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

2016-10-11T21:18:37-04:00

More Generals were killed while leading their soldiers in the US Civil War than in any other war the USA has fought. At Chantilly, VA which is very near where I now live, Federal Maj Gen. Isaac Stevens and Maj Gen. Philip Kearney were killed leading their soldiers in battle.
In 1862 the aftermath of the battle of Chantilly, VA enabled the Confederacy to make their first offensive into the northern states which resulted in Antietam.
In 1861, the first school for escaped slaves is formed by freed woman slave, Mary Chase, in Alexandria, VA. The Memphis Daily Appeal reports: “Army Hospital—Dr. Keller, the physician of the army hospital, had on one-day last week three hundred and thirteen patients under his charge. The proportion of deaths thus far has been exceedingly small.”
In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run ended when sections from both sides clashed at Ox Hill. They came across one another just before nightfall during a thunderstorm. In this 90-minute clash, Union Major General Phillip Kearny is shot and killed when he crosses Rebel lines while riding his horse. Gen Isaac I. Stevens is also killed along with 700 Union and 500 Confederate soldiers. The total for the whole 3-day battle set at 12,000 Union soldiers either killed, wounded or prisoners, and 8,500 Confederates.
In 1862 the Battle of Briton Lane. “On a quiet, county road five miles southeast of Denmark, Tennessee, a fierce struggle between opposing armies took place on September 1, 1862. Only half-dozen historical markers dot the site, and there are no massive battlefield maps or push-button audio tapes to guide the curious observer. Britton's Lane boasts no cannons lining the road as does Shiloh or Stone's River; in fact, the countryside is so calm and pastoral that it's hard to believe the land has witnessed anything more than an occasional disagreement between neighbors. Yet thousands of brave soldiers from Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio fought and died there in a feverish, four-hour battle. Many of those soldiers were from Madison County, and some tendered the supreme sacrifice within ten miles of their own homes.
“Prepared to go to the regiment [20th Illinois but could not be allowed to go since their fate or locality was not known. While at the depot news came that the 20th and 30th was taken prisoners. This at 2 p.m. At 6 p.m. while at supper stragglers began to come in from the scene of action. They all declared the forces gobbled up, heard the firing ceased: saw them surrounded, saw the wagons overturned, artillery [taken] & the general impression prevailed that the 20th & 30th were gone up except the skedaddlers who were shrewd enough to get away.
Geer and his fellow soldiers waited anxiously for more word from the vicinity of Denmark for the rest of the day; and his last diary entry late on the evening of September 1st offers this simple, yet revealing phrase: "rumors came that the 20th and 30th stood ground." The next day Geer records that "they had whipped the rebels and drove them from the ground," and that they had "buried 180 rebels on the field." but still uncertain about Armstrong's intentions or his whereabouts, the Federals in Jackson remained braced for an attack several days after the Confederates were back in Mississippi.
The Battle of Britton's Lane produced five men who would become general officers. Colonel (acting Brigadier) Frank Armstrong would shortly be made a full Brigadier General, and both William H. (Red) Jackson and Wirt Adams would rise to the rank of general during the war. On the Federal side, Colonel Elias S. Dennis would be promoted to general largely based upon his performance at Britton's lane, and his subordinate, Major Warren Shedd, who commanded the 30th Illinois at Britton's Lane, would also be a general before the end of the war. It is quite rare to find such a relatively small battle producing such a large number of general officers during the War Between the States.
PHASE ONE
Hearing the artillery, Armstrong came galloping forward to the head of the column, just in time to meet the two regiments repulsed in their first attempt to silence the enemy cannon. It was almost ten o'clock now, and Armstrong immediately ordered the 2nd Missouri, with Forrest's old regiment (Ltc. Balch commanding) in support, to again charge the guns. A second time the Confederates drew sabres and galloped toward the enemy.
One of the Federals observed that "in front, and on the left and right were bare fields, swarming with rebels preparing to charge. At last on they came, the ground fairly trembling beneath their heavy tread Since the 20th Illinois had not yet fully deployed into line, this second charge was swift and determined enough to nearly succeed in capturing the artillery. Many of the Southerners rode up to within several feet of the enemy, who poured a murderous volley into them from behind the fence. But again they were turned back with considerable loss.
PHASE TWO
It was after ten o'clock now, and still the stubborn Federals held their grip on Britton Lane. But nearly losing their artillery in the last charge had caused them to limber-up and move the guns across a gully, some 300-400 yards back in the direction of Denmark. Along with the guns, the line of infantry gradually gave ground until they reached yet another fence to offer them cover.
Colonel W.H. (Red) Jackson's 7th Tennessee, Colonel Pinson's 1st Mississippi, and Barteau's 2nd Tennessee Cavalry (Major Morton commanding) had been traveling in that order behind the two lead units when the firing began. They now rushed forward and were ordered to immediately assault the enemy position.
Ordering the 1st Mississippi to dismount and fight on foot, Armstrong sent them on the left of the 2nd Missouri, and then ordered the 7th and the 2nd Tennessee to charge mounted on the right. This third attack, which may have taken place before the Federals could re-establish their artillery in its new position, was also repulsed, but it is most likely during this charge that the Southerners captured several of the enemy's wagons and supply trains, seizing them before they could safely reposition. Still determined to drive the Federals from the field, the Confederate commander ordered all the above units to dismount, except the 2nd Tennessee, and to charge the enemy for a fourth time.
John Milton Hubbard of the 7th Tennessee described the scene: “The Seventh Tennessee was ordered to charge on foot through a corn field, from which the fodder had been stripped, against a heavy line of infantry lying behind a stout worm fence and in the woods. A galling fire was poured into Company E, but some of its men reached the fence. Dr. Joe Allen of Whiteville mounted the fence and fell dead on the enemy's side of it... How so many men got out of that field alive is one of those unaccountable things that sometimes occur in war.”
PHASE THREE
It was past eleven o'clock now, and Armstrong's quiet, uneventful march to Denmark and back to Mississippi had turned into a desperate two-hour battle that some participants said was hotter than S~oh. These men would know, for soldiers on both sides had fought on those bloody April days along the Tennessee River.
At last Wirt Adams' Regiment, which had been in the rear of the march column, and Colonel Slemmon's 2nd Arkansas which immediately preceded it, arrived at the scene of the fight. Finally Armstrong was able to mass enough force to strike a decisive blow against Dennis. The 7th Tennessee, 2nd Missouri, and Balch's men were now badly mangled, and were withdrawn. Armstrong sent Wirt Adams' men and company L of the 7th Tennessee (which had been held out of the action thus far) on a wild and daring charge directly into the mouth of the enemy guns. Ordering both units to form a column of fours and charge, Armstrong struck the decisive blow. He also sent Col. Slemmons and Col. Pinson dismounted in support. Frank Montgomery writes, “Colonel Adams' charge was a brilliant one and as I write I can see him as I saw him then, charging at the head of his regiment straight at the guns; we were not one hundred feet apart.”
In October 1903 issue of Confederate Veteran, E.B. McNeil, a participant in the fight, quotes from a letter written only a few days after the battle: “Col. Adams, mounted on a beautiful cream- colored mare, well to the front leading his men at racing speed, was a conspicuous target for the enemy, and every moment I expect to see him fall... The fire was awful, and under the withering blast, the head of our column went down. Those behind, unable to see for the blinding dust, with the notes of the bugle sounding the charge still ringing in their ears, spurred madly forward toward the sound of the guns, only to stumble and fall over their dead and wounded comrades and horses in front until the narrow lane was completely blocked.”
The confusion and bottleneck on the narrow lane is confirmed by William Witherspoon's statement that while riding toward the Federal artillerymen "the rear of the company became tangled." Yet even though the Southerners could see the enemy gunners desperately loading grapeshot and preparing at any second to discharge the lethal rounds into their faces, portions of Adams' regiment and the 7th Tennessee pressed forward, and "in a mad bound [they] were upon them." Using their sawed-off shotguns to clear away the gun crew (no Federal artillerymen were listed as killed, though several were captured), only about twenty of the attackers remained to occupy the center of the Federal line. The other cavalry charging in support were held up by the dead men and horses that choked the lane. Now the two cannons Armstrong had paid so dearly to possess were in danger of being lost, particularly since the 30th Illinois was making timely arrival on the battlefield, having doubl~timed at least two miles in the September heat. The fresh Federal troops wasted no time pouring a galling fire into the victorious rebels.
B. B. MacDonald writes, “Just before we got to the front the rebs captured the two guns, and had the 20th pretty well demoralized, and was making another charge just as we were climbing a little hill, and the command was on right into line, and firing as we came into line, and with a yell drove the enemy back, and just had time to form a good line with the 20th when another charge was made.”
This last charge probably refers to the dismounted men from Pinson's and Slemmon's regiments who moved up in support of the captured artillery. A Lieutenant Dengel, who commanded the gun section, was captured along with ten of his men; but while the Confederates got the guns, they didn't get the caissons, thus they had no way to transport the weapons form the field except for dragging them into the immediate protection of their lines.
PHASE FOUR
The arrival of the 30th Illinois probably prevented a complete rout of Dennis' command. Many Federals had already skedaddled, some of them not stopping until they reached Jackson. They carried with them wild reports of the capture or destruction of their regiment. The 20th Illinois had been steadily giving ground, and with the poor visibility, may have suspected they were being surrounded. Isolated defenders may have even tried to give up. This could account for William Witherspoon's curious observation.
The Federals were whipped several times in that fight, had hoisted several times the white flag, certainly an index of defeat. ... citizens of Denmark [told that] over 200 of the Federals had returned there and were anxious to find some one to surrender to.
Linking up with the exhausted 20th, the 30th Illinois, under command of Major Warren Shedd, formed a line from which the Confederates were unable or unwilling to drive them. When the 30th joined the battle lines, a cheer rose up among the weary defenders. A captured Federal prisoner, when asked by General Armstrong what the noise was all about, declared that his fellow soldiers were cheering the arrival of 'Logan's Division."
By 12:30 or 1:00 p.m., the Confederate casualties were heavy. Montgomery reports that the 1st Mississippi Cavalry alone lost fifty men killed and wounded. Losses were also heavy in the 7th Tennessee and Wirt Adams' regiment.”

Pictures: 1862-09-01 Battle of Chantilly, VA Map; 1863-09-01 Fort Sumter; 1862-09-01 Kearny's Charge, Battle of Chantilly; 1864 Atlanta roundhouse ruin3

A. 1861: Cape Girardeau, Missouri was a slow pace Mississippi River port, nothing happened there exciting since New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. That changed today, as Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant assumes command of Union forces in the area.
B. 1862: Confederate Victory at the Battle of Chantilly [Ox Hill], Virginia. Gen. Lee sent Stonewall Jackson on a flank march around the Union right flank to cut off the Union retreat from Bull Run.
On September 1, beyond Chantilly Plantation on the Little River Turnpike near Ox Hill, Jackson sent his divisions against two Union divisions under Kearny and Stevens. Maj Gen John Pope placed Maj Gen. Isaac Stevens’ IX Corps east of Centreville to hold the crossroads at Germantown. Jackson found Union cavalry harassing his right flank. He stopped at the crossroads hamlet of Chantilly, to wait for Longstreet to come up. This allowed Pope time to move the rest of his army back, but he did nothing for several hours. Stevens puts 6,000 men into line for an assault on Jackson’s line on Ox Hill, 15,000 strong. The Federals’ advance got entangled, snarled and disorganized. Stevens grabbed the colors of his old regiment, the 79th New York and led a charge and he was shot in the head and died on the spot.
In the pouring rain, Gen. Philip Kearney brings up his division on Stevens’ left, and as he rides forward to inspect the enemy lines, he stumbles onto a Rebel position, and is shot, mortally wounded. After sporadic fighting, where each side loses about 500 men, the Union troops retire. But Pope realizes that he cannot stay in Centreville, and so marches his army to Fairfax.
Confederate attacks were stopped by fierce fighting during a severe thunderstorm. Union generals Stevens and Kearny were both killed. Recognizing that his army was still in danger at Fairfax Courthouse, Maj. Gen. Pope ordered the retreat to continue to Washington. With Pope no longer a threat, Lee turned his army west and north to invade Maryland, initiating the Maryland Campaign and the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of Union forces around Washington.
C. 1863: Battle of Backbone Mountain, Arkansas: [Devil's Backbone]
Union Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt ordered Col. William F. Cloud to continue to in pursue the Confederate forces that had withdrawn from Fort Smith and were chased to Old Jenny Lind. The Rebels turned on Cloud and skirmished with him at the base of Devil’s Backbone. CSA Brig Gen William L. Cabell’s forces ambushed approaching Union troops and momentarily halted their advance. The Union 2nd Kansas Cavalry and 6th Missouri Cavalry regrouped and with the help of two sections of Rabb’s 2nd Indiana Battery artillery advanced again and forced the Confederates to retire in disorder to Waldron.
Estimated Casualties: 81 total (US 16; CS 65)
D. 1864: Siege of Atlanta: The Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia ends. CS General Hood ordered the evacuation of Atlanta. Maj Gen William T. Sherman’s Union corps broke through CSA Lt. Gen. William Hardee’s troops and Hardee’s men retreated to Lovejoy’s Station. Confederate losses were greater. The Yankees lost 1149 men, while the Confederates lost nearly 2,000. That night CSA General Hood ordered the evacuation of Atlanta. General Hood burned the huge munitions and supply depots, creating fires that burned out of control, burning much of the railroad yards, as he left the city. The Union forces do succeed in cutting Hood’s supply lines, but failed to destroy Hardee’s command.

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

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Oct 11 at 2016 9:22 PM

2016-10-11T21:22:02-04:00

In 1863, six more Union gun ships sailed into Charleston harbor to assist with the attack on the city. “In Charleston Harbor, mortar fire smote Battery Wagner on Morris Island, and heavy Parrott rifles and ironclads hammered Fort Sumter once more. Firing of 627 shots ended the second phase of the first major bombardment. Once more, Fort Sumter crumbled, and its magazine was threatened, but the garrison continued to shore up the ruins and remained defiant.”
Fort Sumter and Fort Wagner still held by the confederacy! – Beauregard Needs More Slaves on Tuesday, September 1, 1863. “Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard had quite a bit of pride in what he and his men were accomplishing. Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner (along with an array of other forts and batteries) protected Charleston from the Federals pounding at the gate. Union troops under Quincy Adams Gillmore had twice attacked Wagner, and were twice defeated. Admiral John Dahlgren’s fleet of ironclads, along with Gillmore’s artillery, had spent the past week and a half bombarding both Sumter and Wagner, and though they were battered, the Rebels were holding. But how long they might continue to hold was still in great debate.
Life in Sumter was hellish, but the troops under Alfred Rhett endured. They were on an island all to themselves, and though they expected that the Yankees might eventually land upon it to take the fort, they felt more or less certain that the only way Sumter would fall would be through an intense battle.
Things were quite a bit different in Battery Wagner, itself much like a fort. Most obvious, they shared Morris Island with the Federal infantry. Wagner and her smaller sister, Battery Gregg, occupied the northern tip, while the Union troops held the southern portion with rows of trenches and batteries. General Beauregard rotated troops in and out of Wagner at a fairly brisk pace. The constant strain sapped morale, and many, even the higher officers, were now considering abandoning Morris Island all together.
So constant was the Federal bombardment upon Wagner, and so real the threat of sharpshooters, that signalmen, usually manning flags to wig-wag messages from Wagner to Gregg, were reduced to running the gauntlet of fire from one battery to the next with the aid of swift and fearless horses.
But Rebel soldiers weren’t the only people being rotated in and out of Sumter. The slaves attached to the Confederate army were also on rotation. To his engineers and the Charleston garrison, Beauregard requested each “to send 100 negroes, with competent managers, to Morris Island as soon as practicable (if not already done), to relieve those sent there this morning.” The slaves were being put to work on fixing the damage caused by Union shells. It was dangerous and back breaking, two “good” reasons why the Rebels forced the slaves to do it.
Slaves, however, were in short supply. John McDaniel had been tasked with convincing the wealthy land owners in the area to let the Confederate Army borrow a quarter of their slaves. He wrote to Beauregard that his luck had been poor and few slaves had been acquired. Beauregard replied on this date.
“I regret that you have found planters [plantation owners] so ready with excuses for not furnishing labor [slaves] to defend Charleston,” he began. “May God grant that, in seeking to avoid furnishing a fourth of their labor, at this momentous junction, they do not materially contribute to the loss of the whole.”
Finished with his sales pitch, Beauregard shoveled out his advice. If McDaniel was unable to find men to help him round up the slaves, he was to “call on the planters to give you, in good faith, a list of their able-bodied male negroes between the ages of eighteen and forty-five….” He reiterated that “every man in the district must be required to send one-fourth” of his slaves.
Beauregard most wanted the slaves of the people who had not yet contributed. They were to come first. As for the black people unattached to white owners, McDaniel was to round up them up as well. The “refugees,” explained Beauregard, “of course must fare the same as others. Send back all negroes who have run away from the works.”
General Beauregard well knew the condition of both forts. He received daily reports from Wagner and could clearly see that Sumter was all but reduced. He also knew that if Sumter and Charleston itself were to be saved, more arms were needed. On this day, he did what he could to hurry them along.
“Can you spare me, say, 500 small-arms,” he wrote to General Whiting in Wilmington, North Carolina, adding “to be returned in twenty days” as a bit of incentive. A little later, he wrote Whiting again. “Can you not hurry up the second Blakely gun? Its position on White Point Battery will soon be ready.” He believed that Admiral Dahlgren was planning on running his ironclads past the batteries to gain entrance into Charleston Harbor. “Sumter and Wagner still gallantly held,” he closed.
The Federal bombardment stretched on throughout this day, but would taper off as Union General Gillmore concocted a new plan to wring some sort of victory out of his stay near Charleston.”
http://civilwardailygazette.com/sumter-and-wagner-still-gallantly-held-beauregard-needs-more-slaves/

Below are a number of journal entries from 1862, 1863 and 1864 which shed light on what life was like for soldiers and civilians – the good, the bad and the ugly. Maj Gen William T. Sherman provides a daily update on the siege of Atlanta in 1864.
Monday, September 1, 1862: Gen. John Pope, in a letter to Gen. Halleck, complains of what he perceives as disloyalty and insubordination amongst the Army of the Potomac officers assigned to his command, giving a preview of the mood that will cause him to press charges, shortly: “. . . I think, it my duty to call your attention to the unsoldierly and dangerous conduct of many brigade and some division commanders of the forces sent here from the Peninsula. Every word and act and intention is discouraging, and calculated to break down the spirits of the men and produce disaster. One commander of a corps, who was ordered to march from Manassas Junction to join me near Groveton, although he was only 5 miles distant, failed to get up at all, and, worse still, fell back to Manassas without a fight, and in plain hearing, at less than 3 miles' distance, of a furious battle, which raged all day. It was only in consequence of peremptory orders that he joined me next day. One of his brigades, the brigadier-general of which professed to be looking for his division, absolutely remained all day at Centreville, in plain view of the battle, and made no attempt to join. What renders the whole matter worse, these are both officers of the Regular Army, who do not hold back from ignorance or fear. Their constant talk, indulged in publicly and in promiscuous company, is that the Army of the Potomac will not fight; that they are demoralized by withdrawal from the Peninsula, &c. When such example is set by officers of high rank the influence is very bad amongst those in subordinate stations.
You have hardly an idea of the demoralization among officers of high rank in the Potomac Army, arising in all instances from personal feeling in relation to changes of commander-in-chief and others. These men are mere tools or parasites, but their example is producing, and must necessarily produce, very disastrous results.”
Monday, September 1, 1862: David Schenk, a lawyer in North Carolina, exults in the Confederate victory at Manassas in his journal: “A cool autumn day ushers in the Fall the “summer is ended” and the Confederacy still survives the shock of war and the carnage of battle, and finds our armies in hot pursuit of the flying, lying braggart Pope who vaunted that he was “accustomed to look only on the backs of his foes and who wished to know the forward route and not the lines of retreat”. The classic plains of Manassas have again become historic and witnessed a grander victory than first covered our infant republic with glory. The particulars have not yet arrived by Gen. Lee, the greatest living hero of the age thanks God for another decisive victory on 28th and 29th Aug.
Providence has graciously sent us this great man in the hour of our most imminent peril and the man who, Scott said was worth 30,000 men, has well fulfilled the traitors prophecy to the traitors ruin. This news sheds gladness over the community and cheers our drooping spirits.”
Monday, September 1, 1862: George Michael Neese of the Confederate artillery writes in his diary of what he encountered on the Bull Run battlefield as his battery drove across it: “The first indications that I observed of a recently fought battle were hundreds and hundreds of small arms of all descriptions that had been gathered on the battle-field and piled up along the road. When we got to the part of the field where the struggle had been the most desperate and destructive the Federal dead still lay there by the hundreds. At one place I could distinguish where the enemy’s line of battle had been, by the many dead lying in line where they fell. Where their batteries had been in position dead horses lay thickly strewn around. A disabled gun and the wreck of blown-up caisson marked the spot where the fire of the Confederate batteries did its destructive work.
At one place I saw the guns of a Yankee battery that had been charged and taken by the Confederates, still in position. White flags were flying all over the field to-day, and the Citizens’ Relief Committee of Washington, with two hundred ambulances, were on the field burying the dead and gathering the wounded. I saw at one place where they were burying eighty men in one trench. Some have lain on the field four days and their upturned faces were as black as African negroes.”
Neese then adds an episode of meeting a Yankee surgeon with the Washington Relief Corps: “As a couple of us were passing over the battle-field we met a well dressed, fine-looking man, probably he was a surgeon belonging to the Relief Corps. He stopped and in a snappish manner, remarked, “Well, you have defeated us again, and this is the second time on this field, but it will have to be tried over.” We replied, “All right, give us a fair shake and we will thrash you again.” That shot was a surpriser and silenced his mouth-piece.”
He drove on then, looking as sour as if his mother-in-law had drenched him with double-proof crab apple vinegar for a month.
Monday, September 1, 1862: In Bolivar, John Houston Bills writes in his diary, “Arise early & go up town, hear that my constant friend, Pitser Miller (Magnolia Manor) & others have fled for safety. Poor Fellows, after having lived long & done more good deeds for the people of Hardeman County than any other man who has lived in it, he is now a refugee from his own Countrymen.”
Monday, September 1, 1862: The diary of a fourteen-year-old girl, who lived near the intersection of Steam Mill Ferry Road and Collins Road, describes the horrible aftermath of the fight at Britton's lane. “Sept. 3, Very hot day. Papa got to Mr. Britton's house. Lot of soldiers been hurt... Papa went up road to see where fite [sp] was. Boys come here to get water for horses. Sade[sp] they won and yank run... awfull [sp] smell & boys hurting Papa says to Mama many died at end of lane at woods. Papa says many horses dead on top of Boys.
... many died last nite many was put in soil where they fell...it was to [sp] hot on bodies and many flies... awfull [sp] smel [sp] much sadness. Fences down, awfull [sp] flies new earth everywhere.
Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Confederate infantryman Louis Leon, of the 53rd North Carolina Infantry, writes in his journal of a search for deserters: “September 1—To-day we went on a general hunt in full force. We went into a house where we suspected there was a deserter. We hunted through all the out-houses, then went to the house, and the lady strongly denied there being any one there, but would not give us permission to look. We then searched the house, but found no one. I then proposed that we go in the loft. She objected again. But of course we were determined. It was pitch-dark in the loft. We called in, but no answer came. I then proposed, in a loud voice, so that if any one was there they could hear me, that we fix bayonets and stick around and satisfy ourselves that no one was there. Still no answer. I then got in the loft, took my gun and commenced sticking around. At last an answer came from the far corner that he would surrender. The way I got into the loft was, I being a little fellow, and Si Wolf a tall man, they put me on his shoulder, and in that way I crawled in. We then left for camp, passed a church, and was in time to see a wedding. We drilled for the ladies, and had a good time.”
Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate hospital in Georgia, records in her journal her response to the news of Gen. John H. Morgan being mistreated in prison: “I see by the same paper that General Morgan, who is now a prisoner, has had his head shaved, and been treated with all kinds of indignities. These things seem almost incredible. Why, savages respect a brave man, and a man like General Morgan, one would think, would gain the admiration of any people who had any sense of chivalry; and we all know how kindly he has always treated whoever was in his power. But they can not degrade such a man; his spirit will soar above any insult they can heap upon him.
Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Susan Bradford Eppes, a Southern woman, writes in her diary about the scarcity of dry goods and the necessity of learning how to “make do”: “We are busy spinning, weaving, sewing and knitting, trying to get together clothing to keep our dear soldiers warm this winter. Brother Junius writes that he has worn all his under garments to shreds and wants to know if it would be possible to get some flannel, or some kind of wool goods to make him some new ones? We have tried but none can be had, so I am spinning some wool into knitting yarn and with some big wooden needles I have I am going to knit both drawers and shirts for him. I am so impatient to get to work on them and see if my plan is feasible, that I spend all the time I can at the spinning wheel. I know the shirts can be knit, for I made some for father last winter which he found quite comfortable but I am somewhat doubtful as to the drawers. After awhile we will learn how to supply most of our needs.”

Thursday, September 1, 1864: From General Sherman’s viewpoint: “General Hardee was gone, and we all pushed forward along the railroad south, in close pursuit, till we ran up against his lines at a point just above Lovejoy’s Station. While bringing forward troops and feeling the new position of our adversary, rumors came from the rear that the enemy had evacuated Atlanta, and that General Slocum was in the city. Later in the day I received a note in Slocum’s own handwriting, stating that he had heard during the night the very sounds that I have referred to; that he had moved rapidly up from the bridge about daylight, and had entered Atlanta unopposed. His letter was dated inside the city, so there was no doubt of the fact. General Thomas’s bivouac was but a short distance from mine, and, before giving notice to the army in general orders, I sent one of my staff-officers to show him the note. In a few minutes the officer returned, soon followed by Thomas himself, who again examined the note, so as to be perfectly certain that it was genuine. The news seemed to him too good to be true. He snapped his fingers, whistled, and almost danced, and, as the news spread to the army, the shouts that arose from our men, the wild hallooing and glorious laughter, were to us a full recompense for the labor and toils and hardships through which we had passed in the previous three months.
A courier-line was at once organized, messages were sent back and forth from our camp at Lovejoy’s to Atlanta, and to our telegraph-station at the Chattahoochee bridge. Of course, the glad tidings flew on the wings of electricity to all parts of the North, where the people had patiently awaited news of their husbands, sons, and brothers, away down in “Dixie Land;” and congratulations came pouring back full of good-will and patriotism. This victory was most opportune; Mr. Lincoln himself told me afterward that even he had previously felt in doubt, for the summer was fast passing away; that General Grant seemed to be checkmated about Richmond and Petersburg, and my army seemed to have run up against an impassable barrier, when, suddenly and unexpectedly, came the news that “Atlanta was ours, and fairly won.”
On this text many a fine speech was made, but none more eloquent than that by Edward Everett, in Boston. A presidential election then agitated the North. Mr. Lincoln represented the national cause, and General McClellan had accepted the nomination of the Democratic party, whose platform was that the war was a failure, and that it was better to allow the South to go free to establish a separate government, whose corner-stone should be slavery. Success to our arms at that instant was therefore a political necessity; and it was all-important that something startling in our interest should occur before the election in November. The brilliant success at Atlanta filled that requirement, and made the election of Mr. Lincoln certain.”

Pictures: 1864-09-01 Battle of Jonesborough, August 31-September 1, 1864; 1862-09-01 Death of General Isaac Stevens during the attack on Chantilly, Virginia; 1862-09-01 Battle of Chantilly map by Robert Knox Sneden; 1864-09-01 Destruction of cars by General Hood previous to the evacuation of Atlanta

A. Sunday, September 1, 1861: Cape Girardeau, Missouri was a slow pace Mississippi River port, nothing happened there exciting since New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. That changed today, as Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant assumes command of Union forces in the area.
B. Monday, September 1, 1862: Confederate Victory at the Battle of Chantilly [Ox Hill], Virginia.
Making a wide flank march, Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Bull Run. On September 1, beyond Chantilly Plantation on the Little River Turnpike near Ox Hill, Jackson sent his divisions against two Union divisions under Kearny and Stevens. Confederate attacks were stopped by fierce fighting during a severe thunderstorm. Union generals Stevens and Kearny were both killed. Recognizing that his army was still in danger at Fairfax Courthouse, Maj. Gen. Pope ordered the retreat to continue to Washington. With Pope no longer a threat, Lee turned his army west and north to invade Maryland, initiating the Maryland Campaign and the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of Union forces around Washington.
Details: Battle of Chantilly, Virginia – Gen. Lee sends Stonewall Jackson, once again, on a flank march around the Union right flank. On Aug. 31, in a driving rain, Jackson’s corps moves in a wide arc to the north of Centreville, where Pope has established a strong line in anticipation of Lee attacking across Bull Run in a frontal assault (which Lee was not about to do).
Jackson’s plan is to take Germantown and Fairfax, and thus cut off Pope’s retreat route to safety in Washington’s fortifications. Pope has placed troops---the IX Corps, now under command of Gen. Isaac Stevens---east of Centreville to hold the crossroads at Germantown. On the morning of this date, Jackson finds Union cavalry harassing his right flank. He stops at the crossroads hamlet of Chantilly, to wait for Longstreet to come up. This allows Pope time to move the rest of his army back, but he does nothing for several hours. Stevens puts 6,000 men into line for an assault on Jackson’s line on Ox Hill, 15,000 strong. The Federals’ advance gets entangled, snarled and disorganized. Stevens himself grabs the colors of his old regiment, the 79th New York, and leads a charge; he is shot in the head and dies on the spot.
In the pouring rain, Gen. Philip Kearney brings up his division on Stevens’ left, and as he rides forward to inspect the enemy lines, he stumbles onto a Rebel position, and is shot, mortally wounded. After sporadic fighting, where each side loses about 500 men, the Union troops retire. But Pope realizes that he cannot stay in Centreville, and so marches his army to Fairfax. Confederate Victory.
C. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Battle of Backbone Mountain, Arkansas: [Devil's Backbone]
Union Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt ordered Col. William F. Cloud to continue to in pursue the Confederate forces that had withdrawn from Fort Smith and were chased to Old Jenny Lind. The Rebels turned on Cloud and skirmished with him at the base of Devil’s Backbone. CSA Brig Gen William L. Cabell’s forces ambushed approaching Union troops and momentarily halted their advance. The Union 2nd Kansas Cavalry and 6th Missouri Cavalry regrouped and with the help of two sections of Rabb’s 2nd Indiana Battery artillery advanced again and forced the Confederates to retire in disorder to Waldron.
Estimated Casualties: 81 total (US 16; CS 65)
Details: Union Victory at Battle of Devil's Backbone (Backbone Mountain), Arkansas. A Union advance from Fort Smith was temporarily stopped by a small Rebel force. Confederates had abandoned Fort Smith, Arkansas, but their retreat was slowed at Backbone Mountain. After day long battle the Federals were in control. The Federal forces pressed on and broke the Southern line, and the Rebels retreated to Waldron. By capturing Fort Smith and defeating Confederate Brigadier General William L. Cabell’s brigade, the Federal forces gained a foothold in the Arkansas River Valley. From this base, Federal units would battle Confederate partisans and Fort Smith would remain in Union control as a doorway to the West.
D. Thursday, September 1, 1864: Siege of Atlanta: The Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia ends. CS General Hood ordered the evacuation of Atlanta. Maj Gen William T. Sherman’s Union corps broke through CSA Lt. Gen. William Hardee’s troops and Hardee’s men retreated to Lovejoy’s Station. Confederate losses were greater. The Yankees lost 1149 men, while the Confederates lost nearly 2,000. That night CSA General Hood ordered the evacuation of Atlanta. General Hood burned the huge munitions and supply depots, creating fires that burned out of control, burning much of the railroad yards, as he left the city. The Union forces do succeed in cutting Hood’s supply lines, but failed to destroy Hardee’s command.
Details: The Battle of Jonesborough [Jonesboro]. Sherman had successfully cut Hood’s supply lines in the past by sending out detachments, but the Confederates quickly repaired the damage. In late August, Sherman determined that if he could cut Hood’s supply lines—the Macon & Western and the Atlanta & West Point Railroads—the Rebels would have to evacuate Atlanta. Sherman, therefore, decided to move six of his seven infantry corps against the supply lines. The army began pulling out of its positions on August 25 to hit the Macon & Western Railroad between Rough and Ready and Jonesborough. To counter the move, Hood sent Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee with two corps to halt and possibly rout the Union troops, not realizing Sherman’s army was there in force. On August 31, Hardee attacked two Union corps west of Jonesborough but was easily repulsed. Fearing an attack on Atlanta, Hood withdrew one corps from Hardee’s force that night. The next day, a Union corps broke through Hardee’ s troops which retreated to Lovejoy’s Station, and on the night of September 1, Hood evacuated Atlanta. Sherman did cut Hood’s supply line but failed to destroy Hardee’s command.
Thursday, September 1, 1864:

1. September 1, 1849: Statehood convention meets in Monterey, California
2. Wednesday, September 1, 1858: Battle of Four Lakes, near present-day Spokane, WA, features 500 U. S. soldiers defeating a similar-sized contingent of American Indians. The soldiers won because their new rifle-bored muskets exceeded the range of the Indians smooth-bore weapons - 1855 Springfield Rifle
3. Skirmishes break out at Boone Court House WV & Blue Creek WV.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-one
4. Sunday, September 1, 1861: Memphis Daily Appeal reports: “Army Hospital—Dr. Keller, the physician of the army hospital, had one day last week three hundred and thirteen patients under his charge. The proportion of deaths thus far has been exceedingly small.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-one
5. Sunday, September 1, 1861: First school for escaped slaves is formed by freed woman slave, Mary Chase, in Alexandria, VA.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-one
6. Monday, September 1, 1862: Astronomer Ormsby M. Mitchel [US] is ordered to command the Department of the South.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186209
7. Monday, September 1, 1862: In Virginia, “The Second Battle of Bull Run” ended when sections from both sides clashed at Ox Hill. They came across one another just before nightfall during a thunderstorm. In this 90-minute clash, 2 Union Generals Isaac Stevens and Philip Kearney were killed along with 700 Union and 500 Confederate soldiers. The total for the whole 3 day battle set at 12,000 Union soldiers either killed, wounded or prisoners, and 8,500 Confederates.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-three
8. Monday, September 1, 1862: Battle of Chantilly, Virginia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186209
9. Monday, September 1, 1862: The battle of Chantilly/Ox Hill.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/10/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-27-to-september-2-1862/
10. Monday, September 1, 1862: Manassas/Second Manassas followup: Pope manages to stop Jackson’s advance at Chantilly but falls back to Washington.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/10/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-27-to-september-2-1862/
11. Monday, September 1, 1862: Gen. John Pope, in a letter to Gen. Halleck, complains of what he perceives as disloyalty and insubordination amongst the Army of the Potomac officers assigned to his command, giving a preview of the mood that will cause him to press charges, shortly: “. . . I think, it my duty to call your attention to the unsoldierly and dangerous conduct of many brigade and some division commanders of the forces sent here from the Peninsula. Every word and act and intention is discouraging, and calculated to break down the spirits of the men and produce disaster. One commander of a corps, who was ordered to march from Manassas Junction to join me near Groveton, although he was only 5 miles distant, failed to get up at all, and, worse still, fell back to Manassas without a fight, and in plain hearing, at less than 3 miles' distance, of a furious battle, which raged all day. It was only in consequence of peremptory orders that he joined me next day. One of his brigades, the brigadier-general of which professed to be looking for his division, absolutely remained all day at Centreville, in plain view of the battle, and made no attempt to join. What renders the whole matter worse, these are both officers of the Regular Army, who do not hold back from ignorance or fear. Their constant talk, indulged in publicly and in promiscuous company, is that the Army of the Potomac will not fight; that they are demoralized by withdrawal from the Peninsula, &c. When such example is set by officers of high rank the influence is very bad amongst those in subordinate stations.
You have hardly an idea of the demoralization among officers of high rank in the Potomac Army, arising in all instances from personal feeling in relation to changes of commander-in-chief and others. These men are mere tools or parasites, but their example is producing, and must necessarily produce, very disastrous results.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1862
12. Monday, September 1, 1862: David Schenk, a lawyer in North Carolina, exults in the Confederate victory at Manassas in his journal: “A cool autumn day ushers in the Fall the “summer is ended” and the Confederacy still survives the shock of war and the carnage of battle, and finds our armies in hot pursuit of the flying, lying braggart Pope who vaunted that he was “accustomed to look only on the backs of his foes and who wished to know the forward route and not the lines of retreat”. The classic plains of Manassas have again become historic and witnessed a grander victory than first covered our infant republic with glory. The particulars have not yet arrived by Gen. Lee, the greatest living hero of the age thanks God for another decisive victory on 28th and 29th Aug.
Providence has graciously sent us this great man in the hour of our most imminent peril and the man who, Scott said was worth 30,000 men, has well fulfilled the traitors prophecy to the traitors ruin. This news sheds gladness over the community and cheers our drooping spirits.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1862
13. Monday, September 1, 1862: George Michael Neese of the Confederate artillery writes in his diary of what he encountered on the Bull Run battlefield as his battery drove across it: “The first indications that I observed of a recently fought battle were hundreds and hundreds of small arms of all descriptions that had been gathered on the battle-field and piled up along the road. When we got to the part of the field where the struggle had been the most desperate and destructive the Federal dead still lay there by the hundreds. At one place I could distinguish where the enemy’s line of battle had been, by the many dead lying in line where they fell. Where their batteries had been in position dead horses lay thickly strewn around. A disabled gun and the wreck of blown-up caisson marked the spot where the fire of the Confederate batteries did its destructive work.
At one place I saw the guns of a Yankee battery that had been charged and taken by the Confederates, still in position. White flags were flying all over the field to-day, and the Citizens’ Relief Committee of Washington, with two hundred ambulances, were on the field burying the dead and gathering the wounded. I saw at one place where they were burying eighty men in one trench. Some have lain on the field four days and their upturned faces were as black as African negroes.”
Neese then adds an episode of meeting a Yankee surgeon with the Washington Relief Corps: “As a couple of us were passing over the battle-field we met a well dressed, fine-looking man, probably he was a surgeon belonging to the Relief Corps. He stopped and in a snappish manner, remarked, “Well, you have defeated us again, and this is the second time on this field, but it will have to be tried over.” We replied, “All right, give us a fair shake and we will thrash you again.” That shot was a surpriser and silenced his mouth-piece.”
He drove on then, looking as sour as if his mother-in-law had drenched him with double-proof crab apple vinegar for a month.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1862
14. Monday, September 1, 1862: In Bolivar, John Houston Bills writes in his diary, “Arise early & go up town, hear that my constant friend, Pitser Miller (Magnolia Manor) & others have fled for safety. Poor Fellows, after having lived long & done more good deeds for the people of Hardeman County than any other man who has lived in it, he is now a refugee from his own Countrymen.”
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-three
15. Monday, September 1, 1862: Western Theater: The Battle of Britton’s Lane. General Armstrong concludes his skirmish with Union forces near Bolivar, Tennessee.
https://bjdeming.com/2012/10/12/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-27-to-september-2-1862/
16. Monday, September 1, 1862: Battle of Britton's Lane, Tennessee
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186209
17. Monday, September 1, 1862: Colonel Elisa S. Dennis' (US) command had set out along the most direct route to Medon, a fourteen-foot wide, dusty country lane named for the wealthy farmer Thomas Britton, who owned property along the road. Dennis expected no battle until he reached Medon. Armstrong anticipated no fight at all; the advanced guard of both elements ran into each other where the Steam Mill Ferry Road intersects Collins Road and Britton's Lane today. A four hour battle began that still have scholars questioning the results. The Confederate cavalry had clearly and decisively driven the Federals from their position, captured their artillery, and had many of them demoralized and looking for an end to the fight. Armstrong believed he was being drawn into a trap, and decided to not pursue the Federals and broke off the fighting not wanting to add more to his Confederates lost of 100 men killed in action (as compared to Federal casualties of 8 killed, approximately 50 wounded and more than 50 captured). Since leaving Holly Springs, Mississippi, they had marched some 300 miles in less than ten days, fought two battles and three skirmishes, and took 350-400 prisoners.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-b/part-seventy-three
18. Monday, September 1, 1862 The Battle of Britton's Lane. On a quiet, county road five miles southeast of Denmark, Tennessee, a fierce struggle between opposing armies took place on September 1, 1862. Only half-dozen historical markers dot the site, and there are no massive battlefield maps or push-button audio tapes to guide the curious observer. Britton's Lane boasts no cannons lining the road as does Shiloh or Stone's River; in fact, the countryside is so calm and pastoral that it's hard to believe the land has witnessed anything more than an occasional disagreement between neighbors. Yet thousands of brave soldiers from Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio fought and died there in a feverish, four-hour battle. Many of those soldiers were from Madison County, and some tendered the supreme sacrifice within ten miles of their own homes.
Following the stunning Union victories of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh in the spring of 1862, Federal General Jeremiah Sullivan marched into Jackson on June 6th and occupied the city. Most Madison County citizens, being of southern sentiment, were disappointed and disillusioned by the Federal hold on West Tennessee. Throughout the hot summer months they hoped everyday for liberation by the Confederate Army now quartered in north Mississippi.
The Federal occupation army used Jackson primarily as a quartermaster depot in 1862, sending supplies to its lead armies farther south. Situated around the city, along critical points of the railroad line and at important bridges and river crossings, were isolated detachments of Union soldiers. Their mission was to guard against forays by Confederates against the Union supply line, and to give early warning of an attack on Jackson. When Federal outposts sent word to Jackson on August 28th that a Confederate General by the name of Armstrong was marching north from Mississippi with 10,000 men, the secessionists in Jackson were elated; and the Federals and their sympathizers began scurrying about like ants to fortify the city.
The commander of all Confederate cavalry in the West, Major General Sterling Price, had indeed ordered Colonel Frank C. Armstrong to take his cavalry brigade north from Holly Springs, Mississippi into West Tennessee. Despite the exaggerated reports, Armstrong never had more than 3,300 troopers, and his mission was not to liberate Jackson. Armstrong's mission was classic for cavalry - raid north along the Mississippi and Tennessee Central Railroad, harass the enemy, stir-up the Federal detachments, interdict and disrupt the enemy's supply line, and do not become decisively engaged.
The man that Sterling Price chose to command the mission, Frank Crawford Armstrong, had only a year before been a Federal officer at the Battle of Bull Run. Having reconsidered his allegiance in the fall of 1861, Armstrong had earned his commander's confidence by performing well at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas, and received command of his own brigade.
On the 22nd of August, Acting Brigadier General Armstrong left Guntown, Mississippi with the core of this brigade, stopping in Holly Springs to pick up three more regiments. When he left there a few days later (August 27th), his command was 3,300 strong, including:
Col. McCulloch's 2nd Missouri
Col. Slemmons' 2nd Arkansas
Col. Pinson's 1st Mississippi
Col. Jackson's 7th Tennessee
Col. Barteau's 2nd Tennessee (commanded by Maj. Morton)
Col. Wheeler's 6th Tennessee (four companies)
Col. Wirt Adams' Regiment (Mississippians)
Col. Saunders Battalion (Alabamians)
Forest's old regiment (commanded by Ltc. Balch)
Wells' Scouts
In the August 1922 issue of Confederate Veteran, C.Y. Ford of Company G., 2nd Missouri Cavalry describes this group as "a magnificent body of fighting cavalry, ready and eager to measure arms with the Federal[s]." They camped the night of the 27th of August within four miles of LaGrange, Tennessee on a branch of the Wolf River, and remained there on the 28th, resting an extra day in anticipation of an arduous campaign.
While they rested, word of their approach spread among the Federals. On the following day, Colonel Elias S. Dennis, who would later figure dramatically in the battle at Britton's Lane, informed Colonel M.K. Lawler, commander of the post of Jackson, that Confederate General Bragg was at Guntown, Mississippi with an army of 6,000 cavalry, and that the soldiers at LaGrange were only the lead element.
After riding to within a few miles of Bolivar, Tennessee on Friday, the 29th of August, the Confederates were to taste their first battle when they encountered a Federal garrison the following day. After some seven hours of off-and-on skirmishing, the Federals drew back into Bolivar at nightfall on the 30th and prepared for a renewed attack the next day But at daylight on the 31st, Armstrong's brigade had disappeared - bypassing the enemy and again moving north, gobbling up isolated groups of Federals in blockhouses guarding the railroad. They pressed on until encountering another fortified position at Medon Station. After driving several detachments into the center of the community, Armstrong came upon some 150 Union soldiers barricaded behind cotton bales in the train depot. He sent a force to reconnoiter the enemy position, and was considering an attack when six companies of Federal reinforcements began arriving by train from Jackson. The Union commander at Jackson, M.K. Lawler, claims that the reinforcements sent to Medon Station formed in line and "charged the enemy, driving him from the town and inflictin~ considerable loss upon him." The 2nd Tennessee, which seen' to have had the lead in this affair, did take some casualties, but William Witherspoon, a private in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, and author of Reminiscences of 61' and 65', says the skirmish Medon Station "amounted to not much damage on either side." John Milton Hubbard of the same regiment, in Notes of a Private (1911), claimed "nothing was accomplished by the attack and several Confederates were either killed or wounded."
Believing he couldn't defeat the Union garrison without a major or battle, Armstrong drew off to the west of Medon Station and camped that night on the Casey Savage farm. He must have realized that his encounters at Bolivar and Medon Station had alerted every Federal outpost for a hundred miles, and that the city of Jackson was bracing for an assault. In a dispatch to his boss, General Price, Armstrong seems to suggest that his mission has been accomplished.
. .I have crossed the Hatchie [river]; passed between Jackson and Bolivar; destroyed the bridges and one mile of trestle work between the two places, holding for more than thirty hours the road.
The fast and arduous campaign had taken its toll on Armstrong's soldiers. According to Leut. Col. Frank Montgomery of the 1st Mississippi Cavalry, in his Reminiscences of a Mississippian (1901),
Early next morning we started on our return to camp in Mississippi, having accomplished all we could by our raid, and took a road leading towards a place or town called Denmark. The whole command was worn out, and decidedly hungry, since we had been out nearly a week, [counting the time from their initial startpoint of Guntown, Mississippi on the 22nd of August] and away from our wagon trains...
William Witherspoon confirms Montgomery 5 assessment from the private soldier's viewpoint. “We were ordered not to make any big fires, we gathered the brush and started our fires, not that it was cold, but the corn in the field was getting hard, September 1st, and we wanted to make embers and ashes to roast the corn... Our supper, exclusively a parched corn diet, breakfast ditto. Early we mounted 'en route' to Denmark.”
As they road toward Denmark, on Monday, September 1st, Frank Montgomery confided in a fellow officer that he thought "there would be no more fighting on this raid." But that soldier didn't share his belief.
While marching along, it so happened I was riding by the side of Captain Beall, and I observed he was unusually quiet. He was always the life of the camp, a genial, jovial gentleman. At last he told me he was impressed by a presentiment he would be killed before we got back to Mississippi. I laughed at him and told him his presentiment would come to nothing and that he himself would laugh at it on the morrow...”
The conversation between Montgomery and his worried compatriot was scarcely finished before the Southerners entered into one of the most intense battles that many of them would experience during the war.
From the first news of Armstrong's soiree into west Tennessee, the Federals had made the defense of Jackson their priority. A sergeant of the 20th Illinois Infantry, who was hospitalized in Jackson, made the following entries in The Civil War Diary of Allen Morgan Geer:
Sat. Aug. 30 tieth 1862-... a rebel force of 15,000 reported at LaGrange bearing on Bolivar & Corinth.
Sunday, Aug. 31st 1862-Sharp skirmishing reported in the vicinity of Bolivar our forces hold their ground. Medon's Guards dispersed reinforcements sent to aid.
Monday, September 1st. 1862-. Jackson was deemed in danger of attack and the greatest activity prevailed in putting the city in a state of defense.
M.K. Lawler expected Armstrong in Jackson at any time, so on August 31st he sent a message to Colonel Elias S. Dennis who commanded a brigade stationed at Estanaula landing, some twenty-five miles from Jackson along the Hatchie River. Lawler ordered Dennis to strike tents, destroy what he couldn't carry, and double-time his infantry back to Jackson to help defend the city.
G.B. MacDonald, a musician with the 30th Illinois at Estanaula, writes in A History of the 30th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry (1916), “... our teams had been to Jackson for provisions, and two barrels of whiskey was in the supply. We hurriedly packed our knapsacks and loaded the wagons with camp equipage. The two barrels of whiskey was cumbersome for troops on a forced march. The heads were knocked in and the barrels upset and the whiskey went on the ground. The boys could not stand to see such a waste as that, and they got busy dipping it up in their hands and drinking it, and went on their way rejoicing.
Elias S. Dennis had under his command his own 20th Illinois Infantry, the 30th Illinois Infantry, the 4th Ohio Independent Cavalry Company, thirty- four men of the 4th Illinois Cavalry, and a two~un section of Battery E, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery - all totaling some 1,500 men. As his brigade marched for Jackson, Dennis continued to hear rumors of a large Confederate force moving north. When he reached Denmark, he received new orders from Lawler instructing him to march toward Medon "to intercept the enemy near that point." Dennis camped that night near the Presbyterian Church in Denmark.
The next morning, Monday September 1st, while Armstrong's men finished roasting their corn and began marching toward Denmark, Dennis' command set out along the most direct route to Medon, a fourteen-foot wide, dusty country lane named for the wealthy farmer Thomas Britton, who owned property along the road. Dennis expected no battle until he reached Medon. Armstrong, now moving west along present- day Collins Road, seems to have anticipated no fight at all. At about 9:30 that morning, the advanced guard of both elements ran into each other where the Steam Mill Ferry Road intersects Collins Road and Britton's Lane today.
In front of Dennis' command was his one company of independent cavalry, and close behind them was at least a company of infantry serving as advance guard. Next came the 20th Illinois, his artillery section with assorted supply trains, and the 30th Illinois behind them. The column must have stretched some three or four miles back in the direction of Denmark when Foster's cavalry encountered Armstrong. According to C.Y. Ford of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, it appears Dennis' men saw the Confederates first, for they had time to bring forward their two cannons from the center of their column, and deploy skirmishers before Armstrong's lead regiment know they were around.
... we [had] dismounted to rest a short time and were standing by our horses, when two pieces of artillery let loose two charges of grapeshot into our column at point-blank range.
Sergeant Edwin H. Fay, in a letter written to his wife four days after the battle, called it an "ambush" and blamed local citizens loyal to the Union for "let[ing] us rush right into it."
This began the Battle of Britton's Lane. The realization that his 1,500 infantrymen might be facing 1 anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 well-armed Confederate cavalry (although there were never more than 3,300) forced Dennis to make an immediate decision. Actually, Dennis had little choice. If he turned and fled toward Denmark, he could not hope to outrun the cavalry that would pursue him, and such a move might lead to the wholesale slaughter of his brigade, or its capture at the very least. If he chose to fight, he'd be outnumbered and probably overwhelmed. Making a virtue of necessity, Dennis decided to take his chances with a fight, and quickly brought the rest of the 20th Illinois into line behind a wormwood fence to support his artillery. By selecting a strong defensive position along a ridge, covered on the flanks by rugged terrain that the enemy's cavalry would not be able to negotiate, he had effectively blocked Armstrong's route of march. Dennis initially deployed companies B and G of the 20th Illinois on the left of the road, and the remainder of the regiment on the right. Then after positioning his two cannon squarely in the middle of Britton's Lane, and dispatching a courier to order the 30th Illinois forward at the doublequick, he braced for an attack.
Immediately after taking fire, and more as a matter of reflex than that of planning, the lead regiment of Armstrong's brigade, the 2nd Missouri, along with Forrest's old regiment, made a hasty charge to silence the cannon. But the supporting Union infantry combined with the artillery to pour a heavy fire into their ranks and drive them back.
Frank C. Armstrong's decision to fight Elias S. Dennis along this country road in south Madison County has led to much speculation during the past century. Why did Armstrong, after declining to get heavily involved in two other battles - Bolivar, where he greatly outnumbered his opponent - and Medon Station, where a sudden, aggressive assault might have captured both the defenders of the depot and their on-rushing reinforcements - suddenly find it worth the price to fight at Britton's Lane? If Armstrong believed his mission was completed, as his report and the observations of his men would indicate, why did he not skirt west of Dennis' position and return to Mississippi unscathed via Estanaula? His command was full of Madison County men who knew every road and cowpath in that part of West Tennessee, and certainly he knew that by taking what is now called the Steam Mill Ferry Road he need not fight Dennis at all. Dennis' infantry were not going to catch him on foot, and given the Federals' situation, Armstrong moving on would probably have been a relief to Dennis. Instead he chose to fight his way through the Federals to get to Denmark. Many have advanced theories as to why it was so important for Armstrong to reach Denmark, suggesting everything from the need for supplies and ammunition to a quest for hidden gold. His reasons may never be known, but whatever they were, Armstrong began what amounted to a four-phase attack, and decisively committed his cavalry force against Dermis.
PHASE ONE
Hearing the artillery, Armstrong came galloping forward to the head of the column, just in time to meet the two regiments repulsed in their first attempt to silence the enemy cannon. It was almost ten o'clock now, and Armstrong immediately ordered the 2nd Missouri, with Forrest's old regiment (Ltc. Balch commanding) in support, to again charge the guns. A second time the Confederates drew sabres and galloped toward the enemy.
One of the Federals observed that "in front, and on the left and right were bare fields, swarming with rebels preparing to charge. At last on they came, the ground fairly trembling beneath their heavy tread Since the 20th Illinois had not yet fully deployed into line, this second charge was swift and determined enough to nearly succeed in capturing the artillery. Many of the Southerners rode up to within several feet of the enemy, who poured a murderous volley into them from behind the fence. But again they were turned back with considerable loss.
PHASE TWO
It was after ten o'clock now, and still the stubborn Federals held their grip on Britton Lane. But nearly losing their artillery in the last charge had caused them to limber-up and move the guns across a gully, some 300400 yards back in the direction of Denmark. Along with the guns, the line of infantry gradually gave ground until they reached yet another fence to offer them cover.
Colonel W.H. (Red) Jackson's 7th Tennessee, Colonel Pinson's 1st Mississippi, and Barteau's 2nd Tennessee Cavalry (Major Morton commanding) had been traveling in that order behind the two lead units when the firing began. They now rushed forward and were ordered to immediately assault the enemy position.
Ordering the 1st Mississippi to dismount and fight on foot, Armstrong sent them on the left of the 2nd Missouri, and then ordered the 7th and the 2nd Tennessee to charge mounted on the right. This third attack, which may have taken place before the Federals could re-establish their artillery in its new position, was also repulsed, but it is most likely during this charge that the Southerners captured several of the enemy's wagons and supply trains, seizing them before they could safely reposition. Still determined to drive the Federals from the field, the Confederate commander ordered all the above units to dismount, except the 2nd Tennessee, and to charge the enemy for a fourth time.
John Milton Hubbard of the 7th Tennessee described the scene: “The Seventh Tennessee was ordered to charge on foot through a corn field, from which the fodder had been stripped, against a heavy line of infantry lying behind a stout worm fence and in the woods. A galling fire was poured into Company E, but some of its men reached the fence. Dr. Joe Allen of Whiteville mounted the fence and fell dead on the enemy's side of it... How so many men got out of that field alive is one of those unaccountable things that sometimes occur in war.”
PHASE THREE
It was past eleven o'clock now, and Armstrong's quiet, uneventful march to Denmark and back to Mississippi had turned into a desperate two-hour battle that some participants said was hotter than S~oh. These men would know, for soldiers on both sides had fought on those bloody April days along the Tennessee River.
At last Wirt Adams' Regiment, which had been in the rear of the march column, and Colonel Slemmon's 2nd Arkansas which immediately preceded it, arrived at the scene of the fight. Finally Armstrong was able to mass enough force to strike a decisive blow against Dennis. The 7th Tennessee, 2nd Missouri, and Balch's men were now badly mangled, and were withdrawn. Armstrong sent Wirt Adams' men and company L of the 7th Tennessee (which had been held out of the action thus far) on a wild and daring charge directly into the mouth of the enemy guns. Ordering both units to form a column of fours and charge, Armstrong struck the decisive blow. He also sent Col. Slemmons and Col. Pinson dismounted in support. Frank Montgomery writes,
Colonel Adams' charge was a brilliant one and as I write I can see him as I saw him then, charging at the head of his regiment straight at the guns; we were not one hundred feet apart.
In October 1903 issue of Confederate Veteran, E.B. McNeil, a participant in the fight, quotes from a letter written only a few days after the battle: “Col. Adams, mounted on a beautiful cream- colored mare, well to the front leading his men at racing speed, was a conspicuous target for the enemy, and every moment I expect to see him fall... The fire was awful, and under the withering blast, the head of our column went down. Those behind, unable to see for the blinding dust, with the notes of the bugle sounding the charge still ringing in their ears, spurred madly forward toward the sound of the guns, only to stumble and fall over their dead and wounded comrades and horses in front until the narrow lane was completely blocked.”
The confusion and bottleneck on the narrow lane is confirmed by William Witherspoon's statement that while riding toward the Federal artillerymen "the rear of the company became tangled." Yet even though the Southerners could see the enemy gunners desperately loading grapeshot and preparing at any second to discharge the lethal rounds into their faces, portions of Adams' regiment and the 7th Tennessee pressed forward, and "in a mad bound [they] were upon them." Using their sawed-off shotguns to clear away the gun crew (no Federal artillerymen were listed as killed, though several were captured), only about twenty of the attackers remained to occupy the center of the Federal line. The other cavalry charging in support were held up by the dead men and horses that choked the lane. Now the two cannons Armstrong had paid so dearly to possess were in danger of being lost, particularly since the 30th Illinois was making timely arrival on the battlefield, having doubl~timed at least two miles in the September heat. The fresh Federal troops wasted no time pouring a galling fire into the victorious rebels.
B. B. MacDonald writes, “Just before we got to the front the rebs captured the two guns, and had the 20th pretty well demoralized, and was making another charge just as we were climbing a little hill, and the command was on right into line, and firing as we came into line, and with a yell drove the enemy back, and just had time to form a good line with the 20th when another charge was made.”
This last charge probably refers to the dismounted men from Pinson's and Slemmon's regiments who moved up in support of the captured artillery. A Lieutenant Dengel, who commanded the gun section, was captured along with ten of his men; but while the Confederates got the guns, they didn't get the caissons, thus they had no way to transport the weapons form the field except for dragging them into the immediate protection of their lines.
PHASE FOUR
The arrival of the 30th Illinois probably prevented a complete rout of Dennis' command. Many Federals had already skedaddled, some of them not stopping until they reached Jackson. They carried with them wild reports of the capture or destruction of their regiment. The 20th Illinois had been steadily giving ground, and with the poor visibility, may have suspected they were being surrounded. Isolated defenders may have even tried to give up. This could account for William Witherspoon's curious observation.
The Federals were whipped several times in that fight, had hoisted several times the white flag, certainly an index of defeat. ... citizens of Denmark [told that] over 200 of the Federals had returned there and were anxious to find some one to surrender to.
Linking up with the exhausted 20th, the 30th Illinois, under command of Major Warren Shedd, formed a line from which the Confederates were unable or unwilling to drive them. When the 30th joined the battle lines, a cheer rose up among the weary defenders. A captured Federal prisoner, when asked by General Armstrong what the noise was all about, declared that his fellow soldiers were cheering the arrival of 'Logan's Division."
By 12:30 or 1:00 p.m., the Confederate casualties were heavy. Montgomery reports that the 1st Mississippi Cavalry alone lost fifty men killed and wounded. Losses were also heavy in the 7th Tennessee and Wirt Adams' regiment.
What happened next is another source of debate and speculation surrounding the battle. The Confederate cavalry had clearly and decisively driven the Federals from their position, captured their artillery, and had many of them demoralized and looking for an end to the fight. The next tactical maneuver would normally have been to pursue a weakened and disorganized enemy and capture or kill as many of them as possible. But Colonel Armstrong chose instead to consolidate his position and not to pursue the enemy. His actions were questioned not only by later historians and scholars, but by the very men he led at Britton's Lane.
Montgomery writes, “While Colonel Pinson and myself were consulting as to the advisability of renewing the assault on the enemy by a flank movement [against the 30th Illinois], which could easily have been done, as we believed, we were ordered back to the horses. To my surprise then and now, the attack was not renewed, for I am sure they were defeated...”
Colonel W.H. (Red) Jackson of the 7th Tennessee said, "I thought we had whipped the fight, and Gen. Dennis afterwards told me he was ready to surrender." That the majority of Federals wanted to surrender is doubtful. The battlefield was hot, dry and dusty, and it was hard to see more than a hundred yards. Several men in the 20th Illinois did surrender, but the 30th seems to have been ready and willing to continue the fight. Despite the shaky condition of the Federal forces, Armstrong chose not to press the engagement, but to march north and west through the woods, emerging near Denmark, where he took the Estanaula Road toward the Hatchie River. At one point in this withdrawal, Armstrong and his escort (Company E, 2nd Tennessee Cavalry) ran into a number of the retreating Federals - possibly skulkers or deserters - and was nearly captured. William Witherspoon characterized their return to Mississippi this way:
We were certainly on the run, to say the least, a forced march, not halting or stopping until we were ferried across the Hatchie, sixteen miles distant, on a ferry boat.
Witherspoon's use of the phrase, "on the run," may reflect Armstrong's sense that the noose was tightening around his band of cavalry. The longer he tarried in West Tennessee, the more opportunity he provided the Federals to surprise and encircle him. His unexpected fight at Britton Lane had held up his march for almost a full day, and he may have believed the Union forces he bypassed at Medon were closing upon his rear. Perhaps he figured pursuing and routing the Federals was not worth risking his entire command in another protracted battle, particularly since his men were already weary and bloodied from the campaign.
The confusion about who won or lost at Britton's Lane did not wait to surface until aging veterans gathered for reunions years after the war. It began the day of the battle. Allen Morgan Geer was receiving mixed signals in Jackson on the very day of the fight.
Monday September 1st. 1862 - Prepared to go to the regiment [20th Illinois but could not be allowed to go since their fate or locality was not known. While at the depot news came that the 20th and 30th was taken prisoners. This at 2 p.m. At 6 p.m. while at supper stragglers began to come in from the scene of action. They all declared the forces gobbled up, heard the firing ceased: saw them surrounded, saw the wagons overturned, artillery [taken] & the general impression prevailed that the 20th & 30th were gone up except the skedaddlers who were shrewd enough to get away.
Geer and his fellow soldiers waited anxiously for more word from the vicinity of Denmark for the rest of the day; and his last diary entry late on the evening of September 1st offers this simple, yet revealing phrase: "rumors came that the 20th and 30th stood ground." The next day Geer records that "they had whipped the rebels and drove them from the ground," and that they had "buried 180 rebels on the field." but still uncertain about Armstrong's intentions or his whereabouts, the Federals in Jackson remained braced for an attack several days after the Confederates were back in Mississippi.
For over one hundred years, veterans debated and local historians pontificated about who won or lost the Battle of Britton's Lane and whether or not Armstrong's Raid was a success or failure. By the strict yardstick of a classic cavalry mission, Armstrong did effectively harass, interdict, and destroy the enemy's supply line. In his report to General Sterling Price, Armstrong states "my loss was small," and he enumerates the capture of 213 enemy prisoners and the killing or wounding of 75 others. Sergeant Edwin H. Fay writes that the command "marched some 300 miles in less than ten days, fought two battles and three skirmishes, [and took] 350400 prisoners." But from the aspect of his classic cavalry mission to not become decisively engaged, Armstrong was unsuccessful. After the fight at Britton's Lane, where the Confederates lost at least 100 men killed in action (as compared to Federal casualties of 8 killed, approximately 50 wounded and more than 50 captured), Armstrong's men were demoralized. John Milton Hubbard of the 7th Tennessee writes,
The whole command was discouraged by the operations of this raid, and thought that, if we had gained anything at all, we had paid dearly for it.
On the days after the battle, several citizens of Denmark, among them a free negro named Shedrick Pipkins and a Mr. William Henry, buried twenty-three slain Confederates in a mass grave on the battlefield. Others were interred separately, and one account indicated yet another mass burial trench was dug some three miles from the site of the fight.
The diary of a fourteen year-old girl, who lived near the intersection of Steam Mill Ferry Road and Collins Road, describes the horrible aftermath of the fight at Britton's lane.
Sept. 3
Very hot day. Papa got to Mr. Britton's house. Lot of soldiers been hurt... Papa went up road to see where fite [sp] was. Boys come here to get water for horses. Sade[sp] they won and yank run... awfull [sp] smell & boys hurting Papa says to Mama many died at end of lane at woods. Papa says many horses dead on top of Boys.
... many died last nite many was put in soil where they fell...it was to [sp] hot on bodies and many flies... awfull [sp] smel [sp] much sadness. Fences down, awfull [sp] flies new earth everywhere.
The Battle of Britton's Lane produced five men who would become general officers. Colonel (acting Brigadier) Frank Armstrong would shortly be made a full Brigadier General, and both William H. (Red) Jackson and Wirt Adams would rise to the rank of general during the war. On the Federal side, Colonel Elias S. Dennis would be promoted to general largely based upon his performance at Britton's lane, and his subordinate, Major Warren Shedd, who commanded the 30th Illinois at Britton's Lane, would also be a general before the end of the war. It is quite rare to find such a relatively small battle producing such a large number of general officers during the War Between the States.
Over the intervening century, the Battle of Britton's Lane and Armstrong's Raid have generated many fascinating stories that have remained alive in the oral tradition and written history of Madison County and West Tennessee. No one will contend that the battle at Britton's Lane determined the final outcome of the war; but it forever changed the lives of the men who fought it and many of the citizens of Denmark and Madison County. Some lives were saved and many were tragically lost; some careers were made and others were ended prematurely; but in the final tally, Madison County holds its tiny share of history in what is perhaps the nation's greatest tragedy - The Civil War.
http://genealogytrails.com/tenn/madison/milcivilbritton.html
19. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Confederate infantryman Louis Leon, of the 53rd North Carolina Infantry, writes in his journal of a search for deserters: “September 1—To-day we went on a general hunt in full force. We went into a house where we suspected there was a deserter. We hunted through all the out-houses, then went to the house, and the lady strongly denied there being any one there, but would not give us permission to look. We then searched the house, but found no one. I then proposed that we go in the loft. She objected again. But of course we were determined. It was pitch-dark in the loft. We called in, but no answer came. I then proposed, in a loud voice, so that if any one was there they could hear me, that we fix bayonets and stick around and satisfy ourselves that no one was there. Still no answer. I then got in the loft, took my gun and commenced sticking around. At last an answer came from the far corner that he would surrender. The way I got into the loft was, I being a little fellow, and Si Wolf a tall man, they put me on his shoulder, and in that way I crawled in. We then left for camp, passed a church, and was in time to see a wedding. We drilled for the ladies, and had a good time.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1863
20. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Kate Cumming, a nurse in a Confederate hospital in Georgia, records in her journal her response to the news of Gen. John H. Morgan being mistreated in prison: “I see by the same paper that General Morgan, who is now a prisoner, has had his head shaved, and been treated with all kinds of indignities. These things seem almost incredible. Why, savages respect a brave man, and a man like General Morgan, one would think, would gain the admiration of any people who had any sense of chivalry; and we all know how kindly he has always treated whoever was in his power. But they can not degrade such a man; his spirit will soar above any insult they can heap upon him.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1863
21. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Susan Bradford Eppes, a Southern woman, writes in her diary about the scarcity of dry goods and the necessity of learning how to “make do”: “We are busy spinning, weaving, sewing and knitting, trying to get together clothing to keep our dear soldiers warm this winter. Brother Junius writes that he has worn all his under garments to shreds and wants to know if it would be possible to get some flannel, or some kind of wool goods to make him some new ones? We have tried but none can be had, so I am spinning some wool into knitting yarn and with some big wooden needles I have I am going to knit both drawers and shirts for him. I am so impatient to get to work on them and see if my plan is feasible, that I spend all the time I can at the spinning wheel. I know the shirts can be knit, for I made some for father last winter which he found quite comfortable but I am somewhat doubtful as to the drawers. After awhile we will learn how to supply most of our needs.”
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1863
22. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Six more Union gun ships sailed into Charleston harbor to assist with the attack on the city.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-125
23. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Siege of Charleston Harbor: “In Charleston Harbor, mortar fire smote Battery Wagner on Morris Island, and heavy Parrott rifles and ironclads hammered Fort Sumter once more. Firing of 627 shots ended the second phase of the first major bombardment. Once more, Fort Sumter crumbled, and its magazine was threatened, but the garrison continued to shore up the ruins and remained defiant.”
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/26/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-26-september-2-1863/
24. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Chickamauga Campaign: Skirmishes at Will’s Creek and at Davis’ Tap’s, and Neal’s Gaps, Alabama.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/26/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-26-september-2-1863/
25. Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Chickamauga Campaign: General Bragg orders General Simon Buckner and his 9000 men to Chattanooga. (12) CS President Davis tells Tennessee’s Governor Isham G. Harris that reinforcements and arms are on their way to Chattanooga.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/26/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-26-september-2-1863/
26. Thursday, September 1, 1864: From General Sherman’s viewpoint: “General Hardee was gone, and we all pushed forward along the railroad south, in close pursuit, till we ran up against his lines at a point just above Lovejoy’s Station. While bringing forward troops and feeling the new position of our adversary, rumors came from the rear that the enemy had evacuated Atlanta, and that General Slocum was in the city. Later in the day I received a note in Slocum’s own handwriting, stating that he had heard during the night the very sounds that I have referred to; that he had moved rapidly up from the bridge about daylight, and had entered Atlanta unopposed. His letter was dated inside the city, so there was no doubt of the fact. General Thomas’s bivouac was but a short distance from mine, and, before giving notice to the army in general orders, I sent one of my staff-officers to show him the note. In a few minutes the officer returned, soon followed by Thomas himself, who again examined the note, so as to be perfectly certain that it was genuine. The news seemed to him too good to be true. He snapped his fingers, whistled, and almost danced, and, as the news spread to the army, the shouts that arose from our men, the wild hallooing and glorious laughter, were to us a full recompense for the labor and toils and hardships through which we had passed in the previous three months.
A courier-line was at once organized, messages were sent back and forth from our camp at Lovejoy’s to Atlanta, and to our telegraph-station at the Chattahoochee bridge. Of course, the glad tidings flew on the wings of electricity to all parts of the North, where the people had patiently awaited news of their husbands, sons, and brothers, away down in “Dixie Land;” and congratulations came pouring back full of good-will and patriotism. This victory was most opportune; Mr. Lincoln himself told me afterward that even he had previously felt in doubt, for the summer was fast passing away; that General Grant seemed to be checkmated about Richmond and Petersburg, and my army seemed to have run up against an impassable barrier, when, suddenly and unexpectedly, came the news that “Atlanta was ours, and fairly won.”
On this text many a fine speech was made, but none more eloquent than that by Edward Everett, in Boston. A presidential election then agitated the North. Mr. Lincoln represented the national cause, and General McClellan had accepted the nomination of the Democratic party, whose platform was that the war was a failure, and that it was better to allow the South to go free to establish a separate government, whose corner-stone should be slavery. Success to our arms at that instant was therefore a political necessity; and it was all-important that something startling in our interest should occur before the election in November. The brilliant success at Atlanta filled that requirement, and made the election of Mr. Lincoln certain.”
https://bjdeming.com/2014/09/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-1-7-1864/
27. Thursday, September 1, 1864: General Grant, at Norfolk, Virginia, begins a two-day conference with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus V. Fox about military action against Wilmington, N.C. https://bjdeming.com/2014/09/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-1-7-1864/
28. August 31 - September 1, 1864 Jonesborough (Jonesboro), Georgia
Estimated casualties: 3,149 (1,149 Union, 2,200 Confederate)
For a month General William Tecumseh Sherman(gallery) had tried to capture Atlanta using cavalry and artillery to no avail. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee clung to its lifeline, the Macon and Western Railroad, using it to resupply the Confederate troops in the Gateway City. Two things weighed heavily on Sherman's mind. Lincoln needed a victory prior to the 1864 Presidential election and Sherman needed Atlanta. It would be impossible to achieve his goal of "saltwater" without this Georgia rail hub.
The XX Corps remained near the Western and Atlantic Railroad Trestle over the Chattahoochee River. The Union trenches were manned by dismounted cavalry
From his position east of the city, Sherman ordered a "grand movement" of troops to the west, then south. Six divisions totaling 60,000+ men were making a semi-circle around the city to small town of Jonesborough, Georgia. By cutting the railroad that Hood depended upon for supplies Sherman hoped to force the well-entrenched Confederates to retreat. With minimal food, clothes and munitions the march began on August 25 and took four days. Only Henry Slocum's XX Corps remained in the vicinity of Atlanta.
Just west of downtown Jonesboro the Flint River afforded the Macon and Western Railroad some semblance of protection. Oliver Howard advanced to the Flint to get water for his thirsty men, crossed the river after a brief struggle with Confederate cavalry and gained the high ground east of the river. Having gained more ground than thought possible, Howard wisely ordered his men to entrench and regroup. The commander of the Confederate cavalry informed Hood that a significant amount of the Union Army was within a couple of miles of the Macon and Western Railroad.
By nightfall on August 30 Confederate troops began to take positions west of Jonesboro, preparing to attack, however, a large force was delayed by advancing Union soldiers north of the city.
August 31, 1864 It would not be until 1:30 pm on the afternoon of August 31 that Hardee and Lee were in place and ready to attack. As Patrick Cleburne advanced and engaged the enemy from the north, S. D. Lee ordered his corps to advance from the west. Disheartened from bloody attempts to take Union entrenchments at Utoy Creek, East Atlanta and Peach Tree Creek, these veterans stopped when they came under heavy fire. Even S. D. Lee wrote "The attack was not made by the troops with that spirit and inflexible determination that would ensure success...The attack was a feeble one and a failure."
Pat Cleburne's attack was more successful than Lee's. In command of Hardee's Corps, the Arkansas Irishman advanced, broke through the outer Union lines and crossed the Flint River, capturing two pieces of artillery. Lee's unsuccessful assault spelled the end to Cleburne's advance, as he had to withdraw to support his brethren in gray.
After the attack of Lee's and Hardee's Corps on the Union entrenchments west of Jonesboro during the afternoon of the 31st, General Hood made a series of errors. Hood sent orders for Hardee to "...return Lee's Corps to this place (Atanta)." Hood knew that the Union trenches were only lightly defended by Slocum's XX Corp's. Additionally, both the commander of the remaining Confederate cavalry and General Hardee himself had informed Hood that significant amounts of Union forces were threatening his rear. With General Joseph Wheeler and his cavalry off disrupting the rear echelons, Hood refused to believe the only reliable reports of troop strength and location that he had and arrogantly reinforced himself.
Hardee faced a logistical nightmare. Sixty thousand Union soldiers were concentrating south of Atlanta, with some of the best forces marching on his position. Ordinance and subsistence trains, hastily sent south for protection from the Atlanta attack envisioned by Hood, only "encumbered" Hardee with additional problems, since they could not travel unescorted because of Union cavalry. The attack was commanded by General Sherman personally. Jonesboro offered no natural defense perimeter and Hardee did not have the time to construct additional defenses. Finally, with the rail lines cut the Confederate Army was preparing to move to Lovejoy [Station] on the Macon and Western Railroad south of Jonesboro, so "Old Reliable" was, in essence, fighting a rear guard action on September 1st.
Formed in a horseshoe around the tiny hamlet, Hardee's troops now were now fighting for time...the time needed to march two corps of men from Atlanta to Lovejoy Station. Slowly the Union forces advanced towards Hardee's line, and none seemed in a hurry for the encounter. At 4:00pm the first attack came against the entrenched Rebels, barely more than one deep. The onslaught continued, increasing in ferocity as the sunset drew near.
Then, much more quickly than it had started it was over. The Rebel line was overrun, pierced multiple times. Confederate artillery that moments earlier had been firing canister and other forms of death on advancing Bluecoats were given up to the invaders who had not been deterred by the guns of destruction.
Sherman hoped to strike a devastating blow against Hardee by cutting off his line of retreat, but the swarthy Cajun easily outfoxed the red-haired Ohioan and withdrew to a strong position some seven miles south of the city. The battle of Jonesboro was over.
http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Battle_of_Jonesboro
29. D August 31–September 1, 1864: Battle of Jonesboro, STEPHEN DAVIS
After three Union cavalry raids failed to cut the Macon & Western railroad, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman judged, "I expect I will have to swing across to that road in force to make the matter certain." Sherman left the Twentieth Corps at the Chattahoochee and with his six other corps marched southwest of Atlanta, then swung east, aiming to cut the railroad between East Point and Jonesboro. Sherman was not just making an infantry raid on the Macon & Western; he was throwing virtually his entire army upon it. This "grand swing by the right" began on August 25.
Hardee's and Lee's corps attacked on the afternoon of August 31, 1864, and were repulsed with heavy Confederate casualties. (Douglas Ullman, Jr. )
Gen. John Bell Hood soon learned from his cavalry at noon on the 27th that enemy infantry were marching south toward Fairburn, strength as yet unknown. On the 28th, Hood ordered two brigades to move south by rail to Jonesboro. He suspected some sort of raid on the railway, but was unsure of the Yankees's objective. By the 29th, Hood concluded that maybe two of three Union corps were involved. By the next day, Confederates knew that five, maybe even six corps were involved, but they didn't know exactly where they were heading. Hood ordered S.D. Lee to move his headquarters to East Point; he sent General William J. Hardee four miles further down the road to Rough and Ready to sift through cavalry reports. Lastly, Hood had sent two brigades of infantry to Jonesboro. In the meantime, Hood held Stewart's corps and the military within the works of Atlanta to guard the city. On the morning of August 30, cavalryman Frank Armstrong, eight miles west of Jonesboro, reported a strong infantry force moving against him.
On the 30th, having wrecked miles of the West Point Railroad, the Fourth and Twenty-third Coprs marched eastward to strike the Macon road south of Rough and Ready. Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard's Army of the Tennessee headed straight for Jonesboro, with the Fourteenth Corps taking different roads to its left; Armstrong's Southern cavalry, battling Kilpatrick, contested Howard's advance throughout the day. Despite this resistance, and despite Sherman's advice that Howard could stop his march that day short of Jonesboro if he wanted to, Howard decided to press on, largely because his thirsty men needed watering at the Flint River. Around 5 p.m. Howard's advance reached the Flint and battled retreating Rebel cavalry across the river bridge. Howard's army dug in, expecting to be attacked in what General Blair called its "saucy position." John A. Logan's Fifteenth Corps entrenched on the high ground east of the river. A division of the Sixteenth Corps formed on its right; the Seventeenth started crossing the river to form on the left.
Armstrong wired Hood that the Yankees, now just a mile west of Jonesboro, could attack the railroad that very night. Quickly Hood ordered Hardee to march his corps to Jonesboro, and told Lee to follow. Meanwhile he told the small force at Jonesboro to "hold your position at all hazards. Help is ordered to you."
August 31, 1864 Hood ordered Hardee and Lee on August 31 to take their corps to Jonesboro and attack the enemy, assumed to be three corps, and drive them away. Yet already Hood was preparing for the worst: he ordered the army's ordnance reserve packed on trains and taken out of the city.
Hardee's plan called for the assault to begin against the Federal right, with Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne's division on the extreme left, wheeling northward to turn the enemy flank. Then, from south to north, the rest of the line would pick up the attack; Lee's divisions would advance after Cleburne "had hotly engaged the enemy at close quarters." Around 3 p.m. Cleburne began his attack, heading for John Corse's division, entrenched on a ridge. An attack by Hugh J. Kilpatrick's cavalry forced the Southerners to fight off to their left. Then Brown's division went in, but under heavy artillery and rifle fire fell back. On Lee's front, six brigades of Patton Anderson's and Carter Stevenson's division met the same bloody repulse. General Anderson himself was severely wounded, shot in the jaw. By 4:30, all along the line, the Southerners were withdrawing to their original positions.
Casualties for the day reflected the usual disproportion between defender and attacker. While Federal losses totaled a mere 179 killed and wounded, S.D. Lee estimated 1,300 casualties in his corps alone, and Hardee would have lost another 400. Having been beaten in assault, Hardee rightly concluded that "it now became necessary for me to act on the defensive."
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/atlanta/atlanta-history-articles/battle-of-jonesboro.html
30. Thursday, September 1, 1864: Confederates begin the evacuation of Atlanta, Georgia
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186409
31. Thursday, September 1, 1864: Georgia operations, Siege of Atlanta: The Battle of Jonesboro ends. CS General Hood orders the evacuation of Atlanta.
https://bjdeming.com/2014/09/01/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-september-1-7-1864/
32. September 1, 1894: Nathaniel Banks dies, Waltham, Massachusetts

A Sunday, September 1, 1861: Cape Girardeau, Missouri was a slow pace Mississippi River port, nothing happened there exciting since New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. That changed today, as Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant assumes command of Union forces in the area.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-a/part-twenty-one
B Monday, September 1, 1862: Battle of Chantilly [Ox Hill], Virginia. Making a wide flank march, Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Bull Run. On September 1, beyond Chantilly Plantation on the Little River Turnpike near Ox Hill, Jackson sent his divisions against two Union divisions under Kearny and Stevens. Confederate attacks were stopped by fierce fighting during a severe thunderstorm. Union generals Stevens and Kearny were both killed. Recognizing that his army was still in danger at Fairfax Courthouse, Maj. Gen. Pope ordered the retreat to continue to Washington. With Pope no longer a threat, Lee turned his army west and north to invade Maryland, initiating the Maryland Campaign and the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan assumed command of Union forces around Washington.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/chantilly.html
B+, Monday, September 1, 1862: Battle of Chantilly, Virginia – Gen. Lee sends Stonewall Jackson, once again, on a flank march around the Union right flank. On Aug. 31, in a driving rain, Jackson’s corps moves in a wide arc to the north of Centreville, where Pope has established a strong line in anticipation of Lee attacking across Bull Run in a frontal assault (which Lee was not about to do).
Jackson’s plan is to take Germantown and Fairfax, and thus cut off Pope’s retreat route to safety in Washington’s fortifications. Pope has placed troops---the IX Corps, now under command of Gen. Isaac Stevens---east of Centreville to hold the crossroads at Germantown. On the morning of this date, Jackson finds Union cavalry harassing his right flank. He stops at the crossroads hamlet of Chantilly, to wait for Longstreet to come up. This allows Pope time to move the rest of his army back, but he does nothing for several hours. Stevens puts 6,000 men into line for an assault on Jackson’s line on Ox Hill, 15,000 strong. The Federals’ advance gets entangled, snarled and disorganized. Stevens himself grabs the colors of his old regiment, the 79th New York, and leads a charge; he is shot in the head and dies on the spot.
In the pouring rain, Gen. Philip Kearney brings up his division on Stevens’ left, and as he rides forward to inspect the enemy lines, he stumbles onto a Rebel position, and is shot, mortally wounded. After sporadic fighting, where each side loses about 500 men, the Union troops retire. But Pope realizes that he cannot stay in Centreville, and so marches his army to Fairfax. Confederate Victory.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1862
C Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Battle of Devil's Backbone (Backbone Mountain), Arkansas
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186309
C+ Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Arkansas operations/Little Rock Campaign: The Battle of Devil’s Backbone. Fort Smith, in western Arkansas, falls to US forces.
https://bjdeming.com/2013/08/26/the-american-civil-war-150th-anniversary-august-26-september-2-1863/
C++ Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Confederates had abandoned Fort Smith, Arkansas, but their retreat was slowed at Backbone Mountain. After day long battle the Federals were in control. By capturing Fort Smith and defeating Confederate Brigadier General William L. Cabell’s brigade at The Battle of Devil’s Backbone, the Federal forces gained a foothold in the Arkansas River Valley. From this base, Federal units would battle Confederate partisans and Fort Smith would remain in Union control as a doorway to the West.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/department-c/week-125
C+++ Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Battle of Backbone Mountain, Arkansas: A Union advance from Fort Smith is temporarily stopped by a small Rebel force, but the Yankees press on and break the Southern line, and the Rebels retreat to Waldron.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=September+1%2C+1863
C Tuesday, September 1, 1863: Battle of Backbone Mountain, Arkansas: [Devil's Backbone]
Description: Union Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt ordered Col. William Cloud to continue in pursuit of the Confederate forces that had withdrawn from Fort Smith and were chased to Old Jenny Lind. The Rebels turned on Cloud and skirmished with him at the base of Devil’s Backbone. Cabell’s forces ambushed approaching Union troops and momentarily halted their advance. Regrouping, the Union forces, with the help of artillery, advanced again and forced the Confederates to retire in disorder to Waldron.
Location: Sebastian County
Principal Commanders: Col. William F. Cloud [US]; Brig. Gen. W.L. Cabell [CS]
Forces Engaged: 2nd Kansas Cavalry, 6th Missouri Cavalry, and two sections of Rabb’s 2nd Indiana Battery [US]; Cabell’s Brigade [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 81 total (US 16; CS 65)
https://www.nps.gov/abpp/battles/ar009.htm
D August 31–September 1, 1864: The Battle of Jonesborough [Jonesboro]. Sherman had successfully cut Hood’s supply lines in the past by sending out detachments, but the Confederates quickly repaired the damage. In late August, Sherman determined that if he could cut Hood’s supply lines—the Macon & Western and the Atlanta & West Point Railroads—the Rebels would have to evacuate Atlanta. Sherman, therefore, decided to move six of his seven infantry corps against the supply lines. The army began pulling out of its positions on August 25 to hit the Macon & Western Railroad between Rough and Ready and Jonesborough. To counter the move, Hood sent Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee with two corps to halt and possibly rout the Union troops, not realizing Sherman’s army was there in force. On August 31, Hardee attacked two Union corps west of Jonesborough but was easily repulsed. Fearing an attack on Atlanta, Hood withdrew one corps from Hardee’s force that night. The next day, a Union corps broke through Hardee’ s troops which retreated to Lovejoy’s Station, and on the night of September 1, Hood evacuated Atlanta. Sherman did cut Hood’s supply line but failed to destroy Hardee’s command.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/jonesborough.html
D+ Thursday, September 1, 1864: At Jonesboro, Georgia, Union corps breakthrough General William Hardee’s (CSA) troops and Hardee’s men retreat to Lovejoy’s Station. Confederate losses are now even greater. The Yankees lost 1149 men, while the Confederates lost nearly 2,000. That night General Hood (CSA) orders the evacuation of Atlanta (pictured). General Hood (CSA) burns the huge munitions and supply depots, creating fires that burn out of control, burning much of the railroad yards, as he leaves the city. The Union forces do succeed in cutting Hood’s supply lines, but fails to destroy Hardee’s command.
https://sites.google.com/site/civilwarhardemancotn/departments/1864/week-177
FYI GySgt Jack Wallace CWO4 Terrence Clark SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LTC Trent Klug SFC Bernard Walko SFC Stephen King SSG Franklin Briant SSG Byron Howard Sr CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw SPC Lyle Montgomery Deborah Gregson PO2 Marco Monsalve SPC Woody Bullard SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy MSgt Private RallyPoint Member SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM Sgt Christopher Collins

Sumter and Wagner Still Gallantly Held! – Beauregard Needs More Slaves

September 1, 1863 (Tuesday) Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard had quite a bit of pride in what he and his men were accomplishing. Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner (along with an array of other fo…

Response by SFC George Smith made Oct 11 at 2016 9:24 PM

2016-10-11T21:24:29-04:00

good points...

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Oct 11 at 2016 9:45 PM

2016-10-11T21:45:21-04:00

LTC Stephen F. I am going to choose.

1864: Siege of Atlanta: The Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia ends. CS General Hood ordered the evacuation of Atlanta. Maj Gen William T. Sherman’s Union corps broke through CSA Lt. Gen. William Hardee’s troops and Hardee’s men retreated to Lovejoy’s Station.
**strategic importance

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Oct 12 at 2016 6:07 AM

2016-10-12T06:07:42-04:00

History presented better then in school.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Oct 12 at 2016 8:31 AM

2016-10-12T08:31:49-04:00

Good morning and thanks for the great read to start my day off LTC Stephen F.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Oct 12 at 2016 3:09 PM

2016-10-12T15:09:42-04:00

I have to go with either the beginning of Grant's rise to greatness or the order to evacuate Atlanta...at the time, Grants assumption of command seemed fairly common for the time, while the evacuation of Atlanta was something that had not and has not happened since...I guess I just talked myself into gong with evacuation of Atlanta.