American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

July 30, 1863 Thursday
President Lincoln issued orders that the government of the United States would “give the same protection to all its soldiers, and if the enemy shall sell or enslave anyone because of his color, the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy’s prisoners in our possession.”

Skirmishing took place near Elm Springs, Arkansas; near Lexington and Marshall, Missouri; at Irvine, Kentucky; Grand Junction, Tennessee; and Barnwell’s Island, South Carolina. Major General George Crockett Strong ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Crockett_Strong ), USA, dies in New York City, New York, from lockjaw, which developed as a result of his thigh wound received while leading the Federal assault on Battery (Fort) Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina, on July 18, 1863.

Rear Admiral Dahlgren advised Secretary Welles that "the position of affairs" at Morris Island had not materially changed" in the last 5 days. He reported that the Army's advanced batteries, 600 yards from Fort Wagner, were in operation and that "Every day two or three of the ironclads join in and sweep the ground between Wagner and Cumming's Point, or else fire directly into Wagner. . . . It is to be remembered, " he added, "that Wagner is the key to Sumter, wherefore the enemy will spare no effort for the defense, and will protect any result to the last." Dahlgren also observed that one of the "many little things" which would be of assistance to him would be "the electric light which Professor Way exhibited here, and which Professor Henry (Smithsonian Institution) knows of; it would either illuminate at night, if needed, or would serve to signal. . . ." As a man of science as well as an operational commander, the Admiral was quick to seek the advantages offered by new developments. The calcium light was brought down and enormously assisted in the capture of Fort Wagner by slowing down and halting Confederate repairs to the fort which previously were made under cover of night.

A peace treaty is signed with bands of the Shoshone Indians at Fort Boise, Idaho territory.

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Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

July 31, 1863 Friday
A momentous month which had seen the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson and the Battle of Gettysburg came to a close with skirmishing at Lancaster, Stanford, and Paint Lick Bridge, Kentucky; St Catherine’s Creek near Natchez, Mississippi; and Morris’ Mills, West Virginia. In Virginia Federal forces pushed across the Rappahannock River with fighting at Kelly’s Ford. C.S.S. Tuscaloosa, commanded by Lieutenant John Low, captured ship Santee, bound from Akyab to Falmouth with cargo of rice. Santee was released on bond.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 1, 1863 Saturday
A cavalry action in the oft-fought-over area of Brandy Station, south of the Rappahannock River, marked the conclusion of the Gettysburg Campaign. Federal cavalry felt out the enemy and attempted to determine Lee’s plans. A week-long Federal expedition moved from Warrenton Junction into the country between Bull Run and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In Kentucky there was a small expedition by the North from Columbus to Hickman and a skirmish at Smith’s Shoals on the Cumberland River. Skirmishes broke out on the Little Blue River at Taylor’s Farm and at Round Ponds near the Castor River, Missouri. Union forces began to advance on Little Rock, with cavalry operating for several days from Witteburg to Clarendon, Arkansas. In the Charleston Harbor area Federals began the build-up for an attack on Battery Wagner and Fort Sumter. The Federal War Department disbanded the Fourth and Seventh Army Corps. Rear Admiral David D. Porter assumed naval command on the Mississippi River, where the major problems were now Confederate raids and firings upon Federals. Porter encouraged legal river trade. James Lawlor Kiernan, USA, was appointed to Brigadier General. U.S.S. Yankee, commanded by Acting Ensign Turner, captured sloop Clara Ann near Coan River, Virginia, with cargo including whiskey.

President Davis declared that all soldiers absent without leave and those who had not reported for service would be granted pardon and amnesty if they reported within twenty days. He called for greater exertion by the people of the Confederacy, saying, “no alternative is left you but victory, or subjugation, slavery and utter ruin of yourselves, your families and your country.” Prominent Confederate spy Belle Boyd ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Boyd ) was in prison in Washington for a second time after her arrest in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 2, 1863 Sunday
As reconnaissance by both sides continued on the line of the Rappahannock River in Virginia there was skirmishing at Newtown, Virginia; Stumptown, Missouri; and a Confederate scout from Pocahontas, Arkansas to Patterson, Missouri. At Cummings Point, on Morris Island in Charleston Harbor, Federals attacked the Confederate steamer Chesterfield. President Davis wrote Gen Lee of the problems of returning stragglers to the Army and said, “It is painful to contemplate our weakness when you ask for reinforcements.”

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 3, 1863 Monday
As events began to quiet down along the Rappahannock River in Virginia, there was only minor action elsewhere, including skirmishing at Ripley, Mississippi and Jackson, Louisiana. A Federal scout from Fort Pillow, Tennessee skirmished near Denmark. The Federal Ninth Army Corps left the Vicksburg area for service in Kentucky and eventually east Tennessee. Gov Horatio Seymour of New York asked President Lincoln to suspend the draft in his state. The following appointments were made to Major General: Wade Hampton, CSA; Fitzhugh Lee, CSA; Stephen Dill Lee, CSA; and Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox, CSA. Philip Dale Roddey, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 4, 1863 Tuesday
Minor fighting continued in Virginia; there was yet another skirmish at Brandy Station, plus action near Amissville and Fairfax Court House. On the James River a reconnaissance by Federal army and navy units lasted four days. Elsewhere action included at the mouth of Vincent’s Creek, South Carolina; at Burlington, West Virginia; as well as a Federal reconnaissance near Rock Island Ferry, Tennessee. For four days Federal naval guns had bombarded Battery Wagner in Charleston Harbor as Yankees prepared the famous Swamp Angel, a mammoth gun, for future operations.

Four boat crews under Lieutenants Alexander F. Warley and John Payne from C.S.S. Chicora and Palmetto State and a Confederate Army detachment captured a Union picket station and an unfinished battery at Vincent's Creek, Morris Island. The sharp engagement took place at night, after Confederates discovered that the Union men, under Acting Master John Haynes, USN , had been observing Southern movements at Cumming's Point and signaling General Gillmore's batteries so that effective artillery fire could be thrown on transports moving to the relief of Fort Wagner.

The following appointments were made to Brigadier General: Jasper Adalmorn Maltby, USA; Samuel Allen Rice, USA; John Benjamin Sanborn, USA; Giles Alexander Smith, USA; and Charles Robert Woods, USA.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 5, 1863 Wednesday
For the rest of the month Federal cavalry carried out an expedition under William Woods Averell ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W._Averell ) from Winchester, Virginia into West Virginia, with a skirmish this day at Cold Spring Gap, West Virginia. Other areas of fighting were Little Washington and Muddy Run, Virginia and Mount Pleasant, Mississippi; while a week long Union expedition operated from Kempsville, Virginia into Currituck and Camden counties, North Carolina. Maj Gen Frederick Steele ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Steele ) assumed command of Federal forces at Helena, Arkansas. In Charleston Harbor Confederates strengthened their defenses at Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner, realizing the Federals would soon launch an all-out attack. Near Dutch Gap, Virginia an electric torpedo severely damaged U.S.S. Commodore Barney.

C.S.S. Juno, commanded by Lieutenant Philip Porcher, captured a launch, commanded by Acting Master Edward Haines, from U.S.S. Wabash in Charleston harbor. The launch was a part of the night patrol on guard duty; Haines, hearing the report that a Confederate steamer was coming out into the harbor, went to investigate "Soon after getting underway," he reported, "I made out a steamer standing down the channel close to Morris Island." He opened on her with the launch's howitzer. Juno, reconnoitering the harbor with a 65-pound torpedo attached to her bow in the event that she should meet a Union ship, was otherwise unarmed, for she had been trimmed down to become a blockade runner, and her only means of defense was to run the launch down. Engineer James H. Tomb, CSN, reported: "We immediately headed for her, striking her about amidships; but not having much headway on the Juno, the launch swung around to port, just forward of the wheel. . . ." Haines' men then tried to carry Juno by boarding despite heavy musket fire but were overwhelmed by superior numbers.

President Lincoln, writing Gen Banks regarding affairs in Louisiana, stated that he was “an anti-slavery man” and “For my own part I think I shall not, in any event, retract the emancipation proclamation; nor, as executive, ever return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the acts of Congress.” http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln6%3A771

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 6, 1863 Thursday
Following President Lincoln’s proclamation, the North observed a day of thanksgiving for recent victories, with church services and suspension of business. Skirmishes took place at Cacapon Mountain and at Moorefield, West Virginia; while Mosby’s Southern guerrillas captured a wagon train near Fairfax Court House, Virginia. In addition, Federal expeditions and scouts operated for several days in Missouri and in Kansas on the Missouri border. Three Federal vessels were heavily bombarded by shore batteries while on a James River reconnaissance. Cheering crowds watched C.S.S. Alabama capture the bark Sea Bride near the shore of Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope. Semmes subsequently sold the bark to an English merchant.

From Richmond President Davis wrote Gov M.L. Bonham of South Carolina that he would do all possible for the safety and relief of Charleston, “which we pray will never be polluted by the footsteps of a lustful, relentless, inhuman foe.”

U.S.S. Fort Henry, commanded by Lieutenant Commander McCauley, captured sloop Southern Star at St. Martin's Reef, Florida, with cargo of turpentine.

C.S.S. Florida, Commander Maffitt, captured and released on bond Francis B. Cutting in the mid-North Atlantic.

U.S.S. Antona, Acting Master Lyman Wells, seized blockade running British schooner Betsey off Corpus Christi.

U.S.S. Paw Paw, commanded by Acting Master Augustus F. Thompson, struck a snag in the Mississippi River and sank within 15 minutes near Hardin's Point, Arkansas.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 7, 1863 Friday
Fighting broke out at Burke’s Station, Virginia and near New Madrid, Missouri. In Washington President Lincoln told Gov Seymour of New York that he would not suspend the draft in New York and added, “My purpose is to be, in my action, just and constitutional; and yet practical, in performing the important duty, with which I am charged, of maintaining the unity, and the free principles of our common country.” http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln6%3A779

With Charleston under heavy attack by combined Union forces, General Beauregard asked that the "transportation of Whitney's submarine boat from Mobile here" be expedited. "It is," he added, "much needed." Beauregard was referring to the submarine constructed at Mobile on plans furnished by Horace L. Hunley, James R. McClintock, and Baxter Watson. She was the H. L. Hunley, a true Submersible fashioned from a cylindrical iron steam boiler, which comprised her main center section, and tapered bow and stern sections. Designed for a crew of nine--one to steer her and eight to turn her hand-cranked propeller--H. L. Hunley, according to McClintock, was 40 feet in length, 3 1/2 feet in breadth at her widest point, and 4 feet in depth. Her speed was about 4 knots. In the next 6 months the little craft would become famous and her gallant crews would launch a new era in war at sea.

Secretary Mallory sent Lieutenant Maffitt his appointment as a commander in the Confederate States Navy, effective 29 April 1863. He congratulated the intrepid captain of C.S.S. Florida "and the officers and men under your command upon the brilliant success of your cruise….

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 8, 1863 Saturday
Gen Robert E Lee offered to resign as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. He wrote President Davis that he realized there had been discontent as a result of the failure of the Gettysburg Campaign and “I, therefore, in all sincerity, request your excellency to take measures to supply my place.” His health and general depression influenced his request, which President Davis rejected.

On Morris Island in Charleston Harbor Federals continued to construct approaches to Battery Wagner, illuminating the island at night with calcium lights. Fighting flared at Waterford, Virginia; Rienzi, Mississippi; and on Clear Creek, near Ball Town, Missouri. U.S.S. Sagamore, commanded by Lieutenant Commander English, seized British sloop Clara Louisa off Indian River, Florida. "Later the same day he captured British schooners Southern Rights and Shot and Confederate schooner Ann off Gilbert's Bar.

Worth the read: Badass of the Week http://www.military.com/army-birthday/b ... =army-a.nl

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 9, 1863 Sunday
President Lincoln wrote Gen Grant ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln6%3A785 ) that he believed that Negro troops were “a resource which, if vigorously applied now, will soon close the contest.” Meanwhile the usual skirmishes erupted at Brandy Station and Welford’s Ford, Virginia; Sparta, Tennessee; and Garden Hollow, near Pineville, Missouri. Operations of several days’ duration took place from Cape Girardeau to Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Eppa Hunton, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 10, 1863 Monday
Federal troops under Gen Frederick Steele began to march from Helena, Arkansas toward the capital at Little Rock. Elsewhere there was skirmishing at Dayton, Missouri; Bayou Tensas, Louisiana; and the start of a thirteen-day expedition by Federals from Big Black River, Mississippi to Memphis, with considerable skirmishing. Meanwhile, Grant’s huge army at Vicksburg was slowly being broken up; the Thirteenth Army Corps was sent to Carrollton, Louisiana. Discontent over rations and lack of furloughs appeared to be the reason for a mutiny of several Confederate regiments at Galveston, Texas but order was soon restored.

President Lincoln assured Gen Rosecrans, in command north of Chattanooga, that “I have not abated in my kind feeling for and confidence in you.” He added, “Since Grant has been entirely relieved by the fall of Vicksburg, by which Johnston is also relieved, it has seemed to me that your chance for a stroke, has been considerably diminished….”

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 11, 1863 Tuesday
Confederate guns at Battery Wagner, Fort Sumter, and on James Island opened furiously on Federal trenches on Morris Island, halting the Northern working parties. Meanwhile, Beauregard, in command of the Charleston area, ordered the defense lines on James Island shortened. In Virginia Confederates captured a Union wagon train near Annandale. A Federal expedition from Portsmouth, Virginia operated toward Edenton, North Carolina for over a week. At Washington, North Carolina, a large pro-Union meeting supported the Federal war effort.

Replying to Gen Lee’s offer to resign, President Davis refused to consider it: “our country could not bear to lose you.” President Lincoln, in a letter to Gov Seymour of New York, once more defended his policy regarding the draft.

The following appointments are made to Brigadier General: Robert Alexander Cameron, USA; Alexander Chambers, USA; John Murray Corse, USA; Manning Ferguson Force, USA; Walter Quintin Gresham, USA; John Aaron Rawlins, USA; and Thomas Kilby Smith, USA.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 12, 1863 Wednesday
Heavy Parrott rifles opened from the low-lying sand batteries of Morris Island, firing against Fort Sumter and Battery Wagner. Although just a practice to establish the range, the firing in effect marked the opening of a new Federal offensive in Charleston Harbor. Even in practice the breeching batteries caused considerable destruction to the brick walls of Fort Sumter.

In Mississippi a skirmish occurred at Big Black River Bridge; and ten-day Union expedition started from Memphis, Tennessee to Grenada, Mississippi. The First Division of the Federal Ninth Army Corps from Vicksburg arrived at Covington, Kentucky en route to east Tennessee. President Lincoln refused to give Maj Gen John A McClernand a new command ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln6%3A798 ). McClernand had been relieved of corps command at Vicksburg by Grant.

William Smith, CSA, was appointed to Major General and Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

Rear Admiral Charles H. Bell, commanding the Pacific Squadron, ordered U.S.S. Narragansett, Commander Stanly, to cruise regularly between San Francisco and Acapulco, Mexico, for the protection of Pacific mail steamers. In addition, he warned Stanly to keep two-thirds of his officers on board the ship at all times, and to maintain a regular sea watch whenever in a port with Confederate sympathies to avoid being boarded and taken.
U.S.S. Princess Royal, Commander Woolsey, seized British schooner Flying Scud at Brazos, Texas. She was reported to have run the blockade and landed 65,000 pounds of powder, 7 tons of horseshoes, and thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

August 13, 1863 Thursday
On Morris Island Federal guns continued practice firing against Fort Sumter, now from both land batteries and naval guns. Other action was limited to skirmishes at Pineville, Missouri; Jacinto, Mississippi; and a four-day Federal expedition up the White and Little Red rivers in Arkansas. Federal troops began a month-long expedition against the Indians in Dakota Territory.

A Confederate army chaplain wrote to President Davis and expressed the feeling of many in and out of the Western armies “that every disaster that has befallen us in the West has grown out of the fact that weak and inefficient men have been kept in power,” and “I beseech of you to relieve us of these drones and pigmies.” He included Pemberton and Holmes.

A naval force under Lieutenant Bache reconnoitered the White River above Clarendon, Arkansas, "to gain information as to the whereabouts of [Confederate General Sterling] Price's Army, to destroy the telegraph at Des Arc and capture the operator, and catch the steamboats Kaskaskia and Thom. Sugg." The force, including U.S.S. Lexington, commanded by Lieutenant Bache; U.S.S. Cricket, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Langthorne; and U.S.S. Marmora, commanded by Acting Lieutenant R. Getty, with Army troops embarked, burned a large warehouse at Des Arc, destroyed the telegraph lines for a half a mile, and "obtained some information that we wanted. . . ." Next day, the gunboats proceeded upriver, Lexington and Marmora advancing to Augusta, and Cricket searching the Little Red River for the Confederate steamers. At Augusta, Bache learned that "the Southern army were [sic] concentrating at Brownsville, intending to make their line of defense on Bayou Meto. Price was there and Kirby Smith in Little Rock. Marmaduke had recrossed the White some days before, and was then crossing the Little Red."

Returning downstream, Bache left Marmora to guard the mouth of the Little Red River and ascended the tributary himself, meeting Cricket. Langthorne had captured steamers Kaskaskia and Thomas Sugg with cargoes of cotton, horses, and arms at Searcy and had also destroyed General Marmaduke's pontoon bridge across the river, thereby slowing his movements. Reporting on the successful expedition, Bache noted: "The capture of the two boats, the only means of transportation the rebels had on this river, is a great service to us." Though operations of this nature passed almost unnoticed by the public, it was precisely the Navy's ability to thrust incessantly into the vitals of the Confederacy that helped to keep the South on the defensive.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00