handoff in Dalton

Posted on December 2, 2013 by SUMPTER
General Braxton Bragg (photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed late; LOC: LC-USZC4-7984)

old porcupine heading to Richmond

“In an emotional ceremony, General Braxton Bragg surrenders command of the Army of Tennessee to General William J. Hardee at Dalton, Georgia[1]”

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December 8, 1863:

Farewell order of Gen. Bragg.

The following is Gen. Bragg’s farewell order to his army:

General Order, No. 214.

Upon renewed application to the President his consent has been obtained for the relinquishment of the command of this army. It is accordingly transferred to Lieut. General Hardee.

The announcement of this separation is made with unfeigned regret. An association of more than two years, which bold together a commander and his trusted troops, cannot be severed without deep emotion. For a common cause, dangers shared on many hard fought fields have cemented bonds which time can never impair. The circumstances which render this step proper will be appreciated by every good soldier and true patriot. The last appeal the General has to make to the gallant army which has so long nobly sustained him, is to give his successor that cordial and generous support so essential to the success of your arms. In that successor you have a veteran whose brilliant reputation you have aided to achieve. To the officers of my General Staff, who have so long, zealously, and successfully struggled against serious difficulties to support the army and myself, is due, in a great degree, what little success and fame we have achieved. Bidding them and the army an affectionate farewell, they have the blessings and prayers of a grateful friend.

Braxton Bragg.

chatandchic (1863; Chattanooga and Chickamauga by Henry V. Boynton; http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36067)

land of the last straw

On assuming command, Lt. Gen. Hardee issued the following General Order:

Soldiers of the Army of Tennessee:General Bragg having been relieved from duty with the army, the command has devolved upon me. The steady courage, the unsullied patriotism of the distinguished leader who has shared your fortunes for more than a year, will long be remembered by this army and the country he served so well. I desire to say, in assuming the command, that this is no cause for discouragement. The overwhelming numbers of the enemy forced us from Missionary Ridge, but the army retired intact and in good heart. Our losses are small, and will be rapidly repaired. The country is looking upon you. Only the weak tide need be cheered by constant success. Veterans of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro’, and Chickamauga, require no such stimulant to sustain their courage. Let the past take care of itself. We can and must take care of the future.

[Signed,]

W. J. Hardee.

Braxton Bragg would head to Richmond, where he became military adviser to Jefferson Davis. William J. Hardee only accepted overall command of the Army of Tennessee on a temporary basis. President Davis would have to pick a more permanent replacement.

You can read a thorough and even-handed analysis of Braxton Bragg’s generalship at The Cincinnati Civil War Round Table. Grady McWhiney begins his piece with a Confederate girl’s first impression:

As the Confederacy was dying, A Georgia girl wrote in her diary: “Generals Bragg and Breckinridge are in the village with a host of minor celebrities. General Breckinridge is called the handsomest man in the Confederate army, and Bragg might be called the ugliest. He looks like an old porcupine.”

And Bragg could be prickly. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Civil War historian Gary Gallagher say part of the reason for that is that Bragg never really felt physically well because of untreated and/or untreatable ailments.

A coincidence that Breckinridge and Bragg are next to each other in the following photomontage:

The officers of the C.S. Army & Navy (between 1861 and 1867; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-35502)

Hardee, Breckinridge, and Bragg

  1. [1]Fredriksen, John C. Civil War Almanac. New York: Checkmark Books, 2008. Print. page 380.↩
Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Confederate States of America, Military Matters | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

vast left-wing conspiracy

Posted on November 30, 2013 by SUMPTER

Power of the Press

In the 1863 fall elections the Union ticket (Republicans and War Democrats) swept all New York statewide offices. Here a Democrat newspaper believes the problem to be Abolitionists sending their journals to families across the country with the help of the Republican bureaucracy. To prevent Union tickets from winning big in the 1864 elections, which include the U.S. presidential contest, the editorial urges its readers to supply their neighbors with Democrat papers. Unfortunately the following clipping got cut off in midstream.

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in November or December 1863:

The Duty of the Hour.

We have repeatedly urged upon our conservative friends the manifest propriety of liberally advocating sound Democratic principles. This is the only hope we have of overcoming the madness and folly of the hour. The Abolitionists fully understand the power of the press and they lose no opportunity to advance their own dangerous dogmas in this particular manner. – They have devised a systematic plan for flooding the country with papers teaching fanaticism in all its various forms, and the great retenue [sic] of postmasters, provost marshals, collectors, &c., &c., gives them superior advantages over their opponents. – The only way to counteract them is by increased watchfulness and energy. If the circulation of Democratic newspapers could be increased full one half, we should sweep the abolition party forever into oblivion. – Democrats, therefore should lose no time in seeing that every locality and neighborhood are supplied with sound Democratic journals, and we appeal to our friends to give this matter their serious attention. If any family be unable to take such a paper, efforts should be made to supply it for the coming year, at all avents [sic]. Let not the enemy sow tares among you. We believe there is a concerted plan now being carried out to poison the minds of every Democratic family that can be reached, by sending it some abolition newspaper. This should be prevented by a prompt and general effort to do exactly the opposite. One half of the next year’s campaign may be considered done when conservative men have thoroughly supplied their respective neighborhoods with papers of sound political principles. When this accomplished our friends can drop politics for the … [cut off here].

Another clipping near this one in the notebook basically equated War Democrats with Abolitionists.

I haven’t seen any evidence of Republican newspapers in the Civil War clippings notebook in the Seneca Falls library, but in a different notebook I was excited to see the front page of a Seneca County Free Soil newspaper from 1848. *** 12/02/2013: Yesterday I checked it out again. The Masthead from the October 3, 1848 issue:

Seneca Free Soil Union.

A Political and Family News Journal, Published every Friday Morning, at Seneca Falls, New York. – Terms: $1,50 in advance, or $2,00 at the end of the year.

It wasn’t just in Seneca Falls that people were already planning for the 1864 elections. Would other Republicans oppose President Lincoln’s renomination?

Newsboy in camp (by Alexander Gardner, Culpeper, Va., Nov. 1863; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-33163)

newspaper man at Union camp in Culpeper, Va. November 1863 (Library of Congress)

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 12, 1863:

The Presidential question.

A Washington telegram to the Herald says:

The political cauldron is beginning to boil here. Parties and factions are preparing for the final struggle. It is a noticeable fact that, among the wire workers already actively engaged, Chase in the Cabinet, and Banks in the field, are now the only opponents of the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, who have preserved the organization which supported them in the Chicago Convention. They are in fact the only Presidential candidates who appear now to have organized parties at their backs. The Chase forces are marshalled from the Northwest, and those of Banks come from the New England States. The contest is being rapidly developed. The fears of Mr. Lincoln’s advocates are that he may be slaughtered in the house of his friends.

________________________________________________

Bird's eye view of Mauch Chunk, from Mount Pisgah tow[ard Le]high Gap in the distance (between 1857 and 1867; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-19632)

Mauch Chunk between 1857 and 1867 (Library of Congress)

Earlier in November 1863 the Republican-leaning The New-York Times blamed Copperheadism for mob violence opposing draft enforcement in Carbon County, Pennsylvania.

From The New-York Times November 7, 1863:

The Origin of the Troubles Terrible Outrages The Results of Copperhead Teachings.

BEAVER MEADOWS, Friday, Nov. 5, 1863.

Banks Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, is a mining region of little note, yet a district lively with work, and embracing within its narrow circuit some of the richest coal orchards in Pennsylvania. Perched on the very highest portion of land in the State, in a cold and desolate r[e]gion, peopled only by Irish, Welsh and German miners, and the few agents and owners of the mines, but little that transpires below ever comes up here. If the half which has occurred here within the past three months ever came down to the press and the news marts of the people below, a very edifying comment upon the beneficent influence of Copperhead teachings upon their innocent disciples would be furnished, the incendiary followers of WOODWARD, HORATIO SEYMOUR, &c. It is not exaggeration to say, that here in Banks Township, situate, lying, and being but one hundred and twenty miles from New-York City, and but one hundred miles from Philadelphia, a reign of mob-law, as full of incidents of riotous brutality, and daily scenes of cola[d] blooded and deliberate murder has long existed, equaling the records of any period of equal length in any territory of the same size in Eastern Tennessee. …

The success of this insolent violation of law and order inaugurated the reign of terror which has settled down on this district. Mob orators from Mauch Chunk have told these deluded miners that “they must not submit to the Lincoln tyranny, that the object is to draft every Democrat, that they must stand in the doors and resist every officer connected with the draft who comes near them,” &c., &c. The results of this dissemination of the cardinal doctrines of Copperheadism are briefly summed up in the following statement of facts: …

Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania after the famous athlete’s death in 1953.

FOOTBALL PLAYER [Jim Thorpe] (by Harris & Ewing, between 1910 and 1920; LOC: LC-DIG-hec-13257)

Town’s namesake circa 1910’s (Library of Congress)

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Month, Northern Politics During War, Northern Society, The election of 1864 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

138 miles

Posted on November 29, 2013 by SUMPTER
Chattanooga and its defences (LOC: g3964c cw0401400 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3964c.cw0401400)

Union troops are in Ringgold but far from Atlanta

After their victory at Chattanooga Federal troops pursued the retreating rebels into Georgia. 150 years ago today the “Sallust” correspondent of the Richmond Daily Dispatch telegraphed home a description of the situation. It was published last in a series of telegrams from the front.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December 1, 1863:

Latest from General Bragg.
[from our Own Correspondent.]

Dalton, Ga., Nov.27th, 1863.

–The army reached Ringgold last night without molestation until near the town, when our rear was attacked. …

[Third Dispatch.]

Resaca, Nov.29.

[Battle of Ringgold, Ga.] (by Alfred R. Waud, 1863 November 27; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca- 21308)

Union forces slowed up at Ringgold

–The enemy retired to Ringgold after their bloody defeat by Gen. Cleburne, who captured 300 prisoners, four flags, and killed and wounded 1,500.

Their advance is now at Ringgold, and our advance is near them. They destroyed the bridge when they retreated.

The Confederate army is in position at Dalton and in front of it. All the trains are ordered back to Resaca, (ten miles in rear of Dalton.)

The enemy cannot advance without the railroad, and they have no cars. There is no reason to apprehend an advance now, if at all, this winter.

The rains are heavy, and the roads horrible.

It is bitter cold, and shoes and blankets are needed for our suffering soldiers.

Sallust.

The next day Sallust expanded on the telegram and pondered whether Union General Grant would try to advance further toward Atlanta during the coming winter. The correspondent believed the odds were against it because of the difficulty of repairing railroads and/or foraging and crossing rivers during winter. The cold weather is already affecting the Confederate army short of blankets and shoes lost on the retreat.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch December 7, 1863:

From Gen. Bragg’s army.
[from our Own Correspondent.]

Resaca, Ga., Nov.30, 1863.

The news from the front, a telegraphic synopsis of what I sent you last night, is of an encouraging and reassuring character. The enemy’s advance forces, after their bloody repulse between Tunnel Hill and Ringgold by Cleburne, retreated to the mountain pass at the latter place, where they still remained at last advices. They destroyed the bridges as they retired, thus showing that they do not propose to follow us further at present, and that they are not willing for the Confederates to get at them. Our rear is on this side of the burnt bridges beyond Tunnel Hill, where it presents a stern and defiant front. The main army is encamped around Dalton, where General Bragg has established his headquarters. The trains and such forces as had reached Resaca have been ordered back to the same place, and I shall follow as soon as my horse is in condition to travel.

The opinion was advanced in my telegram last night that there was no reason to apprehend an immediate advance of the Federal army. Such is still my conviction. If the army could not be subsisted at Chattanooga without the aid of the railroad from that point to Bridgeport, neither can it be subsisted at Dalton or Kingston without the possession of the Western and Atlantic road, and a sufficient number of locomotives and cars for the transportation of supplies. These locomotives and cars Gen. Grant has not and probably cannot procure for some time. Rolling stock which would answer for one road would be inadequate for two. The Federal commander will find it necessary, therefore, in order to an advance into the country, to accumulate supplies at Chattanooga, to repair the railway bridges which his advance forces have already destroyed in the vicinity of Ringgold, and such others as the Confederates may destroy, and to provide a sufficient number of care and engine to transport supplies for his troops.

Headquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, Ringgold, Georgia (photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-33004)

“Headquarters of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, Ringgold, Georgia” (Library of Congress)

In advancing this opinion, I take it for granted that he must advance, if at all this winter, by the railroad route, and not by Willis Valley, in the direction of Rome. The roads by the latter route, if not impassable in winter to heavily laden army wagons, are of such a character as to render it difficult, if not impossible, to subsist as large an army as his by wagon trains alone. Indeed, if Gen. Grant had intended to move directly upon Rome, Stevenson, and not Chattanooga, would have been chosen as his base of supplies, and, in that event, the struggle for Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge would not have been necessary.

But will Gen. Grant advance at all this winter? [It] is impossible, of course, for any one except the Federal commander himself to answer this interrogatory, though it is permissible for us to speculate upon his probable designs, with the aid of such lights as are furnished by his previous conduct and present situation. Omitting, as unnecessary to the argument, any inferences that might be drawn from his former campaigns, it is sufficient to say that he has neither the supplies nor the transportation to enable him at this time to move upon Atlanta, the acknowledged goal of his ambition and the desires of his Government. To advance along the railroad at this inauspicious season of the year, and repair the road as he moves, would be a herculean task — a task, let us hope, far beyond his power of accomplishment. It is one hundred and thirty-eight miles from Chattanooga to Atlanta; the wagon made are inferior, and the intervening country is traversed by several and numberless water courses.

Can he cross this wide track under the heavy rains and frequent snows of winter? If he cannot, will he tempt to march a part of the way now, and the remainder in the spring? The suggestion was made some time ago, in one of these letters, that his efforts this fall would probably be limited to an attempt to get possession of the region of country lying west of the west branch of the Chickamauga, and that early next spring he would put his army in motion towards the great railway centre at the Confederacy. Can he do more than this now? The district from this place to Chattanooga, fifty miles in width, has been stript of its supplies, and an invading army would have to bring along with it all it required for its support. Grant may make an effort, however, to get possession of Dalton, the point where the Georgia and East Tennessee road unites with the Western and Atlantic road, and even to reach the Etowah river; but there is no reason to believe that he will attempt to go further now. The immediate possession of Dalton was doubtless one of the objects of his pursuit of Gen. Bragg since it would have cut off all communication by railway with Knoxville, and all possibility of succor to Gen. Longstreet.

That an effort will be made to capture Long street and his command, there is no room to doubt. At last accounts, the 23d inst., Knoxville was completely invested by the Confederates, who were only waiting for reinforcements, then about due, to make an assault upon the town. An intelligent officer, who left on that day, is very confident that the attack, if not prevented by the success of the enemy at Chattanooga, would prove successful.–Wheeler, with a portion of his command, has arrived at Dalton, having on his way chased the enemy from Cleveland and recaptured a portion of our lest wagon train.

Capt. Hoback, of the Quartermaster’s department, informs me that our total loss of wagons during the late battle, and the operations which preceded and succeeded it, was about one hundred, including ten ordnance wagons taken on Missionary Ridge. Our loss of artillery is not known to me, but I suppose it was about equal to our captures at Chickamauga — say forty guns. I will endeavor to send you a detailed account of our losses in this particular as soon as I return to D[a]lton.

The weather is exceedingly cold, and many of the troops lost their blankets and shoes in the resent fight and on the retreat. Will not the people open their hearts and purses?

Sallust.

The following cartoon was published in the December 12, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South. Maybe it means that the North had come to realize that Chattanooga was a big victory but far from conclusive.

columbia-cartoon (Harper's Weekly December 12, 1863)


IRONICAL.
MRS. COLUMBIA. “There! Perhaps I hav’nt taken the Rebel Kink out of the Old Flag
with this BIGGEST IRON of mine!”

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Confederate States of America, Military Matters, Southern Society | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

sewer escape

Posted on November 28, 2013 by SUMPTER
Gen. Morgan the rader [e.g. raider (between 1870 and 1890; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-22939)

free

Morgan’s Raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio during June and July of 1863 ended when Confederate General John Hunt Morgan was captured on July 26th. He escaped from the clink about four months later.

From The New-York Times November 29, 1863:

ESCAPE OF JOHN MORGAN.; The Noted Horse-Thief and Six of his Officers Break Out of Columbus Jail. …

COLUMBUS, Saturday, Nov. 28.

Maj.-Gen. JOHN MORGAN and six of his officers — Capts. BENNETT, TAYLOR, SHELDON, HAINES, HOCKERSMITH and MAGEE — escaped from the Ohio Penitentiary this morning between 2 o’clock and daylight.

JOHN MORGAN, on retiring, changed with his brother DICK from the top cell to the lower tier. The floor of the lower cell is two and a half inches thick, in which a hole was cut, under the bed, leading down into a two and a half foot sewer, running to the main wall around the Penitentiary. This wall was cut under, and the party escaped into the open country. The night was dark, with heavy rain. All efforts are being made by the authorities for his recapture.

CINCINNATI, Friday, Nov. 28.

JOHN MORGAN and six of his officers, viz.: Capts. BENNETT, TAYLOR, SHELDON, HAYNES, HACKERSMITH, and MCGEE, escaped from Columbus Penitentiary last night, by digging through the floor of their cell to a sewer leading to the river. One thousand dollars reward is offered for the arrest of MORGAN.

Wikipedia does not mention an escape through a sewer. Instead Morgan and his confederates used a hand-made rope to climb a prison wall. “Morgan and three of his officers, shortly after midnight, boarded a train from the nearby Columbus train station and arrived in Cincinnati that morning. Morgan and Hines jumped from the train before reaching the depot, and escaped into Kentucky by hiring a skiff to take them across the Ohio River. Through the assistance of sympathizers, they eventually made it to safety in the South. ”

john-morgan-raiders (Harper's Weekly August 15, 1863)

MORGAN’S RAID-ENTRY OF MORGAN’S FREEBOOTERS INTO WASHINGTON, OHIO.

The above image was published in the August 15, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly (at Son of the South), where you can also read more about the raid and capture. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the editors seem more upset about waging total war on defenseless civilians when the particular civilians are northerners. However, General Morgan was an equal opportunity freebooter – his men foraged from Abolitionists and Copperheads alike.

_______________________________________
_______________________________________

Mutually Assured Survival?

One rendering of the Mayflower Compact:

Modern version

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620

The_Mayflower_Compact_1620_ by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris)

signing up for the “civil body politic” (The Mayflower Compact, 1620 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris)

It seems that 150 years ago we were testing whether civil compacts could be abrogated.

Embarcation of the pilgrims from Delft-Haven in Holland, July 21st O.S. 1620 (by Robert Walter Weir, c.1904; LOC: LC-D416-9867)

pilgrims leave Holland, July 1620 (Library of Congress)

Posted in 150 Years Ago This Week, Civil War prisons, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

managing well in North Carolina

Posted on November 27, 2013 by SUMPTER
Zebulon B. Vance, Representative from North Carolina, Thirty-fifth Congress, half-length1859; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-26688)

Beware Pharaoh Seward

150 years ago today a Richmond newspaper published a portion of an address by North Carolina Governor Zebulon Baird Vance to the state legislature.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 27, 1863:

Governor Vance’s message.

–The North Carolina Legislature assembled at Raleigh, N. C., on Tuesday last. We make some extracts from Governor Vance’s message:

The very important subject of feeding the poor, whose supporters and protectors are in the army, again demands our attention. The results the past year’s operations are most encouraging, and should serve to give our people confidence in the resources of their State. Great anxiety was fell last fall, as you know, on the subject of food, and fears were entertained that suffering, if not actual starvation, would be witnessed in many quarters. Under the authority conferred upon me by your body I purchased and stored away about 50,000 bushels of corn, 250,000 pounds of bacon, quantity of rice, &c., which I expected would go but little way in supplying the general wants. When the season closed and the new crop came in, however, to my surprise and gratification, I found that Major Hogg, Commissary of Subsistence, had only issued to the County Commissioners about one-third of the bacon less than one-half of the corn, and but very little of the rice. He reports still on hand some 70,000 lbs. of bacon, having fed a number of negroes engaged on the public works and sold to the army 100,000 lbs., with 20,000 bushels of corn. I have reason to believe that from various causes the crops this year have not been as abundant as usual, and that the public will be called on to do more than last season. But still I see no cause for alarm, and my last year’s experience has encouraged me to believe that all can be fed from our own resources by proper prudence and economy. I respectfully recommend a liberal appropriation among the several counties, according to population, for this purpose — at least double that of last year — and that I be allowed to buy and store away corn, flour, and bacon, as heretofore.

Reports are submitted herewith of the operations of the Ordnance, Subsistence, and Quartermaster Departments, which I trust you will find satisfactory. The enterprise of running the blockade and importing army supplies from abroad has proven a complete success. You will see from the report that large quantities of clothing, leather and shoes, lubricating oils, factory findings, sheet iron and tin, arms and ammunition, medicines, dye stuffs, blankets, cotton bagging and rope, spirits, coffee, &c., have been safety brought in, besides considerable freight for the Confederacy. Two thousand and ten bales of cotton have been sent to Liverpool, the proceeds of which are deposited to the credit of the State, less the amount of expenses of the vessel. With what we have imported, and the purchases in our home markets, I think I can safely say that the North Carolina troops will be comfortably clothed to January, 1865–should God in his providence so long see fit to afflict us with a continuance of the war — except as to shoes and blankets. Neither the Ordnance nor Quartermaster’s Departments placed too much reliance on foreign importation, but every effort has been made to stimulate home production.–Both the quality and quantity of arms and munitions manufactured have been improved in the past twelve months.

We know at last precisely what we would get by submission, and therein has our enemy done us good service — abolition of slavery, confiscation of property, and territorial vassalage! These are the terms to win us back. Now, when our brothers bleed and mothers and little ones cry for bread, we can point them back to the brick kilns of Egypt — thanks to Mr. Seward–plainly in view, and show them the beautiful clusters of Eschol which grow in the land of independence, whither we go to possess them. And we can remind them too, how the pillar of fire and the cloud, the conch safe guidon of Jehovah, went ever before the hungering multitude, leading away, with apparent cruelty, from the fullness of servitude. With such a prospect before them our people will, as heretofore, come firmly up to the full measure of their duty if their trusted servants do not fail them.–They will not crucify afresh their own sons, slain in their behalf, or put their gallant shades to open shame, by stopping short of full and complete national independence.

You can read the governor’s complete address at UNC. The Dispatch omitted that Mr. Vance’s request that the legislature write laws to encourage the raising of sheep because the fall of Vicksburg cut off supplies of Texas wool.

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NYC “wore a holiday face”

Posted on November 26, 2013 by SUMPTER

president-lincolns-hymn

A “purposely observed” Thanksgiving

President Lincoln proclaimed it back in October. 150 years ago today the North celebrated a “day of thanksgiving and prayer”. Here’s a bit from a pretty much pro-Lincoln Administration newspaper in New York City. It was a holiday that included public worship, acts of charity, and amusement. The good news from Chattanooga made it all the better.

From The New-York Times November 27, 1863:

THANKSGIVING.; THE OBSERVANCES YESTERDAY. GRATITUDE AND JOY Discourses of Right Rev. Bishop Potter, Rev. Dr. Bellows, Rev. Dr. Potts, Rev. Dr. Chapin, Rev. J.P. Thompson, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. Dr. Tyng, and Others. WHAT WAS DONE AT THE INSTITUTIONS. Discourse of Bishop Potter.

It is doubtful whether any day of Thanksgiving has been so generally, so purposely observed as yesterday. It broke upon us bright, clear and beautiful, and it really did seem as though Heaven designed participation with the prevailing happiness. At an unusually early hour all business was suspended, and long before the appointed time the several churches were filled to overflowing by those anxious to hear the words of religion and of loyalty-Yesterday they were made, as will be seen by the reports of the sermons we publish, almost synonymous terms. There appeared to be a general disposition to make the day one of thanksgivings, one of reverential enjoyment.

There was much good, too, done yesterday. All the charitable and benevolent institutions were supplied from kindly quarters with enough wherewith to feed those under their charge, and many with enough to clothe. Charity seems to have walked abroad; and, oh! did those who are able to secure it know at how little cost how much of joy could be purchased, we are sure they would buy it by the wagon-load, and go through the highways and the by ways and throw it broadcast for those who so seldom see it to secure. Many a heart beat loudly yesterday, to the music of joy and gratitude, in haunts where naught but silence and sorrow had prevailed. Many a sad and desolate home was invaded by the kindly, and help brought to the sick, and words and acts of comfort to the distressed and sorrowing. Much good was done yesterday — much more than past years have record of — and may it be the initiative of what makes thrice blessed and thrice happy those who administer it.

Battle of Missionary Ridge - fought November 23-25, 1863 (byKurz & Allison, c.1886; LOC: LC-DIG-pga-01854)

Happier Thanksgiving!

Everybody wore a holiday face. In the afternoon all the places of amusement were crowded to overflowing, and in the evening an outsider was the one who came half an hour before the time. There was no room in any place for such a laggard.

Space prevents our enumeration of all the specialties of the day. The war news so opportunely arriving, gave renewed zest to the thankfulness and enjoyment, and it was considered a glorious [???] that when a nation was in prayer its gratitude and supplications were illumined by the [???] of Promise in the West. …

The December 5, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly at Son of the South celebrated the day with a reproduction of “The President’s Hymn: Give Thanks, All Ye People” and a full page illustration by Thomas Nast. As you can see, both images refer to emancipation. Nast’s Thanksgiving includes an image of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln kneeling in prayer.

thanksgiving-day-750

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“glorious victory”

Posted on November 25, 2013 by SUMPTER
NYT11261863Chattanooga

Union “in entire possession of the field”

The only extant cutting in the Seneca Falls, New York library’s big notebook of Civil War local newspaper clippings regarding the late November battles around Chattanooga is a reproduction of General Montgomery C. Meigs’ official report to Secretary of War Stanton, which you can read here. He referred to Joseph Hooker’s successful assault on Lookout Mountain on November 24th as being fought “above the clouds.”

As always Seven Score and Ten and Civil War Daily Gazette post excellent accounts.

Here’s a Northern newspaper’s early take: General Grant is all ready to take Atlanta.

From The New-York Times November 26, 1863:

GLORIOUS VICTORY!; GEN. GRANT’S GREAT SUCCESS. Bragg Routed and Driven from Every Point. SUCCESSFUL BATTLE ON TUESDAY. Gen. Hooker Assaults Lookout Mountain and Takes 2,000 Prisoners. General Sherman Finally Carries Missionary Ridge. Gen. Thomas Pierces the Enemy’s Centre. Forty Pieces of Artillery Taken. Five Thousand to Ten Thousand Pris- oners Captured. Flight of [th]e Rebels in Disorder and Confusion. Probable Interception of the Rebels at Rossville.

[Montgomery C. Meigs, Quartermaster General, full-length portrait, standing, facing slightly left, wearing military uniform] (1861 March; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-07785)

General Meigs had good news for Secretary Stanton

SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE N.Y. TIMES.

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, Nov. 25.

Dispatches giving details of recent operations before Chattanooga were received to-night from Gen. GRANT. He is in happy spirits and confident of success.

Atlanta he declares to be a prize already within his grasp.

DISPATCHES TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

CHATTANOOGA, Wednesday, Nov. 25.

We are completely victorious. The enemy is totally routed and driven from every position. Our loss is very small and the enemy’s is heavy in prisoners. Finding Gen. HOOKER so successful in his movements against Lookout Mountain, the enemy evacuated that position during the night.

Gen. HOOKER took possession early this morning. The enemy moved south and got on Missionary Ridge on the battle-field somewhere near Chickamauga. He is expected to intercept the flying foe. Gen. HOOKER is said to have captured 2,000 prisoners in his magnificent assault of Lookout Mountain.

Gen. SHERMAN being all prepared to begin an assault at 8 A.M. to-day, upon the strong position of the enemy at the north end of Missionary Ridge. He had the day before taken a hill near the position of the enemy, but commanded by their artillery. He had to descend into a valley, and he then made another ascent to the position held by the enemy. Two unsuccessful assaults were made by Gen. SHERMAN, but, with the cooperation of the centre, he ultimately gained the position, and completed the great victory.

The brigade of Gen. CARSE, with a portion of Gen. LIGHTPEWS brigade, composed the storming party in the first assault. They were repulsed with quite a heavy loss after an attack persisted in for an hour; but being reinforced they, were enabled to hold a part of the hills. In this attack Gen. CARSE was wounded quite severely in the thigh. The Thirty-seventh Ohio and Sixth Iowa and One Hundred and Third Illinois regiments were in the attack. A second assault was made at 3 1/2 o’clock, in which MATHIAS’, LOOMIS’ and RAUL’S brigades were engaged. The force reached within twenty yards of the summit of the hill and the works of the enemy, when they were flanked and broke, retiring to their reserves.

battleschatt

In this assault Gen. MATHIAS was wounded and Col. PUTNAM, of the Ninety-third Ohio, killed, their persistent efforts compelled the enemy to mass heavily on his right in order to hold the position of so much importance to him. About 3 o’clock Gen. GRANT started two columns against the weakened centre, and in an hour desperate fighting, succeeded in breaking the centre, and gaining possession of the ridge in which the enemy was posted, the main force was driven northward toward Gen. SHERMAN, who opened on them, and they were forced to break, and seek safety in disordered flight down the western slope of the Ridge, and across the western ridge of the Chickamauga. We have taken not less than 5,000 prisoners and perhaps 10,000. Gen. HOOKER will probably intercept the flying enemy in the vicinity of Rossville and the region east of it.

There are reports that we have taken a whole corps.

Among the casualties are Lieut.-Col. ESPY, of the Sixty-eighth Indiana regiment; Major MCCAWLEY, of the Tenth Iowa; Col. OMARS, of the Ninetieth Illinois; Lieut.-Col. STUART, of the Ninetieth Illinois; Major WALKER, of the Tenth Missouri; Major WELSE, of the Fifty-sixth Illinois; Major INNISS, of the Sixth Iowa, wounded; Major IRWIN, of the Sixth Iowa, killed.

Full reports of the killed and wounded cannot be attained, as most of the killed were in Gen. SHERMAN’s corps, and remained at dark in the hands of the enemy. The list will be telegraphed to-morrow. The prisoners say that BRAGG was on the Ridge just before they were taken.

The successful storming parties consisted of WOOD’s and BAIRD’s divisions on the left centre and JOHNSTON’s and SHE[R]IDAN’s on the right centre. Some of our wounded were left in the hands of the enemy after Gen. SHERMAN’s unsuccessful assault, but were ultimately recovered.

CHATTANOOGA, Wednesday, Nov. 25 — 10 P.M.

The captured artillery is reported at about forty pieces. Gen. HOOKER captured five boxes of new muskets on Lookout Mountain.

We are in entire possession of the field. We have control over the railway and river to Bridgeport. Two boats came through this morning. Our loss will not amount to more than 300 killed and 250 wounded in the three days operations. The success has been most brilliant.

The enemy is reported to be bivouacking two miles beyond Missionary Ridge. Col. PHELPS, of the Thirty-eighth Ohio, and Major GLASS, of the Thirty-second Indiana, are killed. Gen. JOHN E. SMITH is reported wounded. Col. AVERY, of the One Hundred and Second New-York, lost a leg, and Major ELLIOTT is the same as dead.

LC-DIG-ppmsca-32399

Grant on Lookout – Atlanta on his mind?

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railroaded in Ireland?

Posted on November 23, 2013 by SUMPTER

A Southern editorial that found the British hands-off policy regarding Union recruiting efforts in Ireland not exactly neutral:

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 23, 1863:

Yankee recruiting in Ireland.

From the intercepted letter of Mr. De Leon, which the Yankees published, we learn that [ that ] interesting nation have been recruiting in Ireland at a great rate. During the current year they have been able to procure twenty thousand recruits only, leaving it to be inferred that in former years their success had been much greater. These proceedings are perfectly well known to the Palmerston Ministry–Mr. De Leon had a conversation regarding them with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland — many attempts have been made, we are told, to stop them, but without effect. Russell finds that the foreign enlistment law is not sufficiently comprehensive to embrace them. Were the party engaged in them the Confederate Government, no doubt it could be stretched so as to catch the delinquents; or, If that failed, Russell would “go down to Parliament,” as the phrase is, with a law sufficiently broad and long to secure the culprits, as in a net. But they happen to be Yankees, and to interfere with them in the prosecution of their upright designs would be to wound the susceptibilities of Secretary Seward. Anything rather than that. Submission, humiliation, a total surrender of British policy into the hands of Adams, rather than encounter that terrible misfortune. Neutrality, Vattel tells us, consists in rendering no assistance of any kind to either belligerent party. The British Government is neutral after a fashion. It certainly renders no direct assistance to the Yankees by sending them recruits. It contents itself with merely permitting them to recruit on their own account. It does nothing more than throw the door open; they walk in and help themselves. …

Here’s a bit of the letter Edwin de Leon wrote to Judah Benjamin.

From the Richmond Daily Dispatch November 21, 1863:

Intercepted Correspondence — effect of the withdrawal of Mr. Mason from London — the emigration from Ireland to. The United States.–the feeling in France towards the Confederacy.

The Northern papers publish the following letter from Mr. Ed. de Leon to Secretary Benjamin. It was captured on the Ella and Annie, a blockade running steamer; which was intercepted on her way from Nassau to Wilmington. They say that there are a great many more letters, which have been sent to Washington, and which will be published as soon as Lincoln is through with them:

Paris, September10, 1863.
Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of State, Richmond, Confederate States America:
[No. 10.]

Sir

“Your dispatch No. 3, 15th August last, was delivered to me by Dr. Charles Girard, on the 16th instant, and in conformity with the instructions therein contained I write you, via Bermuda, by the first post, and shall continue my communications by each successive steamer for that port. …

After the disposal of the Roebuck motion, the rapid increase of Federal recruitment in Ireland attracted much attention, and I deemed it advisably to visit that country to see if anything could be done to check it. During three weeks residence, chiefly in Dublin, with a visit to Belfast, in the north of Ireland, I succeeded in unmasking and exposing the enemy’s battery, and enlisted the aid of some powerful auxiliaries in the press and pulpit to stop this cruel and cowardly crumping of recruits under pretext of employment on Northern railways. Many knew the real nature of the services required of them, but many more were entrapped by promise of high wages, their contract containing a clause that they would take the preliminary “oath of renunciation” on their arrival in America. This at once would make them subject to the draft.

Another drag put upon them was the exhortation to the women to accompany their husbands, as the promised wages were so high, so that the Yankees now get a good deal of dross with their good metal. The number of actual recruits thus obtained from Ireland, for the past year, up to August, cannot have exceeded twenty thousand able-bodied men, but has probably reached that figure. When the harvest time is over the Yankees hope to make a grand haul, but we hope their nets will not hold. The men of intelligence who see the drain thus made of the very bone and sinew of the country, resist it from policy and patriotism. The priests, who are generally conscientious and earnest men, and who live on voluntary contributions of their parishioners, are bent on arresting the exodus.

The only party favorable to the Yankees is the silly and mischievous clique of demagogues who style themselves “Young Irelanders,” of whom General Meagher used to be one of the shining lights, and these men make themselves busy in selling their countrymen for the Yankee shambles. No step has been or will be taken by the British Government to stop this wholesale deportation, for two reasons. First, from the difficulty of proof of actual enlistment; and second, because of the unwillingness of Lord Russell to wound the susceptibilities of Mr. Seward, of whose conduct he has “no complaint to make.”

The priests, the press, and the public opinion, may supply the shortcomings of the Government in this respect. At least the attempt is making and shall continue to be made. …

Here, in France, I see no change either in the attitude of the Government or in the popular sentiment. In fact, until the arrival of the Florida at Brest, allusions to the Confederacy (except those supplied by our friends in the press) were becoming very rare. …

I remain, very respectfully,

Edwin de Leon.

The New-York Times opined about the intercepted letters here Apparently in another letter Mr. de Leon likened Jefferson Davis to Joshua leading his people into the promised land.

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pasteboard nation

Posted on November 22, 2013 by SUMPTER

From Harper’s Weekly November 21, 1863:

A QUESTION OF ENDURANCE.

THE war has now reached a point at which the continued resistance of the rebels is a mere question of endurance. They are suffering privations as severe as were ever borne by a belligerent people, Their currency is depreciated in the ratio of 12 to 1, and while the soldiers and civil employes of Government are paid in this depreciated currency on the scale which was fair when that currency was at or near par, provisions, clothing, and all the necessaries of life have adjusted themselves to the depreciation, so that it takes a soldier’s wages for a month to support his family for a day. Of manufactured articles—boots, shoes, dry goods, hardware of all kinds, agricultural implements, etc. —the stock has fallen so low that fabulous prices are asked and obtained by its fortunate possessors. The capture of Morris Island has nearly closed the port of Charleston, and within a month the blockade of Wilmington—the only port at which any considerable blockade running is now done—will also be sealed. When this happens, no more foreign goods will enter the Confederacy till the peace. …

This picture is not exaggerated. Yet it is hardly possible to conceive a more complete aggregate of wretchedness. Without food, without clothes, without coal, without hope of succor from abroad, and with the ever-present Federal anaconda tightening its grip round them week by week and month by month, sometimes moving fast, sometimes slowly, but never losing an inch of ground once occupied, can it be possible to conceive a people in more cruel straits than the rebels? Hew long can they endure such a complication of miseries? To which side shall they look for relief? …

[not to Europe, General Lee, General Bragg, cavalry and guerrilla raids, or Northern Copperheads. And after Chattanooga “the next move in the game will be a “resistless “unconditional surrender” movement on Atlanta.”]

They may burn a few trains, “gobble up” a few commissaries, surprise a few helpless detachments of Union troops—nay, even win a pitched battle or two here or there; but what then? In the truthful language of the Richmond Examiner, “Our [rebel] victories are somehow always fruitless and unproductive of results; they leave the great question of the war where they found it.” How long will the rebels continue to struggle under such privations, against such odds, in so hopeless a cause?

[Unidentified soldier in Confederate pullover hunting-style shirt with dark military-type trim with double barrel shotgun, revolver, and side knife] (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-32605)

Union target: “our duty to destroy”

The time has not come yet for an honest Northerner to express his opinion of the courage and fortitude which the rebels have displayed in this wretched contest. So long as the red hand of battle is uplifted they are our enemies, whom it is our duty to destroy—nothing more. When the time does come—as come it must—that failure and disappointment and privation and despair compel these poor people to abandon the struggle into which a blind and brutal oligarchy precipitated them, they may rely upon it that, in the words of that great and good man, Henry Ward Beecher, they will find the fatted calf ready for them throughout the North, and none more ready to relieve their wants than the very soldiers who are now crushing in the sides of the pasteboard Confederacy.

_______________________________________
_______________________________________

Andrew Johnson (c.1865; LOC: LC-DIG-pga-02640)

almost lynched in Lynchburg

In those troubled days before the Civil War, … only Andrew Johnson, alone among Southerners [in the U.S. Senate], spoke for the Union. When his train, as he returned home to Tennessee to fight to keep his state in the Union, stopped at Lynchburg, Virginia, an angry mob dragged the Senator from his car, assaulted and abused him, and decided not to lynch him only at the last minute, with the rope already around his neck, when they agreed that hanging him was a privilege of his own neighbors in Tennessee. Throughout Tennessee, Johnson was hissed, hooted, and hanged in effigy. Confederate leaders were assured that “His power is gone and henceforth there will be nothing left but the stench of the traitor.” Oblivious to the threat of death, Andrew Johnson toured the state, attempting in vain to stem the tide against secession, and finally becoming the only Southern Senator who refused to secede with his state. On his return trip to Washington, greeted by an enthusiastic crowd at the station in Cincinnati, he told them proudly: “I am a citizen of the South and of the state of Tennessee. … [But] I am also a citizen of the United States.”

John F. Kennedy wrote quite a bit about Civil War themes in Profiles in Courage[1]

  1. [1]Kennedy, John F. Profiles in Courage – Memorial Edition. New York: Harper & Row Perennial Library, 1964 (original 1955). Print. page 200.↩
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“axes and shovels are in demand”

Posted on November 21, 2013 by SUMPTER

Tools of War

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1863:

From the 1st Veteran Cavalry.

CAMP STONEMAN, D.C.,
Nov. 21st, 1863.

FRIEND STOWELL: – Although nothing extraordinary has transpired to disturb the even tenor of our camp-life during the two or three weeks past, yet several incidents have occurred that may be of interest to our friends at home. Presentations have been the order of the day, and not long since Capt. Brett was the recipient of of a very fine sabre, sash and belt from the members of Co. K. The presentation was made by the 1st Lieutenant in behalf of the Company. Capt. Brett responded in an appropriate manner, and the whole affair passed off “in due form.”

In true soldier style, the boys have been hard at work digging cellars, logging up their tents, and preparing for the winter; planting cedars, pines and firs in the company streets, and otherwise decorating the camp, until now it looks like a forest of evergreens, interspersed here and there with hung wreaths and immense triumphal arches, presenting a beautiful appearance, and adding much to the comfort of the inhabitants of our cotton city. It is proverbial how invariably our soldiers set about preparing for a permanent abiding place, although morally certain that a few days will find them on the march again. No sooner is the camp located than axes and shovels are in demand, and hundreds of busy hands are immediately, as a novice would think, preparing to settle down for a term of enlistment. But to-morrow they are off again. No matter, the experience will be repeated; and so they go.

The health of the company has generally been very good. Charley Wisewell has had a slight turn of camp fever, but is out again “right side up.” Our Regimental Hospital Steward, Columbus R. Deppen, is winning golden opinions by his untiring fidelity to the duties of his office, and the kindness with which he cares for those under his charge. All speak well of him, and the sick appreciate his good offices in their behalf, I assure you.

Columbus Deppen

“untiring fidelity”

Capt. Brett has been sitting upon a Regimental Court martial for some time past and Lieut. Guion has been in command of the company, but now he is detailed as Judge Advocate of the Court, and the command devolves upon Lieut. Bacon.

Yesterday quite an addition was made to the regiment, consisting principally of those who forgot to come on when we left Geneva, among them were seven for Co. K, leaving only two more to be “accounted for.”

Since I wrote you last the U.S. Paymaster has given us a call and paid the advance upon the U.S. Bounty, from which our company has forwarded home over $2500, making in all the handsome amount of nearly $7000 sent to those “we left behind us.”

SENECA

[Unidentified soldier in Union cavalry uniform, on horse, with cavalry saber, in front of encampment with winter chimneys (between 1861 and 1865; LOC: LC-DIG-ppmsca-33337)

“Unidentified soldier in Union cavalry uniform, on horse, with cavalry saber, in front of encampment with winter chimneys” (Library of Congress)

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