What was the most significant event on October 5 during the U.S. Civil War?

LTC Stephen F. — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 22:09:13 -0500

Since ancient times, armies have tried to outflank each other. Until the 20th century, horse cavalry troops, squadrons and regiments were the primary flanking units for many reasons. One side’s cavalry would screen the flank to protect the infantry and more static artillery batteries from being overtaken. The other side’s cavalry would be doing their best to exploit vulnerabilities in the flank.
In the civil war, there were many very capable cavalry leaders and forces on both sides. Sometimes in the Civil War, infantry conducted flanking operations. Stonewall Jackson’s foot cavalry wreaked havoc in the Shenandoah valley.
In the Civil War, Union Armies tended to be named after rivers while Confederate Armies tended to named after territory. In western Tennessee in 1862 this added to confusion as the Confederate Army of West Tennessee was fighting the Federal Army of the Tennessee
In 1862, CSA General Braxton Bragg miscalculated in Kentucky. After installing the CSA Governor Richard Hawes as Kentucky's second Confederate governor at the Old State Capitol in Frankfort in 1862, Bragg left his 17,000 troops in Bardstown under the command of Gen. Polk. He did not expect Federal Maj Gen Don Carlos Buell to move his army of 80,000 Federals at Louisville to threaten either Bardstown of Frankfurt. Yet Buell unexpectedly to Bragg, sent about 19,000 men toward Frankfort as a feint, and the main body of his army headed towards Bardstown. This caused Richard Hawes to flee the new CSA capital of KY.
Saturday, October 5, 1861: William Rosecrans Retreats in Western Virginia. “When last we left the armies of Lee and Rosecrans, drying out on opposing spurs of Big Sewell Mountain in Western Virginia, each side was well entrenched and practically daring the other to attack. In the several days since, little to no movement was made by either. The rains had stopped and the roads were slowly drying out.
Confederate General Lee realized that any attack upon the Federals was nearly suicidal. General Rosecrans must have felt the same way. The Kanawha River, to his rear, had crested over its fifty-foot-high banks and ran five feet deep through the towns along its shore. As the rains had stopped and the roads dried out, the river receded. By this date, it was low enough for the Union army to risk a crossing.
Throughout the day, Rosecrans began sending his ambulances and wagons west along the James River & Kanawha Turnpike towards Gauley Bridge, their base of operations. By 10pm, the main body struck its tents and began its withdraw. Deployed as a rear guard, General Cox’s Brigade remained in their positions, in case the Rebels might try to advance against the retiring Union Army.
After 1:30am, the bulk of Cox’s Brigade pulled out, leaving a scant skirmish line behind.
Though the Rebels were unaware of the Union movement, the march was not an easy one. Wagons, cannons and pretty much anything with wheels, became mired in the mud. General Rosecrans, not wanting to waste any time, continually rode up and down the column ordering stuck wagons to be burned and excess baggage to be tossed aside.
It was start-and-stop all night. By the first slivers of dawn, the Army had moved but three or four miles. [1]
[1] Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, Volume 1 by Jacob Dolson Cox.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/rosecrans-retreats-in-western-virginia-the-chicamacomico-races/
Sunday, October 5, 1862: Kentucky’s new Rebel Governor flees as the new Rebel Capital falls. “General Leonidas Polk had been left in command of the main body of Braxton Bragg’s Army of Mississippi. Bragg was busy installing a Confederate governor at Frankfort, Kentucky, fifty miles northeast of Bardstown, where he left his 17,000 troops. The only threat to Bragg’s (and now Polk’s) command was the Union Army of the Ohio, under Don Carlos Buell, nestled behind their hastily-dug entrenchments around Louisville. If mobile, they would certainly pose a problem, but it appeared they were going to stay put at least until after Bragg could return to Bardstown.
That assumption was a huge mistake. Shortly after Bragg left to install the secessionist governor, Buell’s army of 82,000 leaped from Louisville, about thirty-five miles west and northwest from Frankfort and Bardstown. While the main thrust was against Bardstown, a more visible feign of 19,000 (or so) men had been jabbed at Frankfort where 22,000 Rebel troops under Kirby Smith were scattered. Though Smith had willfully disregarded several orders given by Bragg, Bragg was still nominally in charge of the entire army. His force, now under Polk, and sufficiently smaller than Smith’s, was technically the main body.
When Bragg found out about the advance, he knew only of the feign. He believed that Buell’s entire Army of the Ohio was gunning for Frankfort. With that in mind, he ordered Polk to come with the main body and slam into the right flank of the Union advance, just like Longstreet and Jackson at Second Manassas.
Polk, however, had been informed that the Federal army was twelve miles away from his troops at Bardstown. There was no way he could possibly follow Bragg’s orders. Polk threw a makeshift council of war, and with some protestation by his officers, he decided to disobey the order and retreat east toward Bryantsville, fifty miles away.
On the 2nd, Polk had informed Bragg of the coming Yankees, but on the 3rd, he only gave a vague reason for disobeying the order to come to Frankfort and join with Kirby Smith: “The last twenty-four hours have developed a condition of things on my front and left flank which I shadowed forth in my last not to you, which makes compliance with this order not only eminently inexpedient but impracticable.”
The next day, as Polk began to pull out of Bardstown, Bragg installed Richard Hawes as the new governor of Kentucky. Speaking at the ceremony, Bragg argued that the Federal government wanted Kentucky to join the war for “the confiscation of property, the excitement of servile insurrections, and the desolation of your homes.” Kentucky, he asserted, had remained in the Union against the will of her people. He, and Governor Hawes, had come to restore her to her rightful place, as a true star of the Confederacy.
As the pomp was drawing to a close, the feigning column of Federals appeared across the Kentucky River, twelve miles away, and making haste for the town. Bragg, perhaps wishing he hadn’t vowed so adamantly to defend Kentucky, ordered the bridges to be burned and for Kirby Smith’s force to retreat to Harrodsburg, thirty miles south and rather close to Polk’s destination of Bryantsville. As Hawes’ first edict as governor, he quickly decided to move Kentucky’s capital to the eastern part of the state. Before the day’s end, the Federals would be firing into the town.
Polk’s tramp east nearly cost him his cavalry. Typically, the commander would rely heavily upon cavalry in such a situation. But Polk didn’t even bother to let them know he was retreating. Stationed at Mount Washington, they learned for themselves of the coming Federals, and were nearly surrounded and captured.
Along the way, the destination turned to the slightly closer Danville, though Bragg, finally in contact with his men, ordered Polk to instead move to Harrodsburg to join with Smith. Polk assured his commander that he would do it, but then disobeyed, sending some of his force to both places. Bragg didn’t seem all that upset, really. After all, he was retreating as well.
On this date, he reached Harrodsburg, but he arrived well ahead of his army. William Hardee, commanding a division under Polk, complained that the roads were too “hilly, rocky, and slippery” to make good time. In fact, they were so bad to Harrodsburg that he just couldn’t make it. The road to Danville, however, was the very model of what a good road might be. So, if it was all the same to Bragg, Hardee and Polk would just go there. Bragg, at the end of his wits, ordered Polk and Hardee to Harrodsburg – for the third time.
Bragg was clearly losing control over his own men. But at least Kirby Smith and his troops would be along soon. Except those odds weren’t exactly in Bragg’s favor, either. Smith had enjoyed an independent command for most of the campaign. It was so enjoyable that he simply didn’t want to see it end.
Smith had gotten as far as Versailles before realizing that the Federal push against Frankfort was a ruse. The real thrust, he argued, was to be against Lexington. If he moved south of Verailles, Lexington, the town he had personally captured from the Yankees – with no help at all from Bragg, thank you very much, would fall.
But Smith was mistaken. The Union troops heading east somewhat towards Lexington had turned south, focusing upon Polk’s command. Bragg took Smith’s interpretation at face value. Apparently, nobody really thought cavalry reconnaissance to be all that important in Kentucky.
The cavalry, having escaped the Federals at Mount Washington, had been ordered to Lebanon, a small railroad town thirty miles west of Danville. Their mission was to gather supplies, and nothing else. Neither Bragg nor Smith nor Polk nor anybody wearing butternut had any idea where Buell’s Federals were located. Sure, they had some rough ideas, rumors tossed around by townfolk, but nothing more.
Not that the Union thrust was going any better. Buell’s regiments were strung out for miles. They were awash in the famished, arrid weather and simply spent from the hard marching. Water was scarce, and the men, with parched throats, suffered greatly. But General Buell coaxed them on. [1]
[1] Sources: Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Vol. 1 by Grady McWhiney; Perryville by Kenneth W. Noe; Army of the Heartland by Thomas Lawrence Connelly; Days of Glory by Larry J. Daniel; All for the Regiment by Gerald Prokopowicz.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/kentuckys-new-rebel-governor-flees-as-the-new-rebel-capital-falls/

Pictures: 1862-10-05 Davis Bridge Battle Map; 1864-10-05 Battle of Allatoona Pass by Thure de Thulstrup; 1863-10-05 Schematic drawing of the CSS David; 1863-10-05 USS New Ironsides bombarding Fort Sumter, SC.

A. 1861: Joint Army-navy operation on the North Carolina coast. The Confederates were expecting North Carolina troops to be landed below the Union troops However, the ships carrying the North Carolina troops ran aground and the reinforcements could not be sent. When word reached Confederate Col. Wright, he ordered his Georgia regiment to march the thirty or so miles back. Though they were a few miles behind the now-retreating Rebels, a New York regiment made good time and closed in quickly. To make matters hotter, the USS Monticello, a screw-steamer mounted with three large guns, pulled alongside the Georgians and opened fire on the hasty column.
Through most of their march along the sound-side of the island, the Rebels trudged through mire and inlets under the constant fire of shot, shell and grape. To lighten their step, most removed their shoes, socks and pants. Amazingly, only two Rebels were wounded.
They made it back to their waiting ships and finally back to their base at Roanoke Island. The Union troops returned to Fort Hatteras and The Chicamacomico Races were over.
B. 1862: The Battle of Davis Bridge/Hatchie's Bridge, Mississippi. Between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, detachment of the Army of West Tennessee encountered Union Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut’s 4th Brigade, Army of West Tennessee, in the Confederates' front. Ord took command of the now-combined Union forces and pushed Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s advance, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederate Army of the West Tennessee, back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis’ Bridge. After accomplishing this, Ord was wounded and Hurlbut assumed command. While Price’s men were hotly engaged with Ord’s force, Van Dorn’s scouts looked for and found another crossing of the Hatchie River. Van Dorn then led his army back to Holly Springs. Ord had forced Price to retreat, but the Confederates escaped capture or destruction. Although they should have done so, Rosecrans’s army had failed to capture or destroy Van Dorn’s force.
C. 1863: The CSS David, a torpedo boat (semi-submersible vessel), carried out a torpedo attack on the USS New Ironsides just at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Lt. Cmdr. William Glassell commanded the small crew. Equipped with a 14-foot spar, the David steamed toward the New Ironsides and detonated a spar torpedo under its hull, but that did not appreciably damage the Federal armored ship, in spite of considerable blister in the hull. A surge from the blast swamped the smokestack and extinguished her boiler and nearly swamped the boat. Since the engines were flooded, some of the crew leap overboard, and Glassell was captured by a Yankee patrol boat. The captain and most of the crew assuming the ship was doomed, leaped overboard and were picked up by Union ships. The engineer, named Tomb, stayed aboard because he could not swim. In all the excitement he got the boiler relit and sailed David back to safety.
D. 1864: Battle of Allatoona Pass, Georgia was a small but vicious battle between the end of the Atlanta Campaign and the beginning of Sherman’s March to the Sea. During that time, Confederate General John B. Hood attempted to disrupt the supply lines of the victorious armies under Union General William T. Sherman stationed in Atlanta. On October 5th the Confederate division under Major General Samuel G. French attempted to overrun the entrenched Federals under John Corse protecting the Western and Atlantic Railroad to seize the strategic railroad cut located at Allatoona Pass. Despite the participants numbering only about 5,000 soldiers total, the casualty rate was very high with the Confederates suffering 27% and the Union 35% casualties each. Union: 2000 engaged, 142 (k), 352 (w), 212 (m), 706 (c). Confederate: 2000 engaged, 122 (k), 443 (w), 234 (m), 799 (c)
Realizing that his army was in no shape to fight, Hood took his force moves westward toward Alabama.

FYI SGT Mark Anderson PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL Private RallyPoint Member SSgt David M.] SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim Arnold Amn Dale Preisach CW4 Private RallyPoint Member Sgt Jerry Genesio SSG Private RallyPoint Member LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant LTC David Brown LTC Private RallyPoint Member CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member SGT John " Mac " McConnell SFC Private RallyPoint Member CPL Ronald Keyes Jr

Rosecrans Retreats in Western Virginia; The Chicamacomico Races

Saturday, October 5, 1861 When last we left the armies of Lee and Rosecrans, drying out on opposing spurs of Big Sewell Mountain in Western Virginia, each side was well entrenched and practically d…

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Feb 14 at 2017 10:12 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 22:12:20 -0500

Semi-submersible-vessel torpedo-boat warfare came of age in the US Civil War. While the surface armored warships were more famous such as the Monitor and the CSS Virginia nee USS Merrimack, the CSS David torpedo boat attacked the formidable US New Ironsides in 1863 off Fort Sumter, SC.
Foreign newspaper editorial staffs took sides in the US Civil war. In London, England, the London Times showed sympathy with the Union, while the London Post published an editorial in favor of the Confederacy.

Monday, October 5, 1863. ‘What Boat Is That?’ – David Strikes Its Goliath. “Since we last checked in on Fort Sumter and Charleston Harbor, little had changed. The Federal Navy continued to periodically bombard Sumter, which was little more than a pile of mortar, while the infantry had largely packed its bags. The Confederates held on, while waiting for at least two strange naval projects to come to fruition.
The (now) more famous submarine Hunley was still a work in progress, but the torpedo boats, like the David were ready. Unlike a submarine, the torpedo boats were not fully submersible. They did, however, sit so low in the water that they may as well have been.
The object of both was the same – to deliver an unsuspected explosive right against the side of an enemy ship, preferably without damaging the vessel carrying said explosive. To accomplish this, the David, which was little more than a discarded locomotive boiler with an engine, was fitted with a fourteen-foot spear. The barb of this spear was tipped with an explosive (the torpedo), which rested six and a half feet below the waterline.
The David was completed about a week prior to this date, and Lt. Commander William Glassell was put in command. Over the course of the week, he and his crew of three tested the strange ship and by this date, he felt he was ready to do some damage.
Such a small crew deserves a mention. Lt. Commander Glassell was at the helm (so to speak), while James Tomb was the engineer. The fireman was James Sullivan, and Walker Cannon was the pilot. At 9pm, hoping to take advantage of the tide flowing out, Glassell and the David steamed past Fort Sumter, to select one of the blockading ships for a target.
Apparently, Glassell did not just want any ship, as he set a course for the USS New Ironsides, a wooden ship whose sides had been plated with iron. She was the most powerful ship of those that were gathered before Charleston. Visibility was poor inside the David, so to get a better look, Glassell and the pilot, Cannon, opened the top hatch and climbed atop their torpedo boat. Each were armed with shotguns, which they hoped would play into their plan.
Glassell may take it from here: “The admiral’s ship, “New Ironsides,” (the most powerful vessel in the world), lay in the midst of the fleet, her starboard side presented to my view. I determined to pay her the highest compliment. I had been informed, through prisoners lately captured from the fleet, that they were expecting an attack from torpedo boats, and were prepared for it. I could, therefore, hardly expect to accomplish my object without encountering some danger from riflemen, and perhaps a discharge of grape or canister from the howitzers. My guns were loaded with buckshot. I knew that if the officer of the deck could be disabled to begin with, it would cause them some confusion and increase our chance for escape, so I determined that if the occasion offered, I would commence by firing the first shot.
Accordingly, having on a full head of steam, I took charge of the helm, it being so arranged that I could sit on deck and work the wheel with my feet. Then directing the engineer [James Tomb] and firemen [James Sullivan] to keep below and give me all the speed possible, I gave a double barrel gun to the pilot [Walker Cannon], with instructions not to fire until I should do so, and steered directly for the monitor. I intended to strike her just under the gangway, but the tide still running out, carried us to a point nearer the quarter. Thus we rapidly approached the enemy.
When within about 300 yards of her a sentinel hailed us: Boat ahoy! boat ahoy! repeating the hail several times very rapidly. We were coming towards them with all speed, and I made no answer, but cocked both barrels of my gun. The officer of the deck next made his appearance, and loudly demanded, “What boat is that?” Being now within forty yards of the ship, and plenty of headway to carry us on, I thought it about time the fight should commence, and fired my gun. The officer of the deck fell back mortally wounded (poor fellow), and I ordered the engine stopped. The next moment the torpedo struck the vessel and exploded. What amount of direct damage the enemy received I will not attempt to say. My little boat plunged violently, and a large body of water which had been thrown up descended upon her deck, and down the smokestack and hatchway.”
Though Glassell did not attempt to describe the damage done to the New Ironsides, what she sustained was considerable. At first, however, she seemed to be mostly unscathed. But the blast worked in subtle ways that only an thorough examination could detect. Several weeks later, it was discovered that the torpedo pushed in the side of the ship by six inches, along a forty foot stretch. Additionally, planking in the area was shattered. This was fairly serious, and only an overhaul would fix it, but the New Ironsides remained at her post for another eight months.
With the damage done appearing at the time to be only minimal, the attempt seemed a failure. The David‘s engines were flooded and Glassell ordered her to be abandoned. The only way he knew how to escape capture was to swim for it. The Federal crew was alerted, and small arms fire was raining down upon the Rebels. Glassell and the pilot, Sullivan, grabbed cork floats, jumped into the water, and began paddling back to shore. The engineer, Tomb, also jumped in, but when he saw that Cannon, the fireman, was still in the stalled craft (apparently because he could not swim), Tomb turned around and together they tried to restart the David.
Somehow or another, Tomb and Cannon restarted the engine. Still under fire, they steamed through the Union fleet and safely back into Charleston Harbor. Glassell and Sullivan were not nearly as fortunate. The latter man continues: “The enemy, in no amiable mood, poured down upon the bubbling water a hailstorm of rifle and pistol shots from the deck of the Ironsides, and from the nearest monitor. Sometimes they struck very close to my head, but swimming for life, I soon disappeared from their sight, and found myself all alone in the water. I hoped that, with the assistance of flood tide, I might be able to reach Fort Sumter, but a north wind was against me, and after I had been in the water more than an hour, I became numb with cold, and was nearly exhausted. Just then the boat of a transport schooner picked me up, and found, to their surprise, that they had captured a rebel.”
Both he and Sullivan, the fireman, were captured and taken to a Union prison. There, Glassell languished for eighteen months until his exchange.
Similar torpedo boats were also in operation, and would play upon the fears of Federal sailors until the fall of Charleston. [1]
[1] Sources: “Reminiscences of Torpedo Service in Charleston Harbor” by William Glassell, printed in Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. 4; Success Is All That Was Expected by Robert M. Browning, Jr.; The Siege of Charleston 1861-1865 by E. Milby Burton.
Wednesday, October 5, 1864: ‘Rapidly filling our little Fort with dead and dying’ – The Battle Of Allatoona Pass. ““General Sherman say hold fast. We are coming.” -Message to ‘Commanding Officer, Allatoona,’ sent the day previous.
It was true. General Sherman, with most of his army – a force of over 60,000 – was on his way, moving north from Atlanta. They had crossed the Chattahoochee River on the 3rd and 4th and, with Jacob Cox’s Army of the Ohio in the van, they marched ever closer. But for Col. John Eaton Tourtellotte, commanding the small Federal brigade holding Allatoona, this would not be soon enough. Tourtellotte seemed hardly the man fit for the job, being but Sherman’s aide-de-camp, placed in command of the brigade in the interim.
On October 2nd, Sherman ordered General John Corse to move with his division from Rome to “act against Hood from Allatoona if he got on the railroad between that place and Atlanta.” John Bell Hood was most definitely on the railroad, having destroyed upwards of fifteen miles of it by the 3rd. For a time, Sherman bade Corse to pause, hoping that Hood would show his hand. But by the 4th, it was clear that it was upon Allatoona that Hood was marching.
From the perch atop Kenesaw Mountain, Sherman’s signalmen could see the smoke rising from the valleys below with Allatoona waiting as yet unscathed. Tourtellotte had constructed defenses and planned to hold if he could, from two small redoubts marking either side of the railroad, somewhat above the town itself. The town itself held provisions. Over one million rations of bread filled the stores so lightly guarded.
There was now only one engine to pull the train carrying Corse’s division from Rome. As it cuffed its way from Kingston, it was derailed and delayed until the late evening of the 4th. When it finally arrived, Corse entrained three regiments from Col. Richard Rowett’s brigade and 165,000 rounds of ammunition. They arrived at 1am and immediately returned for the rest of the brigade and more, if they could. If all went well, they would join their commander in Allatoona by dawn. But all did not go well. The train once more jumped the tracks, and all Tourtellotte and Corse had at Allatoona was all they would ever have.
In the still predawn, General Corse and Col. Tourtellotte rode the ground to see what they might do and who they might have to defend the town. The command was made of men from Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Stout men, no doubt, but numbering less than 2,000.
They made their lines facing mostly north with the railroad bisecting them. The Union right was held along a ridge in three lines, two facing north, they other south and towards the down. Immediately across the tracks was a star fort nearer the town and a line of defenses facing north. The Federal left was held by an “L”-shaped line of works facing west and south. But what was before them they hadn’t a clue. But whatever it was, by 2am, its skirmishers had shown themselves in the flashes of the muzzles.
Through the dark could be heard the placing of Confederate artillery. In all, eleven guns were positioned by General Samuel French, commanding the force bearing down upon Allatoona. Just after midnight, French had learned that Federal reinforcements were soon to arrive, but his reports were inaccurate.
“Nothing could be seen but one or two twinkling lights on the opposite heights,” wrote French in his report, “and nothing was heard except the occasional interchange of shots between our advanced guards and the pickets of the garrison in the valley below. All was darkness. I had no knowledge of the place, and it was important to attack at the break of day. Taking the guide and lights I placed the artillery in position on the hills south and east of the railroad.”
With his artillery posted and supported by two regiments of infantry, a hired guide then tried to direct him to the heights above the Federal defenses. “Without roads or paths,” French continued, “the head of the line reached the railroad, crossed it, and began the ascending and descending of the high, steep, and densely-timbered spurs of the mountains, and after about an hour’s march it was found we were directly in front of the works and not on the main ridge. The guide made a second effort to gain the ridge and failed, so dark was it in the woods. I therefore determined to rest where we were and await daylight.”
And come the dawn, French found himself 600 yards away from the Federal works, but also saw the works much more formidable than he first supposed. Nevertheless, he formed his men, sending a brigade here and regiments there. So well positioned were they that the Federals were nearly surrounded as the artillery burst over them. But it was not until 9am, “so rugged and abrupt were the hills,” until his troops were in position. Two brigades he placed upon the Union left, against the “L”-shaped works, and one to the north, facing south to hold the rest of the Federal line in place while the left was to be caved in. And it was then when he sent to General Corse the summons to surrender.
“Sir: I have placed the forces under my command in such position that you are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood, I call on you to surrender your forces at once and unconditionally. Five minutes will be allowed you to decide.”
“Your communication demanding surrender of my command I acknowledge receipt of, and would respectfully reply that we ware prepared for the ‘needless effusion of blood’ whenever it is agreeable to you.”
However, by French’s telling, no reply was ever received. Perhaps the rugged and abrupt hills played a role, or perhaps the five minutes was not enough time to return with the message. Whatever the reason or cause, French meant to attack.
“I had hardly issued these incipient orders,” wrote Corse in his report, “when the storm broke in all its fury.”
On came the two Rebel brigades, Texans and North Carolinians screaming with fury toward the skirmish line. They “moved with great impetuosity along its crest till they struck Rowett’s command, where they received a severe check, but, undaunted, they came again and again.” Corse was able to throw only one regiment to their aid, but for now it had to do. It was then when he saw the Rebel brigade posted to the north step off. He quickly rerouted some of the promised reinforcements to bolster his front and right, but it was no use.
“The enemy’s line of battle swept us back like so much chaff and struck the thirty-ninth Iowa in flank, threatening to engulf our little band without further ado. Fortunately for us Colonel Tourtellottee’s fire caught Sears [the attack Rebel commander] in the flank, and broke him so bad as to enable me to get a staff officer over the [railroad] cut, with orders to bring the Fiftieth Illinois over to re-enforce Rowett, who had lost very heavily.”
But before any of this could be accomplished, both Confederate fronts – Young’s Texans and Sears’ Mississippians reformed and attacked. Rowlett’s line on the Union left was breaking and there was precious little Corse could do about it. A single regiment, the 39th Iowa, laid down their lives and a steady fire so as to enable the bulk of the left to retreat into the star fort. “As it was, their hand to hand struggle and stubborn stand broke the enemy to that extent he must stop to reform before undertaking the assault on the fort.”
This fighting had lasted, nearly unbroken, for two and a half hours. But now came a lull. This was, by Corse’s account due to French being “so completely disorganized.” But by French’s telling: “The Federal forces were now confined to one redoubt, and we occupied the ditch and almost entirely silenced their fire, and were preparing for the final attack.”
As French prepared his disorganized division, he received a message from Hood’s army asking when he would move upon Ackworth, along the railroad south of his current battle. He was informed that Sherman’s entire army had encamped just north of Kenesaw (and just south of Ackworth) the night previous. Before long, French received another, more timely, message telling him that Sherman was now at Big Shanty, drawing closer.
“Here, then, was General Sherman’s whole army close behind me,” wrote French, “and the advance of his infantry moving on Ackworth, which changed the whole condition of affairs.” The assault which he had been planning was still two hours away. He needed more ammunition and because of his disorganization, it had to be carried a mile or more before it reached his men.
Though French did not yet attack, his troops maintained a constant fire – it was hardly a lull. “Officers labored constantly to stimulate the men to exertion,” recalled Corse, “and most all that were killed or wounded in the fort met this fate while trying to get the men to expose themselves above the parapet, and nobly setting them the example. The enemy kept up a constant and intense fire, gradually closing around us and rapidly filling our little fort with dead and dying.”
Through this, and around 1pm, General Corse was shot and rendered unconscious for over half an hour. Through his haze, he heard the order to cease fire, and mistook it as his men about to surrender. This cleared the fog and he spoke, urging his men and the few officers left standing, to hold for longer – “Sherman would soon be here with reinforcements.” And “the gallant fellows struggled to keep their heads above the ditch and parapet in the face of the murderous fire of the enemy now concentrated upon us.”
Finally, Corse’s artillery expended it ammunition. Now only muskets would guard them. But stepping forward, one soldier “volunteered to cross the cut, which was under fire of the enemy, and go to the fort on the east hill and procure ammunition. Having executed his mission successfully he returned in a short time with an arm-load of canister and case shot.”
In the meanwhile, General French was considering his next move, and if there should even be a move at all. “I did not doubt that the enemy would endeavor to get in my rear and intercept my return,” he would later write. “He was in the morning but three hours distant, and had been signaled to repeatedly during the battle. Under these circumstances I determined to withdraw, however depressing the idea of not capturing the place after so many had fallen, and when in all probability we could force a surrender before night; yet, however desirous I was for remaining before the last work and forcing a capitulation, or carrying the work by assault, I deemed it of more importance not to permit the enemy to cut my division off from the army.”
Though he was about to withdraw his men, the fight continued. Around 2:30, some of the Rebels were massing themselves near a house, seemingly ready to fall upon the star fort. “The dead and wounded were moved aside,” wrote Corse, “so as to enable us to move a piece of artillery to an embrasure commanding the house and ridge. A few shots from the gun threw the enemy’s column into great confusion, which being observed by our men, cause them to rush to the parapet and open such a heavy and continuous musketry fire that it was impossible for the enemy to rally. From this time until near 4pm we had the advantage of the enemy, and maintained it with such success that they were driven from every position, and finally fled in great confusion, leaving their dead and wounded, and our little garrison in possession of the field.”
By French’s account, it was not so confused. By 1:30, he had issued the orders to withdraw, though it must be remembered that time was incredibly relative. French could see that “it would be impossible to carry any wounded on litters to the road, where the ambulances were placed, owing to the steepness of the hills, the ravines and the dense woods. Accordingly, the wounded were brought to the springs near the ridge.” Those who could walk, made it to the ambulances. Those who could not were left with French’s surgeons and the Federals.
It wasn’t until 5pm (by French’s watch) that the rear guard of his force left the field. They left with 205 prisoners, one United States flag and one flag of the 93rd Illinois. His own losses totaled 122 kills, 443 wounded, and 234 missing or captured, though even these figures are suspect. Corse claimed to have buried 231 Confederates and to have handled 411 prisoners. His own losses were recorded as 142 killed, 352 wounded, and 212 missing or captured (the latter figure nearly concurring with French’s own).
Both French and Corse praised their own men. “I saw so many individual instances of heroism that I regret I cannot do them justice and render th tribute due each particular one,” wrote Corse. “I can only express in general terms the highest satisfaction and pride I entertain in having been with and amongst them on that occasion.”“It is due to the dead, it is just to the living, that they who have no hopes of being heralded by fame,” French wrote, “and who have but little incentive except the love of country and the consciousness of a just cause to impel them to deeds of daring, and who have shed their blood for a just cause, should have this little tribute paid them by me. For the noble dead the army mourns, a nation mourns. For the living, honor and respect will await them whenever they shall be known as faithful soldiers who have for their dearest rights so often gone through the fires of battle and baptism of blood.” [1]
[1] Sources: Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 39, Part 1, p762-765, 813-815; Part 3, p31, 78; Memoirs by William Tecumseh Sherman; The Chessboard of War by Anne J. Bailey.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/rapidly-filling-our-little-fort-with-dead-and-dying-the-battle-of-allatoona-pass/

Below are several journal entries from 1861, 1862, 1863 and 1864 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. … I am including journal entries from Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, "Crocker's Brigade," Sixth Division of the Seventeenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee for each year. I have been spending some time researching Civil War journals and diaries and editing them to fit into this series of Civil War discussions.

Saturday, October 5, 1861: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “Our company was sworn into the United States service today, by Captain Alexander Chambers of the regular army. Four men were rejected, which left ninety in the company. Fisher was rejected because he was too short — less than five feet, [1] and Lowe was rejected because he was pigeon-toed. [2] - I got a pass and went to Allen's Grove to see John Moore.
[1] He was taken later, however, when the need of men was greater and also because of his persistence. — A. G. D.
[2] Lowe feigned to be pigeon-toed, so that he would be rejected, having got chicken-hearted. The boys jeered him. — A. G. D.”
Sunday, October 5, 1862: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “The entire Sixth Division, taking up the line of march [2] this morning at 6 o'clock, marched five miles and then as we passed the field hospital of the Confederates on the Corinth formed a line of battle. We heard some very heavy cannonading out on the Hatchie river, in our front. General Hurlbut had cut off the retreat of the rebels at the bridge crossing the river, but after a hard fight they got away and continued their retreat to the south, on the east side of the river. We resumed our march at 1 p. m. and after covering ten miles stopped for the night. The Second Iowa Cavalry was ordered back to Corinth.
[2] The record of the losses of our brigade is as follows: The Fifteenth, eleven killed, sixteen wounded; the Thirteenth, one killed, fourteen wounded; the Sixteenth, one killed, twenty-one wounded; the Eleventh, three killed, eight wounded. — A. G. D.”
Monday, October 5, 1863: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade “Crocker's Brigade,” “Everything is very quiet here, although as the health of the men is improving our duties become more laborious. Every regiment that can be taken from Vicksburg is being sent to reinforce the armies at other posts. General Sherman has been ordered to proceed to Chattanooga and thus all of the Fifteenth Army Corps will be taken from the vicinity of Vicksburg.”
Wednesday, October 5, 1864: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “The weather is pleasant. We were on the move early this morning, the Seventeenth and Fifteenth Corps marched out to the south of Kennesaw mountain, where we went into camp about noon. We lay here the rest of the day. The rebels, it is reported, are in force on Lost mountain. All is quiet.”

A. Saturday, October 5, 1861: The Chicamacomico Races – Back Up the Island. “At Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina coast, an Indiana regiment had also retreated and was encamped at the Hatteras lighthouse after an exhausting and nearly deadly day-long waterless march down the island. They were followed closely by Rebel troops from Georgia, who encamped several miles to the north.
The Confederates, who were expecting North Carolina troops to be landed below the Union troops, cutting them off, were ready to begin their anticipated pincer movement. However, towards the end of the previous day, the ships carrying the North Carolina troops ran aground and the reinforcements could not be sent. When word reached Confederate Col. Wright, he ordered his Georgia regiment to march the thirty or so miles back to where they had landed.
The news of the Union retreat had reached Fort Hatteras, which dispatched a New York regiment to prevent the Indiana boys from being captured and the Federal Forts assailed. Though they were a few miles behind the now-retreating Rebels, they made good time and closed in quickly. To make matters hotter, the USS Monticello, a screw-steamer mounted with three large guns, pulled alongside the Georgians and opened fire on the hasty column.
Through most of their march along the sound-side of the island, the Rebels trudged through mire and inlets under the constant fire of shot, shell and grape. To lighten their step, most removed their shoes, socks and pants. Amazingly, only two Rebels were wounded.
They made it back to their waiting ships and finally back to their base at Roanoke Island. The Union troops returned to Fort Hatteras and The Chicamacomico Races were over.
Due to this mishap, Union General Wool, commanding from Fortress Monroe, placed General Joseph K. F. Mansfield in command of the Union forces at Hatteras, removing Colonel Rush Hawkins.
B. Sunday, October 5, 1862: The Battle of Davis Bridge/Hatchie's Bridge, Mississippi. Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s Confederate Army of West Tennessee retreated from Corinth on October 4, 1862. Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans did not send forces in pursuit until the morning of the 5th. Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, commanding a detachment of the Army of West Tennessee, was, pursuant to orders, advancing on Corinth to assist Rosecrans. On the night of October 4-5, he camped near Pocahontas. Between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. the next morning, his force encountered Union Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut’s 4th Brigade, Army of West Tennessee, in the Confederates' front. Ord took command of the now-combined Union forces and pushed Van Dorn’s advance, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Army of the West, back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis’ Bridge. After accomplishing this, Ord was wounded and Hurlbut assumed command. While Price’s men were hotly engaged with Ord’s force, Van Dorn’s scouts looked for and found another crossing of the Hatchie River. Van Dorn then led his army back to Holly Springs. Ord had forced Price to retreat, but the Confederates escaped capture or destruction. Although they should have done so, Rosecrans’s army had failed to capture or destroy Van Dorn’s force.
C. Monday, October 5, 1863: CSS David, a torpedo boat (semi-submersible vessel), carried out a torpedo attack on the USS New Ironsides just at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Lt. Cmdr. William Glassell commanded the small crew. Equipped with a 14-foot spar, the David steamed toward the New Ironsides and detonated a spar torpedo under its hull, but that did not appreciably damage the Federal armored ship, in spite of considerable blister in the hull. A surge from the blast swamped the smokestack and extinguished her boiler and nearly swamped the boat. Since the engines were flooded, some of the crew leap overboard, and Glassell was captured by a Yankee patrol boat. The captain and most of the crew assuming the ship was doomed, leaped overboard and were picked up by Union ships. The engineer, named Tomb, stayed aboard because he could not swim. In all the excitement he got the boiler relit and sailed David back to safety.
D. Wednesday, October 5, 1864: Battle of Allatoona Pass, Georgia was a small but vicious battle between the end of the Atlanta Campaign and the beginning of Sherman’s March to the Sea. During that time, Confederate General John B. Hood attempted to disrupt the supply lines of the victorious armies under Union General William T. Sherman stationed in Atlanta. On October 5th the Confederate division under Major General Samuel G. French attempted to overrun the entrenched Federals under John Corse protecting the Western and Atlantic Railroad to seize the strategic railroad cut located at Allatoona Pass. Despite the participants numbering only about 5,000 soldiers total, the casualty rate was very high with the Confederates suffering 27% and the Union 35% casualties each.Union: 2000 engaged, 142 (k), 352 (w), 212 (m), 706 (c). Confederate: 2000 engaged, 122 (k), 443 (w), 234 (m), 799 (c)
Realizing that his army was in no shape to fight, Hood took his force moves westward toward Alabama.

Pictures: 1864-10-05 Battle of Allatoona Pass, GA; 1863-10-05 CSS David attacks the USS New Ironsides; 1862-10-05 Battle of Davis Bridge painting; 1861-10-05 Confederates flee from the Union forces in the Chicamacomico Races

1. Saturday, October 5, 1861: The London Times shows sympathy with the Union, while the London Post publishes an editorial in favor of the Confederacy.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-five
2. Saturday, October 5, 1861: Major papers in London reflect the division over the American Civil War in Britain. In an editorial, the London Post backs an independent Southern Nation. Previously, the London Times had backed the Union.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186110
3. Sunday, October 5, 1862: Meanwhile in Texas, the Federal fleet now occupies Galveston, Texas.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
4. Sunday, October 5, 1862: Gen. Braxton Bragg is in Frankfort, Kentucky, installing a new governor, pro-Confederate, while his 17,000 men are at Bardstown under the command of Gen. Polk. Kirby-Smith is in Lexington with 22,000. On the Yankee side, Gen. Don Carlos Buell has over 80,000 Federals at Louisville. Buell suddenly moves, unexpectedly, sending about 19,000 men toward Frankfort as a feint, and the main body of his army heads towards Bardstown. Polk decides to move out of Bardstown and head east. As Bragg has Gov. Richard Hawes sworn in as provisional governor, Federal troops appear on the banks of the Kentucky River, moving toward the capital. Hawes moves his new government out of Frankfort and towards the east, and Bragg starts hunting for the Union position.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+5%2C+1862
5. Monday, October 5, 1863: Major General Joseph Wheeler, (CSA) destroys the most important Stone's River Railroad Bridge, near Murfreesboro, TN, this will increase the lack of food flowing into the beleaguered Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga, TN.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-130
6. Monday, October 5, 1863: At Chattanooga, Confederate batteries open fire on the Federal works, but few of the projectiles even reach the fortifications. However, the Rebel guns do command a stretch of the river. Union troops are building a pontoon bridge which Rosecrans hopes will circumvent the interdiction of their supply route.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+5%2C+1863
7. Wednesday, October 5, 1864:
8.

Saturday, October 5, 1861: Union troops in California travel to Oak Grove and Temecula Ranch to root out alleged pro-Confederates.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-five
Saturday, October 5, 1861: The Chicamacomico Races – Back Up the Island. “At Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina coast, an Indiana regiment had also retreated and was encamped at the Hatteras lighthouse after an exhausting and nearly deadly day-long waterless march down the island. They were followed closely by Rebel troops from Georgia, who encamped several miles to the north.
The Confederates, who were expecting North Carolina troops to be landed below the Union troops, cutting them off, were ready to begin their anticipated pincer movement. However, towards the end of the previous day, the ships carrying the North Carolina troops ran aground and the reinforcements could not be sent. When word reached Confederate Col. Wright, he ordered his Georgia regiment to march the thirty or so miles back to where they had landed.
The news of the Union retreat had reached Fort Hatteras, which dispatched a New York regiment to prevent the Indiana boys from being captured and the Federal Forts assailed. Though they were a few miles behind the now-retreating Rebels, they made good time and closed in quickly. To make matters hotter, the USS Monticello, a screw-steamer mounted with three large guns, pulled alongside the Georgians and opened fire on the hasty column.
Through most of their march along the sound-side of the island, the Rebels trudged through mire and inlets under the constant fire of shot, shell and grape. To lighten their step, most removed their shoes, socks and pants. Amazingly, only two Rebels were wounded.
They made it back to their waiting ships and finally back to their base at Roanoke Island. The Union troops returned to Fort Hatteras and The Chicamacomico Races were over.
Due to this mishap, Union General Wool, commanding from Fortress Monroe, placed General Joseph K. F. Mansfield in command of the Union forces at Hatteras, removing Colonel Rush Hawkins. [2]
[2] The Civil War in North Carolina by John Gilchrist Barrett.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/rosecrans-retreats-in-western-virginia-the-chicamacomico-races/
B Sunday, October 5, 1862: Battle of Hatchie Bridge [US] Battle of Metamora [CS], Mississippi. Edward Ord [US] discovers Confederates retreating from Corinth. When Ord was severely wounded fighting paused as command passed to Stephen Hurlbut [US]. Sterling Price [CS] was able to escape.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186210
B+ Sunday, October 5, 1862: The Second Battle of Corinth was over. Major General William Rosecrans postponed any pursuit of CSA General Earl van Dorn until daybreak. Major General Edward O.C. Ord, commanding a detachment of the Army of West Tennessee (US), was following orders, advancing on Corinth to assist Rosecrans. On the night of October 4-5, he camped near Pocahontas. General Van Dorn not wanting the fight to continue, was moving northwest toward Tennessee, not knowing Ord would be in his path. Ord took command of the now-combined Union forces and pushed Van Dorn's advance, Major General Sterling Price's Army of the West (CSA), back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis' Bridge. While Price's men were hotly engaged with Ord's force, Van Dorn's scouts looked for and found another crossing of the Hatchie River. Van Dorn then led his army back to Holly Springs. Ord had forced Price to retreat, but the Confederates escaped capture or destruction. Another Union victory was very costly for both sides, 900 total (US 500; CS 400).
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
Sunday, October 5, 1862: The Battle of Davis Bridge/Hatchie's Bridge. Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s Confederate Army of West Tennessee retreated from Corinth on October 4, 1862. Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans did not send forces in pursuit until the morning of the 5th. Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord, commanding a detachment of the Army of West Tennessee, was, pursuant to orders, advancing on Corinth to assist Rosecrans. On the night of October 4-5, he camped near Pocahontas. Between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. the next morning, his force encountered Union Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut’s 4th Brigade, Army of West Tennessee, in the Confederates' front. Ord took command of the now-combined Union forces and pushed Van Dorn’s advance, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Army of the West, back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across Davis’ Bridge. After accomplishing this, Ord was wounded and Hurlbut assumed command. While Price’s men were hotly engaged with Ord’s force, Van Dorn’s scouts looked for and found another crossing of the Hatchie River. Van Dorn then led his army back to Holly Springs. Ord had forced Price to retreat, but the Confederates escaped capture or destruction. Although they should have done so, Rosecrans’s army had failed to capture or destroy Van Dorn’s force.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/davis-bridge.html
C Monday, October 5, 1863: A torpedo attack on the USS New Ironsides by the CSS David in Charleston Harbor damages the ship, but the New Ironsides remains on duty, without repair until May, 1864.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186310
C+ Monday, October 5, 1863: On this night, the CSS David, a torpedo boat (semi-submersible vessel), carries out an attack on the USS New Ironsides just at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Lt. Cmdr. William Glassell commands the small crew. Equipped with a 14-foot spar, the David steams toward the New Ironsides and detonates a spar torpedo under its hull, but which does not appreciably damage the Federal armored ship, in spite of considerable blister in the hull. A surge from the blast swamps the smokestack and engine. Since the engines are flooded, some of the crew leap overboard, and Glassell is captured by a Yankee patrol boat.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+5%2C+1863
C++ Monday, October 5, 1863: The Confederates attempt and fail to blow up the US steamer, the USS New Ironsides, off Charleston Harbor, SC, by the cigar shaped, semi-submarine vessel, the CSS David. The CSS David rammed, the bomb exploded, and a huge column of water jumped out of the harbor, falling directly back down...on the David, extinguishing her boiler and nearly swamping the boat. The captain and most of the crew assuming the ship was doomed, leaped overboard and were picked up by Union ships. The engineer, named Tomb, stayed aboard because he could not swim. In all the excitement he got the boiler relit and sailed David back to safety.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-130
D Wednesday, October 5, 1864: Battle of Allatoona Pass, Georgia. Confederates under Samuel French attack entrenched Federals under John Corse protecting the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Union: 2000 engaged, 142 (k), 352 (w), 212 (m), 706 (c). Confederate: 2000 engaged, 122 (k), 443 (w), 234 (m), 799 (c)
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186410
D+ Wednesday, October 5, 1864: Lieut. General William J. Hardee (CSA) assumes the command of the Confederate Dept. of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as he and Lieut. General John Bell Hood (CSA) could not get along, are separated by President Jefferson Davis. Hood’s men attacked Union positions that defended the railroad pass at Allatoona, Georgia. The Confederate attackers are defeated losing 40% of their forces. Realizing that his army was in no shape to fight, Hood took his force moves westward toward Alabama.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-182
D++ Wednesday, October 5, 1864: The Battle of Allatoona Pass was a small but vicious battle fought in 1864 in Georgia between the end of the Atlanta Campaign and the beginning of Sherman’s March to the Sea. During that time Confederate General John B. Hood attempted to disrupt the supply lines of the victorious armies under Union General William T. Sherman stationed in Atlanta. On October 5th, the Confederate division under Major General Samuel G. French attempted to overrun the Union garrison and seize the strategic railroad cut located at Allatoona Pass. Despite the participants numbering only about 5,000 soldiers total, the casualty rate was very high with the Confederates suffering 27% and the Union 35% casualties each.
http://www.civilwarvirtualtours.com/allatoonapass/allatoona.html
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace CWO4 Terrence Clark SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LTC Trent Klug SFC Bernard WalkoSSG Franklin Briant SSG Byron Howard Sr CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw SPC Lyle Montgomery PO2 Marco Monsalve SPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM Sgt Christopher Collins SPC Private RallyPoint Member SPC Gary C. PO3 Lynn Spalding

‘Rapidly Filling Our Little Fort with Dead and Dying’ – The Battle of Allatoona Pass

October 5, 1864 (Wednesday) “General Sherman say hold fast. We are coming.” -Message to ‘Commanding Officer, Allatoona,’ sent the day previous. It was true. General Sherman,…

Response by TSgt Joe C. made Feb 14 at 2017 10:19 PM

TSgt Joe C. — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 22:19:18 -0500

The event in 1861 seems the most important on Oct 5th in Civil War history LTC Stephen F.

Response by SFC George Smith made Feb 14 at 2017 10:59 PM

SFC George Smith — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 22:59:32 -0500

another great History lesson...

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Feb 15 at 2017 5:47 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 05:47:03 -0500

All Civil War history is of significance, thank you for the shared knowledge.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Feb 15 at 2017 7:47 AM

SP5 Mark Kuzinski — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 07:47:27 -0500

I'm a bit behind in my reading so with a cup of coffee I'll check in to this mornings read.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 15 at 2017 10:17 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 10:17:49 -0500

I went with the CSS David. It might not have been as big of an event at the time, but it was definitely a technological step forward in Naval operations.