Edwin M. Stanton to Major-General Ambrose Burnside, May 7, 1863

WAR DEPARTMENT,

May 7, 1863.

Major-General BURNSIDE,  Cincinnati, Ohio^†

The President and General-in-Chief have just returned from the Army of the Potomac. The principal operation of General Hooker failed, but there has been no serious disaster to the organization and efficiency of the army. It is now occupying its former position on the Rappahannock, having recrossed the river without any loss in the movement. Not more than one-third of General Hooker's force was engaged. General Stoneman's operations have been a brilliant success. A part of his force advanced to within 2 miles of Richmond, and the enemy's communications have been cut in every direction. The Army of the Potomac will speedily resume offensive operations.

EDWlN M. STANTON,

Secretary of War.

_______________

^† Similar letters sent to Generals Grant, Rosecrans, Dix, Pope and Curtis, and to the Governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, California, Oregon, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Connecticut.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 25, Part 2 (Serial No. 40), p. 437-8

Review: Stoneman's Raid 1865

Stoneman's Raid 1865

By Chris J. Hartley

By the spring of 1865 General George Stoneman, had been labeled a failure.  During the Chancellorsville Campaign he led an ultimately fruitless raid toward Richmond.  He followed it up during the Atlanta Campaign by being captured by Joseph Wheeler’s Confederate Cavalry near Macon, Georgia, July 31, 1864, earning the dubious distinction of being the highest ranking Union prisoner of war.  Stoneman’s chance at redemption came in the spring of 1865 when he led approximately 4,000 cavalrymen on a raid into Virginia and North Carolina.

Set against the backdrop of the closing days of the Civil War, Stoneman’s raid occurs simultaneously with the collapse of the Army of Northern Virginia at Petersburg, its eventual surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, the southward fleeing government of the Confederate States, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the manhunt for his killer, John Wilkes Booth.  Given all of these events it is no wonder that Stoneman’s 1865 raid has been in the historical shadow for so many years.

Chris J. Hartley has pulled George Stoneman’s 1865 raid out of the shadows of history by highlighting the raid in his book, “Stoneman’s Raid 1865.”  Thoroughly researched and written in an easily read style, Mr. Hartley’s impressive tome leaves no historical stone unturned.  Beginning in March of 1865 with its planning, Mr. Hartley follows the raiders every day and everywhere they went for following two months of the raid.  He meticulously traces their route through six Confederate states, and tallies up the destruction Stoneman’s troopers left in their wake.

The amount of detail in Mr. Hartley’s book is nothing less than staggering, and it can truly be said that his account of the raid is the most detailed and complete account ever written; 403 pages of text are followed by 77 pages of notes and a 19 page bibliography.

Was the raid successful?  Mr. Hartley’s answer is ultimately no.  Though Stoneman’s raiders left a wide path of destruction and was successful of destroying much of the South’s remaining infrastructure, the raid was launched too late to have any effect on the outcome of the war.  Did the raid redeem George Stoneman’s reputation in the army?  Read the book to find out.

ISBN 978-0895873774, John F. Blair, Publisher, © 2010, Hardcover, 512 pages, Photographs, Maps, Appendices, Endnotes, Bibliography & Index. $27.95



Disaster to the 8th Iowa Cavalry

It was the misfortune of a part of this regiment to be in the late Stoneman raid, (something of which we published last week) and if reports are true they have been severely handled. The most of those in the engagement are said to be taken prisoners, killed, or wounded. Wm. Christy, formerly a member of the 15th, received four or five wounds and is a prisoner. He was reported killed but this is contradicted by letters received just before going to press.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, Saturday, August 20, 1864