Lee’s communications with Richmond will be through the Shenandoah Valley; he had hoped that the Confederate presence in Maryland would have drawn Federal forces out of Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg, leaving a good area of resupply open, as well as ensuring uninterrupted communication lines back to Richmond.
Indeed, General McClellan ordered the withdrawal of those forces, but General Halleck has overruled him, keeping Union garrisons in both places; Lee decides to try to capture them, since McClellan is moving slowly. McClellan is unsure “whether it was [Lee’s] intention to cross their whole force with a view to turn Washington by a flank movement down the north bank of the Potomac, to move on Baltimore, or to invade Pennsylvania.”
Today Lee’s commanders start moving out, according to Special Order No. 191, one copy of which, unbeknownst to the Confederates, has been lost. General Jackson heads toward Martinsburg, to drive that Federal force out and toward Harper’s Ferry by the 12th. Others spread out to surround Harper’s Ferry, while part of Longstreet’s command and D. H. Hill’s division head to Boonesborough at the western base of South Mountain, with the plan that Longstreet will move on to Hagerstown to secure supplies and meet an advancing Union force, while Hill’s force supports General Stuart’s cavalry, which is remaining east of the mountains, as well as to close off that escape route from Harper’s Ferry.
C. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Union victory at Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas. Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, Army of Arkansas commander, sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson’s cavalry division across the Arkansas River to move on Little Rock, while he took other troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke Confederate troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening. Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock’s fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown)
Details: During the night, Federal troops are able to build a pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River downstream from Little Rock, and the Rebels move artillery there to contest the crossing. The Union artillery proves superior, and sweeps the field. Infantry well-placed by Gen. Davidson also keep the Rebels at bay. The Union men cross, and deploy. Gen. Price has a total of 7,000 to face Gen. Steele’s 12,000 men, about 6,000 infantry under Steele himself and 6,000 cavalry under Davidson. The Federals deploy in a strong line with their right flank anchored on the river, and facing north. The Rebels under Marmaduke attack and prevail for a while, but counterattacks by Steele’s forces drive them steadily back on Little Rock. Price evacuates Little Rock, and Steele’s Federals occupy the city.
D. Saturday, September 10, 1864: The Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1864 was radically different than that of 1862. Sheridan still waiting for Early. Philip Sheridan had been on the defensive for some time now, believing the Confederates before him near Winchester too strong to attack. This he did with the sanction of General Grant, who had believed that perhaps the Confederates were leaching troops away from the Shenandoah Valley to bolter their lines near Petersburg. But now he could see this was not so.
“I would not have you make an attack with the advantage against you,” he wrote the day previous, “but would prefer just the course you seem to be pursuing – that is, pressing closely upon the enemy, and when he moves, follow him up, being ready at all time to pounce upon him if he detaches any considerable force.”
This strategy could effectively hold Jubal Early’s entire Army of the Valley in place, barring it from being any use at all to General Lee. Conversely, however, it also meant that most of the Shenandoah Valley still remained in Southern hands. This was not ideal, but Grant had larger plans.
“We are strengthening our position here [near Petersburg] so that a small force can hold the present line, and leave the greater part of the army to act on a given point when I chose.”
Part of Sheridan’s defensive stance involved his cavalry having their way with their Southern counterparts. Day after day, the troopers under William Averell handily whipped those under Lunsford Lomax. On the 9th, however, things began to change. The Union cavalry appeared below Brucetown [near White Hall on the map], setting fire to a few mills along the Opequon, but was there met by a division of infantry.
And then on this date, Early moved two divisions under Robert Rodes and Stephen Ramseur from the defenses near Winchester, north through Bunker Hill and then to Darkesville [Bucklestown on the map].
“We had a very hard rain in the morning, with thunder and lightening,” wrote cartographer Jed Hotchkiss. “We marched through. Our infantry marched just beyond Darkesville. Our cavalry drove the Yankees through Martinsburg after the infantry hard started them from Darkesville.” Lomax and his cavalry gave chase, while the infantry returned to Bunker Hill.
Averell, of course, told a similar tale, though it differed in some fairly obvious areas. “The enemy was repulsed and driven back to Bunker Hill,” he wrote. This wasn’t exactly true in the strictest sense, but he soon told a more truthful story. “The cavalry of Lomax were brought forward, with artillery, and compelled my First Brigade to retire, it having, however, nearly exhausted its ammunition.” And so even if his own troopers had to retreat, it wasn’t because of the attacking enemy, but because they had shot at this enemy too much to continuing shooting at them some more.
Things would continue in this manner until Sheridan knew for sure that the Rebel numbers were dwindled.
1. Tuesday, September 10, 1861: George Thomas ordered to relieve William 'Bull' Nelson at Camp Dick Robinson. General Nelson is ordered to Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
2. Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Jefferson Davis places Albert Sidney Johnston in command of the Confederate West ("Department Number Two").
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
3. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Governor Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania issues a call for 50,000 able-bodied “freemen” to arm and report for military drill to defend against the Rebel invasion which, it was believed, would drive up into Pennsylvania and possibly head for Harrisburg or Philadelphia.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
4. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Gen. George McClellan (US) was sure of only two things: his country was being invaded, and he had no good information as to where the invaders were. He was starting to get indications, though: reports from cavalry scouts today informed him that the Army of Northern Virginia (CSA) had departed from the area of the Monocacy River, and were heading away from Frederick, Maryland. Lee split his men in two forces, with Jackson ordered to capture Harper’s Ferry, while he would lead his men to Hagerstown, Maryland.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-74
5. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: In Bolivar, TN, John Houston Bills tells us in his diary, “Mrs. Neely & Mrs. J.R. Fentress start to Corinth to visit General Grant for to procure the release of their husbands who are political prisoners at Alton.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-74
6. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: In answer to Pres. Lincoln’s queries, Gen. Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of the Ohio, 50,000 strong, gives a puzzling and ambivalent answer as to Bragg’s whereabouts. Bragg has about 25,000 troops, and Gen. Kirby-Smith in Lexington, Kentucky has about 9,000---even combined, no match for Buell. Buell appears to be loath to give up Nashville, even though Kirby-Smith is already in northern Kentucky and threatening Cincinnati, and Bragg (by this point) is clearly heading northward and not toward Nashville. Buell’s letter reveals uncertainty and yet a desire to show that he is on top of things: NASHVILLE, TENN., September 10, 1862 – 12 m. His Excellency ABRAHAM LINCOLN: “Bragg is certainly this side of the Cumberland Mountains with his whole force, except what is in Kentucky under Smith. His movements will probably depend on mine. I except that for the want of supplies I can neither follow him nor remain here. Think I must withdraw from Tennessee. I shall not abandon Tennessee while it is possible to hold on. Cut off effectually from supplies, it is impossible for me to operate enforce where I am; but I shall endeavor to hold Nashville, and at the same time drive Smith out of Kentucky and hold my communications.
D. C. BUELL, Major-General.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
7. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Gen. Braxton Bragg writes his concern about the moral corruption of his army, in a letter to a friend. He is also clearly defending his actions as a strict disciplinarian, for which he becomes notorious in future months: “No man in power can expect to do his duty and escape detraction. All mortals are fallible, and I have no doubt my errors are many and great.–With a conscientious conviction, however, that my course is right, I shall pursue it; and if at the end of this war, when our independence, is secured, an enlightened public judgment shall condemn me, after hearing the testimony of those who are now with me, gallantly and nobly defending their colors, as well as of those who have basely deserted to their homes to slander and revile their officers, in justification of their dishonor, I shall utter no murmur, but endeavor in silence to repent of my errors. In any event, I shall enjoy the consolation of having done something to prevent the moral degradation of our armies and our society.
Had not the reformation of grog-shops, gambling-houses, &c., commenced by me at Pensacola and Mobile, been approved and enforced by the Government, we should now be a degraded and enslaved people. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
8. Wednesday, September 10, 1862: U.S. Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles cogitates over the generals who run the army, worried about McClellan’s well-known liabilities at this moment of crisis; he is likewise wary of Halleck’s lack of “edge,” revealing a keen appreciation of the political situation: “There are muttering denunciations on every side, and if McClellan fails to whip the Rebels in Maryland, the wrath and indignation against him and the Administration will be great and unrestrained. If he succeeds, there will be instant relief, and a willing disposition to excuse alleged errors which ought to be investigated.
General Halleck is nominally General-in-Chief and discharging many of the important functions of the War Department. I have as yet no intimacy with him and have seen but little of him. He has a scholarly intellect and, I suppose, some military acquirements, but his mind is heavy and irresolute. It appears to me he does not possess originality and that he has little real military talent. What he has is educational. He is here, and came from the West, the friend of Pope, and is in some degree indebted to Pope for his position. . . . Halleck, destitute of originality, bewildered by the conduct of McClellan and his generals, without military resources, could devise nothing and knew not what to advise or do after Pope’s discomfiture. He saw that the dissatisfied generals triumphed in Pope’s defeat, that Pope and the faction that Stanton controlled against McClellan were unequal to the task they were expected to perform. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
9. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Mary Boykin Chestnut, of South Carolina, is witness to Longstreet’s troops who are now en route to join Bragg in Georgia, and her reflections on their fate: “At Kingsville I caught a glimpse of our army. Longstreet’s corps was going West. God bless the gallant fellows! Not one man was intoxicated; not one rude word did I hear. It was a strange sight—one part of it. There were miles, apparently, of platform cars, soldiers rolled in their blankets, lying in rows, heads all covered, fast asleep. In their gray blankets, packed in regular order, they looked like swathed mummies. One man near where I sat was writing on his knee. He used his cap for a desk and he was seated on a rail. I watched him, wondering to whom that letter was to go—home, no doubt. Sore hearts for him there.
A feeling of awful depression laid hold of me. All these fine fellows were going to kill or be killed. Why? And a phrase got to beating about my head like an old song,”The Unreturning Brave.” When a knot of boyish, laughing, young creatures passed me, a queer thrill of sympathy shook me. Ah, I know how your home-folks feel, poor children!”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1863
10. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Battle of Davis Cross Roads (Dug Gap), Georgia: Gen. James Negley and his Federal division from Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland moves up into Dug Gap to test the Rebel presence there. Gen. Thomas Hindman skirmishes with Negley, with Patrick Cleburne’s division in support. The Rebels wait for additional reinforcements.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1863
11. Thursday, September 10, 1863: September 10-11. Battle of Davis Crossroads Georgia. Braxton Bragg; Chickamauga Campaign
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
12. Thursday, September 10, 1863: After a full day of battles near Little Rock, Arkansas, it too falls to Union control. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans - Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-126
13. Thursday, September 10, 1863: In Nashville, the Bureau of United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T) opened for business. George Luther Stearns, (pictured) an abolitionist and later a leader in the Freedmen's Bureau, was placed in charge of recruiting U.S.C.T. in Tennessee. Stearns was John Brown’s largest financial backer and even owned the rifles Brown had used at Harper’s Ferry. He had earlier recruited the Union’s first African American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, later to be featured in the movie “Glory.” More than 20,000 of the 180,000 U.S.C.T. were from Tennessee, and over 5,000 U.S.C.T. casualties occurred in the state.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-126
14. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Battle of Bayou Forche (Little Rock), Arkansas.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
15. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Sterling Price [CS] withdraws from Little Rock, Arkansas.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
16. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Arkansas operations/Little Rock Campaign. Bayou Fourche/Little Rock.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/09/09/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-9-15-1863/
17. Saturday, September 10, 1864: “The Fawn was an inoffensive little boat, engaged yesterday in the hauling of mail on the Albermarle and Chesapeake Canal. Today she did so no longer, because she had been seized and burned by a force of Confederates. An extremely irate Lt. Cmdr. Earl English, of the USS Wyalusing, landed in nearby Elizabeth City, N.C., determined to locate and punish whoever had committed this act. He went to far as to round up and detain 29 leading citizens of the town for interrogation and possible detention as hostages against repetition of such misdeeds. He was reluctantly persuaded to release them when they were able to convince him that the mail boat had in fact been burned by men from the CSS Albermarle and that no resident of the town had been involved or benefited by the act.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/09/08/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-8-14-1864/
18. Thursday, September 10, 1863: Military and civilian riots against two newspapers in Raleigh, North Carolina: the Standard, which has been advocating peace and rejoining the Union; and the Journal, apparently because the citizens didn’t like the editor.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/09/09/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-9-15-1863/
19. Saturday, September 10, 1864: General U. S. Grant encourages Sherman to continue being aggressive. https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-178
20. Saturday, September 10, 1864: General Joe Wheeler (CSA) returns to Confederate lines following a raid into North Georgia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-178
21. Saturday, September 10, 1864: Joe Wheeler [CS] returns to Confederate lines following a raid into North Georgia.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186409
22. Saturday, September 10, 1864: The New York Times reports: “A scout just arrived from Savannah, Tenn., says all males between the ages of 15 and 45 have been conscripted in Mississippi. The country was full of stragglers.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-178
A Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. General William S. Rosecrans [US] defeats General John Floyd [CS]
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186109
A+ Tuesday, September 10, 1861: Nestled on the rim of the Gauley River Canyon near Summersville, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park is an important Civil War battle site. On September 10, 1861, Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg. This Civil War battle represented failure of a Confederate drive to regain control of the Kanawha Valley. As a result the movement for West Virginia statehood proceeded without serious threat from the Confederates.
B Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Hearing that an unknown force of Federals is in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and is reported heading south to Hagerstown, Maryland, Gen. Lee divides his army again, in the face of protests from Gen. Longstreet. Lee orders Longstreet to detail off Gen. D.H. Hill and his division of 5,000 to guard the passes through South Mountain, and then to take the rest of his corps and march north to Hagerstown.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1862
B+ Wednesday, September 10, 1862: Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign. Having drawn Federal forces away from Washington by his occupation of Frederick, Maryland, General Lee now intends to transfer his army west of the mountains (“South Mountain [as the Blue Ridge range is called in Maryland]”), keeping the Federals far from their supply base and support. Lee’s communications with Richmond will be through the Shenandoah Valley; he had hoped that the Confederate presence in Maryland would have drawn Federal forces out of Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg, leaving a good area of resupply open, as well as ensuring uninterrupted communication lines back to Richmond.
Indeed, General McClellan ordered the withdrawal of those forces, but General Halleck has overruled him, keeping Union garrisons in both places; Lee decides to try to capture them, since McClellan is moving slowly. McClellan is unsure “whether it was [Lee’s] intention to cross their whole force with a view to turn Washington by a flank movement down the north bank of the Potomac, to move on Baltimore, or to invade Pennsylvania.”
Today Lee’s commanders start moving out, according to Special Order No. 191, one copy of which, unbeknownst to the Confederates, has been lost. General Jackson heads toward Martinsburg, to drive that Federal force out and toward Harper’s Ferry by the 12th. Others spread out to surround Harper’s Ferry, while part of Longstreet’s command and D. H. Hill’s division head to Boonesborough at the western base of South Mountain, with the plan that Longstreet will move on to Hagerstown to secure supplies and meet an advancing Union force, while Hill’s force supports General Stuart’s cavalry, which is remaining east of the mountains, as well as to close off that escape route from Harper’s Ferry.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/10/15/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-10-16-1862/
C Thursday, September 10, 1863: Union victory at Battle of Bayou Fourche, Arkansas. Maj. Gen. Fred Steele, Army of Arkansas commander, sent Brig. Gen. John W. Davidson’s cavalry division across the Arkansas River to move on Little Rock, while he took other troops to attack Confederates entrenched on the north side. In his thrust toward Little Rock, Davidson ran into Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke Confederate troops at Bayou Fourche. Aided by Union artillery fire from the north side of the river, Davidson forced them out of their position and sent them fleeing back to Little Rock, which fell to Union troops that evening. Bayou Fourche sealed Little Rock’s fate. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans-Mississippi theater, isolating it from the rest of the South.
Estimated Casualties: Total unknown (US 72; CS unknown)
https://www.nps.gov/abpp/battles/ar010a.htm
C++ Thursday, September 10, 1863: Battle of Bayou Fourche / Little Rock – During the night, Federal troops are able to build a pontoon bridge across the Arkansas River downstream from Little Rock, and the Rebels move artillery there to contest the crossing. The Union artillery proves superior, and sweeps the field. Infantry well-placed by Gen. Davidson also keep the Rebels at bay. The Union men cross, and deploy. Gen. Price has a total of 7,000 to face Gen. Steele’s 12,000 men, about 6,000 infantry under Steele himself and 6,000 cavalry under Davidson. The Federals deploy in a strong line with their right flank anchored on the river, and facing north. The Rebels under Marmaduke attack and prevail for a while, but counterattacks by Steele’s forces drive them steadily back on Little Rock. Price evacuates Little Rock, and Steele’s Federals occupy the city.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+10%2C+1863
D Saturday, September 10, 1864: Sheridan still waiting for Early. Philip Sheridan had been on the defensive for some time now, believing the Confederates before him near Winchester too strong to attack. This he did with the sanction of General Grant, who had believed that perhaps the Confederates were leaching troops away from the Shenandoah Valley to bolter their lines near Petersburg. But now he could see this was not so.
“I would not have you make an attack with the advantage against you,” he wrote the day previous, “but would prefer just the course you seem to be pursuing – that is, pressing closely upon the enemy, and when he moves, follow him up, being ready at all time to pounce upon him if he detaches any considerable force.”
This strategy could effectively hold Jubal Early’s entire Army of the Valley in place, barring it from being any use at all to General Lee. Conversely, however, it also meant that most of the Shenandoah Valley still remained in Southern hands. This was not ideal, but Grant had larger plans.
“We are strengthening our position here [near Petersburg] so that a small force can hold the present line, and leave the greater part of the army to act on a given point when I chose.”
Part of Sheridan’s defensive stance involved his cavalry having their way with their Southern counterparts. Day after day, the troopers under William Averell handily whipped those under Lunsford Lomax. On the 9th, however, things began to change. The Union cavalry appeared below Brucetown [near White Hall on the map], setting fire to a few mills along the Opequon, but was there met by a division of infantry.
And then on this date, Early moved two divisions under Robert Rodes and Stephen Ramseur from the defenses near Winchester, north through Bunker Hill and then to Darkesville [Bucklestown on the map].
“We had a very hard rain in the morning, with thunder and lightening,” wrote cartographer Jed Hotchkiss. “We marched through. Our infantry marched just beyond Darkesville. Our cavalry drove the Yankees through Martinsburg after the infantry hard started them from Darkesville.” Lomax and his cavalry gave chase, while the infantry returned to Bunker Hill.
Averell, of course, told a similar tale, though it differed in some fairly obvious areas. “The enemy was repulsed and driven back to Bunker Hill,” he wrote. This wasn’t exactly true in the strictest sense, but he soon told a more truthful story. “The cavalry of Lomax were brought forward, with artillery, and compelled my First Brigade to retire, it having, however, nearly exhausted its ammunition.” And so even if his own troopers had to retreat, it wasn’t because of the attacking enemy, but because they had shot at this enemy too much to continuing shooting at them some more.
Things would continue in this manner until Sheridan knew for sure that the Rebel numbers were dwindled.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/sheridan-still-waiting-for-early/
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace CWO4 Terrence Clark SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LTC Trent Klug SFC Bernard Walko SFC Stephen King SSG Franklin Briant SSG Byron Howard Sr CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw SPC Lyle MontgomeryDeborah GregsonPO2 Marco MonsalveSPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy MSgt (Join to see) SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSgt Christopher Collins
The American Civil War 150th Anniversary – September 9-15, 1863
Here is a look at events in the Civil War, 150 years ago this week. It was a tad busy in the hills and valleys just south and southeast of Chattanooga. September 9 Battles: South Carolina operation…
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LTC Stephen F. exceptional read/share. I chose:
1861 Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA Brig. Gen. John Floyd. Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched p
1861 Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA Brig. Gen. John Floyd. Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched p
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you my friend and brother-in-Christ Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for responding and letting us know that you consider the September 10, 1861 "Federal Victory at Battle of Carnifax Ferry, Western Virginia. Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans defeats CSA Brig. Gen. John Floyd. Union troops led by Brig. Gen. William S. Rosecrans engaged the Confederates and forced them to evacuate an entrenched position on the Henry Patterson farm, which overlooked Carnifex Ferry. The Confederate commander, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd, retreated across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River and on eastward to Meadow Bluff near Lewisburg." to be the most significant event in the US Civil War on September 10.
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SFC George Smith
1stSgt Eugene Harless - most folks only have 2 thumbs i'm stuck with 8 dumb thumbs and 2 pinkies...
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