Posted on Jul 8, 2016
What was the most significant event on July 5 during the U.S. Civil War?
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Under Siege! - S01E05: Petersburg 1864 - Full Documentary
Under Siege! Whether it is a city, a town, a battalion or a regiment, the blood is stirred by stories of those that, usually vastly outnumbered, have stood b...
The confederate Armies are reeling from defeats in Gettysburg and Vicksburg on July 4. Because news traveled slowly most southerners were not aware of the defeats their forces had experienced which divided the western confederacy from those states east of the Mississippi River.
Guerrilla warfare by northern citizens as the confederate were retreating from Pennsylvania through Maryland seems very appropriate considering the CSA Congress charted partisan raiders the previous year.
Interestingly Jubal early led a division of confederates in 1864 crossing at Harpers Ferry and moving towards Washington, D.C in 1864.
Retreat from Gettysburg in 1863: On July 5, after Lee had withdrawn from Gettysburg, Meade wrote his wife his assessment of the battle and set down his reasons for not launching an attack: It was a grand battle, and is in my judgment a most decided victory, though I did not annihilate or bag the Confederate Army. This morning they retreated in great haste into the mountains, leaving their dead unburied and their wounded on the field. They awaited one day, expecting that flushed with success, I would attack them, when they would play their old game of shooting us from behind breastworks. This time, Meade pointed out, he refused to play their game.
Although Meade clearly showed signs of strain from the burden of command in a crucial campaign, he ordered Maj. Gen. William French, stationed at Frederick, Md., to proceed to the ford at Falling Waters, near Williamsport, and destroy the pontoon bridge there. Meade apparently had some hope of trapping Lee north of the Potomac and assumed another major battle would be fought outside Virginia. Nevertheless, he only began his pursuit on July 5, a day after Lee’s withdrawal, leading with the relatively unbloodied VI Corps.
As both the Federal and Confederate armies commenced their race to the Potomac, they left a terrible scene of death and pain. Thousands of bodies lay blackened, bloated and festering in the sun. Before leaving Gettysburg, Meade contracted with a local resident, Samuel Herbst, to organize able-bodied citizens to bury the dead. Additionally, Pennsylvania militiamen, who had been ordered out to meet the emergency of Lee’s invasion, were pressed into the grisly work, fashioning hooks from bayonets and pulling bodies into shallow graves by their belts. There were still more than 21,000 wounded in Gettysburg, 14,500 Northerners and 6,800 Southerners. Since another battle with Lee was expected, most of the Army medical units marched off with Meade, leaving only 106 medical officers, about one-third of whom were operating surgeons. Volunteer nurses from the U.S. Sanitary Commission arrived to help, and fresh food and vegetables purchased from local sources also aided the convalescence of those who were not too seriously hurt.
Of course, in both burials and medical treatment, Northern soldiers received care first. According to some accounts, it took surgeons five days to complete their amputations, while Rebel soldiers lay dying. Not that Confederate soldiers were purposely treated callously — when a torrential rain began on July 4, hundreds of Southern wounded lying near a field hospital in danger of drowning were carried to higher ground by Northern soldiers. There were also instances of Southern women coming north to tend wounded Confederates and being permitted to carry our their mercy missions unhindered.
Some idea of the horrific conditions at Gettysburg in the wake of the battle can be gathered from the account of Cornelia Hancock, a New Jersey Quaker, who arrived to nurse the wounded: A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler until it seemed to possess a palpable, horrible density that could be felt and cut with a knife. At a field hospital the first sight that met our eyes was a collection of semi-conscious but still living human forms, all of whom had been shot through the head and were considered hopeless….Yet a groan came from them and their limbs tossed and twitched.
So important was our movement that no halt for bivouac, though we marched scarcely two miles an hour, was made on our route from Gettysburg to Williamsport — a march of over forty miles. The men and officers on horseback would go to sleep without knowing it, and at one time there was a halt occasioned by all the drivers…being asleep in their saddles. In fact, the whole army was dozing while marching and moved as if under enchantment or a spell — asleep and at the same time walking.
During the retreat, Lee ordered the impressment of horses to replace those lost in battle or those too jaded for further service. The Rebels paid for the horses either in Confederate currency or by giving the owners a written description of the animals confiscated, signed by a Confederate officer. These could be, and were, used by citizens to file a claim with the U.S. government for their losses.
At dawn on July 5, 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
Pictures: 1861-07-05 Carthage Missouri July-5 Map; 1863-07-05 Livery Stable Drawing – After holding out for twenty-four hours against overwhelming odds, Lieut. Sullivan surrendered his command to Morgan; 1863-07-05 Battle of Gettysburg Harvest of death; 1863-07-05 Morgan's men at Ohio State Penitentiary
A. 1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had chased Governor Claiborne Jackson and approximately 4,000 Missouri State Militia from the capital, Jefferson City, to Boonville, and continued to pursue them. Col. Franz Sigel led another force of about 1,000 Union troops into southwest Missouri in search of the governor and the militia. On July 4th, after learning that Sigel had encamped at Carthage, Jackson formulated a plan to attack the much smaller Union force. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson advanced towards Sigel, established a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and enticed Sigel to attack him. Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closed to the attack. Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he feared that they would turn his flank. He withdrew. The Confederates pursued, but Sigel conducted a successful rearguard action. By evening, Sigel was inside Carthage and under cover of darkness; he retreated to Sarcoxie. The battle had little meaning, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, championed their first victory.
B. 1863: CSA Col. R.C. Morgan’s raid. Bardstown, Kentucky. CSA Capt. Ralph Sheldon led over 300 Confederates 2nd Kentucky Cavalry troopers as they descended on Bardstown on Sunday morning. They drove the hand full of Union troops occupying Bardstown into a livery stable two blocks north of the courthouse. Lt. Thomas W. Sullivan and a 25-man detachment from the 4th U.S. Cavalry took up position in the livery stable and defended it for several hours against the attacking Confederates.
After the initial assault, Capt. Sheldon demanded the Union troops surrender. Lt. Sullivan rejected the demand and the battle resumed and continued all evening. To prevent the trapped Union soldiers from escaping Capt. Sheldon had his men stretch ropes across the street. The Confederates even tried to set the stable on fire, all to no avail, the Union soldiers put out the fire and continued to resist the Confederates.
Finally, after sporadic firing for over 24 hours, Morgan brought in some of artillery pieces to surround the stable. Once Sullivan saw the Confederate artillery, he decided that to keep holding out was useless and surrendered his force.
C. 1863: Retreat from Gettysburg. At dawn 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the Confederate wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. CSA Gen Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
D. 1864: CS General Jubal Early crosses the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington. Panic ensued in Washington DC as many believed that the city was just about to be attacked.
Under Siege! - S01E05: Petersburg 1864 - Full Documentary
Under Siege! Whether it is a city, a town, a battalion or a regiment, the blood is stirred by stories of those that, usually vastly outnumbered, have stood behind walls, and barricades in a last stand against their attackers. So what makes those under siege battle on when to do so often had little logic? Who were the leaders who rallied their troops or their fellow citizens? What drives man and women to acts of extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice? Why had victory sometimes been won when bloody failure looks absolutely certain?
The Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, was the beginning of the end for the Confederates in the American Civil War. Petersburg was a key city close to the Confederate Capital of Richmond. Taking Petersburg would clear the way for the Union North to assault Richmond, and also cut off critical key supply lines that fed the efforts of the South.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFUCg1UhyeE
FYI SFC Ralph E Kelley Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL (Join to see) COL Lisandro MurphySSgt David M. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT David A. 'Cowboy' GrothSSG Trevor S. LTC Trent Klug PV2 Larry Sellnow Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth SGT Jim Arnold SrA Ronald Moore SSG Bill McCoy
Guerrilla warfare by northern citizens as the confederate were retreating from Pennsylvania through Maryland seems very appropriate considering the CSA Congress charted partisan raiders the previous year.
Interestingly Jubal early led a division of confederates in 1864 crossing at Harpers Ferry and moving towards Washington, D.C in 1864.
Retreat from Gettysburg in 1863: On July 5, after Lee had withdrawn from Gettysburg, Meade wrote his wife his assessment of the battle and set down his reasons for not launching an attack: It was a grand battle, and is in my judgment a most decided victory, though I did not annihilate or bag the Confederate Army. This morning they retreated in great haste into the mountains, leaving their dead unburied and their wounded on the field. They awaited one day, expecting that flushed with success, I would attack them, when they would play their old game of shooting us from behind breastworks. This time, Meade pointed out, he refused to play their game.
Although Meade clearly showed signs of strain from the burden of command in a crucial campaign, he ordered Maj. Gen. William French, stationed at Frederick, Md., to proceed to the ford at Falling Waters, near Williamsport, and destroy the pontoon bridge there. Meade apparently had some hope of trapping Lee north of the Potomac and assumed another major battle would be fought outside Virginia. Nevertheless, he only began his pursuit on July 5, a day after Lee’s withdrawal, leading with the relatively unbloodied VI Corps.
As both the Federal and Confederate armies commenced their race to the Potomac, they left a terrible scene of death and pain. Thousands of bodies lay blackened, bloated and festering in the sun. Before leaving Gettysburg, Meade contracted with a local resident, Samuel Herbst, to organize able-bodied citizens to bury the dead. Additionally, Pennsylvania militiamen, who had been ordered out to meet the emergency of Lee’s invasion, were pressed into the grisly work, fashioning hooks from bayonets and pulling bodies into shallow graves by their belts. There were still more than 21,000 wounded in Gettysburg, 14,500 Northerners and 6,800 Southerners. Since another battle with Lee was expected, most of the Army medical units marched off with Meade, leaving only 106 medical officers, about one-third of whom were operating surgeons. Volunteer nurses from the U.S. Sanitary Commission arrived to help, and fresh food and vegetables purchased from local sources also aided the convalescence of those who were not too seriously hurt.
Of course, in both burials and medical treatment, Northern soldiers received care first. According to some accounts, it took surgeons five days to complete their amputations, while Rebel soldiers lay dying. Not that Confederate soldiers were purposely treated callously — when a torrential rain began on July 4, hundreds of Southern wounded lying near a field hospital in danger of drowning were carried to higher ground by Northern soldiers. There were also instances of Southern women coming north to tend wounded Confederates and being permitted to carry our their mercy missions unhindered.
Some idea of the horrific conditions at Gettysburg in the wake of the battle can be gathered from the account of Cornelia Hancock, a New Jersey Quaker, who arrived to nurse the wounded: A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler until it seemed to possess a palpable, horrible density that could be felt and cut with a knife. At a field hospital the first sight that met our eyes was a collection of semi-conscious but still living human forms, all of whom had been shot through the head and were considered hopeless….Yet a groan came from them and their limbs tossed and twitched.
So important was our movement that no halt for bivouac, though we marched scarcely two miles an hour, was made on our route from Gettysburg to Williamsport — a march of over forty miles. The men and officers on horseback would go to sleep without knowing it, and at one time there was a halt occasioned by all the drivers…being asleep in their saddles. In fact, the whole army was dozing while marching and moved as if under enchantment or a spell — asleep and at the same time walking.
During the retreat, Lee ordered the impressment of horses to replace those lost in battle or those too jaded for further service. The Rebels paid for the horses either in Confederate currency or by giving the owners a written description of the animals confiscated, signed by a Confederate officer. These could be, and were, used by citizens to file a claim with the U.S. government for their losses.
At dawn on July 5, 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
Pictures: 1861-07-05 Carthage Missouri July-5 Map; 1863-07-05 Livery Stable Drawing – After holding out for twenty-four hours against overwhelming odds, Lieut. Sullivan surrendered his command to Morgan; 1863-07-05 Battle of Gettysburg Harvest of death; 1863-07-05 Morgan's men at Ohio State Penitentiary
A. 1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had chased Governor Claiborne Jackson and approximately 4,000 Missouri State Militia from the capital, Jefferson City, to Boonville, and continued to pursue them. Col. Franz Sigel led another force of about 1,000 Union troops into southwest Missouri in search of the governor and the militia. On July 4th, after learning that Sigel had encamped at Carthage, Jackson formulated a plan to attack the much smaller Union force. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson advanced towards Sigel, established a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and enticed Sigel to attack him. Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closed to the attack. Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he feared that they would turn his flank. He withdrew. The Confederates pursued, but Sigel conducted a successful rearguard action. By evening, Sigel was inside Carthage and under cover of darkness; he retreated to Sarcoxie. The battle had little meaning, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, championed their first victory.
B. 1863: CSA Col. R.C. Morgan’s raid. Bardstown, Kentucky. CSA Capt. Ralph Sheldon led over 300 Confederates 2nd Kentucky Cavalry troopers as they descended on Bardstown on Sunday morning. They drove the hand full of Union troops occupying Bardstown into a livery stable two blocks north of the courthouse. Lt. Thomas W. Sullivan and a 25-man detachment from the 4th U.S. Cavalry took up position in the livery stable and defended it for several hours against the attacking Confederates.
After the initial assault, Capt. Sheldon demanded the Union troops surrender. Lt. Sullivan rejected the demand and the battle resumed and continued all evening. To prevent the trapped Union soldiers from escaping Capt. Sheldon had his men stretch ropes across the street. The Confederates even tried to set the stable on fire, all to no avail, the Union soldiers put out the fire and continued to resist the Confederates.
Finally, after sporadic firing for over 24 hours, Morgan brought in some of artillery pieces to surround the stable. Once Sullivan saw the Confederate artillery, he decided that to keep holding out was useless and surrendered his force.
C. 1863: Retreat from Gettysburg. At dawn 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the Confederate wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. CSA Gen Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
D. 1864: CS General Jubal Early crosses the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington. Panic ensued in Washington DC as many believed that the city was just about to be attacked.
Under Siege! - S01E05: Petersburg 1864 - Full Documentary
Under Siege! Whether it is a city, a town, a battalion or a regiment, the blood is stirred by stories of those that, usually vastly outnumbered, have stood behind walls, and barricades in a last stand against their attackers. So what makes those under siege battle on when to do so often had little logic? Who were the leaders who rallied their troops or their fellow citizens? What drives man and women to acts of extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice? Why had victory sometimes been won when bloody failure looks absolutely certain?
The Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, was the beginning of the end for the Confederates in the American Civil War. Petersburg was a key city close to the Confederate Capital of Richmond. Taking Petersburg would clear the way for the Union North to assault Richmond, and also cut off critical key supply lines that fed the efforts of the South.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFUCg1UhyeE
FYI SFC Ralph E Kelley Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO3 Edward Riddle SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL (Join to see) COL Lisandro MurphySSgt David M. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT David A. 'Cowboy' GrothSSG Trevor S. LTC Trent Klug PV2 Larry Sellnow Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth SGT Jim Arnold SrA Ronald Moore SSG Bill McCoy
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In 1863, CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens of the Confederacy requested an interview with President Abraham Lincoln. The US Cabinet considered this some bizarre request.
Below are a number of journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. In 1864 William T. Sherman offers his thoughts
July 5, 1862: Abby Howland Woolsey, a Northern woman, writes to her sister Eliza on this date: “It may be God’s will to destroy this nation by inches. It is certainly the devil’s will to put dissension into the hearts of our leaders, and blundering darkness into their minds. God overrules all evil, even this, I suppose, to his own glory. I have no question that this and all other defeats are intended to drive us, as a nation, to a higher moral ground in the conduct and purpose of this war. As things stand, the South is fighting to maintain slavery, and the North is trying to fight so as not to put it down. When this policy ceases, perhaps we shall begin to have victory, if we haven’t already sinned away our day of grace. . . . Hatty and Carry went with the Bucks to Bedloe’s Island, with a tug load of ice cream and cake, and flowers, and flags, and a chest of tea, forty quarts of milk, and butter, and handkerchiefs, papers and books, to set out a long table and give a treat to two hundred in hospital there.”
Sunday, July 05, 1863: George Templeton Strong, a Wall Street lawyer, writes in his journal about the news from Gettysburg: “ There has been a great battle in which we are, on the whole, victorious. The woman-floggers are badly repulsed and retreating, with more of less loss of prisoners, guns, and materiel. So much seems certain, and that is enough to thank God for most devoutly, far better than we dared hope a week ago. This may have been one of the great decisive battles of history.”
William T. Sherman’s observation in 1864: Atlanta, Georgia campaign: Per General Sherman: “During the night Johnston drew back all his army and trains inside the tete-du-pont at the Chattahoochee, which proved one of the strongest pieces of field-fortification I ever saw. We closed up against it, and were promptly met by a heavy and severe fire. Thomas was on the main road in immediate pursuit; next on his right was Schofield; and McPherson on the extreme right, reaching the Chattahoochee River below Turner’s Ferry. Stoneman’s cavalry was still farther to the right, along down the Chattahoochee River as far as opposite Sandtown; and on that day I ordered Garrard’s division of cavalry up the river eighteen miles, to secure possession of the factories at Roswell, as well as to hold an important bridge and ford at that place.
About three miles out from the Chattahoochee the main road forked, the right branch following substantially the railroad, and the left one leading straight for Atlanta, via Paice’s Ferry and Buckhead. We found the latter unoccupied and unguarded, and the Fourth Corps (Howard’s) reached the river at Paice’s Ferry. The right-hand road was perfectly covered by the tete-du-pont before described, where the resistance was very severe, and for some time deceived me, for I was pushing Thomas with orders to fiercely assault his enemy, supposing that he was merely opposing us to gain time to get his trains and troops across the Chattahoochee; but, on personally reconnoitring, I saw the abatis and the strong redoubts, which satisfied me of the preparations that had been made by Johnston in anticipation of this very event. While I was with General Jeff. C. Davis, a poor negro [sic] came out of the abatis, blanched with fright, said he had been hidden under a log all day, with a perfect storm of shot, shells, and musket-balls, passing over him, till a short lull had enabled him to creep out and make himself known to our skirmishers, who in turn had sent him back to where we were. This negro explained that he with about a thousand slaves had been at work a month or more on these very lines, which, as he explained, extended from the river about a mile above the railroad-bridge to Turner’s Ferry below,—being in extent from five to six miles.
Therefore, on the 5th of July we had driven our enemy to cover in the valley of the Chattahoochee, and we held possession of the river above for eighteen miles, as far as Roswell, and below ten miles to the mouth of the Sweetwater. Moreover, we held the high ground and could overlook his movements, instead of his looking down on us, as was the case at Kennesaw.
From a hill just back of Mining’s Station I could see the houses in Atlanta, nine miles distant, and the whole intervening valley of the Chattahoochee; could observe the preparations for our reception on the other side, the camps of men and large trains of covered wagons; and supposed, as a matter of course, that Johnston had passed the river with the bulk of his army, and that he had only left on our side a corps to cover his bridges; but in fact he had only sent across his cavalry and trains. Between Howard’s corps at Paice’s Ferry and the rest of Thomas’s army pressing up against this tete-du-pont, was a space concealed by dense woods, in crossing which I came near riding into a detachment of the enemy’s cavalry; and later in the same day Colonel Frank Sherman, of Chicago, then on General Howard’s staff, did actually ride straight into the enemy’s camp, supposing that our lines were continuous. He was carried to Atlanta, and for some time the enemy supposed they were in possession of the commander-in-chief of the opposing army.
I knew that Johnston would not remain long on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, for I could easily practise on that ground to better advantage our former tactics of intrenching a moiety in his front, and with the rest of our army cross the river and threaten either his rear or the city of Atlanta itself, which city was of vital importance to the existence not only of his own army, but of the Confederacy itself.”
Pictures: I1863-07-05 Imboden's wagon train; 1864-07-05 birds-eye-view-of-Atlanta; 1864 Shenandoah Valley May-July 1864; 1863-07-04 Gettysburg Campaign Retreat
A. Friday, July 05, 1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had chased Governor Claiborne Jackson and approximately 4,000 Missouri State Militia from the capital, Jefferson City, to Boonville, and continued to pursue them. Col. Franz Sigel led another force of about 1,000 Union troops into southwest Missouri in search of the governor and the militia. On July 4th, after learning that Sigel had encamped at Carthage, Jackson formulated a plan to attack the much smaller Union force. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson advanced towards Sigel, established a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and enticed Sigel to attack him. Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closed to the attack. Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he feared that they would turn his flank. He withdrew. The Confederates pursued, but Sigel conducted a successful rearguard action. By evening, Sigel was inside Carthage and under cover of darkness; he retreated to Sarcoxie. The battle had little meaning, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, championed their first victory.
B. Sunday, July 05, 1863: CSA Col. R.C. Morgan’s raid. Bardstown, Kentucky. CSA Capt. Ralph Sheldon led over 300 Confederates 2nd Kentucky Cavalry troopers as they descended on Bardstown on Sunday morning. They drove the hand full of Union troops occupying Bardstown into a livery stable two blocks north of the courthouse. Lt. Thomas W. Sullivan and a 25-man detachment from the 4th U.S. Cavalry took up position in the livery stable and defended it for several hours against the attacking Confederates.
After the initial assault, Capt. Sheldon demanded the Union troops surrender. Lt. Sullivan rejected the demand and the battle resumed and continued all evening. To prevent the trapped Union soldiers from escaping Capt. Sheldon had his men stretch ropes across the street. The Confederates even tried to set the stable on fire, all to no avail, the Union soldiers put out the fire and continued to resist the Confederates.
Finally, after sporadic firing for over 24 hours, Morgan brought in some of artillery pieces to surround the stable. Once Sullivan saw the Confederate artillery, he decided that to keep holding out was useless and surrendered his force.
C. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Retreat from Gettysburg. At dawn 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the Confederate wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. CSA Gen Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
D. Tuesday, July 05, 1864: CS General Jubal Early crosses the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington. Panic ensued in Washington DC as many believed that the city was just about to be attacked.
1. Friday, July 05, 1861: Newport News, Virginia - On July 5, there was a small skirmish between the Confederate force, commanded by Brig. Gen. John Magruder, and the Union force, commanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler. The fight was near Newport news, located near the Curtis' Farm. The fight did not have a conclusive victor. After the fight, both sides withdrew to their previous lines. [[mycivilwar.com/battles/1861s.htm]]
2. Saturday, July 05, 1862: Congress was already planning for a post-war America. It authorised the building of the first trans-continental railway. Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which was to allow settlers to take up public land in the west to “tame the prairies”.
[[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1862/]]
3. July 5, 1862: Abby Howland Woolsey, a Northern woman, writes to her sister Eliza on this date: “It may be God’s will to destroy this nation by inches. It is certainly the devil’s will to put dissension into the hearts of our leaders, and blundering darkness into their minds. God overrules all evil, even this, I suppose, to his own glory. I have no question that this and all other defeats are intended to drive us, as a nation, to a higher moral ground in the conduct and purpose of this war. As things stand, the South is fighting to maintain slavery, and the North is trying to fight so as not to put it down. When this policy ceases, perhaps we shall begin to have victory, if we haven’t already sinned away our day of grace. . . . Hatty and Carry went with the Bucks to Bedloe’s Island, with a tug load of ice cream and cake, and flowers, and flags, and a chest of tea, forty quarts of milk, and butter, and handkerchiefs, papers and books, to set out a long table and give a treat to two hundred in hospital there.”
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1862]]
4. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- George Templeton Strong, a Wall Street lawyer, writes in his journal about the news from Gettysburg: “ There has been a great battle in which we are, on the whole, victorious. The woman-floggers are badly repulsed and retreating, with more of less loss of prisoners, guns, and materiel. So much seems certain, and that is enough to thank God for most devoutly, far better than we dared hope a week ago. This may have been one of the great decisive battles of history.”
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
5. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 39
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
6. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The U.S. Government receives a request from Vice President Alexander Stephens of the Confederacy to be given an interview with Lincoln.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
7. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Lincoln’s cabinet discusses CS Vice President Stephens’ request to come to Washington and meet with the US President.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/
8. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Jackson County, Mississippi - Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's IX, XIII, and IV corps set out from Oak Ridge, Mississippi within hours of the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg on July 4. From positions northeast of the city, they marched southeast from Oak Ridge to the Big Black River and Birdsong Ferry on the 5th, 2 divisions of the XVI Corps under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke taking the advance. So began the campaign against Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at Jackson.
Johnston's advance held the Big Black's east bank at Birdsong Ferry; the west bank was hit by element's of Parke's division after 7:00 A.M., on the 5th, beginning an allday small-arms fight with Confederates on the east bank. Under fire, the Federals could not test the Big Black's depth; the ferryboat they had expected to find was scuttled. Union troops sent scouting parties north and south searching for fords after deploying skirmish companies.
At dark, the water at Birdsong was tested and found "swimming deep". Maj. Willison and Pvt. Joseph Weston swam to the ferry, were fired on, and returned, the fire concealing operations to raise the ferryboat. Fords found north and south were also contested. The next day, the ferryboat was raised, bridges were constructed at fords above and below, the Confederates retired, and the Federals advanced southeast to their first objective, the Vicksburg & Jackson Railroad. A 2nd skirmish followed on the railroad at Bolton Station, east of Jackson on the 8th. Casualties at Birdsong Ferry were insignificant.
[[mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html]]
9. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Lee retreated with his severely weakened army but no attempt was made by Meade’s Army of the Potomac to pursue them such was the weakened state of his force. While Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg is seen as the turning point in the war, it has to be remembered that he withdrew with many Union prisoners.
[[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1863/]]
10. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- Vicksburg, Mississippi – Gen. Grant, not wanting to burden his army and Northern prison camps with 30,000 prisoners at one time, decides to parole the prisoners who surrendered with Pemberton the preceding day. Each man being paroled signs a pledge promising not to re-join Confederate ranks until he is duly exchanged for a Federal prisoner.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
11. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. Federal cavalry under Pierce catch up with Gen. Imboden’s column, and capture 90 of the wagons Stuart had captured on his raid up north, and capture over 600 prisoners.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
12. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. The last of Gen. Ewell’s II Corps withdraws from Gettysburg, but makes little distance to Fairfield, due to the rains and the muddy roads.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
13. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. The Federal VI Corps under Sedgwick advances, and finds that the Rebels have indeed gone. Sedgwick catches up with a rear-guard brigade from Early’s division near Fairfield, and skirmishing flares up, but with no result.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
14. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Retreat from Gettysburg
• Engagements of Emmitsburg, Maryland
• Engagement at Cashtown Gap, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Caledonia, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Fairfield Gap, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Fairfield, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Greencastle, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Green Oak, Pennsylvania (Greenwood)
• Engagement at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Cunningham's Crossroads, Pennsylvania (Some report state this skirmish occurred on July 9th)
• Skirmish at Smithsburg, Maryland
• Engagement at Williamsport, Maryland
• Skirmish at Boonsboro, Maryland
• Skirmish at Beaver Creek, Maryland
• Skirmish at Funkstown, Maryland
• Skirmish at Falling Waters, West Virginia
[[emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/civil_war/engagements_in_the_emmitsburg_area.htm]]
15. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Morgan’s Great Raid: Lebanon, Kentucky. Within hours of the fight, the first of what will be at least nine US cavalry regiments (in addition to parts of an artillery battery) to pursue Morgan’s Raiders arrives in Lebanon, but the Confederates have already left.
[[bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/]]
16. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Mississippi operations: General Sherman begins an advance toward Jackson and General Joe Johnston’s army.
[[bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/]]
17. Sunday, July 05, 1863: CS General Lewis Armistead dies in Pennsylvania of his wounds.
[[bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/]]
18. Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Atlanta, Georgia campaign: Per General Sherman: “During the night Johnston drew back all his army and trains inside the tete-du-pont at the Chattahoochee, which proved one of the strongest pieces of field-fortification I ever saw. We closed up against it, and were promptly met by a heavy and severe fire. Thomas was on the main road in immediate pursuit; next on his right was Schofield; and McPherson on the extreme right, reaching the Chattahoochee River below Turner’s Ferry. Stoneman’s cavalry was still farther to the right, along down the Chattahoochee River as far as opposite Sandtown; and on that day I ordered Garrard’s division of cavalry up the river eighteen miles, to secure possession of the factories at Roswell, as well as to hold an important bridge and ford at that place.
About three miles out from the Chattahoochee the main road forked, the right branch following substantially the railroad, and the left one leading straight for Atlanta, via Paice’s Ferry and Buckhead. We found the latter unoccupied and unguarded, and the Fourth Corps (Howard’s) reached the river at Paice’s Ferry. The right-hand road was perfectly covered by the tete-du-pont before described, where the resistance was very severe, and for some time deceived me, for I was pushing Thomas with orders to fiercely assault his enemy, supposing that he was merely opposing us to gain time to get his trains and troops across the Chattahoochee; but, on personally reconnoitring, I saw the abatis and the strong redoubts, which satisfied me of the preparations that had been made by Johnston in anticipation of this very event. While I was with General Jeff. C. Davis, a poor negro [sic] came out of the abatis, blanched with fright, said he had been hidden under a log all day, with a perfect storm of shot, shells, and musket-balls, passing over him, till a short lull had enabled him to creep out and make himself known to our skirmishers, who in turn had sent him back to where we were. This negro explained that he with about a thousand slaves had been at work a month or more on these very lines, which, as he explained, extended from the river about a mile above the railroad-bridge to Turner’s Ferry below,—being in extent from five to six miles.
Therefore, on the 5th of July we had driven our enemy to cover in the valley of the Chattahoochee, and we held possession of the river above for eighteen miles, as far as Roswell, and below ten miles to the mouth of the Sweetwater. Moreover, we held the high ground and could overlook his movements, instead of his looking down on us, as was the case at Kenesaw.
From a hill just back of Mining’s Station I could see the houses in Atlanta, nine miles distant, and the whole intervening valley of the Chattahoochee; could observe the preparations for our reception on the other side, the camps of men and large trains of covered wagons; and supposed, as a matter of course, that Johnston had passed the river with the bulk of his army, and that he had only left on our side a corps to cover his bridges; but in fact he had only sent across his cavalry and trains. Between Howard’s corps at Paice’s Ferry and the rest of Thomas’s army pressing up against this tete-du-pont, was a space concealed by dense woods, in crossing which I came near riding into a detachment of the enemy’s cavalry; and later in the same day Colonel Frank Sherman, of Chicago, then on General Howard’s staff, did actually ride straight into the enemy’s camp, supposing that our lines were continuous. He was carried to Atlanta, and for some time the enemy supposed they were in possession of the commander-in-chief of the opposing army.
I knew that Johnston would not remain long on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, for I could easily practise on that ground to better advantage our former tactics of intrenching a moiety in his front, and with the rest of our army cross the river and threaten either his rear or the city of Atlanta itself, which city was of vital importance to the existence not only of his own army, but of the Confederacy itself.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/29/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-30-july-6-1864/
A Friday, July 05, 1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had chased Governor Claiborne Jackson and approximately 4,000 Missouri State Militia from the capital, Jefferson City, to Boonville, and continued to pursue them. Col. Franz Sigel led another force of about 1,000 Union troops into southwest Missouri in search of the governor and the militia. On July 4th, after learning that Sigel had encamped at Carthage, Jackson formulated a plan to attack the much smaller Union force. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson advanced towards Sigel, established a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and inticed Sigel to attack him. Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closed to the attack. Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he feared that they would turn his flank. He withdrew. The Confederates pursued, but Sigel conducted a successful rearguard action. By evening, Sigel was inside Carthage and under cover of darkness; he retreated to Sarcoxie. The battle had little meaning, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, championed their first victory.
[[civilwar.org/battlefields/carthage/battle-of-carthage.html]]
A Friday, July 05, 1861: A battle at Carthage, Missouri, ended when Union troops commanded by General Sigel had to withdraw as a result of facing a much larger force. Though casualties were light (13 Union dead and 50 Confederate dead) the withdrawal was a blow to what had been a successful Union advance through Missouri.
{[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1861/]]
A++ Friday, July 05, 1861: Advancing Union troops under Gen. Franz Sigel run into the Missouri State Guard near Carthage, Missouri, in the southwestern part of the state. The Missouri troops, although undisciplined and poorly armed, attack Sigel’s flanks and force him to retreat. The Rebels claim a victory.
{{civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1861]]
B Sunday, July 05, 1863: Bardstown, Kentucky. Capt. Ralph Sheldon leading several hundred Confederates of Company C 2nd Kentucky Cavalry descended on Bardstown on Sunday morning July 5, 1863. They drove the hand full of Union troops occupying Bardstown into a livery stable two blocks north of the courthouse. Lt. Thomas W. Sullivan of the 4th U. S. Cavalry took up position in the livery stable and defended it for several hours against the attacking Confederates.
Capt. Ralph Sheldon – Sheldon’s company forced the Union defenders to take refuge in the stable, but he could not dislodge them.
After the initial assault, Capt. Sheldon demanded the Union troops surrender. Lt. Sullivan rejected the demand and the battle resumed and continued all evening. To prevent the trapped Union soldiers from escaping Capt. Sheldon had his men stretch ropes across the street. The Confederates even tried to set the stable on fire, all to no avail, the Union soldiers put out the fire and continued to resist the Confederates.
{{.trailsrus.com/morgan/bardstown.html]]
B Sunday, July 05, 1863: Bardstown, Kentucky. On July 5, a 25-man detachment from the 4th U.S. Cavalry, under Lt. ?? Sullivan, was surrounded in the town of Bardstown by over 300 Confederates, under Col. R.C. Morgan. Sullivan's men gathered in a stable and fortified their position. The Confederates gathered up some rope and strung it around the streets outside of the Union position. This was to keep the Federals from trying to escape the stable.
Morgan gave Sullivan several ultimatums for the Union surrender. Sullivan refused time after time to give up. Morgan did not rush the stable because he knew that it would cost him plenty of his soldiers, which he could not afford to lose. He decided to surround the stable and wait out the Union force.
Finally, after sporadic firing for over 24 hours, Morgan brought in some of artillery pieces to surround the stable. Once Sullivan saw the Confederate artillery, he decided that to keep holding out was useless and surrendered his force.
{{mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html]]
C Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. Toward evening, Imboden’s advance cavalry approaches the Potomac fords near Williamsport, and finds the pontoon bridges gone. Heavy rains have raised the river so that crossing by fording is impossible.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
C+ Sunday, July 05, 1863: On July 5, after Lee had withdrawn from Gettysburg, Meade wrote his wife his assessment of the battle and set down his reasons for not launching an attack: It was a grand battle, and is in my judgment a most decided victory, though I did not annihilate or bag the Confederate Army. This morning they retreated in great haste into the mountains, leaving their dead unburied and their wounded on the field. They awaited one day, expecting that flushed with success, I would attack them, when they would play their old game of shooting us from behind breastworks. This time, Meade pointed out, he refused to play their game.
Although Meade clearly showed signs of strain from the burden of command in a crucial campaign, he ordered Maj. Gen. William French, stationed at Frederick, Md., to proceed to the ford at Falling Waters, near Williamsport, and destroy the pontoon bridge there. Meade apparently had some hope of trapping Lee north of the Potomac and assumed another major battle would be fought outside Virginia. Nevertheless, he only began his pursuit on July 5, a day after Lee’s withdrawal, leading with the relatively unbloodied VI Corps.
As both the Federal and Confederate armies commenced their race to the Potomac, they left a terrible scene of death and pain. Thousands of bodies lay blackened, bloated and festering in the sun. Before leaving Gettysburg, Meade contracted with a local resident, Samuel Herbst, to organize able-bodied citizens to bury the dead. Additionally, Pennsylvania militiamen, who had been ordered out to meet the emergency of Lee’s invasion, were pressed into the grisly work, fashioning hooks from bayonets and pulling bodies into shallow graves by their belts. There were still more than 21,000 wounded in Gettysburg, 14,500 Northerners and 6,800 Southerners. Since another battle with Lee was expected, most of the Army medical units marched off with Meade, leaving only 106 medical officers, about one-third of whom were operating surgeons. Volunteer nurses from the U.S. Sanitary Commission arrived to help, and fresh food and vegetables purchased from local sources also aided the convalescence of those who were not too seriously hurt.
Of course, in both burials and medical treatment, Northern soldiers received care first. According to some accounts, it took surgeons five days to complete their amputations, while Rebel soldiers lay dying. Not that Confederate soldiers were purposely treated callously — when a torrential rain began on July 4, hundreds of Southern wounded lying near a field hospital in danger of drowning were carried to higher ground by Northern soldiers. There were also instances of Southern women coming north to tend wounded Confederates and being permitted to carry our their mercy missions unhindered.
Some idea of the horrific conditions at Gettysburg in the wake of the battle can be gathered from the account of Cornelia Hancock, a New Jersey Quaker, who arrived to nurse the wounded: A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler until it seemed to possess a palpable, horrible density that could be felt and cut with a knife. At a field hospital the first sight that met our eyes was a collection of semi-conscious but still living human forms, all of whom had been shot through the head and were considered hopeless….Yet a groan came from them and their limbs tossed and twitched.
So important was our movement that no halt for bivouac, though we marched scarcely two miles an hour, was made on our route from Gettysburg to Williamsport — a march of over forty miles. The men and officers on horseback would go to sleep without knowing it, and at one time there was a halt occasioned by all the drivers…being asleep in their saddles. In fact, the whole army was dozing while marching and moved as if under enchantment or a spell — asleep and at the same time walking.
During the retreat, Lee ordered the impressment of horses to replace those lost in battle or those too jaded for further service. The Rebels paid for the horses either in Confederate currency or by giving the owners a written description of the animals confiscated, signed by a Confederate officer. These could be, and were, used by citizens to file a claim with the U.S. government for their losses.
At dawn on July 5, 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
[[civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/gettysburg-history-articles/battle-of-gettysburg-finale.html]]
D Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Jubal Early [CS] crosses the Potomac River at Harper's Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington D. C.
[[blueandgraytrail.com/year/186407]]
D Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Panic ensued in Washington DC as many believed that the city was just about to be attacked.
[[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1864/]]
D+ Tuesday, July 05, 1864: CS General Jubal Early crosses the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington.
[[bjdeming.com/2014/06/29/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-30-july-6-1864/]]
Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in Kentucky, as he believed that the South was receiving too much help from the state’s citizens. Martial law was introduced throughout the state.
{{historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1864/}}
Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Siege of Petersburg, Virginia: General Grant realizes that Confederate lines are too strong to be taken by frontal assault.
[{bjdeming.com/2014/06/29/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-30-july-6-1864/
The Little-Known Battle at Monterey Pass, July 4-5, 1863: Gettysburg 158 Live!
During the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg, a strange and rainy nighttime fight gave way to confused and heavy fighting for control of the mountain pass. Join Kris White and Garry Adelman for a visit to a battlefield that has recently seen some great interpretive upgrades (and has one heck of a view!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3J0sv4y6pA
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace SPC Diana D. CWO4 Terrence Clark SPC Michael Oles SR [SPC Michael Terrell TSgt David L. LTC Thomas Tennant SSG Bill McCoy LTC (Join to see) MAJ (Join to see) Maj John Bell MAJ (Join to see) CWO4 Terrence Clark CWO3 (Join to see) SGM Steve Wettstein MSgt James Parker SMSgt David A Asbury
Below are a number of journal entries from 1862 and 1863 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. In 1864 William T. Sherman offers his thoughts
July 5, 1862: Abby Howland Woolsey, a Northern woman, writes to her sister Eliza on this date: “It may be God’s will to destroy this nation by inches. It is certainly the devil’s will to put dissension into the hearts of our leaders, and blundering darkness into their minds. God overrules all evil, even this, I suppose, to his own glory. I have no question that this and all other defeats are intended to drive us, as a nation, to a higher moral ground in the conduct and purpose of this war. As things stand, the South is fighting to maintain slavery, and the North is trying to fight so as not to put it down. When this policy ceases, perhaps we shall begin to have victory, if we haven’t already sinned away our day of grace. . . . Hatty and Carry went with the Bucks to Bedloe’s Island, with a tug load of ice cream and cake, and flowers, and flags, and a chest of tea, forty quarts of milk, and butter, and handkerchiefs, papers and books, to set out a long table and give a treat to two hundred in hospital there.”
Sunday, July 05, 1863: George Templeton Strong, a Wall Street lawyer, writes in his journal about the news from Gettysburg: “ There has been a great battle in which we are, on the whole, victorious. The woman-floggers are badly repulsed and retreating, with more of less loss of prisoners, guns, and materiel. So much seems certain, and that is enough to thank God for most devoutly, far better than we dared hope a week ago. This may have been one of the great decisive battles of history.”
William T. Sherman’s observation in 1864: Atlanta, Georgia campaign: Per General Sherman: “During the night Johnston drew back all his army and trains inside the tete-du-pont at the Chattahoochee, which proved one of the strongest pieces of field-fortification I ever saw. We closed up against it, and were promptly met by a heavy and severe fire. Thomas was on the main road in immediate pursuit; next on his right was Schofield; and McPherson on the extreme right, reaching the Chattahoochee River below Turner’s Ferry. Stoneman’s cavalry was still farther to the right, along down the Chattahoochee River as far as opposite Sandtown; and on that day I ordered Garrard’s division of cavalry up the river eighteen miles, to secure possession of the factories at Roswell, as well as to hold an important bridge and ford at that place.
About three miles out from the Chattahoochee the main road forked, the right branch following substantially the railroad, and the left one leading straight for Atlanta, via Paice’s Ferry and Buckhead. We found the latter unoccupied and unguarded, and the Fourth Corps (Howard’s) reached the river at Paice’s Ferry. The right-hand road was perfectly covered by the tete-du-pont before described, where the resistance was very severe, and for some time deceived me, for I was pushing Thomas with orders to fiercely assault his enemy, supposing that he was merely opposing us to gain time to get his trains and troops across the Chattahoochee; but, on personally reconnoitring, I saw the abatis and the strong redoubts, which satisfied me of the preparations that had been made by Johnston in anticipation of this very event. While I was with General Jeff. C. Davis, a poor negro [sic] came out of the abatis, blanched with fright, said he had been hidden under a log all day, with a perfect storm of shot, shells, and musket-balls, passing over him, till a short lull had enabled him to creep out and make himself known to our skirmishers, who in turn had sent him back to where we were. This negro explained that he with about a thousand slaves had been at work a month or more on these very lines, which, as he explained, extended from the river about a mile above the railroad-bridge to Turner’s Ferry below,—being in extent from five to six miles.
Therefore, on the 5th of July we had driven our enemy to cover in the valley of the Chattahoochee, and we held possession of the river above for eighteen miles, as far as Roswell, and below ten miles to the mouth of the Sweetwater. Moreover, we held the high ground and could overlook his movements, instead of his looking down on us, as was the case at Kennesaw.
From a hill just back of Mining’s Station I could see the houses in Atlanta, nine miles distant, and the whole intervening valley of the Chattahoochee; could observe the preparations for our reception on the other side, the camps of men and large trains of covered wagons; and supposed, as a matter of course, that Johnston had passed the river with the bulk of his army, and that he had only left on our side a corps to cover his bridges; but in fact he had only sent across his cavalry and trains. Between Howard’s corps at Paice’s Ferry and the rest of Thomas’s army pressing up against this tete-du-pont, was a space concealed by dense woods, in crossing which I came near riding into a detachment of the enemy’s cavalry; and later in the same day Colonel Frank Sherman, of Chicago, then on General Howard’s staff, did actually ride straight into the enemy’s camp, supposing that our lines were continuous. He was carried to Atlanta, and for some time the enemy supposed they were in possession of the commander-in-chief of the opposing army.
I knew that Johnston would not remain long on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, for I could easily practise on that ground to better advantage our former tactics of intrenching a moiety in his front, and with the rest of our army cross the river and threaten either his rear or the city of Atlanta itself, which city was of vital importance to the existence not only of his own army, but of the Confederacy itself.”
Pictures: I1863-07-05 Imboden's wagon train; 1864-07-05 birds-eye-view-of-Atlanta; 1864 Shenandoah Valley May-July 1864; 1863-07-04 Gettysburg Campaign Retreat
A. Friday, July 05, 1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had chased Governor Claiborne Jackson and approximately 4,000 Missouri State Militia from the capital, Jefferson City, to Boonville, and continued to pursue them. Col. Franz Sigel led another force of about 1,000 Union troops into southwest Missouri in search of the governor and the militia. On July 4th, after learning that Sigel had encamped at Carthage, Jackson formulated a plan to attack the much smaller Union force. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson advanced towards Sigel, established a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and enticed Sigel to attack him. Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closed to the attack. Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he feared that they would turn his flank. He withdrew. The Confederates pursued, but Sigel conducted a successful rearguard action. By evening, Sigel was inside Carthage and under cover of darkness; he retreated to Sarcoxie. The battle had little meaning, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, championed their first victory.
B. Sunday, July 05, 1863: CSA Col. R.C. Morgan’s raid. Bardstown, Kentucky. CSA Capt. Ralph Sheldon led over 300 Confederates 2nd Kentucky Cavalry troopers as they descended on Bardstown on Sunday morning. They drove the hand full of Union troops occupying Bardstown into a livery stable two blocks north of the courthouse. Lt. Thomas W. Sullivan and a 25-man detachment from the 4th U.S. Cavalry took up position in the livery stable and defended it for several hours against the attacking Confederates.
After the initial assault, Capt. Sheldon demanded the Union troops surrender. Lt. Sullivan rejected the demand and the battle resumed and continued all evening. To prevent the trapped Union soldiers from escaping Capt. Sheldon had his men stretch ropes across the street. The Confederates even tried to set the stable on fire, all to no avail, the Union soldiers put out the fire and continued to resist the Confederates.
Finally, after sporadic firing for over 24 hours, Morgan brought in some of artillery pieces to surround the stable. Once Sullivan saw the Confederate artillery, he decided that to keep holding out was useless and surrendered his force.
C. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Retreat from Gettysburg. At dawn 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the Confederate wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. CSA Gen Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
D. Tuesday, July 05, 1864: CS General Jubal Early crosses the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington. Panic ensued in Washington DC as many believed that the city was just about to be attacked.
1. Friday, July 05, 1861: Newport News, Virginia - On July 5, there was a small skirmish between the Confederate force, commanded by Brig. Gen. John Magruder, and the Union force, commanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler. The fight was near Newport news, located near the Curtis' Farm. The fight did not have a conclusive victor. After the fight, both sides withdrew to their previous lines. [[mycivilwar.com/battles/1861s.htm]]
2. Saturday, July 05, 1862: Congress was already planning for a post-war America. It authorised the building of the first trans-continental railway. Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which was to allow settlers to take up public land in the west to “tame the prairies”.
[[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1862/]]
3. July 5, 1862: Abby Howland Woolsey, a Northern woman, writes to her sister Eliza on this date: “It may be God’s will to destroy this nation by inches. It is certainly the devil’s will to put dissension into the hearts of our leaders, and blundering darkness into their minds. God overrules all evil, even this, I suppose, to his own glory. I have no question that this and all other defeats are intended to drive us, as a nation, to a higher moral ground in the conduct and purpose of this war. As things stand, the South is fighting to maintain slavery, and the North is trying to fight so as not to put it down. When this policy ceases, perhaps we shall begin to have victory, if we haven’t already sinned away our day of grace. . . . Hatty and Carry went with the Bucks to Bedloe’s Island, with a tug load of ice cream and cake, and flowers, and flags, and a chest of tea, forty quarts of milk, and butter, and handkerchiefs, papers and books, to set out a long table and give a treat to two hundred in hospital there.”
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1862]]
4. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- George Templeton Strong, a Wall Street lawyer, writes in his journal about the news from Gettysburg: “ There has been a great battle in which we are, on the whole, victorious. The woman-floggers are badly repulsed and retreating, with more of less loss of prisoners, guns, and materiel. So much seems certain, and that is enough to thank God for most devoutly, far better than we dared hope a week ago. This may have been one of the great decisive battles of history.”
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
5. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 39
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
6. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The U.S. Government receives a request from Vice President Alexander Stephens of the Confederacy to be given an interview with Lincoln.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
7. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Lincoln’s cabinet discusses CS Vice President Stephens’ request to come to Washington and meet with the US President.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/
8. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Jackson County, Mississippi - Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's IX, XIII, and IV corps set out from Oak Ridge, Mississippi within hours of the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg on July 4. From positions northeast of the city, they marched southeast from Oak Ridge to the Big Black River and Birdsong Ferry on the 5th, 2 divisions of the XVI Corps under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke taking the advance. So began the campaign against Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army at Jackson.
Johnston's advance held the Big Black's east bank at Birdsong Ferry; the west bank was hit by element's of Parke's division after 7:00 A.M., on the 5th, beginning an allday small-arms fight with Confederates on the east bank. Under fire, the Federals could not test the Big Black's depth; the ferryboat they had expected to find was scuttled. Union troops sent scouting parties north and south searching for fords after deploying skirmish companies.
At dark, the water at Birdsong was tested and found "swimming deep". Maj. Willison and Pvt. Joseph Weston swam to the ferry, were fired on, and returned, the fire concealing operations to raise the ferryboat. Fords found north and south were also contested. The next day, the ferryboat was raised, bridges were constructed at fords above and below, the Confederates retired, and the Federals advanced southeast to their first objective, the Vicksburg & Jackson Railroad. A 2nd skirmish followed on the railroad at Bolton Station, east of Jackson on the 8th. Casualties at Birdsong Ferry were insignificant.
[[mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html]]
9. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Lee retreated with his severely weakened army but no attempt was made by Meade’s Army of the Potomac to pursue them such was the weakened state of his force. While Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg is seen as the turning point in the war, it has to be remembered that he withdrew with many Union prisoners.
[[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1863/]]
10. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- Vicksburg, Mississippi – Gen. Grant, not wanting to burden his army and Northern prison camps with 30,000 prisoners at one time, decides to parole the prisoners who surrendered with Pemberton the preceding day. Each man being paroled signs a pledge promising not to re-join Confederate ranks until he is duly exchanged for a Federal prisoner.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
11. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. Federal cavalry under Pierce catch up with Gen. Imboden’s column, and capture 90 of the wagons Stuart had captured on his raid up north, and capture over 600 prisoners.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
12. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. The last of Gen. Ewell’s II Corps withdraws from Gettysburg, but makes little distance to Fairfield, due to the rains and the muddy roads.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
13. Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. The Federal VI Corps under Sedgwick advances, and finds that the Rebels have indeed gone. Sedgwick catches up with a rear-guard brigade from Early’s division near Fairfield, and skirmishing flares up, but with no result.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
14. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Retreat from Gettysburg
• Engagements of Emmitsburg, Maryland
• Engagement at Cashtown Gap, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Caledonia, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Fairfield Gap, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Fairfield, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Greencastle, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Green Oak, Pennsylvania (Greenwood)
• Engagement at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
• Engagement at Cunningham's Crossroads, Pennsylvania (Some report state this skirmish occurred on July 9th)
• Skirmish at Smithsburg, Maryland
• Engagement at Williamsport, Maryland
• Skirmish at Boonsboro, Maryland
• Skirmish at Beaver Creek, Maryland
• Skirmish at Funkstown, Maryland
• Skirmish at Falling Waters, West Virginia
[[emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/civil_war/engagements_in_the_emmitsburg_area.htm]]
15. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Morgan’s Great Raid: Lebanon, Kentucky. Within hours of the fight, the first of what will be at least nine US cavalry regiments (in addition to parts of an artillery battery) to pursue Morgan’s Raiders arrives in Lebanon, but the Confederates have already left.
[[bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/]]
16. Sunday, July 05, 1863: Mississippi operations: General Sherman begins an advance toward Jackson and General Joe Johnston’s army.
[[bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/]]
17. Sunday, July 05, 1863: CS General Lewis Armistead dies in Pennsylvania of his wounds.
[[bjdeming.com/2013/07/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-july-1-7-1863/]]
18. Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Atlanta, Georgia campaign: Per General Sherman: “During the night Johnston drew back all his army and trains inside the tete-du-pont at the Chattahoochee, which proved one of the strongest pieces of field-fortification I ever saw. We closed up against it, and were promptly met by a heavy and severe fire. Thomas was on the main road in immediate pursuit; next on his right was Schofield; and McPherson on the extreme right, reaching the Chattahoochee River below Turner’s Ferry. Stoneman’s cavalry was still farther to the right, along down the Chattahoochee River as far as opposite Sandtown; and on that day I ordered Garrard’s division of cavalry up the river eighteen miles, to secure possession of the factories at Roswell, as well as to hold an important bridge and ford at that place.
About three miles out from the Chattahoochee the main road forked, the right branch following substantially the railroad, and the left one leading straight for Atlanta, via Paice’s Ferry and Buckhead. We found the latter unoccupied and unguarded, and the Fourth Corps (Howard’s) reached the river at Paice’s Ferry. The right-hand road was perfectly covered by the tete-du-pont before described, where the resistance was very severe, and for some time deceived me, for I was pushing Thomas with orders to fiercely assault his enemy, supposing that he was merely opposing us to gain time to get his trains and troops across the Chattahoochee; but, on personally reconnoitring, I saw the abatis and the strong redoubts, which satisfied me of the preparations that had been made by Johnston in anticipation of this very event. While I was with General Jeff. C. Davis, a poor negro [sic] came out of the abatis, blanched with fright, said he had been hidden under a log all day, with a perfect storm of shot, shells, and musket-balls, passing over him, till a short lull had enabled him to creep out and make himself known to our skirmishers, who in turn had sent him back to where we were. This negro explained that he with about a thousand slaves had been at work a month or more on these very lines, which, as he explained, extended from the river about a mile above the railroad-bridge to Turner’s Ferry below,—being in extent from five to six miles.
Therefore, on the 5th of July we had driven our enemy to cover in the valley of the Chattahoochee, and we held possession of the river above for eighteen miles, as far as Roswell, and below ten miles to the mouth of the Sweetwater. Moreover, we held the high ground and could overlook his movements, instead of his looking down on us, as was the case at Kenesaw.
From a hill just back of Mining’s Station I could see the houses in Atlanta, nine miles distant, and the whole intervening valley of the Chattahoochee; could observe the preparations for our reception on the other side, the camps of men and large trains of covered wagons; and supposed, as a matter of course, that Johnston had passed the river with the bulk of his army, and that he had only left on our side a corps to cover his bridges; but in fact he had only sent across his cavalry and trains. Between Howard’s corps at Paice’s Ferry and the rest of Thomas’s army pressing up against this tete-du-pont, was a space concealed by dense woods, in crossing which I came near riding into a detachment of the enemy’s cavalry; and later in the same day Colonel Frank Sherman, of Chicago, then on General Howard’s staff, did actually ride straight into the enemy’s camp, supposing that our lines were continuous. He was carried to Atlanta, and for some time the enemy supposed they were in possession of the commander-in-chief of the opposing army.
I knew that Johnston would not remain long on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, for I could easily practise on that ground to better advantage our former tactics of intrenching a moiety in his front, and with the rest of our army cross the river and threaten either his rear or the city of Atlanta itself, which city was of vital importance to the existence not only of his own army, but of the Confederacy itself.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/06/29/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-30-july-6-1864/
A Friday, July 05, 1861: Battle of Carthage, Missouri. Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Lyon had chased Governor Claiborne Jackson and approximately 4,000 Missouri State Militia from the capital, Jefferson City, to Boonville, and continued to pursue them. Col. Franz Sigel led another force of about 1,000 Union troops into southwest Missouri in search of the governor and the militia. On July 4th, after learning that Sigel had encamped at Carthage, Jackson formulated a plan to attack the much smaller Union force. On the morning of July 5th, Jackson advanced towards Sigel, established a battle line on a ridge ten miles north of Carthage, and inticed Sigel to attack him. Opening with artillery fire, Sigel closed to the attack. Seeing a large Confederate force—actually unarmed recruits—moving into the woods on his left, he feared that they would turn his flank. He withdrew. The Confederates pursued, but Sigel conducted a successful rearguard action. By evening, Sigel was inside Carthage and under cover of darkness; he retreated to Sarcoxie. The battle had little meaning, but the pro-Southern elements in Missouri, anxious for any good news, championed their first victory.
[[civilwar.org/battlefields/carthage/battle-of-carthage.html]]
A Friday, July 05, 1861: A battle at Carthage, Missouri, ended when Union troops commanded by General Sigel had to withdraw as a result of facing a much larger force. Though casualties were light (13 Union dead and 50 Confederate dead) the withdrawal was a blow to what had been a successful Union advance through Missouri.
{[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1861/]]
A++ Friday, July 05, 1861: Advancing Union troops under Gen. Franz Sigel run into the Missouri State Guard near Carthage, Missouri, in the southwestern part of the state. The Missouri troops, although undisciplined and poorly armed, attack Sigel’s flanks and force him to retreat. The Rebels claim a victory.
{{civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1861]]
B Sunday, July 05, 1863: Bardstown, Kentucky. Capt. Ralph Sheldon leading several hundred Confederates of Company C 2nd Kentucky Cavalry descended on Bardstown on Sunday morning July 5, 1863. They drove the hand full of Union troops occupying Bardstown into a livery stable two blocks north of the courthouse. Lt. Thomas W. Sullivan of the 4th U. S. Cavalry took up position in the livery stable and defended it for several hours against the attacking Confederates.
Capt. Ralph Sheldon – Sheldon’s company forced the Union defenders to take refuge in the stable, but he could not dislodge them.
After the initial assault, Capt. Sheldon demanded the Union troops surrender. Lt. Sullivan rejected the demand and the battle resumed and continued all evening. To prevent the trapped Union soldiers from escaping Capt. Sheldon had his men stretch ropes across the street. The Confederates even tried to set the stable on fire, all to no avail, the Union soldiers put out the fire and continued to resist the Confederates.
{{.trailsrus.com/morgan/bardstown.html]]
B Sunday, July 05, 1863: Bardstown, Kentucky. On July 5, a 25-man detachment from the 4th U.S. Cavalry, under Lt. ?? Sullivan, was surrounded in the town of Bardstown by over 300 Confederates, under Col. R.C. Morgan. Sullivan's men gathered in a stable and fortified their position. The Confederates gathered up some rope and strung it around the streets outside of the Union position. This was to keep the Federals from trying to escape the stable.
Morgan gave Sullivan several ultimatums for the Union surrender. Sullivan refused time after time to give up. Morgan did not rush the stable because he knew that it would cost him plenty of his soldiers, which he could not afford to lose. He decided to surround the stable and wait out the Union force.
Finally, after sporadic firing for over 24 hours, Morgan brought in some of artillery pieces to surround the stable. Once Sullivan saw the Confederate artillery, he decided that to keep holding out was useless and surrendered his force.
{{mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html]]
C Sunday, July 05, 1863 --- The Gettysburg Campaign. Toward evening, Imboden’s advance cavalry approaches the Potomac fords near Williamsport, and finds the pontoon bridges gone. Heavy rains have raised the river so that crossing by fording is impossible.
[[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=July+5%2C+1863]]
C+ Sunday, July 05, 1863: On July 5, after Lee had withdrawn from Gettysburg, Meade wrote his wife his assessment of the battle and set down his reasons for not launching an attack: It was a grand battle, and is in my judgment a most decided victory, though I did not annihilate or bag the Confederate Army. This morning they retreated in great haste into the mountains, leaving their dead unburied and their wounded on the field. They awaited one day, expecting that flushed with success, I would attack them, when they would play their old game of shooting us from behind breastworks. This time, Meade pointed out, he refused to play their game.
Although Meade clearly showed signs of strain from the burden of command in a crucial campaign, he ordered Maj. Gen. William French, stationed at Frederick, Md., to proceed to the ford at Falling Waters, near Williamsport, and destroy the pontoon bridge there. Meade apparently had some hope of trapping Lee north of the Potomac and assumed another major battle would be fought outside Virginia. Nevertheless, he only began his pursuit on July 5, a day after Lee’s withdrawal, leading with the relatively unbloodied VI Corps.
As both the Federal and Confederate armies commenced their race to the Potomac, they left a terrible scene of death and pain. Thousands of bodies lay blackened, bloated and festering in the sun. Before leaving Gettysburg, Meade contracted with a local resident, Samuel Herbst, to organize able-bodied citizens to bury the dead. Additionally, Pennsylvania militiamen, who had been ordered out to meet the emergency of Lee’s invasion, were pressed into the grisly work, fashioning hooks from bayonets and pulling bodies into shallow graves by their belts. There were still more than 21,000 wounded in Gettysburg, 14,500 Northerners and 6,800 Southerners. Since another battle with Lee was expected, most of the Army medical units marched off with Meade, leaving only 106 medical officers, about one-third of whom were operating surgeons. Volunteer nurses from the U.S. Sanitary Commission arrived to help, and fresh food and vegetables purchased from local sources also aided the convalescence of those who were not too seriously hurt.
Of course, in both burials and medical treatment, Northern soldiers received care first. According to some accounts, it took surgeons five days to complete their amputations, while Rebel soldiers lay dying. Not that Confederate soldiers were purposely treated callously — when a torrential rain began on July 4, hundreds of Southern wounded lying near a field hospital in danger of drowning were carried to higher ground by Northern soldiers. There were also instances of Southern women coming north to tend wounded Confederates and being permitted to carry our their mercy missions unhindered.
Some idea of the horrific conditions at Gettysburg in the wake of the battle can be gathered from the account of Cornelia Hancock, a New Jersey Quaker, who arrived to nurse the wounded: A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler until it seemed to possess a palpable, horrible density that could be felt and cut with a knife. At a field hospital the first sight that met our eyes was a collection of semi-conscious but still living human forms, all of whom had been shot through the head and were considered hopeless….Yet a groan came from them and their limbs tossed and twitched.
So important was our movement that no halt for bivouac, though we marched scarcely two miles an hour, was made on our route from Gettysburg to Williamsport — a march of over forty miles. The men and officers on horseback would go to sleep without knowing it, and at one time there was a halt occasioned by all the drivers…being asleep in their saddles. In fact, the whole army was dozing while marching and moved as if under enchantment or a spell — asleep and at the same time walking.
During the retreat, Lee ordered the impressment of horses to replace those lost in battle or those too jaded for further service. The Rebels paid for the horses either in Confederate currency or by giving the owners a written description of the animals confiscated, signed by a Confederate officer. These could be, and were, used by citizens to file a claim with the U.S. government for their losses.
At dawn on July 5, 30 to 40 civilians at Greencastle, Pa., attacked the wagon train and smashed the wheels of 12 wagons with axes. Imboden’s cavalry drove them off, but the Southerners were forced to fend off hit-and-run attacks from Federal cavalry detachments throughout the day. In the late afternoon Imboden’s command reached Williamsport. There they found the Potomac running exceedingly high. Some attention could finally be given to the wounded. Local residents were ordered to take them in while burial squads sought grave sites for those who had not survived the journey. Two flatboats were pressed into service taking the wounded across the swollen river. Those who could walk were ordered to proceed on foot to Winchester. Each flatboat could carry 30 wounded men, and each trip across the river took 15 minutes. It took 40 anxious hours to transport 10,000 wounded to the Virginia shore.
[[civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg/gettysburg-history-articles/battle-of-gettysburg-finale.html]]
D Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Jubal Early [CS] crosses the Potomac River at Harper's Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington D. C.
[[blueandgraytrail.com/year/186407]]
D Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Panic ensued in Washington DC as many believed that the city was just about to be attacked.
[[historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1864/]]
D+ Tuesday, July 05, 1864: CS General Jubal Early crosses the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry and enters Maryland with a division of men. He begins heading east to Washington.
[[bjdeming.com/2014/06/29/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-30-july-6-1864/]]
Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in Kentucky, as he believed that the South was receiving too much help from the state’s citizens. Martial law was introduced throughout the state.
{{historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-july-1864/}}
Tuesday, July 05, 1864: Siege of Petersburg, Virginia: General Grant realizes that Confederate lines are too strong to be taken by frontal assault.
[{bjdeming.com/2014/06/29/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-june-30-july-6-1864/
The Little-Known Battle at Monterey Pass, July 4-5, 1863: Gettysburg 158 Live!
During the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg, a strange and rainy nighttime fight gave way to confused and heavy fighting for control of the mountain pass. Join Kris White and Garry Adelman for a visit to a battlefield that has recently seen some great interpretive upgrades (and has one heck of a view!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3J0sv4y6pA
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace SPC Diana D. CWO4 Terrence Clark SPC Michael Oles SR [SPC Michael Terrell TSgt David L. LTC Thomas Tennant SSG Bill McCoy LTC (Join to see) MAJ (Join to see) Maj John Bell MAJ (Join to see) CWO4 Terrence Clark CWO3 (Join to see) SGM Steve Wettstein MSgt James Parker SMSgt David A Asbury
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Not listed. The most significant event of the 5th of July in the Civil War was didn't happen...30 to 40 civilians in Greencastle, Pa understood but sadly, for Northerners and Southerners, the commanders of the armies on both side did not. I think a strong argument can, easily, be made that if the Union had followed up their victory at Gettysburg and harassed the Army of North Virginia, the war could have been ended that year? It was a different time, with different mindsets but Lee and his troops were reeling and needed to pushed until they broke.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thanks for responding as usual by adding your thoughts about the civil war MSG Brad Sand. I appreciate the thought you put into your responses.
We have the advantage of knowing many things the commanders and soldiers did not at the time.
The bloodiest 3 days in the history of this nation had just shattered the dreams and expectations of the seemingly invincible Army of Northern Virginia. The Federal response to Gettysburg came together each seemingly in the nick of time as fresh forces arrived from various routes.
From the accounts of that time, the southern forces were disheartened but some like corned animals were incredibly lethal.
The northern commanders expected a trap since the Army of Northern Virginia had fooled them so many times in the past. It would have been wonderful if like in WWII the federals had air power to find and destroy the 14 miles of confederate retreating forces.
SrA Christopher Wright SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT John " Mac " McConnell SGT Forrest Stewart SPC (Join to see) LTC Stephen C. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
COL Jean (John) F. B. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Seid Waddell SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG Leo Bell SGT Robert George Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM PO2 Ed C.
We have the advantage of knowing many things the commanders and soldiers did not at the time.
The bloodiest 3 days in the history of this nation had just shattered the dreams and expectations of the seemingly invincible Army of Northern Virginia. The Federal response to Gettysburg came together each seemingly in the nick of time as fresh forces arrived from various routes.
From the accounts of that time, the southern forces were disheartened but some like corned animals were incredibly lethal.
The northern commanders expected a trap since the Army of Northern Virginia had fooled them so many times in the past. It would have been wonderful if like in WWII the federals had air power to find and destroy the 14 miles of confederate retreating forces.
SrA Christopher Wright SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT John " Mac " McConnell SGT Forrest Stewart SPC (Join to see) LTC Stephen C. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
COL Jean (John) F. B. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Capt Seid Waddell SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG Leo Bell SGT Robert George Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM PO2 Ed C.
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The retreat from Gettysburg is important in the sense of, "What could have been," had the Confederates been pursued and attacked. A serious failure on the part of the North's leadership.
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LTC Stephen F.
Thank you my fellow civil war history appreciating friend SSG Bill McCoy for responding and voting up my question. I concur with your assessment.
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