September 19, 1864 Monday
North and east of Winchester Sheridan’s superior Union army of about 40,000 hit Early’s separated force of about 12,000. Federal cavalry crossed the Opequon north of the city and headed west toward the Martinsburg Pike and Stephenson’s Depot. Meanwhile, the main force of infantry came in along the Berryville Pike and headed west to strike the highway running north out of Winchester. Maj Gen S.D. Ramseur’s Confederate division was forced to retire along the Berryville Pike and Early called in his three other divisions from the north. The Confederates hit a gap in the Union line. Southern Gen Robert E. Rodes (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Rodes ) was mortally wounded. Brigadier General Archibald Campbell Godwin (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_C._Godwin ), CSA, is killed instantly by a Federal artillery shell fragment and Brigadier General David Allen Russell (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allen_Russell ), USA, is killed instantly by a Confederate artillery shell fragment through his heart while leading his command during the Battle of Winchester III, Virginia. The Federals held and slowly drove the Confederates back. Breckinridge’s Southern division withdrew from north of town in face of Northern cavalry and then formed the left of a new Confederate line east and still north of Winchester. Late in the afternoon the Federals advanced again and Early was forced to order a general retreat up the Valley Pike. The losses were heavy: Federal, 697 killed, 2983 wounded, and 338 missing for 4918; Confederate, estimated at 276 killed, 1827 wounded, and 1818 missing or captured for 3921. A mix-up in movement may have cost Sheridan an even more successful battle, but Early was badly beaten (
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/th ... ester.html and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Opequon ).
Far off to the west, a rather desperate column under Sterling Price entered Missouri in the last significant Trans-Mississippi invasion by the Confederates (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price%27s_Raid ). An affair at Doniphan, Missouri marked the beginning. Brig Gens Stand Watie (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_Watie ) and Richard M. Gano (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Montgomery_Gano ) successfully attacked a Union wagon train at Cabin Creek, in northeastern Indian Territory. Federals reported losses of 202 wagons, 5 ambulances, 40 horses, and 1253 mules, valued at $1,500,000. Later in the same day action occurred at Pryor’s Creek not far from Cabin Creek.
Off Charleston desultory firing on Fort Sumter by the Federals lasted the rest of the month and totaled 494 rounds. On the Mississippi River Union expeditions from Natchez lasted several days. A skirmish is recorded for Culpeper, Virginia. Matthew Calbraith Butler, CSA, and James Lawson Kemper, CSA, are appointed to Major General.
In a daring, somewhat farfetched adventure, Confederate agents under John Yates Beall captured the steamer Philo Parsons on Lake Erie and then captured and burned Island Queen. Beall was to sail near Johnson’s Island, where U.S.S. Michigan guarded Confederate prisoners. Meanwhile, Capt Charles H. Cole, C.S.A., was to capture Michigan. The two vessels would then release the prisoners and carry out operations on the lake. However, near Sandusky the commander of Michigan had discovered the plot and arrested Cole, a passenger. Beall was forced to burn Philo Parsons at Sandwich, Canada.
On behalf of Indiana's Republican Governor Oliver Morton, President Lincoln writes to General William T. Sherman seeking the temporary release of some soldiers. Lincoln refers to Indiana's upcoming election and explains, "Indiana is the only important State, voting in October, whose soldiers cannot vote in the field. Any thing you can safely do to let her soldiers, or any part of them, go home and vote at the State election, will be greatly in point. . . . This is, in no sense, an order, but is merely intended to impress you with the importance, to the army itself, of your doing all you safely can." Indiana was a pivotal state to the Republicans and Lincoln in the coming election.
President Davis wrote the governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida that “harmony of action between the States and Confederate authorities is essential to the public welfare.” He was referring to state proclamations requiring aliens to serve in the military or leave the South. He pointed out that such a policy deprived the Confederacy of needed skilled workmen and asked that such aliens be encouraged to serve in non-military capacities.