Posted on Feb 22, 2017
What was the most significant event on October 6 during the U.S. Civil War?
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In 1861, the Confederacy started a campaign to find crossings over the Upper Potomac that, if successful, would have allowed them to outflank the Unionist force in the capital.
In 1862, President Abe Lincoln received his September salary warrant for $2,022.33 which was $61 under the previous salary warrant as result of the new 3% income tax deduction. President Lincoln’s salary of roughly $24k per year may seem small. To be honest I did not realize that the Federal income tac was initiated in 1862.
In 1863, CSA Raider Lt Col William Quantrill decided to winder his force in Texas. On the way, he attacked the union post at Baxter Springs, Kansas. Since his men wear wearing captured Federal uniforms, they surprised the union garrison as well as the force sent under Maj Gen Blunt with a force of over 100 Yankees to assist Baxter Springs. The Federal outpost at Baxter Springs held detachments from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. The Rebels attacked and were able to hunt down, trap, and massacre 103 Union soldiers.
Maj Gen James Blunt escaped the Baxter Springs slaughter, his military band did not. Although the musicians waved their handkerchiefs in surrender they had fatally shot one of the guerrillas, so they were slain and tossed back into their wagon to burn. Soldiers later found the scorched path of the young drummer — is he the youth holding drumsticks third from right, front row? — who dragged himself away before dying. [see photo above]
http://civilwar150.kansascity.com/articles/grim-legacy-massacres-still-haunts-region/
If captured Quantrill’s men could have been summarily executed as spying who were imitating federal soldiers. Now they would be considered terrorists based on their raping, killing and pillaging.
Fortunately, William Quantrill, the man who gave Frank and Jesse James their first education in killing, died from wounds sustained in a skirmish with Union soldiers in Kentucky on June 6, 1865.
Other confederate cavalrymen were honorable including CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler.
By 1864, Virginia had been bled dry of white confederate soldiers. The Richmond Enquirer newspaper proposed that “the slaves and free negroes can be impressed just as any other property, and the law provides for their support and clothing, and pays the owner soldier’s wages.”
The newspaper paper also proposed that “the Confederate Congress provide for the purchase of two hundred and fifty thousand negroes, present them with their freedom and the privilege of remaining in the States, and arm, equip, drill and fight them.”
The role of the press is multi-faceted in a free nation. It may be used to report on events, articulate opinions and express popular sentiments.
Both northern cities such as New York and southern cities such as Richmond, Virginia had a low view of negroes. The south viewed them as chattel while the northern liberals tended to view them as the principal unjust cause for war. The view that the cause of slavery was the primary cause for the Civil War has persisted to this day, despite the weight of historical evidence which shows it was merely one of the causes.
Tuesday, October 6, 1863 CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler cavalry troopers burn a swath through Tennessee. The Rebel Cavalry under General Joseph Wheeler were still crossing the Tennessee countryside virtually unopposed. After they sacked the town of McMinnville on the 3rd, they moved northwest the next day towards Murfreesboro, which they reached on the afternoon of the 4th.
Though Wheeler had few Yankees in his front, roughly 2,000 Federal cavalrymen under General George Crook were in pursuit. Crook arrived in McMinnville on the morning of the 4th to find it in ruins. He did not tarry long, but started his men on the road to Murfreesboro. After a march of only two miles, he ran into Wheeler’s rear guard left behind by the Rebel to slow the chase.
Crook, not wishing to be delayed, ordered a saber charge, which dispersed the Confederates in their front. For four miles they charged, pushing the rear guard back into the main Rebel column near Readyville. There, Wheeler threw out more troops to keep the Federals at bay before turning his attention to other matters. Thus far, Crook’s pursuit seemed more of an annoyance than anything else.
Though Wheeler could hardly be bothered, Crook took it seriously and deployed his artillery, hoping to break the line. The Rebels were dislodged, but their main body had continued on to Murfreesboro. Night fell before much else could transpire.
On the 5th, Wheeler still paid little attention to whatever it was that Crook was up to. Instead, he drew his artillery up against a stockade at Murfreesboro that was guarding the railroad bridges. Following a sharp fight, Wheeler was able to capture the stockade and bridge, along with fifty-two Yankees. All that day was spent dismantling and burning the bridges and track. Wheeler had also dispatched troopers south to Christiana, where they performed much the same duty. A stockade guarding the railroad was taken and the railroad destroyed.
Wheeler did not, however, capture Murfreesboro. It was never his intention. He wanted to destroy the railroad running from Nashville toward Chattanooga. And on this date, after leaving Murfreesboro, he accomplished it with great haste.
“The following day [the 6th] we destroyed a train and a quantity of stores at Christiana and Fosterville,” reported Wheeler, “and destroyed all the railroad bridges and trestles between Murfreesboro and Wartrace, including all the large bridges at and near the latter place, capturing the guards, &c. We also captured and destroyed a large amount of stores of all kinds at Shelbyville, the enemy running from his strong fortifications upon our approach.”
Wheeler had divided his forces as there was quite a bit of work to be done. By nightfall, after a full day of tearing up track, they were encamped along the Duck River south of Shelbyville. One division, under Henry Davidson, was at Warner’s Bridge, and held Wheeler’s right (since he was encamped facing north in the direction of the enemy). Another, under William Martin, was two miles downstream holding the center. The left was under John Wharton.
Unsure of his left, Wheeler gave General Davidson orders to observe Crook’s Federals, who were now moving closer. If the enemy made a go at him, he was to fall back on Martin’s Division in the center.
By nightfall, General Crook’s Federals were encamped seven miles north of Shelbyville. He had been joined by General Robert Mitchell, Cavalry Chief from the Department of the Cumberland, here commanding the Cavalry’s First Division. Though the troops were generally spread out and fatigued, together, Mitchell and Crook’s combined commands probably mustered 4,000. It still was not equal to Wheeler’s 5,000 Rebels, but Wheeler was also dispersed.
Through the night, both sides rested. It had been a frantic few days. [1]
[1] Sources: Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 30, Part 2, p685-686, 691, 693, 697, 727.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/wheeler-burns-a-swath-through-tennessee/
Thursday, October 6, 1864: The Slaves and Free Negroes can be impressed just as any other property
The Confederate government was doing almost everything in their power to fill up their armies with conscripts, former soldiers, ex-partisan rangers, and pretty well any male who could carry a musket. But the Richmond Enquirer understood that there was an untapped wealth of soldiers within the slave population.
Earlier in the war, the Confederate Congress thought it best to fill every available noncombatant role with a black man. This would free up the white man for duty.
If fully carried out, this would, calculated the Enquirer, “give ten thousand men to the Army of Northern Virginia.” It reasoned that “the slaves and free negroes can be impressed just as any other property, and the law provides for their support and clothing, and pays the owner soldier’s wages.”
Believing this was not going quite far enough, the newspaper asserted that “the question of making soldiers of negroes, of regularly enlisting them and fighting them for their safety, as well as our own, must have presented itself to every reflecting mind.”
The editor argued that simply because “the Yankees have not been able to make soldiers out of their drafted negroes,” it did not mean “that we cannot train our slaves to make very efficient soldiers.”
Of course, this ignored the fact that by this time, over 125,000 black soldiers had entered the Federal army, and had been present upon a number of battlefields after the white southern forces had retreated.
Nevertheless, the paper put forward the idea that the Yankees had no idea how to deal with black people. “We believe that they can be, by drill and discipline, moulded into steady and reliable soldiers.”
Though it might not be proper, read the copy, “whenever the subjugation of Virginia or the employment of her slaves as soldiers are alternative positions, then certainly we are for making them soldiers, and giving freedom to those negroes that escape the casualties of battle.”
The paper proposed that “the Confederate Congress provide for the purchase of two hundred and fifty thousand negroes, present them with their freedom and the privilege of remaining in the States, and arm, equip, drill and fight them.”
And that was their proposed deal. If the black soldiers survived, then they would be given their freedom. It never mentioned what their incentive might be, seeing as how it appeared that the South was about to lose the war. If only the slave or freed black man could hold out until Grant took Richmond, this might all be pointless.
“We believe that the negroes, identified with us by interest, and fighting for their freedom here,” continued the draft, “would be faithful and reliable soldiers, and, under officers who would drill them, could be depended on for much of the ordinary service, and even for the hardest fighting.”
In closing, the article stood: ” It is not necessary now to discuss this matter, and may never become so, neither negroes nor Slavery will be permitted to stand in the way of the success of our cause. This war is for national independence on our side, and for the subjugation of white and the emancipation of negroes on the side of the enemy. If we fail, the negroes are nominally free and their masters really slaves. We must, therefore, succeed. Other States may decide for themselves, but Virginia, after exhausting her whites, will fight her blacks through to the last man. She will be free at all costs.” [1]
[1] From the Richmond Enquirer, October 6, 1864.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/the-slaves-and-free-negroes-can-be-impressed-just-as-any-other-property/
Pictures: 1862-10-06 CSA Raider William Quantrill attacks Baxter, Kansas; 1863-10-06 Baxter Springs, Kansas Battlefield map; 1862-10-06 Baxter Springs massacres -Union Musicians were slaughtered after surrendering; 1864-10-06 Union lines along the Brock Road.
A. 1861: The Capture of CSS Alert disguised as a British ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for the USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague, to give chase.
As the Flag pulled closer to the schooner, the Palmetto Flag was hauled down and the British flag, turned upside down as a signal of distress, was run up in its place. Neither fooled nor daunted the Flag as it pulled alongside her and boarded. Her name was the Alert, captained by James Carlin, who claimed that she was in fact a British ship from Nassau, sailing for St. John, New Brunswick. As he pointed to the flag above, the ship’s mate was caught trying to hide both Confederate and Palmetto Flags.
The Flag brought the Alert alongside the Roanoke where Captain Marston questioned her cook, a Spaniard by birth. The cook, who had little to gain or lose at this point, told Marston that the Alert was originally from Charleston and named the Adelaide. She was taken to Nassau and then sold to her present owner. While in Nassau, told the cook, she flew only the Confederate and Palmetto Flags, never hoisting the British ensign. She was not bound for St. John, as her Captain asserted, but for Charleston, as Marston figured.
B. 1862: Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield at Antietam. Henry Halleck sent a message to McClellan: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
C. 1863: CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler cavalry troopers burn a swath through middle Tennessee, towards Murfreesboro. Right behind Wheeler is Maj Gen George Crook with a brigade of Union cavalry, nipping at the Rebels’ heels. Crook catches up with Wheeler’s rear guard, and attacks in an extended saber charge. After deploying his artillery, Crook breaks through, but Wheeler reaches Murfreesboro and captured a railroad bridge and a few Federal troops as they entered the town of Christiana where they managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies. After tearing up track, Wheeler’s gray riders move on to Shelbyville, on the Duck River, and took up a defensive position. At Shelbyville, Wheelers forces destroyed the Union supply facilities that belonged to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
With over 5,000 troopers, Wheeler outnumbers Crook, but Crook is joined by Gen. Robert Mitchell, with 2,000 more, bringing the Federal total to 4,000. Wheeler’s three divisions, under Davidson, Martin, and Wharton, spread out guarding river crossings.
D. 1864: Cavalry skirmish at Brock's Gap, Virginia. Union Victory. Col. Thomas L. Rosser Confederate cavalry force attacked 2 Union regiments, commanded by Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, at Brock's Gap, Virginia near Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah valley. Although surprised, Custer’s men manage to repulse the attack and the Confederate attack failed.
FYI SGT Mark Anderson PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL (Join to see) SSgt David M.] SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see)LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant LTC David Brown LTC (Join to see) CWO3 (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SFC (Join to see) CPL Ronald Keyes Jr
In 1862, President Abe Lincoln received his September salary warrant for $2,022.33 which was $61 under the previous salary warrant as result of the new 3% income tax deduction. President Lincoln’s salary of roughly $24k per year may seem small. To be honest I did not realize that the Federal income tac was initiated in 1862.
In 1863, CSA Raider Lt Col William Quantrill decided to winder his force in Texas. On the way, he attacked the union post at Baxter Springs, Kansas. Since his men wear wearing captured Federal uniforms, they surprised the union garrison as well as the force sent under Maj Gen Blunt with a force of over 100 Yankees to assist Baxter Springs. The Federal outpost at Baxter Springs held detachments from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. The Rebels attacked and were able to hunt down, trap, and massacre 103 Union soldiers.
Maj Gen James Blunt escaped the Baxter Springs slaughter, his military band did not. Although the musicians waved their handkerchiefs in surrender they had fatally shot one of the guerrillas, so they were slain and tossed back into their wagon to burn. Soldiers later found the scorched path of the young drummer — is he the youth holding drumsticks third from right, front row? — who dragged himself away before dying. [see photo above]
http://civilwar150.kansascity.com/articles/grim-legacy-massacres-still-haunts-region/
If captured Quantrill’s men could have been summarily executed as spying who were imitating federal soldiers. Now they would be considered terrorists based on their raping, killing and pillaging.
Fortunately, William Quantrill, the man who gave Frank and Jesse James their first education in killing, died from wounds sustained in a skirmish with Union soldiers in Kentucky on June 6, 1865.
Other confederate cavalrymen were honorable including CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler.
By 1864, Virginia had been bled dry of white confederate soldiers. The Richmond Enquirer newspaper proposed that “the slaves and free negroes can be impressed just as any other property, and the law provides for their support and clothing, and pays the owner soldier’s wages.”
The newspaper paper also proposed that “the Confederate Congress provide for the purchase of two hundred and fifty thousand negroes, present them with their freedom and the privilege of remaining in the States, and arm, equip, drill and fight them.”
The role of the press is multi-faceted in a free nation. It may be used to report on events, articulate opinions and express popular sentiments.
Both northern cities such as New York and southern cities such as Richmond, Virginia had a low view of negroes. The south viewed them as chattel while the northern liberals tended to view them as the principal unjust cause for war. The view that the cause of slavery was the primary cause for the Civil War has persisted to this day, despite the weight of historical evidence which shows it was merely one of the causes.
Tuesday, October 6, 1863 CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler cavalry troopers burn a swath through Tennessee. The Rebel Cavalry under General Joseph Wheeler were still crossing the Tennessee countryside virtually unopposed. After they sacked the town of McMinnville on the 3rd, they moved northwest the next day towards Murfreesboro, which they reached on the afternoon of the 4th.
Though Wheeler had few Yankees in his front, roughly 2,000 Federal cavalrymen under General George Crook were in pursuit. Crook arrived in McMinnville on the morning of the 4th to find it in ruins. He did not tarry long, but started his men on the road to Murfreesboro. After a march of only two miles, he ran into Wheeler’s rear guard left behind by the Rebel to slow the chase.
Crook, not wishing to be delayed, ordered a saber charge, which dispersed the Confederates in their front. For four miles they charged, pushing the rear guard back into the main Rebel column near Readyville. There, Wheeler threw out more troops to keep the Federals at bay before turning his attention to other matters. Thus far, Crook’s pursuit seemed more of an annoyance than anything else.
Though Wheeler could hardly be bothered, Crook took it seriously and deployed his artillery, hoping to break the line. The Rebels were dislodged, but their main body had continued on to Murfreesboro. Night fell before much else could transpire.
On the 5th, Wheeler still paid little attention to whatever it was that Crook was up to. Instead, he drew his artillery up against a stockade at Murfreesboro that was guarding the railroad bridges. Following a sharp fight, Wheeler was able to capture the stockade and bridge, along with fifty-two Yankees. All that day was spent dismantling and burning the bridges and track. Wheeler had also dispatched troopers south to Christiana, where they performed much the same duty. A stockade guarding the railroad was taken and the railroad destroyed.
Wheeler did not, however, capture Murfreesboro. It was never his intention. He wanted to destroy the railroad running from Nashville toward Chattanooga. And on this date, after leaving Murfreesboro, he accomplished it with great haste.
“The following day [the 6th] we destroyed a train and a quantity of stores at Christiana and Fosterville,” reported Wheeler, “and destroyed all the railroad bridges and trestles between Murfreesboro and Wartrace, including all the large bridges at and near the latter place, capturing the guards, &c. We also captured and destroyed a large amount of stores of all kinds at Shelbyville, the enemy running from his strong fortifications upon our approach.”
Wheeler had divided his forces as there was quite a bit of work to be done. By nightfall, after a full day of tearing up track, they were encamped along the Duck River south of Shelbyville. One division, under Henry Davidson, was at Warner’s Bridge, and held Wheeler’s right (since he was encamped facing north in the direction of the enemy). Another, under William Martin, was two miles downstream holding the center. The left was under John Wharton.
Unsure of his left, Wheeler gave General Davidson orders to observe Crook’s Federals, who were now moving closer. If the enemy made a go at him, he was to fall back on Martin’s Division in the center.
By nightfall, General Crook’s Federals were encamped seven miles north of Shelbyville. He had been joined by General Robert Mitchell, Cavalry Chief from the Department of the Cumberland, here commanding the Cavalry’s First Division. Though the troops were generally spread out and fatigued, together, Mitchell and Crook’s combined commands probably mustered 4,000. It still was not equal to Wheeler’s 5,000 Rebels, but Wheeler was also dispersed.
Through the night, both sides rested. It had been a frantic few days. [1]
[1] Sources: Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 30, Part 2, p685-686, 691, 693, 697, 727.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/wheeler-burns-a-swath-through-tennessee/
Thursday, October 6, 1864: The Slaves and Free Negroes can be impressed just as any other property
The Confederate government was doing almost everything in their power to fill up their armies with conscripts, former soldiers, ex-partisan rangers, and pretty well any male who could carry a musket. But the Richmond Enquirer understood that there was an untapped wealth of soldiers within the slave population.
Earlier in the war, the Confederate Congress thought it best to fill every available noncombatant role with a black man. This would free up the white man for duty.
If fully carried out, this would, calculated the Enquirer, “give ten thousand men to the Army of Northern Virginia.” It reasoned that “the slaves and free negroes can be impressed just as any other property, and the law provides for their support and clothing, and pays the owner soldier’s wages.”
Believing this was not going quite far enough, the newspaper asserted that “the question of making soldiers of negroes, of regularly enlisting them and fighting them for their safety, as well as our own, must have presented itself to every reflecting mind.”
The editor argued that simply because “the Yankees have not been able to make soldiers out of their drafted negroes,” it did not mean “that we cannot train our slaves to make very efficient soldiers.”
Of course, this ignored the fact that by this time, over 125,000 black soldiers had entered the Federal army, and had been present upon a number of battlefields after the white southern forces had retreated.
Nevertheless, the paper put forward the idea that the Yankees had no idea how to deal with black people. “We believe that they can be, by drill and discipline, moulded into steady and reliable soldiers.”
Though it might not be proper, read the copy, “whenever the subjugation of Virginia or the employment of her slaves as soldiers are alternative positions, then certainly we are for making them soldiers, and giving freedom to those negroes that escape the casualties of battle.”
The paper proposed that “the Confederate Congress provide for the purchase of two hundred and fifty thousand negroes, present them with their freedom and the privilege of remaining in the States, and arm, equip, drill and fight them.”
And that was their proposed deal. If the black soldiers survived, then they would be given their freedom. It never mentioned what their incentive might be, seeing as how it appeared that the South was about to lose the war. If only the slave or freed black man could hold out until Grant took Richmond, this might all be pointless.
“We believe that the negroes, identified with us by interest, and fighting for their freedom here,” continued the draft, “would be faithful and reliable soldiers, and, under officers who would drill them, could be depended on for much of the ordinary service, and even for the hardest fighting.”
In closing, the article stood: ” It is not necessary now to discuss this matter, and may never become so, neither negroes nor Slavery will be permitted to stand in the way of the success of our cause. This war is for national independence on our side, and for the subjugation of white and the emancipation of negroes on the side of the enemy. If we fail, the negroes are nominally free and their masters really slaves. We must, therefore, succeed. Other States may decide for themselves, but Virginia, after exhausting her whites, will fight her blacks through to the last man. She will be free at all costs.” [1]
[1] From the Richmond Enquirer, October 6, 1864.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/the-slaves-and-free-negroes-can-be-impressed-just-as-any-other-property/
Pictures: 1862-10-06 CSA Raider William Quantrill attacks Baxter, Kansas; 1863-10-06 Baxter Springs, Kansas Battlefield map; 1862-10-06 Baxter Springs massacres -Union Musicians were slaughtered after surrendering; 1864-10-06 Union lines along the Brock Road.
A. 1861: The Capture of CSS Alert disguised as a British ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for the USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague, to give chase.
As the Flag pulled closer to the schooner, the Palmetto Flag was hauled down and the British flag, turned upside down as a signal of distress, was run up in its place. Neither fooled nor daunted the Flag as it pulled alongside her and boarded. Her name was the Alert, captained by James Carlin, who claimed that she was in fact a British ship from Nassau, sailing for St. John, New Brunswick. As he pointed to the flag above, the ship’s mate was caught trying to hide both Confederate and Palmetto Flags.
The Flag brought the Alert alongside the Roanoke where Captain Marston questioned her cook, a Spaniard by birth. The cook, who had little to gain or lose at this point, told Marston that the Alert was originally from Charleston and named the Adelaide. She was taken to Nassau and then sold to her present owner. While in Nassau, told the cook, she flew only the Confederate and Palmetto Flags, never hoisting the British ensign. She was not bound for St. John, as her Captain asserted, but for Charleston, as Marston figured.
B. 1862: Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield at Antietam. Henry Halleck sent a message to McClellan: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
C. 1863: CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler cavalry troopers burn a swath through middle Tennessee, towards Murfreesboro. Right behind Wheeler is Maj Gen George Crook with a brigade of Union cavalry, nipping at the Rebels’ heels. Crook catches up with Wheeler’s rear guard, and attacks in an extended saber charge. After deploying his artillery, Crook breaks through, but Wheeler reaches Murfreesboro and captured a railroad bridge and a few Federal troops as they entered the town of Christiana where they managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies. After tearing up track, Wheeler’s gray riders move on to Shelbyville, on the Duck River, and took up a defensive position. At Shelbyville, Wheelers forces destroyed the Union supply facilities that belonged to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
With over 5,000 troopers, Wheeler outnumbers Crook, but Crook is joined by Gen. Robert Mitchell, with 2,000 more, bringing the Federal total to 4,000. Wheeler’s three divisions, under Davidson, Martin, and Wharton, spread out guarding river crossings.
D. 1864: Cavalry skirmish at Brock's Gap, Virginia. Union Victory. Col. Thomas L. Rosser Confederate cavalry force attacked 2 Union regiments, commanded by Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, at Brock's Gap, Virginia near Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah valley. Although surprised, Custer’s men manage to repulse the attack and the Confederate attack failed.
FYI SGT Mark Anderson PO3 Edward Riddle Maj William W. 'Bill' Price COL (Join to see) SSgt David M.] SPC Maurice Evans SPC Jon O. SGT Jim ArnoldAmn Dale PreisachCW4 (Join to see) Sgt Jerry GenesioSSG (Join to see)LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant LTC David Brown LTC (Join to see) CWO3 (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SFC (Join to see) CPL Ronald Keyes Jr
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LTC Stephen F. thanks for the read and share, I chose
1861: The Capture of CSS Alert disguised as a British ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for
1861: The Capture of CSS Alert disguised as a British ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for
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In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln reviewed the troops and had a private conversation with Maj Gen George B. McClellan urging him to move. Oddly enough this would be their last meeting. McClellan was removed from command in November 1862 and in 1864 he ran as a democrat against Lincoln for President.
In 1863, after conducting many raids in Kansas, including the massacre at Lawrence, CSA Raider Lt. Col. William Quantrill decided to winter in Texas. On the way, he and his men happened upon the Federal post at Baxter Springs, Kansas near the Missouri and Indian Territory borders. Quantrill attacked suddenly, surprising the Federals, who suffered heavy casualties before barricading themselves inside the earth-and-timber fortress. A Union force appeared from the north. It was General James G. Blunt (US), commander of the forces in Kansas, who was in the process of moving his headquarters from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Blunt spotted Quantrill's men but mistook them for Union troops because many were dressed in captured Yankee uniforms. Quantrill attacked, and the scene turned into a massacre. The Yankees quickly scattered, and Quantrill's partisans hunted them down. Estimated Casualties: 106 total (US 103; CS 3). Quantrill and his men continued south to Texas, raiding homesteads and attacking Native American communities along the way. In Chattanooga, most of the wooden houses and buildings were destroyed leaving 2,500 citizens to cram themselves into a few stone buildings still standing.
In 1861, William T. Sherman to replaced Anderson in Robert Kentucky. Brigadier-General Robert Anderson had withstood the strain of the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter as well as anyone could. As a reward, Lincoln gave him command of the Department of the Cumberland (formerly the Department of Kentucky). More than any other state, except, perhaps Missouri, Kentucky was being torn in two by the war. She wished to remain neutral, but neither side expected that to be possible. After moving his headquarters from Cincinnati to Louisville, the crisis escalated as both sides skirmished and fortified a line that ran from one side of the state to the other. Lincoln had issued a plan of attack on the 1st that was too much for the aging, weary Anderson.
The previous day, he called General William Tecumseh Sherman to come to Louisville. Sherman was in command of the troops on Muldrough’s Hill (near Elizabethtown), was just about to receive reinforcements and was preparing to march south towards Bowling Green. Both Generals had been in daily communication with each other and it was becoming clear to both that Anderson had taken all he could and needed to leave, that if he stayed, it would kill him. [2]
Together, they wired General-in-Chief Winfield Scott in Washington and on this date, Scott replied with a direct order: “Brigadier-General ANDERSON: To give you rest necessary to restoration of health, call Brigadier-General Sherman to command the Department of the Cumberland. Turn over to him your instructions, and report here in person as soon as you may without retarding your recovery. WINFIELD SCOTT.”
Anderson received the telegram and prepared to leave in two days.
[2] Memoirs by William T. Sherman.
[3] Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 4, p296.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/the-capture-of-another-english-ship-shermans-new-command/
In 1862, following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. Lincoln, no doubt, telling Mac that there was no hurry, "take all the time in the world. "Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
During the visit McClellan and Lincoln reviewed the troops, toured the battlefield and engaged in long talks concerning the next move. The talks were private and the only one to really write about them was McClellan. His accounts are probably not the most reliable.
During a rest after visiting one of the battlefields, Lincoln, according to McClellan, was sitting upon a hillside with his legs folded up and knees about his chin. “General, you have saved the country,” said the apparently, star-struck President. “You must remain in command and carry us through to the end.”
McClellan wrote his wife that Lincoln believed him to be “the best general in the country.” In his memoirs, McClellan remembered Lincoln telling him not to stir an inch until he was ready, that he would defend him against all who wished to hurry him along.
When the President left McClellan’s headquarters, oddly enough, that was the last time either would see the other alive. Though Lincoln would live until the very end of the war, and McClellan until 1885, this was the last time the two would meet.
Lincoln never left any recollections of the meetings near Antietam in early October, but a friend of his did. Ozias Hatch, who had traveled with Lincoln to visit the battlefields, remembered that he and Lincoln walked up a hill overlooking the encampment. “Do you know what this is?” asked the President.
“It is the Army of the Potomac,” replied Hatch.
“So it is called, but that is a mistake,” corrected Lincoln. “It is only McClellan’s bodyguard.” This may have been said in exasperation, but there’s little doubt that this is how Lincoln felt.
The President arrived back in Washington on the 4th and spent the next day, a Sunday, no doubt thinking over what he and McClellan had talked about. On this date (the 6th), rumor around Washington was that McClellan wished to retire from the service if he could do so without disgrace. When the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, heard of this, he dismissed it as a ploy by McClellan to become General-in-Chief, to replace Henry Halleck, whom everyone but McClellan seemed to favor.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads. Whether Lincoln had approved of McClellan’s leadership during the battle of Antietam was no longer on the table. Whether he President stared longingly into the General’s eyes and told him that he was the best General in the whole wide world no longer mattered.”
All that mattered was that Lincoln now wanted him to move. He outlined two very basic plans, and gave McClellan the choice between them. Sitting idle was not among them, but neither did the President describe what would happen if McClellan did nothing. [1]
[1] Sources: The Civil War Papers of General McClellan edited by Stephen W. Sears; Lincoln and McClellan by John C. Waugh; McClellan’s Own Story by George McClellan; Diary of Gideon Welles; Diary and Correspondence of Salmon P. Chase; Abraham Lincoln: Collected Works, Vol. 5.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/following-a-splendid-visit-lincoln-orders-mcclellan-to-move/
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. Additional George Templeton Strong, Hardeman County diarist, planter, and settler, John Houston Bills, the Richmond Daily Dispatch, and the New York Times had things to say on this day long ago.
Sunday, October 6, 1861: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “I remained all day at Mr. Moore's. Mr. Moore [3] is a Mexican War veteran.
[3] Mr. Moore was an uncle of my friend and schoolmate, John Moore. —A. G. D.”
Monday, October 6: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “We started this morning at daylight and crowded the rebels very hard all day, capturing their trains and some of their artillery — ammunition, arms and caissons. I never saw such a stampede in all my life. They drove their wagons and artillery through the timber, over fallen trees, two and three abreast, wiggling through the standing timber as best they could with every teamster for himself. Some of the artillery men took the cannon off the running gears, and throwing them into gullies, covered them with leaves. Everything imaginable was strewn along the road — tents, bake ovens, corn meal, fresh beef and a great many other things; some of their supplies they burned up, to keep from falling into our hands. We captured some of General Price's headquarters' supplies, among such a buffalo robe which the men tore up for souvenirs. [1]
[1] During that day's march I saw, I think, the meanest man in the Union army. We had just started up a long, steep hill when I noticed one of our men coming out of a one-room log hut by the roadside. As he passed us, with an oath, he growled that he had gone into the hut to get something to eat, but all he could find was a half-bushel bag of corn meal. This the woman, who by the way had the courage to stay with her home, begged him not to take, as it was all the food she had, but he took it. Then when about halfway up the hill, the bag of meal, in addition to his accouterments, becoming too heavy, he with another oath, dumped half the meal out on the ground and ran on to catch up with his command. For such a man, I cannot find words to express my contempt. — A. G. D.”
Monday, October 6, 1862: George Templeton Strong, of New York City, records in his journal: “At Columbia College meeting Monday we made a good move—appropriated money for a fencing school. This is the entering wedge, I hope, for the recognition of physical education. . . . . Canvass for fall elections fairly begun. Wadsworth and Seymour candidates for governor. I hope Wadsworth and the so-called radicals may sweep the state and kick our wretched sympathizers with Southern treason back into the holes that have sheltered them for the past year and from which they are beginning to peep out timidly and tentatively to see whether they can venture to resume their dirty work. . . . Seymour’s election would be an encouragement to Jefferson Davis worth 100,000 men. . . . If we work faithfully, and do our duty in freely putting forth all our resources, we can hardly fail, with God’s blessing, to crush the rebellion and vindicate our existence as a nation. God enable us so to do our duty. Amen.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1862
Monday, October 6, 1862: Hardeman County diarist, planter, settler, John Houston Bills writes: “We hear it reported that the battle was won by the Federals & many prisoners captured from Price’s Army. At 2 PM General Ord arrives in an ambulance wounded in the leg, a painful though not dangerous wound. Reports a decided Victory to the Federal the losses not yet stated. They think it quite probable the loss of the Federal the greatest though repulsing the Confederates all day. The fight was at the Crossing of Hatchie at Willie Davis and battle may be called “Davis’s Crossing.” Arriving just after the battle, Vermont Union soldier, Lieutenant J.H. Thayer wrote in a letter home, “The heads, legs, arms and shattered fragments of the dead and living lay scattered “profusely on the ground” in all directions. Ambulances and nurses, Surgeons and Hospital stewards were busy attending to the wants of the sufferers yet the groans of the dying and the shrieks of the wounded could not wholly be suppressed by the kindest care. Yet many a patriot’s sufferings were ended on that eventful day which was plainly evidenced by the newly raised mounds in every direction. The battle of the Hatchie although not so murderous and extensive as others should not pass unnoticed in the historical records of this rebellion.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade “Crocker's Brigade,” “Our brigade went into Vicksburg this afternoon at 2 o'clock to be in the review, together with the entire army at this place. We were reviewed by Major General U. S. Grant. The report in camp is that General Grant has been ordered by the War Department to report at Louisville, Kentucky. All are sorry to see him leave. Just after dark, the Eleventh Iowa was ordered out on picket, it being expected that the rebel cavalry would make a dash into Vicksburg in the morning. “
Tuesday, October 6, 1863: The Richmond Daily Dispatch publishes an editorial on a curious topic: how few Northern generals have been slain in battle as compared with Southern generals---of whom many have perished. There is clearly a gap in cultural ideals and perceptions, with the North not as passionate about the chivalric code as their enemies in the South, and the snide and satirical tone of this piece makes clear the Southern scorn for Yankee indifference to matters of honor: “It has been observed that not many Federal Generals have been killed in this war. The military expediency of keeping out of danger is fully appreciated by those heroes, so self-denying of glory, so generous in their distribution of the posts of honor and peril to the humble privates in their ranks. Burnside, butting the heads of his rank and file against the ramparts of Fredericksburg, and ensconcing himself in a snug covert three miles from the roar of battle, is a fair specimen of the military discretion of the Commander in Chief of the Federal forces. It is a rare thing to hear of one of them who is unmindful of the great law of self preservation. Such slaughter as has been witnessed among the common soldiers of the Yankee army has not often been witnessed, nor such exemption from peril as their leaders have enjoyed. Scott, McClellan, McDowell, Buell, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, all live, and have not even a scar to testify that they have ever been engaged in a battle of this war.
And yet, though successful in escaping Confederate bullets, they are as dead, to all intents and purposes, as if they had shared the fate of the thousands whom they have driven to the slaughter. Not one of the long array we have mentioned has survived the fields of their former notoriety. Each and all of them have been paralyzed by the shock of arms which they so carefully kept out of, and laid up in a mausoleum where they are scarcely objects of curiosity to the living world. The Confederates have killed them one and all as effectually as if they had perforated their carcases [sic] with Minnie bullets. Better would it have been for their reputation to have perished in the smoke and din of battle than to go down to posterity not only defeated, but disgraced. They have purchased a few years of life at the expense of all that makes life desirable to a soldier. With them the process of decomposition has begun before death, and they are masses of living putrefaction — a stench in the nostrils of all mankind and of themselves. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
Tuesday, October 6, 1863: The New York Times publishes an editorial discussing the possible reasons for General Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania, even considering Lee’s own report. The editorial concludes: “This report of LEE confirms the opinion universally entertained, that a grand opportunity was missed to strike a blow at his army while it was at Williamsport, making preparations to retreat across the Potomac. He confesses to his embarrassments in that position, and brings to our knowledge some whose existence we had surmised, but of which we previously had no proof. At the same time, his campaign is throughout tacitly confessed to have been a total and stupendous failure — even accepting his own confession of its objects; but we are persuaded now, as during the pendency of the campaign, that its real and final object was the capture of Washington.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
Thursday, October 6, 1864: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “It rained nearly all day. We lay in bivouac all day, resting. We hear that Sherman with a part of his force is trying to surround the rebels in the vicinity of Lost mountain. The rebels left the railroad after tearing up about fifteen miles of track, burning the ties and twisting the rails. But the engineers will have it repaired in a few days, as there are thousands of trees along the way just the size for railroad ties. All is quiet along the line.”
A. Sunday, October 6, 1861: The Capture of another “English” Ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for the USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague, to give chase.
As the Flag pulled closer to the schooner, the Palmetto Flag was hauled down and the British flag, turned upside down as a signal of distress, was run up in its place. Neither fooled nor daunted the Flag as it pulled alongside her and boarded. Her name was the Alert, captained by James Carlin, who claimed that she was in fact a British ship from Nassau, sailing for St. John, New Brunswick. As he pointed to the flag above, the ship’s mate was caught trying to hide both Confederate and Palmetto Flags.
The Flag brought the Alert alongside the Roanoke where Captain Marston questioned her cook, a Spaniard by birth. The cook, who had little to gain or lose at this point, told Marston that the Alert was originally from Charleston and named the Adelaide. She was taken to Nassau and then sold to her present owner. While in Nassau, told the cook, she flew only the Confederate and Palmetto Flags, never hoisting the British ensign. She was not bound for St. John, as her Captain asserted, but for Charleston, as Marston figured.
A foremast hand questioned by Marston, confirmed the cook’s version, adding that just before her capture, the mate burned her original papers and quickly drew up new ones, claiming that she was English and bound for New Brunswick.
Both the cook and the foremast hand were released without charge, while the Captain, mate and two others were sent to Fortress Monroe. The Alert‘s cargo consisted of molasses, salt and fruit, “the whole of which remains untouched, not even a banana having been taken.”
B. Monday, October 6, 1862: Following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. “Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
C. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler cavalry troopers burn a swath through middle Tennessee, towards Murfreesboro. Right behind Wheeler is Maj Gen George Crook with a brigade of Union cavalry, nipping at the Rebels’ heels. Crook catches up with Wheeler’s rear guard, and attacks in an extended saber charge. After deploying his artillery, Crook breaks through, but Wheeler reaches Murfreesboro and captured a railroad bridge and a few Federal troops as they entered the town of Christiana where they managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies. After tearing up track, Wheeler’s gray riders move on to Shelbyville, on the Duck River, and took up a defensive position. At Shelbyville, Wheelers forces destroyed the Union supply facilities that belonged to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
With over 5,000 troopers, Wheeler outnumbers Crook, but Crook is joined by Gen. Robert Mitchell, with 2,000 more, bringing the Federal total to 4,000. Wheeler’s three divisions, under Davidson, Martin, and Wharton, spread out guarding river crossings.
D. Thursday, October 6, 1864: Cavalry skirmish at Brock's Gap, Virginia. Union Victory. Col. Thomas L. Rosser Confederate cavalry force attacked 2 Union regiments, commanded by Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, at Brock's Gap, Virginia near Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah valley. Although surprised, Custer’s men manage to repulse the attack and the Confederate attack failed.
Following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. “Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
Pictures: 1861-10-06 USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague; 1861-10-06 CSS Alert off Roanoke; 1863-10 Wheeler raid map; Illustrations of Civil War Camp Life
1. Sunday, October 6, 1861: The Confederacy started a campaign to find crossings over the Upper Potomac that, if successful, would have allowed them to outflank the Unionist force in the capital.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-six
2. Sunday, October 6, 1861: Winfield Scott informs General Robert Anderson that he is relieved of duty by telegram. He relinquishes command of the Department of Kentucky the following day.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186110
3. Sunday, October 6, 1861: Its connection with the War is slight and its significance was really rather small in the great scheme of the advancement of communications technology. Their accomplishments and personnel have lived on to this day in myth, legend, movies and memories. The pony express is officially discontinued after only 18 months of courageous service. It was a great innovation in a day, when the former method of getting mail to CA consisted of sailing ships around Cape Horn.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-six
4. Monday, October 6, 1862: President Abe Lincoln receives September salary warrant for $2,022.33 which is $61 under previous warrant as result of the new 3 per cent income tax deduction.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
5. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: President Davis heads south from Richmond, Virginia on a trip to South Carolina and North Georgia.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186310
6. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: After conducting many raids in Kansas, including the massacre at Lawrence, Quantrill decided to winter in Texas. William Quantrill (CSA) and his men happened upon a Federal post at Baxter Springs, Kansas near the Missouri and Indian Territory borders. Quantrill attacked suddenly, surprising the Yankees, who suffered heavy casualties before barricading themselves inside the earth-and-timber fortress. A Union force appeared from the north. It was General James G. Blunt (US), commander of the forces in Kansas, who was in the process of moving his headquarters from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Blunt spotted Quantrill's men but mistook them for Union troops because many were dressed in captured Yankee uniforms. Quantrill attacked, and the scene turned into a massacre. The Yankees quickly scattered, and Quantrill's partisans hunted them down. Estimated Casualties: 106 total (US 103; CS 3). Quantrill and his men continued south to Texas, raiding homesteads and attacking Native American communities along the way. In Chattanooga, most of the wooden houses and buildings were destroyed leaving 2,500 citizens to cram themselves into a few stone buildings still standing.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-130Tuesday,
7. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Battle of Baxter Springs, Kansas: Lt. Col. William Quantrill and his irregular Rebel cavalry attack a Federal outpost here, held my detachments from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. Quantrill’s men attack, but are able to do little, when a force of over 100 Yankees approach from the north—Gen. James Blunt and his staff. The Rebels attack, and are able to hunt down, trap, and massacre 103 Union soldiers. Gen. Blunt barely escapes with his life.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
8. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Battle of Baxter Springs, Kansas: Lt. Col. William Quantrill and his irregular Rebel cavalry attack a Federal outpost here, held my detachments from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. Quantrill’s men attack, but are able to do little, when a force of over 100 Yankees approach from the north—Gen. James Blunt and his staff. The Rebels attack, and are able to hunt down, trap, and massacre 103 Union soldiers. Gen. Blunt barely escapes with his life.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
9. Thursday, October 6, 1864: There is some fighting as General Forrest is leaving Tennessee and heading South back to Alabama, camping just a few miles from Florence before crossing high water on the Tennessee River.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-182
A Sunday, October 6, 1861: The Capture of another “English” Ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for the USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague, to give chase.
As the Flag pulled closer to the schooner, the Palmetto Flag was hauled down and the British flag, turned upside down as a signal of distress, was run up in its place. Neither fooled nor daunted the Flag as it pulled along side her and boarded. Her name was the Alert, captained by James Carlin, who claimed that she was in fact a British ship from Nassau, sailing for St. John, New Brunswick. As he pointed to the flag above, the ship’s mate was caught trying to hide both Confederate and Palmetto Flags.
The Flag brought the Alert alongside the Roanoke where Captain Marston questioned her cook, a Spaniard by birth. The cook, who had little to gain or lose at this point, told Marston that the Alert was originally from Charleston and named the Adelaide. She was taken to Nassau and then sold to her present owner. While in Nassau, told the cook, she flew only the Confederate and Palmetto Flags, never hoisting the British ensign. She was not bound for St. John, as her Captain asserted, but for Charleston, as Marston figured.
A foremast hand questioned by Marston, confirmed the cook’s version, adding that just before her capture, the mate burned her original papers and quickly drew up new ones, claiming that she was English and bound for New Brunswick.
Both the cook and the foremast hand were released without charge, while the Captain, mate and two others were sent to Fortress Monroe. The Alert‘s cargo consisted of molasses, salt and fruit, “the whole of which remains untouched, not even a banana having been taken.” [1]
[1] Official Naval Records, Series 1, Vol. 6, p295-296
http://civilwardailygazette.com/the-capture-of-another-english-ship-shermans-new-command/
B Monday, October 6, 1862: Following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. “Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
C Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Wheeler’s raid burns its way into middle Tennessee, towards Murfreesboro. Right behind Wheeler is Gen. George Crook with a brigade of Union cavalry, nipping at the Rebels’ heels. Crook catches up with Wheeler’s rear guard, and attacks in an extended saber charge. After deploying his artillery, Crook breaks through, but Wheeler reaches Murfreesboro and captures a railroad bridge and a few Federal troops. After tearing up track, Wheeler’s gray riders move on to Shelbyville, on the Duck River, and take up a defensive position. With over 5,000 troopers, Wheeler outnumbers Crook, but Crook is joined by Gen. Robert Mitchell, with 2,000 more, bringing the Federal total to 4,000. Wheeler’s three divisions, under Davidson, Martin, and Wharton, are spread out guarding river crossings.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
C+ Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Christiana, Tennessee - On October 6, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his Confederate raiders entered the town of Christiana. They managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html
C++ Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Major General Joseph Wheeler and his Confederate raiders entered the town of Christiana, TN. They managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies. In the town of Shelbyville, Wheeler’s raiders, destroyed the Union supply facilities. President Davis (CSA) heads south from Richmond on a trip to South Carolina and North Georgia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-130
C+++Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Shelbyville, Tennessee - On October 6, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his Confederate raiders entered the town of Shelbyville. They destroyed the Union supply facilities that belonged to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html
D Thursday, October 6, 1864: Brock's Gap, Virginia - On October 6, a Confederate cavalry force, commanded by Col. Thomas L. Rosser, attacked 2 Union regiments, commanded by Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, at Brock's Gap. Brock's gap was located near Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah valley. Custer's force repulsed the Confederate attack.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html
D+ Thursday, October 6, 1864: General Early’s troops have been on the run, but today one of his generals Thomas Rosser led a Confederate cavalry force against General George Custer (US) at Brock’s Gap, Virginia. Although surprised, Custer’s men manage to fend off the attack and the Confederate attack fails.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-182
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In 1863, after conducting many raids in Kansas, including the massacre at Lawrence, CSA Raider Lt. Col. William Quantrill decided to winter in Texas. On the way, he and his men happened upon the Federal post at Baxter Springs, Kansas near the Missouri and Indian Territory borders. Quantrill attacked suddenly, surprising the Federals, who suffered heavy casualties before barricading themselves inside the earth-and-timber fortress. A Union force appeared from the north. It was General James G. Blunt (US), commander of the forces in Kansas, who was in the process of moving his headquarters from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Blunt spotted Quantrill's men but mistook them for Union troops because many were dressed in captured Yankee uniforms. Quantrill attacked, and the scene turned into a massacre. The Yankees quickly scattered, and Quantrill's partisans hunted them down. Estimated Casualties: 106 total (US 103; CS 3). Quantrill and his men continued south to Texas, raiding homesteads and attacking Native American communities along the way. In Chattanooga, most of the wooden houses and buildings were destroyed leaving 2,500 citizens to cram themselves into a few stone buildings still standing.
In 1861, William T. Sherman to replaced Anderson in Robert Kentucky. Brigadier-General Robert Anderson had withstood the strain of the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter as well as anyone could. As a reward, Lincoln gave him command of the Department of the Cumberland (formerly the Department of Kentucky). More than any other state, except, perhaps Missouri, Kentucky was being torn in two by the war. She wished to remain neutral, but neither side expected that to be possible. After moving his headquarters from Cincinnati to Louisville, the crisis escalated as both sides skirmished and fortified a line that ran from one side of the state to the other. Lincoln had issued a plan of attack on the 1st that was too much for the aging, weary Anderson.
The previous day, he called General William Tecumseh Sherman to come to Louisville. Sherman was in command of the troops on Muldrough’s Hill (near Elizabethtown), was just about to receive reinforcements and was preparing to march south towards Bowling Green. Both Generals had been in daily communication with each other and it was becoming clear to both that Anderson had taken all he could and needed to leave, that if he stayed, it would kill him. [2]
Together, they wired General-in-Chief Winfield Scott in Washington and on this date, Scott replied with a direct order: “Brigadier-General ANDERSON: To give you rest necessary to restoration of health, call Brigadier-General Sherman to command the Department of the Cumberland. Turn over to him your instructions, and report here in person as soon as you may without retarding your recovery. WINFIELD SCOTT.”
Anderson received the telegram and prepared to leave in two days.
[2] Memoirs by William T. Sherman.
[3] Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 4, p296.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/the-capture-of-another-english-ship-shermans-new-command/
In 1862, following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. Lincoln, no doubt, telling Mac that there was no hurry, "take all the time in the world. "Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
During the visit McClellan and Lincoln reviewed the troops, toured the battlefield and engaged in long talks concerning the next move. The talks were private and the only one to really write about them was McClellan. His accounts are probably not the most reliable.
During a rest after visiting one of the battlefields, Lincoln, according to McClellan, was sitting upon a hillside with his legs folded up and knees about his chin. “General, you have saved the country,” said the apparently, star-struck President. “You must remain in command and carry us through to the end.”
McClellan wrote his wife that Lincoln believed him to be “the best general in the country.” In his memoirs, McClellan remembered Lincoln telling him not to stir an inch until he was ready, that he would defend him against all who wished to hurry him along.
When the President left McClellan’s headquarters, oddly enough, that was the last time either would see the other alive. Though Lincoln would live until the very end of the war, and McClellan until 1885, this was the last time the two would meet.
Lincoln never left any recollections of the meetings near Antietam in early October, but a friend of his did. Ozias Hatch, who had traveled with Lincoln to visit the battlefields, remembered that he and Lincoln walked up a hill overlooking the encampment. “Do you know what this is?” asked the President.
“It is the Army of the Potomac,” replied Hatch.
“So it is called, but that is a mistake,” corrected Lincoln. “It is only McClellan’s bodyguard.” This may have been said in exasperation, but there’s little doubt that this is how Lincoln felt.
The President arrived back in Washington on the 4th and spent the next day, a Sunday, no doubt thinking over what he and McClellan had talked about. On this date (the 6th), rumor around Washington was that McClellan wished to retire from the service if he could do so without disgrace. When the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, heard of this, he dismissed it as a ploy by McClellan to become General-in-Chief, to replace Henry Halleck, whom everyone but McClellan seemed to favor.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads. Whether Lincoln had approved of McClellan’s leadership during the battle of Antietam was no longer on the table. Whether he President stared longingly into the General’s eyes and told him that he was the best General in the whole wide world no longer mattered.”
All that mattered was that Lincoln now wanted him to move. He outlined two very basic plans, and gave McClellan the choice between them. Sitting idle was not among them, but neither did the President describe what would happen if McClellan did nothing. [1]
[1] Sources: The Civil War Papers of General McClellan edited by Stephen W. Sears; Lincoln and McClellan by John C. Waugh; McClellan’s Own Story by George McClellan; Diary of Gideon Welles; Diary and Correspondence of Salmon P. Chase; Abraham Lincoln: Collected Works, Vol. 5.
http://civilwardailygazette.com/following-a-splendid-visit-lincoln-orders-mcclellan-to-move/
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. Additional George Templeton Strong, Hardeman County diarist, planter, and settler, John Houston Bills, the Richmond Daily Dispatch, and the New York Times had things to say on this day long ago.
Sunday, October 6, 1861: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “I remained all day at Mr. Moore's. Mr. Moore [3] is a Mexican War veteran.
[3] Mr. Moore was an uncle of my friend and schoolmate, John Moore. —A. G. D.”
Monday, October 6: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “We started this morning at daylight and crowded the rebels very hard all day, capturing their trains and some of their artillery — ammunition, arms and caissons. I never saw such a stampede in all my life. They drove their wagons and artillery through the timber, over fallen trees, two and three abreast, wiggling through the standing timber as best they could with every teamster for himself. Some of the artillery men took the cannon off the running gears, and throwing them into gullies, covered them with leaves. Everything imaginable was strewn along the road — tents, bake ovens, corn meal, fresh beef and a great many other things; some of their supplies they burned up, to keep from falling into our hands. We captured some of General Price's headquarters' supplies, among such a buffalo robe which the men tore up for souvenirs. [1]
[1] During that day's march I saw, I think, the meanest man in the Union army. We had just started up a long, steep hill when I noticed one of our men coming out of a one-room log hut by the roadside. As he passed us, with an oath, he growled that he had gone into the hut to get something to eat, but all he could find was a half-bushel bag of corn meal. This the woman, who by the way had the courage to stay with her home, begged him not to take, as it was all the food she had, but he took it. Then when about halfway up the hill, the bag of meal, in addition to his accouterments, becoming too heavy, he with another oath, dumped half the meal out on the ground and ran on to catch up with his command. For such a man, I cannot find words to express my contempt. — A. G. D.”
Monday, October 6, 1862: George Templeton Strong, of New York City, records in his journal: “At Columbia College meeting Monday we made a good move—appropriated money for a fencing school. This is the entering wedge, I hope, for the recognition of physical education. . . . . Canvass for fall elections fairly begun. Wadsworth and Seymour candidates for governor. I hope Wadsworth and the so-called radicals may sweep the state and kick our wretched sympathizers with Southern treason back into the holes that have sheltered them for the past year and from which they are beginning to peep out timidly and tentatively to see whether they can venture to resume their dirty work. . . . Seymour’s election would be an encouragement to Jefferson Davis worth 100,000 men. . . . If we work faithfully, and do our duty in freely putting forth all our resources, we can hardly fail, with God’s blessing, to crush the rebellion and vindicate our existence as a nation. God enable us so to do our duty. Amen.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1862
Monday, October 6, 1862: Hardeman County diarist, planter, settler, John Houston Bills writes: “We hear it reported that the battle was won by the Federals & many prisoners captured from Price’s Army. At 2 PM General Ord arrives in an ambulance wounded in the leg, a painful though not dangerous wound. Reports a decided Victory to the Federal the losses not yet stated. They think it quite probable the loss of the Federal the greatest though repulsing the Confederates all day. The fight was at the Crossing of Hatchie at Willie Davis and battle may be called “Davis’s Crossing.” Arriving just after the battle, Vermont Union soldier, Lieutenant J.H. Thayer wrote in a letter home, “The heads, legs, arms and shattered fragments of the dead and living lay scattered “profusely on the ground” in all directions. Ambulances and nurses, Surgeons and Hospital stewards were busy attending to the wants of the sufferers yet the groans of the dying and the shrieks of the wounded could not wholly be suppressed by the kindest care. Yet many a patriot’s sufferings were ended on that eventful day which was plainly evidenced by the newly raised mounds in every direction. The battle of the Hatchie although not so murderous and extensive as others should not pass unnoticed in the historical records of this rebellion.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade “Crocker's Brigade,” “Our brigade went into Vicksburg this afternoon at 2 o'clock to be in the review, together with the entire army at this place. We were reviewed by Major General U. S. Grant. The report in camp is that General Grant has been ordered by the War Department to report at Louisville, Kentucky. All are sorry to see him leave. Just after dark, the Eleventh Iowa was ordered out on picket, it being expected that the rebel cavalry would make a dash into Vicksburg in the morning. “
Tuesday, October 6, 1863: The Richmond Daily Dispatch publishes an editorial on a curious topic: how few Northern generals have been slain in battle as compared with Southern generals---of whom many have perished. There is clearly a gap in cultural ideals and perceptions, with the North not as passionate about the chivalric code as their enemies in the South, and the snide and satirical tone of this piece makes clear the Southern scorn for Yankee indifference to matters of honor: “It has been observed that not many Federal Generals have been killed in this war. The military expediency of keeping out of danger is fully appreciated by those heroes, so self-denying of glory, so generous in their distribution of the posts of honor and peril to the humble privates in their ranks. Burnside, butting the heads of his rank and file against the ramparts of Fredericksburg, and ensconcing himself in a snug covert three miles from the roar of battle, is a fair specimen of the military discretion of the Commander in Chief of the Federal forces. It is a rare thing to hear of one of them who is unmindful of the great law of self preservation. Such slaughter as has been witnessed among the common soldiers of the Yankee army has not often been witnessed, nor such exemption from peril as their leaders have enjoyed. Scott, McClellan, McDowell, Buell, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, all live, and have not even a scar to testify that they have ever been engaged in a battle of this war.
And yet, though successful in escaping Confederate bullets, they are as dead, to all intents and purposes, as if they had shared the fate of the thousands whom they have driven to the slaughter. Not one of the long array we have mentioned has survived the fields of their former notoriety. Each and all of them have been paralyzed by the shock of arms which they so carefully kept out of, and laid up in a mausoleum where they are scarcely objects of curiosity to the living world. The Confederates have killed them one and all as effectually as if they had perforated their carcases [sic] with Minnie bullets. Better would it have been for their reputation to have perished in the smoke and din of battle than to go down to posterity not only defeated, but disgraced. They have purchased a few years of life at the expense of all that makes life desirable to a soldier. With them the process of decomposition has begun before death, and they are masses of living putrefaction — a stench in the nostrils of all mankind and of themselves. . . .”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
Tuesday, October 6, 1863: The New York Times publishes an editorial discussing the possible reasons for General Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania, even considering Lee’s own report. The editorial concludes: “This report of LEE confirms the opinion universally entertained, that a grand opportunity was missed to strike a blow at his army while it was at Williamsport, making preparations to retreat across the Potomac. He confesses to his embarrassments in that position, and brings to our knowledge some whose existence we had surmised, but of which we previously had no proof. At the same time, his campaign is throughout tacitly confessed to have been a total and stupendous failure — even accepting his own confession of its objects; but we are persuaded now, as during the pendency of the campaign, that its real and final object was the capture of Washington.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
Thursday, October 6, 1864: Journal of Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, “Crocker's Brigade,” “It rained nearly all day. We lay in bivouac all day, resting. We hear that Sherman with a part of his force is trying to surround the rebels in the vicinity of Lost mountain. The rebels left the railroad after tearing up about fifteen miles of track, burning the ties and twisting the rails. But the engineers will have it repaired in a few days, as there are thousands of trees along the way just the size for railroad ties. All is quiet along the line.”
A. Sunday, October 6, 1861: The Capture of another “English” Ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for the USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague, to give chase.
As the Flag pulled closer to the schooner, the Palmetto Flag was hauled down and the British flag, turned upside down as a signal of distress, was run up in its place. Neither fooled nor daunted the Flag as it pulled alongside her and boarded. Her name was the Alert, captained by James Carlin, who claimed that she was in fact a British ship from Nassau, sailing for St. John, New Brunswick. As he pointed to the flag above, the ship’s mate was caught trying to hide both Confederate and Palmetto Flags.
The Flag brought the Alert alongside the Roanoke where Captain Marston questioned her cook, a Spaniard by birth. The cook, who had little to gain or lose at this point, told Marston that the Alert was originally from Charleston and named the Adelaide. She was taken to Nassau and then sold to her present owner. While in Nassau, told the cook, she flew only the Confederate and Palmetto Flags, never hoisting the British ensign. She was not bound for St. John, as her Captain asserted, but for Charleston, as Marston figured.
A foremast hand questioned by Marston, confirmed the cook’s version, adding that just before her capture, the mate burned her original papers and quickly drew up new ones, claiming that she was English and bound for New Brunswick.
Both the cook and the foremast hand were released without charge, while the Captain, mate and two others were sent to Fortress Monroe. The Alert‘s cargo consisted of molasses, salt and fruit, “the whole of which remains untouched, not even a banana having been taken.”
B. Monday, October 6, 1862: Following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. “Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
C. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: CSA Maj Gen Joseph Wheeler cavalry troopers burn a swath through middle Tennessee, towards Murfreesboro. Right behind Wheeler is Maj Gen George Crook with a brigade of Union cavalry, nipping at the Rebels’ heels. Crook catches up with Wheeler’s rear guard, and attacks in an extended saber charge. After deploying his artillery, Crook breaks through, but Wheeler reaches Murfreesboro and captured a railroad bridge and a few Federal troops as they entered the town of Christiana where they managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies. After tearing up track, Wheeler’s gray riders move on to Shelbyville, on the Duck River, and took up a defensive position. At Shelbyville, Wheelers forces destroyed the Union supply facilities that belonged to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
With over 5,000 troopers, Wheeler outnumbers Crook, but Crook is joined by Gen. Robert Mitchell, with 2,000 more, bringing the Federal total to 4,000. Wheeler’s three divisions, under Davidson, Martin, and Wharton, spread out guarding river crossings.
D. Thursday, October 6, 1864: Cavalry skirmish at Brock's Gap, Virginia. Union Victory. Col. Thomas L. Rosser Confederate cavalry force attacked 2 Union regiments, commanded by Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, at Brock's Gap, Virginia near Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah valley. Although surprised, Custer’s men manage to repulse the attack and the Confederate attack failed.
Following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. “Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
Pictures: 1861-10-06 USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague; 1861-10-06 CSS Alert off Roanoke; 1863-10 Wheeler raid map; Illustrations of Civil War Camp Life
1. Sunday, October 6, 1861: The Confederacy started a campaign to find crossings over the Upper Potomac that, if successful, would have allowed them to outflank the Unionist force in the capital.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-six
2. Sunday, October 6, 1861: Winfield Scott informs General Robert Anderson that he is relieved of duty by telegram. He relinquishes command of the Department of Kentucky the following day.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186110
3. Sunday, October 6, 1861: Its connection with the War is slight and its significance was really rather small in the great scheme of the advancement of communications technology. Their accomplishments and personnel have lived on to this day in myth, legend, movies and memories. The pony express is officially discontinued after only 18 months of courageous service. It was a great innovation in a day, when the former method of getting mail to CA consisted of sailing ships around Cape Horn.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-six
4. Monday, October 6, 1862: President Abe Lincoln receives September salary warrant for $2,022.33 which is $61 under previous warrant as result of the new 3 per cent income tax deduction.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/part-seventy-eight
5. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: President Davis heads south from Richmond, Virginia on a trip to South Carolina and North Georgia.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186310
6. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: After conducting many raids in Kansas, including the massacre at Lawrence, Quantrill decided to winter in Texas. William Quantrill (CSA) and his men happened upon a Federal post at Baxter Springs, Kansas near the Missouri and Indian Territory borders. Quantrill attacked suddenly, surprising the Yankees, who suffered heavy casualties before barricading themselves inside the earth-and-timber fortress. A Union force appeared from the north. It was General James G. Blunt (US), commander of the forces in Kansas, who was in the process of moving his headquarters from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Blunt spotted Quantrill's men but mistook them for Union troops because many were dressed in captured Yankee uniforms. Quantrill attacked, and the scene turned into a massacre. The Yankees quickly scattered, and Quantrill's partisans hunted them down. Estimated Casualties: 106 total (US 103; CS 3). Quantrill and his men continued south to Texas, raiding homesteads and attacking Native American communities along the way. In Chattanooga, most of the wooden houses and buildings were destroyed leaving 2,500 citizens to cram themselves into a few stone buildings still standing.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-130Tuesday,
7. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Battle of Baxter Springs, Kansas: Lt. Col. William Quantrill and his irregular Rebel cavalry attack a Federal outpost here, held my detachments from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. Quantrill’s men attack, but are able to do little, when a force of over 100 Yankees approach from the north—Gen. James Blunt and his staff. The Rebels attack, and are able to hunt down, trap, and massacre 103 Union soldiers. Gen. Blunt barely escapes with his life.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
8. Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Battle of Baxter Springs, Kansas: Lt. Col. William Quantrill and his irregular Rebel cavalry attack a Federal outpost here, held my detachments from the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry. Quantrill’s men attack, but are able to do little, when a force of over 100 Yankees approach from the north—Gen. James Blunt and his staff. The Rebels attack, and are able to hunt down, trap, and massacre 103 Union soldiers. Gen. Blunt barely escapes with his life.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
9. Thursday, October 6, 1864: There is some fighting as General Forrest is leaving Tennessee and heading South back to Alabama, camping just a few miles from Florence before crossing high water on the Tennessee River.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-182
A Sunday, October 6, 1861: The Capture of another “English” Ship. As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston immediately signaled for the USS Flag, a screw steamer, originally named the Phineas Sprague, to give chase.
As the Flag pulled closer to the schooner, the Palmetto Flag was hauled down and the British flag, turned upside down as a signal of distress, was run up in its place. Neither fooled nor daunted the Flag as it pulled along side her and boarded. Her name was the Alert, captained by James Carlin, who claimed that she was in fact a British ship from Nassau, sailing for St. John, New Brunswick. As he pointed to the flag above, the ship’s mate was caught trying to hide both Confederate and Palmetto Flags.
The Flag brought the Alert alongside the Roanoke where Captain Marston questioned her cook, a Spaniard by birth. The cook, who had little to gain or lose at this point, told Marston that the Alert was originally from Charleston and named the Adelaide. She was taken to Nassau and then sold to her present owner. While in Nassau, told the cook, she flew only the Confederate and Palmetto Flags, never hoisting the British ensign. She was not bound for St. John, as her Captain asserted, but for Charleston, as Marston figured.
A foremast hand questioned by Marston, confirmed the cook’s version, adding that just before her capture, the mate burned her original papers and quickly drew up new ones, claiming that she was English and bound for New Brunswick.
Both the cook and the foremast hand were released without charge, while the Captain, mate and two others were sent to Fortress Monroe. The Alert‘s cargo consisted of molasses, salt and fruit, “the whole of which remains untouched, not even a banana having been taken.” [1]
[1] Official Naval Records, Series 1, Vol. 6, p295-296
http://civilwardailygazette.com/the-capture-of-another-english-ship-shermans-new-command/
B Monday, October 6, 1862: Following a splendid visit, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Maj Gen George B. McClellan to move. “Since the battle of Antietam, General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had hardly moved. For the most part, it was encamped between Harpers Ferry and the recent battlefield. Lincoln had hoped, requested and finally visited McClellan in an attempt to make his General understand just how important it was to follow up the battle with a pursuit.
Later, during the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln shared the stories of his trek to the battlefield, but never gave his opinion on McClellan’s generalship or the results of the battle. The talk then turned to other matters, such as the colonization of blacks, who should be the naval chaplain, and ironclads, proving that McClellan wasn’t necessarily the center of the known universe.
After the meeting, however, Lincoln returned to the issue with McClellan. He ventured to the War Department to speak with Henry Halleck, ordering him to telegraph McClellan. He then dictated the message: “The President directs that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be re-enforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the Valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads.
C Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Wheeler’s raid burns its way into middle Tennessee, towards Murfreesboro. Right behind Wheeler is Gen. George Crook with a brigade of Union cavalry, nipping at the Rebels’ heels. Crook catches up with Wheeler’s rear guard, and attacks in an extended saber charge. After deploying his artillery, Crook breaks through, but Wheeler reaches Murfreesboro and captures a railroad bridge and a few Federal troops. After tearing up track, Wheeler’s gray riders move on to Shelbyville, on the Duck River, and take up a defensive position. With over 5,000 troopers, Wheeler outnumbers Crook, but Crook is joined by Gen. Robert Mitchell, with 2,000 more, bringing the Federal total to 4,000. Wheeler’s three divisions, under Davidson, Martin, and Wharton, are spread out guarding river crossings.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=October+6%2C+1863
C+ Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Christiana, Tennessee - On October 6, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his Confederate raiders entered the town of Christiana. They managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html
C++ Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Major General Joseph Wheeler and his Confederate raiders entered the town of Christiana, TN. They managed to capture 2 trains and destroyed railroad track, bridges, and Union supplies. In the town of Shelbyville, Wheeler’s raiders, destroyed the Union supply facilities. President Davis (CSA) heads south from Richmond on a trip to South Carolina and North Georgia.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-130
C+++Tuesday, October 6, 1863: Shelbyville, Tennessee - On October 6, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his Confederate raiders entered the town of Shelbyville. They destroyed the Union supply facilities that belonged to Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1863s.html
D Thursday, October 6, 1864: Brock's Gap, Virginia - On October 6, a Confederate cavalry force, commanded by Col. Thomas L. Rosser, attacked 2 Union regiments, commanded by Maj. Gen. George A. Custer, at Brock's Gap. Brock's gap was located near Fisher Hill in the Shenandoah valley. Custer's force repulsed the Confederate attack.
http://www.mycivilwar.com/battles/1864s.html
D+ Thursday, October 6, 1864: General Early’s troops have been on the run, but today one of his generals Thomas Rosser led a Confederate cavalry force against General George Custer (US) at Brock’s Gap, Virginia. Although surprised, Custer’s men manage to fend off the attack and the Confederate attack fails.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-182
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 MontgomeryPO2 Marco MonsalveSPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSgt Christopher Collins SPC (Join to see) SPC Gary C. PO3 Lynn Spalding
The Capture of Another “English” Ship; Sherman’s New Command
Sunday, October 6, 1861 As the morning sun rose over Charleston, South Carolina, Captain John Marston of the USS Roanoke spied a schooner sailing towards land, flying the Palmetto Flag. Marston imm…
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Love the Civil War history. Troop movements at that time were exquisitely complicated with limited communication.
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Thank You Brother Steve for another History lesson from the Civil War. I chose all of the above because there wasn't much significant difference between them.
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LTC Stephen F.
Youa re very welcome my friend and brother-in-Christ PO3 Edward Riddle and thanks for letting us know that you consider all of teh vents I listed as significant for October 6 during the US Civil War.
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