Diary of Private Charles Wright Wills: June 9, 1861

Cairo. I have been over to Bird's Point this morning for the first time. They have thrown up breastworks and dug a deep ditch outside of them, making a pretty strong camp. We don't apprehend, a shade of a fuss here but the officers are making as much preparation as if a Waterloo No. 2 were coming. I went to old Bird's house this morning. It is just like the pictures we have seen in Harper's of southern planters' homes. A wide, railed porch extends around two sides of the house from the floor of each story. On the lower porch sat Bird and his family talking with a number of officers and their ladies. Looked very pleasant. Back of the house were the quarters filled with 46 of the ugliest, dirtiest niggers I ever saw, dressed in dirty white cotton. Awful nasty! The soldiers at the point have plenty of shade. We have but one tree on our grounds. The boys took a lot of ammunition from Bird the other day, and also another lot from a nest five miles back in Missouri. It was all given back, however, as private property. Our whole brigade of six regiments had a parade yesterday. We are all uniformed now and I think we made a respectable appearance. The general gave us a special notice. Are the Canton boys going or not? Do they drill? We have been sleeping on hay up to this week, but have thrown it away, and now have but the bare boards. The change has been so gradual from featherbed at home to plank here that I can't think where it troubled me the least. I had a mattress in Peoria, straw in Springfield, and hay here. Our living is now very good. Fresh beef every day, potatoes, rice and beans.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 17

Diary of Sergeant Major Luman Harris Tenney: March 8, 1863

Spent the day in camp. Thede came over and we made a little sugar candy. Read some in “Currents and Countercurrents,” by O. W. Holmes. Wanted to read Motley, but Charlie had sent the book back home. Thede and I wished we could be at home two or three hours. A dark and cloudy day.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 59

Diary of 1st Lieutenant John S. Morgan: Thursday, July 6, 1865

Dr boarded us at 4 A. M. & sent us on our way rejoicing. Scenery beautiful. Hard rain A. M. arrived at N. O. at 1. P. M. Get off & run around, anchor in the stream for the night

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923, p. 607

Official Reports of the Operations in Charleston Harbor, S. C., December 20, 1860 – April 14, 1861: No. 11. – Report of Lieut. Col. Roswell S. Ripley, South Carolina Army, commanding Artillery

No. 11.

Report of Lieut. Col. R. S. Ripley, South Carolina Army, commanding Artillery.

HEADQUARTERS ARTILLERY,

Sullivan's Island, Fort Moultrie, April 16, 1861.

MAJOR: I have the honor to report that on the evening of the 11th instant, at 9½ o'clock, the batteries under my command were supplied and manned, the furnace heated, and all was ready for action either against a fleet or Fort Sumter. They were the following:

The five-gun battery, east of Curlew ground, under Captain Tupper, of the Vigilant Rifles.

The Maffitt channel battery, two guns, and mortar-battery No. 2, two 10-inch mortars, under Captain Butler, of the Infantry.

Fort Moultrie, which was my headquarters, thirty guns, under Capt. W. R. Calhoun, of the Artillery assistant commandant of batteries; First Lieuts. Thomas Wagner and Alfred Rhett, Artillery, commanding Channel and Sumter batteries.

Mortar-battery No. 1, two 10-inch mortars.

The enfilade battery, four guns, under Capt. J. H. Hallonquist, Artillery, assistant commandant of batteries, and Lieutenants Flemming,  Artillery, and Valentine, Infantry.

The Point battery, one 9-inch Dahlgren gun, and the floating battery,  four guns, under Capt. J. R. Hamilton and First Lieutenant Yates, of the Artillery, and the Mount Pleasant battery, two 10-inch mortars, under Capt. Robert Martin, of the Infantry.

Of these three 8-inch columbiads, two 32-pounders, and six 24-pounders in Fort Moultrie; two 24-pounders and two 32-pounders in the enfilade battery; one 9-inch Dahlgren gun, two 32-pounders, two 42-pounders at the Point and on board the floating battery, and the six 10-inch mortars bore upon Fort Sumter.

A strict watch was kept all night, but no attempt to send re-enforcements into Fort Sumter was observed. At 4½ o'clock on the morning of the 12th a shell was seen from the batteries of Fort Johnson, and in accordance with orders the signal for general action was made at once. The commands went quickly and quietly to their posts, and very soon every battery bearing upon the fort had commenced. As it was still dark the firing was very slow, but after dawn the direct fire was quickened, until every gun which bore upon Sumter was in quick operation, and this was continued at the regular intervals presented throughout the day. The enemy at first only replied to the Cummings Point batteries, but in a short time opened a brisk fire on the Point and floating batteries of this command with great precision. Shortly afterward he commenced firing on the enfilade batteries, but did not open upon Fort Moultrie.

At about 8 o'clock I visited the batteries to the west of this fort, and noticed the admirable conduct of the officers and men. Lieutenants Blanding and Flemming, of the Artillery, at mortar battery No. 1, and Lieutenants Valentine and Burnet, of the Infantry, at the enfilade battery, were promptly and energetically performing their duties. Captain Hallonquist was directing his fire to enfilade and drive the enemy from his parapet. At the Point battery Capt. J. R. Hamilton was firing with great precision and skill, and from his battery I noticed First Lieutenants Yates and Harleston on board the floating battery working their guns with all the rapidity which the order of firing permitted. I next visited Captain Butler's mortar battery, which he was working energetically.

Fort Sumter opened upon Fort Moultrie about 8.30 o'clock in the morning, and from that time a steady and continuous fire was kept up on us from his casemate 32-pounders and 42-pounders throughout the day. This was replied to by the nine guns of the Sumter battery of this fort, under Lieutenants Rhett and Mitchell, and two guns of the oblique battery, under Lieutenant Parker, until 9 a.m., when Lieutenant Rhett's command was relieved by the detachment of Company A, under Lieutenants Wagner, Preston, and Sitgreaves.

Captain Calhoun arranged the reliefs, and the officers and men of Companies A, B, and D worked the Sumter battery of this fort alternately until evening. During this time Captain Calhoun kept his channel guns manned and ready for action against the fleet, which was confidently expected to attempt an entrance. At different times during the afternoon five hot shot were fired upon the quarters at Fort Sumter. I have learned that they were thrice set on fire. Meantime the enemy's shot had told with great effect upon the quarters of Fort Moultrie, continually perforating and breaking them up; but our defenses were strong, the merlons and traverses heavy and well secured, and no material damage was done to our defenses, although the principal fire of the enemy was directed on this fort during the whole of the afternoon. The direct fire ceased with the light, but the mortars kept up the bombardment at the prescribed intervals.

The night set in dark and rainy, and it was feared that the enemy would certainly attempt to re-enforce. All the batteries on the island were visited, and especial vigilance enjoined. The channel batteries were kept manned, the various enfilading guns were all in readiness to sweep the faces and landings at Fort Sumter, and the mortar batteries to redouble their fire upon an alarm. The night passed away with one alerte, during which the mortar practice was increased in rapidity for a short time, and a few shots were fired from the different batteries; but it becoming apparent that the alarm was groundless the vertical fire was resumed, according to orders, and kept up until the day dawned.

Believing that it was impossible that the fleet outside would permit the cannonade to proceed without an attempt to re-enforce during the day and the men of my command having been exposed to a pelting rain during the night, and feeling confident that we had perfect command of the enemy's parapet, it had been determined to fire but two or three guns from the Sumter battery of Fort Moultrie, and, while keeping up a brisk mortar practice and fire from the enfilade battery, to save the ammunition of the Point and floating batteries to repel an attempt to re-enforce. Orders were given to such effect, and the two guns were opened from the Sumter battery of this fort, the other batteries firing in order. Fort Sumter opened early and spitefully, and paid especial attention to Fort Moultrie – almost every shot grazing the crest of the parapet, and crashing through the quarters. Our defenses were still uninjured and our losses trifling.

Finding that I could spare men and still keep the channel battery manned, the fire was somewhat increased, until about 9 o'clock on the morning of the 13th smoke was seen to issue from the roof of the quarters of Fort Sumter, and it was evident that a conflagration had commenced. The entire Sumter battery of Fort Moultrie was manned at once, and worked with the utmost rapidity, officers and men vieing in their energy. Captain Calhoun, First Lieutenants Wagner, Rhett, and Preston, Second Lieutenants Sitgreaves, Mitchell, and Parker, of the Artillery, and Mr. F. D. Blake, acting engineer, all superintended the working of the guns, which were manned by detachments from Company B, relieved at times by detachments from Company A, with a skill, and precision rarely excelled. Indeed, I doubt whether an artillery fire at such a distance with ordinary guns has ever equaled it in precision. The shot, both hot and cold, crashed into the quarters of Fort Sumter and along the parapet rendering the extinction of the flames difficult, and lighting up new places to windward. It became evident soon that the enemy was worsted, but to insure the result orders were passed to each of the batteries to redouble their fire.

Captain Hamilton, Captain Hallonquist and Lieutenants Yates and Valentine had anticipated the order, and Captain Butler soon increased the rapidity of his mortar practice; nevertheless from his casemates the enemy still poured shot thick and fast upon Fort Moultrie until about 12.45 p.m., when his flagstaff was cut away, and it slackened. The thick and stifling smoke arising from the ruins of his buildings told plainly that the time for surrender had nearly come. Nevertheless he hoisted a new flag over the crest of his parapet, and our fire, which had been ordered to cease when his flagstaff fell, was reopened with all the vigor we could command. The smoke still poured out of the ruins, and the fire from Fort Sumter having slackened again the order was again given to cease, but upon his recommencing we reopened.

While the enemy's flag was still flying and he was still firing upon us, a boat was observed to leave Cummings Point and pull towards Fort Sumter. By my order a shot was sent ahead of it, but it continued on and landed.

At 1.15 p.m., a white flag having been hoisted alongside the United States ensign, the firing ceased. Brigadier-General Dunovant, who was present in Fort Moultrie, immediately sent Captain Hartstene, C. S. N., Captain Calhoun, and Surgeon Lynch, C. S. N., to ascertain whether the surrender was made, and to tender assistance. Upon their arrival they found that the staff of the commanding general had just preceded them.

It is hard to say whether any distinction can be made in the conduct of the officers and men under my command. From the senior captain to the prisoner turned out of the guard-house just before the action all did their duty. The conduct of several came under my special notice, and I mention them accordingly. Captains Calhoun and Hallonquist, assistants to commandant of batteries; Capt. J. R. Hamilton, First Lieutenants Wagner, Rhett, and Yates, and Second Lieutenant Flemming, of the Artillery, and Captain Butler and Lieutenant Valentine, of the Infantry, were all in command of batteries, and deserve especial mention. In addition to the officers whose names appear in the report above I take pleasure in mentioning the conduct of the engineer and assistants, First Lieutenant Earle, and Messrs. F. D. Blake and J. E. Nash, volunteers, acting.

No repairs being needed for the defenses, these gentlemen acted as staff and lookout officers, and were very efficient. Lieut. T. S. Fayssoux, of the Cavalry, assistant commissary of subsistence, acted well in the same capacity. Capt. C. F. Middleton, an old resident of Sullivan's Island, remained with his family during the cannonade, and was especially useful. All of these gentlemen were active and prompt in communicating orders and doing whatever duty devolved upon them.

Surg. Arthur Lynch, C. S. N., and Assist. Surg. Walter Taylor, South Carolina Volunteers, the permanent surgeons of the post, had made every preparation for the discharge of their duties, and would have been assisted by Drs. Raoul, Barnwell, and Porcher, who volunteered, but fortunately our casualties were so few that their services as surgeons were needless. They acted as staff officers. The Rev. Mr. Aldrich was present during the cannonade. Dr. Maddox acted as surgeon at mortar battery No. 1, and Drs. Daviga and Logan at the Point and on board the floating battery. Mr. John Wells, of South Carolina, acted as an ordnance officer at the Point battery under Captain Hamilton.

Our escape with only four slight casualties I conceive to be in a great measure due to the strength of our defenses, the material of which had been furnished under the direction of Maj. Walter Gwynn, chief engineer, in large quantities since the 1st of January last. Major Gwynn had also given his personal supervision to the construction of several of the works. The batteries exterior to the fort and many of the works adjacent were built under the superintendence of Captain Trapier, whose accomplishments as an engineer are well known, and certainly are appreciated by those who garrison works constructed by him.

Several times during the action I had the pleasure of meeting the brigadier-general commanding, and of receiving valuable assistance from Captain Bruns and other officers of the staff. I wish to draw particular and special attention to the valuable services of Messrs. John Henery and Charles Scanlan, acting military storekeepers, who have been on duty with my command since January last. These gentlemen have given every attention to their duty, and to them is due, in a great measure, the high state of efficiency of our guns and ordnance. They were indispensable during the action.

The Ordnance Department deserves and has my thanks for the material furnished under so many adverse circumstances since the 1st of January last.

Among other volunteers, Maj. John Dunovant, of the Infantry, came to Fort Moultrie early on the morning of the 13th, and was present during the action, doing all that lay in his power.

I was deprived of the services of the commissioned battalion staff during the cannonade. First Lieut. James Hamilton, adjutant, was absent sick on the 11th instant, but hearing of the probability of an engagement, left his bed and came to report for duty. He remained until some time after the action, when it was evident that his strength was gone. Lieutenant Yates, battalion quartermaster, preferred the command of the floating battery, and I excused him from staff duty.

Lieut. Col. Hatch, quartermaster-general, had made preparations for the extinguishment of fires. Mr. Prioleau Ravenel was present with the engines and a body of men to put them out should they occur. We were fortunate, and he did what duty he was called on to perform.

I have the honor to inclose a return of the few wounded, a statement of shot fired, and such reports from commanding officers as I have received. To them I beg to refer for the names of meritorious individuals not mentioned above.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. S. RIPLEY,

Lieutenant-Colonel of Artillery, Commanding.

_______________

Return of shot and shell fired from the batteries of Fort Moultrie Sullivan's Island, and Mount Pleasant, commanded by Lieut. Col. R. S. Ripley, Artillery, South Carolina Army, during the cannonade and bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 12 and 13, 1861.

 

[Click graph to enlarge.]

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 1 (Serial No. 1), p. 39-43; This report is quoted in Samuel Wylie Crawford’s The Genesis of the Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 435.

John Brown to George L, Stearns, May 18, 1857

Vergennes, Vt., May 18, 1857.

George L, Stearns, Esq., Boston, Mass.

My Dear Sir, — . . . In regard to the security you mention, for being responsible for Colonel Carter, I will say, it is most reasonable; but as I deem it most uncertain what will become of things I carry into the war, and as I need arms “more than I do bread,” I propose not to draw on you for the amount named, — thirteen hundred dollars, — and will not.

This, I trust, will be entirely satisfactory to you, and a vastly better security. I am exceeding glad of the arrangement with Colonel Carter, whom I have written. I leave here for the West to-day, with health some improved, and shall be much gratified with getting a line from you, addressed to Orson M. Oviatt, Esq., Cleveland, Ohio. Please remember me to Mrs. S., family, and other friends; and believe me

Your sincere friend,

John Brown.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 406

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, May 26, 1863

Much of the time at the Cabinet meeting was consumed in endeavoring to make it appear that one Cuniston, tried and condemned as a spy, was not exactly a spy, and that he might be let off. I did not participate in the discussion. It appeared to me, from the statement on all hands and from the finding of the court, that he was clearly and beyond question a spy, and I should have said so, had my opinion been asked, but I did not care to volunteer, unsolicited and without a thorough knowledge of all the facts, to argue away the life of a fellow being.

There was a sharp controversy between Chase and Blair on the subject of the Fugitive Slave Law, as attempted to be executed on one Hall here in the district. Both were earnest, Blair for executing the law, Chase for permitting the man to enter the service of the United States instead of being remanded into slavery. The President said this was one of those questions that always embarrassed him. It reminded him of a man in Illinois who was in debt and terribly annoyed by a pressing creditor, until finally the debtor assumed to be crazy whenever the creditor broached the subject. “I,” said the President, “have on more than one occasion, in this room, when beset by extremists on this question, been compelled to appear to be very mad. I think,” he continued, “none of you will ever dispose of this subject without getting mad.”

I am by no means certain that it is wise or best to commence immediate operations upon Charleston. It is a much more difficult task now than it was before the late undertaking. Our own men have less confidence, while our opponents have much more. The place has no strategic importance, yet there is not another place our anxious countrymen would so rejoice to see taken as this original seat of the great wickedness that has befallen our country. The moral effect of its capture would be great.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 313-4

Diary of John Hay: February 12, 1864

Received orders from the General to go to St. Augustine with despatches for Col. Osborne to move his force, except two companies, to Picolata. (Seymour asked last night for the 54th Mass. without delay. “One company is enough for St. Augustine.” “Cool for a subordinate,” said Q. A.) I went over to Halliwell and transferred my blasphemy business to him, and made ready at once to go to the Helen Getty. I concluded to go by way of Fernandina to get near my base of supplies. . . .

My first day's operations in Jacksonville were such as to give me great encouragement. I enrolled in all sixty names — some of them men of substance and influence. The fact that more than fifty per cent. of the prisoners of war were eager to desert and get out of the service shows how the spirit of the common people is broken. Everybody seemed tired of the war. Peace on any terms was what they wanted. They have no care for the political questions involved. Most of them had not read the oath, and when I insisted on their learning what it was, they would say listlessly: — “Yes, I guess I'll take it.” Some of the more intelligent cursed their politicians and especially South Carolina; but most looked hopefully to the prospect of having a government to protect them after the anarchy of the few years past. There was little of what might be called loyalty. But what I build my hopes on is the evident weariness of the war, and anxiety for peace.

SOURCES: Clara B. Hay, Letters of John Hay and Extracts from Diary, Volume 1, p. 166-7; Tyler Dennett, Editor, Lincoln and the Civil War in the diaries and letters of John Hay, p. 161-2; Michael Burlingame, Editor, Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay, p. 162.

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, August 25, 1862

Washington City, August 25, 1862.

Dear Uncle: — Our men are in the cars expecting to cross to the scene of war (Warrenton) every moment. After ten days' marching, etc., etc., we got here this A. M. Things here look improving. The troops are pouring in from all directions, and unless the enemy get some success soon, they will be too late. There seems to be some fighting in the front. We shall be in it, if it continues. I think it will all go well. We are gaining strength every hour.

The Kirkwood House here is the place where Dr. Webb and I will be reported in case of accident.

Sincerely,

R. B. Hayes.

S. BlRCHARD.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 331

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: March 10, 1864

Still traveling, and unloaded nights to sleep by the track. Rebel citizens and women improve every opportunity to see live Yankees. Are fed passably well. Lewis feeling poorly. Watch a chance to escape but find none.

SOURCE: John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary, p. 39

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: April 1, 1863

It is said we have taken Washington, a village in North-Carolina. And it is represented that large supplies of meat, etc. can be taken from thence and the adjacent counties.

Every day we look for important intelligence from Charleston, and from the West.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 284

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Monday, September 19, 1864 – Part 2

Sheridan restlessly urged the men across a small ravine opposite where he sat, his eyes wandering occasionally everywhere over the large open space which gradually rose to the vast comparatively level but slightly rolling battlefield in our front, as the men looked curiously at him so near I could touch him as we marched, little dreaming that three years after I should be honored for my work that day, which he saw, by being a member of his staff, or that he would be instrumental in saving my life when ill with malignant yellow fever and threatened with fatal black vomit in New Orleans, La. in 1867, by sending his cook, a faithful old colored woman, who was an expert nurse of yellow fever patients, to care for me. It was the nearest we had ever been to him, and as our regiment passed slowly by fours, the line being congested ahead, the men took a good look at him for he was already famous and every soldier's ideal hero; and as they did so they unconsciously slackened their sauntering pace a little which was what caused Sheridan to urge them on.

We were on the eve of the most brilliant spectacular battle of the war, at any rate that I had seen, and my ideal genius developed by the great Civil War — Sheridan was to lead us; and the valor of the renowned Sixth Corps, his pet of all the splendid corps of as grand and valiant an army as ever existed — the Army of the Potomac — was about being placed by him at the most important point in line of battle ready to do and die for him, the Vermont troops or “Green Mountain Boys,” as we were called through every city we passed, and especially our regiment being one of two to occupy the keystone position or place of honor on the famous historic Berryville and Winchester pike in the great assaulting line on a battlefield slightly rolling but level in places as a house floor when once fairly on it, to take another stitch out of rebellion, and to help immortalize our hero, and we did both. Aye! we shall glorify Sheridan continually as a military genius, even as he has honored us as his ideal soldiers and fighters heretofore, now and probably will evermore, the grand old Sixth Army Corps which fights everything everywhere, and rarely gives up fighting till called off, but, alas! which will soon only be a hallowed, glorified memory; and — still — I like to think of it in reflective moments as in a celebrated painting of a bivouacked army at night asleep watched over by an army of hovering angels in midair; that it as a hallowed spiritual body finally at peace in a heavenly paradise, will go marching on throughout the boundless everlasting realms of eternity ever to hover approvingly when occasion shall require over other mortal armies of dauntless valor and constancy such as it has been in the great Civil War—one of God's instruments for the betterment of humanity and civil liberty —the most admired, honored, trusted and beloved by military geniuses of its period.

Straight view of about 800 yards of the pike looking easterly
towards Opequan Creek from the  top of the divide about midway
to the enemy's line of battle in the ravine, from where Sheridan
formed line of battle. The narrow belt of timber has been cut
away behind which we formed. [Click on photo to enlarge.]

SOURCE: Lemuel Abijah Abbott, Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864, p. 151-3

Diary of Private Charles Wright Wills: May 23, 1861

Lots of men come through here with their backs blue and bloody from beatings; and nine in ten of them got their marks in Memphis. A man from St. Louis was in camp a few days since with one-half of his head shaved, one-half of a heavy beard taken off, two teeth knocked out and his lips all cut with blows from a club. This was done in Memphis the day before I saw him. My health continues excellent. Never felt so well, and think that care is all that is necessary to preserve my health as it is. I can't think that this Illinois climate is mean enough to give a fellow the chills, after it has raised him as well as it has me.

I never enjoyed anything in the world as I do this life, and as for its spoiling me, you'll see if I don't come out a better man than when I went in.

We have commenced fortifying this point. One company is detailed every day to work on this. It is said that it will cost three million. As for enlisting for three years, I can't, or rather won't say now. Tis a sure thing that as long as this war continues I will not be satisfied at home, and if I would there will certainly be no business. There is no use trying to coax me now for I can't tell until my three month's are up. Then, if I feel as now, I shall certainly go in for the war. Our company gets compliments from all the newspaper correspondents.

The whole camp is aching to be ordered to Memphis. Bird's Point is not occupied. We had a company there for one day but withdrew them.

I commenced this about 12 last night in the hospital, but I had so much to do and there were so infernal many bugs that I concluded to postpone it. We do have the richest assortment of bugs here imaginable, from the size of a pin-head up to big black fellows as large as bats. I was sitting up with an old schoolmate from Bloomington, whose company have gone up to Big Muddy and left him to the tender care of our surgeons. The poor devil would die in a week but for the care he gets from a dozen of us here that used to go to school with him. There are about 50 men in our regiment's hospital, and save the few that go up to care for their friends unasked, the poor fellows have no attendance nights. I gave medicine to four beside my friend last night, two of whom are crazy with fever. One of the latter insisted on getting up all the time, and twice he got down stairs while I was attending the others. Not one of our company is there, thank heaven.

Yesterday our company with the whole 7th Regiment were at work on the fortifications. Wheeling dirt and mounting guns was the exercise. The guns we mounted are 36 pounders and weigh three and one-half tons each. Our regiment, except this company, are at the same work to-day. To-morrow the 9th works. General Prentiss paid us a very handsome compliment in saying that our company did more work than any two companies have yet done in the same time. You should see our hands. Mine are covered with blisters. You might as well be making up your mind to the fact that I am not coming home soon. There is but one thing in the way to prevent my going in for the war. That is the talk of cutting off the heads of all lieutenants over 25 years of age, and of all captains over 35. Now under that arrangement all three of our officers will lose their heads, and we know we cannot replace them with as good. This thing, though not certain yet, has created a great deal of excitement in camp, and if it goes into effect will smash our company completely. Our company is the best officered of any in camp. There are no two sides to that proposition.

You'll see that your Canton company will not regret the selection of officers they have made. The companies here with inexperienced officers have worlds of trouble, and five captains and one lieutenant, though good men at home, have resigned at the wish of their companies. Four of these companies tried to get our first lieutenant for captain, but he won't leave us. The thousand men who occupied Bird's Point the other day are most all Germans; many of them “Turners,” and a very well drilled regiment. They will get their cannons from St. Louis next week. None of the men expect an attack here, but we know that General Prentiss thinks it at least possible, and from his actions we think he expects it. A family were in camp yesterday who were driven away from a place only 12 miles from here in Missouri, and left a son there with a bullet through his brains. It happened yesterday morning. We have had our uniforms about a week. Gray satinet pants and roundabout, with a very handsome blue cloth cap. Nine brass buttons up the jacket front and grey flannel shirts. We are obliged to wash dirty clothes the day we change and to black our shoes every evening, and polish our buttons for dress parade. Our company is the only one that does this though, and they call us dandies. We have done more work and better drilling though, than any of them, so we don't mind it.

SOURCE: Charles Wright Wills, Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, p. 14-6

Diary of Sergeant Major Luman Harris Tenney: Saturday, March 7, 1863

Finished my letter to Ella. Col. Abbey went to town and sent a barrel of flour to mother. Good. A Democratic mass meeting to consider the best way for democrats to protect their property.  Finished “Mistress and Maid.”

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 59

Diary of 1st Lieutenant John S. Morgan: Wednesday, July 5, 1865

Early this morning pass over ship island shoals the light house in sight. A. M. quite a sharp shower, reach the S. W. pass at 6 P. M. Pilot boarded us immediately & run in behind the McLellan. Pass the Forts at night, reach the quarentine station at 11. P. M. anchor for the night, Musketoes so bad none can sleep.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923, p. 607

In The Review Queue: Lincoln and the Military

Lincoln and the Military

By John F. Marszalek

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1860, he came into office with practically no experience in military strategy and tactics. Consequently, at the start of the Civil War, he depended on leading military men to teach him how to manage warfare. As the war continued and Lincoln matured as a military leader, however, he no longer relied on the advice of others and became the major military mind of the war. In this brief overview of Lincoln’s military actions and relationships during the war, John F. Marszalek traces the sixteenth president’s evolution from a nonmilitary politician into the commander in chief who won the Civil War, demonstrating why Lincoln remains America’s greatest military president.

As tensions erupted into conflict in 1861, Lincoln turned to his generals, including Winfield Scott, George B. McClellan, and Henry W. Halleck, for guidance in running the war. These men were products of the traditional philosophy of war, which taught that armies alone wage war and the way to win was to maneuver masses of forces against fractions of the enemy at the key point in the strategic area. As Marszalek shows, Lincoln listened at first, and made mistakes along the way, but he increasingly came to realize that these military men should no longer direct him. He developed a different philosophy of war, one that advocated attacks on all parts of the enemy line and war between not just armies but also societies. Warfare had changed, and now the generals had to learn from their commander in chief. It was only when Ulysses S. Grant became commanding general, Marszalek explains, that Lincoln had a leader who agreed with his approach to war. Implementation of this new philosophy, he shows, won the war for the Union forces.

Tying the necessity of emancipation to preservation of the Union, Marszalek considers the many presidential matters Lincoln had to face in order to manage the war effectively and demonstrates how Lincoln’s determination, humility, sense of humor, analytical ability, and knack for quickly learning important information proved instrumental in his military success. Based primarily on Lincoln’s own words, this succinct volume offers an easily-accessible window into a critical period in the life of Abraham Lincoln and the history of the nation.

About the Author

John F. Marszalek is the Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, Mississippi State University; the executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association's Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State University; and the editor of the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order.

ISBN 978-0809333615, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2014, Hardcover, 168 pages, Photographs, End Notes & Index. $24.95. To purchase this book click HERE.

Official Reports of the Operations in Charleston Harbor, S. C., December 20, 1860 – April 14, 1861: No. 21. – Reports of Capt. George B. Cuthbert, Palmetto Guard, South Carolina Infantry.

No. 21.

Reports of Capt. G. B. Cuthbert, Palmetto Guard, South Carolina Infantry.

PALMETTO GUARD ENCAMPMENT,

Morris Island, April 17, 1861.

DEAR SIR: In the report which I now make I propose to give an account of the most prominent incidents connected with the batteries manned by the Palmetto Guard, and which transpired during the engagement which took place on the 12th and 13th instant. I will also take occasion to mention the names of those who particularly distinguished themselves by their courage and efficiency. In conclusion I shall render you a statement of the number of shells and solid shot fired from the above-mentioned batteries.

The mortar battery at Cummings Point opened fire on Fort Sumter in its turn, after the signal shell from Fort Johnson, having been preceded by the mortar batteries on Sullivan's Island and the mortar battery of the Marion Artillery.

At the dawn of day the Iron battery commenced its work of demolition. The first shell from columbiad No. 1, fired by the venerable Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, burst directly upon the parapet of the southwest angle of the fort. After the first round the Iron battery continued firing at regular intervals of fifteen minutes, in accordance with the orders of General Beauregard. The mortar battery continued during the day in the order prescribed.

At 7 o'clock a.m. Major Anderson fired his first shot. This was directed at the Iron battery. The ball passed a few feet above the upper bolts of the shed. The enemy continued firing at too great an elevation until the sixth shot, which fell harmlessly upon the upper portion of the shed, between the embrasures No. 2 and No. 3. At 9 o'clock a.m. columbiad No 1 became disabled by the recoil of the piece, which broke the bolts connecting the chains with the epaulement. This damage was repaired, however, after the expiration of an hour. At 10 o'clock a.m. columbiad No. 2, being aimed at the 10-inch columbiad bearing upon the Iron battery from the parapet of the southwest angle, was fired with such precision as to dismount the grim monster. A few minutes afterwards the window of columbiad No. 2 was struck near the center by a 42-pounder shot, which shattered the bolts and scattered the fragments between the cannoneers. The proper working of this window, however, was not interfered with by this occurrence, but in a half hour after this columbiad recoiled with such violence as to break the lever-bar by which the window was lifted. This casualty prevented the use of this gun until the following morning, several engineers being engaged for the purpose of repairing it. After the second shot from the same piece on the following morning the bar became fractured again in the same place, and, until the surrender, columbiad No. 2 was fought with its shutter opened permanently. The fire of the Iron battery was directed during the first day at the guns in barbette and those in the casemates. Major Anderson directed his fire for four consecutive hours from 7 to 11 o'clock a.m., at the Iron battery, striking it seven times. He then pointed his guns at the mortar battery of Cummings Point, and making no impression upon the unbroken wall of sand he turned his attention to the 42-pounders, thrusting at successive intervals their muzzles along the sides of their palmetto embrasures. At 4 o'clock p.m. the gunners at Fort Sumter ceased firing towards Morris Island, the batteries pointing in that direction being completely silenced. The rifled cannon did great execution, two of its balls passing entirely through the walls of Fort Sumter.

On the morning of the 13th we attempted to breach with our columbiads by concentrating our fire upon a point to the right of the sally-port, intending thus to effect another object at the same time, viz., by the ricochet of the ball to beat away the traverse of granite, which had been built up for the purpose of protecting the doorway from an enfilading fire. We had fired but a few shots when a shell from the mortar battery at Cummings Point fell upon the northwestern portion of the roof of the fort. After the lapse of some minutes we perceived the smoke issuing from that quarter. Soon flames burst upward. From that moment until the flagstaff was shot down seven-second shells were fired rapidly from the Iron battery, aimed in such a manner as to scatter the flame and to increase the fury of the conflagration. I refer you, dear sir, to the marks of shot and shell upon the outer and interior walls of the fort to enable you to form an adequate idea of the accuracy with which the columbiads, the mortars, the rifled cannon, and the 42-pounders of the Cummings Point batteries were aimed and fired.

The posts of the officers of the Palmetto Guard were as' follows: Captain Cuthbert commanded and directed the fire of the Iron battery; First Lieutenant Holmes, assisted by Lieutenant Armstrong, of the Citadel Academy, commanded the mortar battery; Second Lieutenant Brownfield commanded and directed the fire of the 42-pounders; Captain Thomas, of the Citadel Academy, with a squad of the Palmetto Guard, had charge of the rifled cannon; to Major Stevens was assigned the post of superintending the working of all these batteries, and he was so recognized; Lieutenant Buist acted as gunner to No. 3 columbiad during the greater part of the engagement, aiming many of his shots very accurately.

Lieutenants Holmes, Brownfield, and Buist behaved throughout the conflict with distinguished courage and gallantry. Major Stevens, Captain Thomas, and Lieutenant Armstrong, by their coolness, bravery, and skill, gave the highest evidence of their long military training. Lieutenant Brownfield's 42-pounders were fired with great precision, and to his industry and pride in his battery is attributable the fine working condition of his guns. To Mr. Phillips and Mr. Campbell much praise is due for their untiring devotion to their particular department of the magazine stores. In the Iron battery, Orderly Sergeant Bissell aimed many a capital shot at the casemates, and the two Sergeants Webb at the parapet. Bissell crippled the gun of the left casemate, bearing directly upon the Iron battery, and Serg. L. S. Webb dismounted the 10-inch columbiad upon the parapet. Second Sergeant Bissell and Mr. Farelly also made some good shots. At the 42-pounders Sergeant Brownfield, Corporals Rhett, Wright, and Dwyer distinguished themselves as gunners. At the mortar battery Sergeant Gaillard, Corporals Robinson, Zalam, Brailijon, and Rhett did good service as gunners. Capt. Stephen Elliott, of the Beaufort Artillery, was present during the action on the 12th instant, and aimed several good shots.

On the same day when columbiad No. 2 was silenced in consequence of the serious accident referred to above, to repair the damage it became necessary to send forthwith to Charleston to procure the proper materials and implements. Privates Trouche, Craskeys, and Alrains volunteered to go in an open boat, under heavy fire from Fort Sumter and Fort Johnson. They went, and succeeded in accomplishing their errand. A sand bag on the first day of the engagement seriously interfered with the working of the window of columbiad No. 1. Private Allison volunteered to extricate the troublesome impediment. While engaged in the performance of this important service a ball from one of the casemates of Fort Sumter passed directly over him, striking the iron shed. He removed the bag and returned to his post.

The sang-froid of Mr. Lining, the judge-advocate of the Seventeenth Regiment, who served as a private during the engagement, has already received ample commendation in the public prints. I can vouch for the truth of the incident, having been an eye witness. (Please incorporate the report of the Courier in relation to the circumstance.)

The appointment of the Palmetto Guard to the occupation of Fort Sumter for one night was the highest compliment ever bestowed upon any volunteer corps in the history of our State, and that event will always be held by them in grateful remembrance. Upon reaching the stronghold, however, their labors were not yet finished. I wish to take no laurels from the brows of the members of the fire-engine companies of Charleston, but truth requires that I should state that, from the moment of their being disbanded within the walls of the fort, the Palmetto Guard worked incessantly at the engines until after midnight.

A proper respect for the memory of the dead, as well as the desire to put on record a noble act, induces me recount the following fact: Immediately before the departure of the Palmetto Guard for Fort Sumter, Sergeant Webb, Corporal Robinson, and Private Mackay placed a neat and appropriate head-piece over the grave of the unfortunate Howe, the first victim of the sad explosion which took place while Major Anderson was engaged in saluting his flag. The performance of this sacred duty did credit to their generous hearts, and proved that Carolina chivalry exists only in combination with a spirit of reverence and magnanimity. I am proud of the opportunity of stating that all of the members of the company conducted themselves nobly and bravely in the fight. Nor will those whose names have not been mentioned in this report object to the particular honorable notice of their gallant comrades.

Statement of ammunition expended upon Fort Sumter from the Iron battery: Shell, 60; solid shot, 183.

Ammunition expended from the other batteries of Cummings Point: Mortars, 197 shell; 42-pounders, 333 solid-shot, 3 grape-shot; rifled cannon, 11 shot, 19 shell.

With increased admiration for your own individual courage and efficiency on these two eventful days, I remain, dear sir, your obedient servant,

G. B. CUTHBERT,

Captain Palmetto Guard.

W. G. DE SAUSSURE,

Colonel, Commanding Battalion of Artillery.

_______________

PALMETTO GUARD ENCAMPMENT,

Morris Island, April 20, 1861.

DEAR SIR: I write to make an addition to the report which you received yesterday. Please incorporate the following:

Private Gourdin Young volunteered to accompany Colonel Wigfall in a small boat when the latter gentleman was instructed to proceed to Fort Sumter on the fall of the United States flag, for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of that circumstance and to propose a surrender of the fortification. During the passage from Morris Island, amid an incessant fire of shell and grape, he displayed that coolness and determination characteristic of a true South Carolinian. Upon his return he was borne upon the shoulders of his fellow-comrades to the Iron battery.

With great respect, I remain yours, very truly,

G. B. CUTHBERT.

Col. W. G. DE SAUSSURE.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 1 (Serial No. 1), p. 54-7; This report is quoted in Samuel Wylie Crawford’s The Genesis of the Civil War: The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 430.

John Brown to his Children, April 23, 1857

New Haven, Conn., April 23, 1857.

Dear Children, — I received your letter of the 6th and 8th inst. Will endeavor to get the article Ruth wrote for. I now expect to buy the place of Franklin and Samuel. I would be very glad to have some of the friends take a horse-team and meet me at Westport as soon as this is received. Inquire for me at Mr. Judd's, Elizabethtown. I want to get a passage, and to have some things taken out. Have but a moment to write. If I am not found at Westport, wait a little for me.

Your affectionate father,

John Brown.

SOURCE: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 406

Diary of Gideon Welles: Sunday, May 25, 1863

Received a long dispatch from Admiral Porter at Haines Bluff, Yazoo River, giving details of successful fights and operations for several preceding days in that vicinity.

Am anxious in relation to the South Atlantic Squadron and feel daily the necessity of selecting a new commander. Du Pont is determined Charleston shall not be captured by the Navy, and that the Navy shall not attempt it; thinks it dangerous for the vessels to remain in Charleston Harbor, and prefers to occupy his palace ship, the Wabash, at Port Royal to roughing it in a smaller vessel off the port. His prize money would doubtless be greater without any risk. All officers under him are becoming affected by his feelings, adopt his tone, think inactivity best, — that the ironclads are mere batteries, not naval vessels, and that outside blockade is the true and only policy. Du Pont feels that he is strong in the Navy, strong in Congress, and strong in the country, and not without reason. There is not a more accomplished or shrewder gentleman in the service. Since Barron and others left, no officer has gathered a formidable clique in the Navy. He has studied with some effect to create one for himself, and has in his personal interest a number of excellent officers who I had hoped would not be inveigled. Good officers have warned me against him as a shrewd intriguer, but I have hoped to get along with him, for I valued his general intelligence, critical abilities, and advice. But I perceive that in all things he never forgets Du Pont. His success at Port Royal has made him feel that he is indispensable to the service. The modern changes in naval warfare and in naval vessels are repugnant to him; and to the turret vessels he has a declared aversion. He has been active in schemes to retire officers; he is now at work to retire ironclads and impair confidence in them. As yet he professes respect and high regard for me personally, but he is not an admirer of the President, and has got greatly out with Fox, who has been his too partial friend. An attack is, however, to be made on the Department by opposing its policy and condemning its vessels. This will raise a party to attack and a party to defend. The monitors are to be pronounced failures, and the Department, which introduced, adopted, and patronized them, is to be held responsible, and not Du Pont, for the abortive attempt to reach Charleston. Drayton, who is his best friend, says to me in confidence that Du Pont has been too long confined on shipboard, that his system, mentally and physically, is affected, and I have no doubt thinks, but does not say, he ought to be relieved for his own good as well as that of the service. Du Pont is proud and will not willingly relinquish his command, although he has in a half-defiant way said if his course was not approved I must find another.

I look upon it, however, as a fixed fact that he will leave that squadron, but he is a favorite and I am at a loss as to his successor. Farragut, if not employed elsewhere, would be the man, and the country would accept the change with favor. The age and standing of D. D. Porter would be deemed objectionable by many, yet he has some good points for that duty. Foote would be a good man for the place in many respects, but he is somewhat overshadowed by Du Pont, with whom he has been associated and to whom he greatly defers. Dahlgren earnestly wants the position, and is the choice of the President, but there would be general discontent were he selected. Older officers who have had vastly greater sea service would feel aggrieved at the selection of Dahlgren and find ready sympathizers among the juniors. I have thought of Admiral Gregory, whom I was originally inclined to designate as commander of the Gulf Blockading Squadron at the beginning of the war, but was overpersuaded by Paulding to take Mervine. A mistake but a lesson. It taught me not to yield my deliberate convictions in appointments and matters of this kind to the mere advice and opinion of another without a reason. Both Fox and Foote indorse Gregory. His age is against him for such active service, and would give the partisans of Du Pont opportunity to cavil.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 311-3

Diary of John Hay: February 11, 1864

By direction of Gen. G. I went to the prisoners confined in the guard-house, read to them the Proclamation, and said I had come to inform them “of this executive act, and extend to you its benefits. I have in my possession a book for the record of oaths. I have certificates entitling those signing the book to the benefit of the act. If you sign, you will be released or allowed to return to your houses, if they are not, etc. If not, you will be sent North as prisoners of war for exchange. By signing it you will entitle yourselves to all your rights as citizens of the United States. It is a matter for your choice. There is to be neither force nor persuasion used in the matter. It is a matter that you must decide for yourselves. There has been some doubt expressed as to whether you will be protected. I am authorized to promise that you will be. The occupation does it for the present. Men enough. Inducement is peace and protection and reestablishment of your State Government.”

When I had finished the little I had to say, they crowded around me asking innumerable questions. I got away and had an office fixed up in the quartermaster's block and waited for my flock. They soon came, a dirty swarm of grey coats, and filed into the room, escorted by a negro guard. Fate had done its worst for the poor devils. Even a nigger guard didn't seem to excite a feeling of resentment. They stood for a moment in awkward attitudes along the wall. I could not but think that the provost had made a mistake and sent me his whole family, as Alsop said he thought eight or ten of them could be induced to take the oath of allegiance. But I soon found they had come up in good earnest to sign their names. They opened again in a chorus of questions which I answered as I could. At last a big good-natured fellow said, “This question's enough. Let's take the oath!” They all stood up in line and held up their hands while I read the oath. As I concluded, the negro sergeant came up, saluted, and said: — “Dere's one dat didn't hole up his hand.”

They began to sign, — some still stuck and asked questions, some wrote good hands, but most bad. Nearly half made their mark.

. . . . The General received to-day a dispatch from Seymour, saying that Henry fell into an ambush at the South Fork of the St. Mary's, and lost twenty-five in killed and wounded. The enemy got away with slight loss. Seymour is informed and seems to believe that there is a large rebel force at Lake City, larger than his own. The General gives no opinion. He says, “Seymour has positive orders not to get whipped.”

SOURCES: Clara B. Hay, Letters of John Hay and Extracts from Diary, Volume 1, p. 163-5; Tyler Dennett, Editor, Lincoln and the Civil War in the diaries and letters of John Hay, p. 160-1; Michael Burlingame, Editor, Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay, p. 161-2.

Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, August 25, 1862

Washington City, August 25, 1862.

Dearest: — We arrived here after ten days’ marching and travelling, this morning. We go over to Alexandria in an hour or two to take our place in General Sturges’ Army Corps of General Pope's Command. Colonel Scammon leads the First Brigade of General Cox’s Division in the new position. If the enemy press forward, there will be fighting. It is supposed they are trying to push us back. Reinforcements for us are pouring in rapidly.

In case of accident, Joe and I will be reported at the Kirkwood House in this city. I feel a presentiment that all will be right with us. If not, you know all the losing things I would say to you and the dear boys. My impression is that the enemy will be in no condition to hurry matters fast enough to get ahead of the new legions now coming in. They must act speedily or they are too late.

Direct to me as in my last.

Affectionately ever,

R.

Mrs. Hayes.

SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 330-1