Response by LTC Stephen F. made May 3 at 2016 9:30 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Tue, 03 May 2016 21:30:55 -0400

1862: The aftermath of Shiloh left the Union armies under Halleck awaiting orders in the vicinity of Shiloh and Pittsburgh Landing TN while CSA Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, with his army of Shiloh veterans, the Army of the Mississippi, does his best to stir them to defend Corinth, MS with its railroad networks.
1864: On the eve of the Battle of the wilderness the opposing armies are preparing to move each aware that the other side is making preparations but without concrete intelligence on the plans. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant issues orders for the Army of the Potomac to move beginning tomorrow, May 3, at midnight. On May 2, 1864, CSA Gen Robert E. Lee met with his senior officers atop Clark’s Mountain, a high point just south of the Rapidan River and the location of one of his best observation posts and signal stations. A staff officer, Major Jedediah Hotchkiss, later wrote that Lee had ‘concluded from the bustle in the Federal camps that an early movement was in contemplation.’
Pictures: 1863 death of stonewall Jackson; 1863 Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, USA; 1864 Gen. Robert Edward Lee, CSA; 1864 Lt Gen U.S. Grant
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. Friday, May 2, 1862: Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, with his army of Shiloh veterans, the Army of the Mississippi, issues a proclamation to his soldiers promising that they would defend Corinth from Yankee depredations: "We are about to meet once more in the shock of battle the invaders of our soil, the despoilers of our homes, the disturbers of our family ties. . . . Face to face, hand to hand, we are to decide whether we are to be freemen or the vile slaves of those who are free only in name, and who but yesterday were vanquished, although in largely superior numbers, in their own encampments on the ever-memorable field of Shiloh." Still under the delusion that Shiloh was a Confederate victory, Beauregard commands about 46,000 men at Corinth, having been reinforced by Van Dorn’s erstwhile Army of the West (fresh from defeat at Pea Ridge in March). Significantly, however, the Union combined armies of Grant, Buell, and Pope, under field command of Gen. Halleck, was still camped at Shiloh, and had not budged one inch toward following up the Rebel retreat from that battle.
B. Saturday, May 2, 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville Day 3 Jackson's Flank
After learning that the Union right flank was "hanging in the air," Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson settled upon a highly aggressive plan to march Jackson's forces around the Union positions and onto that exposed flank. After a hard and dusty march on May 2, Jackson's column reached its jumping off point for their attack upon the unsuspecting Federal right flank. At 5:20 pm, Jackson’s line surged forward in an overwhelming attack that crushed the Union Twelfth Corps. However, some Federal troops did rally, resist the advance, and counterattack. Disorganization and darkness ended the fighting. While making a night reconnaissance, Jackson was shot by his own troops in the darkness and fell mortally wounded—a serious blow to the Army of Northern Virginia.
J.E.B. Stuart took temporary command of Jackson’s Corps. On May 3, the Confederates attacked with both wings of the army and massed their artillery at Hazel Grove. This finally broke the Federal line at Chancellorsville. Hooker withdrew a mile and entrenched in a defensive “U” with his back to the river at United States Ford. On the night of May 5-6, after Union reverses at Salem Church, Hooker crossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock. This battle is considered by many historians to be Lee’s greatest victory.
C. Monday, May 2, 1864: Francis Smith, the Commandant of the Virginia Military Institute, writes a letter to Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, who is in command of Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley. Smith offers the Corps of Cadets of VMI, and all of its resources, as reinforcements to Breckinridge, now that it is clear Gen. Franz Sigel is advancing southward up the valley with a Federal army. He mentions Gen. Lee’s instructions to him to make his troops available for service: Under these instructions and suggestions, I now respectfully report to you for such orders as the emergencies of the approaching campaign may call forth. The Corps of Cadets numbers an aggregate of 280, of whom 250 may be relied upon for active duty, leaving 30 as necessary guard to the Institute and as disabled. The command is organized as a battalion of infantry of four companies, and is usually accompanied by a section of artillery. It is fully equipped, except in horses, and these are impressed in case of need. We have abundance of ammunition, tents, knapsacks, shovels, and picks, and will be prepared to march at a moment's notice.
D. Monday, May 2, 1864 eve of the battle of the Wilderness in Virginia: Gen. Ulysses S. Grant issues orders for the Army of the Potomac to move beginning tomorrow, May 3, at midnight. Gen. Robert E. Lee has concluded that Lt Gen U.S. Grant will move soon, and probably in the direction of Chancellorsville, in the Wilderness. But he cannot count out a direct advance on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, pushing directly across the Rapidan at that point. Lee has spread Stuart’s cavalry to watch all of the crossings along the river, and waits. The great spring campaign of 1864 was about to get underway. For weeks Confederate General Robert E. Lee had watched the Union forces camped to the north of the Rapidan River grow in size and confidence. On May 2, 1864, he met with his senior officers atop Clark’s Mountain, a high point just south of the Rapidan River and the location of one of his best observation posts and signal stations. A staff officer, Major Jedediah Hotchkiss, later wrote that Lee had ‘concluded from the bustle in the Federal camps that an early movement was in contemplation.’ Hotchkiss also credited Lee with accurately predicting the exact points where Major General George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac would cross the river. While Lee may have pinpointed the Federal crossings, little he did during the ensuing Battle of the Wilderness indicated he fully understood his enemy’s intentions.
1. Thursday, May 2, 1861: North Carolinian Louis Lenoir wrote home from Fayetteville, sending news of his efforts to acquire uniforms and equipment for the local militia. To Fayetteville May 2nd, 1861
Dear Mame, . . . I consider myself now fully posted in regard to all the preperations [sic] necessary for a military company--Uniforms--haversacks canteens tents & all. The ladies have been exceedingly busy serving for the companies here & I expect they are better provided than any in the state--I think all volunteers armies, at least, ought to be fully equipped--You did not mention the names of any of the volunteers at Lenoir--The Banner will have to go of course. Tell Uncle Will, I say it is anything but patriotic in him to go and get the blues now--It is time now for action & "There is work for every man to do!" If he can't fight, he can plant all those big fields of his--Do you think Uncle Wall will go, really? Well, it is hard to give up our friends--it is dreadful to think of--but if it is necessary for the defense of our rights & our humour; our homes,--we should not raise a finger to keep them. No! Let them go! And God speed them! I cannot quite understand your allusion to Tom--I wrote to him that unless the call were more urgent than at present, I hoped he would be satisfied to go on studying, for I want him to serve his country as a man & not to be cut down, a mere boy: And she will have need of him in the future--perhaps more than now. I exhorted him furthermore to study to make a man for the times & he anounced [sic] that he hoped to be allowed to finish his education unmolested--expressing at the same time, his exceeding willingness to go at the first call. If he should be needed, I shall shed no tear of regret when he starts--We had a trying and crying time yesterday when the Lafayette Light Infantry left for Raleigh, destined for Washington citty [sic]--What a first of May! Fayetteville has never seen such a May day before--How little Capt. Hunt must have anticipated such a picnic--when he offered his boat to the High school for the May day excursion--It was a new and startling sight to us--in this quiet old town--men tearing themselves from their wives and children, fathers & [brothers] to defend their homes against an invading army of their invading countrymen! Judge Shepherd made a short address to them as they stood drawn up on the [shore], the finest looking company of men in NC I expect--presenting them with some elegant flowers from the ladies a last token of the farm-- & the Captain replied briefly--thanking them for their kindness and saying Goodbye! Ah--how mournfully it sounded--I never saw such a shaking of hands--so many goodbyes & God bless you's to be said--at last they were "all aboard!" And moved off after a prayer, & three cheers for the ladies--three cheers for the liberal citizens of Fayetteville-- & three cheers, from our [shore], for the [L.L.I.]--while the band played a very pretty piece which was echoed & reached along the shady banks of their beloved Cape Fear--It was a touching scene & tears streamed from the eyes of men and soldiers as well as from women and children as they waved their last adieus--Next Monday it must all be gone over again with the Independent company--Isn't it sad to think how many such partings are taking place all over our land--Perhaps there may be no more fighting after all! But I suppose you know our ports are blockaded! (on paper)--There are two ladies in town whose husbands are in the Northern Army--One sends to his wife, saying how much he & his friends [miss] her, but says they are coming here to cut all our throats as soon as possible, determined to bring the south [sic] its knees if it takes 20 yrs [sic]--she folds up the letters & writes on the back--"I want no more of such love neither do I send you anymore of mine"--To what are we coming? yours, Louis
2. Thursday, May 2, 1861: Baptists and the American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia Pressure builds between the state of Virginia and adjacent Washington, D.C. Both the Union and the Confederacy realize that Virginia will be pivotal in the war. Against this backdrop, the U. S. Navy today blocks the entrances to the James River and Hampton Roads, Virginia. In addition, U.S. sources also seizes two additional Confederate vessels, after having already seized several previously.
Many Virginia Baptist leaders voice loyalty to the Confederacy and church services are noticeably down in attendance as many young men have already left to join the Confederate army. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is aware that Virginians are hastily training their military, and hopes to exploit the Union sentiment prevalent in the western part of the state.
Meanwhile, according to the New York Times: “The Baptist State Convention of Georgia, submitted a communication to the Congress of the seceded States at Montgomery, endorsing, approving, and avowing support to, the Confederate Government, and requesting the said Government to proclaim a day of fasting and prayer, “that God will deliver us from the power of our enemies, and restore peace to the country.”’
http://civilwarbaptists.com/thisdayinhistory/1861-may-02/
3. Friday, May 2, 1862 --- The Richmond Daily Dispatch, ruminating over the significant Southern losses in the past few months—especially that of New Orleans—bolsters Southern pride in the use of small arms, but mourns the lack of skill in the use of shore batteries and river defenses: It cannot be denied that, with one or two exceptions, the gunnery of our shore batteries most have been most miserably managed from the very beginning of this war. We never heard of better marksmen than we are with small arms, nor of more indifferent shots from big guns. All this is, of course, the want of practice, but, whatever the cause, the ships have had it all their own way with the shore batteries. The ships during this war seem to have made up for all their losses in former wars, and to have visited upon the Confederate shore batteries all the pummelings they have received from shore batteries from the beginning of the world. . . . If we cannot so obstruct and defend the James river as to keep the Yankees out of Richmond, we are beneath the Chinese in resources and valor. They obstructed and defended the approaches to their capital in such a way that the powerful English fleet not only failed to pass them, but was almost annihilated. Shame, shame, shame, if we permit these Yankees to accomplish an achievement over us which even Great Britain was not able to accomplish over the Chinese! The scandal and shame of such a transaction would be more ruinous even than a defeat. . . . There must be . . . no second edition of New Orleans, here, and at the doors of this capital we must prepare to explode the ridiculous notion of gunboat invincibility, or prepare to become ourselves the laughing stock of the world.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-2-1862.html
4. Friday, May 2, 1862 --- Captain William Thompson Lusk, of the 24th Massachusetts Infantry, stationed at the Union base at Port Royal, South Carolina, writes home about Spring in the South and the rigors of army life: Beaufort, S. C. May 2d, 1862. My dear Mother: May has opened charmingly in Beaufort. The air is warm but not oppressive. We are luxuriating in green peas, strawberries, blackberries, all the early vegetables, and the fig trees, loaded with fruit, will soon supply us with an abundance of green figs. Fish are supplied by the rivers in great plenty. Indeed we are well supplied with all sorts of good things, so we have little of which we can complain, except inaction. It is now fifteen days since a mail has reached us from the North. . . . A sailing vessel occasionally brings us a newspaper from the North. Otherwise we would be quite separated from the rest of mankind, and would be compelled to consider the North as having regularly seceded from us.
I have received the beautiful flag you sent me. I gave it to the boys of the Company, who were delighted. The other companies are quite envious. Thanks, dear Mother, a thousand times, for the expression of your love. . . .
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-2-1862.html
5. Saturday, May 2, 1863 --- The Washington Chronicle prints a story about a gentleman who applied personally to President Lincoln for a pass to travel to Richmond. "Well," said the President, "I would be very happy to oblige you, if my passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the past two years given passes to 250,000 men to go to Richmond, and not one has got there yet."
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1863
6. Saturday, May 2, 1863 --- Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle of the Royal Army, records his impressions of characters he meets on his journey through Texas, including Sam Houston: In the cars I was introduced to General Samuel Houston, the founder of Texan independence. He told me he was born in Virginia seventy years ago, that he was United States senator at thirty, and governor of Tennessee at thirty-six. He emigrated into Texas in 1832; headed the revolt of Texas, and defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto in 1836. He then became President of the Republic of Texas, which he annexed to the United States in 1845. As Governor of the State in 1860, he had opposed the secession movement, and was deposed. Though evidently a remarkable and clever man, he is extremely egotistical and vain, and much disappointed at having to subside from his former grandeur. The town of Houston is named after him. In appearance he is a tall, handsome old man, much given to chewing tobacco, and blowing his nose with his fingers.
I was also introduced to another "character," Captain Chubb, who told me he was a Yankee by birth, and served as coxswain to the United States ship Java in 1827. He was afterwards imprisoned at Boston on suspicion of being engaged in the slave trade; but he escaped. At the beginning of this war he was captured by the Yankees, when he was in command of the Confederate States steamer Royal Yacht, and taken to New York in chains, where he was condemned to be hung as a pirate; but he was eventually exchanged. I was afterwards told that the slave-trading escapade of which he was accused consisted in his having hired a coloured crew at Boston, and then coolly selling them at Galveston.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1863
7. Monday, May 2, 1864 --- Louisiana: Banks’ retreating troops are still harassed as they trickle into Alexandria. Work on the coffer dam continues apace.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1864
8. Monday, May 2, 1864 --- In Richmond, President Davis opens the new session of the Confederate Congress with a speech, in which he accuses the Northern soldiers of "barbarism."
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1864
A Friday, May 2, 1862 --- Gen. Beauregard, with his army of Shiloh veterans, the Army of the Mississippi, issues a proclamation to his soldiers promising that they would defend Corinth from Yankee depredations: "We are about to meet once more in the shock of battle the invaders of our soil, the despoilers of our homes, the disturbers of our family ties. . . . Face to face, hand to hand, we are to decide whether we are to be freemen or the vile slaves of those who are free only in name, and who but yesterday were vanquished, although in largely superior numbers, in their own encampments on the ever-memorable field of Shiloh." Still under the delusion that Shiloh was a Confederate victory, Beauregard commands about 46,000 men at Corinth, having been reinforced by Van Dorn’s erstwhile Army of the West (fresh from defeat at Pea Ridge in March). Significantly, however, the Union combined armies of Grant, Buell, and Pope, under field command of Gen. Halleck, was still camped at Shiloh, and had not budged one inch toward following up the Rebel retreat from that battle.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-2-1862.html
B Saturday, May 2, 1863: Battle of Chancellorsville; Jackson's Flank Attack - May 2, 1863
After learning that the Union right flank was "hanging in the air," Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson settled upon a highly aggressive plan to march Jackson's forces around the Union positions and onto that exposed flank. After a hard and dusty march on May 2, Jackson's column reached its jumping off point for their attack upon the unsuspecting Federal right flank. At 5:20 pm, Jackson’s line surged forward in an overwhelming attack that crushed the Union Twelfth Corps. However, some Federal troops did rally, resist the advance, and counterattack. Disorganization and darkness ended the fighting. While making a night reconnaissance, Jackson was shot by his own troops in the darkness and fell mortally wounded—a serious blow to the Army of Northern Virginia.
J.E.B. Stuart took temporary command of Jackson’s Corps. On May 3, the Confederates attacked with both wings of the army and massed their artillery at Hazel Grove. This finally broke the Federal line at Chancellorsville. Hooker withdrew a mile and entrenched in a defensive “U” with his back to the river at United States Ford. On the night of May 5-6, after Union reverses at Salem Church, Hooker crossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock. This battle is considered by many historians to be Lee’s greatest victory.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/chancellorsville/maps/chancellorsville-flank-attack-map.html
B+ Saturday, May 2, 1863: General Stonewall Jackson is shot 3 times in a friendly fire incident.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186305
B++ Saturday, May 2, 1863 --- Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia: Day 2 – Having blunted the Federal advance with attacks on the first day, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia splits into two parts. Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson takes his three divisions (Colston, Rodes, and A.P. Hill) on a long, circuitous route south and then west to get around Hooker’s exposed flank—the right flank, which was "in the air" or not anchored on anything. This part of the Union line is held by Gen. Oliver O. Howard’s XI Corps, a patchwork outfit of green troops and veterans with a large proportion of German immigrants in its ranks and officer corps. Howard has his line along the Old Turnpike, which runs lengthwise through the Wilderness.
The rest of Lee’s force—about 14,000 men in the divisions of Anderson and McLaws—is deployed into line facing northwest to oppose principally the XII Corps (Slocum) and the II Corps (Couch). On this flank, the Rebels do some probing and noisy demonstrations, to distract the Yankees. Hooker is concerned enough that he sends for Reynolds and the I Corps from Fredericksburg to bolster his lines.
Jackson, meanwhile, is marching hard, and as he turns the corner at Catherine Furnace onto the Wellford Furnace Road, his columns are spotted by forward pickets of one of Sickles’ Divisoins, under Gen. Birney. At Hazel Grove, Birney orders his artillery to open fire on the Rebels, with little effect. Sickles reports that he observed the gray infantry passing that same spot for 3 hours. Sickles’ alert gets back to Hooker’s Headquarters, along with Sickles’ opinion that the Rebels are retreating. Hooker later relents and allows Sickles to pursue the Rebels he sees. But this advance is slowed down by a spirited demonstration of resistance by a single Georgia regiment. By 5:30, Jackson has all three divisions line up in a column of divisions: Rodes first, with Colston behind him, and A.P. Hill last. Jackson’s lines surge forward at 5:30 and smash into the unprotected flank of Howard’s XI Corps, which offers a few spots of resistance, but finally begins to collapse and deteriorate into clumps of retreated troops. Howard’s corps is routed, and the Rebels move steadily forward, on past Wilderness Church and on down the Turnpike toward Chancellor House. Charles Devens’s division breaks up, although Gen. Carl Schurz, a competent leader, pulls his division from an east-west orientation to a north-south orientation in very little time, and his line is a strong one. However, the Confederates’ line is much longer and, after a while, they lap around Schurz’s flanks, and his men fall back. At Fairview, close to Hooker’s HQ, 37 cannon from the XII Corps form the core of a line, bolstered with infantry cobbled together from the retreating troops, and they serve to stop Jackson’s onward rush. Rodes, and then Colston and Hill, all stop after 7:30, and darkness is falling. Jackson is eager to push on with a new attack by moonlight. He rides out with his staff ahead on the Plank Road to see the disposition of the enemy’s lines. As they turn back, troops from the 18th North Carolina infantry, logically thinking the horsemen to be Yankee cavalry, open fire on the riders, wounding Jackson three times, in the left arm, and wounding several other men. Jackson is down with his wound. Command of his corps falls to A.P. Hill who himself is also wounded in the next volley. J.E.B. Stuart is given command of Jackson’s troops, and Stuart begins to plan for the next day’s attacks.
Jackson loses his arm the next day to amputation, since the bone is shattered. He contracts pneumonia, however, and on May 10 dies from the fever.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1863
C. Monday, May 2, 1864: Francis Smith, the Commandant of the Virginia Military Institute, writes a letter to Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, who is in command of Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley. Smith offers the Corps of Cadets of VMI, and all of its resources, as reinforcements to Breckinridge, now that it is clear Gen. Franz Sigel is advancing southward up the valley with a Federal army. He mentions Gen. Lee’s instructions to him to make his troops available for service: Under these instructions and suggestions, I now respectfully report to you for such orders as the emergencies of the approaching campaign may call forth. The Corps of Cadets numbers an aggregate of 280, of whom 250 may be relied upon for active duty, leaving 30 as necessary guard to the Institute and as disabled. The command is organized as a battalion of infantry of four companies, and is usually accompanied by a section of artillery. It is fully equipped, except in horses, and these are impressed in case of need. We have abundance of ammunition, tents, knapsacks, shovels, and picks, and will be prepared to march at a moment's notice.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1864
D Monday, May 2, 1864 --- Gen. Ulysses S. Grant issues orders for the Army of the Potomac to move beginning tomorrow, May 3, at midnight. His plan: to steal a march, cross the Rapidan quickly, to the east of Lee’s forces near Orange Court House, and then to push south through the Wilderness into open country. The Army of the Potomac has over 120,000 men, comprised of about 100,000 infantry soldiers, 12,000 cavalry troopers, and nearly 10,000 artillerymen. Facing Grant is Robert E. Lee with about 55,000 infantry soldiers, 10,000 cavalry troopers, and about 5,500 artillerymen. Longstreet, with 10,000 of that infantry, is farther south than the rest of the army, and might not be able to be within reach for support in case Lee’s right is attacked.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1864
D+ Monday, May 2, 1864 --- Gen. Lee has concluded that Grant will move soon, and probably in the direction of Chancellorsville, in the Wilderness. But he cannot count out a direct advance on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, pushing directly across the Rapidan at that point. Lee has spread Stuart’s cavalry to watch all of the crossings along the river, and waits.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+2%2C+1864
D++ Monday, May 2, 1864: Robert E. Lee The great spring campaign of 1864 was about to get underway. For weeks Confederate General Robert E. Lee had watched the Union forces camped to the north of the Rapidan River grow in size and confidence. On May 2, 1864, he met with his senior officers atop Clark’s Mountain, a high point just south of the Rapidan River and the location of one of his best observation posts and signal stations. A staff officer, Major Jedediah Hotchkiss, later wrote that Lee had ‘concluded from the bustle in the Federal camps that an early movement was in contemplation.’ Hotchkiss also credited Lee with accurately predicting the exact points where Major General George G. Meade’s Army of the Potomac would cross the river. While Lee may have pinpointed the Federal crossings, little he did during the ensuing Battle of the Wilderness indicated he fully understood his enemy’s intentions.
The next day, May 3, Lee telegraphed his assessment of the situation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond. After ticking off the reported movements of Union forces as close as Virginia and as far away as Florida, Lee cautioned Davis to ‘look to see them operating against Richmond, and make…preparations accordingly.’ During the night of May 3 Lee was disturbed by reports from Clark’s Mountain that the Union army had begun to move. A query to the signal station brought back word that it was too dark to determine the precise direction of the Yankee movement. The officer in charge was told to report the enemy’s direction as soon as it was light. Lee ordered Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s II Corps to be ready to march at dawn.
More information continued to arrive during the pre-dawn hours of May 4 as Lee pondered a critical question–which way was the Union army coming at him? Would the Federals feint to the east and then bring the weight of their strength against Lee’s western flank? Was it more probable that the Union host would shift to the east and either cross the Rapidan River near Chancellorsville or the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg? Detachments of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry were spread along the Rapidan at every major ford to spot any crossings and gather intelligence about the composition of the forces involved. Reports began trickling in throughout the early morning hours.
The weather was clear on May 4, and Lee’s spotting stations had no trouble gauging the direction of the enemy’s march. At 9:30 a.m. came word that the Federals seemed to be moving to the right and heading for Germanna Ford and Ely’s Ford. Although Lee had correctly guessed the locations of the crossings and had been positively informed of the Northern march routes, it was not until midday that he became convinced the Union columns were definitely moving to his right. Only after making that determination did he allow his own various army corps to begin their marches. Orders went out to Ewell (whose men had been standing ready since dawn) to move his 17,000 men east along the Orange Turnpike. At the same time, Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill was told to march his III Corps, some 22,000 strong, east from the Orange Court House area. Deciding to play it safe, Lee ordered Hill to leave one of his divisions, under Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson, to watch the river–just in case the enemy tried to slip behind him.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/wilderness/wilderness-history-articles/battle-of-the-wilderness.html

Baptists and the American Civil War: May 2, 1861 | Baptists and the American Civil War: In Their...

Pressure builds between the state of Virginia and adjacent Washington, D.C. Both the Union and the Confederacy realize that Virginia will be pivotal in the war. Against this backdrop, the U. S. Navy today blocks the entrances to the James River and Hampton Roads, Virginia. In addition, U.S. sources also seizes two additional Confederate vessels, after having already seized several previously.

What was the most significant event on May 2 during the U.S. Civil War?

What was the most significant event on May 2 during the U.S. Civil War?

Response by SFC Josh Billingsley made May 3 at 2016 9:28 PM

Response by LTC Stephen F. made May 3 at 2016 9:30 PM

Response by Alan K. made May 3 at 2016 9:31 PM