Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > History
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 12-09-2014, 06:43 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237

Advertisements

December 10th, 1864:

150 years ago today the vanguard of General Sherman's army reached the outskirts of Savannah. Here they encountered their first serious opposition since setting out from Atlanta a month earlier. The city was defended by General Hardee and an army of about 18,000.

The numbers were not daunting to the 60,000 in Sherman's force, but Hardee had commanded that the surrounding rice fields be flooded, leaving but a few narrow causeways for making a dry approach. Sherman's most immediate concern was gaining control of the mouth of the Ogeechee River which would allow him to establish contact with what he hoped were waiting Federal ships loaded with supplies and or reinforcements. Guarding the river was an installation called Fort McAllister and it would have to be taken.

Sherman would spend the next few days bringing the rest of the army up and scouting the terrain for the best means of getting at the fort.

Behind Sherman was a 300 mile long, 60 mile wide path of destruction. One Georgian compared it to a volcano with Atlanta representing the eruption point and the march the wide path of lava which flowed all the way to the sea. On the way Sherman's bummers had wrecked nearly 300 miles of railroads, confiscated 10,000 horses and mules along with 13,000 cattle. An estimated 10,000 slaves had been inspired to run from their masters, although it is impossible to know how many managed to retain freedom because there was no occupation to protect them once the army passed. Sherman estimated the damage done to Georgia at 100 million dollars, although how he arrived at such a figure is questionable, it seems more like a nice round number he selected.

Figures aside, one purpose of the march had been to make "Georgia howl" and that Sherman had done. Desertions of Georgia soldiers from General Lee's army rose greatly during the time of the march, direct evidence of the demoralization Sherman had hoped to cause. The demonstration aspect of the march, to show the South that the Federals could go where they pleased and wreck what they wanted without serious opposition, was a success.

The main reason for the march had always been generating a threat to Lee's rear by having a second large Union army operating in a mobile manner while Grant's force kept Lee pinned around Petersburg. It was not yet decided as to whether Sherman's men were to march north through the Carolinas, or to be embarked on ships and brought to the Petersburg siege more quickly.

Before either of those options became viable, first Fort McAllister and Savannah would have to be taken.

The March To The Sea


Last edited by Grandstander; 12-09-2014 at 07:06 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-12-2014, 06:16 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 13th, 1864:

General Sherman tapped General Howard's Corps for the assault on Fort McAllister and Howard selected the division now under General William Hazen. This division had been first commanded by Sherman himself back in the Shiloh days.

McAllister did not present that much of an obstacle, it had been designed for defense against invaders from the sea, not from behind them on land. A 250 man garrison worked its guns.

The attack experienced some delays in getting organized and an impatient Sherman climbed to the roof of a nearby mill to observe the situation. While he was there a whirl of smoke became visible out on the ocean, it grew larger and closer and was revealed to be a Union gunboat. The ship raised some signal flags which inquired "Who are you?" Sherman ordered a reply identifying himself. The ships flags then asked "Is it safe to run up to you? Is the fort taken?" Sherman had the reply sent "Not yet, but it will be in a minute."

This was the first contact Sherman had made with Federal forces since before he began his march, the first confirmation that he had made it safely to the sea.

The attack went forward in mid afternoon and required fifteen, not one minute to overwhelm the fortress. It cost Hazen 134 casualties, the rebels had lost 48, the rest surrendered.

Within an hour of the fort's capture, Federal vessels were steaming up Ogeechee River bringing 60,000 rations, official dispatches and mail for the army. Sherman learned for the first time of the Franklin battle and the current "siege" of Nashville by Hood. Sherman's report on the march was taken aboard a fast packet and headed for City Point.

What remained now was taking the city of Savannah, still guarded by General Hardee and the only organized army of any sort in the vicinity.


On this same day, General Grant once more lost patience waiting for news that General Thomas had attacked Hood outside Nashville. Convinced that Thomas was using the ice storm as an excuse not to advance, Grant ordered General Joshua Logan to board a train for Nashville and upon arrival, relieve Thomas. Grant would depart City Point himself a day later, deciding that the situation was critical enough to warrant his presence. He boarded a train for Washington intending to travel from there to Nashville.

General Hazen's Victorious Troops Inspect A Captured Gun At Fort McAllister

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-14-2014, 06:40 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 15th, 1864:

General Logan, on his way to relieve General Thomas at Nashville, had gotten as far as Louisville. General Grant, on his way to personally supervise matters, had reached Washington. For both their journey's ended where they were when a telegram from Nashville arrived. Thomas had moved out and attacked General Hood. The last major battle of the war was underway.

Thomas had spent the week in a resentful mood, annoyed that his superiors who were not on the scene were second guessing the decisions of the commander who was there. He had repeatedly offered to step down and turn his command over to someone who knew the secrets of fighting on ice, but when the storm finally waned and Thomas was still in charge, he went forward as promised. 48,000 men in blue would serve as the striking force against Hood who had by now been reduced to about 23 or 24 thousand effectives.

The plan called for an attack on the rebel right to draw off troops, followed by the major blow which would fall on the Confederate left. That portion of Hood's "siege line" was manned by General Stewart's Corps and they had constructed a series of five redoubts on a low set of hills. Thomas planned to overwhelm them with the Corps of Generals Smith and Schofield, as well as General Wilson's cavalry. The spoiling attack on the rebel right would be carried out by General Stedman.

As it unfolded, Stedman failed to accomplish his objective. His assault was held in check by General Cheatham's men and no rebels were pulled from the center or left for support. It turned out not to matter because after wheeling north after their flank march, Schofield and Smith hit the front of the rebel left while Wilson's horsemen got around to their rear. With most of General Forrest's grey cavalry still at Murfreesboro, there was little to oppose the Union riders. In a ninety minute struggle, the redoubts were taken one by one and around 1:30 pm Stewart reported that he could hold on no longer. With the collapse of his position, the rest of the line became unhinged and Hood was forced to retreat two miles to the SE where he constructed another defensive line, one shorter and more compact. This one at least was anchored on hills at either end, connected by trenches and stone walls running through the center. Stewart's battered Corps was placed in the middle.

Early winter darkness prevented further action on this day, but Thomas was able to send out wires informing his superiors of the day's success and the promise of renewed assaults to finish off Hood the next day. When word of the fighting was delivered to Grant at Willard's Hotel, he remarked "Well, I guess I won't go to Nashville." Instead he sent Thomas a wire ordering him to keep pushing and give the enemy no rest until he was completely destroyed. Logan was told to remain in Louisville.

Thomas needed no encouragement, he planned to renew the assault the next day using the same tactics.

The Battle of Nashville...Day One



US Colored Troops Overwhelm Confederate Redoubt...Artist Depiction


Last edited by Grandstander; 12-14-2014 at 07:10 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-15-2014, 06:10 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 16th, 1864:

Shortly after noon 150 years ago today, General Thomas opened up his renewed assault on General Hood's second defensive position. The plan was the same as the day before, to hit the rebel right hoping to draw troops to that sector, and then bring the main attack in on the Confederate left and rear. It wound up working better than expected.

The rebel right was anchored on a rise called Overton Hill, defended by the remains of General Lee's Corps. His men were hard pressed for three hours, holding on, but needing the help of two brigades which Hood had to pull from other sectors.

During that time the Confederate left, anchored on Shy's Hill, had been under continuous bombardment from massed Federal guns. A great deal of the hastily constructed breastworks had been blown away and at 3 pm, General Smith's Corps moved out for an assault with General Wilson's cavalry attacking the flank. Coming in on the right side of Shy's Hill was General Schofield and his Corps. The three sided blow collapsed the rebel position and the men went streaming down the hill in retreat, unhinging the whole line and causing Hood's entire army to flee. Things might have been far worse had not Lee's Corps retained its integrity and fought a rear guard action which allowed the others to get away and reorganize.

That night Hood directed the army to retreat south. They were closely pursued by Wilson's cavalry and for two days they were severely pressed until General Forrest arrived from Murfreesboro and took over the rear guard duties, immediately stabilizing the situation and allowing the retreat to continue in less of a hurry. The fall back would continue until the 28th when Hood recrossed the Tennessee River and camped at Bainbridge, Alabama.

Thomas had lost just over 3000 to battle casualties, but only 387 of them were mortal. Hood however had pretty much put an end to the Army of Tennessee. It is difficult to know exactly how many losses the rebels suffered because from this point forward, Confederate records became lost, destroyed, or not kept in the first place. Thomas reported taking more than 4500 prisoners, surrenders which were indicative of the deflated fighting spirits in the South. Hood is estimated to have suffered another 1500 losses to killed and wounded. When he reached Bainbridge he reported that he still had 19,000 under arms, but when General Beauregard attempted to make a more exacting count, he could find only 15,500 ready for active duty. The difference may have been the high desertion rate between counts.

There had been 62,000 under rebel arms when the campaign began in May, 55,000 when Hood took over the army outside of Atlanta, 38,000 when the great invasion of Tennessee had begun...and now, 15,500.
The Army of Tennessee was finished as an active operations force. Hood would remain in charge until early January when he resigned under pressure and that was the end of the war for him. Hood had lost Atlanta, permitted General Sherman to march unopposed to the coast, and had destroyed his army with his pie in the sky dream of Tennessee's reconquest. In his memoirs he defended every decision he made as correct and continued to insist that all failures were due to his subordinates.

Nashville was the last large scale engagement of the war where both sides employed their full armies in combat. While there was still more fighting and dying to come, there was no longer any sort of chance for a Confederate victory. In Petersburg General Lee was still held in place by General Grant. In the trans Mississippi, General Kirby Smith presided over an inactive theater, unable to get his force across the Mississippi to aid anyone. And at Savannah, Sherman was taking his time investing the city for a siege against the 15,000 mixed regulars and militia under General Hardee, who had already made up his mind to retreat and was constructing a clandestine bridge across the Savannah River for that purpose.


The Battle of Nashville...Day Two



Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2014, 05:53 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 18th, 1864:

With a stubborn and unreasonable faith in his powder ship, General Butler had managed to delay his departure for the expedition against Willmington and Fort Fisher until 150 years ago today.

The armada at last sailed and it was an impressive one, the largest assembly of American naval power gathered to date. Fifty seven war vessels, numerous transports for the 6500 troops which were to assault Fisher, and an array of the usual supporting ships, had been gathered at Beaufort, North Carolina, ninety miles up the coast from their objective.

The ship attracting the most attention was the USS Louisiana, a former ironclad gunboat which had been stripped of her guns, most necessities and portions of her upper deck. Packed in her lower bunkers was 215 tons of blasting powder. The idea was to run her in shore as close to the fort as the vessel's eight foot draft would allow, and after her crew had cleared away, detonate the explosives, theoretically wiping Fort Fisher from the map. So convinced was Butler of the massive power of this explosion, he ordered the supporting vessels to stand twelve miles offshore to avoid being damaged by the blast.

The reason that this experiment was going forward was the toughness of the fort itself. It was not a conventional mason structure, but rather one with nine foot high walls, made from sand and logs, twenty five feet thick. The walls could absorb high explosives and round shot without penetration. Fisher mounted 47 heavy pieces of artillery, including a battery mounted on a sixty foot high earth mound at the south end of the sea facing wall. It bent at a right angle on the north end until it reached a swamp, covering an approach from that direction. There was not very much room between the sea wall and the ocean for assembling an attacking force. 1371 rebels defended the walls.

Wilmington was the last port on the Atlantic coast not under Federal control. Blockade runners could still slip in and out. Wilmington was connected by rail to Petersburg (save the last 30 miles which General Grant had captured in the fall) and represented the last external source for importing supplies for General Lee's army.

Fort Fisher....Formidable Bastion


Last edited by Grandstander; 12-17-2014 at 06:40 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-19-2014, 06:35 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 20th, 1864:

In Savannah 150 years ago today, both commanders were dealing with unwelcome news.

General Hardee, who had but 15,000 mixed regulars and militia with which to fend off General Sherman's 60,000, had wired Richmond and requested reinforcements. General Lee was asked if he could spare anyone, but he could not, or at least would not. The reply from the rebel War Department was to advise Hardee to take action consistent with preserving his command. That was authority for an evacuation and the abandonment of Savannah.

There was no convenient bridge in place for crossing the Savannah River into South Carolina, so Hardee's engineers improvised one made from rice paddy flats lashed together end to end and planked over. After dark on the 19th, the army began to cross, a slow process due to the fragility of the bridge. To cover the rest of the retreat when it became daylight on the 20th, Hardee had his artillery open a ongoing bombardment of the Union positions which had the added advantage of reducing the amount of artillery ammunition which had to be hauled or destroyed. Finally the field pieces themselves were rolled across and the the bridge destroyed. Hardee had forfeited Savannah, but at least was now out of Sherman's immediate grasp.

The victorious Sherman didn't know it at the time, he was away from the scene having boated up to Hilton Head to try and arrange for General Foster's occupying troops to move into a blocking position for what was assumed to be Hardee's line of march if he retreated. He would return on the 22nd and for the first time learn that he had captured Savannah. More colorful than Grant when it came to announcements, Sherman wired Washington:

Quote:
"...I beg to present to you as a Christmas Gift, the City of Savannah with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and also about 25,000 bails of cotton..."
Civil War Savannah


Sherman was not overly concerned about Hardee's army, but what did have him upset was a telegram he had received from General Grant. Sherman had sent Grant an outline of his plan for a march through the Carolinas on his way to join Grant at Petersburg. He described how he could make those states howl like he had done to Georgia, with a particular emphasis on wrecking South Carolina, which Sherman regarded as the birthplace of all the trouble and highly deserving of of whatever outrages his army might inflict.

Instead Grant was ordering him to assemble the necessary shipping and bring his force to Petersburg as rapidly as possible to "..close out Lee." Sherman was to select an officer to command a small occupying force for Savannah and bring the bulk of his army, and himself, north "..with all dispatch."

Grant had left a small opening, using the words "..unless you have an objection.." Sherman had many, and he immediately set about advising Grant and General Halleck of what they were. Grant would require just two days to change his mind and give Sherman the green light for a destructive stomp through secession's birthplace.


General Hardee's Army Crosses The Savannah River On The Rice Flat Bridge..Newspaper Engraving

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-22-2014, 06:08 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 23rd, 1864:

The US Naval expedition against Fort Fisher suffered a miserable passage to Wilmington. Though they had departed a week ago for what normally would have been a two day journey, winter storms along the Atlantic coast twice halted the flotilla and it was not until 150 years ago today that the troop transports arrived off shore. The navy's fighting ships (the Monitors had to be towed) would not get there until the next day.

General Benjamin Butler did have his powder ship, the former USS Louisiana, on hand, and he could not wait to demonstrate its destructive power. Butler decided to set it off that night without waiting for the navy, and thus not having to share credit with them when Fisher surrendered after the titanic blast.

At 11 pm, with no running lights, the Louisiana was sailed in by her skipper, Commander A.C. Rhind and anchored at what the skeleton crew believed was a spot 250 yards from the fort. They set the three timing devices for 90 minutes, and also set a pine log fire in the after cabin as a backup in case the fuse mechanisms failed. Rhind and his crew then went over the side into a small boat and stroked as rapidly as they could to get away. They were picked up by a support steamer.

Twelve miles out (for safety reasons) the rest of the fleet watched and waited. At 1:40 am ...Kaboom. A huge bloom of light was quickly smothered by clouds of smoke and dust, making it impossible to see what results might have been achieved.

It was not until daylight the next morning (Christmas eve) that the question was answered, and it was disappointing. Fort Fisher still stood with no visible damage to it. The explosion had merely rocked the fort like an earthquake, awakened everyone in there who had been sleeping, and filled the air with a terrible sulfur stink from the blasting powder. What it had not done was weaken the structure of the fort in any manner, nor harm any of its defenders apart from sleep deprivation. It was later learned that what the Louisiana's crew had taken to be 250 yards in the dark, was actually closer to a 1000 yards away from the fort.

So, chalk up another time wasting, costly fiasco for Butler. He has one more left in him before he exits the war for good. For now, if Fort Fisher was to fall, it would have to be taken by more conventional means.

The USS Louisiana As A Bomb...Shaded Area Represents Powder Charge

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 06:20 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
December 24th, 1864:

Following the failure of the powder ship to damage Fort Fisher in any manner, the Union Navy's fighting vessels had arrived and 150 years ago today they opened a tremendous bombardment on the fort, the heaviest of the war. 667 guns on the ships invested five hours firing more than 10,000 shells at the installation.

While the defenders crouched stunned in their bomb proofs, the fort itself sustained little in the way of critical damage. Two of its guns were dismounted, one man was killed, 22 more suffered wounds. The fleet suffered more, there were 83 casualties, most of them occurring when five of the newly developed 100 pounder Parrott rifles aboard different ships, all exploded. There were 300 of these massive pieces put to use during the war and in all theaters, 19 of them exploded while in action.

Admiral Porter ordered a cease fire at sunset, just as General Butler and some of the troop transports were arriving on the scene. Butler looked the situation over and ruled that it was too late in the day to launch an assault. He wanted Porter to resume the bombardment on Christmas day. Porter was disgusted with Butler by this time, pointing out that the sand was simply swallowing all the iron that the fleet was pumping into it. Despite his misgivings, Porter agreed to resume the shelling the next morning....if...Butler promised that the assault would take place that day.

A Battery Containing One Of The New 100 Pound Parrott Rifles....Turned Out To Be More Deadly To Their Crews Than To The Enemy

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 07:02 PM
 
Location: north bama
3,482 posts, read 723,946 times
Reputation: 6349
thank you for your input .. the civil war impacted my family so much we had this named for us ...
[IMG][/IMG]
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 07:38 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
48,564 posts, read 23,965,444 times
Reputation: 21237
Quote:
Originally Posted by HOSS429 View Post
thank you for your input .. the civil war impacted my family so much we had this named for us ...
[IMG][/IMG]
Where is this?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > History
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top