1861 - Saturday A newspaper in Edgefield, SC states that so many men are at war that in a population of 800, only 11 men are left between the ages of 18 and 45.
Senator William H. Seward, speaking out against the idea of war, says "I do not know what the Union would be worth if saved by the sword." Seward would go on to become Lincoln's Secretary of State and play a lead role in the war effort that he had so roundly condemned.
Florida State Troops take over, Pensacola Navy Yard, Fort Barrancas, Fort McRae and Barrancas Barracks. Surrender of Fort Pickens, Fla. is demanded.
1862 - Sunday Gen. Sterling Price, a member of the Missouri State Guard, not yet having joined the Confederacy, protests Union Gen. Henry Hallecks' orders that any of Price's men caught burning bridges be executed.
Today marked the opening day of the Third Session of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, and Davis made the most of it. The military situation, he said was going well, pointing to the halting of Federal operations in TN, around Vicksburg, and in VA. (He was correct, but the halts were mostly due to it being the dead of winter.) Davis also noted the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation in the U.S. and there he took a bit of poetic license, claiming that its passage encouraged slaves to rise up and murder their masters, and that this action would lead to the extermination of the Negro race. This, he said, proved that Republicans were no friends of blacks.
1864 - Tuesday In East TN, Gen. Foster complains to Grant about the lack of supplies available to his troops. "Many animals are dying… Everything is eaten out north of Holston River, also nearly everything is eaten up at Mossy Creek…. Some quartermaster stores have arrived, but not in sufficient quantity. No rations by last boats. Am entirely destitute of bread, coffee, and sugar."
Although not technically a Civil War operation, Federal troops were obliged to take part in two days of hostilities, commencing today, in the rather unlikely setting of Matamoros, Mexico. Since the days of America's last great military adventure, the Mexican War, the political situation south of the border had existed in fluctuating states of stability. This was not one of the more stable times, and two political factions of roughly equal influence were contending for control of this city. Federal forces were obliged to step in when it seemed that the person and residence of the American consul, L. Pierce, had become a target of hostilities. Pierce was, at the end of the action, escorted out of town for his own protection.
1865 - Thursday With the countryside surrounding Fredericksburg picked clean of food and forage, Lee struggles to feed his men. Hampered by having to rely upon the single track Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to procure supplies, Lee has already sent most of his artillery horses to the rear due to a lack of forage. Now, a shortage of meat threatens to sap the strength of his men.
The large fleet under Rear Admiral David D. Porter, arrived off Ft. Fisher, NC and starts preparing to take Ft. Fisher. The fleet of some sixty gunboats. The plan, when they reached Wilmington, was for the Navy to launch a bombardment, followed by the landing of 10,000 soldiers and marines for the actual seizure. In defense, the ram ship CSS Columbia was hurriedly released from the dock in Charleston where she had been built. Unfortunately the boat's first act was to run aground, where she was stuck fast. Attempts to re-float her, at hideous effort, continued until mid-February.
Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick is promoted to major general in the Union army. Kilpatrick served in both the eastern and western theaters of war and earned a reputation as a fearless-and, many would say, reckless--leader. He joined the 5th New York Infantry and became one of the first officers wounded in the war when he was shot at the Battle of Big Bethel, VA, in June 1861.His aggressive battlefield tactics were often dangerous for his troops and he earned the nickname "Kill cavalry."
Born on this day… 1814 - Conf. Maj. Gen. Jones Mitchell Withers in Madison Cty, AL 1816 - Union Brig. Gen. Willis Arnold Gorman near Flemingsburg, KY 1819 - Union Brig. Gen. Zealous Bates Tower at Cohasset, MA 1825 - Conf. Brig. Gen. Joseph Robert Davis at Woodville, MS Note: Nephew of Jefferson Davis 1826 - Union Brig. Gen. of Vol.'s Charles Cruft at Terre Haute, IN 1832 - Conf. Brig. Gen. Richard Waterhouse in Rhea Cty, TN Note: The last person to be promoted to Gen. before the Conf. Government collapsed
Side Note: 1868 - Union Brev. Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele, dies in San Mateo, CA. 1889 - Union Brev. Brig. Gen.. Henry Walton Wessells, dies in Dover, DE. 1889 - Conf. Brig. Gen. William Steele, dies in San Antonio, TX. 1898 - Conf. Brig. Gen. John Bratton, dies in Winnsboro, SC.
