Today in the WBTS, September 9th . 1861: Skirmish at Lucas Bend, Missouri The name of Blair had never been famous, but the family was influential in Union politics for generations. One scion of the clan, Francis Blair Jr., had taken the advice to “go west, young man” and was now in the thick of the struggle to keep Missouri from secession. He had helped Nathaniel Lyon until that general died leading his troops at Wilson’s Creek, and now he was trying to work with Gen. John Fremont. Fremont was not, however, making it easy. His free-spending ways and frequent party-giving were becoming an embarrassment, and Blair was fed up. He did not hesitate to let his father, the power behind the Democratic party, or his uncle Montgomery, the postmaster general, know of his feelings. 1862: Skirmishes at Fort Mitchell (near Covington,) Log Church, and Woodburn, Kentucky Skirmishes at Barnesville, Poolesville, Boonsborough, Frederick, Monocacy Church, and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Maryland In early September of 1862, following the Confederate victory at Second Manassas, the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee moved into Maryland at Frederick. There General Lee wrote out his plans in great detail. On September 9 Lee issued Special Order 191 giving strategic information on the division of units at the beginning of his Maryland campaign. A copy was sent to General Thomas Stonewall Jackson, who in his own hand made a copy that he sent to General D. H. Hill. Hill kept the order with his papers, which were later deposited in the North Carolina State Archives by his family. When the Union Army moved into Frederick, an Indiana private found three cigars wrapped in another copy of Special Order 191, also addressed to General Hill. Controversy and mystery surround the story of how the orders came to be there. However, the dispatch was passed through the Union chain of command and gave General George B. McClellan advance notice of Lees armys movements. Subsequently, Lee was defeated and driven back by McClellans army at Sharpsburg (Antietam), Maryland, September 17, 1862. Later, stories of the Lost Dispatch appeared in newspapers, and D. H. Hill was largely blamed. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Hill carried on an extensive correspondence to discover the circumstances surrounding the misplaced order. Finally, in 1885, Hill conceded that an order from Lee directed to me was lost, I do not now doubt, but he denied that he had received it. To this day, students of the Civil War, argue the questions of who lost the Special Order191, how it happened, and what were the long-term implications. Skirmish at Big Creek, Missouri Skirmish with Sioux Indians at Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Skirmish at Williamsburg, Virginia 1863: Skirmish at Alpine, Georgia. Skirmish at Webbers falls, Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) Skirmish at Lookout Mountain, Georgia Yankees Enter Chattanooga, Tennessee. Union General William Rosecrans completes a brilliant campaign against the army of Confederate General Braxton Bragg when his forces capture Chattanooga, Tennessee. The capture of Chattanooga followed a campaign in which there was little fighting but much maneuvering. On June 23, Rosecrans marched his troops out of their camp in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. Bragg, who hoped his defensive line could keep Rosecrans out and protect the rich agricultural resources of south central Tennessee, had his army arrayed northwest of Tullahoma. When Rosecrans moved his army to Braggs right flank, the Confederates found themselves in a dangerous position and so Bragg pulled his forces further south to Tullahoma. But Rosecrans then feinted toward Chattanooga, forcing Bragg to give up Tullahoma and retreat into Chattanooga. At the cost of only 560 Yankee casualties, Rosecrans had taken south central Tennessee from Bragg. Approaching Chattanooga from the west on September 8, Union forces began crossing Lookout Mountain above the city. Again, Bragg was outmaneuvered and was forced to leave Chattanooga with only minor skirmishing. On September 9, triumphant Union troops entered the city. Bragg finally gathered his troops and dug in his heels in northern Georgia, just south of Chattanooga. The two armies collided again at Chickamauga on September 19 and 20, when Bragg finally sent Rosecrans in the other direction. The Union force then retreated back into Chattanooga Skirmish at Brandy Station, Virginia Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas. Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, USA, Capt. Frederick Crocker, USN. Lt. Richard W. Dowling, CSA, commanding. The Union sent a small naval expedition; the Confederate garrison was 44 men. Union losses were about 230; Confederate, unknown. About 6:00 am on the morning of September 8, 1863, a Union flotilla of four gunboats and seven troop transports steamed into Sabine Pass and up the Sabine River with the intention of reducing Fort Griffin and landing troops to begin occupying Texas. As the gunboats approached Fort Griffin, they came under accurate fire from six cannons. The Confederate gunners at Fort Griffin had been sent there as a punishment. To break the day-to-day monotony, the gunners practiced firing artillery at range markers placed in the river. Their practice paid off. Fort Griffins small force of 44 men, under command of Lt. Richard W. Dowling, forced the Union flotilla to retire and captured the gunboat Clifton and about 200 prisoners. Further Union operations in the area ceased for about a month. The heroics at Fort Griffin-44 men stopping a Union expedition-inspired other Confederate soldiers. 1864: Skirmish near Glass Village, Arkansas Skirmishing on the Warrenburg Road, Missouri Skirmish at Curituck Bridge, North Carolina Officially, there had been a complete ban on all trading in all commodities between the North and the South since very early in the war. In actual fact, like most embargoes, this ban succeeded only in artificially raising the price of commodities, particularly cotton. This resulted in profits so great that a clandestine trade, particularly along the river systems of the Mississippi, was irresistible to many. The matter was becoming serious enough, both in terms of disrespect for the law and the lack of tariff revenue, to attract official attention. There was a cabinet meeting in Washington today to discuss legalization of the trade so at least taxes could be collected. Reference: 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: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 10:45:52 +0000
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