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1864 : Federal prisoners begin arriving at Andersonville
The first Union prisoners begin arriving at Andersonville prison, which was still under construction in southern Georgia. Andersonville became synonymous with death as nearly a quarter of its inmates died in captivity. Henry Wirz, commandant at Andersonville, was executed after the war for the brutality and mistreatment committed under his command.
The prison, officially called Camp Sumter, became necessary after the prisoner exchange system between North and South collapsed in 1863 over disagreements about the handling of black soldiers. The stockade at Andersonville was hastily constructed using slave labor, and it was located in the Georgia woods near a railroad but safely away from the front lines. Enclosing 16 acres of land, the tall palisade was supposed to include wooden barracks but the inflated price of lumber delayed construction, and the Yankee soldiers imprisoned there lived under open skies, protected only by makeshift shanties called "shebangs," constructed from scraps of wood and blankets. A stream initially provided fresh water, but within a few months human waste had contaminated the creek.
The prison was built to hold 10,000 men, but within six months more than three times that number were incarcerated there. The creek banks eroded to create a swamp, which occupied more than one-fifth of the compound. Rations were inadequate, and at times half of the population was reported ill. Some guards brutalized the inmates and there was violence between factions of prisoners.
Andersonville was the worst among many terrible Civil War prisons, both Union and Confederate. Wirz paid the price for the inhumanity of Andersonville--he was the only person executed in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Gen. George McClellan had two nicknames. “Little Mac” referred merely to his stature. “Slow Mac”, on the other hand, was of more military importance. Today Lincoln had to write a note asking why Mac was not moving on Harper’s Ferry, Va. Writing quickly , at any rate, McClellan explained that the bridged were down, and he needed pontoons to build new ones. The boats carrying the pontoons, alas, were too big to get through the locks on the Potomac River.
Saturday, Feb. 28 1863 MONTAUK MANEUVERS MEET MUCH MUD
Commander J.L. Worden, former commander of the original USS Monitor, was now at the helm of the USS Montauk operating on the Ogeechee River south of Savannah, Ga. He saw the CSS Nashville run aground in front of Ft. McAllister, and started firing. The ship, which had been sold as a privateer and was now named Rattlesnake, caught fire; the fire reached her magazine and she exploded. Worden, sailing happily away, himself hit a torpedo and had to beach Montauk on a mud bar to effect repairs.
One of the largest camps for the confinement of Union prisoners of war was right in the Confederate capital at Richmond, Va. This was not comfortable for either side, and the city was frequently swept with rumors of riots and escapes. Today the threat was real: a contingent of 3500 Union cavalry, led by Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, was on its way to free the men. Kilpatrick might have been known for some recklessness: his nickname was “Kill-cavalry”.
A major Union cavalry raid begins when General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick leads 3,500 troopers south from Stevensburg, Virginia. Aimed at Richmond, the raid sought to free Federal prisoners and spread word of President Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in hopes of convincing Confederates to lay down their arms.
The president's proclamation of December 1863 offered a pardon and restoration of property (except slaves, who were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation) to all Confederates. Kilpatrick took with him Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren to conduct the prisoner release while Kilpatrick covered him with the main force. To distract attention, Union infantry under General John Sedgwick and another cavalry detachment under General George Custer would feign an attack towards western Virginia.
The forces split after crossing the Rappahannock River. Kilpatrick began tearing up the Virginia Central Railroad while Dahlgren approached Richmond from the west. They were to rendezvous on the outskirts of Richmond. Kilpatrick arrived there on March 1 with General Wade Hampton's cavalry in hot pursuit. Dahlgren was delayed when a black guide led him to a deep section of the James River. Finding no possibility to cross, Dahlgren hanged the guide on the spot. Kilpatrick had to leave for the north before Dahlgren's arrival, so Dahlgren and his men were cut off. The colonel and about 100 of his men were ambushed as they tried to rejoin Kilpatrick. Dahlgren was killed, and his body fell into Confederate hands. He was allegedly carrying papers that included instructions to burn Richmond and kill Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. The papers were published in the Richmond Daily Examiner, but it is not clear where the orders had come from or if they were even authentic. Some historians have suggested that they were forged by the Confederates to stir morale in Virginia.
Kilpatrick suffered about 335 men killed, captured, or wounded. The raid accomplished little for the Union and the Confederate victory lifted southern morale.
Tuesday, Feb. 28 1865
CAROLINA CRUSHED, CHARLOTTE CHALLENGED
William Tecumseh Sherman had pretty much finished up the conquest of South Carolina, and was nearing the North Carolina state line. Gen. Joseph Johnston, CSA, was at Charlotte, N.C. and his state of occupation at the moment was one of desperation. He was short of even small boys and old men, as nearly any who could tote a gun were with the armies already. He did the best he could.
Union General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry raiders split into two wings on their way south to Richmond. Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren and 500 troopers swung out further west as Kilpatrick and 3,000 men rode on to the outskirts of Richmond. The raid stalled there, and Dahlgren was killed in an ambush. The raid was part of a plan to free 15,000 Union soldiers held near Richmond and spread word of President Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which allowed a pardon and restoration of property for Confederates willing to cease the rebellion.
Kilpatrick left the main Union army at Stevensburg, Virginia, on February 28 and crossed the Rappahannock River. On February 29, Kilpatrick split with the 21-year-old Dahlgren, one of the youngest colonels in the Union army. The weather turned bad as the detachments separated. Rain turned to sleet, and the riders had to battle icy branches and cold, inky blackness as night fell. Dahlgren rode west and picked up a guide, a black youth named Martin Robinson. Robinson professed to know of a crossing of the James River west of Richmond. When they arrived at the spot, there was no way across the swollen river. Dahlgren flew into a rage and ordered Robinson hanged.
On March 1, Dahlgren and 200 men were ambushed and the young colonel was killed. The Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid was a failure for the Union. Some 340 men and 1,000 horses were lost, few Confederates paid attention to the copies of the amnesty proclamation that were left by the cavalry, and no Union prisoners were freed. The raid was the last fighting until General Ulysses S. Grant began his epic campaign in May.
The USS Monticello crept quietly up to the vicinity of Smithville, N.C. and dropped a landing party led by Lt. William Cushing, USN. His mission: capture Gen. Louis Hebert, CSA. Cushing managed to sneak all the way into the general’s quarters, only to find he had left for Wilmington. Cushing reported to his boss, Admiral Lee: “..my deep regret that the general was not in when I called.”
Ulysses S. Grant was the hero of the North these days following his forces’ victories at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson. This adulation was not universal, especially in the households which were receiving notice that a family member had become a casualty in the operation. The focus on Grant also involved overlooking the contributions of quite a few others, of course, especially the US Navy. The level of cooperation achieved between the Army and Navy during the operations on the Western rivers was extraordinary. Today Grant’s boss, Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck, cut him new orders. He was to proceed south, up the Tennessee River, toward Eastport, Miss. The first skirmishes occurred at an obscure place called Pittsburg Landing, Tenn.
Sunday, March 1 1863
SOUTH SUFFERING SEVERE SNOWS
The new month brought no improvement to the situation in the Confederacy, most of which was still shivering under one of the worst winters in memory. The means to cope with the inclemency was waning rapidly as well, as the system for the distribution of food was increasingly disrupted. The climate was not as bad in the Western Confederacy, and Vicksburg was still unconquered, but there was famine approaching in Richmond. The Southern railway system had long suffered from a bizarre system in which track widths in each state were slightly different. This meant that a cargo of wheat from Texas, or beef from Florida, might have to be offloaded from one car to another every time a state border was crossed. It made moving large masses long distances extremely difficult.
Tuesday, March 1 1864
RICHMOND RAID RUDELY REPULSED
Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry forces, now divided into two units, were nearing Richmond on their mission to free the Union prisoners of war. Neither party knew that Richmond knew they were coming. The prison in the heart of the national capital had been a source of nervousness to the citizenry since the beginning. Rumors of planned escapes had swept the city regularly. Now that an actual attack was coming the city arose. A home guard was hastily organized, made up of recuperating wounded soldiers, old men, and plain civilians. Clerks put down their pens and took up guns. And they did their job--Kilpatrick was repulsed and forced to retreat. He gave up and headed east. Dahlgren, approaching from the west with 500 men, met a force headed by Custis Lee. Realizing that Kilpatrick had failed, Dahlgren ordered his men to withdraw in the night.
Wednesday, March 1 1865
ABOLISHMENT AMENDMENT ACCEPTED, AVOIDED
The Thirteenth Amendment had fought a long battle through a contentious Congress just to make it to the ratification process. Now it was wending its way through the legislatures of states that had themselves been torn over the issue of slavery for decades. In perhaps the oddest coincidence of the process, on this day the amendment was ratified in Wisconsin--and rejected in New Jersey. This is not as suprising as it may seem today. Wisconsin had never allowed slavery, but it was perfectly legal in the Garden State. In fact, it took the eventual passage of the 13th Amendment to free the last nine slaves in New Jersey.
President Lincoln nominates Ulysses S. Grant for the newly revived rank of lieutenant general. At the time, George Washington was the only other man to have held that rank. Winfield Scott also attained the title but by brevet only; he did not actually command with it.
The promotion carried Grant to the supreme command of Union forces and capped one of the most remarkable success stories of the war. Born in Ohio in 1822, Grant attended West Point and graduated in 1843, 21st in a class of 39. He served in the Mexican War in 1847 to 1848 and on the frontier in the 1850s. During this time, Grant acquired experience in logistics and the supply of troops, developing skills that later made him a success during the Civil War. He also developed a reputation as a heavy drinker, and he denied charges of drunkenness throughout the war.
When the Civil War erupted, Grant was not in the service and was working as a clerk in his father's store in Galena, Illinois. Grant reenlisted after Fort Sumter fell in April 1861; his first assignment was to raise troops in Illinois. In June, the governor appointed him colonel of the 21st Illinois. After leading his regiment to protect a railroad in Missouri, Grant was promoted to brigadier general on July 31, 1861. In early 1862, Grant won the first major Union victories of the war when he captured Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee. For the next two years he was the most successful general in the army. His campaign to capture Vicksburg was one of the most efficient offensives of the war, and the Yankees captured the Mississippi River and most of Tennessee under his leadership.
Lincoln replaced Henry Halleck as the commander of all Union armies when he elevated Grant to the rank of lieutenant general. Unlike Halleck, Grant did not serve from behind a desk; he took the field with the largest Federal force, the Army of the Potomac, as he moved against Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Virginia.
Sunday, March 2 1862
COLUMBUS CONFEDERATE CAPITULATION COMPLETE
Leonidas K. Polk, ordained bishop in the Episcopal Church and major general of the Confederate army, completed a most unpleasant assignment today when he completed the evacuation of Columbus, Kentucky. This marked the end of the “Kentucky Line” of defense, which Polk himself helped to create when he originally took his forces into the state without authorization. The state had been so evenly divided between loyalists to South and North, with probably just as many who wished a plague on both their houses, that the last vote of the regularly elected legislature had been a resolution of neutrality and ban on troops from either side entering the state. Polk’s new defensive line was established at Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River, and Fort Pillow just north of Memphis, Tennessee.
Monday, March 2 1863
MOBILE MALADIES MARK MALAISE
Admiral David Farragut, USN, in New Orleans had a chat with some visitors from Mobile, Alabama, who, he wrote “...all concur that provisions are very high [expensive], and very scarce even at those high figures. Flour, $100 per barrel, bacon and meat of every kind, $1 a pound, meal, $20 a sack.” What is not known is how he came to be chatting with visitors from Mobile, which was deep in Confederate territory, or how they came to be in Union-held New Orleans.
Wednesday, March 2 1864
CAVALRY COMMAND CRUELLY CRUSHED
The failed raid by US Cavalry forces to free Union prisoners (the Federal explanation) or kidnap Jefferson Davis (the Confederate belief) was becoming more of a debacle by the day. The 500 men under Col. Ulric Dahlgren were heading north and east for their own lines. They made it as far as Mantapike Hill before they were ambushed by Fitzhugh Lee’s horsemen. Dahlgren was killed in the ensuing battle, and more than 100 of his men were captured.
Thursday, March 2 1865
VALLEY VICTORY VALIDATES VALIANT VETERANS
The Battle of Waynesboro, Va., is little noted in history books. It marked the last stand of Jubal Early’s once-mighty army in the Shenandoah Valley. Federals, led by one George Armstrong Custer, rolled up Early’s right, eventually turning it into a rout. Early, his officers, and a remnant of the men escaped to Richmond. Custer captured 200 wagons, about a thousand men, and, most mortifying of all, seventeen battle flags of proud Confederate regiments.
Union General George Custer's troops rout Confederate General Jubal Early's force, bringing an end to fighting in the Shenandoah Valley.
The Shenandoah Valley was the scene of many battles and skirmishes during the Civil War. It was located directly in the path of armies invading from the south--as Confederate General Robert E. Lee did during the 1863 Gettysburg campaign-and the north. The fertile valley could sustain armies, and the gentle terrain allowed for rapid troop movement. In 1862, Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson staged a brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating three Yankee armies with quick marching and bold attacks. In 1864, Early drove through the valley to threaten Washington, D.C., as he tried to relieve pressure on Lee, who was pinned down near Richmond.
That fall, General Ulysses S. Grant, the Union commander, dispatched General Philip Sheridan to stop Early. At Cedar Creek on October 19, Sheridan achieved his goal. The Confederates were soundly defeated, but the remnants of Early's force lingered at the southern end of the valley through the winter of 1864 and 1865. Grant ordered Sheridan to move further west and destroy a railroad in southwestern Virginia. As Sheridan marched from the valley, Early sent a few hundred cavalry under General Thomas Rosser to block his path. On March 1, Rosser set fire to a bridge along the middle fork of the Shenandoah River, but Custer, leading the advance units of Sheridan's army, charged across the burning span and extinguished the fire before the bridge was destroyed.
The next day, Custer followed Sheridan's orders and chased down the bulk of Early's force, which numbered about 2,000. Custer and about 5,000 troops found the Confederates entrenched along a ridge near Waynesboro. Part of the Yankee army shelled the Rebel position, while the rest slipped undetected through some woods that stood between Early's line and the South River. Custer gave the order in the late afternoon, and the Union troops stormed out of the woods and swarmed over the Confederate trenches from the rear. In a short time, 80 percent of the Confederates were captured and only nine Federal troops were killed. Early and his staff narrowly escaped over the Blue Ridge Mountains, marking the end of the Confederate presence in the Shenandoah Valley.
The campaign down the Mississippi continued today. Forts Henry and Donelson being secured, the scene shifted to New Madrid, Missouri. This town, which had been the epicenter of the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America (in 1811), now was blessed with the attention of Federal forces commanded by Gen. John Pope.
Tuesday, March 3 1863
MILITARY MIRACLE MISSISSIPPI MARVEL
The truce between the parties in the longest-standing conflict in American history continued--the Army and the Navy were getting along in the West. Admiral D. D. Porter wrote to his boss, Navy Secretary Welles: “There is a delightful concert here between the U.S. Army and Navy. Grant and Sherman are on board almost every day...we agree in everything...I hope sincerely for the sake of the Union that nothing may occur to make a change here.”
Thursday, March 3 1864
FLOTILLA FORAGES FOR FRAGMENTS
A small Union naval force was working on the Ouachita River in Louisiana. Led by Lt. Commander Ramsay, the force had proceeded upriver, being shot at by shore batteries which damaged one ship’s gun turret and another’s starboard engine. The ships shot back and the batteries were silenced. Today the flotilla came back downriver, picking up bales of cotton and the occasional artillery piece.
Friday, March 3 1865
CONGRESS CONSTRUCTS CRITICAL COMMISSION
The United States Congress sat for the last day of its term, and like many, left the most important work for last. It established today the Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees, to be known to history as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Designed to take temporary control of refugees, abandoned lands and properties, and provide temporary food relief to those displaced by war, it wound up building schools and colleges and providing political assistance to newly (and temporarily) enfranchised blacks.
President Lincoln signs a bill creating the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Known as the Freedmen's Bureau, this federal agency oversaw the difficult transition of blacks from slavery to freedom.
The Freedman's Bureau was born out of abolitionist concern for freed slaves during the war. Union General Oliver O. Howard served as commissioner for the entire seven years of the bureau's existence. The bureau was given power to dispense relief to both white and black refugees in the South, to provide medical care and education, and to redistribute "abandoned" lands to former slaves. The latter task was probably the most effective measure to ensure the prosperity and security of the freedmen, but it was also extremely difficult to enact.
Many factors stymied the bureau's work. White southerners were very hostile to the Yankee bureau members, and even more hostile to the freedmen. Terror organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan targeted both blacks and whites and intimidated those trying to improve the lives of the freedmen. The bureau lacked the necessary funds and personnel to carry out its programs, and the lenient policies of Andrew Johnson's administration encouraged resistance. Most of the land confiscated from Confederates was eventually restored to the original owners, so there was little opportunity for black land ownership.
Although the Freedman's Bureau was not able to provide long-term protection for blacks, nor did it ensure any real measure of equality, it did signal the introduction of the federal government into issues of social welfare and labor relations.
Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th president of the United States. Although he extended an olive branch to the South, he also made it clear that he intended to enforce federal laws in the seceded states.
Since Lincoln's election in November, seven states had left the Union. Worried that the election of a Republican would threaten their rights, especially slavery, the lower South seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. In the process, some of those states had seized federal properties such as armories and forts. By the time Lincoln arrived in Washington for his inauguration, the threat of war hung heavy in the air. Lincoln took a cautious approach in his remarks, and he made no specific threats against the southern states. As a result, he had some flexibility in trying to keep the states of the upper South--North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware--in the Union.
In his address, Lincoln promised not to interfere with the institution of slavery where it existed, and he pledged to suspend the activities of the federal government temporarily in areas of hostility. However, he also took a firm stance against secession and the seizure of federal property. The government, insisted Lincoln, would "hold, occupy, and possess" its property and collect its taxes. He closed his remarks with an eloquent reminder of the nation's common heritage:
"In your hand, my fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend" it...We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Six weeks later, the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Civil War began.
Tuesday, March 4 1862
JOHNSTON JERKS JEFFERSON’S JACKET
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA (not to be confused with Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, CSA, who served in the western theater) was in charge of the defensive forces around Richmond, VA, at this point in the war. He was vexed with his president on this day, because Jefferson Davis was irate with him over the low level of re-enlistments in Johnston’s army, and the high number of furloughs granted. Adding to Davis’ headaches today were complaints from governors along the Mississippi that they were not being sent enough guns. The Western governors had a very legitimate complaint of not receiving sufficiencies of supplies or attention from Richmond. Wednesday, March 4 1863
FEDERAL FORCES FLEE FORREST FOR FRANKLIN
A small Union force departed from Franklin, Tennessee, today, heading for Thompson’s Station, intending to make an excursion to explore the vicinity for hostiles. In a prime example of the adage “be careful what you wish for”, they met up with a large Confederate force comprised of infantry under Van Dorn and cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Although they were nearly surrounded, the cavalry managed to fight their way through and escape, a tactic not unknown to Gen. Forrest himself, who had used it at Ft. Donelson. The Union infantry, however, lacked the advantage of four-footed transportation. They fought fiercely before most were compelled to surrender on the following day. Friday, March 4 1864
*******N MISSISSIPPI MOSTLY MISSING
Union forces under the command of Gen. William T. Sherman returned to their base camp in Vicksburg, Miss., today after completing a mission to *******n, Miss. Their mission was to destroy the town and, by and large, they did precisely that. In Washington, Admiral John Dahlgren went to the top to try to find out what had happened to his son, Col. Ulric Dahlgren. President Lincoln, however, did not know either. The news of the disastrous failure of Gen. Judson’s cavalry raid on the prison camps of Richmond had to await the return of the separated forces. Strong hints, however, were available in the Richmond newspapers, which blazened the story of the successful defense of the city by clerks, old men, and recuperating veterans who rose from their hospital beds to fight.
Saturday, March 4 1865
LINCOLN LINGUISTIC LABORS LAUDED
The inauguration of the Lincoln-Johnson administration did not begin well. Johnson, sworn in first, had been prescribed whiskey for the pain of a medical problem. Somewhat overdosed, his speech was slurred and nearly incoherent. Lincoln, though, gave one of the great speeches of history: “With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right,as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in...to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan....to achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations.....Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”
Johnson, sworn in first, had been prescribed whiskey for the pain of a medical problem. Somewhat overdosed, his speech was slurred and nearly incoherent.
That's a really nice way to say Johnson was drunk. I wonder if the statement is based on fact or on a desire to be kind.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
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