Today in the WBTS,November 29th 1861 Skirmish at Warner’s Ranch, southwest of Los Angeles, CA None of the border states had an easy time of it during the War of Southern Independence, but the problems of Missouri were even more complicated than most. For one thing, there was no generally understood agreement on its status in the rebellion. The last meeting of the regularly elected legislature had voted against secession. The Governor, Claiborne Jackson, was pro-secession, but before the matter could be resolved the St. Louis Riots and subsequent pursuit of Jackson and his followers by Gen. Nathaniel Lyon threw the entire state into chaos. The Confederate Legislature “accepted” the admission of Missouri into the Confederacy today and ordered a star added to the flag in her honor, but in fact the major cities and Mississippi River banks were firmly in control of the Union. 1862: On this day no less than 76 individuals are appointed Union brigadier generals. Skirmish at Lumpkins Mill, MS. The first day of what will be two days of skirmishing in the vicinity of Waterford. MS. Skirmish outside of Holly Springs, MS, where Grant hoped to establish a supply depot to sustain his overland advance upon Vicksburg, MS. A year later the situation in Missouri was no nearer to resolution. The fighting ranged back and forth across the Arkansas border. Today there was an engagement at either Cane Hill or Boston Mountains, Arkansas., depending on whose name you prefer. In this encounter, Union troops under James Blunt attacked Confederate forces under John Marmaduke. On this occasion it was Marmaduke’s men who were driven back, losing quite a few men to wounding and capture. Beginning of a three day Federal operation from Stewart’s Ferry, on Stone’s River, to Baird’s Mills, TN. Multiple skirmishes occurred during this operation. Skirmish at Berryville, VA. 1863: Multiple skirmishes along the Cumberland River, KY Attack on Bloomfield, MO, and subsequent Federal pursuit of Confederates to Brown‘s Ferry, AR. The Confederate assault on Fort Sanders (or Fort Loudon,) Knoxville, TN, is repulsed. Confederate evacuation of Fort Esperanza, Matagorda Bay, TX. Skirmishes at Parkers Store, Brentsville, New Hope Church and near Jonesville, VA. It was only three days since the Battle of Missionary Ridge had made the Union hold on Tennessee complete. The magnificent fighting force known as the Army of Tennessee, which had smashed the Union armies at Chickamauga and bottled them up in Chattanooga, had been left sitting ever since. Atop Missionary Ridge east of the city they had been given no orders to fortify properly, and when the attack came the cannon could not be properly aimed, and were swept away. Today the man responsible for this sorry situation, Gen. Braxton Bragg, finally seemed to see where the problem lay--in his own hands. With this he wrote to Jefferson Davis asking to be relieved of command, and requesting “an investigation” into the causes of the defeat. This was tantamount to requesting his own court-martial. 1864: Skirmish at Charlestown, WV. Attack on the steamer Alamo, on the Arkansas River, near Dardanelle, AR. Skirmish at Louisville, Georgia Skirmish at Doyals Plantation, LA. Start of a five day Federal operation from Warrensburg, MO, to the Greenton Valley, MO. Skirmish near Boyds Landing, SC. Skirmishes at Spring Hill, Thompsons Station, Columbia Ford, Mount Carmel and Rally Hill, TN. Sand Creek massacre. Peaceful Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians are massacred by a band of Colonel John Chivingtons Colorado volunteers at Sand Creek, Colorado The causes of Sand Creek massacre were rooted in the decades-long conflict for control of the Great Plains of eastern Colorado. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 guaranteed ownership of the area north of the Arkansas River to the Nebraska border to the Cheyenne and Arapahoe. By the end of the decade, however, waves of Euro-American miners flooded across the region in search of gold in Colorados Rocky Mountains. That placed extreme pressure on the resources of plains, and by 1861 tensions between new settlers and Native Americans were rising. On February 8 that year, a Cheyenne delegation, led by Black Kettle, along with some Arapahoe leaders accepted a new settlement with the Federal government; it ceded most of their land but secured a 600-square mile reservation and annuity payments. The delegation reasoned that continued hostilities would jeopardize their bargaining power. In the decentralized political world of the tribes, Black Kettle and his fellow delegates represented only part of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes. Many did not accept this new agreement, called the Treaty of Fort Wise. The new reservation and federal payments proved unable to sustain the tribes. During the Civil War, tensions again rose and sporadic violence broke out between Anglos and Indians. In June 1864, Territorial Governor John Evans attempted to isolate recalcitrant Native Americans by inviting friendly Indians to camp near military forts and receive provisions and protection. He also called for volunteers to fill the military void left when most of the regular army troops in Colorado were sent to other areas during the Civil War. In August 1864, Evans met with Black Kettle and several other chiefs to forge a new peace, and all parties left satisfied. Black Kettle moved his band to Fort Lyon, Colorado, where the commanding officer encouraged him to hunt near Sand Creek. In what can only be considered a wicked act of treachery, Chivington moved his troops to the plains, and on November 29, they attacked the unsuspecting tribe, scattering men, women, and children and hunting them down. The casualties reflect the one-sided nature of the fight. Nine of Chivingtons men were killed; 148 of Black Kettles followers were slaughtered, more than half of them women and children. The Colorado volunteers returned and killed the wounded, mutilated the bodies, and set fire to the village. The atrocities committed by the soldiers were initially praised, but then condemned as the circumstances of the massacre emerged. Chivington resigned from the military and aborted his budding political career. Black Kettle survived and continued his peace efforts. In 1865, his tribe accepted a new reservation in Indian Territory. References The Civil War Day by Day, Philip Katcher. The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, by E. B. Long with Barbara Long. The Chronological Tracking of the American Civil War Per the Official Records of the War of Rebellion, by Ronald A Mosocco.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 11:53:53 +0000
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