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General Van Dorn thought the Yankee position on the bluffs overlooking Sugar Creek was too strong for a direct assault. It was discovered that there was a road of sorts, called the Bentonville Detour, which ran to the west of General Curtis' right flank and up an elevation in the rear called Pea Ridge. After dark, 150 years ago today, Van Dorn moved his army out along the Detour, planning to have it in position the next morning for a surprise assault on the Union rear.
Grenville M. Dodge was a colonel commanding the Union brigade which formed the right flank of the Union army. A civil engineer before the war, (after the war he would be a leading figure in the construction of the continental railroad) Dodge went to Curtis and suggested the possibility of the rebels trying to work their way around the Union rear using the Detour. Curtis gave Dodge permission to employ his engineering skills in obstructing the road.
While Van Dorn was leading his army up the ridge, Dodge and his men went to work on their end of the Detour, felling trees, rolling rocks and generally gumming up the works. When the sounds of Van Dorn's men chopping and dragging away the obstructions reached the ears of Dodge's men, the surprise element was gone for Van Dorn. Curtis swung a portion of his army North to meet the threat from that direction.
Van Dorn, aware that he was now expected, kept driving his men through the night, their progress coming at the cost of much labor which was exhausting the men who were expected to launch an attack at sunrise...if they ever got there.
Elsewhere, at 4 in the afternoon, the USS Monitor slipped its dock and fully armed for war, began making its way to the ocean for the voyage South to the Chesapeake and perhaps a duel with the CSS Virginia. Two steamers escorted the ironclad and to maximize the speed of the journey, the Monitor was taken under tow by the tug Seth Low.
Commanding the Monitor was Lieutenant John Worden who had spent 28 of his 44 years in the US naval service. Worden was happy to be back in sea service after a short and unpleasant interlude as a "spy" in the war's opening days. Worden had been on a mission to deliver orders to US ships stationed in Pensacola, and on the return trip he was arrested in Montgomery and held on suspicion of espionage. He remained there for seven months until exchanged. Worden had been given command of the Monitor in January and had been on hand since then supervising the ship's completion.
The Monitor was like no other ship in the world at the time. The 360 degree revolving turret was unique, that the entire hull was underwater was unique, her armoured deck was unique. The turret was covered by eight layers of one inch thick iron plates bolted together, with a ninth layer behind that as a sound shield. The only openings to the sea were the twin gunports in the turret, and a small slit covered with an iron bar in its pilothouse which sat on the forward section of the deck. The gun ports had iron shutters to close while the guns were being loaded. There just wasn't much space where the Monitor could be hurt by enemy fire.
Her battery was composed of twin 11 inch Dahlgrens.
Photo of the Monitor not long after the battle against the Virginia. Notice the dents in the armour.
Artist's depiction of Monitor from different angles. The turret had its own engine to turn it.
As dawn arrived in NE Arkansas, General Van Dorn's assault was half ready. Half of his army had been left to come in against what was now (since they faced about) the Union left flank. Van Dorn accompanied the other half on the march across Pea Ridge which was designed to place them in the rear of what had been the Union left flank, but now turned to meet the challenge. The Yanks had plenty of time to prepare, the obstructions on the road used against the flanking march had been effective enough to delay Van Dorn's wing reaching its attack position until 10:30 that morning, hours past the planned attack at sunrise. The delay had also allowed Curtis to send out his scouts to make sure that there were no Confederates left in his rear, which was now the South. (Among those scouts was a young Wild Bill Hickock.)
Map which shows the dispositions of the forces at the start of the Confederate attack:
General McCulloch commanded the rebel wing which was waiting to pounce on the General Curtis' left flank as soon as Van Dorn (with Price's Missourians) was in position on the other side of the ridge. Among McCulloch's force was a 750 strong regiment composed of Indians from The Nations, led by General Albert Pike.
Despite the delay, the Confederates appeared to have the advantages. They were on the Union left flank and right flank in force, and Curtis would have nowhere to retreat save due South where there would be no support or supplies to be found. However, working against the rebels was the fact that they were exhausted, cold and hungry after the grueling march to get into position. With the supply wagons having been left behind, Van Dorn's men had only the three days of rations the men had been told to prepare and carry. Most of these had been consumed long ago, the popular theory among Civil War troops being that it was easier to carry your rations in your belly than on your back.
It was a situation where there had to be a battle. Curtis could not retreat, Van Dorn's food situation dictated that he must either attack or give up his campaign entirely.
Ninety minutes before noon, that battle got underway when Price's men came swooping down the ridge, screeching the rebel yell while their artillery opened on the union gun line, knocking out 75% of the Northern artillery within a few minutes. However, the commander on the scene, Colonel Eugene Carr, didn't panic. His troops beat back three assaults while Carr sent messengers to Curtis asking for help.
On the Union left, McCulloch's attack opened when The Nations regiment came screaming out of the woods brandishing scalping knives and tomahawks. Not expecting an Indian attack, the Union troops had run, abandoning their guns and reforming to hold on as best as they could a half mile back. This wing also sent to Curtis begging for reinforcements.
Curtis kept his nerve, he sent word that he would not use his reserves yet and that the two wings had to hold on as best as they could. On the Union right, after falling back and regrouping, the troops made a stand and the day settled into a battle of attrition, with the advantage going to the Union the closer it came to sunset without a Confederate victory. Their final attack of the day ended in disaster when they overran a Union battery which had been booby trapped before its gunners had fled. As the victorious rebels were whooping it up around the captured field pieces, a time bomb set off a caisson loaded with shells and powder, sending body parts flying into the air.
On the Union right, the opening advantage gained when the Nations regiment sent the Union troops fleeing, was completely lost when the Indians, who were still going to fight according to Indian values, ceased their attack and began looting the captured artillery position. They were especially taken with the giant horse collars worn by the artillery horses and soon were competing with one another for these prizes which they wore around their own necks. McCullough ordered them withdrawn to regroup since they were accomplishing nothing. Some regrouped, others wandered off with their prizes, the battle over as far as they were concerned. McCulloch then led a charge personally, and was shot to death for his trouble. His successor lasted less than an hour before also being killed. And his replacement was captured when he rode over to rally a group of troops who turned out to be wearing blue. Their leaders gone, the attack on the Union left fizzled.
The day ended with many dead and wounded, but no real change in the strategic position.
March 8th, 1862:
(I shall complete the story of this battle because this same day generated much news from the East which I will cover tomorrow.)
As morning came, General Van Dorn was considering his options for renewing his attack. He ordered what was left of the late McCulloch's command to march arcoss the ridge to join Price and consolidate his force. Caught up in his planning, it did not occur to him that Curtis might have aggressive plans himself.
He did.
In what was to be the high mark of his Civil War career, General Franz Sigel brazenly moved his artillery 250 yards forward and opened up on the Confederate guns opposing him. The Union cannon blew the rebel batteries to pieces and this was followed immediately by Sigel leading his line forward in a dramatic charge. They advanced and swept all that was in front of them. Curtis capitalized on their success by ordering his right wing forward as well. In a happy coincidence of timing, the two attacks met in a spearhead and drove the men in grey from the field.
Having no clear cut line of retreat since they were attacking from the North, Van Dorn's men scattered, the army fell apart and Van Dorn was left to try and collect the components as best as he could over the next few days. His glorious "St. Louis..then Huzzah!" ambitions were in ruins, he had not even been able to clear NE Arkansas of Union troops.
This battle settled permanently the question of Missouri's status as a loyal state. No further serious threats to it would be mounted by the South. What was left of Van Dorn's army was ordered to join the concentration of Confederate forces being made by Johnston and Beauregard at Corinth.
Curtis had about 1400 casualties from the 10,500 he had engaged. Van Dorn 2000 out of his original force of 17,000.
Also on this day, the USS Monitor came extremely close to never making it to its rendevous against the Virginia. It had been smooth sailing on the 6th and throughout the night as the ironclad was towed out into the Atlantic and headed down the Eastern seaboard. The next morning, a storm suddenly materialized (kettle drums, French horns) and the Monitor's first design flaw became apparent. The turret had been jacked up a half foot and the gap filled with heavy rope under the theory that it would form the tightest possible seal and prevent water from entering the turret in heavy seas. Instead the rope was rapidly soaked, loosened, and water began splashing inside, soon reaching waterfall intensity. Water was also washing in through the view slits in the pilothouse. The seas became so high that water began to come in through the Monitor's six foot smokestack.
On the ship went, bailing and pumping as fast as it could until 4 pm when the calamity grew suddenly worse. The water had penetrated to the engine room through the blower vents and stretched out the belts which drove the fans which ventilated the engines. The fans stopped, the engines quickly overheated and stopped, and the wet batteries began to emit a toxic carbonic acid gas which drove the engine crew coughing and choking onto the deck. Captain Worden had them carried to the top of the turret and laid out so that they might recover where the waves could not reach them.
With a portion of its crew disabled, the engines out, the lower deck filled with toxic gas and the ship filling with water as it continued to be buffeted by the waves, Worden was able to signal the tow tug Seth Low to head for the shore where the waves were less violent. It took five perilous hours to reach these calmer waters, but the Monitor made it. There in calmer seas, repairs were conducted to the ventilation, and the pumps were able to get rid of most of the unwelcome water.
The Monitor sailed on.
Last edited by Grandstander; 03-06-2012 at 06:34 PM..
The storm which had nearly caused the Monitor to founder, had also been generating miserable conditions in the Chesapeake. The Virginia had been scheduled for her shake down cruise on the 7th, but Captain Buchanan canceled it because of the hostile weather.
It was rescheduled for today, the 8th, and the day dawned bright and clear. As far as the public, and most of the Virginia's crew knew, they would be embarking on their shakedown cruise this morning, sailing down the Elizabeth River to the Bay and then returning.
Two men aboard the Virginia knew differently. Buchanan had decided that the ten mile trip down the Elizabeth would be sufficient to test the engines and find any leaks, and that if the ship was functioning properly when they reached the river's mouth, then he was going to take it out to Hampton Roads and introduce its power to the Union blockading fleet. Buchanan confided his plans to his exeutive officer, Lt. Jones, but no one else.
The blockade fleet was in a somewhat complacent mood. Every day for the past several weeks had come with rumors that the Confederate monster would be coming out that day. Numerous times they had beaten to quarters for what proved to be false intelligence. On this morning, they were not especially prepared.
The Cheasapeake blockade squdron at this time was composed of four war vessels and their support ships. On this day there would briefly be five as the USS St. Lawrence was due to arrive and releive the USS Congress. Both were 44 gun steam frigates. Also on station under the general command of Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough were the 50 gun frigates Minnesota and Roanoke, and the 24 gun sloop the Cumberland. The squadron was engaged in housekeeping chores that morning, laundry hanging from spars, some officers gone on shore leave.
The Virginia's trip down the Elizabeth was greeted with cheering crowds of rebel citizens and soldiers. They were further delighted when upon reaching the mouth of the Elizabeth, the Virginia did not turn around but instead began making for the nearest ship on blockade station, the Cumberland. Buchanan had been told that ther Cumberland featured a 70 inch rifled gun and concluded that it was the only weapon the Union had which might be able to penetrate the ironclad's armour. He determined that he would attack her first, and ram her.
The Virginia was first spotted in the river by lookouts at Fortress Monroe, and signals went out alerting the fleet. Soon the smoke from the approaching ironclad (and its three escort gunboats) became visible, and finally the "monster" itself hove into view. Most of the sailors on the Union ships who watched the approach left the same description...that it appeared to be the roof of a barn, painted black and floating in the water.
The Cumberland was at anchor, did not have steam up and did not have time to get underway. Her captain that morning was Lieutenant George U. Morris, in charge because the actual captain was ashore. Morris had the Cumberland swung around on her anchor cables so that her broadside faced the oncoming Virginia. At 300 yards, the Virginia opened fire, which was answered by those guns aboard the Cumberland and Congress which could be brought to bear. When the Virginia was in range, the Cumberland unleased a full broadside, and watched in dismay as the balls bounced harmlessly off the armoured sides.
The Virginia was barely making five knots, and her handling characteristics were god awful, but the Cumberland was an unmoving target and the ironclad drove straight into her side, opening a seven foot gash with her iron ram, which became stuck, and then broke off completely when the Virginia backed out, a task it nearly failed to accomplish because as the Cumberland listed on its damaged side, it began dragging the Virginia down with it. Though their ship was wounded fatally, Morris and the Cumberland crew still fought like demons. They continued to load and fire until the water rose over each gun deck, all the while they took murderous fire from the Virginia in exchange. After an hour of this unequal carnage, Morris had the crew abandon ship and swim for shore. He never actually surrendered. the Cumberland settled into the water with only her top masts still visible above the surface, the US flag still waving proudly from one.
The Virginia ramming the Cumberland:
Buchanan now turned his attention to the USS Congress, next in line. As with the Cumberland, the broadsides from the Congress had no effect in slowing the approach of the ironclad. Having seen the fate of the Cumberland, the Congress' captain, Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, had vessel moved to shallow water where it could be run aground and kept from being rammed. This did not prevent it from being destroyed. The Virginia closed to within can't miss distance and opened fire with hot shot, heated cannonballs which started fires when they struck. It took about an hour to utterly wreck the Congress and slaughter many of her brave crew, who like the Cumberland sailors, kept to their guns despite the hopeless situation. They did manage to do some damage to the Virginia. Two well aimed shots came right into the open gunports and struck the ends of her guns, shaving off a couple of feet from their barrels and putting them out of action.
It was at this point that Lt. Smith decided that he had to surrender. The US flag was hauled down and replaced by a white banner. Buchanan ceased fire and ordered two of the escorting gunboats to go and accept the formal surrender, take the officers prisoner and send the surviving crew ashore.
Ashore were plenty of Union soldiers watching the battle, and their commanders moved them to the water's edge to take pot shots at the Virginia and her escorts whenever a crew member was exposed. Despite the obvious surrender of the Congress, one of these regiments opened fire on the parties from the Confederate gunboats which had moved in to accept the surrender, killing and wounding several men. This enraged Buchanan and instead of moving on to the next blockading ship, he returned to the Congress, detemined to reduce her to splinters. More hot shot was slammed into the Congress and soon it was burning from end to end. Buchanan's anger motivated him to grab a rifle, climb on on the Virginia's roof and personally snipe away at the soldiers on shore who he considered shameful cowards. In short order, one of those shameful cowards put a ball through Buchanan's thigh, knocking him out of the fight so that he gave command to Lt. Jones.
By now it was past 5 pm and the daylight was fading.
Depiction of the burning Congress:
Jones knew that attempting to navigate the Roads shallow waters in the dark would likely lead to the Virginia running aground, so he decided to call off the battle and pick up where they left off the next morning. He turned the Virginia around and took her to the Confederate shore where it was protected by batteries.
It was a glorious day for rebel arms. In exchange for seven dead among their fleet, seventeen wounded, two guns destroyed and a missing ram, the Confederates had destroyed completely two first rate US warships, killed 261 sailors and wounded another 100. There was every reason to believe that on the next day the Virginia would easily demolish the remaining Union ships and that the blockade would be shattered.
Lt. Jones, who now held the command he had so badly wanted, inspected the Virginia that evening. The armour plating had been dented in 98 identifiable places, but nowhere had the casemate been penetrated. The smokestack had been riddled, its lifeboats and flagstaff shot away, and of course there were the two diasbled guns. He found small leaks nearly everywhere, but the only large one was forward in the ship, just behind the place where the ram had been mounted. Somehow or other, Jones did not discover that the ram itself was no longer there. He would go into battle the next day believing it was still in place, while it was actually resting at the bottom of the bay inside the wrecked Cumberland.
Aboard the surviving Federal ships, the mood was gloomy but resigned. Ships papers were gathered and prepared for quick destruction in anticipation of the need for doing so tomorrow when the Virginia returned to complete the clearing of the Bay. Many sailors were convinced that this was their last night alive, and they resisted going to sleep. The decks remained crowded and active throughout the night.
The Congress continued to burn, and then blew up about midnight. Lit by the glow of the burning wreck, but unseen by the rebels, another ship arrived after dark and took up station in front of the USS Minnesota which had run hard aground while trying to get underway and join the fight. The new arrival's captain climbed aboard the Minnesota and assured her captain that he would protect her against the Virginia come morning.
As daylight broke in Hampton Roads 150 years ago today, the crewmembers of the grounded USS Minnestota got their first full look at the vessel which was to be their salvation. Compared to the monster which had dealt out so much destruction the day before, the Monitor was not very impressive. It was less than half as big, mounted two guns to the Virginia's ten, and looked very much like a "cheesebox on a raft" which was the most common metaphor applied.
That the Monitor was there at all was a consequence of good fortune. It had nearly gone down in the Atlantic storm during its voyage South. Unknown to the officers of the Monitor, two hours after it departed New York, a telegram arrived from Naval Secretaty Welles ordering the Monitor to ignore its earlier instructions to report to Hampton Roads, and instead come directly to Washington to assist in the defense of the city. Had the Monitor received those orders in time, it would not be in a position to defend the blockading fleet from the expected renewal of attacks by the Virginia.
Because of troubles with the telegraph lines, the messages from Fortress Monroe detailing the fight on the 8th, did not reach Washington until 9 am on the 9th. A cabinet meeting was convened to discuss the disaster and for once, the usually unflappable Secretary of War Stanton, gave in to a panic attack. Throughout the meeting Stanton kept getting up and going to the window which overlooked the Potomac, as if expecting to see the Virginia steaming up the river to shell the White House into submission. Welles kept assuring Stanton that the Potomac was too shallow for a vessel with the Virginia's 22 foot draft to navigate, but this did not seem to console him.
The pressing question from the cabinet to Welles of course was....can the Virginia be stopped. All Welles could do was to inform them that the Monitor was now on the scene and would be coping with the Virginia when she next came out. Stanton inquired about the details of the Monitor, and upon learning how relatively small and underarmed she was, went back into his panic mode. Stanton devoted the rest of the day to racing about issuing useless orders to obstruct the Potomac, bring additional artillery pieces to its banks, and making plans for the possible forced evacuation of the capitol.
Before that discussion even got underway, Lt. Catesby ap Jones was getting up steam aboard the Virginia to renew the attacks on the Union squadron. Captain Buchanan was resting in a hospital in Norfolk. As the sun rose, the Virginia, accompanied once more by its gunboat escorts, as well as a large number of private boats which had turned out to spectate, advanced once more into the Roads, aiming for the stranded Minnesota.
It took a while before they were close enough to notice that the Minnesota was no loner alone, there was some small vessel along side her, which at first was taken to be a water tanker or coal tender, then seen as some sort of floating iron battery, and finally recognized as what it was...the USS Monitor.
And here it was, as though fate had been scripted to maximize the drama, the two ironclads, built independently of one another, both combat ready at the same time, and both on the scene with the fate of the Union blockading squadron resting on their duel.
The Monitor's officers and crew were also getting their first look at the Virginia. All night they had been hearing from the Minnesota crew about how invincible and powerful the Confederate ship was. The general consensus among the Union sailors was that the Virginia would make short work of the tiny Monitor first, and then come to finish the helpless wooden ships.
At 8 am the Monitor closed it hatches, beat to quarters and steamed out to confront the Virginia. Enclosed as they were with so few visibility ports, most of the Monitor's crew would be hearing rather than seeing the battle, which opened when the Minnesota tried a few long range shots at the approaching Virginia, receiving a few shots from her in return. On the Monitor it was discovered that the speaking tube which connected the pilothouse to the turret, was malfunctioning. A man was detailed to run back and forth between them with Worden's commands.
The Virginia continued to close on the Minnesota, still somewhat baffled by the little craft barring their way, and some arguing that it couldn't be a warship, that it was a raft being employed to remove the Minnesota's boiler. This theory was invalidated when the "boiler" opened up its gunports and sent a pair of 11 inch shells at the Virginia. The fight was on.
The two ships fell into a pattern of circling one another, trying to get into position for the best possible shots. In this the Monitor had all the advantages. It was faster than the Virginia and its turning radius was less than half the sea room required to get the rebel ironclad faced about. Further, with its turret, the Monitor could fire from any angle without having to line the ship up for the shot, and since the turret turned after firing, the open ports were never available as a target for more than a few seconds. These advantages were somewhat mitigated when it was discovered that the turret had no effective braking system. Trying to stop its rotation in a specific place for a shot turned out to be impossible, and consequently, the Monitor adopted the practice of firing on the fly...loading the guns, spinning the turret and yanking the landyards as the guns swung in front of their target.
The Virginia fought back with all its guns, although seldom having any sort of decent shot at its nimble opponent. At a distance of about 100 yards, the two ships circled and pounded away at one another...with no effect at all, neither could penetrate the other's armour. The circle would sometimes shrink so that the vessels were only 50 yards apart, and sometimes they almost touched one another as they passed. Proximity made no difference, still no shells were getting through the iron. The only casualty at this point had been a Union officer who had been leaning against the turret wall when a shot from the Virginia struck the armour outside. He was knocked down and stunned by the impact. The Monitor crewmembers carefully avoided the interior walls after that.
After two hours of this futile hammering, the Virginia got into trouble. Engrossed in the combat, Lt. Jones neglected to pay sufficient attention to his position and the ship ran aground in some shallows. The underpowered engines were reversed, but the vessel remained stuck. Jones ordered his engineer to tie the safety valve open and stoke the fires to the maximum, risking a boiler explosion in order to get every possible ounce of power working on freeing his ship. The Monitor took advantage by positioning itself where the Virginia's guns could not be brought to bear, and blasted away. The Virginia's casemate held, but with shot after shot striking the same vicinity, some of the plating began to crack. If the Virginia could not get free, it was just a matter of time before her armour came apart. The Confederates began feeding turpentine soaked rags into the fire and superheated their boiler, the needles went all the way into the red zone, the vessel was trembling with effort. Then after fifteen minutes of frantic activity, the Virginia finally slid back out of the mud and was able to resume motion, her armour still intact. The battle resumed.
With no visible or satisfactory results from the cannonfire thrown at the Monitor, Jones decided to try and ram his opponent. The poor handling characteristics of the ship made it impossible to line up for a long run to build speed for this task, and the Monitor's superior mobility prevented it from being a stationary target like the Cumberland. It turned away as the Virginia approached and the contact which resulted was but a slight bump. In addition, unknown to Jones, there was no longer any ram with which to ram. All this effort accomplished was to reopen the leak which had been sealed the night before.
The warships returned to their ineffective firing. Jones developed a plan to attempt to board the Monitor, but the unwieldy Virginia would not cooperate in getting close enough for that sort of attack. It most likely would not have worked anyway, the Monitor was well prepared for such an effort. Grenades were stacked to lob at boarders on the iron deck, and hoses were rigged to stick out of the gunports and scald them with boiling water.
Four hours into the duel, Jones finally had an idea that proved more effective. He ordered his gunners to concentrate exclusively on the Monitor's pilothouse, hoping a lucky shot would put it out of commission. One almost did. A shot was fired and exploded directly in front of one of the viewing slits, one Worden was using at the time. The fireball burned his face and blinded him. Command passed to Lt. Samuel Greene, who was left with instructions from Worden to keep fighting and save the Minnesota as best he could.
The Monitor had withdrawn into shallow waters where the Virginia could not go while this change in command was taking place. Aboard the Virginia, Lt. Jones interpreted this as the Monitor's retreat and decided that they had "won" the battle. However, having used up a huge amount of powder and shell against the Monitor, the ship's weight was greatly reduced and it began riding high in the water, exposing the wooden part of the casemate at the waterline. Jones decided he had best return to port and resupply his ship before attempting further action against the US fleet. They turned about and headed home. Aboard the Monitor this was interpreted as the Virginia's retreat and they decided that they must have "won."
And that was how the battle ended, neither ship fatally damaged, both beleiving that they had chased off their opponent, both claiming victory.
In that the damaged pilothouse left the Monitor in a more endangered state than any of the harm inflicted upon the Virginia, one could argue the battle was a tactical victory for the South. In that the blockade had not been broken and now seemed far less likely to ever be broken, it was a strategic victory for the North.
One thing the battle meant that could not be argued was that the days of wooden fighting ships were over forever.
Though still inactive, General George McClellan had come up with a plan. He had persuaded President Lincoln that rather than attacking again in Northern Virginia against the Southern Horde he imagined he faced, he would outflank General Joseph Johnston's rebels by loading his men aboard ships and landing them Urbanna, Virginia, on the Rappahannock, behind the Confederate army. McClellan busied himself in preparation for this amphibious operation. The Confederates failed to cooperate.
Johnston decided to shift his defensive line South, pulling his army out of Manasas and repositioning it South of the Rappahannock, frustrating McClellan's flanking move. And when the Union forces moved in to occupy the evacuated ground, they once more found a great many "Quaker Guns" and evidence which suggested the Confederate force had been a third the size that McClellan had insisted they were.
Lincoln suggested that McClellan may as well go ahead and attack them in their new position, pointing out that the rebels could retreat on their interior lines and ruin any attempt at flanking them... that a battle must be fought somewhere, and putting the Army of the Potomac aboard ships would simply delay the battle.
McClellan pooed pooed the president and announced his new plan, sailing the army to Fortress Monroe and advancing on Richmond from the East. Lincoln objected, on the grounds he had already listed, and that such a move would leave Washington DC unprotected. McClellan insisted that once he was on the Peninsula, the rebels would have to be there as well and would not be threatening Washington. He finally assured the president that he would leave behind a force sufficient to defend the capitol.
Lincoln was not enthusiastic for this operation, but in that it did represent McClellan finally putting his army in motion, he gave his approval.
As a gesture designed to let the egoist general know who really was in charge, 150 years ago today Lincoln demoted McClellan, releiving him of his status as Commander in Chief of all Union armies, leaving him in command of just the Army of the Potomac. The president explained that once McClellan was in the field, he would be too busy to concern himself with operations in other theaters. For the time being there was no replacement C in C and the war would be run by A. Lincoln and E. Stanton.
The CSS Virginia had thrown another wrench in McClellan's plans. The Peninsula campaign called for the Union navy to supply his army, sailing up the York River in lockstep. With the Confederate ironclad in those waters, the Union navy would not be able to do this. McClellan forged ahead anyway, hoping that between now and his departure for the Peninsula, something might be done to eliminate the Virginia's threat.
General Curtis had shoved the Confederates out of SW Missouri and into Arkansas. 150 years ago today, they were chased from SE Missouri by General John Pope.
When Forts Henry and Donelson fell, General Albert Sydney Johnston had been forced to make a general wihtdrawal along his far flung defensive dispositions which at their furthest point North had seen them occuping Columbus, Kentucky. 9000 of them had fallen back to New Madrid, Missouri, which sat on the bank of the Mississippi where it crosses the Tennesse/Kentucky border and loops briefly back on itself. Pope commanded 26,000 and brought 18,000 of them to try and capture New Madrid, and then Island Number Ten which was a fortified strongpoint in the Mississippi itself which prevented Union gunboats from supporting Pope's attack.
Pope did not have a hard time of it. 150 years ago today he invested the town, set up his siege artillery and began a bombardment which lasted through the end of daylight. Throughout the day his soldiers dug approach trenches. Those would prove unneeded because the Confederates decided that they could not keep Pope out, and that evening, they evacuated the position, gathering at Island Number Ten, where they were also going to be trapped.
For eight dead and twenty one wounded, Pope now occupied New Madrid and Missouri was completely free of organized opposition.
1862 was not going well for the Confederacy. They had lost control of western Virginia, been driven out of Missouri, Kentucky and lost portions of western and middle Tennessee. Union forces occupied coastal positions in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. A portion of Northern Virginia was lost when General Johnston pulled his army back behind the Rappahannock and their blockade breaking ironclad had been checkmated by the Monitor.
One hundred and fifty years ago today it got worse as General Ambrose Burnside moved his army inland after having taken control of Pamlico Sound. Burnside decided to advance up the Neuse River, loading his 13 regiments aboard transports and relying on the protection of the 14 strong gunboat fleet.
Thirty seven miles up river was New Bern where the Confederates decided to make a stand. New Bern was the eastern terminus of the railroad system in North Carolina and was its connection to the sea. That made it worth defending, but the quality of the available defenders was not worth much at all. These were 6000 troops composed of yet to be trained regulars, and never to be trained militiamen. They were under the command of General Lawrence O'B. Branch. Previously the force had been double its present size, but its commander, General Daniel H. Hill had been called to the defense of Virginia. Hill took the trained regulars who were available and left Branch with scraps.
Branch decided his men's best chance would be in fighting behind breastworks and the line which was constructed they flatteringly called Fort Thompson. It stretched from the river to the border of a swamp, thus its flanks were secure, but Branch unwisely decided to follow the line of a creek which ran through the center of his position, creating a gap between his wings. Worse, to defend it Branch posted a militia battalion which had arrived less than two weeks ago.
After a three day boat ride upriver, Burnside's force disembarked and formed up to assault Fort Thompson. An artillery bombardment opened the ceremonies and then Burnside's brigades went forward. It did not take long. When the Union advance captured the battery posted in support of the center, the militiamen broke and ran, opening up a huge hole in the center of the Confederate defense and generating a chain reaction of sudden retreats as the rebels discovered that the Union troops were in their rear. The rebels scattered and did not regroup until they were another thirty miles inland. The Confederates experienced about 575 casualties, the Union around 470.
New Bern fell into Northern hands and they were to maintain control of it for the remainder of the war. And as with the other coastal occupation zones, this one instantly began to attract runaway slaves.
General Albert Sydney Johnston's strategy of attempting to defend numerous points along the wide borders of the western Confederacy had so far been a manifest failure. By spreading his strength to cover all protected points, there was insufficient strength to hold any of the points.
In the beginning of March Johnston determined that he needed to reverse his existing defensive plan and concentrate all of his troops into a singular striking force, one which might isolate the Union commands and destroy them in detail. To that end he created the Army of the Mississippi, the forerunner of the Army of Tennessee, named General Beauregard as his second in command, and began utilizing the South's railroads to collect his scattered troops at Corinth. Eventually a 45,000 man force was assembled and Johnston began preparing them for a strike on General Grant's army advancing down the Tennessee River, before he could be reinforced by General Buell's army, marching from Nashville. The remaining question was where the attack would take place.
150 years ago today that was established when Generals William Sherman and Stephen Hurlbut arrived with their divisions at Pittsburg Landing under instructions to select a site for Grant's army to camp while they awaited the arrival of Buell. Sherman found suitable ground surrounding a small building called the Shiloh Baptist Church. With no expectation of a Confederate attack, Sherman's criteria was finding an area large enough to contain the two armies when they merged, not selecting the ground which afforded the most favorable defensive terrain.
Johnston was right to be concerned about launching his attack before the Union armies came together, for President Lincoln had changed his mind and appointed General Henry Halleck supreme commander in the west, giving him authority over Buell's force as well. Halleck decided to concentrate the two armies for the assault on Corinth. Sherman sent word that Pittsburg Landing offered suitable space for assembling the host, and Halleck ordered all forces to converge there.
They were supposed to have begun their advance on George Washington's birthday. Now it was St. Patrick's Day, twenty three days after the expiration of President Lincoln's General Order Number One target date for having all major Union armies in motion.
150 years ago today, they were. General Halleck had Grant and Buell's armies were converging on the Tennessee/Mississippi border, and at last in Alexandria, General George McClellan finished loading his men, equipment and supplies, and the transports got underway for Fortress Monroe on the Virginia peninsula formed by the York and James rivers.
This was the most massive armada ever assembled on American shores. McClellan was bringing 121,000 men, 44 artillery batteries with their horses and caissons, more than a thousand wagons, 15,000 cavalry and draft horses..and all the equipment required to feed and shelter them.
The landing at Fortress Monroe was a concession to the continuing presence of the CSS Virginia. McClellan had originally intended to land behind Yorktown, flanking it, and cutting it off so that it would isolated and useless. The Navy personnel would not risk sending wooden ships into waters where the ironclad could strike, but the Virginia could not exit Hampton Roads and make for Fortress Monroe without encountering the Monitor as well as the heavy guns of the fort itself. So Yorktown would have to be handled by some other means after the landings took place.
Twelve miles to the NW, defensive lines were being dug by slaves and occupied by the 11,000 men of General John B. Magruder's command, the only rebel infantry East of Richmond at all. Magruder prepared three lines, the first designed to delay, the second his actual defensive line which stretched from Yorktown to the banks of the James on the other side of the Peninsula, but was thinny manned, and a third West of Yorktown, to be used to delay any force following them as they retreated...if it came to that.
Magruder was a career soldier, graduating West Point in 1830, promoted for bravery in action during the Mexican War, and joining the Confederate army when his native Virginia rebelled. He was most well known for his love of theatrical entertainments, staging elaborate shows which featured his singing in a fine tenor voice, which contrasted surprisingly with the lisp heard when he talked. Flamboyant in personality and appearance, called "Prince John" by his fellow officers, Magruder was indeed a Dandy.
In a fortuitous turn for the Confederates, they had exactly the right man on the scene for what was going to be needed. And in McClellan they had exactly the right audience approaching.
As noted in recent posts, the Confederacy had been on the ropes since the start of the year. The military setbacks in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and western Virginia, along with the Union coastal penetrations in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, meant that one thing was certain...a scapegoat had to be identified and sacrificed.
Since the hapless generals from Fort Donelson had already been cashiered or releived of important command, and since President Davis admired General Albert Sydney Johnston more than any other soldier on the continent and relieving him would have left the detested Beauregard in command in the west, the next available high profile candidate was Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin.
Benjamin had begun the war as the Confederate Attorney General, and had agreed to be the Acting Secretary of War when Davis had to ashcan the ineffective Leroy Pope Walker. After two months on the job, Davis persuaded Benjamin to accept the job full time. Now, though he knew the collective failures by the Confederates could not be fairly placed on any individual, someone had to serve as the symbol of those failures and no one was as well placed as Benjamin to do it.
To spare Benjamin's honor and esteem, he was not fired from the cabinet, but rather moved to his third posting in the thirteen month old government, being named Secretary of State, the third and last the Confederates would have. He replaced Robert M. T. Hunter who had become too critical for Davis' tastes. (Hunter then got himself appointed to the CSA Senate where he remained an annoying critic of Davis.)
Benjamin's replacement as Secretary of War came with an unassailable pedigree, George W. Randolph, born at Monticello, the youngest grandson of Thomas Jefferson by his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph. The male side of the family could trace its roots back to John Rolfe and Pocahontas.
Randolph had been an attorney with no military background when the war began. Because of the prestige of his family, he was commissioned a major and bumped up to Brigadier General, but only briefy had seen any action, that at the relatively minor scrap at Big Bethel. He was "promoted" away from the fields and being employed in assorted administrative and morale raising functions before his sudden annointment as Secretary of War. He was to last eight months in the job.
Stability is not the word that leaps to mind when discussing the Confederate Cabinet. In its thirteen month history it had now had three Attorney Generals, three Secretaries of State and three Secretaries of War. By contrast, in this same time period the Lincoln cabinet had made one change, Stanton replacing Cameron as Secretary of War.
Judah P. Benjamin:
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George W. Randolph:
Last edited by Grandstander; 03-18-2012 at 06:24 PM..
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