What was the most significant event on May 30 during the U.S. Civil War?

2016-06-01T15:56:54-04:00

While many in the deep south sided with the confederate cause and most in the northern states sided with the union; there was sometimes fierce debate in the border states where slavery was a fact of life including Maryland, Tennessee, Missouri and what would be West Virginia in 1861.
CSA P.G.T. Beauregard evacuates Corinth, MS May 30, 1862: Gen. Halleck has taken over a month to approach Corinth, Mississippi and maneuver into position. All night, Gen. Pope had been hearing trains arrive, and gales of cheering sweeping through the Southern camps. AT 6:00 AM, Halleck orders a cautious advance, and the Yankees find empty entrenchments. Beauregard and his army push southward across the Tuscumbia River, and assume a defensive position. Halleck pursues, but without conviction. Meanwhile, Gen. Pope sent cavalry raiding behind the Confederate lines down to Boonville, where Col. Philip Sheridan and the 2nd Michigan Cavalry destroy Beauregard’s rear supply base. Halleck hails his anti-climax as a great victory.
Still reeling from the death of Thomas Stonewall Jackson 1863: CSA Gen Robert E. Lee completed the restructuring of the Army of Northern Virginia, creating three corps from the two previous Corps and issued Special Orders No. 146 of May 30th 1863 which formed the third corps: In command of the I Corps would remain Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, Lee’s “old war horse.” The II Corps will be commanded by newly-promoted Lt. Gen. Richard B. Ewell, widely renowned as an aggressive and savvy battlefield commander, recently recovered from having lost his left leg at 2nd Bull Run. The new III Corps, now commanded by the newly-promoted Ambrose Powell Hill, J.E.B Stuart’s cavalry division is organized into six brigades.
One month after Chancellorsville and four days after this reorganization the Army was put on the march. The Gettysburg campaign was put in motion.

Pictures: 1864 Battle of Totopotomoy Creek Map; 1862 Northern VA and Shenandoah May 30 map; 1863-05-30 Organization of Army of Northern, Virginia; 1863 Mosby (in plumed hat) 4th from left in the back seated row with some of his Partisan Rangers

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Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 1 at 2016 3:59 PM

2016-06-01T15:59:48-04:00

Monday, May 30, 1864: Kate Cummings, a Southern woman serving as a nurse in a Confederate Army hospital with the Army of Tennessee, “writes in her journal of the lackluster service of the Georgia Militia (state troops) in guarding the hospital areas, and thus addressing the hardcore States Rights politics of Gov. Joe Brown of Georgia, and his tendency to hold back men and material from the Confederacy: There are many tales related of the Georgia militia. It seems that there was but one man in the whole place who could be prevailed on to go out as a scout. But the poor militia are constantly having some tales told on them. I think the governor is to blame for the contempt in which the Georgia militia are held. He holds to the doctrine of state rights with a greater tenacity than is at all needed at present. According to his views, Georgia had not only a right to secede in the beginning, but she can secede from the Confederacy any time she pleases. Many of the Georgians fairly worship both him and Stephens. I think that both have done our cause a vast deal of harm, at home and abroad. They have denounced the administration time and again, because it has not done exactly as they thought right. Whatever may be their views on that subject, I think they had better, for the present, keep them to themselves, as they will be productive of nothing but harm. If the present administration can not guide our affairs, why no one else can, and it is the duty of every man to give it his hearty support. “My country right, my country wrong, but still my country.”
Monday, May 30, 1864: Captain Augustus C. Brown, of the 4th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment, writes in his journal of the fighting along the Topopotomoy that day as his regiment is sent in to fortify a line, and of this tragi-comical incident: “Between our works and the house, which stood with its rear towards us, was a semi-circle of negro quarters, and in front of these little frame and log houses the artillerymen had backed up their caissons and ammunition wagons to conceal them as much as possible from the enemy. At the door of one of these cabins was a large pile of ashes, where the old “mammy” who lived there had emptied the contents of her stove for years, and as the men took out the ammunition from the chest on a limber, considerable powder was sprinkled on this dumping ground. Not long after the rebels had commenced firing, and after they had sent several rifled projectiles through the main house and its roof, and had split some of the great trees standing close by, the old darkey woman came to her door, cool as a cucumber, and apparently oblivious of the danger of her act, threw a shovel full of hot ashes and coals just out of her stove squarely under the limber, and instantly the front of that shanty was taken off as cleanly as if cut down by a monster hay-knife. Two men were killed and several wounded, but the negress is said to have escaped unhurt. A tremendous cheer at once rang out from the rebel line, the occupants of which no doubt supposed that the explosion of the limber chest had been caused by one of their shells.”
Pictures: 1862 catletts drawing’ 1862 The Peninsula Campaign, up to May 30, 1862; 1862 thb-35 Mosby's raid at Catlett’s station;
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 30, 1862: Capture of Boonville, Mississippi - On May 30, Col Philip H. Sheridan was commanding a Union cavalry force when they came to Booneville at the Depot. A raiding party under Col. Elliott reached Booneville in the early morning on May 30, the same day the Confederate army was evacuating Corinth. The Federals captured or destroyed 10,000 small arms, 3 artillery pieces, large quantities of clothing and ammunition. Sheridan ordered that the 2,000 sick and wounded Confederate soldiers that was unable to keep up with his force to be paroled. The official Union account said 26 cars and a locomotive were destroyed while the Confederate account said six cars and an engine were destroyed.
Background: A Union raiding party, under the command of Col. Washington L. Elliott of the Second Iowa Cavalry, set out from Farmington on May 27, 1862, to disrupt the supply line to Corinth. They were unaware the Confederate army, under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, was planning to withdraw from Corinth along the M&O Railroad which ran through Booneville."
B. Friday, May 30, 1862: Confederates rear guard flees at Front Royal, West Virginia: Col. Z.T. Conner and the 12th Georgia Infantry was left to guard the captured supplies and Union prisoners. They awoke on May 30 to find Gen. Shields and his 11,000-man division advancing into Front Royal from the east. At 11:30 A.M. a Union force, led by Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball, approached Front Royal. They had marched all night to arrive here. Once Conner saw that the town was about to be entered by the Federals, he ordered the rebels to set fire to $300,000.00 worth of captured Federal supplies, and then withdraw to the west and retreat towards Winchester. Kimball led his soldiers into the town and sent a 30-man cavalry force to give chase to the Confederates. The Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, was captured by the Federals during their occupation of the town, and 24 Union prisoners were released.
The Union cavalry caught up with the retreating Confederates and engaged them in a brief firefight. Although 14 of the cavalrymen were killed, they captured 156 Confederates. When Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson learned of this, he placed Conner under arrest.
C. Saturday, May 30, 1863: Battle of Catlett’s Station, Virginia. John Singleton Mosby, the prodigy partisan cavalry raider, rides his 200 rangers to Catlett’s Station, on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad in central Virginia, where they cut the telegraph wires and prepare an ambush. Having removed several rails, they lay in wait until the intended train comes by, and it derails promptly. Mosby opens fire with a small howitzer, and the Federal train escort all flee. The Rebel troopers loot the train, liberating U.S. mail, as well as a load of fresh fish and delicacies such as candies and oranges. They fire howitzer shots through the locomotive’s boiler and set the train afire. Federal cavalry nearby, alerted by the noise, sets off in pursuit: troopers from Michigan, New York, and Vermont, led my Col. William Mann, are involved in a sporadic, running fight. Several times the Yankees get in front of Mosby, and a shell from the howitzer scatters them and opens up the way again. One officer in blue is going to let them escape, believing he has too few troops to stop the Rebels, when his subordinate, Lt. Elmer Barker, without orders, orders the troop to give chase. When Baker and his two dozen troopers catch up with Mosby, the Rebels replies with a round of canister that hits nearly ten of Barker’s men. The Rebels charged into Barker’s line, and it breaks. But the cordon of Yankee troopers in the neighborhood is drawing tighter around them, were guiding by the sounds of the battle. A force of Vermonters under Col. Mann crashes into Mosby’s flank, and the howitzer is fired at the Federals until it runs out of ammunition, so the battle devolves into a hand-to-hand fight. The Rebel raiders beat off the Yankee attack, after losing two killed and another handful wounded, and make good their escape. In the gathering darkness, Mosby’s battalion disperses and dissolves into countryside.
D. Monday, May 30, 1864: Battle of Bethesda Church, Virginia: Fighting continues along the Totopotomoy River. Grant begins to look for ways to break the deadlock. Gen. Lee is also looking for a break, and sends Jubal Early (now commanding Ewell’s Second Corps), in an assault on the Union left flank, where Gen. Warren’s V Corps has just taken up position on the south bank of the Totopotomoy. Gen. Rodes’ division of graybacks plows into Crawford’s Federals, and a few new regiments panic and retreat before the onslaught. Early’s choices are limited at this point, as Rodes’ column is disorganized from the attack, and reinforcements have not come up yet. Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur, a new division commander, urges Early to let him attack—to which Early reluctantly agrees--but he does so without supports on either flank. In the lull, Warren has strengthened his line. As Ramseur advances at 6:30 PM, Toon’s brigade finds itself pinned down by flanking fire from the bluecoats, and so only Pegram’s brigade is in the advance. As they dashed forward, the Federals open fire. One Confederate officer writes, “Our line melted away as if by magic: every brigade, staff and field officer was cut down, mostly killed outright in an incredibly short time.” Point-blank range rifle fire and artillery canister cut down the advancing Rebels. The slaughter is so severe that a Union officer begs the survivors to surrender—and they do so in large numbers. This disastrous attack results in 90% killed, wounded, and captured to Pegram’s brigade.
Losses: U.S. 731
C.S. 1,593
1. Thursday, May 30, 1861:
2. Tuesday, May 30, 1854: President Franklin Pierce signs the Kansas-Nebraska Act into law.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/date/May_30
3. Thursday, May 30, 1861: At a convention in Knoxville, Tennessee a group of Unionists denounce Tennessee's secessionist actions.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186105
4. Friday, May 30, 1862: Confederates evacuate Corinth, Mississippi
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186205
5. May 30, 1862 --- At Corinth, Mississippi, where Gen. Halleck has taken over a month to approach the town and maneuver into position, the Federal troops waited with anticipation for the attack that the Confederates were sure to launch at dawn: all night, Gen. Pope had been hearing trains arrive, and gales of cheering sweeping through the Southern camps. AT 6:00 AM, Halleck orders a cautious advance, and the Yankees find empty entrenchments. Beauregard and his army push southward across the Tuscumbia Rver, and assume a defensive position. Halleck pursues, but without conviction. Meanwhile, Gen. Pope send cavalry raiding behind the Confederate lines down to Boonville, where Col. Philip Sheridan and the 2nd Michigan Cavalry destroy Beauregard’s rear supply base. Halleck hails his anti-climax as a great victory.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1862
6. May 30, 1862 --- Near Richmond, Gen. McClellan has positioned his army slowly so that they lay along the northern bank of the Chickahominy River, the main barrier between them and Richmond. He leaves two corps—Heintzelman’s and Keyes’—south of the river, somewhat isolated. Gen. Joseph Johnston plans to strike at these two isolated corps.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1862
7. Saturday, May 30, 1863: Castor River, Missouri - On May 30, Brig. Gen. John McNeil and his Union force was following Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke's Confederates. They caught up with them at the Castor River and attacked them at the first chance they got. The Confederates were forced to retreat.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html
8. Saturday, May 30, 1863: CSA Gen Robert E. Lee completes the restructuring of the Army of Northern Virginia, creating three corps under James Longstreet, Dick Ewell and A. P. Hill.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186305
9. Saturday, May 30, 1863 --- Gen. Robert E. Lee reorganizes the Army of Northern Virginia, splitting Jackson’s Siege of Vicksburg, Day 8
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1863
10. Saturday, May 30, 1863 --- Gen. Robert E. Lee reorganizes the Army of Northern Virginia, splitting Jackson’s Siege of Port Hudson, Day 3
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1863
11. Saturday, May 30, 1863 --- Gen. Robert E. Lee reorganizes the Army of Northern Virginia, splitting Jackson’s Battle of Catlett’s Station -- On this date, John Singleton Mosby, the prodigy partisan cavalry raider, rides his 200 rangers to Catlett’s Station, on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad in central Virginia, where they cut the telegraph wires and prepare an ambush. Having removed several rails, they lay in wait until the intended train comes by, and it derails promptly. Mosby opens fire with a small howitzer, and the Federal train escort all flee. The Rebel troopers loot the train, liberating U.S. mail, as well as a load of fresh fish and delicacies such as candies and oranges. They fire howitzer shots through the locomotive’s boiler and set the train afire. Federal cavalry nearby, alerted by the noise, sets off in pursuit: troopers from Michigan, New York, and Vermont, led my Col. William Mann, are involved in a sporadic, running fight. Several times the Yankees get in front of Mosby, and a shell from the howitzer scatters them and opens up the way again. One officer in blue is going to let them escape, believing he has too few troops to stop the Rebels, when his subordinate, Lt. Elmer Barker, without orders, orders the troop to give chase. When Baker and his two dozen troopers catch up with Mosby, the Rebels replies with a round of canister that hits nearly ten of Barker’s men. The Rebels charged into Barker’s line, and it breaks. But the cordon of Yankee troopers in the neighborhood is drawing tighter around them, were guiding by the sounds of the battle. A force of Vermonters under Col. Mann crashes into Mosby’s flank, and the howitzer is fired at the Federals until it runs out of ammunition, so the battle devolves into a hand-to-hand fight. The Rebel raiders beat off the Yankee attack, after losing two killed and another handful wounded, and make good their escape. In the gathering darkness, Mosby’s battalion disperses and dissolves into countryside.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1863
12. Saturday, May 30, 1863 --- Gen. Robert E. Lee reorganizes the Army of Northern Virginia, splitting Jackson’s old corps and making three.
In command of the I Corps would remain Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, Lee’s “old war horse”; the division of Lafayette McLaws, John Bell Hood, and George Pickett are under his command. The II Corps will be commanded by newly-promoted Lt. Gen. Richard B. Ewell, widely renowned as an aggressive and savvy battlefield commander, recently recovered from having lost his left leg at 2nd Bull Run. The II Corps will consist of the divisions of Robert Rodes, Jubal A. Early, and Edward Johnson.
The new III Corps, now commanded by the newly-promoted Ambrose Powell Hill, consists of the divisions of Richard Anderson and Dorsey Pender, along with part of Hill’s old division, now commanded by Henry Heth. Stuart’s cavalry division is organized into five brigades.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1863
13. Saturday, May 30, 1863: Lee had felt that the corps of his current army organization of two corps was too large for one commander. Each corps contained about 30,000 men and could not be kept under their commander’s eye in battle. With the loss of Jackson at the battle of Chancellorsville, April 26 to May 6, Lee decided to reorganize the army from a two corps four division arrangement to a new arrangement of three Corps with three divisions each. The new ninth division was created from two brigades of A.P. Hill’s division and two new brigades from Richmond and North Carolina. With Special Orders No. 146 of May 30th 1863, the third corps was formed.
Each Corps included three battalions of Artillery with a corps reserve of two Battalions.
Major General J.E.B. Stuart commanded the Cavalry Division. Composed of the following six brigades: Hampton's Brigade, Fitz Lee’s Brigade, W.H.F. Lee’s Brigade, W.E. Jones’ Brigade, B.H. Robertson’s Brigade, A.G. Jenkins’ Brigade
At this time the number of effective bayonets in the ANV was around 75,000 including the artillery of about 275 guns. The cavalry accounted for 12,000 to 15,000 men. The Total force available to the ANV was close to 90,000. This number varied greatly when you consider present for duty and absent returns.
The reorganization was not without its drawbacks and shortcomings. Two of the corps commander and nine division commanders were new to the job. Six of the 37 brigades were under new commanders and another 6 under Colonels not ready for promotion.
One month after Chancellorsville and four days after this reorganization the Army was put on the march. The Gettysburg campaign was put in motion.
Unit Organization comparison: Union corps were smaller than the CSA Corps because Union brigades and therefore divisions were smaller. Typically, a USA brigade had between 800 and 1,700 men. A CSA brigade had between 1,400 and 2,000 men. A USA division had between 3,000 to 7,000 and a CSA division between 6,000 to 14,000. A USA corps had between 12,000 and 14,000 and a CSA corps between 24,000 and 28,000.
http://www.wargame.ch/wc/acw/Newsletters/Dec03/ANV_May_1863.htm
14. Monday, May 30, 1864 --- Captain Augustus C. Brown, of the 4th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment, writes in his journal of the fighting along the Topopotomoy that day as his regiment is sent in to fortify a line, and of this tragicomical incident: Between our works and the house, which stood with its rear towards us, was a semi-circle of negro quarters, and in front of these little frame and log houses the artillerymen had backed up their caissons and ammunition wagons to conceal them as much as possible from the enemy. At the door of one of these cabins was a large pile of ashes, where the old “mammy” who lived there had emptied the contents of her stove for years, and as the men took out the ammunition from the chest on a limber, considerable powder was sprinkled on this dumping ground. Not long after the rebels had commenced firing, and after they had sent several rifled projectiles through the main house and its roof, and had split some of the great trees standing close by, the old darkey woman came to her door, cool as a cucumber, and apparently oblivious of the danger of her act, threw a shovel full of hot ashes and coals just out of her stove squarely under the limber, and instantly the front of that shanty was taken off as cleanly as if cut down by a monster hay-knife. Two men were killed and several wounded, but the negress is said to have escaped unhurt. A tremendous cheer at once rang out from the rebel line, the occupants of which no doubt supposed that the explosion of the limber chest had been caused by one of their shells.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1864
15. Monday, May 30, 1864 --- Kate Cummings, a Southern woman serving as a nurse in a Confederate Army hospital with the Army of Tennessee, writes in her journal of the lackluster service of the Georgia Militia (state troops) in guarding the hospital areas,, and thus addressing the hardcore States Rights politics of Gov. Joe Brown of Georgia, and his tendency to hold back men and material from the Confederacy: There are many tales related of the Georgia militia. It seems that there was but one man in the whole place who could be prevailed on to go out as a scout. But the poor militia are constantly having some tales told on them. I think the governor is to blame for the contempt in which the Georgia militia are held. He holds to the doctrine of state rights with a greater tenacity than is at all needed at present. According to his views, Georgia had not only a right to secede in the beginning, but she can secede from the Confederacy any time she pleases. Many of the Georgians fairly worship both him and Stephens. I think that both have done our cause a vast deal of harm, at home and abroad. They have denounced the administration time and again, because it has not done exactly as they thought right. Whatever may be their views on that subject, I think they had better, for the present, keep them to themselves, as they will be productive of nothing but harm. If the present administration can not guide our affairs, why no one else can, and it is the duty of every man to give it his hearty support. “My country right, my country wrong, but still my country.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1864
A Friday, May 30, 1862: Boonville, Mississippi - On May 30, Col Philip H. Sheridan was commanding a Union cavalry force when they came to Booneville. The Federals captured or destroyed 10,000 small arms, 3 artillery pieces, large quantities of clothing and ammunition. Sheridan ordered that the 2,000 Confederate prisoners that was unable to keep up with his force to be paroled.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
A+ Friday, May 30, 1862: The "Capture of Booneville" occurred May 30, 1862, at the Depot (which is on East Church Street in downtown Booneville). “In late May 1862 the Confederate army occupied Corinth. After the Battle of Shiloh, the Union army pursued the Rebel army until they reached the northern edge of Corinth. A fierce battle had been fought at Farmington resulting in a Union victory. It was from here a Union raiding party set out on May 27, 1862, to disrupt the supply line to Corinth.
"This Union raiding party, under the command of Col. Washington L. Elliott of the Second Iowa Cavalry, was unaware the Confederate army, under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, was planning to withdraw from Corinth along the M&O Railroad that ran through Booneville."
Col. Elliott reached Booneville in the early morning on May 30, the same day the Confederate army was evacuating Corinth.
The Union cavalry raiding party, under the command of Col. Elliott, attacked Booneville at daylight. Some 2,000 sick and wounded Confederate soldiers were captured and paroled. The depot and a large train filled with military supplies and equipment were destroyed, according to information Robinson has found. The official Union account said 26 cars and a locomotive were destroyed while the Confederate account said six cars and an engine were destroyed.
http://www.virrob.home.dixie-net.com/battle.htm
B Friday, May 30, 1862: Front Royal, West Virginia - After the battle on May 23, Col. Z.T. Conner and an infantry regiment was left to guard the captured supplies and Union prisoners.
On May 30, a Union force, led by Brig. Gen. Nathan Kimball, approached Front Royal at 11:30 A.M. They had marched all night to arrive here. Once Conner saw that the town was about to be entered by the Federals, he ordered a retreat towards Winchester. Kimball led his soldiers into the town and sent a 30-man cavalry force to give chase to the Confederates. The Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, was captured by the Federals during their occupation of the town, and 24 Union prisoners were released.
The Union cavalry caught up with the retreating Confederates and engaged them in a brief firefight. Although 14 of the cavalrymen were killed, they captured 156 Confederates. When Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson learned of this, he placed Conner under arrest.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1862s.html
B+ May 30, 1862 --- Eastern Theater, Shenandoah Valley Campaign - Col. Connor and the 12th Georgia awake to find Gen. Shields and his 11,000-man division advancing into Front Royal from the east. The Rebels set fire to $300,000.00 worth of captured Federal supplies, and withdraw to the west. Connor send word to Jackson (who already knows) that the Federals are closing in on his escape route. Jackson begins his withdrawal from Harper’s Ferry and begins marching south. Jackson’s challenge: to reach Strasburg, where the Valley Pike passes, before Fremont or Shields do---and both of them are closer to it than Jackson is.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1862
C Monday, May 30, 1864 --- Battle of Bethesda Church, Virginia: Fighting continues along the Totopotomoy River. Grant begins to look for ways to break the deadlock. Gen. Lee is also looking for a break, and sends Jubal Early (now commanding Ewell’s Second Corps), in an assault on the Union left flank, where Gen. Warren’s V Corps has just taken up position on the south bank of the Totopotomoy. Gen. Rodes’ division of graybacks plows into Crawford’s Federals, and a few new regiments panic and retreat before the onslaught. Early’s choices are limited at this point, as Rodes’ column is disorganized from the attack, and reinforcements have not come up yet. Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur, a new division commander, urges Early to let him attack—to which Early reluctantly agrees--but he does so without supports on either flank. In the lull, Warren has strengthened his line. As Ramseur advances at 6:30 PM, Toon’s brigade finds itself pinned down by flanking fire from the bluecoats, and so only Pegram’s brigade is in the advance. As they dashed forward, the Federals open fire. One Confederate officer writes, “Our line melted away as if by magic: every brigade, staff and field officer was cut down, mostly killed outright in an incredibly short time.” Point-blank range rifle fire and artillery canister cut down the advancing Rebels. The slaughter is so severe that a Union officer begs the survivors to surrender—and they do so in large numbers. This disastrous attack results in 90% killed, wounded, and captured to Pegram’s brigade.
Losses: U.S. 731
C.S. 1,593
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1864
D Monday, May 30, 1864: The Battle of Totopotomoy Creek was part of the Overland Campaign of 1864. Union forces were pushing closer to Richmond after bloody fighting at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and North Anna, trying to maneuver to the east and south to get around Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. A sharp cavalry fight on May 28 compelled both armies to send infantry to the banks of Totopotomoy Creek. The Confederates constructed a line of breastworks on a ridge overlooking the creek, forcing the Federals to halt and look for a path around the fortifications. Union probes continued throughout May 29 as other elements crossed the creek further to the east, threatening to swing back towards the main battlefield and strike Lee's army from the flank and rear. On May 30, Lee ordered a coordinated attack on this flanking column. The Confederates achieved initial success, driving back several Union divisions, but their efforts climaxed with a costly repulse in the face of the reformed Union line. The impending arrival of Union reinforcements from Bermuda Hundred compelled the Confederates to abandon their Totopotomoy line and race to occupy Cold Harbor.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/totopotomoy-creek.html
Monday, May 30, 1864 --- In the evening, orders to Gen. Butler’s Army of the James detach Maj. Gen. William “Baldy” Smith and two corps to move by boat to join Grant’s army. Lee learns of this, and demands reinforcements from Beauregard’s tiny force at Richmond.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+30%2C+1864
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Civil War Timeline / Chronology for May 30

What was the most significant event on May 30 during the U.S. Civil War?

What was the most significant event on May 30 during the U.S. Civil War?

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 1 at 2016 3:59 PM

Response by Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM made Jun 1 at 2016 4:08 PM

Response by 1stSgt Eugene Harless made Jun 1 at 2016 10:12 PM

Response by SGT John " Mac " McConnell made Jun 2 at 2016 9:20 AM