Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 3 at 2016 5:57 PM

2016-06-03T17:57:25-04:00

Sunday, June 1, 1862: Shenandoah Valley: Stonewall Jackson, with about 16,000 men, had arrived in Strasburg, yesterday after a hard march. He worked at getting all of his troops through, and his supply train. Gen. Fremont, with about 12,000 Federals, was 4 miles west of Strasburg, having lost the race to get there first; Gen. Shields is about 10 miles east of Strasburg with 11,000 Federals, and is waiting for Gen. Ord’s division (now commanded by Ricketts) to come up and reinforce him. (Gen. McDowell, who commands Shields and Ricketts, finally arrives at Front Royal.) Gen. Banks is supposed to be pursuing Jackson from the north, with his 5,000 men, but in fact Banks is still safely in Williamsport, Maryland. Jackson sent Ewell with his division to form a line of battle facing west, to keep Fremont from getting close; Union skirmishers engaged the Confederate skirmishers, and artillery from both sides began to duel—but Fremont seemed reluctant to send any attack forward. Ewell knew that Fremont outnumbered him nearly 2 to 1; Fremont thought that Ewell outnumbers him, so neither side attempted an attack. Meanwhile, Shields sent some troops south down the Luray Valley, to get behind Jackson.
Monday, June 1, 1863: Stephen Minot Weld, a Union officer serving in the Army of the Potomac, on the staff of the I Corps, writes in his journal of the boredom of camp life: “The first day of summer, and as dusty and disagreeable a day as one often passes. Nothing of any interest occurred, except in the evening, when we had some officers over here, and the band to play for us. After the band left we had some banjo-playing and nigger dancing. Egbert returned to-day.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1863
Monday, June 1, 1863: Brig. Gen. E.A. Wild arrived in Newbern, North Carolina, the bastion of Union occupation of coastal North Carolina, with the design of raising a brigade of black troops from among the local refugees and “contrabands.” A Samuel A. Glen writes to the New York Herald about the repugnance of many in the Army against this project. The Herald publishes Glen’s observations about this “experiment”: “The advocates of the colored brigade only claim a fair trial for their experiment, unobstructed by the natural prejudices of the white troops, and say that they will stand or fall by the result. They do not object to fair and impartial criticism—to that more powerful weapon, unlicensed and illiberal ridicule—provided the credit they may justly be entitled to shall not be withheld. There is one thing calculated to impair whatever of good may eventually result from the undertaking—if any good is destined to come of it—and that is, the senseless cry and impetuous and misguided zeal of those Northern fanatics who talk, write and act as if there were no other interests involved in the great contest than the elevation of the negro. It is no wonder the white soldier and the white citizen becomes exasperated when these reckless agitators spur and hound on the blacks in a hasty race for premature emancipation. . . . If some of this class of persons [fanatics], or the whole of them, were lodged in Fort Warren, or Lafayette, or anywhere else, so that they could be kept out of the way of harming the cause of the Union by alienating the affections of the white troops from their love and devotion to the old flag, and stirring up angry and resentful feelings all over the country, it would be of vast benefit to the republic and a merciful response to the cry of suffering humanity wherever tyranny exists. But if the honest advocates of the enlistment of negro troops only ask a trial for the sake of showing to the country what their proteges are capable of doing as warriors fighting inspired by the “battle cry of freedom,” there are many who distrust the policy from first to last, but are yet willing to give them a chance. A few weeks will demonstrate their practicability or impracticability in the Department of North Carolina.”
Pictures: 1864 Federal Attack Cold Harbor June 1 evening; cold-harbor-tavern; 1864 Union VI and XVIII Corps Attack - Late in the day the combined force of 6th & 18th Corps divisions met initial success, piercing the Confederate line; xx
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Saturday, June 1, 1861: Battle of Fairfax Court House; Result Inconclusive. The Battle of Fairfax Court House was one of the first land engagements of the American Civil War, when a Union scouting party clashed with the local militia in the village of Fairfax Court House, Virginia on June 1, 1861. It saw the first death in action of a Confederate officer, and the first wounding of a Confederate officer of field grade. The Union had sent a regular cavalry unit under Lieutenant Charles Henry Tompkins to estimate enemy numbers in the locality. At Fairfax Court House, they surprised a small Confederate rifle company under Captain John Quincy Marr, and took some prisoners. Marr rallied his unit, but was killed, and command was taken over by a civilian ex-governor of Virginia, William "Extra Billy" Smith, who forced the Union to retreat.
The engagement is judged to have been inconclusive. The Union did not gain the intelligence it was seeking, and had to delay its drive on Richmond, thus enabling the Confederates to build-up their strength at Manassas in advance of the much-bigger battle there, the following month. Tompkins was criticized for exceeding his orders, although they had been somewhat imprecise.
At about 3:00 a.m. on the especially dark early morning of June 1, 1861, one of the Confederate pickets, Private A. B. Francis, ran into the town of Fairfax Court House shouting that the enemy was upon them. The other picket, B. F. Florence, had been captured. A few of the Prince William cavalry tried to form a battle line in the street while others ran for their horses. As the Union force arrived on the Falls Church Road, most of the Confederate cavalrymen fled, leaving four of the Prince William cavalrymen in the street to be taken prisoner. Captain Marr moved his men into a clover field west of the Methodist church where they had been camped, just off Little River Turnpike, and formed them into two battle lines. Fleeing Confederate cavalrymen from Prince William came upon them and in the dark, some of Marr's men fired at them, wounding one of their own cavalrymen in the process. The Rappahannock cavalrymen had few weapons and no ammunition so they also fled forthwith when the Union soldiers arrived.
According to several accounts, Captain Marr challenged the riders, asking something like "What cavalry is that?" These would have been his last words. Scattered shots were fired as the Union cavalry rode through and Captain Marr fell dead. Some other accounts say he was killed while scouting out a better position for his men a little distance away from their line and do not mention a challenge to the Union horsemen. Whether he had moved up to challenge the Union riders or to scout out a better position for his company as some accounts suggest, Marr was not in the immediate presence or line of sight of any of his men on the very dark night when he fell in the dense field. Soon, no one knew where he was or what may have happened to him. His body was found in the clover field later in the morning.
The Union force rode west through town firing some shots at random. According to many of the accounts of the battle, the Union troopers fired at a man emerging from the hotel in town, who happened to be Lt. Col. Ewell, and wounded him in the shoulder. Regardless of the exact location where Ewell was wounded, he was first Confederate field grade officer wounded in the war.
After the initial flurry of activity, the flight of the Prince William cavalrymen and the ride on through town by the Union force, the men of the Warrenton Rifles infantry company realized that Captain Marr was no longer present. As noted, Marr in fact was already lying dead in the clover field nearby, the first Confederate combat casualty of the war. Most historians have concluded that he was struck by one of the random shots fired by the Union horsemen on their first ride through town. The company was temporarily leaderless after Marr fell because the two lieutenants were on leave and Ewell had not yet arrived on the scene.
Former and subsequent Virginia governor and later major general William "Extra Billy" Smith, who had just resigned his seat in the U.S. Congress, then emerged with his rifle from the house where he was staying on his trip back home to Warrenton from Washington, D.C. Smith, at the time a 64-year-old civilian, was from Warrenton, had helped recruit the company and knew many of the men. So he took charge of the company despite his lack of military training or experience. Ewell soon arrived but Governor Smith had to assure the men that Ewell was who he said he was, the Confederate officer in command, before they would follow him. Ewell then placed the approximately 40 men of the Warrenton Rifles that he found at the edge of the clover field between the hotel and the courthouse (or the Episcopal Church). where they were able to turn the Union force back to the west with a volley as the cavalrymen approached the Confederate position on their return trip through town. The Virginians were not in a good position to defend themselves, however, and after Ewell presently went to find a courier to go for reinforcements, Smith moved the men to a more defensible position behind rail fences about 100 yards closer to the turnpike. Civilians, mostly sheltered in buildings, joined in the shooting at the Union horsemen. This may have contributed to Tompkins's inflation of the number of men his force had encountered.
After having been driven back once by a volley from the Warrenton Rifles and civilian volunteers, the Union force tried to come back through town again. The Warrenton men again forced them to retreat with another three volleys. During the exchange of fire, Lieutenant Tompkins had two horses shot from under him. One fell on him and injured his foot. The Confederates fired additional volleys at the Federals as they tried to pass through town again on their way back to their base at Camp Union near Falls Church, Virginia. After this third failed attempt to ride through town past the Confederates, the Union cavalrymen were forced to leave town through fields toward Flint Hill in the Oakton area of Fairfax County to the north of the City of Fairfax and return to Camp Union by a longer route.
The Confederates initially reported casualties in the affair of one dead (Captain Marr), four (later reduced to two) wounded (including Lt. Col. Ewell) and one missing. A later Confederate account states that only two were wounded, but five were captured, which is in accord with the Union account which states five prisoners were taken and actually names them. The Union force reported one killed, four wounded (including Lt. Tompkins) and one missing. The Union soldier killed was identified as Private Saintclair. The Confederates stated that they took three prisoners and recent accounts agree. The Union force also had lost 9 horses killed and 4 wounded.
B. Sunday, June 1, 1862: CSA Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command of the Army of Northern Virginia, replacing Gen Joseph E. Johnston who was severely wounded at the battle of Seven Pines. At 1:30 p.m., CSA President Jefferson Davis arrived at Confederate headquarters and informed Smith that General Robert E. Lee would take command of the army. At two o'clock Robert E. Lee, out on an inspection of the Confederate lines, arrived and received the command he would retain for the remainder of the war.
C. Sunday, June 1, 1862: Battle of Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks), Virginia. Both sides would claim a costly victory. At 6:45 a.m., Confederate General D. H. Hill renews his attack, but makes little headway against the Federal, who had brought up more reinforcements and fought from strong positions. Brig. Gen. Israel B. Richardson's division of the II Corps had arrived, along with two brigades from Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker's division of the III Corps (the third under Brig. Gen Cuvier Grover was left behind to guard the bridges at White Oak Swamp). They engaged Huger's and Longstreet's divisions, whose lines finally broke under the attacks. Confederate brigadier Robert H. Hatton was killed I the attack. The fighting ended about 11:30 a.m. when the Confederates withdrew. McClellan arrived on the battlefield from his sick bed at about this time, but the Union Army did not counterattack.
Both sides claimed victory with roughly equal casualties, but neither side's accomplishment was impressive. George B. McClellan's advance on Richmond was halted and the Army of Northern Virginia fell back into the Richmond defensive works. Union casualties were 5,031 (790 killed, 3,594 wounded, 647 captured or missing) and Confederate 6,134 (980 killed, 4,749 wounded, 405 captured or missing). The battle was frequently remembered by the Union soldiers as the Battle of Fair Oaks Station because that is where they did their best fighting, whereas the Confederates, for the same reason, called it Seven Pines. Historian Stephen W. Sears remarked that its current common name, Seven Pines, is the most appropriate because it was at the crossroads of Seven Pines that the heaviest fighting and highest casualties occurred.
Despite claiming victory, McClellan was shaken by the experience. He wrote to his wife, "I am tired of the sickening sight of the battlefield, with its mangled corpses & poor suffering wounded! Victory has no charms for me when purchased at such cost
D. Wednesday, June 1, 1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor started. Early in the morning, Confederate infantry under Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson attacked the Union troopers but were driven back with heavy losses—the repeating carbine had drastically improved the combat power of the cavalry. Union infantry reinforcements under Maj. Gen. William “Baldy” Smith and the Federal XVIII Corps arrived throughout the day with the goal of striking the Confederate right flank.
Due to confusion in the orders, Smith’s arrival is delayed. The Old Cold Harbor crossroads is still being contested by cavalry from both sides, however, and as Anderson arrives, reinforced by Hoke’s fresh division, he is ordered to drive off the 6,000 or so blue cavalry under Phil Sheridan and secure the crossroads. Anderson makes a half-hearted affair out of it, sending only one brigade forward. Hoke begins digging earthworks---and does not support the advance. Anderson sends forward another advance, but it too falls back, as Federal infantry begins to arrive and file into line of battle. Horatio G. Wright’s VI Corps arrives, and finally Baldy Smith’s XVIII Corps, and the Federals have amassed a menacing force. On the Federal right, Gen. G.K. Warren struggles to launch an ordered assault, but it never gains momentum.
Smith deployed on the Federal right and launched an attack with two divisions at around 5:00PM. The Yankees blast through the first line of Rebel fortifications, and push on, shattering and disorganizing the Southern troops fleeing. Much of the fighting takes place on the old Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill battlefields. Brigades led by Truex and Emory Upton (of Spotsylvania Mule Shoe fame) lead the breakthrough, but Gen. Russell, commanding Upton’s division, is slow to follow up, mostly due to the fact of Russell himself having been wounded early in the attack. But when Baldy Smith’s troops hit the second Rebel line, heavy rifle fire drives them back. Soon after, Gen. Wright deploys two of his divisions, who also attack, and also shatter the Rebel first line. But at the second line, a complex series of trenches, berms, abatis, and other obstructions to break up the attacking formations, and the Federal attack slows. The attack nevertheless surges ahead, but is bedeviled by flanking fire of Confederates who are not engaged, and who begin to take interest in what is happening on the oblique of their front. The attack slows, falters, and finally falls back.
In the evening, the Federals managed to pierce a weak seam between two Confederate brigades before being repulsed by a desperate counterattack. The day’s fighting cost the two armies roughly 4,000 casualties. Ulysses S. Grant planned another attack for June 2 but postponed it until June 3 in order to give newly arrived soldiers time to rest. Robert E. Lee used the time to greatly strengthen his position. By the end of the day, the Confederates were protected by “a maze and labyrinth of works within works,” according to a Northern journalist.
1. Saturday, June 1, 1861 --- Skirmishes in northern Virginia cause few casualties, but heighten tensions.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1861
2. Saturday, June 1, 1861: Union and Confederate forces met at Fairfax Court House, Virginia. Some of the earliest battle casualties took place here with one soldier killed on both sides.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1861/
3. Sunday, June 1, 1862: Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes command, replacing the wounded Johnston. Lee then renames his force the Army of Northern Virginia. McClellan is not impressed, saying Lee is "likely to be timid and irresolute in action."
http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/
4. Sunday, June 1, 1862: Robert E Lee was given command of the Confederate troops defending Richmond following the wounding of General Johnson. A renewed Confederate assault on Fair Oaks resulted in many Confederate casualties – in total the Confederates lost 8,000 men killed, wounded or missing at Fair Oaks. The Unionists lost nearly 6,000 men in total.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1862/
5. Sunday, June 1, 1862: Robert E. Lee issue the first orders bearing the name Army of Northern Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186206
6. Sunday, June 1, 1862: Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) Virginia. On June 1, the Confederates renewed their assaults against the Federals who had brought up more reinforcements but made little headway. Both sides claimed victory. Confederate brigadier Robert H. Hatton was killed.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/seven-pines/maps/sevenpinesmap1.html
7. Sunday, June 1, 1862 --- Situation, Shenandoah Valley: Jackson, with about 16,000 men, is in Strasburg, which sits astride the Valley Pike; he arrived yesterday, after a hard march. He works at getting all of his troops through, and his supply train. Gen. Fremont, with about 12,000 Federals, was 4 miles west of Strasburg, having lost the race to get there first; Gen. Shields is about 10 miles east of Strasburg with 11,000 Federals, and is waiting for Gen. Ord’s division (now commanded by Ricketts) to come up and reinforce him. (Gen. McDowell, who commands Shields and Ricketts, finally arrives at Front Royal.) Gen. Banks is supposed to be pursuing Jackson from the north, with his 5,000 men, but in fact Banks is still safely in Williamsport, Maryland. Jackson sends Ewell with his division to form a line of battle facing west, to keep Fremont from getting close; Union skirmishers engage the Confederate skirmishers, and artillery from both sides begin to duel—but Fremont seems reluctant to send any attack forward. Ewell knows that Fremont outnumbers him nearly 2 to 1; Fremont thinks that Ewell outnumbers him, so neither side attempts an attack. Meanwhile, Shields sends some troops south down the Luray Valley, to get behind Jackson.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1862
8. Monday, June 1, 1863 --- Siege of Vicksburg, Day 10
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1863
9. Monday, June 1, 1863 --- Siege of Port Hudson, Day 5
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1863
10. Monday, June 1, 1863: Ambrose Burnside orders the Chicago Times to close because of the paper's anti-Lincoln rhetoric.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186306
11. Monday, June 1, 1863 --- Maj. Gen. John McClernand, commander of the XIII Corps in Grant’s Army of the Tennessee, issues a letter of congratulations to his corps for their service in the recent attacks on the Vicksburg defenses. At the time of the assault of May 22, McClernand falsely claimed that he had captures a couple of Confederate strong points, in a bid to get Grant to send him more reinforcements from other corps, so that he might indeed accomplish the break-through himself that he now falsely claimed---and thus become the hero of capturing Vicksburg. Grant had discovered the bogus nature of McClernand’s request, and therefore denied him the reinforcements. McClernand’s letter of this date details the claim that the XIII Corps could have carried the works, had Grant provided the requested reinforcements: that McClernand’s requested assistance surely, “by massing a strong force in time upon a weakened point, would have probably insured success.” However, McClernand commits one error that Grant cannot ignore: instead of submitting his Order to Grant’s headquarters for approval, he gives copies to reporters for two newspapers back in Illinois which are his political allies. This is a violation of army regulations.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1863
12. Monday, June 1, 1863 --- Stephen Minot Weld, a Union officer serving in the Army of the Potomac, on the staff of the I Corps, writes in his journal of the boredom of camp life: “The first day of summer, and as dusty and disagreeable a day as one often passes. Nothing of any interest occurred, except in the evening, when we had some officers over here, and the band to play for us. After the band left we had some banjo-playing and nigger dancing. Egbert returned to-day.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1863
13. Monday, June 1, 1863 --- Brig. Gen. E.A. Wild has arrived in Newbern, North Carolina, the bastion of Union occupation of coastal North Carolina, with the design of raising a brigade of black troops from among the local refugees and “contrabands.” A Samuel A. Glen writes to the New York Herald about the repugnance of many in the Army against this project. The Herald publishes Glen’s observations about this “experiment”: “The advocates of the colored brigade only claim a fair trial for their experiment, unobstructed by the natural prejudices of the white troops, and say that they will stand or fall by the result. They do not object to fair and impartial criticism—to that more powerful weapon, unlicensed and illiberal ridicule—provided the credit they may justly be entitled to shall not be withheld. There is one thing calculated to impair whatever of good may eventually result from the undertaking—if any good is destined to come of it—and that is, the senseless cry and impetuous and misguided zeal of those Northern fanatics who talk, write and act as if there were no other interests involved in the great contest than the elevation of the negro. It is no wonder the white soldier and the white citizen becomes exasperated when these reckless agitators spur and hound on the blacks in a hasty race for premature emancipation. . . . If some of this class of persons [fanatics], or the whole of them, were lodged in Fort Warren, or Lafayette, or anywhere else, so that they could be kept out of the way of harming the cause of the Union by alienating the affections of the white troops from their love and devotion to the old flag, and stirring up angry and resentful feelings all over the country, it would be of vast benefit to the republic and a merciful response to the cry of suffering humanity wherever tyranny exists. But if the honest advocates of the enlistment of negro troops only ask a trial for the sake of showing to the country what their proteges are capable of doing as warriors fighting inspired by the “battle cry of freedom,” there are many who distrust the policy from first to last, but are yet willing to give them a chance. A few weeks will demonstrate their practicability or impracticability in the Department of North Carolina.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1863
14. Wednesday, June 1, 1864 --- Atlanta Campaign: In a nick-of-time maneuver, Gen. George Stoneman, with most of Sherman’s cavalry, arrives at Allatoona Pass to secure it from multiple threats by Southern cavalry.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1864
15. Wednesday, June 1, 1864 --- John Hunt Morgan, back in action in Kentucky, is one again raiding the Federal supply line there, and Nathan Bedford Forrest, in Tupelo, Mississippi as his base, prepares to strike north into Tennessee to disrupt that same supply line. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis is given a division of infantry, another of cavalry, and a battalion of artillery to use Memphis as a home base and advance against Forrest and Forrest’s base.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1864
16. Wednesday, June 1, 1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor started. Grant attacked Lee’s position near to the 1862 Seven Days battlefields.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1864/
17. Wednesday, June 1, 1864: Sherman sent out nearly 7,000 troops (3,000 cavalry troopers and nearly 4,000 infantry) to hunt down the cavalry of Bedford Forrest, who continued to be a serious problem along Sherman’s supply lines. It was Bedford Forrest’s cavalry that was associated with the Fort Pillow, Tennessee, incident.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/the-american-civil-war/american-civil-war-june-1864/
18. Wednesday, June 1, 1864: Skirmish at Allatoona Pass, Georgia near the Western and Atlantic Railroad
http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Western_and_Atlantic_Railroad
19. Wednesday, June 1, 1864: Don Carlos Buell resigns his commission.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/event/Western_and_Atlantic_Railroad
A Saturday, June 1, 1861: Battle of Fairfax Court House; Result Inconclusive
The Battle of Fairfax Court House was one of the first land engagements of the American Civil War, when a Union scouting party clashed with the local militia in the village of Fairfax Court House, Virginia on June 1, 1861. It saw the first death in action of a Confederate officer, and the first wounding of a Confederate officer of field grade.
The Union had sent a regular cavalry unit under Lieutenant Charles Henry Tompkins to estimate enemy numbers in the locality. At Fairfax Court House, they surprised a small Confederate rifle company under Captain John Quincy Marr, and took some prisoners. Marr rallied his unit, but was killed, and command was taken over by a civilian ex-governor of Virginia, William "Extra Billy" Smith, who forced the Union to retreat.
The engagement is judged to have been inconclusive. The Union did not gain the intelligence it was seeking, and had to delay its drive on Richmond, thus enabling the Confederates to build-up their strength at Manassas in advance of the much-bigger battle there, the following month. Tompkins was criticized for exceeding his orders, although they had been somewhat imprecise.
Battle
At about 3:00 a.m. on the especially dark early morning of June 1, 1861, one of the Confederate pickets, Private A. B. Francis, ran into the town of Fairfax Court House shouting that the enemy was upon them. The other picket, B. F. Florence, had been captured. A few of the Prince William cavalry tried to form a battle line in the street while others ran for their horses. As the Union force arrived on the Falls Church Road, most of the Confederate cavalrymen fled, leaving four of the Prince William cavalrymen in the street to be taken prisoner. Captain Marr moved his men into a clover field west of the Methodist church where they had been camped, just off Little River Turnpike, and formed them into two battle lines. Fleeing Confederate cavalrymen from Prince William came upon them and in the dark, some of Marr's men fired at them, wounding one of their own cavalrymen in the process. The Rappahannock cavalrymen had few weapons and no ammunition so they also fled forthwith when the Union soldiers arrived.
According to several accounts, Captain Marr challenged the riders, asking something like "What cavalry is that?" These would have been his last words. Scattered shots were fired as the Union cavalry rode through and Captain Marr fell dead. Some other accounts say he was killed while scouting out a better position for his men a little distance away from their line and do not mention a challenge to the Union horsemen. Whether he had moved up to challenge the Union riders or to scout out a better position for his company as some accounts suggest, Marr was not in the immediate presence or line of sight of any of his men on the very dark night when he fell in the dense field. Soon, no one knew where he was or what may have happened to him. His body was found in the clover field later in the morning.
The Union force rode west through town firing some shots at random. According to many of the accounts of the battle, the Union troopers fired at a man emerging from the hotel in town, who happened to be Lt. Col. Ewell, and wounded him in the shoulder. Regardless of the exact location where Ewell was wounded, he was first Confederate field grade officer wounded in the war.
After the initial flurry of activity, the flight of the Prince William cavalrymen and the ride on through town by the Union force, the men of the Warrenton Rifles infantry company realized that Captain Marr was no longer present. As noted, Marr in fact was already lying dead in the clover field nearby, the first Confederate combat casualty of the war. Most historians have concluded that he was struck by one of the random shots fired by the Union horsemen on their first ride through town. The company was temporarily leaderless after Marr fell because the two lieutenants were on leave and Ewell had not yet arrived on the scene.
Former and subsequent Virginia governor and later major general William "Extra Billy" Smith, who had just resigned his seat in the U.S. Congress, then emerged with his rifle from the house where he was staying on his trip back home to Warrenton from Washington, D.C. Smith, at the time a 64-year-old civilian, was from Warrenton, had helped recruit the company and knew many of the men. So he took charge of the company despite his lack of military training or experience. Ewell soon arrived but Governor Smith had to assure the men that Ewell was who he said he was, the Confederate officer in command, before they would follow him. Ewell then placed the approximately 40 men of the Warrenton Rifles that he found at the edge of the clover field between the hotel and the courthouse (or the Episcopal Church). where they were able to turn the Union force back to the west with a volley as the cavalrymen approached the Confederate position on their return trip through town. The Virginians were not in a good position to defend themselves, however, and after Ewell presently went to find a courier to go for reinforcements, Smith moved the men to a more defensible position behind rail fences about 100 yards closer to the turnpike. Civilians, mostly sheltered in buildings, joined in the shooting at the Union horsemen. This may have contributed to Tompkins's inflation of the number of men his force had encountered.
After having been driven back once by a volley from the Warrenton Rifles and civilian volunteers, the Union force tried to come back through town again. The Warrenton men again forced them to retreat with another three volleys. During the exchange of fire, Lieutenant Tompkins had two horses shot from under him. One fell on him and injured his foot. The Confederates fired additional volleys at the Federals as they tried to pass through town again on their way back to their base at Camp Union near Falls Church, Virginia. After this third failed attempt to ride through town past the Confederates, the Union cavalrymen were forced to leave town through fields toward Flint Hill in the Oakton area of Fairfax County to the north of the City of Fairfax and return to Camp Union by a longer route.
The Confederates initially reported casualties in the affair of one dead (Captain Marr), four (later reduced to two) wounded (including Lt. Col. Ewell) and one missing. A later Confederate account states that only two were wounded, but five were captured, which is in accord with the Union account which states five prisoners were taken and actually names them. The Union force reported one killed, four wounded (including Lt. Tompkins) and one missing. The Union soldier killed was identified as Private Saintclair. The Confederates stated that they took three prisoners and recent accounts agree. The Union force also had lost 9 horses killed and 4 wounded.
Background
On April 15, 1861, the day after the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Sumter in the harbor Charleston, South Carolina to Confederate forces, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to reclaim federal property and to suppress the rebellion begun by the seven Deep South states which had formed the Confederate States of America (Confederacy). Four Upper South States, including Virginia, refused to furnish troops for this purpose and began the process of secession from the Union with the intent of joining the Confederacy. On April 17, 1861, the Virginia Secession Convention began in Richmond, Virginia for the purpose of considering the secession of Virginia. A majority of the delegates immediately passed an ordinance of secession and authorized the governor to call for volunteers to join the military forces of Virginia to defend the state against Federal military action. Virginia Governor John Letcher appointed Robert E. Lee as commander in chief of Virginia’s army and navy forces on April 22, 1861 at the grade of major general. On April 24, Virginia and the Confederate States agreed that the Virginia forces would be under the overall direction of the Confederate President pending completion of the process of Virginia joining the Confederate States. These actions effectively took Virginia out of the Union despite the scheduling of a popular vote on the question of secession for May 23, 1861.
The popular vote of May 23, 1861 ratified the secession of Virginia. Virginia Governor Letcher issued a proclamation officially transferring Virginia forces to the Confederacy on June 6, 1861. Major General Lee, as commander of the state forces, issued an order in compliance with the proclamation on June 8, 1861.
On May 31, 1861, about 210 Virginia (soon to be Confederate) soldiers, occupied Fairfax Court House, about 13.5 miles (21.7 km) west of Washington, D.C. These were 120 cavalrymen in two companies, the Prince William cavalry and the Rappahannock cavalry, which then had about 60 men each, and about 90 infantrymen in a company known as the Warrenton Rifles. Fairfax Court House was a village with about 300 inhabitants and the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia. Confederate Lt. Col. Richard S. Ewell, who had recently resigned as a captain of cavalry in the United States Army was in command of this largely untrained and ill-equipped force. He had only just arrived in town and met a few officers but had not been introduced to the enlisted men. Captain John Q. Marr commanded the Warrenton Rifles. On the night of May 31, 1861, only two pickets were posted on the road east of town because little threat of attack from Federal forces who were no closer than 8 miles (13 km) away was expected. The small Virginia force had taken this advanced position to help protect against the discovery of the build up of Confederate forces at Manassas Junction, Virginia, a railroad junction about 10 miles (16 km) farther to the south.
On the same day, Brigadier General David Hunter gave verbal orders to Lieutenant Charles Henry Tompkins of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry Regiment to gather information about the numbers and location of Confederate forces in the area. Hunter's instructions about entering Fairfax Court House were vague but he seemed to encourage a probe into town to discover more information. At about 10:30 p.m. on the night of May 31, 1861, Tompkins led a Union force of between 50 and 86 regular army cavalrymen, dragoons and a few volunteers from Camp Union at Falls Church, Virginia, on the ordered reconnaissance mission in the direction of Fairfax Court House.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fairfax_Court_House_(June_1861)
B Sunday, June 1, 1862: Jefferson Davis replaces wounded Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston with Robert E. Lee.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186206
C Sunday, June 1, 1862: Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) Virginia. The next morning, June 1, at 6:45, Hill's division renewed attacks in its sector, but, failing to make much headway, ended the effort by 11:30 a.m. Equally exhausted and disorganized by the fighting, the Union troops also settled into their positions. The Battle of Seven Pines–Fair Oaks had ended.
At 1:30 p.m., Davis arrived at Confederate headquarters and informed Smith that General Robert E. Lee would take command of the army. At two o'clock Lee, out on an inspection of the Confederate lines, arrived and received the command he would retain for the remainder of the war.
Time Line
June 1, 1862, 6:45 a.m. - Confederate General D. H. Hill renews his attack, but makes little headway at the Battle of Seven Pines–Fair Oaks.
June 1, 1862, 2 p.m. - Confederate president Jefferson Davis assigns Confederate general Robert E. Lee to command the Army of Northern Virginia after Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston is wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines–Fair Oaks.
http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/seven_pines_battle_of
C+ Sunday, June 1, 1862: Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks) Virginia. The Confederates renewed their assaults against the Federals, who had brought up more reinforcements and fought from strong positions, but made little headway. Brig. Gen. Israel B. Richardson's division of the II Corps had arrived, along with two brigades from Brig. Gen. Joseph Hooker's division of the III Corps (the third under Brig. Gen Cuvier Grover was left behind to guard the bridges at White Oak Swamp). They engaged Huger's and Longstreet's divisions, whose lines finally broke under the attacks. The fighting ended about 11:30 a.m. when the Confederates withdrew. McClellan arrived on the battlefield from his sick bed at about this time, but the Union Army did not counterattack.
Aftermath
Both sides claimed victory with roughly equal casualties, but neither side's accomplishment was impressive. George B. McClellan's advance on Richmond was halted and the Army of Northern Virginia fell back into the Richmond defensive works. Union casualties were 5,031 (790 killed, 3,594 wounded, 647 captured or missing) and Confederate 6,134 (980 killed, 4,749 wounded, 405 captured or missing). The battle was frequently remembered by the Union soldiers as the Battle of Fair Oaks Station because that is where they did their best fighting, whereas the Confederates, for the same reason, called it Seven Pines. Historian Stephen W. Sears remarked that its current common name, Seven Pines, is the most appropriate because it was at the crossroads of Seven Pines that the heaviest fighting and highest casualties occurred.
Despite claiming victory, McClellan was shaken by the experience. He wrote to his wife, "I am tired of the sickening sight of the battlefield, with its mangled corpses & poor suffering wounded! Victory has no charms for me when purchased at such cost." He redeployed all of his army except for the V Corps south of the river, and although he continued to plan for a siege and the capture of Richmond, he lost the strategic initiative. An offensive begun by the new Confederate commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee, would be planned while the Union troops passively sat in the outskirts of Richmond.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Seven_Pines
Sunday, June 1, 1862 --- Battle of Seven Pines (or Fair Oaks), Virginia
Day 2 In the morning, Gen. G.W. Smith, now in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, orders the attacks to resume. In the Union line, Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick’s division has arrived from north of the Chickahominy to reinforce their comrades, and he and Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couch form the right flank. On the left flank is principally Richardson’s division, at right angles to Sedgwick. Longstreet launches the attacks against the Union left, keeping Hill’s battered division in reserve, and sending in Richard Anderson’s division to hit Richardson. Hooker’s division comes up to reinforce Richardson, and Longstreet and Huger’s troops waste themselves against this defense, and finally retreat in defeat. Gen. Smith holds more troops in reserve but never puts them into the battle. This second day is more of a win for the Union, but combined with Hill’s brilliant attacks of the preceding day, most historians call this a draw or stalemate. A number of commanders on both sides, including Hampton, Pettigrew, and Howard, are wounded in this battle.
Battle of Seven Pines, Day 2; Stalemate
Losses: Killed Wounded Missing Total
U.S. 790 3,594 647 5,031
C.S. 980 4,749 405 6,134
However, the most significant result of this battle is that Pres. Davis, after one day of command, takes away command of the army from Gen. G. W. Smith and gives it to Robert E. Lee.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1862
D Wednesday, June 1, 1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor started. Early on June 1, Confederate infantry attacked the Union troopers but were driven back with heavy losses—the repeating carbine had drastically improved the combat power of the cavalry. Union infantry reinforcements arrived throughout the day. In the evening, the Federals managed to pierce a weak seam between two Confederate brigades before being repulsed by a desperate counterattack. The day’s fighting cost the two armies roughly 4,000 casualties. Ulysses S. Grant planned another attack for June 2 but postponed it until June 3 in order to give newly arrived soldiers time to rest. Robert E. Lee used the time to greatly strengthen his position. By the end of the day, the Confederates were protected by “a maze and labyrinth of works within works,” according to a Northern journalist.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/coldharbor/cold-harbor-history-articles/10-facts/
D+ Wednesday, June 1, 1864 --- Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia [May 31-June 12, 1864]
Day 1: Fearful of Maj. Gen. William “Baldy” Smith and the Federal XVIII Corps being brought in to strike the Confederate right flank, Gen. Robert E. Lee has ordered Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson (commanding Longstreet’s First Corps) to send reinforcements to the right. But due to confusion in the orders, Smith’s arrival is delayed. The Old Cold Harbor crossroads is still being contested by cavalry from both sides, however, and as Anderson arrives, reinforced by Hoke’s fresh division, he is ordered to drive off the 6,000 or so blue cavalry under Sheridan and secure the crossroads. Anderson makes a half-hearted affair out of it, sending only one brigade forward. Hoke begins digging earthworks---and does not support the advance. Anderson sends forward another advance, but it too falls back, as Federal infantry begins to arrive and file into line of battle. Horatio G. Wright’s VI Corps arrives, and finally Baldy Smith’s XVIII Corps, and the Federals have amassed a menacing force. (On the Federal right, Gen. G.K. Warren struggles to launch an ordered assault, but it never gains momentum.)
June 1, afternoon As Smith deploys on the Federal right, he launches an attack with two divisions at around 5:00PM. The Yankees blast through the first line of Rebel fortifications, and push on, shattering and disorganizing the Southern troops fleeing. Much of the fighting takes place on the old Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill battlefields. Brigades led by Truex and Emory Upton (of Spotsylvania Mule Shoe fame) lead the breakthrough, but Gen. Russell, commanding Upton’s division, is slow to follow up, mostly due to the fact of Russell himself having been wounded early in the attack. But when Baldy Smith’s troops hit the second Rebel line, heavy rifle fire drives them back. Soon after, Gen. Wright deploys two of his divisions, who also attack, and also shatter the Rebel first line. But at the second line, a complex series of trenches, berms, abatis, and other obstructions to break up the attacking formations, and the Federal attack slows. The attack nevertheless surges ahead, but is bedeviled by flanking fire of Confederates who are not engaged, and who begin to take interest in what is happening on the oblique of their front. The attack slows, falters, and finally falls back.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1%2C+1864
FYI SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Franklin Briant CPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell 1stSgt Eugene Harless PO3 Private RallyPoint MemberMSG Greg Kelly CPT Private RallyPoint Member LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant SPC Michael Terrell SPC Robert Treat GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad GySgt Jack Wallace PO1 Sam Deel LTC David Brown LTC Private RallyPoint Member SFC Eric Harmon SSG Bill McCoy SPC Private RallyPoint Member

The American Civil War 150 Years Ago Today: Search results for June 1, 1863

A no-frills day-by-day account of what was happening 150 years ago, this blog is intended to be a way that we can experience or remember the Civil War with more immediacy, in addition to understanding the flow of time as we live in it.

What was the most significant event on June 1 during the U.S. Civil War?

What was the most significant event on June 1 during the U.S. Civil War?

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Jun 3 at 2016 5:57 PM

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 3 at 2016 5:57 PM