The Civil War This Week: Oct 13-19, 1864 Thursday, October 13 Maryland voters approved a new state constitution that included abolishing slavery by just 375 votes (30,174 to 29,799). The measure would have been defeated had Unionist Governor Augustus Bradford not allowed absentee soldiers to vote. General John Bell Hood’s Confederate Army of Tennessee continued disrupting Federal supply lines in northern Georgia, seizing the important railroad north of Rome to Tunnel Hill, which included Dalton and Tilton. Confederate partisans under John S. Mosby wrecked a section of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad near Kearneysville, west of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This included burning a passenger train and stealing $173,000 from army paymasters. Federal President Abraham Lincoln tallied the estimated electoral college vote in next month’s presidential election to be 120 for the “Union Vote” and 114 for the “Supposed Copperhead Vote.” Lincoln also continued working to furlough as many soldiers as possible so they could go home and vote. Confederates probed Federal positions in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Federals scouted against Native Americans in the Sacramento Mountains of the New Mexico Territory. Skirmishing occurred in the Nebraska Territory and Texas. Friday, October 14 General Sterling Price’s Confederate invasion of Missouri continued, as Price issued a proclamation requesting that citizens join his army and redeem Missouri from Federal control. Fighting erupted at Danville. Other skirmishing occurred in Maryland, Virginia, Arkansas, and Texas. Saturday, October 15 A Confederate detachment under Jo Shelby captured Federal troops at Sedalia, Missouri after a hard fight that included citizens and home guards. President Davis detached General Braxton Bragg as his chief of staff and sent him to command defenses at Wilmington, North Carolina, which was the Confederacy’s last major seaport. Funeral services were held for U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who died on 12 October. President Lincoln and other prominent officials attended the funeral. A Federal expedition began from Bernard’s Mills, Virginia. Skirmishing occurred in Mississippi, Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and Louisiana. Sunday, October 16 Federal expeditions began from City Point, Virginia and Devall’s Bluff, Arkansas. Skirmishing occurred in Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and Louisiana. Monday, October 17 John Bell Hood’s Confederates began withdrawing to Gadsden, Alabama, practically giving up on harassing Federal supply lines. Hood planned to attack Chattanooga and capture all supply lines to Atlanta, thus isolating Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal Army of the West in enemy territory. General P.G.T. Beauregard assumed command of the Confederate Military Division of the West. Lieutenant General James Longstreet returned to his corps command in General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia after recovering from wounds received at the Battle of the Wilderness in May. Kentucky Governor Thomas Bramlette ordered state authorities to arrest Federal troops attempting to interfere with the upcoming elections. He instructed, “If you are unable to hold a free election, your duty is to hold none at all.” Governors of six Confederate states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi) met at Augusta to define a unified defense policy. The governors approved eight resolutions supporting President Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government. Sterling Price’s Confederates captured Carrollton and burned Smithville, Missouri as they approached Lexington in northwestern Missouri. Skirmishing occurred in Virginia and Kentucky. Tuesday, October 18 Federal Major General Philip Sheridan was summoned from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to Washington to discuss future operations. Meanwhile, Confederates scouted Federal positions at Cedar Creek; the Federals were unaware that Confederate General Jubal Early was planning one last, desperate attack to destroy Sheridan’s army. In Liverpool, England, women supporting the South held a benefit for Confederate soldiers at St. George’s Hall. Skirmishing occurred in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, eastern Tennessee, and Missouri. Wednesday, October 19 The Battle of Cedar Creek erupted at 5 a.m. when Confederates attacked the Federal right and left; many Federals were still asleep when the attack began. The Federals slowly withdrew as Confederates wasted time looting camps. Philip Sheridan returned from Washington and urged his men to counterattack. When the men cheered him, Sheridan yelled, “God damn you! Don’t cheer me, fight!” The Federals rallied near Middletown. By 4 p.m., Federals drove off the tired Confederates, as Jubal Early’s entire line virtually crumbled. The retreat soon became a rout. Federals suffered 5,665 casualties while Confederates lost 2,910, including Major General Stephen D. Ramseur. Sheridan became a northern hero. Jubal Early wrote to General Robert E. Lee, “I found it impossible to rally the troops… The rout was as thorough and disgraceful as ever happened to our army… If you think that the interests of the service would be promoted by a change of commanders, I beg you will have no hesitation.” Early withdrew to New Market, where his army gradually dispersed. Lieutenant Bennett H. Young and 21 Confederate raiders attacked St. Albans, Vermont, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The group robbed the town’s three banks of a total of $208,000. They rounded up the town residents, killing one and wounding another before fleeing back into Canada. Canadian authorities arrested Young and 12 raiders but refused to extradite them to the U.S. because of Canada’s neutrality. About $75,000 was recovered. Nobody stood trial for the raid, which was the northernmost land action of the war. Marylanders in Washington serenaded Lincoln in support of their new state constitution. Lincoln addressed both the news and rumors that Democrats planned to immediately seize control of the federal government if they won the upcoming elections: “Most heartily do I congratulate you, and Maryland, and the nation, and the world, upon the event… I am struggling to maintain government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling especially to prevent others from overthrowing it.” General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederates left Corinth, Mississippi to cooperate with John Bell Hood’s move to Alabama and Tennessee. Sterling Price’s Confederates pushed James G. Blunt’s Federals at Lexington back to the Little Blue River in Missouri. The Confederate Navy officially received C.S.S. Shenandoah after fitting out in the Medeira Islands. Skirmishing occurred in Georgia and Arkansas. waltercoffey.wordpress/2014/10/13/the-civil-war-this-week-oct-13-19-1864/
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 20:45:00 +0000
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