What was the most significant event on August 16 during the U.S. Civil War?

2016-09-15T21:53:50-04:00

By 1862, the Union Army had become a magnet for slaves seeking their freedom, and not just slaves from the Confederacy. Slaves from the border states including Maryland were fleeing south to the Union Army in Virginia in hopes of securing their freedom.
In 1862, Brigadier General Charles Stone was released from prison in New York with no explanation from the War Department. He had been arrested in February, 1862 more because of political rivalries in Congress than because of the defeat at Ball’s Bluff, Virginia and spending six months in prison at Forts Lafayette and Hamilton at New York harbor with no charges filed against him. He frequently attempted to be granted a court-martial with no success.
Background: He was named brigadier general of volunteers in August, 1861 and given command of the right flank division of the Army of the Potomac along the line of that river opposite Leesburg, Virginia. On October 21 came the disastrous battle of Ball’s Bluff which resulted in his eventual arrest and the end of his promising army career.
Aftermath: Assigned to Gen. Nathaniel Banks in New Orleans in May 1863, he arranged the surrender of Port Hudson, then served as Banks’ Chief of Staff until April 16, 1864 when Banks relieved him after a falling out.
Stone’s first wife having died in February, 1863, he married Annie Jeannie Stone (who coincidentally shared the same last name) in November. The following August, General Grant brought him back east and gave him a brigade in the V Corps. Typhoid and an impending nervous breakdown resulted in his decision to resign from the army, effective September 13, 1864.
In 1863, Col Robert Gould Shaw was eulogized by Private James Henry Gooding who was one of his soldiers in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment on Morris Island, South Carolina. “Messrs. Editors: As stringent orders have been recently issued relative to giving information in regard to military matters here, which is a very proper course and necessary, the amount of news is rather meagre, so I will violate no “General Orders” in expressing the general feeling of the regiment in respect to our late commander, Col. Shaw qualities, as a friend, commander and hero, and, I might add, without any extravagance, a martyr—for such he has proved himself to be. Who would dare ascribe a selfish motive to a man whose position in life bade fair to be a high one, without the prestige of military fame? He seemed to have taken the position more in the light of a reformer, or one to put in practice a system of order and discipline among a people sadly deficient in these respects, not in a military sense alone, because the seed of discipline sown among us as soldiers would ripen into fruit when the time arrived to become citizens. We, as a people, would know the value of obedience and the meaning of law and order; but I am off the point. When the raising of this regiment was first mooted I doubt if there could have been found a dozen men in the North, holding as high a position and with prospects of bettering themselves by another channel, as our respected Colonel, who would have accepted the unenviable position as commander of the first colored regiment organized in the North. There was then a great doubt among skeptical persons of our raising 500 men; and doubts, too, of colored men conforming to the restraint of camp life, and predictions that the men would run away in a week after being brought to camp; with these doubts and predictions before them, men were afraid to risk their reputations and name on what too many deemed a chimera; they did not care to stand a chance of being the laughing stock and butt of cynical persons. But Col. Shaw, from the beginning, never evinced any fear of what others thought or said. He believed the work would be done, and he put his hands, his head, and heart to the task, with what results you all know. It has been conceded by many that he carried through Boston one of the best drilled regiments ever raised by the State. The discipline of the regiment was perfect; not a slavish fear, but obedience enacted by the evidence of a superior and directing mind.
Col. Shaw was not what might be expected, familiar with his men; he was cold, distant, and even austere, to a casual observer. When in the line of duty, he differed totally from what many persons would suppose he would be, as commander of a negro regiment. If there was any abolition fanaticism in him, he had a mind well balanced, so that no man in the regiment would ever presume to take advantage of that feeling in their favor, to disobey, or use insolence; but had any man a wrong done him, in Colonel Shaw he always found an impartial judge, providing the complaint was presented through the proper channels. For he was very formal in all his proceedings, and would enforce obedience merely by his tones which were not harsh, but soft and firm. The last day with us, or I may say the ending of it, as we lay flat on the ground before the assault, his manner was more unbending than I had ever noticed before in the presence of his men; he sat on the ground, and was talking to the men very familiarly and kindly; he told them how the eyes of thousands would look upon the night’s work they were about to enter on; and said he, “Now boys I want you to be MEN!” He would walk along the entire line and speak words of cheer to his men. We could see that he was a man who had counted the cost of the undertaking before him, for his words were spoken so ominously, his lips were compressed, and now and then there was visible a slight twitching of the corners of his mouth, like one bent on accomplishing or dying. One poor fellow, struck no doubt by the Colonel’s determined bearing, exclaimed as he was passing him, “Colonel, I will stay by you till I die,” and he kept his word; he has never been seen since. For one so young, Col. Shaw showed a well-trained mind, and an ability of governing men not possessed by many older and more experienced men. In him, the regiment has lost one of its best and most devoted friends. Requiescat in pace.”

Pictures: 1864-08-16 2nd battle of deep bottom; 1863-08 54th Massachusetts; 1864-08-14 to 20 2nd Battle of Deep Bottom August Map; 1863-08 Col Robert Gould Shaw

A. 1862: Fort Velasco, Texas: At the mouth of the Brazos River (modern-day Surfside Beach), artillerymen under a Col. Bates engage in a firefight with an unnamed Federal ship. No Confederates are harmed, and after some time the Federals move off.
B. 1862: Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri. Confederate victory; Lone Jack virtually destroyed. As the sun rose an estimated force of 1,600 rebels descended on the Union troops in Lone Jack. Maj. Emory Foster’s 7th Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), believing they were battling bushwhackers who had publicly avowed to give no quarter to captured Union troops, fought as if a brave death in combat was the preferred option to surrender and execution.
The battle raged into the late afternoon with each side at various times claiming the field. Col Cockrell takes command of the Rebels and plans attacks from several directions at once. The attacks are uncoordinated and disjointed, and bog down into firefights. Armed mostly with shotguns, the Southerners were unable to do much damage unless they closed with the Yankees—but since some of them attacked on foot, this was difficult in the face of Federal rifle fire. The Federals take heavy casualties as the two cannon change hands several times in charge and countercharge. Both sides are running low on ammunition, and when Col. Coffee’s Rebels finally arrive on the battlefield, Capt. Brawner (the only Federal officer not dead or wounded) orders the guns spiked, and the Yankees retreat to Lexington. The Rebels claim a victory, although they sustained greater casualties.
The possession of the cannons was lost and regained and lost again. At times the combat was hand-to-hand. By many accounts the battle fought that day was one of the fiercest of the Civil War, regardless of the small number of soldiers engaged. Foster’s troops gave the undisciplined guerrillas and raw Confederate recruits a bloody lesson, but of the nearly 800 soldiers that left for Lone Jack with Major Foster, only about 400 returned to Lexington. Confederate forces were left in charge of the battlefield on Sunday the 17th, but the town of Lone Jack had been virtually destroyed and never again would the proslavery forces of northwestern Missouri have the strategic upper hand over the Union military that they held in the summer of 1862.
C. 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: Confederates release water-borne mines (called “torpedoes”) in the Stono River to drift into Union shipping. They cause chaos but little damage and US Admiral Dahlgren orders a net placed on the river to stop further incursions of these torpedoes.
During the evening a Confederate artillery shell burst through the bombproof serving as the headquarters for Colonel Joshua B. Howell, commanding officer of the grand guard that evening. A shell fragment struck Colonel Howell wounding him severely in the head. Despite Howell's quick recovery the incident prompted the Union commander to exclusively use veteran troops in the forward trenches. Confederates also kept a constant rotation of soldiers through Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg. During the night rowboats would bring fresh troops from the mainland to replace the garrison. Even though they had won a substantial victory at Fort Wagner the Confederates fully expected the campaign to continue. Having a large garrison to draw from Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard was prepared to continue the campaign.
D. 1864: The Second Battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia. Early on the morning Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's cavalry division swept to the right to Glendale and then rode northwest on the Charles City Road toward Richmond. They found CSA Rooney Lee's cavalry division blocking the road and a full day of fighting resulted. The Union cavalrymen drove the enemy as far as White's Tavern, but were eventually pushed back to Fisher's Farm. Confederate Brig. Gen. John R. Chambliss was killed during the fighting. The infantrymen of the X Corps had a better start to the day, as Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry's division, led by Col. Francis Bates Pond's brigade, broke through the Confederate line. Wright's Brigade, commanded by newly promoted Brig. Gen. Victor Girardey, was hit hard and retreated, opening a significant gap. Girardey was killed by a bullet in the head while brandishing the colors of the 64th Georgia. Field later wrote, "Not only the day but Richmond seemed to be gone." The heavily wooded terrain prevented Birney and Hancock from understanding that they had reached a position of advantage and they were unable to exploit it before Field rearranged his lines to fill the gap and drive back the Federals. Col. William C. Oates led two Alabama regiments in the initial counterattack and was wounded. Robert E. Lee had arrived north of the James by this time and witnessed the action.

FYI MSG Roy Cheever Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Private RallyPoint Member COL Lisandro Murphy SSgt David M. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. 1SG Steven Imerman SGT Jim Arnold Amn Dale Preisach CW4 Private RallyPoint Member Sgt Jerry Genesio SSG Private RallyPoint Member SPC Matt Ovaska SFC Ralph E Kelley LTC Wayne Brandon

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Sep 15 at 2016 9:55 PM

2016-09-15T21:55:06-04:00

LTC Stephen F. great read and share. I am going to go with 1864: The Second Battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia. Early on the morning Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's cavalry division swept to the right to Glendale and then rode northwest on the Charles City Road toward Richmond. They found CSA Rooney Lee's cavalry divi
Very significant battle IMHO.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Sep 15 at 2016 9:56 PM

2016-09-15T21:56:34-04:00

By many accounts the battle of Lone Jack, Missouri in 1862 was one of the fiercest of the Civil War, regardless of the small number of soldiers engaged. Maj Emory Foster’s “troops gave the undisciplined guerrillas and raw Confederate recruits a bloody lesson, but of the nearly 800 soldiers that left for Lone Jack with Major Foster, only about 400 returned to Lexington. Confederate forces were left in charge of the battlefield on Sunday the 17th, but the town of Lone Jack had been virtually destroyed and never again would the proslavery forces of northwestern Missouri have the strategic upper hand over the Union military that they held in the summer of 1862.”
In 1862, the U.S. Navy shelled Corpus Christi and attacked by land and they failed to take the town. The Confederate defenders noticed that an inordinate number of Federal shells had not exploded on impact. Examining one of the still-intact rounds, someone discovered it held whiskey, not gunpowder. Though not mentioned in the official record of the engagement, the enduring legend is that some of the Yankee seaman had been emptying shells to hide their clandestine whiskey supply.

Below are a number of journal entries from 1861, 1862, 1863 and 1864 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. In 1862 the “Daily Dispatch relates "He is my property, my money paid for him . . .": Correspondence Concerning Contrabands. Contrabands continue to flock through the Yankee lines, many of them securing work in the service of the United States. Union men as well as Secessionists have been the losers, as will be seen from the following correspondence. In 1864 Maj Gen William T. Sherman assesses the situation in the siege of Atlanta.
Friday, August 16, 1861: Confederate naval agent James H. North wrote to Stephen R. Mallory, Confederate Secretary of the Navy. North complained about a lack of money and a desire for a seagoing command.
“SIR: I have been in this country rather more than a month, and most anxiously have I been awaiting the arrival of a communication from you, and at last have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of yours, dated June 28.
Most gladly would I obey the instructions therein contained, if I only had it in my power. You must not forget that I am here without one dollar to carry out your orders, and the people of these parts are as keen after money as any people I ever saw in my life. If they find you have plenty of money to carry out your views they are as polite as possible, otherwise they are too busy to attend to you.
I requested General Fear, on his arrival, to call, see, and explain to you my situation, which he promised to do, especially as he refused to carry any letters.
I am sorry to say that the general impression out here is that, if I had millions at my command, I could not carry out your views, as both France and England are anxious to get all the ironclad ships they can.
If I had the means, however, at my disposal, I would at least make the attempt. It takes a long time to get up or build one of these ships. The Warrior they have been building nearly two years, and I think it will take a month or two to finish her. I have made two visits to her and was very much pleased with all I saw. She is a splendid ship and well worth all that she will cost, which, I understand, is $2,500,000. She is too large for us, and will draw more water than she can carry into most of our ports. I sometimes get dreadfully sick at heart when I think how little I am doing for my poor country, when I know full well that the services of every man and boy are of the utmost importance.
Mr. B.[ulloch], I suppose, will write you in full, giving you a detailed account of his operations.
Please let me hear from you soon, and, if nothing better offers, I shall be pleased to command one of the vessels he is now building.
God grant, however, that our arms may be victorious, and that peace may soon be restored to our at present distracted country. We have thought it best not to send anything by the schooner. Hoping to hear from you very soon, I remain, Your obedient servant, [JAMES H. NORTH]”Saturday, August 16, 1862: Correspondence Concerning Contrabands. Contrabands continue to flock through the Yankee lines, many of them securing work in the service of the United States. Union men as well as Secessionists have been the losers, as will be seen from the following correspondence
Headq'rs Aquia Creek, Va., June 27, 1862. From Col Geo H. Biddle to Thomas A. Miller, Esq “Sir --I have your letter of the 24th Inst., stating that you have a negro man at this place, thirty-seven years of age, passing by the name of Charles Waters, and that unless you have the negro or his equivalent in money you will bring the matter before Congress. I have no knowledge as to the person you refer to. Contrabands are under the especial charge of Lieut. Ross, Acting Assistant Quartermaster. It the man is here and desires to return to you, or if you should come here, and, without threats or violence, induce him to return, I will neither offer nor suffer any resistance. My duty here is simply to enforce the Constitution and laws, as construed by the early fathers, and in obedience to my superior officers.
Very respectfully, Geo H. Biddle, Col. 95th Reg't N. Y. State Vol. Inf., com. Post.”
Saturday, August 16, 1862: From Thomas A. Miller, Esq., Charles co., Md. Charles County, Md., July 8, 1862. To Lieutenant Ross.
“Dear Sir --Colonel Biddle refers me to you in the matter of runaway negroes I will esteem it a favor to be furnished with a certificate, endorsed by the Colonel, of the fact of my negro man, who calls himself Charles Waters, being at Aquia creek, in Government employ. Col. B. says he has no knowledge of this fact. The negro's name is on your record of contrabands as my property. Messrs. Childs, Adams, and Mitchell, who visited Aquia creek some short time since to see after negroes of their own, inform me of this fact. They also talked with this negro, who was employed in unloading bo Col. Biddle closes his letter to me by saying, ‘"I am simply here to enforce the Constitution and laws."’ In this State the receiving or employing runaway negroes is called harboring, and is a penal offence. I have yet to learn that the statutes of Maryland are violative of the Constitution. There is no man in Maryland more loyal than I, or who has encountered more odium for defending the Government, My loyalty here has been regarded as of the most ultra kind, in proof of which I can refer to every prominent Union man in the State. I stood by Hicks, holding a commission as one of his aids. I have also the same position on the staff of our present Union Governor, Mr. Bradford. I can also refer to Gen. Hooker, with whom I am well acquainted, and who knows my antecedents.
The negro man left for no provocation. His wife and children are at Aquia creek, and he left me on their account. I am informed by Colonel B. that if I come over and can induce this negro to return with me he will see there is no interference. I am not willing to consult this negro at all in a matter of this sort. He is my property, my money paid for him, and if the Government requires a regiment of soldiers to stand between me and my just rights, I can only say I must submit — I am but an individual. It is not the value of the property that so much concerns me; it is the principle it involves.--Are we of the border States to be taxed to furnish rations to our own negroes. If officers in the army can't catch slaves for their lawful owners, how is it they can catch them for themselves or for the Government? If you order this man and his family from your post, they will be likely to come home. Maryland negroes, I presume, don't come home. Maryland negroes, I presume, don't come under the head of contrabands.
Respectfully, yours, Thomas A. Miller, Nanjemoy, Charles county, Md.”
Sunday, August 16, 1863: John Beauchamp Jones, of Richmond, a clerk in the War Department of the Confederate States, writes in his journal about the scarcity of food and other privations being endured by the Southern populace. He tells of one planter in Mississippi who petitions Pres. Davis to end the war. Jones also talks about his garden---a very necessary pastime: “I often wonder if, in the first struggle for independence, there was as much suffering and despondency among certain classes of the people as we now behold. Our rich men are the first to grow weary of the contest. Yesterday a letter was received by the Secretary of War from a Mr. Reanes, Jackson, Mississippi, advising the government to lose no time in making the best terms possible with the United States authorities, else all would be lost. He says but a short time ago he was worth $1,250,000, and now nothing is left him but a shelter, and that would have been destroyed if he had not made a pledge to remain. He says he is an old man, and was a zealous secessionist, and even now would give his life for the independence of his country. But that is impracticable—numbers must prevail—and he would preserve his wife and children from the horrors threatened, and inevitable if the war be prolonged. He says the soldiers that were under Pemberton and Lovell will never serve under them again, for they denounce them as traitors and tyrants, while, as they allege, they were well treated by the enemy when they fell into their hands.
Yet it seems to me that, like the Israelites that passed through the Red Sea, and Shadrach and his brethren who escaped unscorched from the fiery furnace, my family have been miraculously sustained. We have purchased no clothing for nearly three years, and had no superabundance to begin with, but still we have decent clothes, as if time made no appreciable change in them. I wear a hat bought four years ago, and shoes that cost me (government price then) $7.50 more than a year ago, and I suppose they would sell now for $10; new ones are bringing $50.
My tomatoes are maturing slowly, but there will be abundance, saving me $10 per week for ten weeks. My lima beans are very full, and some of them will be fit to pull in a few days. My potatoes are as green as grass, and I fear will produce nothing but vines; but I shall have cabbages and parsnips, and red peppers. No doubt the little garden, 25 by 50, will be worth $150 to me. Thank Providence, we still have health!
But the scarcity—or rather high prices, for there is really no scarcity of anything but meat—is felt by the cats, rats, etc., as well as by the people. I have not seen a rat or mouse for months, and lean cats are wandering past every day in quest of new homes.
What shall we do for sugar, now selling at $2 per pound? When the little supply this side of the Mississippi is still more reduced it will probably be $5! It has been more than a year since we had coffee or tea. Was it not thus in the trying times of the Revolution? If so, why can we not bear privation as well as our forefathers did? We must!
Sunday, August 16, 1863: Confederate artilleryman George Michael Neese, on duty in the Shenandoah Valley, writes dispiritedly in his journal: “August 16 — The second section relieved the first this evening. I am still on the sick list, and feel sickish, bad, and dull; broke-upness is creeping and crawling all over me, the zest and vivacity that render camp life worth living have both gone on a scout and left me dispirited and languid.”
Sunday, August 16, 1863: Captain Josiah Marshall Favill, of Gen. Caldwell’s staff, engages in brigade inspection on behalf of the division commander, and on this day visits the famous Irish Brigade’s camp: “August 16th. Sunday morning, immediately after breakfast, four officers were detailed from the staff to inspect the several brigades, notice of which had been given to their commanders. I was ordered to the Irish brigade, Colonel Kelly commanding, a painstaking, competent, and excellent officer. I followed my instructions closely, and made the most critical inspection of arms, accoutrements, contents of knapsacks, and of the three days’ supply of rations supposed to be in the men’s haversacks, subsequently of company quarters. I was surprised to find the brigade in such excellent condition, and made a very favorable report; after the inspection I accepted an invitation to the colonel’s quarters, and was regaled with champagne and fine cigars; there were, of course, all the regimental commanders present and we had an agreeable half hour. They are a brilliant lot of soldiers, and jolly boon companions.”
Sunday, August 16, 1863: Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate army hospital in the northern Georgia countryside, writes in her journal of a sermon on the Sabbath, and her thoughts about the divisions and strife in sectarian Christianity: “Sunday, August 16.—To-day Dr. Quintard preached twice. As our chapel is not yet up, he had service under a large oak tree. In the morning his text was one I had heard him preach from in Chattanooga: “We are journeying on to the place of which the Lord hath said, I will give it you.” He asked me before preaching if I would object hearing it again. I told him, on the contrary, that I would be much pleased.
As the text is taken from Numbers, which is a history of the children of Israel and their wanderings, a more appropriate one to the scene before us, could not have been selected. Here we were, wanderers, pitching our tents, wo know not for how long. Nearly every patient in the hospital was there; among them the lame and the halt. The tents in the distance, and God’s messenger before us, delivering God’s commands, as Moses and Aaron did to the children of Israel, could not but be an impressive scene. It struck me as such, and I have no doubt many others who were there. O, how earnestly I prayed that we, with all the warning of that unhappy race before us, might not forget the Lord our God, and he cast us wanderers over the earth.
Mr. Green, our chaplain, sat with Dr. Q., and I observed he did not assist him with the service. This caused me to reflect on the diversity of the Christian religion, and I thought what a pity it is that there should be any difference about it.
I do not think that any one will deny the necessity of having a stable government in the church. Surely, as in every thing else, God has made order predominant. He never meant that his church should be without it. Who can not see the evil effects produced by the many different sects which are constantly springing up around us? Many say, were not the apostles ignorant men? forgetting that they were so, like all others, until they were taught. They had no mean teacher; none less than our blessed Savior himself, who instructed them daily. And even then their education was not completed until the day of Pentecost, when a miracle was performed, and they spake in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. We have no miracles now-adays, but we have colleges and teachers, which answer the same purpose.
But I must drop this subject, it has carried me much further than I had any idea of going. I was only deploring this state of affairs, and wondering which body of Christians ought to yield. I must think, with religion, as with many other things, that which is the most stable and makes most use of the Bible, must certainly be the best. . . . I am so much rejoiced when a man tells me he is a professor of religion, and trying to be a follower of the lowly Jesus, that I never think or care of which Christian church he is a member. . . .”
Sunday, August 16, 1863: The diary of John B. Jones. “August 16th.—The [CSA] President rides out with some of the female members of his family every afternoon, his aids no longer accompanying him. In this he evinces but little prudence, for it is incredible that he should be ignorant of the fact that he has some few deadly enemies in the city.
Everywhere the ladies and children may be seen plaiting straw and making bonnets and hats. Mrs. Davis and the ladies of her household are frequently seen sitting on the front porch engaged in this employment. Ostentation cannot be attributed to them, for only a few years ago the Howells were in humble condition and accustomed to work.
My wife borrowed $200 of Mr. Waterhouse, depositing $20 in gold as security—worth $260—which, with the $300 from Evans on account of rent, have been carefully applied to the purchase of sundry housekeeping articles. After the 1st September we shall cease to pay $40 per month rent on furniture, but that amount for house-rent, so that in the item of rent my expenses will be less than they were the preceding year. So far, with the exception of crockery-ware and chairs, the purchases (at auction) have been at low prices, and we have been fortunate in the time selected to provide indispensable articles.
I often wonder if, in the first struggle for independence, there was as much suffering and despondency among certain classes of the people as we now behold. Our rich men are the first to grow weary of the contest. Yesterday a letter was received by the Secretary of War from a Mr. Reanes, Jackson, Mississippi, advising the government to lose no time in making the best terms possible with the United States authorities, else all would be lost. He says but a short time ago he was worth $1,250,000, and now nothing is left him but a shelter, and that would have been destroyed if he had not made a pledge to remain. He says he is an old man, and was a zealous secessionist, and even now would give his life for the independence of his country. But that is impracticable—numbers must prevail—and he would preserve his wife and children from the horrors threatened, and inevitable if the war be prolonged. He says the soldiers that were under Pemberton and Lovell will never serve under them again, for they denounce them as traitors and tyrants, while, as they allege, they were well treated by the enemy when they fell into their hands.
Yet it seems to me that, like the Israelites that passed through the Red Sea, and Shadrach and his brethren who escaped unscorched from the fiery furnace, my family have been miraculously sustained. We have purchased no clothing for nearly three years, and had no superabundance to begin with, but still we have decent clothes, as if time made no appreciable change in them. I wear a hat bought four years ago, and shoes that cost me (government price then) $7.50 more than a year ago, and I suppose they would sell now for $10; new ones are bringing $50.
My tomatoes are maturing slowly, but there will be abundance, saving me $10 per week for ten weeks. My lima beans are very full, and some of them will be fit to pull in a few days. My potatoes are as green as grass, and I fear will produce nothing but vines; but I shall have cabbages and parsnips, and red peppers. No doubt the little garden, 25 by 50, will be worth $150 to me. Thank Providence, we still have health!
But the scarcity—or rather high prices, for there is really no scarcity of anything but meat—is felt by the cats, rats, etc., as well as by the people. I have not seen a rat or mouse for months, and lean cats are wandering past every day in quest of new homes.
What shall we do for sugar, now selling at $2 per pound? When the little supply this side of the Mississippi is still more reduced it will probably be $5! It has been more than a year since we had coffee or tea. Was it not thus in the trying times of the Revolution? If so, why can we not bear privation as well as our forefathers did? We must!”
Tuesday, August 16, 1864: In the Siege of Atlanta. General Sherman notes: “On the 16th another detachment of the enemy’s cavalry appeared in force about Allatoona and the Etowah bridge, when I became fully convinced that Hood had sent all of his cavalry to raid upon our railroads. For some days our communication with Nashville was interrupted by the destruction of the telegraph-lines, as well as railroad. I at once ordered strong reconnoissances forward from our flanks on the left by Garrard, and on the right by Kilpatrick. The former moved with so much caution that I was displeased; but Kilpatrick, on the contrary, displayed so much zeal and activity that I was attracted to him at once. He reached Fairburn Station, on the West Point road, and tore it up, returning safely to his position on our right flank. I summoned him to me, and was so pleased with his spirit and confidence, that I concluded to suspend the general movement of the main army, and to send him with his small division of cavalry to break up the Macon road about Jonesboro, in the hopes that it would force Hood to evacuate Atlanta, and that I should thereby not only secure possession of the city itself, but probably could catch Hood in the confusion of retreat; and, further to increase the chances of success.
I ordered General Thomas to detach two brigades of Garrard’s division of cavalry from the left to the right rear, to act as a reserve in support of General Kilpatrick. Meantime, also, the utmost activity was ordered along our whole front by the infantry and artillery.”

Pictures: 1862-08-16 Lone Jack Battlefield model; Shot All To Pieces; 1863-08-07 Siege of Charleston Map; McCoon fort Scott

A. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Fort Velasco, Texas: At the mouth of the Brazos River (modern-day Surfside Beach), artillerymen under a Col. Bates engage in a firefight with an unnamed Federal ship. No Confederates are harmed, and after some time the Federals move off.
B. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri. Event Summary: Date: August 15-16, 1862; Result: Confederate victory; Lone Jack virtually destroyed
The Battle of Lone Jack occurred in Jackson County, Missouri over the weekend of August 15-17, 1862, as a result of the Union attempting to wrest military control over the border region from the hands of the bushwhackers. In early 1862, Union commanders at posts in Pleasant Hill and Independence counted growing numbers of soldiers shot out of their saddles, wounded, or disappeared while on patrol. In April, the local insurrection so disrupted federal mail, communications, and travel that Union command in Jackson County was effectively isolated from the rest of the state. The Sni Valley, a rugged topography extending north of the community of Lone Jack toward the Missouri River, was a particularly troublesome area for Union troops.
From farms and in small campsites across the countryside, the bushwhackers and hundreds of raw recruits for the Confederate Army gathered and planned for a dawn attack on the isolated Union force in Lone Jack.
The rest of the night passed without incident with Foster’s troopers bivouacked in the town with cannons in the middle of the street. Meanwhile, from farms and in small campsites across the countryside, the bushwhackers and hundreds of raw recruits for the Confederate Army gathered and planned for a dawn attack on the isolated Union force in Lone Jack. As the sun rose on the morning of the 16th of August, an estimated force of 1,600 rebels descended on the Union troops in Lone Jack. Foster’s men, believing they were battling bushwhackers who had publicly avowed to give no quarter to captured Union troops, fought as if a brave death in combat was the preferred option to surrender and execution.
The battle raged into the late afternoon with each side at various times claiming the field. The possession of the cannons was lost and regained and lost again. At times the combat was hand-to-hand. By many accounts the battle fought that day was one of the fiercest of the Civil War, regardless of the small number of soldiers engaged. Foster’s troops gave the undisciplined guerrillas and raw Confederate recruits a bloody lesson, but of the nearly 800 soldiers that left for Lone Jack with Major Foster, only about 400 returned to Lexington. Confederate forces were left in charge of the battlefield on Sunday the 17th, but the town of Lone Jack had been virtually destroyed and never again would the proslavery forces of northwestern Missouri have the strategic upper hand over the Union military that they held in the summer of 1862.
Background: On August 11, 1862, the bushwhackers shocked the Union command with a successful attack on the Union garrison at the First Battle of Independence. Now, painfully aware of the growing strength of the bushwhackers and the presence of several Confederate officers recruiting for General Sterling Price’s army in Arkansas, the Union made plans for a counterattack to remove the menace from the border region once and for all. A force of nearly 800 under Major Emory Foster from Lexington was to converge at Lone Jack with 500 troops under General Fitz Henry Warren from Clinton, Missouri. From Lone Jack, the united 1,300 troops under Warren and Foster would attempt to squeeze the guerrillas between the Missouri River and a 2,500-man army under General James Gillpatrick Blunt, who was pressing north from Fort Scott, Kansas.
Major Foster, who had lost a brother to secessionists and been wounded in a previous skirmish with bushwhackers, was chosen for the expedition to Lone Jack due to his experience and reputation as a fighter. He and his troops, likely eager to settle the score with the bushwhackers, were the first to arrive in Lone Jack on Friday night August 15. Unfortunately for Foster and his men, they were alone and deep in hostile territory with Warren’s column from Clinton lost and Blunt’s Fort Scott troops still days away.
As Foster’s column rolled into town at around 10 p.m., reports of rebels camped south of town prompted the saddle-weary troops to unlimber their two cannons and fire a few rounds at the assumed enemy force at their front. An ensuing firefight in the darkness south of town left a few of Foster’s own troops dead and wounded by friendly fire. The cannon fire also alerted bushwhackers across the countryside of Foster’s presence at Lone Jack.
B+ Saturday, August 16, 1862: Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri: Maj. Emory S. Foster of the 7th Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), with 5 companies from his own regiment and others, and two rifled guns from an Indiana battery, are given orders to move to the southeast corner of Jackson County in western Missouri to break up a Rebel camp there at the village of Lone Jack, where the rebel Cols. Hunter, Hays, Cockrell, Tracy, Jackman, and Coffee waited for Jo Shelby to arrive with more cavalry. (These Rebel troops are both Confederate and Missouri State Guard, and there is little coordination and no clear chain of command.) Foster, with about 800 men, was to be aided by Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, who commanded an additional 2,500 men from Kansas, and by Gen. Fitz Henry Warren, with 600 men from the 1st Iowa Infantry–but this junction did not occur, and apparently Foster was unaware of the intent that he should be reinforced. As his troops rode into Lone Jack on the evening of the 15th, skirmishing broke out with Rebel pickets south of town, and the Yankees wounded several of their own artillerymen in the confusion. Foster, believing he faces only about 800 Rebels, is not alarmed and deploys his men along main street in the town, not realizing that he is faced by as many as 3,000 Southern men. On the morning of the 16th, Cockrell takes command of the Rebels and plans attacks from several directions at once. The attacks are uncoordinated and disjointed, and bog down into firefights. Armed mostly with shotguns, the Southerners were unable to do much damage unless they closed with the Yankees—but since some of them attacked on foot, this was difficult in the face of Federal rifle fire. The Federals take heavy casualties as the two cannon change hands several times in charge and countercharge. Both sides are running low on ammunition, and when Col. Coffee’s Rebels finally arrive on the battlefield, Capt. Brawner (the only Federal officer not dead or wounded) orders the guns spiked, and the Yankees retreat to Lexington. The Rebels claim a victory, although they sustained greater casualties. Late on the 17th, Gen. Warren arrives with more Federals, followed by Blunt, and the Rebels abandon Lone Jack and begin retreating south. The battle is a classic example of battles in the frontier and Trans-Mississippi regions: fought poorly with small forces, uncoordinated movements, and high casualties.
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured or Missing Total
Union 43 154 75 272
Confederate 55 ? ? @110
C. Sunday, August 16, 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: At Fort Sumter, crews of laborers have repairing damaged masonry with sand, strengthening the faces near Morris Island, removing many of the fort’s guns, leaving only 38 artillery pieces there. Confederates release water-borne mines (called “torpedoes” back in the day) in the Stono River to drift into Union shipping. They cause chaos but little damage and US Admiral Dahlgren orders a net placed on the river to stop further incursions of these torpedoes.
The Union army maintained a constant rotation of soldiers to man the forward trenches of the "grand guard". During the evening of August 16 a Confederate artillery shell burst through the bombproof serving as the headquarters for Colonel Joshua B. Howell, commanding officer of the grand guard that evening. A shell fragment struck Colonel Howell wounding him severely in the head. Despite Howell's quick recovery the incident prompted the Union commander to exclusively use veteran troops in the forward trenches. Confederates also kept a constant rotation of soldiers through Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg. During the night rowboats would bring fresh troops from the mainland to replace the garrison. Even though they had won a substantial victory at Fort Wagner the Confederates fully expected the campaign to continue. Having a large garrison to draw from Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard was prepared to continue the campaign. Immediately in command of Confederate forces surrounding Charleston was former career army officer and South Carolina businessman Roswell S. Ripley. Ripley's forces were spread throughout fortifications surrounding Charleston Harbor and included a division of local South Carolina militia. Gilmore and Admiral John A. Dahlgren requested reinforcements from General-in-Chief Henry Halleck. Halleck was reluctant but nevertheless a division from the Army of the Potomac was transferred to the south under George H. Gordon. General John G. Foster, Union commander of the Department of North Carolina, enthusiastically sent a division of reinforcements telling Gilmore "Charleston is too important to be lost when so nearly won."
D. Tuesday, August 16, 1864: The Second Battle of Deep Bottom, also known as Fussell's Mill (particularly in the South), New Market Road, Bailey's Creek, Charles City Road, or White's Tavern was fought August 14–20, 1864, at Deep Bottom in Henrico County, Virginia, during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (Siege of Petersburg) of the American Civil War.
Overview: During the night of August 13–14, a force under the command of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock crossed the James River at Deep Bottom to threaten Richmond and attract Confederate forces away from the Petersburg, Virginia, trenches and the Shenandoah Valley. On August 14, the X Corps closed on New Market Heights while the II Corps extended the Federal line to the right along Bailey's Creek. During the night, the X Corps was moved to the right flank of the Union line near Fussell's Mill. On August 16, Union assaults near the mill were initially successful, but Confederate counterattacks drove the Federals back. After days of indecisive skirmishing, the Federals returned to the south side of the James on the night of August 20. The Confederates achieved their objective of driving back the Union threat, but at a cost of diluting their forces as the Union had hoped.
[August 15–16]
Maj. Gen. David B. Birney's X Corps movement was delayed by difficult terrain for most of August 15 and Hancock's plan for an early morning attack had to be abandoned. They reached Fussell's Mill around 1 p.m. and Birney spent the entire afternoon performing a reconnaissance while his men recovered from their march. After this, Birney judged that it was too late in the day to attack.
Early on the morning of August 16, Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's cavalry division swept to the right to Glendale and then rode northwest on the Charles City Road toward Richmond. They found Rooney Lee's cavalry division blocking the road and a full day of fighting resulted. The Union cavalrymen drove the enemy as far as White's Tavern, but were eventually pushed back to Fisher's Farm. Confederate Brig. Gen. John R. Chambliss was killed during the fighting. The infantrymen of the X Corps had a better start to the day, as Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry's division, led by Col. Francis Bates Pond's brigade, broke through the Confederate line. Wright's Brigade, commanded by newly promoted Brig. Gen. Victor Girardey, was hit hard and retreated, opening a significant gap. Girardey was killed by a bullet in the head while brandishing the colors of the 64th Georgia. Field later wrote, "Not only the day but Richmond seemed to be gone." The heavily wooded terrain prevented Birney and Hancock from understanding that they had reached a position of advantage and they were unable to exploit it before Field rearranged his lines to fill the gap and drive back the Federals. Col. William C. Oates led two Alabama regiments in the initial counterattack and was wounded. Robert E. Lee had arrived north of the James by this time and witnessed the action.
[Background]
Deep Bottom is the colloquial name for an area of the James River in Henrico County 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Richmond, Virginia, at a horseshoe-shaped bend in the river known as Jones Neck. It was so-named because of the depth of the river bottom at that point. It was a convenient crossing point from the Bermuda Hundred area on the south side of the river.
Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant began a siege of the city of Petersburg, Virginia, after initial assaults on the Confederate lines, June 15–18, 1864, failed to break through. While Union cavalry conducted the Wilson-Kautz Raid (June 22 – July 1) in an attempt to cut the railroad lines leading into Petersburg, Grant and his generals planned a renewed assault on the Petersburg fortifications.

1. Friday, August 16, 1861: Confederate naval agent James H. North wrote to Stephen R. Mallory, Confederate Secretary of the Navy. North complained about a lack of money and a desire for a seagoing command.
“SIR: I have been in this country rather more than a month, and most anxiously have I been awaiting the arrival of a communication from you, and at last have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of yours, dated June 28.
Most gladly would I obey the instructions therein contained, if I only had it in my power. You must not forget that I am here without one dollar to carry out your orders, and the people of these parts are as keen after money as any people I ever saw in my life. If they find you have plenty of money to carry out your views they are as polite as possible, otherwise they are too busy to attend to you.
I requested General Fear, on his arrival, to call, see, and explain to you my situation, which he promised to do, especially as he refused to carry any letters.
I am sorry to say that the general impression out here is that, if I had millions at my command, I could not carry out your views, as both France and England are anxious to get all the ironclad ships they can.
If I had the means, however, at my disposal, I would at least make the attempt. It takes a long time to get up or build one of these ships. The Warrior they have been building nearly two years, and I think it will take a month or two to finish her. I have made two visits to her and was very much pleased with all I saw. She is a splendid ship and well worth all that she will cost, which, I understand, is $2,500,000. She is too large for us, and will draw more water than she can carry into most of our ports. I sometimes get dreadfully sick at heart when I think how little I am doing for my poor country, when I know full well that the services of every man and boy are of the utmost importance.
Mr. B.[ulloch], I suppose, will write you in full, giving you a detailed account of his operations.
Please let me hear from you soon, and, if nothing better offers, I shall be pleased to command one of the vessels he is now building.
God grant, however, that our arms may be victorious, and that peace may soon be restored to our at present distracted country. We have thought it best not to send anything by the schooner. Hoping to hear from you very soon, I remain, Your obedient servant, [JAMES H. NORTH]”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1861
2. Friday, August 16, 1861: President Lincoln prohibits Union states from trading with Confederacy.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-eighteen
3. Friday, August 16, 1861: New skirmishes break out at Fredericktown/Kirkville, in Missouri.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-eighteen
4. Friday, August 16, 1861: Several newspapers, including the New York Daily News and the Brooklyn Eagle are brought to court on sedition charges--for being pro-Confederate in their editorials.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1861
5. Friday, August 16, 1861: Passed on Aug. 5, the First Confiscation Bill, allowing the Government to seize the property of persons in arms against the United States is passed. It takes effect this week.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1861
6. Saturday, August 16, 1862: George McClellan completes the evacuation of Harrison's Landing, ending the Peninsula Campaign. His men land at Aquia Creek, VA and Alexandria, VA, within the week, but most are reassigned to John Pope's Army of Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186208
7. Saturday, August 16, 1862: McClellan, under orders, started to move the Army of the Potomac (US) to link up with General Pope’s Army of Virginia(US). Their joint target was Richmond. Settler, planter, merchant, civic leader, and diarist John Huston Bills again writes: “ Very cool this morning. Fanny Wood yet very sick. I am greatly troubled for the safety. Handed over to Ed Smith 4 bags of Gold, weighing 47 ½ lbs, which he had deposited in J. R. Neilson’s Safe. Witness Poyner & Dr. Wood.” In 1862, an ounce of gold was worth $20, so if 47.5 lbs in ounces equals to 760 ounces total, that would be worth $15,200. In today’s market a 150 years later that same 760 ounces of gold is now worth ~ $1,221,230 at $1607 per ounce.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy
8. Saturday, August 16, 1862: General McClellan completes his withdrawal from Harrison’s Landing to Aquia Creek.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
9. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Manassas/Second Manassas Campaign: CS General Anderson’s division leaves Drewry’s Bluff to join Longstreet. Richmond is now guarded by only two divisions. Lee in the meanwhile, at Gordonsville, receives word that 100 Union troop ships have sailed down the James River. It is unclear whether this report was true, but in any case, Lee is concerned that McClellan will be uniting his army with Pope’s and therefore decides to attack Pope on the 18th.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
10. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Don Carlos Buell orders William "Bull" Nelson to assume command of federal forces in Kentucky.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186208
11. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Carter Stevenson [CS] appears at the entrance to the Cumberland Gap in eastern Tennessee. Kentucky, Tennessee, E. Kirby Smith, Confederate Invasion of Kentucky
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186208
12. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Confederate Heartland Offensive: US General Buell orders General William “Bull” Nelson to assume command of Federal forces in Kentucky. (6) CS General Carter Stevenson and 8,000 men of General Kirby Smith’s army appear at the Cumberland Gap, which has been in Union hands since June. Meanwhile, Kirby Smith and the remainder of his army are advancing through the Cumberland Mountains toward Barbourville, Kentucky. (6, 18) From Alabama, US General Buell telegraphs General Halleck: “Kirby Smith is advancing into Kentucky by the gaps west [of] Cumberland Gap with some 12,000 or 15,000 men,” adding that he has requested troops from a number of sources and is awaiting the units General Grant has sent him.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
13. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Alarmed at the advance of Kirby-Smith and Bragg into central Tennessee, Gen. Don Carlos Buell of the Army of the Ohio sends to Gen. Grant and Gen. Halleck urgent appeals for reinforcements. Buell is possessed by the idea of maintaining all of his re-built railroads and garrisons throughout Tennessee and northern Alabama and still being able to stop the Confederate invasion, if possible.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1862
14. Saturday, August 16, 1862: "He is my property, my money paid for him . . ."
The Union Army had become a magnet for slaves seeking their freedom, and not just slaves from the Confederacy. Slaves from the border states were fleeing south to the army in hopes of securing their freedom, as this story from the Daily Dispatch relates: Correspondence Concerning Contrabands. Contrabands continue to flock through the Yankee lines, many of them securing work in the service of the United States. Union men as well as Secessionists have been the losers, as will be seen from the following correspondence.
Saturday, August 16, 1862: Headq'rs Aquia Creek, Va., June 27, 1862. “Sir --I have your letter of the 24th Inst., stating that you have a negro man at this place, thirty-seven years of age, passing by the name of Charles Waters, and that unless you have the negro or his equivalent in money you will bring the matter before Congress. I have no knowledge as to the person you refer to. Contrabands are under the especial charge of Lieut. Ross, Acting Assistant Quartermaster. It the man is here and desires to return to you, or if you should come here, and, without threats or violence, induce him to return, I will neither offer nor suffer any resistance. My duty here is simply to enforce the Constitution and laws, as construed by the early fathers, and in obedience to my superior officers.
Very respectfully, Geo H. Biddle, Col. 95th Reg't N. Y. State Vol. Inf., com. Post.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1862
15. Saturday, August 16, 1862: From Thomas A. Miller, Esq., Charles co., Md. Charles County, Md., July 8, 1862. To Lieutenant Ross.
“Dear Sir --Colonel Biddle refers me to you in the matter of runaway negroes I will esteem it a favor to be furnished with a certificate, endorsed by the Colonel, of the fact of my negro man, who calls himself Charles Waters, being at Aquia creek, in Government employ. Col. B. says he has no knowledge of this fact. The negro's name is on your record of contrabands as my property. Messrs. Childs, Adams, and Mitchell, who visited Aquia creek some short time since to see after negroes of their own, inform me of this fact. They also talked with this negro, who was employed in unloading bo Col. Biddle closes his letter to me by saying, ‘"I am simply here to enforce the Constitution and laws."’ In this State the receiving or employing runaway negroes is called harboring, and is a penal offence. I have yet to learn that the statutes of Maryland are violative of the Constitution. There is no man in Maryland more loyal than I, or who has encountered more odium for defending the Government, My loyalty here has been regarded as of the most ultra kind, in proof of which I can refer to every prominent Union man in the State. I stood by Hicks, holding a commission as one of his aids. I have also the same position on the staff of our present Union Governor, Mr. Bradford. I can also refer to Gen. Hooker, with whom I am well acquainted, and who knows my antecedents.
The negro man left for no provocation. His wife and children are at Aquia creek, and he left me on their account. I am informed by Colonel B. that if I come over and can induce this negro to return with me he will see there is no interference. I am not willing to consult this negro at all in a matter of this sort. He is my property, my money paid for him, and if the Government requires a regiment of soldiers to stand between me and my just rights, I can only say I must submit — I am but an individual. It is not the value of the property that so much concerns me; it is the principle it involves.--Are we of the border States to be taxed to furnish rations to our own negroes. If officers in the army can't catch slaves for their lawful owners, how is it they can catch them for themselves or for the Government? If you order this man and his family from your post, they will be likely to come home. Maryland negroes, I presume, don't come home. Maryland negroes, I presume, don't come under the head of contrabands.
Respectfully, yours, Thomas A. Miller, Nanjemoy, Charles county, Md.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1862
16. Saturday, August 16, 1862, the U.S. Navy shelled Corpus Christi and attacked by land, but an attempt to take the town failed. One possible factor in that came to light when Confederate defenders noticed that an inordinate number of Federal shells had not exploded on impact. Examining one of the still-intact rounds, someone discovered it held whiskey, not gunpowder. Though not mentioned in the official record of the engagement, the enduring legend is that some of the Yankee seaman had been emptying shells to hide their clandestine whiskey supply.
http://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/civil-war-home-front
17. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Brigadier General Charles Stone is released from prison in New York.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186208
18. Saturday, August 16, 1862: US General Charles P. Stone is released from prison in New York.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/09/24/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-13-19-1862/
19. Saturday, August 16, 1862: Brigadier General Charles Stone is released from prison in New York. .He was named brigadier general of volunteers in August, 1861 and given command of the right flank division of the Army of the Potomac along the line of that river opposite Leesburg, Virginia. On October 21 came the disastrous battle of Ball’s Bluff which resulted in his eventual arrest and the end of his promising army career. Stone was arrested in February, 1862 (in fact more because of political rivalries in Congress than because of the defeat at Ball’s Bluff) and spent six months in prison at Forts Lafayette and Hamilton in New York harbor. No charges ever were filed against him despite his frequent attempts to be granted a court-martial, and he was released the following August with no explanation from the War Department. Assigned to Gen. Nathaniel Banks in New Orleans in May 1863, he arranged the surrender of Port Hudson, then served as Banks’ Chief of Staff until April 16, 1864 when Banks relieved him after a falling out.
Stone’s first wife having died in February, 1863, he married Annie Jeannie Stone (who coincidentally shared the same last name) in November. The following August, General Grant brought him back east and gave him a brigade in the V Corps. Typhoid and an impending nervous breakdown resulted in his decision to resign from the army, effective September 13, 1864.
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/charles-p-stone.html
20. Sunday, August 16, 1863: John Beauchamp Jones, of Richmond, a clerk in the War Department of the Confederate States, writes in his journal about the scarcity of food and other privations being endured by the Southern populace. He tells of one planter in Mississippi who petitions Pres. Davis to end the war. Jones also talks about his garden---a very necessary pastime: “I often wonder if, in the first struggle for independence, there was as much suffering and despondency among certain classes of the people as we now behold. Our rich men are the first to grow weary of the contest. Yesterday a letter was received by the Secretary of War from a Mr. Reanes, Jackson, Mississippi, advising the government to lose no time in making the best terms possible with the United States authorities, else all would be lost. He says but a short time ago he was worth $1,250,000, and now nothing is left him but a shelter, and that would have been destroyed if he had not made a pledge to remain. He says he is an old man, and was a zealous secessionist, and even now would give his life for the independence of his country. But that is impracticable—numbers must prevail—and he would preserve his wife and children from the horrors threatened, and inevitable if the war be prolonged. He says the soldiers that were under Pemberton and Lovell will never serve under them again, for they denounce them as traitors and tyrants, while, as they allege, they were well treated by the enemy when they fell into their hands.
Yet it seems to me that, like the Israelites that passed through the Red Sea, and Shadrach and his brethren who escaped unscorched from the fiery furnace, my family have been miraculously sustained. We have purchased no clothing for nearly three years, and had no superabundance to begin with, but still we have decent clothes, as if time made no appreciable change in them. I wear a hat bought four years ago, and shoes that cost me (government price then) $7.50 more than a year ago, and I suppose they would sell now for $10; new ones are bringing $50.
My tomatoes are maturing slowly, but there will be abundance, saving me $10 per week for ten weeks. My lima beans are very full, and some of them will be fit to pull in a few days. My potatoes are as green as grass, and I fear will produce nothing but vines; but I shall have cabbages and parsnips, and red peppers. No doubt the little garden, 25 by 50, will be worth $150 to me. Thank Providence, we still have health!
But the scarcity—or rather high prices, for there is really no scarcity of anything but meat—is felt by the cats, rats, etc., as well as by the people. I have not seen a rat or mouse for months, and lean cats are wandering past every day in quest of new homes.
What shall we do for sugar, now selling at $2 per pound? When the little supply this side of the Mississippi is still more reduced it will probably be $5! It has been more than a year since we had coffee or tea. Was it not thus in the trying times of the Revolution? If so, why can we not bear privation as well as our forefathers did? We must!
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
21. Sunday, August 16, 1863: Confederate artilleryman George Michael Neese, on duty in the Shenandoah Valley, writes dispiritedly in his journal: “August 16 — The second section relieved the first this evening. I am still on the sick list, and feel sickish, bad, and dull; broke-upness is creeping and crawling all over me, the zest and vivacity that render camp life worth living have both gone on a scout and left me dispirited and languid.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
22. Sunday, August 16, 1863: Captain Josiah Marshall Favill, of Gen. Caldwell’s staff, engages in brigade inspection on behalf of the division commander, and on this day visits the famous Irish Brigade’s camp: “August 16th. Sunday morning, immediately after breakfast, four officers were detailed from the staff to inspect the several brigades, notice of which had been given to their commanders. I was ordered to the Irish brigade, Colonel Kelly commanding, a painstaking, competent, and excellent officer. I followed my instructions closely, and made the most critical inspection of arms, accoutrements, contents of knapsacks, and of the three days’ supply of rations supposed to be in the men’s haversacks, subsequently of company quarters. I was surprised to find the brigade in such excellent condition, and made a very favorable report; after the inspection I accepted an invitation to the colonel’s quarters, and was regaled with champagne and fine cigars; there were, of course, all the regimental commanders present and we had an agreeable half hour. They are a brilliant lot of soldiers, and jolly boon companions.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
23. Sunday, August 16, 1863: Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate army hospital in the northern Georgia countryside, writes in her journal of a sermon on the Sabbath, and her thoughts about the divisions and strife in sectarian Christianity: “Sunday, August 16.—To-day Dr. Quintard preached twice. As our chapel is not yet up, he had service under a large oak tree. In the morning his text was one I had heard him preach from in Chattanooga: “We are journeying on to the place of which the Lord hath said, I will give it you.” He asked me before preaching if I would object hearing it again. I told him, on the contrary, that I would be much pleased.
As the text is taken from Numbers, which is a history of the children of Israel and their wanderings, a more appropriate one to the scene before us, could not have been selected. Here we were, wanderers, pitching our tents, wo know not for how long. Nearly every patient in the hospital was there; among them the lame and the halt. The tents in the distance, and God’s messenger before us, delivering God’s commands, as Moses and Aaron did to the children of Israel, could not but be an impressive scene. It struck me as such, and I have no doubt many others who were there. O, how earnestly I prayed that we, with all the warning of that unhappy race before us, might not forget the Lord our God, and he cast us wanderers over the earth.
Mr. Green, our chaplain, sat with Dr. Q., and I observed he did not assist him with the service. This caused me to reflect on the diversity of the Christian religion, and I thought what a pity it is that there should be any difference about it.
I do not think that any one will deny the necessity of having a stable government in the church. Surely, as in every thing else, God has made order predominant. He never meant that his church should be without it. Who can not see the evil effects produced by the many different sects which are constantly springing up around us? Many say, were not the apostles ignorant men? forgetting that they were so, like all others, until they were taught. They had no mean teacher; none less than our blessed Savior himself, who instructed them daily. And even then their education was not completed until the day of Pentecost, when a miracle was performed, and they spake in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. We have no miracles now-adays, but we have colleges and teachers, which answer the same purpose.
But I must drop this subject, it has carried me much further than I had any idea of going. I was only deploring this state of affairs, and wondering which body of Christians ought to yield. I must think, with religion, as with many other things, that which is the most stable and makes most use of the Bible, must certainly be the best. . . . I am so much rejoiced when a man tells me he is a professor of religion, and trying to be a follower of the lowly Jesus, that I never think or care of which Christian church he is a member. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
24. Sunday, August 16, 1863: The diary of John B. Jones. “August 16th.—The [CSA] President rides out with some of the female members of his family every afternoon, his aids no longer accompanying him. In this he evinces but little prudence, for it is incredible that he should be ignorant of the fact that he has some few deadly enemies in the city.
Everywhere the ladies and children may be seen plaiting straw and making bonnets and hats. Mrs. Davis and the ladies of her household are frequently seen sitting on the front porch engaged in this employment. Ostentation cannot be attributed to them, for only a few years ago the Howells were in humble condition and accustomed to work.
My wife borrowed $200 of Mr. Waterhouse, depositing $20 in gold as security—worth $260—which, with the $300 from Evans on account of rent, have been carefully applied to the purchase of sundry housekeeping articles. After the 1st September we shall cease to pay $40 per month rent on furniture, but that amount for house-rent, so that in the item of rent my expenses will be less than they were the preceding year. So far, with the exception of crockery-ware and chairs, the purchases (at auction) have been at low prices, and we have been fortunate in the time selected to provide indispensable articles.
I often wonder if, in the first struggle for independence, there was as much suffering and despondency among certain classes of the people as we now behold. Our rich men are the first to grow weary of the contest. Yesterday a letter was received by the Secretary of War from a Mr. Reanes, Jackson, Mississippi, advising the government to lose no time in making the best terms possible with the United States authorities, else all would be lost. He says but a short time ago he was worth $1,250,000, and now nothing is left him but a shelter, and that would have been destroyed if he had not made a pledge to remain. He says he is an old man, and was a zealous secessionist, and even now would give his life for the independence of his country. But that is impracticable—numbers must prevail—and he would preserve his wife and children from the horrors threatened, and inevitable if the war be prolonged. He says the soldiers that were under Pemberton and Lovell will never serve under them again, for they denounce them as traitors and tyrants, while, as they allege, they were well treated by the enemy when they fell into their hands.
Yet it seems to me that, like the Israelites that passed through the Red Sea, and Shadrach and his brethren who escaped unscorched from the fiery furnace, my family have been miraculously sustained. We have purchased no clothing for nearly three years, and had no superabundance to begin with, but still we have decent clothes, as if time made no appreciable change in them. I wear a hat bought four years ago, and shoes that cost me (government price then) $7.50 more than a year ago, and I suppose they would sell now for $10; new ones are bringing $50.
My tomatoes are maturing slowly, but there will be abundance, saving me $10 per week for ten weeks. My lima beans are very full, and some of them will be fit to pull in a few days. My potatoes are as green as grass, and I fear will produce nothing but vines; but I shall have cabbages and parsnips, and red peppers. No doubt the little garden, 25 by 50, will be worth $150 to me. Thank Providence, we still have health!
But the scarcity—or rather high prices, for there is really no scarcity of anything but meat—is felt by the cats, rats, etc., as well as by the people. I have not seen a rat or mouse for months, and lean cats are wandering past every day in quest of new homes.
What shall we do for sugar, now selling at $2 per pound? When the little supply this side of the Mississippi is still more reduced it will probably be $5! It has been more than a year since we had coffee or tea. Was it not thus in the trying times of the Revolution? If so, why can we not bear privation as well as our forefathers did? We must!”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
25. Sunday, August 16, 1863: Robert Gould Shaw eulogized by one of his soldiers. On this day 150 years ago, James Henry Gooding, a private in the 54th Massachusetts, wrote to the editors of the New Bedford Mercury with a eulogy of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Morris Island, Aug. 16, 1863. “Messrs. Editors: As stringent orders have been recently issued relative to giving information in regard to military matters here, which is a very proper course and necessary, the amount of news is rather meagre, so I will violate no “General Orders” in expressing the general feeling of the regiment in respect to our late commander, Col. Shaw qualities, as a friend, commander and hero, and, I might add, without any extravagance, a martyr—for such he has proved himself to be. Who would dare ascribe a selfish motive to a man whose position in life bade fair to be a high one, without the prestige of military fame? He seemed to have taken the position more in the light of a reformer, or one to put in practice a system of order and discipline among a people sadly deficient in these respects, not in a military sense alone, because the seed of discipline sown among us as soldiers would ripen into fruit when the time arrived to become citizens. We, as a people, would know the value of obedience and the meaning of law and order; but I am off the point. When the raising of this regiment was first mooted I doubt if there could have been found a dozen men in the North, holding as high a position and with prospects of bettering themselves by another channel, as our respected Colonel, who would have accepted the unenviable position as commander of the first colored regiment organized in the North. There was then a great doubt among skeptical persons of our raising 500 men; and doubts, too, of colored men conforming to the restraint of camp life, and predictions that the men would run away in a week after being brought to camp; with these doubts and predictions before them, men were afraid to risk their reputations and name on what too many deemed a chimera; they did not care to stand a chance of being the laughing stock and butt of cynical persons. But Col. Shaw, from the beginning, never evinced any fear of what others thought or said. He believed the work would be done, and he put his hands, his head, and heart to the task, with what results you all know. It has been conceded by many that he carried through Boston one of the best drilled regiments ever raised by the State. The discipline of the regiment was perfect; not a slavish fear, but obedience enacted by the evidence of a superior and directing mind.
Col. Shaw was not what might be expected, familiar with his men; he was cold, distant, and even austere, to a casual observer. When in the line of duty, he differed totally from what many persons would suppose he would be, as commander of a negro regiment. If there was any abolition fanaticism in him, he had a mind well balanced, so that no man in the regiment would ever presume to take advantage of that feeling in their favor, to disobey, or use insolence; but had any man a wrong done him, in Colonel Shaw he always found an impartial judge, providing the complaint was presented through the proper channels. For he was very formal in all his proceedings, and would enforce obedience merely by his tones which were not harsh, but soft and firm. The last day with us, or I may say the ending of it, as we lay flat on the ground before the assault, his manner was more unbending than I had ever noticed before in the presence of his men; he sat on the ground, and was talking to the men very familiarly and kindly; he told them how the eyes of thousands would look upon the night’s work they were about to enter on; and said he, “Now boys I want you to be MEN!” He would walk along the entire line and speak words of cheer to his men. We could see that he was a man who had counted the cost of the undertaking before him, for his words were spoken so ominously, his lips were compressed, and now and then there was visible a slight twitching of the corners of his mouth, like one bent on accomplishing or dying. One poor fellow, struck no doubt by the Colonel’s determined bearing, exclaimed as he was passing him, “Colonel, I will stay by you till I die,” and he kept his word; he has never been seen since. For one so young, Col. Shaw showed a well-trained mind, and an ability of governing men not possessed by many older and more experienced men. In him, the regiment has lost one of its best and most devoted friends. Requiescat in pace.”
http://www.civilwar-online.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
26. Tuesday, August 16, 1864: Georgia operations, the Siege of Atlanta. General Sherman notes: “On the 16th another detachment of the enemy’s cavalry appeared in force about Allatoona and the Etowah bridge, when I became fully convinced that Hood had sent all of his cavalry to raid upon our railroads. For some days our communication with Nashville was interrupted by the destruction of the telegraph-lines, as well as railroad. I at once ordered strong reconnoissances forward from our flanks on the left by Garrard, and on the right by Kilpatrick. The former moved with so much caution that I was displeased; but Kilpatrick, on the contrary, displayed so much zeal and activity that I was attracted to him at once. He reached Fairburn Station, on the West Point road, and tore it up, returning safely to his position on our right flank. I summoned him to me, and was so pleased with his spirit and confidence, that I concluded to suspend the general movement of the main army, and to send him with his small division of cavalry to break up the Macon road about Jonesboro, in the hopes that it would force Hood to evacuate Atlanta, and that I should thereby not only secure possession of the city itself, but probably could catch Hood in the confusion of retreat; and, further to increase the chances of success.
I ordered General Thomas to detach two brigades of Garrard’s division of cavalry from the left to the right rear, to act as a reserve in support of General Kilpatrick. Meantime, also, the utmost activity was ordered along our whole front by the infantry and artillery.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/08/10/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-11-17-1864/
27. Tuesday, August, 16, 1864: The CSS Tallahassee captures and burns five more Union ships off the coast of New England. Confederate troops are sent to reinforce General Early in the Shenandoah Valley, but 300 are captured while crossing the Shenandoah River.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-175
28. Tuesday, August 16, 1864: Union assaults at Fussell’s Mill near Richmond, Virginia are initially successful, but Confederate counterattacks drive the Federals out of a line of captured works. General John R. Chambliss (CSA) was killed during the battle. His body is recovered by a former West Point classmate, Union General David Gregg, who makes a surprising discovery: a detailed map of the Richmond defenses. Using a new photographic technique known as Margedant’s Quick Method, which does not require a camera, the engineer traces Chambliss’s map and lays it over a sheet of photographic paper. The paper is then exposed to the sun’s rays, which darkened the paper except under the traced lines. The result are distributed to all Union officers in the area within 48 hours. It may not have helped the Union capture Richmond, that would take another seven months, but it may have reduced casualties by preventing foolhardy attacks on well-defended positions.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-175
29. Tuesday, August 16, 1864: Shenandoah Valley operations, Early’s Raid: Guard Hill.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/08/10/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-11-17-1864/
30. Tuesday, August 16, 1864: Confederate naval operations: “Confederate commerce raider Commander John Taylor Woods was up to his usual business today. Since breaking through the Union blockade at Wilmington, N.C., last Thursday, Wood had captured seven ships that day, six on Friday, but then only two on Saturday, all in the offshore area of Sandy Hook, N.J. He took Sunday off to move north, and Monday grabbed six. Five more were out of business today. Wood’s usual tactic was to burn all but one of a day’s take and load personnel on to the remaining one.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/08/10/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-11-17-1864/
31. Tuesday, August 16, 1864: Siege of Petersburg: US General Hancock probes Confederate lines with inconclusive results.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/08/10/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-11-17-1864/

A Saturday, August 16, 1862: Fort Velasco, Texas: At the mouth of the Brazos River (modern-day Surfside Beach), artillerymen under a Col. Bates engage in a firefight with an unnamed Federal ship. No Confederates are harmed, and after some time the Federals move off.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1862
B Saturday, August 16, 1862: Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri. Encyclopedia entry by Tony O’ Bryan, University of Missouri—Kansas City
Event Summary: Date: August 15-16, 1862; Location: Near Lone Jack, Jackson County, Missouri;
Adversaries: Union Maj. Emory Foster vs. Confederate regulars and bushwhackers;
Size of Forces: Approx. 800 Union soldiers vs. more than 1,500 Confederate soldiers
Casualties: More than 100 killed, captured, or wounded on both sides
Result: Confederate victory; Lone Jack virtually destroyed
The Battle of Lone Jack occurred in Jackson County, Missouri over the weekend of August 15-17, 1862, as a result of the Union attempting to wrest military control over the border region from the hands of the bushwhackers. In early 1862, Union commanders at posts in Pleasant Hill and Independence counted growing numbers of soldiers shot out of their saddles, wounded, or disappeared while on patrol. In April, the local insurrection so disrupted federal mail, communications, and travel that Union command in Jackson County was effectively isolated from the rest of the state. The Sni Valley, a rugged topography extending north of the community of Lone Jack toward the Missouri River, was a particularly troublesome area for Union troops.
From farms and in small campsites across the countryside, the bushwhackers and hundreds of raw recruits for the Confederate Army gathered and planned for a dawn attack on the isolated Union force in Lone Jack.
The rest of the night passed without incident with Foster’s troopers bivouacked in the town with cannons in the middle of the street. Meanwhile, from farms and in small campsites across the countryside, the bushwhackers and hundreds of raw recruits for the Confederate Army gathered and planned for a dawn attack on the isolated Union force in Lone Jack. As the sun rose on the morning of the 16th of August, an estimated force of 1,600 rebels descended on the Union troops in Lone Jack. Foster’s men, believing they were battling bushwhackers who had publicly avowed to give no quarter to captured Union troops, fought as if a brave death in combat was the preferred option to surrender and execution.
The battle raged into the late afternoon with each side at various times claiming the field. The possession of the cannons was lost and regained and lost again. At times the combat was hand-to-hand. By many accounts the battle fought that day was one of the fiercest of the Civil War, regardless of the small number of soldiers engaged. Foster’s troops gave the undisciplined guerrillas and raw Confederate recruits a bloody lesson, but of the nearly 800 soldiers that left for Lone Jack with Major Foster, only about 400 returned to Lexington. Confederate forces were left in charge of the battlefield on Sunday the 17th, but the town of Lone Jack had been virtually destroyed and never again would the proslavery forces of northwestern Missouri have the strategic upper hand over the Union military that they held in the summer of 1862.
Background: On August 11, 1862, the bushwhackers shocked the Union command with a successful attack on the Union garrison at the First Battle of Independence. Now, painfully aware of the growing strength of the bushwhackers and the presence of several Confederate officers recruiting for General Sterling Price’s army in Arkansas, the Union made plans for a counterattack to remove the menace from the border region once and for all. A force of nearly 800 under Major Emory Foster from Lexington was to converge at Lone Jack with 500 troops under General Fitz Henry Warren from Clinton, Missouri. From Lone Jack, the united 1,300 troops under Warren and Foster would attempt to squeeze the guerrillas between the Missouri River and a 2,500-man army under General James Gillpatrick Blunt, who was pressing north from Fort Scott, Kansas.
Major Foster, who had lost a brother to secessionists and been wounded in a previous skirmish with bushwhackers, was chosen for the expedition to Lone Jack due to his experience and reputation as a fighter. He and his troops, likely eager to settle the score with the bushwhackers, were the first to arrive in Lone Jack on Friday night August 15. Unfortunately for Foster and his men, they were alone and deep in hostile territory with Warren’s column from Clinton lost and Blunt’s Fort Scott troops still days away.
As Foster’s column rolled into town at around 10 p.m., reports of rebels camped south of town prompted the saddle-weary troops to unlimber their two cannons and fire a few rounds at the assumed enemy force at their front. An ensuing firefight in the darkness south of town left a few of Foster’s own troops dead and wounded by friendly fire. The cannon fire also alerted bushwhackers across the countryside of Foster’s presence at Lone Jack.
http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/battle-lone-jack
B+ Saturday, August 16, 1862: Battle of Lone Jack, Missouri: Maj. Emory S. Foster of the 7th Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), with 5 companies from his own regiment and others, and two rifled guns from an Indiana battery, are given orders to move to the southeast corner of Jackson County in western Missouri to break up a Rebel camp there at the village of Lone Jack, where the rebel Cols. Hunter, Hays, Cockrell, Tracy, Jackman, and Coffee waited for Jo Shelby to arrive with more cavalry. (These Rebel troops are both Confederate and Missouri State Guard, and there is little coordination and no clear chain of command.) Foster, with about 800 men, was to be aided by Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt, who commanded an additional 2,500 men from Kansas, and by Gen. Fitz Henry Warren, with 600 men from the 1st Iowa Infantry–but this junction did not occur, and apparently Foster was unaware of the intent that he should be reinforced. As his troops rode into Lone Jack on the evening of the 15th, skirmishing broke out with Rebel pickets south of town, and the Yankees wounded several of their own artillerymen in the confusion. Foster, believing he faces only about 800 Rebels, is not alarmed and deploys his men along main street in the town, not realizing that he is faced by as many as 3,000 Southern men. On the morning of the 16th, Cockrell takes command of the Rebels and plans attacks from several directions at once. The attacks are uncoordinated and disjointed, and bog down into firefights. Armed mostly with shotguns, the Southerners were unable to do much damage unless they closed with the Yankees—but since some of them attacked on foot, this was difficult in the face of Federal rifle fire. The Federals take heavy casualties as the two cannon change hands several times in charge and countercharge. Both sides are running low on ammunition, and when Col. Coffee’s Rebels finally arrive on the battlefield, Capt. Brawner (the only Federal officer not dead or wounded) orders the guns spiked, and the Yankees retreat to Lexington. The Rebels claim a victory, although they sustained greater casualties. Late on the 17th, Gen. Warren arrives with more Federals, followed by Blunt, and the Rebels abandon Lone Jack and begin retreating south. The battle is a classic example of battles in the frontier and Trans-Mississippi regions: fought poorly with small forces, uncoordinated movements, and high casualties.
Losses: Killed Wounded Captured or Missing Total
Union 43 154 75 272
Confederate 55 ? ? @110
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1862
Sunday, August 16, 1863: Major General William S. Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Cumberland, (US) launched a campaign to take Chattanooga, Tennessee. Col. John T. Wilder's (US) brigade of the Union 4th Division, XIV Army Corps marched to a location northeast of Chattanooga where the Confederates could see them, reinforcing General Braxton Bragg's (CSA) expectations of a Union attack on the town from that direction.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-123
Sunday, August 16, 1863: Tennessee operations: “After urging from Washington, Major General William Rosecrans and his Army of the Cumberland commenced their march toward the Tennessee River and the Chattanooga from the area south of Tullahoma. Rosecrans delayed because, he said, of the ripening crops to be harvested, repair of railroads, and need of support on both flanks.”
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
C Sunday, August 16, 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: At Fort Sumter, crews of laborers have repairing damaged masonry with sand, strengthening the faces near Morris Island, removing many of the fort’s guns, leaving only 38 artillery pieces there. Confederates release water-borne mines (called “torpedoes” back in the day) in the Stono River to drift into Union shipping. They cause chaos but little damage and US Admiral Dahlgren orders a net placed on the river to stop further incursions of these torpedoes.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-12-18-1863/
C+ Sunday, August 16, 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: The Union army maintained a constant rotation of soldiers to man the forward trenches of the "grand guard". During the evening of August 16 a Confederate artillery shell burst through the bombproof serving as the headquarters for Colonel Joshua B. Howell, commanding officer of the grand guard that evening. A shell fragment struck Colonel Howell wounding him severely in the head. Despite Howell's quick recovery the incident prompted the Union commander to exclusively use veteran troops in the forward trenches. Confederates also kept a constant rotation of soldiers through Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg. During the night rowboats would bring fresh troops from the mainland to replace the garrison. Even though they had won a substantial victory at Fort Wagner the Confederates fully expected the campaign to continue. Having a large garrison to draw from Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard was prepared to continue the campaign. Immediately in command of Confederate forces surrounding Charleston was former career army officer and South Carolina businessman Roswell S. Ripley. Ripley's forces were spread throughout fortifications surrounding Charleston Harbor and included a division of local South Carolina militia. Gilmore and Admiral John A. Dahlgren requested reinforcements from General-in-Chief Henry Halleck. Halleck was reluctant but nevertheless a division from the Army of the Potomac was transferred to the south under George H. Gordon. General John G. Foster, Union commander of the Department of North Carolina, enthusiastically sent a division of reinforcements telling Gilmore "Charleston is too important to be lost when so nearly won."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Charleston_Harbor
Sunday, August 16, 1863: A Rebel blockade runner, the Alice Vivian, is captured today by the USS De Soto, commanded by Capt. William Walker.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=August+16%2C+1863
D Tuesday, August 16, 1864: The Second Battle of Deep Bottom, also known as Fussell's Mill (particularly in the South), New Market Road, Bailey's Creek, Charles City Road, or White's Tavern was fought August 14–20, 1864, at Deep Bottom in Henrico County, Virginia, during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign (Siege of Petersburg) of the American Civil War.
During the night of August 13–14, a force under the command of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock crossed the James River at Deep Bottom to threaten Richmond and attract Confederate forces away from the Petersburg, Virginia, trenches and the Shenandoah Valley. On August 14, the X Corps closed on New Market Heights while the II Corps extended the Federal line to the right along Bailey's Creek. During the night, the X Corps was moved to the right flank of the Union line near Fussell's Mill. On August 16, Union assaults near the mill were initially successful, but Confederate counterattacks drove the Federals back. After days of indecisive skirmishing, the Federals returned to the south side of the James on the night of August 20. The Confederates achieved their objective of driving back the Union threat, but at a cost of diluting their forces as the Union had hoped.
[Background]
Deep Bottom is the colloquial name for an area of the James River in Henrico County 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Richmond, Virginia, at a horseshoe-shaped bend in the river known as Jones Neck. It was so-named because of the depth of the river bottom at that point. It was a convenient crossing point from the Bermuda Hundred area on the south side of the river.
Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant began a siege of the city of Petersburg, Virginia, after initial assaults on the Confederate lines, June 15–18, 1864, failed to break through. While Union cavalry conducted the Wilson-Kautz Raid (June 22 – July 1) in an attempt to cut the railroad lines leading into Petersburg, Grant and his generals planned a renewed assault on the Petersburg fortifications.
In the First Battle of Deep Bottom, July 27–29, Grant sent a force under Maj. Gens. Winfield S. Hancock and Philip H. Sheridan on an expedition threatening Richmond and its railroads, intending to attract Confederate troops away from the Petersburg defensive line. The Union infantry and cavalry force was unable to break through the Confederate fortifications at Bailey's Creek and Fussell's Mill and was withdrawn, but it achieved its desired effect of momentarily reducing Confederate strength at Petersburg. The planned attack on the fortifications went ahead on July 30, but the resulting Battle of the Crater was an embarrassing Union defeat, a fiasco of mismanaged resources by Grant's subordinates at a heavy cost in casualties.
On the same day the Union failed at the Crater, Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early was burning the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, as he operated out of the Shenandoah Valley, threatening towns in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as the District of Columbia. Gen. Robert E. Lee was concerned about actions that Grant might take against Early, and in fact Grant in the first week of August designated Phil Sheridan to command a consolidated Army of the Shenandoah to challenge Early with almost 40,000 men. Lee sent the infantry division of Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw from Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson's corps and the cavalry division commanded by Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee to Culpeper, Virginia, where they could either provide aid to Early or be recalled to the Richmond-Petersburg front as needed. Grant misinterpreted this movement and assumed that Anderson's entire corps had been removed from the vicinity of Richmond, leaving only about 8,500 men north of the James River. He determined to try again with an advance toward the Confederate capital. This would either prevent reinforcements from aiding Early or once again dilute the Confederate strength in the defensive lines around Petersburg.
Once again, Hancock would be the senior general on the expedition. On August 13, the X Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. David B. Birney, Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's cavalry division, and Hancock's II Corps artillery crossed pontoon bridges from Bermuda Hundred to Deep Bottom. Meanwhile, the remainder of the II Corps conducted a ruse to make the Confederates think that Hancock was being sent north to reinforce Sheridan. After a grueling march through oppressive heat to City Point—a march during which a number of the men were felled by heat stroke—they embarked on ships and steamed toward the Chesapeake Bay, many of individual soldiers unaware of their actual destination. A tugboat followed the flotilla and brought new orders, which caused the transport ships to turn around and deposit the II Corps at Deep Bottom the night of August 13–14. The landings were not managed well and fell behind schedule; Grant's staff had not arranged for adequate wharves to handle the deep-water steamers.
After all of his troops were across the James on August 14, Hancock positioned Birney's X Corps on the left, Hancock's 3rd Division of II Corps, under Brig. Gen. Gershom Mott, in the center, and Hancock's 1st and 2nd Divisions, under Brig. Gen. Francis C. Barlow (temporarily commanding in the absence of Maj. Gen. John Gibbon), on the right. Birney was ordered to demonstrate against New Market Heights while the II Corps divisions attempted to turn the Confederate left. Mott was to push forward on the New Market Road toward Richmond, Barlow to attack Fussell's Mill on the Darbytown Road, and Gregg's cavalry to cover the right flank of the army and look for an opportunity to race into Richmond. Birney's troops successfully pushed aside pickets on the Kingsland Road, but were stopped by the fortifications on New Market Heights. The II Corps units moved slowly into position, suffering numerous deaths from heat stroke.
It was not until midday on August 14 that Barlow's men made contact with the Confederates, manning rifle pits on the Darbytown Road just north of the Long Bridge Road. The Union generals were surprised at the Confederate strength. In Birney's and Mott's fronts, a full Confederate division commanded by Maj. Gen. Charles W. Field was dug in. Chaffin's Bluff was defended by a division under Maj. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox and reinforcements were arriving. Because of Barlow's slow approach in the heat, the Confederates had time to reinforce the Fussell's Mill area with a section of howitzers and Brig. Gen. George T. Anderson's Georgia brigade. Hancock had intended for Barlow's to be his primary attack and instructed him to employ sufficient mass along the Darbytown Road. Instead Barlow formed a wide line that reached as far as Mott's right flank. Because of this extension and the thick woods through which they had to advance, Barlow's 10,000 men in the two divisions were left with only a single brigade attacking Fussell's Mill. Those men were able to drive away two Confederate cavalry regiments from Brig. Gen. Martin W. Gary's brigade at the mill, but Anderson's brigade repulsed it. When Field took Anderson's brigade from his right flank, it weakened the line in front of Birney's corps, which moved forward and occupied some of the Confederate entrenchments and captured four guns.
Although the Union attacks had been generally unsuccessful, they had some of the effect Grant desired. Lee became convinced that the threat against Richmond was a serious one and he began moving troops to the front. He dispatched two infantry brigades of Maj. Gen. William Mahone's division and the cavalry divisions of Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton and W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee. Grant ordered Hancock to resume his attacks on August 15 and Hancock decided to continue with his emphasis on the Confederate left. He ordered Birney's corps to make a night march to join Barlow's end of the line. Although it was raining that night, the oppressive heat continued and more than a third of Birney's men fell out of the column.
[August 15–16]
Maj. Gen. David B. Birney's X Corps movement was delayed by difficult terrain for most of August 15 and Hancock's plan for an early morning attack had to be abandoned. They reached Fussell's Mill around 1 p.m. and Birney spent the entire afternoon performing a reconnaissance while his men recovered from their march. After this, Birney judged that it was too late in the day to attack.
Early on the morning of August 16, Brig. Gen. David McM. Gregg's cavalry division swept to the right to Glendale and then rode northwest on the Charles City Road toward Richmond. They found Rooney Lee's cavalry division blocking the road and a full day of fighting resulted. The Union cavalrymen drove the enemy as far as White's Tavern, but were eventually pushed back to Fisher's Farm. Confederate Brig. Gen. John R. Chambliss was killed during the fighting. The infantrymen of the X Corps had a better start to the day, as Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry's division, led by Col. Francis Bates Pond's brigade, broke through the Confederate line. Wright's Brigade, commanded by newly promoted Brig. Gen. Victor Girardey, was hit hard and retreated, opening a significant gap. Girardey was killed by a bullet in the head while brandishing the colors of the 64th Georgia. Field later wrote, "Not only the day but Richmond seemed to be gone." The heavily wooded terrain prevented Birney and Hancock from understanding that they had reached a position of advantage and they were unable to exploit it before Field rearranged his lines to fill the gap and drive back the Federals. Col. William C. Oates led two Alabama regiments in the initial counterattack and was wounded. Robert E. Lee had arrived north of the James by this time and witnessed the action.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Deep_Bottom
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace CWO4 Terrence Clark SPC Michael Oles SR SMSgt Lawrence McCarter A1C Pamela G Russell LTC Trent Klug PO2 Russell "Russ" Lincoln SFC Bernard Walko SFC Stephen King SFC Ralph E Kelley SSG Franklin Briant MSgt Robert C AldiSSG Byron Howard Sr Cpl Samuel Pope Sr CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw SPC Lyle Montgomery Deborah Gregson SPC Miguel C.

The American Civil War

The American Civil War presented day by day as it happened 150 years ago.

Response by Maj Marty Hogan made Sep 15 at 2016 10:04 PM

2016-09-15T22:04:40-04:00

As always thanks for the share LTC Stephen F.

Response by TSgt Joe C. made Sep 16 at 2016 12:36 AM

2016-09-16T00:36:17-04:00

Great read LTC Stephen F.! All the events seem significant to me today.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Sep 16 at 2016 7:33 AM

2016-09-16T07:33:57-04:00

Super great history share. Thank you.