American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

August 14, 1862 Thursday
President Lincoln received a deputation of free Negroes at the White House to which he said, “But for your race among us there could not be war….It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated.” He advocated colonization in Central America and promised them help in carrying out the project.

Two army corps of McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, the Third and Fifth, moved from Harrison’s Landing, Virginia to Aquia Creek, Aug 14-15. There was a reconnaissance from Newport to Swansborough, North Carolina; Aug 14-17 a Federal expedition from Ozark to Forsyth, Missouri; and Aug 14-19 Union cavalry covered the rear of the Army of the Potomac from Harrison’s Landing to Williamsburg, Virginia. Skirmishes were at Barry, Missouri and Mount Pleasant, Tennessee.

U.S.S. Pocahontas, commanded by Lieutenant George B. Balch, and steam tug Treaty, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Baxter, on an expedition up the Black River from Georgetown, South Carolina, exchanged fire with Confederate troops at close range along both banks of the river for a distance of 20 miles in an unsuccessful attempt to capture steamer Nina.

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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

August 15, 1862 Friday
There was a skirmish at Clarendon, Arkansas and a Federal expedition from Fredericksburg to Port Royal, Virginia. Confederate steamer A. B. (or A. Bee), aground at the entrance of the Nueces River near Corpus Christi, was burned to avoid capture by U.S.S. Arthur, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Kittredge.

_________________
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 16, 1862 Saturday
The Federal Army of the Potomac under McClellan completed the evacuation of Harrison’s Landing as its troops moved north to Aquia Creek and Alexandria, Virginia to aid Pope against Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, which advanced from Gordonsville. The Confederate Army of Kentucky under Maj Gen Edmund Kirby Smith crossed the Cumberland Mountains into Kentucky, from Tennessee. Aug 16-22 there were operations about Cumberland Gap, Tennessee including several skirmishes.

Federal troops were defeated in an action near Lone Jack, Missouri but Confederate raiders were driven off by Northern reinforcements ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lone_Jack ). From Aug 16-25 naval forces under Lieutenant Commander S. L. Phelps, including U.S.S. Mound City, Benton, and General Bragg, and rams Monarch, Samson, Lioness, and Switzerland, under Colonel Ellet, convoyed and covered Army troops under Colonel Charles R. Woods in a joint expedition up the Mississippi from Helena as far as the Yazoo River. The force was landed at various points en route, capturing steamer Fairplay above Vicksburg at Millikin’s Bend, with large cargo of arms, and dispersing Confederate troop encampments. The joint expedition also destroyed a newly erected Confederate battery about 20 miles up the Yazoo River. In western Virginia there was a skirmish at Wire Bridge; and others at Meriwether’s Ferry, Obion River, Tennessee; and Horn Lake Creek, Mississippi. Other operations included a Union reconnaissance Aug 16-17 toward Louisa Court House, Virginia and Aug 16-18 a Union naval force, comprising U.S.S. Sachem, Reindeer, Belle Italia, and yacht Corypheus, under command of Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, bombarded Corpus Christi. On 18 August a landing party of sailors from Belle Italia, supported by ships' gunfire, attempted to seize a Confederate battery but was driven back by a cavalry force. Lieutenant Kittredge was captured while ashore on 14 September. Confederate General H. P. Bee characterized Kittredge as "an honorable enemy" and a "bold and energetic leader." Lacking troop strength to occupy and hold Corpus Christi, Sabine City or Galveston, Rear Admiral Farragut's ships nonetheless effectively controlled the Texas coast and pinned down Confederate forces which were vitally needed elsewhere. Edward Dorr Tracy, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory wrote of the desperate need of iron for the South's ships: "The want of iron is severely felt throughout the Confederacy, and the means of increasing its production demand, in my judgment, the prompt consideration of Congress. The Government has outstanding contracts amounting to millions of dollars, but the iron is not forthcoming to met the increasing public wants. Scrap iron of all classes is being industriously collected by agents of the Government, and we are now rolling railroad iron into plates for covering ships. . . ." Chronic lack of iron drastically restricted Confederate ship construction, and eventually weighed heavily in the final decision.. As Commander Maury had written: "Our necessities cry out for a Navy in war; and when peace comes, it will profit us but little to be afluent and free, if we are continually liable to be pillaged by all . . . the breadth of our plantations and the value of our staples will be of small advantage if the others may have the mastery in our own waters." Weakness in naval power made the Confederate supply problems insurmountable.

_________________
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 17, 1862 Sunday
Maj Gen James E.B. Stuart was assigned to command all of the cavalry of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. There was a reconnaissance toward Forge Bridge, Virginia; a skirmish near Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; and Aug 17-27 a Federal expedition from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Hickory Grove, Missouri. A joint landing party from U.S.S. Ellis, Master Benjamin H. Porter, and Army boats destroyed Confederate salt works, battery, and barracks near Swansboro, North Carolina. This constant attack from the sea destroyed the South's resources and drained her strength.

In southwestern Minnesota on this day the tragic Sioux uprising began and lasted until Sept 23 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_War_of_1862 ). The Sioux, allegedly facing semistarvation on their reservations, revolted. After murdering settlers near Acton, Minnesota on this day, vicious depredations continued and Federal soldiers were ambushed on the eighteenth at Redwood Ferry. More troops under former Minnesota governor Henry Hastings Sibley moved in and successfully defended New Ulm and Fort Ridgely and defeated the Indians at Wood Lake Sept 23. More than 1000 Indians were captured and on Dec 26 a total of 38 Sioux were executed at Mankato, Minnesota. The uprising took possibly 450 to 600 lives, exact figures are unknown.

_________________
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 18, 1862 Monday
Gen Pope’s Army of Virginia, pressed by Lee’s advancing Confederates, pulled back to the north bank of the Rappahannock River and awaited reinforcements from McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.

The second session of the Confederate Congress met in Richmond. President Davis sent a message reviewing the progress of the war and of the Confederate nation. He said the prospects “give assurance to the friends of constitutional liberty of our final triumph in the pending struggle against despotic usurpation.” He inveighed against the alleged atrocities of the Yankees, naming especially Benjamin F. Butler. He called for increasing the army and did not minimize the difficulties facing the Confederacy. “We have never-ceasing cause to be grateful for the favor with which God has protected our infant Confederacy,” he concluded.

There were skirmishes and operations at White Oak Ridge, Missouri; Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana; Rapidan Station and Clark’s Mountain, Virginia; Huttonsville, western Virginia; in Tennessee at Dyersburg and on the Tennessee River near Waggoner’s. Col R. Mason of the 71st Ohio surrendered the important city of Clarksville, Tennessee to Confederate forces without a fight. Col Mason was later dismissed from service “for repeated acts of cowardice in the face of the enemy.” At Redwood Ferry, Minnesota, 19 soldiers of 46 survived a Sioux ambush. Around Fort Ridgely houses were in flames, victims were mutilated, and the settlers fled to the fort (speech of Little Crow on eve of the Sioux uprising - http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401804752.html ). At Corpus Christi, Texas a landing party of sailors from Belle Italia, supported by ships' gunfire, attempted to seize a Confederate battery but was driven back by a cavalry force.

President Lincoln invites Secretary of War and Gen Halleck to dinner in honor of Generals George A. McCall ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McCall ) and Michael Corcoran ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Corcoran ), and Colonels Orlando B. Willcox ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_B._Willcox ) and Alfred M. Wood ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_M._Wood ), recently exchanged prisoners. President Lincoln also interviews Gen Henry W. Benham ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_W._Benham ) regarding his dismissal by Gen Hunter for alleged violation of orders in the attack on Secessionville, S.C ( http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/se ... ville.html ).

_________________
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 19, 1862 Tuesday
Federal troops carried out an extensive raid on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Aug 19-21, with skirmishes at Pilot Knob, Drake’s Creek, and Manscoe Creek, near Edgefield Junction, and on the Hartsville Road near Gallatin, Tennessee. Another Union expedition operated from Rienzi to Marietta and Bay Springs, Mississippi on the same days, and there was a scout Aug 19-20 from Woodville to Guntersville, Alabama. A Federal expedition against the Snake Indians in Idaho lasted from this day to Oct 11. There was a skirmish on Clear Creek, Arkansas. Captain John A. Winslow of U.S.S. St. Louis reported the burning by Confederates of Union steamer Swallow, aground below Memphis. James Birdseye McPherson, USA, and Orlando Bolivar Willcox, USA, were appointed to Brigadier General.

In the valley of the Minnesota the Sioux uprising was in full cry. The Indians moved past Fort Ridgely toward New Ulm, desolating the countryside with murder and arson as they went ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_New_Ulm ).

The Federal Department of the Ohio was created, made up of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Kentucky east of the Tennessee River and including Cumberland Gap. Maj Gen H.G. Wright was named to the command.

Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune in a letter dated the nineteenth and printed in his paper on the twentieth, and labeled “The Prayer of Twenty Millions,” questioned the President’s policy on slavery. “We complain that the Union cause has suffered … from mistaken deference to Rebel slavery…. All attempts to put down the Rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile.”

Brother of Mrs. Lincoln, Captain Alexander H. Todd ( http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... id=6045178 ), dies of a wound received in the Battle of Baton Rouge fighting for the Confederacy.

_________________
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 20, 1862 Wednesday
The Federal Army of the Potomac under McClellan was still on the move from the Peninsula toward Aquia Creek and Alexandria, Virginia in support of Pope’s threatened Army of Virginia. Along the Rappahannock River Pope’s men skirmished with the advancing forces of Lee at Raccoon Ford, Stevensburg, Brandy Station, Rappahannock Station, and near Kelly’s Ford. There was action at Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Pilot Knob and Edgefield, Tennessee. The Sioux uprising continued in Minnesota with Indians successfully attacking Fort Ridgely. In Missouri Aug 20-27 there was a Union scout in Wayne, Stoddard, and Dunklin counties. The Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi was set up to include Missouri, Arkansas, the Indian Territory, Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, and Texas. Maj Gen Richard Taylor, CSA, ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Taylor_(general) ) was assigned to command of the District of West Louisiana. President Lincoln discusses colonizing Negroes on Chiriqui land tract in Panama with M. T. Goswell of Baltimore, agent for Chiriqui Real Estate Company.

_________________
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 21, 1862 Thursday
Events moved toward another climax in Virginia as McClellan’s army continued to proceed north toward Washington and Pope’s men skirmished with Lee’s along the Rappahannock River again, at Kelly’s, Beverly, and Freeman’s fords. Federal troops evacuated Baton Rouge, Louisiana; there was an affair on Pinckney Island, South Carolina; and a skirmish at Neosho, Missouri. In the North the issuing of postage stamps for small currency began. In Tennessee Braxton Bragg ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg ) crossed the Tennessee River above Chattanooga preparatory to the start of a new campaign. President Davis proclaimed that Federal Maj Gen David Hunter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hunter ) and Brig Gen John W. Phelps ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Phelps ) should be treated as outlaws and if captured should be held as felons because they were organizing slaves for the Union Army. Phelps himself this day resigned from the Union Army because Washington disavowed his policy. U.S.S. Bienville, under Commander Mullany, captured British blockade runner Eliza, bound from Nassau to Shallotte Inlet, North Carolina.

_________________
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 22, 1862 Friday
President Lincoln replied to Horace Greeley’s “The Prayer of Twenty Millions,” ( http://faculty.assumption.edu/aas/Manus ... eeley.html ) by writing the New York editor, “… I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be ‘the Union as it was,’ … If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that….”

Skirmishing between Lee’s and Pope’s armies continued along the Rappahannock River and there was a raid on Catlett’s Station, wherein Jeb Stuart captured Pope’s baggage train, papers and all. There was a skirmish at Trinity, Alabama and more fighting at Fort Ridgely, Minnesota in the Indian uprising, where the Sioux were repulsed again. There was a lengthy expedition into western Virginia and Ohio by Confederates, ending Sept 19. Meanwhile, McClellan’s army continued to pour into Aquia Creek and Alexandria, Virginia. Gen Butler in New Orleans authorized enlisting free Negroes as Federal soldiers. U.S.S. Keystone State, under Commander Le Roy, captured British schooner Fanny with cargo of salt, near St. Simon's Sound, Georgia.

John Reese Kenly, USA, and Alexander Schimmelfennig, USA, are appointed to Brigadier General. Brigadier General Henry Bohlen, USA, ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bohlen ) is killed while retreating with his command across the Rappahannock River, Virginia, at Freeman's Ford.

_________________
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 23, 1862 Saturday
Extensive small fighting increased along the entire war front. In Missouri it occurred at Four Mile, Hickory Grove, and near Wayman’s Mill or Spring Creek; in Louisiana at Bayou Sara; in Kentucky at Big Hill; in Mississippi at Greenville; in Alabama at Trinity; in Tennessee near Fort Donelson; in western Virginia at Moorefield; and in Virginia at Rappahannock Station, Beverly Ford, Fant’s Ford, Smithfield, Sulphur or Warrenton Springs. A train was captured between Harper’s Ferry and Winchester by Confederates. Federal Maj Gen Horatio G. Wright assumed command of the Department of the Ohio. Mrs. Gabriel R. Paul urges President Lincoln to promote her husband to brigadier general. "She is a saucy woman and I am afraid she will keep tormenting till I may have to do it." Matthew Duncan Ector, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

U.S.S. Adirondack, commanded by Captain Guert Gansevoort, ran on a reef outside Man of War Cay, Little Bahamas, and was abandoned after efforts to save her failed. U.S.S. Bienville, under Commander Mullany, seized British blockade runner Louisa off Cape Romain, South Carolina. U.S.S. James S. Chambers, commanded by Acting Master D. Frank Mosman, seized schooner Corelia off the coast of Cuba. Boat crew from U.S.S. Essex, commanded by Captain W. D. Porter, was fired upon by Confederate guerrillas at Bayou Sara, Louisiana. Essex shelled the town.

_________________
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 24, 1862 Sunday
Near the Azores in the Atlantic, CSS Alabama was commissioned as a cruiser of the Confederate Navy and received its armament and supplies. In Missouri skirmishing continued on Coon Creek near Lama ( http://www.pddoc.com/skedaddle/010/0050.htm ), on Crooked Creek near Dallas, and there was also action near Bloomfield. There was a Federal scout which continued until the twenty-eighth from Salem to Current River, Missouri. In Virginia there were actions on this day and the twenty-fifth at Waterloo Bridge. Major General John Porter McCown, CSA, is assigned temporary command of the Department of East Tennessee. President Lincoln selects Sen Pomeroy (Kansas) for commissioner of African colonization. The Sioux conducted the Belmont massacre in Minnesota ( http://www.telelaget.com/pioneers/uprising/belmont.htm ).

Boat crew from U.S.S. Essex, commanded by Captain W. D. Porter, was fired upon by Confederate guerrillas at Bayou Sara, Louisiana. Essex shelled the town.

Raphael Semmes took command of C.S.S. Alabama at sea off the island of Terceira, Azores. Of Alabama, Semmes said, "She was indeed a beautiful thing to look upon." As Semmes finished reading his orders promoting him to Captain and appointing him to command Alabama, the Confederate ensign replaced the English colors at the mast head, a gun was fired, and "The air was rent by a deafening cheer from officers and men. The band, at the same time, playing Dixie." Thus, the celebrated raider was christened to begin her storied two year career.

U.S.S. Isaac N. Seymour, commanded by Acting Master Francis S. Wells, ran aground and sank in Neuse River, North Carolina.

U.S.S. Henry Andrew, commanded by Lieutenant Arthur S. Gardner, wrecked after grounding during a heavy gale 15 miles south of Cape Henry, Virginia.

U.S.S. Stars and Stripes, commanded by Lieutenant McCook, captured British ship Mary Elizabeth, attempting to run the blockade into Wilmington with cargo of salt and fruit.

U.S. yacht Corypheus, tender to U.S.S. Arthur, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Kittredge, captured schooner Water Witch off Aransas Bay, Texas.

_________________
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 25, 1862 Monday
Sec of War Edwin M. Stanton authorized the commander of the Southern Department to “receive into the service of the United States” Negro soldiers up to five thousand in number and to train them as guards for plantations and settlements.

In Kentucky skirmishes were at Red Bird Creek and Madisonville; in Tennessee at Fort Donelson; and in Mississippi at Bolivar. Fighting in Virginia was at Sulphur Springs. After two days of fighting the Sioux Indians were driven off and the garrison and civilian population of New Ulm, Minnesota evacuated the town, fearing further attack. John Potts Slough, USA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

Stonewall Jackson was on the march again, heading north from below the Rappahannock River, followed by Longstreet’s corps. Lee’s offensive had begun in earnest.

_________________
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 26, 1862 Tuesday
The Second Manassas Campaign might be said to have opened this day ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manassas_S ... ll_Jackson) ). Confederate cavalry under Fitzhugh Lee entered Manassas Junction and captured the rail point. Jackson’s troops hurried their march, begun Aug 25, from below the Rappahannock River to the area of the Battle of First Bull Run or Manassas of a year before. There were skirmishes at Bristoe Station, Bull Run Bridge, Gainesville, Haymarket, Manassas Junction, and Sulphur Springs. By evening Jackson’s main force, which had pushed through Thoroughfare Gap in the Bull Run mountains, was at Bristoe Station. At Manassas the Confederates captured a few hundred prisoners and large amounts of quartermaster and commissary supplies. Meanwhile, Pope’s Federal Army of Virginia rested, not comprehending Jackson’s movement. McClellan’s Federal Second Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac left Fort Monroe for the north, continuing evacuation of the James position. There was skirmishing at Cumberland Iron Works and Cumberland Gap, Tennessee and near Rienzi, Mississippi. Colonel James H. Carleton, 1st California Infantry, is assigned command of the Department of New Mexico. Confederate steamer Yorktown, running the blockade from Mobile to Havana, sprung a leak and foundered at sea off Ship Island with cargo of cotton.

_________________
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 27, 1862 Wednesday
In the morning Pope abandoned his now outflanked Federal lines on the Rappahannock River and sent troops north toward Manassas and other points. For Pope, a time of confusion had begun. Most Jackson’s force was now destroying stores and facilities at Manassas. Lee, with Longstreet’s corps, which had also left the Rappahannock River, was marching to support Jackson. Federals attempted to halt Confederate operations in various skirmishes but were badly outnumbered. There was action at Bull Run Bridge, Kettle Run near Bristoe Station, Buckland Bridge or Broad Run, Salem, and Waterford. President Lincoln, cut off the day before from communication with Pope, wired Gen Burnside at Falmouth for news of Pope. Nearly half of the Confederate army was now between Pope and Washington, where strong forces under McClellan were disembarking and regrouping after coming north from the James River. Other portions of McClellan’s army which had landed at Aquia Creek were moving to aid Pope.

In Alabama there was a skirmish at Bridgeport on the Tennessee River. In Tennessee fighting was at Fort McCook or Battle Creek, Reynolds’ Station, Richland Creek near Pulaski, near Murfreesboro, at Round Mountain near Woodbury, and near Cumberland Gap. In Mississippi there was a skirmish near Kossuth. Most of the fighting in Tennessee was the result of the Confederate Army under Gen Braxton Bragg undertaking preliminary dispositions by crossing the Tennessee River at Chattanooga for what was to be his fall invasion of Tennessee and Kentucky. E. Kirby Smith, cooperating with Bragg, had moved from northeastern Tennessee toward central Kentucky.

U.S.S. South Carolina, under Commander John J. Almy, destroyed abandoned schooner Patriot, aground near Mosquito Inlet, Florida. U.S.S. Santiago de Cuba, under Commander Ridgely, captured blockade runner Lavinia north of Abaco with cargo of turpentine.

_________________
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 28, 1862 Thursday
On the night of Aug 27-28 Stonewall Jackson did not wait to be attacked at Manassas but withdrew, taking position along the Warrenton Turnpike west of the old Bull Run battlefield. John Pope and some of his Federals, hurrying north from the Rappahannock River, reached Manassas about noon to find Jackson gone. Receiving conflicting reports as to the Confederates’ whereabouts, Pope finally ordered his scattered troops to concentrate on Centreville, erroneously thinking the enemy to be there. The division of Rufus King moved along the Warrenton Turnpike and late in the afternoon was fired on by Jackson near Groveton or Brawner’s Farm ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Bull_Run and http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/se ... m-map.html and http://www.us-civilwar.com/groveton.htm ). The fierce fight resulted in heavy casualties. Pope now believed Jackson was retreating and gave orders to reconcentrate his forces against the Confederate corps. In midafternoon, Lee and Longstreet arrived at Thoroughfare Gap, to the west of Jackson, and after a brief engagement bypassed the enemy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thoroughfare_Gap ). There were also skirmishes at Centreville, Lewis’ Ford, and Haymarket. The board was being set for a major battle on the morrow.

From just north of Chattanooga Gen Braxton Bragg led his Confederate Army of Tennessee (though not officially given that name) northward into central Tennessee over Walden’s Ridge. Bragg intended to recover eastern Tennessee and Kentucky as well as draw back Buell’s threat to Chattanooga.

In Minnesota H.H Sibley ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hastings_Sibley ) and his men relieved Fort Ridgely ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Ridgely and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ridgely ) in their efforts to put down the Sioux uprising. In Missouri there was skirmishing at Ashley and in Howard County. Another skirmish occurred near Corinth, Mississippi; and from this day to Sep 3 there was a Federal expedition from Helena to Eunice, Arkansas. Notorious Confederate spy Belle Ford was released from old Capitol Prison in Washington for lack of evidence. Ministers of Central American governments protest to President Lincoln the colonization of Negroes on the Isthmus of Chiriqui. Edward Aylesworth Perry, 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