55th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Norwalk, Ohio, September to December, 1861. Mustered in January 25, 1862. Ordered to Grafton, W. Va., January 25. Attached to Schenck's Brigade, Railroad District, West Virginia, to March, 1862. Railroad District, Dept. of the Mountains, to April, 1862. Schenck's Brigade, Dept. of the Mountains, to June, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corps, Pope's Army of Virginia, to September, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to May, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to October, 1863, and Army of the Cumberland, to April, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 20th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland and Army of Georgia, to July, 1865.

SERVICE. – Moved from Grafton to New Creek, W. Va., February 3, 1862. Expedition to Romney February 6. Expedition to Moorefield February 12-16. Action at Moorefield February 12. Moved to Grafton February 19, and duty there till March 31. Moved to Green Spring River March 31, thence to Romney April 10. Ordered to Join Milroy at Monterey. Battle of McDowell May 8. March to the Shenandoah Valley May 26-29. Near Franklin May 26. Harrisonburg June 6. Battle of Cross Keys June 8. At Middletown till July 7, and at Sperryville till August 8. Reconnoissance to Madison Court House July 16-19. Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9 (Reserve). Slaughter Mountain August 10. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 16-September 2. Catlett's Station August 22. Battles of Bull Run August 28-30. Duty in the Defences of Washington, D.C., till December. Reconnoissance to Bristoe Station and Warrenton Junction September 25-28. Moved to Fredericksburg December 12-16. "Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. At Falmouth till April. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee July 5-24. At Catlett's Station, Va., July 25 to September 24. Movement to Bridgeport, Ala., September 24-October 3. Reopening Tennessee River October 26-29. Battle of Wauhatchie, Tenn., October 28-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23. Tunnel Hill November 24-25. Mission Ridge November 25. March to relief of Knoxville, Tenn., November 28-December 17. Duty in Lookout Valley till May, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8-9. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Cassville May 19. Advance on Dallas May 22-25. Action at New Hope Church May 25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 26-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Gilgal or Golgotha Church June 15. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes Creek June 19. Cassville June 20. Kolb's Farm June 22. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruffs Station July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Operations at Chattahoochie River Bridge August 26-September 2. Farmer's Ferry August 27. Occupation of Atlanta September 2 to November 15. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Lawtonville, S.C., February 2. North Edisto River February 12-13.  Reconnoissance on Goldsboro Road, near Fayetteville, N. C., March 14. Taylor's Hole Creek, Aversyboro, March 16. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 19. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June 10, and duty there till July. Mustered out July 11, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 7 Officers and 136 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 119 Enlisted men by disease. Total 262.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1522-3

In The Review Queue: Freedom’s Seekers

Freedom's Seekers:
Essays on Comparative Emancipation

by Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie

Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie's Freedom's Seekers offers a bold and innovative intervention into the study of emancipation as a transnational phe-nomenon and serves as an important contribution to our understanding of the remaking of the nineteenth-century Atlantic Americas.

Drawing on decades of research into slave and emancipation societies, Kerr-Ritchie is attentive to those who sought but were not granted freedom, and those who resisted enslavement individually as well as collectively on behalf of their communities. He explores the many roles that fugitive slaves, slave soldiers, and slave rebels played in their own societies. He likewise explicates the lives of individual freedmen, freedwomen, and freed children to show how the first free-born generation helped to shape the terms and conditions of the post-slavery world.

Freedom's Seekers is a signal contribution to African Diaspora studies, especially in its rigorous respect for the agency of those who sought and then fought for their freedom, and its consistent attention to the transnational dimensions of emancipation.

About the Author

Jeffrey R. Kerr-Ritchie, associate professor of history at Howard University, is the author of Rites of August First: Emancipation Day in the Black Atlantic World and Freedpeople in the Tobacco South: Virginia, 1860 1900. 

ISBN 978-0807154717, Louisiana State University Press, © 2014, Hardcover, 272 Pages, Maps, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $39.95.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 26, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., May 26, 1863.

George's¹ appointment as Aide-de-Camp and Captain arrived yesterday.

We have nothing new; everything is quiet on our side. I am looking for a movement on the part of the enemy that will stir us up pretty soon. Stoneman is off on leave, and I don't think will return here again. He does not want to, and Hooker does not want him back. Hooker is very severe on him, and says his raid amounted to nothing at all; that he was eight days going and only two coming back, and many other things of this kind tending to disparage Stoneman.

Only one officer (Reynolds) has as yet answered my circular letter, and he says: “Your opinion was decided and emphatic for an advance at daylight.” The attempt to fasten on me the responsibility of withdrawing the army is one of the shallowest inventions that Hooker could have devised, which, if he ever brings to a public issue, must recoil on him.

There are many things I would like to tell you, but cannot at present; but I have no doubt in due time they will all be made public. I have no doubt the Administration has determined to sustain Hooker, and to this I do not object, as I really believe he will do better next time, and still think there is a great deal of merit in him.

__________

¹ Son of General Meade.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 381-2

General Robert E. Lee to Dr. Orlando Fairfax, December 28, 1862

CAMP, FREDERICKSBURG, December 28, 1862.

MY DEAR DOCTOR:

I have grieved most deeply at the death of your noble son.¹ I have watched his conduct from the commencement of the war, and have pointed with pride to the patriotism, self-denial, and manliness of character he has exhibited. I had hoped an opportunity would occur for the promotion he deserved; not that it would have elevated him, but have shown that his devotion to duty was appreciated by his country. Such an opportunity would undoubtedly have occurred; but he has been translated to a better world, for which his purity and piety eminently fitted him. You do not need to be told how great is his gain. It is the living for whom I sorrow. I beg that you will offer to Mrs. Fairfax and your daughters my heartfelt sympathy, for I know the depth of their grief. That God may give you and them strength to bear this great affliction, is the earnest prayer of,

Your early friend,

R. E. LEE.

DR. ORLANDO FAIRFAX, Richmond.

__________

¹ Randolph Fairfax.

SOURCE: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 473

Petition of the Mayor and Councilmen of Atlanta to Rescind Major-General William T. Sherman’s Evacuation Order, September 11, 1864

ATLANTA, GA., September 11, 1864.

Maj. Gen. W. T. SHERMAN:

SIR: We, the undersigned, mayor and two of the council for the city of Atlanta, for the time being the only legal organ of the people of the said city to express their wants and wishes, ask leave most earnestly, but respectfully, to petition you to reconsider the order requiring them to leave Atlanta. At first view it struck us that the measure would involve extraordinary hardship and loss, but since we have seen the practical execution of it so far as it has progressed, and the individual condition of the people, and heard their statements as to the inconveniences, loss, and suffering attending it, we are satisfied that the amount of it will involve in the aggregate consequences appalling and heart-rending. Many poor women are in advanced state of pregnancy; others now having young children, and whose husbands, for the greater part, are either in the army, prisoners, or dead. Some say, “I have such an one sick at my house; who will wait on them when I am gone?”  Others say, “what are we to do? We have no house to go to, and no means to buy, build, or rent any; no parents, relatives, or friends to go to.” Another says, “I will try and take this or that article of property, but such and such things I must leave behind, though I need them much.” We reply to them, “General Sherman will carry your property to Rough and Ready, and General Hood will take it thence on,” and they will reply to that, “but I want to leave the railroad at such place and cannot get conveyance from there on.”

We only refer to a few facts to try to illustrate in part how this measure will operate in practice. As you advanced the people north of this fell back, and before your arrival here a large portion of the people had retired south, so that the country south of this is already crowded and without houses enough to accommodate the people, and we are informed that many are now staying in churches and other outbuildings. This being so, how is it possible for the people still here (mostly women and children) to find any shelter? And how can they live through the winter in the woods? No shelter or subsistence, in the midst of strangers who know them not, and without the power to assist them much, if they were willing to do so. This is but a feeble picture of the consequences of this measure. You know the woe, the horrors and the suffering cannot be described by words; imagination can only conceive of it, and we ask you to take these things into consideration. We know your mind and time are constantly occupied with the duties of your command, which almost deters us from asking your attention to this matter, but thought it might be that you had not considered this subject in all of its awful consequences, and that on more reflection you, we hope, would not make this people an exception to all mankind, for we know of no such instance ever having occurred; surely none such in the United States, and what has this helpless people done, that they should be driven from their homes to wander strangers and outcasts and exiles, and to subsist on charity? We do not know as yet the number of people still here; of those who are here, we are satisfied a respectable number, if allowed to remain at home, could subsist for several months without assistance, and a respectable number for a much longer time, and who might not need assistance at any time. In conclusion, we most earnestly and solemnly petition you to reconsider this order, or modify it, and suffer this unfortunate people to remain at home and enjoy what little means they have.

Respectfully submitted.

 JAMES M. CALHOUN,

Mayor.

 E. E. RAWSON,

 S.C. WELLS,

Councilmen.

SOURCES: John Bell Hood, Advance and Retreat, p. 238-9; The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 39, Part 2 (Serial No. 78), p. 417-8

Lieutenant-General James Longstreet to General Robert E. Lee, February 23, 1865

[CONFIDENTIAL.]

HEADQUARTERS FIRST ARMY CORPS,

February 23, 1865.

General R. E. LEE,

Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: Your letter of yesterday is received. I think you did not understand my letter of the 14th instant. My effort was to express my conviction that Sherman's move was aimed at Richmond, and that Grant's concentration here would force us to do the same thing, and that we might be able to do so it was necessary that we should get gold by impressment to purchase our provisions with. I think that it is not too late yet. We can surely get the gold by sending the impressing officers with guards to the vaults in which it is stored.

I understand that there are 1,200 men in Lynchburg – locals and detailed men – already organized, and that we may get 8,000 or 10,000 men from Richmond by taking everybody who is able to bear arms. The staff officers about Richmond would be nearly enough to officer this force. If such a force can be raised and put in my lines it can hold them, I think, and my corps can run down to the relief of General Beauregard, or it may be moved over to our right, and hold Grant in check, so that Sherman will be obliged to unite with him, or seek a base at New Berne or Wilmington. This would give Beauregard and Bragg time to unite their forces to meet Sherman and Schofield here, or wherever they may appear. I am of the opinion that there is not much fight in Grant's army, and there can't be a great deal in Sherman's after his long march. I believe, therefore, that we can beat either back, by a little skillful handling of our men. We shall lose more men by a move than by a battle. It is true that we might be compelled to move after the battle, but I think not. If we fight Sherman as I suggest, we shall surely drive him to the water for fresh supplies, even if we are not otherwise successful. Then we shall have time to concentrate as soon as Grant, and to reopen our line of communication with the south.

The local and other troops that we may get from Richmond and Lynchburg will have tolerably comfortable huts, and there will be enough old soldiers amongst them to teach them picket duty. There are also some cavalrymen who can aid them.

I should think that Grant, if he moves, can only make a partial move, Similar to his last, and that would not injure us very materially.

In preparing to take the field, in view of the abandonment of Richmond, is it your desire to keep our wagons about our camps, that we may move at once? Our wagons are out all the time gathering supplies, and at times at some distance, so that a very sudden move would leave them behind. Shall we continue to send them, or keep them with us?

My ideas are given rather hastily upon so grave a matter, as I only received your letter this afternoon. I will write again to-morrow, if I find that I can give you any aid. I am firm in the belief that if Sherman is trying to reach the Roanoke, at Weldon, and then get around our right, he cannot hurt us greatly, if we can get Beauregard's army up.

I remain very respectfully, your obedient servant,

 J. LONGSTREET,

Lieutenant-General.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 2 (Serial No. 96), p. 1253-4; James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox, p. 644-5

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, July 23, 1863

We were off by 4 o'clock this morning and reached Big Black river bridge by noon. It had rained very hard here yesterday and last night, overflowing the river and causing the deep dust to become deep mud. This made our traveling very heavy, and since the rain set in again this afternoon, we moved on only about three miles and went into bivouac.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 131

54th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, October, 1861. Left State for Paducah, Ky., February 17, 1862. Attached to District of Paducah, Ky., to March, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to May, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1865. Dept. of Arkansas to August, 1865.

SERVICE. – Moved from Paducah, Ky., to Savannah, Tenn., March 6-12, 1862. Expedition to Yellow Creek, Miss., and occupation of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 14-17. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Russell's House, near Corinth, May 17. March to Memphis, Tenn., via LaGrange, Grand Junction and Holly Springs, June 1-July 21. Duty at Memphis till November. Expedition from Memphis to Coldwater and Hermando, Miss., September 8-13. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign, "Tallahatchie March," November 26-December 13. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28, 1862. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. Moved to Young's Point, La., January 17-21, and duty there till March. Expedition up Rolling Fork via Muddy, Steele's and Black Bayous and Deer Creek, March 14-27. Demonstrations on Haines and Drumgould's Bluffs April 29-May 2. Moved to join army in rear of Vicksburg, Miss., May 2-14, via Richmond and Grand Gulf. Battle of Champion's Hill May 16. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson, Miss., July 10-17. Camp at Big Black till September 26. Moved to Memphis, Tenn.. thence march to Chattanooga, Tenn., September 26-November 21. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20-29. Bear Creek, Tuscumbia, October 27. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Tunnel Hill November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26-27. March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8. March to Chattanooga, Tenn., thence to Bridgeport, Ala., Bellefonte, Ala., and Larkinsville, Ala., December 13-31. Duty at Larkinsville, Ala., to May 1, 1864. Expedition toward Rome, Ga., January 25-February 5. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstration on Resaca May 8-13. Near Resaca May 13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Movements on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Chattahoochie River July 6-17. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Ezra Chapel, Hood's 2nd sortie, July 28. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations in North Georgia and North Alabama against Hood September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Fort McAllister December 13. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Salkehatchie Swamps, S.C., February 2-5. Cannon's Bridge, South Edisto River, February 9. North Edisto River, February 11-13. Columbia February 16-17. Battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 20-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 19. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June 2, thence to Little Rock, Ark., and duty there till August. Mustered out August 15, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 83 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 143 Enlisted men by disease. Total 233.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1522

In The Review Queue: The Presidents’ War

The Presidents' War: Six American Presidents
and the Civil War That Divided Them

by Chris DeRose

For the first time, readers will experience America’s gravest crisis through the eyes of the five former presidents who lived it. Author and historian Chris DeRose chronicles history’s most epic Presidential Royal Rumble, which culminated in a multi-front effort against Lincoln’s reelection bid, but not before:

     * John Tyler engaged in shuttle diplomacy between President Buchanan and the new Confederate Government. He chaired the Peace Convention of 1861, the last great hope for a political resolution to the crisis. When it failed, Tyler joined the Virginia Secession Convention, voted to leave the Union, and won election to the Confederate Congress.

     * Martin Van Buren, who had schemed to deny Lincoln the presidency, supported him in his efforts after Fort Sumter, and thwarted Franklin Pierce's attempt at a meeting of the ex-Presidents to undermine Lincoln.

     * Millard Fillmore hosted Lincoln and Mary Todd on their way to Washington, initially supported the war effort, offered critical advice to keep Britain at bay, but turned on Lincoln over emancipation.

     * Franklin Pierce, talked about as a Democratic candidate in 1860 and ’64, was openly hostile to Lincoln and supportive of the South, an outspoken critic of Lincoln especially on civil liberties. After Vicksburg, when Jefferson Davis’s home was raided, a secret correspondence between Pierce and the Confederate President was revealed.

     * James Buchanan, who had left office as seven states had broken away from the Union, engaged in a frantic attempt to vindicate his administration, in part by tying himself to Lincoln and supporting the war, arguing that his successor had simply followed his policies.

     How Abraham Lincoln battled against his predecessors to preserve the Union and later to put an end to slavery is a thrilling tale of war waged at the top level of power.

About the Author

Chris DeRose is the author of the highly acclaimed Congressman Lincoln: The Making of America’s Greatest President and Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election that Saved a Nation. DeRose is an assistant professor of law at Arizona Summit Law School and political strategist who for the past seventeen years has served in nearly every capacity on campaigns up and down the ballot in five different states. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Visit him at chrisderosebooks.com or @chrisderose on Twitter.

ISBN 978-0762796649, Lyons Press, © 2014, Hardcover, 392 Pages, Photographs, Illustrations, End Notes, , Bibliography & Index. $28.95.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 25, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., May 25, 1863.

I have addressed a circular letter to each of the officers present at the much-talked-of council of war, asking them to give me their recollections of what I said, and unless I am terribly mistaken, their answers will afford me ample means of refuting Hooker's assertion that my opinion sustained him in withdrawing the army.

We have to-day the glorious news from Grant.¹ It is in sad contrast with our miserable fiasco here, the more sad when you reflect that ours was entirely unnecessary, and that we have never had such an opportunity of gaining a great victory before.

Did I tell you that Curtin promptly answered my letter, saying that General Cadwalader had entirely misapprehended what he said to him; that he (Curtin) had never so understood me, or repeated to Cadwalader that I had lost all confidence in Hooker?

_______________

¹ Vicksburg, Miss., invested by the Federal troops under Major-General Ulysses S. Grant. Confederate troops under General John C. Pcmberton.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 381

General Robert E. Lee to Mrs. Julia E. Haskins Meade, August 9, 1862

HEADQUARTERS ARMY NORTHERN VIGINIA,

August 9, 1862.

MY DEAR MADAM:

It is fitting that I should sorrow with you in the untimely death of your gallant son. In him our country has lost a most accomplished, brave, and skilful officer, who bade fair to serve her in the highest ranks of the profession. In the campaign of the Peninsula he devoted himself to his work with distinguished zeal and intelligence. Under my own eye he had labored with untiring energy, and performed invaluable service in the field. During the eventful week of the battles on the Chickahominy he distinguished himself by his bravery, making bold and skilful reconnaissances which contributed much to the success of our arms. It was his incessant labor and great exposure during that week, alas! which proved fatal to this noble young patriot. May the God of the widow and the fatherless give consolation to his mother and orphan sisters in this great sorrow.

I am most respectfully yours,

R. E. LEE.

MRS. R. K. MEADE.

SOURCES: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 472

General Robert E. Lee to Lieutenant-General James Longstreet, February 22, 1865

HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES,

February 22, 1865.

Lieut. Gen. J. LONGSTREET,

Commanding, &c.:

GENERAL: Your letter of the 14th instant is received. It arrived during my absence in Richmond, and has not been overlooked. I agree with you entirely in believing that if we had gold we could get sufficient supplies for our army, but the great difficulty is to obtain the gold. It is not in the coffers of the Government or the banks, but in principally hoarded by individuals throughout the country, and is inaccessible to us. I hope under the reorganization of the Commissary Department, if we can maintain possession of our communications, that the army will be better supplied than heretofore, and that we can accumulate some provisions ahead. As regards the concentration of our troops near the capital, the effect would be to produce a like concentration of the enemy, and an increase of our difficulties in obtaining food and forage. But this, whether for good or evil, is now being accomplished by the enemy, who seems to be forcing Generals Beauregard and Bragg in this direction. If Sherman marches his army to Richmond, as General Beauregard reports it is his intention to do, and General Schofield is able to unite with him, we shall have to abandon our position on the James River, as lamentable as it is on every account. The want of supplies alone would force us to withdraw when the enemy reaches the Roanoke. Our line is so long, extending nearly from the Chickahominy to the Nottoway, and the enemy is so clone upon us that if we are obliged to withdraw, we cannot concentrate all our troops nearer than some point on the line of railroad between Richmond and Danville. Should a necessity therefore arise I propose to concentrate at or near Burkeville. The route for the troops north of James River would have to be through Richmond, on the road to Amelia Court-House, the cavalry passing up the north branch of the river and crossing at some point above Richmond. Pickett's division would take the route through Chesterfield Court-House, crossing the Appomattox at Goode's Bridge. With the army concentrated at or near Burkeville, our communications north and south would be by that railroad and west by the South Side Railroad. We might also seize the opportunity of striking at Grant, should he pursue us rapidly, or at Sherman, before they could unite.

I wish you to consider this subject, and give me your views. I desire you also to make every preparation to take the field at a moment's notice, and to accumulate all the supplies you can. General Grant seems to be preparing to move out by his left flank. He is accumulating near Hatcher's Run depots of supplies, and apparently concentrating a strong force in that quarter. Yesterday and to-day trains have passed from his right to his left loaded with troops, which may be the body of 8,000 which you report having left Signal Hill yesterday. I cannot tell whether it is his intention to maintain his position until his other columns approach nearer, or to anticipate any movement by us which he might suppose would then become necessary. I wish you would watch closely his movements on the north side of the river, and try and ascertain whether he is diminishing his force. If he makes the move which appearances now indicate he may draw out his whole force, abandoning his lines of defense, or hold them partially and move with the remainder of his troops.

I should like very much to confer with you on these subjects, but I fear it will be impossible for me to go north of James River, and I do not know that it will be convenient for you to come here.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. E. LEE,

General.

P. S. – Can you not return Pickett's brigade to him in order that I may withdraw Grimes' brigade from his line, its division having been ordered to our right.

R. E. L.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 2 (Serial No. 96), p. 1250-1; James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox, p. 643-4

Major-General William T. Sherman to General John Bell Hood, September 14, 1864

HDQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,

In the Field, Atlanta, Ga., September 14, 1864.

General J. B. HOOD, C. S. Army,

Commanding Army of Tennessee:

GENERAL: Yours of September 12 is received and has been carefully perused. I agree with you that this discussion by two soldiers is out of place and profitless, but you must admit that you began the controversy by characterizing an official act of mine in unfair and improper terms. I reiterate my former answer, and to the only new matter contained in your rejoinder I add, we have no “negro allies” in this army; not a single negro soldier left Chattanooga with this army or is with it now. There are a few guarding Chattanooga, which General Steedman sent to drive Wheeler out of Dalton. I was not bound by the laws of war to give notice of the shelling of Atlanta, a “fortified town” with magazines, arsenals, foundries, and public stores. You were bound to take notice. See the books. This is the conclusion of our correspondence, which I did not begin, and terminate with satisfaction.

I am, with respect, your obedient servant,

 W. T. SHERMAN,

Major-General, Commanding.

SOURCES: John Bell Hood, Advance and Retreat, p. 235-6; The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 39, Part 2 (Serial No. 78), p. 422

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, July 22, 1863

We started this morning at daylight and marched all day. We stopped for the night along Baker's Creek, just beyond Edward's Station. The roads are alive with troops returning to Vicksburg. It is reported that Johnston's army is falling back to Columbus, Mississippi.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 131

53rd Ohio Infantry

Organized at Jackson, Ohio, September 3, 1861, to February 11, 1862. Ordered to Paducah, Ky., February 16. Attached to District of Paducah, Ky., to March, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., to November, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, District of Memphis, 13th Army Corps, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 17th Army Corps, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 16th Army Corps. to July, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, 15th Army Corps, to May, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 15th Army Corps, to July, 1865. Dept. of Arkansas to August, 1865.

SERVICE. – Moved from Paducah, Ky., to Savannah, Tenn., March 6-10, 1862. Expedition to Yellow Creek, Miss., and occupation of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 14-17. Expedition toward Eastport, Miss., April 1-2. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Corinth Road, Monterey, April 8. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. March to Memphis, Tenn., via Moscow, Lafayette, Grand Junction and Holly Springs, June 1-July 21. Duty at Memphis and along Memphis & Charleston Railroad till November. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign. Operations on the Mississippi Central Railroad to the Yockna River November, 1862, to January, 1863. Moved to LaGrange, Tenn., January, 1863, and duty there till June. Moved to Memphis, thence to Young's Point, La., June 9-12. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., June 12-July 4. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Bolton's Ferry July 4-6. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Camp at Big Black till September 26. Moved to Memphis, thence march to Chattanooga, Tenn., September 26-November 20. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Tunnel Hill November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. March to relief of Knoxville, Tenn., November 28-December 28. Duty at Scottsboro, Ala., till March, 1864. Veterans on furlough till April. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May to September. Demonstrations on Resaca May 8-13. Near Resaca May 13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Bush Mountain June 15. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Ruff's Mills July 3-4. Chattahoochie River July 6-17. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Ezra Chapel, Hood's 2nd sortie. July 28. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Near Jonesboro August 30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. Turkeytown and Gadsden Road, Ala., October 25. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Fort McAllister December 13. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Salkehatchie Swamps, S.C., February 2-5. Cannon's Bridge, South Edisto River, February 8. North Edisto River February 11-13. Columbia February 16-17. Battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 20-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 10-14. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June, thence to Little Rock, Ark., and duty there till August. Mustered out August 11, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 4 Officers and 76 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 6 Officers and 190 Enlisted men by disease. Total 276.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1521-2

In The Review Queue: Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln

Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln

by Jonathan W. White

The Union army's overwhelming vote for Abraham Lincoln's reelection in 1864 has led many Civil War scholars to conclude that the soldiers supported the Republican Party and its effort to abolish slavery. In Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln Jonathan W. White challenges this reigning paradigm in Civil War historiography, arguing instead that the soldier vote in the presidential election of 1864 is not a reliable index of the army's ideological motivation or political sentiment. Although 78 percent of the soldiers' votes were cast for Lincoln, White contends that this was not wholly due to a political or social conversion to the Republican Party. Rather, he argues, historians have ignored mitigating factors such as voter turnout, intimidation at the polls, and how soldiers voted in nonpresidential elections in 1864.

While recognizing that many soldiers changed their views on slavery and emancipation during the war, White suggests that a considerable number still rejected the Republican platform, and that many who voted for Lincoln disagreed with his views on slavery. He likewise explains that many northerners considered a vote for the Democratic ticket as treasonous and an admission of defeat.

Using previously untapped court-martial records from the National Archives, as well as manuscript collections from across the country, White convincingly revises many commonly held assumptions about the Civil War era and provides a deeper understanding of the Union Army.

ISBN 978-0807154571, Louisiana State University Press, © 2014, Hardcover, 296 Pages, End Notes, Appendix, Bibliography & Index. $39.95.  To Purchase the book click HERE.

Major General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, May 23, 1863

CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., May 23, 1863.

The story of Hooker losing his head, and my saving the army, is a canard, founded on some plausible basis. When Hooker was obliged to give up Chancellorsville and draw in his lines, I fortunately had anticipated this, and was prepared with my troops to take up the new line in a very short time, and to receive within it the broken columns from the old line. About this time Hooker, who had just been stunned by being struck with a pillar of a house, hit by a shot, felt himself fainting and had to dismount from his horse and lie on his back for ten or fifteen minutes. During this time he was constantly calling for me, and this operation above referred to was executed by me. Outsiders, particularly his staff, not knowing my previous preparations and expectation of having to do this, and seeing it so well and quickly done, were astonished, and gave me more credit than I was entitled to, and hence arose the story that I saved the army. Hooker never lost his head, nor did he ever allow himself to be influenced by me or my advice. The objection I have to Hooker is that he did not and would not listen to those around him; that he acted deliberately on his own judgment, and in doing so, committed, as I think, fatal errors. If he had lost his head, and I had been placed in command, you may rest assured a very different result would have been arrived at, whether better or worse for us cannot be told now; but it certainly would have been more decisive one way or the other. Secretary Chase was in camp day before yesterday at headquarters. He neither honored me with a visit, nor did he invite me to visit him; of course I did not see him. He returned in the afternoon, accompanied by Wilkes, of the Spirit of the Times. It is understood that the Cabinet is divided, Chase upholding Hooker, Blair and Seward in opposition. I have always thought Hooker would be allowed another chance, and I sincerely trust and hope, and indeed believe, he will do better, as I think he now sees the policy of caution is not a good one. Until our recent imbroglio, he has always spoken of me very warmly, though he has never asked my advice, or listened to my suggestions. What he is going to do or say now I don't know, but I shall not count on any very friendly offices from him. Still, I should be sorry to see him removed, unless a decidedly better man is substituted.

SOURCE: George Meade, The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Vol. 1, p. 380-1

General Robert E. Lee's General Orders, No. 73

GENERAL ORDERS, No. 73.

HDQRS. ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

Chambersburg, Pa., June 27, 1863.

The commanding general has observed with marked satisfaction the conduct of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested.

No troops could have displayed greater fortitude or better performed the arduous marches of the past ten days.

Their conduct in other respects has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their character as soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise.

There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness, on the part of some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than in our own.

The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon the unarmed and defenseless and the wanton destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country.

Such proceedings not only degrade the perpetrators and all connected with them, but are subversive of the discipline and efficiency of the army, and destructive of the ends of our present movement.

It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemies, and offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain.

The commanding general therefore earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain with most scrupulous care from unnecessary or wanton injury to private property, and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against the orders on this subject.

R. E. LEE,

General.

SOURCES: John William Jones, Life and Letters of Robert Edward Lee: Soldier and Man, p. 399-400; The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 27, Part 3 (Serial No. 45), p. 942-3

Lieutenant-General James Longstreet to General Robert E. Lee, February 14, 1865

[Confidential.]

HEADQUARTERS,

February 14, 1865.

General R. E. LEE,

Commanding:

GENERAL:  Recent developments of the enemy's designs seem to indicate an early concentration of his armies against Richmond. This, of course, must involve a like concentration on our part or the abandonment of our capital. The latter emergency would, I think, be almost fatal – possibly quite so, after our recent reverses. To concentrate here in time to meet the movements of the enemy, we shall be obliged to use the little of our southern railroad that is left to us in transporting our troops, so that we cannot haul provisions over that route. I fear, therefore, that we shall not be able to feed our troops unless we adopt extraordinary measures and efforts. I think that there is enough of the necessaries of life left in Virginia and North Carolina to help us through our troubles, if we can only reach them. Impressing officers, however, nor collectors of tax in kind, nor any other plan heretofore employed are likely to get these supplies in time or in quantities to meet our necessities. The citizens will not give their supplies up and permit their families and servants to suffer for the necessaries of life without some strong inducement, for each one may naturally think that the little he would supply by denying himself and family will go but a little way where so much is needed. He does not want Confederate money, for his meat and bread will buy him clothes, &c., for his family more readily and in much larger quantities than the money that the Government would pay.

The only thing, then, that will insure our rations and our national existence is gold. Send out the gold through Virginia and North Carolina and pay liberal prices, and my conviction is that we shall have no more distress for want of food. The winter is about over now, and the families can and will subsist on molasses, bread, and vegetables for the balance of the year, if they can get gold for their supplies. There is a great deal of meat and bread inside the enemy's lines that our people would bring us for gold, but they won't go to that trouble for Confederate money. They can keep gold so much safer than they can meat and bread, and it is always food and clothing. If the Government has not the gold, it must impress it; or if there is no law for the impressment, the gold must be taken without a law. Necessity does not know or wait for laws. If we stop to make laws in order that we may reach the gold, it will disappear the day that the law is mentioned in Congress. To secure it no one should suspect that we are after it until we knock at the doors of the vaults that contain it, and we must then have guards, to be sure that it is not made away with. It seems to my mind that our prospects will be brighter than they have ever been if we can only get food for our men, and I think the plan that I have proposed will secure the food. There seems to be many reasons for the opinion that the enemy deems our capital essential to him in order that he may end the war, as he desires. To get the capital, he will concentrate here everything that he has; and we surely are better able to fight him when we shall have concentrated than when we are in detachments. The Army of the West will get new life and spirit as soon as it finds itself alongside of this, and we will feel more comfortable ourselves to know that all are under one head and one eye that is able to handle them.

I remain, most respectfully and truly, your most obedient servant,

 J. LONGSTREET,

Lieutenant-General

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 46, Part 2 (Serial No. 96), p. 1233-4; James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox, p. 641-2

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, July 21, 1863

Our brigade started for Vicksburg this afternoon. We covered five miles and went into bivouac. It is extremely hot, and having had no rain for so long, the roads are very dusty. Our entire army is falling back to Vicksburg.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 130-1