American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

July 29, 1864 Friday
Cavalry of Jubal Early under John McCausland ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCausland ) crossed the Potomac River west of Williamsport near Cave Spring, entering Maryland and Pennsylvania. Other Confederate cavalry demonstrated against Harper’s Ferry. Another unit at Williamsport went north to skirmish at Hagerstown, Maryland. Skirmishing also flared at Clear Spring, Maryland and Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Once more panic erupted among Northerners in the east. Union cavalry and other units responded to the new threat of Early’s men. On the Richmond-Petersburg front Hancock and Sheridan withdrew from north of the James River to the Petersburg line to take part in the impending assault. The Federal expedition forced a shift of some Confederate units away from Petersburg. The mining operations at Petersburg neared completion, and the explosion was planned for July 30. Troops of Burnside and other units moved into position.

On the Atlanta front Federal cavalry fought Confederates at Lovejoy’s Station and Smith’s Crossroads in their efforts to wreck the vital Southern railroads. Otherwise there was an affair at Highland Stockade near Baton Rouge, Louisiana and other action near Napoleonville, Louisiana. In Missouri Federals carried out a five-day expedition from Warrensburg to Chapel Hill. Thomas Benton Smith, CSA, is 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

July 30, 1864 Saturday
“A fort and several hundred yards of earth works with men and cannon was literally hurled a hundred feet in the air,” wrote a Southern soldier on witnessing “probably the most terrific explosion ever known in this country.” For more than a month the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, composed in large part of coal miners, had been digging a 586-foot-long tunnel under the 400 feet between the Federal and Confederate lines at Elliott’s Salient on the eastern side of the siege lines at Petersburg. At four forty-five in the morning the blast went off. Possibly 278 Confederates were killed in the blast, which dug a hole 170 feet long, 60 to 80 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Union Ninth Corps troops advanced. Shocked Confederates rallied and concentrated back of the crater, firing rapidly into the Federals. By eight-thirty about 15,000 troops, including many Negro elements, were in the crater area. Rapid volleys and counterattacks by Confederates under Maj Gen William Mahone halted the Federal advance. By early afternoon the Federals were ordered back. The North had lost 4000 killed and wounded to 1500 Confederates. The second major frontal assault on Petersburg had failed. In the aftermath, many charges, including ineffectiveness and drunkenness, were bandied about. At any rate, the successful mining operations ended in the failure of the assault, due to Confederate resistance and some Federal ineptitude ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Crater and http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/the-crater.html ).

Confederates entered Pennsylvania once more. In the morning cavalry of Early’s command rode into Chambersburg under McCausland. He threatened to burn the town unless $500,000 in currency or $100,000 in gold be paid to him, in reparation for Hunter’s depredations in the Shenandoah Valley. The people could not raise such a sum so the town was fired ( http://www.pacivilwartrails.com/stories ... ambersburg ). With Chambersburg in flames, McCausland moved west to McConnellsburg. Averell’s Federals soon pursued the Confederates. Other places in Early’s path saw skirmishing, including Emmitsburg, Monocacy Junction, and near Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

In Georgia Sherman’s cavalry raiders fought near Clear Creek, near Newman, at Macon (cavalry under Federal Major General George Stoneman, USA, attempt to liberate Union prisoners at Georgia's Andersonville Prison, but is captured by Major General Joseph Wheeler's forces near Macon, Georgia) and Clinton, and along the Chattahoochee River. Elsewhere, fighting erupted at Paint Rock Station, Alabama; Clifton, Tennessee; Bayou Tensas, Louisiana; Hay Station No 3 near Brownsville and at Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and a scout by Federals in Phelps and Maries counties, Missouri. Confederate forces reoccupied Brownsville, Texas after some skirmishing nearby. Major General Henry W. Slocum ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Warner_Slocum ), USA, is assigned command of the Federal 20th Army Corps. William Mahone, CSA, is appointed to Major General. The appointments are made to Brigadier General: Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey, CSA; David Addison Weisiger, CSA; William Worth Belknap, USA; Luther Prentice Bradley, USA; Joseph Alexander Cooper, USA; William Grose, USA; James William Reilly, USA; John Wilson Sprague, USA; and Charles Carroll Walcutt, USA.

President Lincoln left Washington for Fort Monroe to confer with Gen Grant.

_________________
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, 1864 Sunday
Confederate cavalry, after burning Chambersburg, Pennsylvania was now fully occupied with Averell’s pursuing Federals. At Hancock, Maryland on the Potomac River, Averell attacked McCausland’s Southerners, who pulled out to the northwest at Cumberland, Maryland. Otherwise the month ended quietly, with an affair at Orange Grove near Donaldsonville, Louisiana and action near Fort Smith, Arkansas. President Lincoln held a five-hour conference with Gen Grant and then headed back toward Washington. Meanwhile, at Petersburg, the lines were being reestablished in the area of the huge crater.

_________________
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, 1864 Monday
From their base of operations in the Shenandoah Valley the Confederate forces under Early still threatened the Federals. McCausland’s cavalry, successful in its expedition against Chambersburg, Pennsylvania engaged the Federal garrison at Cumberland, Maryland. McCausland was now in trouble, with more Federals closing in. There was also an affair at Flintstone Creek near Cumberland. Meanwhile, Early faced a new adversary. The Federals named Maj Gen Philip H. Sheridan ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Sheridan ) commander of the Army of the Shenandoah with the special task of ridding the Valley of Early and all Confederates. In the Richmond-Petersburg area the siege went on with a skirmish at Deep Bottom, Virginia amid indications that soon Grant would try to cut the railroads still bringing supplies to the Confederate capital.

Otherwise there was a series of scouts and expeditions, largely by Union forces. Operations in southwest Missouri, which lasted for most of August, included a skirmish at Diamond Grove Prairie. Also in Missouri skirmishes occurred at Rolla and near Independence, and Federals scouted out toward Gunter’s Mills. A Union scout probed against Indians near Smoky Hill Fork, Kansas. Federals operating in eastern Arkansas skirmished at Lamb’s Plantation. After a skirmish at Athens, Tennessee Federals pursued the Confederates into North Carolina. For six days a Federal scout operated from Strawberry Plains to Greeneville, Tennessee. For most of the month a Union expedition marched from La Grange, Tennessee to Oxford, Mississippi; and there were considerable operations in eastern Kentucky with a skirmish near Bardstown, Kentucky. Sherman’s guns shelled Atlanta. Powell Clayton, USA, 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 2, 1864 Tuesday
Early’s cavalry under McCausland fought again at Hancock, Maryland as they sought to recross the Potomac River after their Chambersburg raid, with skirmishing at Old Town, Maryland and Green Spring Run, West Virginia. At Mobile the obvious build-up of Federal naval forces continued. Of the two remaining major Confederate ports, Mobile, Alabama and Wilmington, North Carolina, Mobile would be easier to attack. But it did have two well-placed forts at the mouth of the bay and a fairly powerful Confederate naval armament. A Federal reconnaissance moved from Berwick to Pattersonville, Louisiana and nine days of operations took place near Holden, Missouri. Confederate naval officials decided it was impossible to get C.S.S. Rappahannock, laid up at Calais, out to sea as a raider. The French would allow her only a thirty-five-man crew. William Miller, 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 3, 1864 Wednesday
Federal land forces landed on Dolphin Island and invested Fort Gaines at the entrance to Mobile Bay. However, the fort remained in Confederate hands, guarding the entrance from the west, along with Fort Morgan on the east. McCausland had made good his escape from Maryland to West Virginia with part of Early’s command. In Georgia Federal troops increased their pressure on Atlanta by crossing Utoy Creek, fighting at Sunshine Church, Frogtown, Jug Tavern, and Mulberry Creek. Meanwhile, the cavalry units sent out by Sherman ran into opposition. On the southern Virginia front action erupted near Wilcox’s Landing. Elsewhere, action involved skirmishes at Triune, Tennessee; a four-day Federal scout from Cumberland Gap, Tennessee into Lee County, Virginia and to Tazewell, Tennessee; operations about Woodville, Tennessee; a skirmish near Fayette, Missouri; and a series of Union scouts until November from Fort Sumner, New Mexico Territory. John Decatur Barry, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

President Lincoln, annoyed by the inaction of officers in the Shenandoah Valley, told Grant that his idea of following the enemy “to the death” “will neither be done nor attempted unless you watch it every day, and hour, and force it.” As a result of the message ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... ln7%3A1047 ) Grant came to Washington Aug 4 to see what could be done. Gen Sheridan reached Washington to take over in the Shenandoah Valley.

_________________
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, 1864 Thursday
Early’s men still skirmished at Antietam Ford, Maryland with action at New Creek, West Virginia as the Confederate force remained a bane of the Federals in Virginia. Action occurred near Harrison’s Landing, Virginia and a skirmish broke out at Tracy City, Tennessee. There were ten days of operations in and around Brazos Santiago, Texas and a three-day Federal expedition from Natchez, Mississippi to Gillespie’s Plantation, Louisiana. Firing on Fort Sumter by Federals continued until Aug 23 but slackened. Federals continued crossing Utoy Creek on the west side of Atlanta in their slow extension of the siege line toward the south side of the city. Gen Grant left City Point for Washington and Frederick, Maryland to straighten out plans to thwart Early. John Calvin Brown, CSA, was appointed to Major General and Bryan Morel Thomas, CSA, 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 5, 1864 Friday
“I am going into Mobile Bay in the morning if ‘God is my leader’ as I hope he is …” wrote Adm Farragut to his wife Aug 4. In the morning his Union fleet of eighteen ships including four monitors entered Mobile Bay, passing between the fearsome forts guarding the three-mile channel ( http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/mobile-bay.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mobile_Bay ). Adm Farragut had desired to launch the long-delayed attack since resuming command of his squadron in January. In addition to the stanchly armed Forts Gaines and Morgan were three small gunboats and the formidable C.S.S. Tennessee, said to be the most powerful ironclad afloat. Furthermore, only a narrow passage in the harbor channel remained unblocked by obstructions and torpedoes or mines. Farragut had his four ironclad monitors in the starboard column led by Tecumseh and fourteen wooden ships in the port column, with Brooklyn in the lead and Hartford as flag. At 5:30 A.M. the fleet moved in, and Fort Morgan opened on Brooklyn shortly after 7 A.M. Action became general between the Yankee navy and Fort Morgan (Gordon Granger had invested Fort Gaines on Aug 3).

The Confederate fleet joined in. U.S.S. Tecumseh headed for C.S.S. Tennessee. Then one or more torpedoes exploded under her. In seconds Tecumseh went down prow first, two hundred yards from the enemy. Shortly after this Adm Farragut, in the port rigging of Hartford, is said to have shouted, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.” Regardless of just what he said, that is what the fleet did. There were anxious moments as Hartford took the van. However, the rest of the fleet passed the forts with minor loss. Three Federals rammed the sluggish Tennessee by midmorning. The Union monitors opened and Tennessee, rather vulnerable despite her armor, went out of control. Confederate Adm Franklin Buchanan suffered a broken leg. At 10 A.M., after heavy pounding, Tennessee surrendered. The Federals suffered 145 killed, including 93 drowned on Tecumseh, 170 wounded, and four captured. Confederate losses were 12 killed, 20 wounded, and 270 captured. U.S.S. Philippi was destroyed, C.S.S. Selma was forced to surrender, and C.S.S. Gaines was sunk.

Adm Farragut had again proven that ships could handle forts. Closing Mobile as a Confederate port set the stage for land operations against the city.

On the front along the Potomac River, northwest of Washington, skirmishing broke out at Keedysville, Williamsport, and Hagerstown as Confederates once more entered Maryland in a brief foray. A skirmish at Huttonsville, West Virginia also marked the minor fighting between Early’s men and the pursuing Federals. Sharp fighting along Utoy Creek near Atlanta further thwarted Schofield in his attempt to edge south of Atlanta along the western fringe. At Petersburg a Confederate mine exploded in front of the Federal Eighteenth Corps. Other skirmishing occurred at Cabin Point, Virginia; near Remount Camp, Arkansas; at Olive Branch, Doyal’s Plantation, and Concordia Bayou, Louisiana. The following appointments were made to Brigadier General: Philip Cook, CSA; Archibald Campbell Godwin, CSA; and Joseph Abel Haskin, USA.

The Radical Republican elements in Congress opened their campaign against President Lincoln. Representative Henry Winter Davis of Maryland and Sen Benjamin Wade of Ohio issued, in the New York Tribune, what became known as the Wade-Davis Manifesto. In answer to Lincoln’s proclamation on his pocket veto of the Radical reconstruction plan, the authors said, “it is their right and duty to check the encroachments of the Executive on the authority of Congress….” They accused Lincoln of personal ambition in refusing to sign the Wade-Davis bill. Also charging the President with attempting to make, not execute, the laws, they claimed “the authority of Congress is paramount and must be respected.”

President Lincoln receives July salary warrant for $1,981.67, reduced $101.66 by income tax enacted June 30, 1864.

_________________
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, 1864 Saturday
With the Federal fleet in Mobile Bay and troops near Fort Gaines, the Confederate Fort Powell, guarding a secondary bay entry, was evacuated the night of Aug 5-6 after being bombarded by U.S.S. Chickasaw. Chickasaw then bombarded Fort Gaines on the sixth. Confederate cruiser Tallahassee left Wilmington, North Carolina for a three week cruise, during which she would take more than thirty prizes. The fighting at Utoy Creek ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Utoy_Creek ) southwest of Atlanta continued as Sherman, with Schofield’s army in the lead, attempted to cut the Confederate railroads south of Atlanta. The Confederates had firmly entrenched, aided by tangled undergrowth and felled trees. Federals finally outflanked the Confederate line and forced it to fall back to a new position. Elsewhere, the fighting was at Indian Village and Plaquemine, Louisiana. Federals scouted in Saline County, Missouri and an expedition by Federals from Little Rock to Little Red River, Arkansas lasted until the sixteenth. Early pulled back south of the Potomac River again, due to threats to his rear.

_________________
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, 1864 Sunday
Fort Gaines in Mobile Bay surrendered to the Federal army on Dauphin Island, but Fort Morgan remained in Confederate hands. Col Charles D. Anderson of Fort Gaines was censured by his superiors for raising the white flag. They believed he should have continued fighting and overruled his surrender. Skirmishes erupted at the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi; at Enterprise and near Huntsville, Missouri; at Oldfields near Moorefield, West Virginia. There were affairs near Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory and at Grand Bayou, Florida. A two-day Federal scout from Independence into La Fayette County, Missouri operated against guerrillas. Confederates raided into Union County, Tennessee.

Maj Gen Philip H. Sheridan was assigned command of the new Middle Military Division, which included the Middle Department and those of Washington, the Susquehanna, and West Virginia. His army became known as the Army of the Shenandoah. The main object was to coordinate operations against Early’s Confederate force. In Washington Grant, Halleck, and Stanton conferred with the President. President Davis was concerned over the personality conflicts between Gen Hood and Gen Hardee at Atlanta.

_________________
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, 1864 Monday
After considerable confusion among Confederate authorities, Fort Gaines finally surrendered to Federal forces on Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. Skirmishing occurred at Fairfax Station, Virginia; Salem, Kentucky; and La Fayette, Tennessee. Federal scouts against Indians operated from Salina to Mulberry Creek, Kansas; on the Little Missouri River in Dakota Territory; and from Camp Anderson to Bald Mountain, California. U.S.S. Violet, commanded by Acting Ensign Thomas Stothard, ran aground off the western bar at Cape Fear River, North Carolina, and was destroyed. Stothard and his men labored to keep Violet afloat for five hours, but seeing that the water was gaining, fired her magazine and abandoned the small wooden steamer. James Deering Fessenden, USA, is 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 9, 1864 Tuesday
In Virginia the siege lines at Petersburg were quiet. Sheridan prepared to move from Halltown and Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia toward Winchester, Virginia and Early’s Confederates. At Atlanta Sherman’s Federals regrouped and rested for new moves against Hood and the city. John S. Mosby was becoming more active in his raiding of Federal-held sections of Virginia. During mid-August minor but extensive operations in central Arkansas included some skirmishing. A Federal expedition from La Grange, Tennessee to Oxford, Mississippi skirmished at Hurricane Creek and Oxford. Brevet Major General Jefferson C. Davis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_C._Davis ), USA, is assigned command of the Federal 14th Army Corps. Blockade running steamer Prince Albert went aground off Fort Moultrie at Charleston and was destroyed by U.S.S. Catskill, under Commander Napoleon B. Harrison, and the Morris Island batteries.

Though the Union fleet under Rear Admiral Farragut controlled Mobile Bay and Forts Powell and Gaines were in Northern hands, Brigadier General Richard L. Page ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_L._Page ), formerly a U.S. naval officer and until recently a Commander in the Confederate Navy, gallantly refused to surrender Fort Morgan to the overwhelming forces opposing him. Federal naval forces took station in the Bay while troops began the land investment of Fort Morgan. After a brief bombardment, Farragut and Union Army commander Major General Gordon Granger advised Page: To prevent the unnecessary sacrifice of human life which must follow the opening of our batteries, we demand the unconditional surrender of Fort Morgan and its dependencies." Undaunted, the Confederate officer replied: "I am prepared to sacrifice life, and will only surrender when I have no means of defense." He was fighting his fort as he would have his ship.

A tremendous explosion rocked City Point, Virginia, killing 43, injuring 126, and causing vast property damage. Two resourceful members of the Confederate Torpedo Corps, John Maxwell and R. K. Dillard, planted a clockwork torpedo containing twelve pounds of powder on a Union transport at City Point, Virginia, causing a huge explosion which rocked the entire area. Maxwell and Dillard succeeded in getting through Union lines to the wharf area, where Maxwell convinced the trusting wharf sentry that he had been ordered by the captain of the ammunition barge to deliver a box on board. The box was accepted and the two Confederates hastily started back for Richmond. When the torpedo exploded an hour later, it set in motion a devastating chain reaction which spread the holocaust from the barges to storage buildings on shore and even to General Grant's headquarters. Grant hurried off a message to General Halleck in Washington: "Five minutes ago an ordnance boat exploded, carrying lumber, grape, canister, and all kinds of shot over this point. Every part of the yard used as my headquarters is filled with splinters and fragments of shell." Gen Grant, sitting in front of his tent, was showered with debris but was uninjured.

President Lincoln wrote Gen Banks that he was anxious for the people of Louisiana to ratify the new state constitution. President Lincoln also wrote Horace Greeley that most of the correspondence regarding negotiations by Greeley and others with Confederates could be published except for a few portions he did not think it wise to reveal.

_________________
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, 1864 Wednesday
Confederate cavalry under Joseph Wheeler ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_L._Page ) began a raid lasting until Sept 9 on Federal rail lines and other communications in north Georgia and east Tennessee. Jubal Early moved his Confederate forces southward in the Shenandoah Valley from Bunker Hill, West Virginia to near Winchester, Virginia. Sheridan’s forces were marching south from the Halltown-Harper’s Ferry area. Near Atlanta action flared at Lovejoy’s Station, Georgia. Other fighting was at Baldwin, Florida; Tallahatchie River, Mississippi; and near Stone Chapel, Virginia. Union scouts operated from Morganza, Louisiana. President Davis wrote to Lee about obtaining an adequate supply of soap for the army in front of Petersburg. Three small Federal vessels suffered severely during a two-day duel with Southern artillery at Gaines’ Landing, Arkansas on the Mississippi River. Lundsford Lindsay Lomax, CSA, was appointed to Major General. Rear Admiral Farragut continued steady day and night bombardment, battering down the walls of Fort Morgan resolutely defended by his former shipmate, General Page.

Cruising within 80 miles of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, C.S.S. Tallahassee, under Commander Wood, took seven prizes, including schooners Sarah A. Boyce and Carrol, brigs Richards and Carrie Estelle, cargo of logs, pilot boats James Funk (No. 22) and William Bell (No. 24), and bark Bay State, cargo of wood. All were scuttled or burned except Carrol, which was bonded for $10,000 and sent to New York with the passengers and crews of the other ships. Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding, Commandant of the New York Navy Yard, immediately wired Secretary Welles: "Pirate off Sandy Hook, capturing and burning." By evening, Paulding had three ships in pursuit of Tallahassee. Welles, hoping to head off the Southern raider and prevent another cruise similar to the June 1863 raid of Lieutenant Charles Read in C.S.S. Tacony, telegraphed naval commanders at Hampton Roads, Philadelphia, and Boston, ordering a large-scale search for Wood.

_________________
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, 1864 Thursday
Faced with Sheridan’s advancing Federals, Jubal Early pulled his Confederates out of Winchester and headed south up the Shenandoah Valley toward Cedar Creek. Fighting broke out near Winchester, Newtown, and at Toll-Gate, near White Post. As news of the Federal victory at Mobile Bay spread, the main active front remained the turbulent campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, a plaguing thorn in the Federal flanks.

Meanwhile, other operations continued at a steady pace – a Union expedition from Rome, Georgia to Jacksonville, Alabama; skirmishing in Arkansas on White Oak Creek and in Crawford County; a skirmish at Hartville, Missouri; an expedition of U.S. Negro troops to Kent’s Landing, Arkansas; and Federal operations in Johnson County, Missouri. Federal troops operated against Indians in Nebraska Territory until late October. The Yankees skirmished with Indians near Sand Creek in Colorado Territory. Daniel Davidson Bidwell, USA, is appointed to Brigadier General.

President Davis told Lee at Petersburg, “It is thought idle to attack your entrenchments but feasible to starve you out.”

_________________
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, 1864 Friday
Sheridan moved toward Early in the Shenandoah Valley as the Confederates entrenched along Cedar Creek, south of Winchester. A brief skirmish along Cedar Creek initiated the feeling-out process. Elsewhere, there were operations in Madison County, Alabama; in Ray and Carroll counties of Missouri; skirmishing near Van Buren, Arkansas; and operations against Indians in the San Andres Mountains of New Mexico and near Fort Garland, Colorado Territory. Ram Tennessee got up steam for the first time since her capture by Rear Admiral Farragut on 5 August. She had been fitted with a new stack on the l1th and this date tried it out by steaming around the bay. On the 13th Tennessee steamed down and opened on Fort Morgan. Joseph Anthony Mower, USA, is appointed to Major General.

C.S.S. Tallahassee, under Commander Wood, seized six more prizes while continuing her devastating cruise off the New York coast. Wood burned ships Atlantic, Adriatic, and Spokane, cargo of lumber; attempted to scuttle brig Billow, cargo of lumber, and released bark Suliote and schooner Robert E. Packer, cargo of lumber, on bond. Billow did not sink and was retaken by U.S.S. Grand Gulf, under Commander Ransom, two days later. Alarm spread along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts.

In Washington some politicians, among them Thurlow Weed, told President Lincoln he was in danger of being defeated in the election. There was even some talk, completely unsubstantiated, that Gen Grant would be a candidate ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... ln7%3A1081 ).

_________________
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