American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

1865 Jefferson Davis captured

Jefferson Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of Union General James H. Wilson's cavalry.

On April 2, 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia imminent, General Robert E. Lee informed President Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and advised the Confederate government to evacuate its capital. Davis and his cabinet fled to Danville, Virginia, and with Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9, deep into the South. Lee's surrender of his massive Army of Northern Virginia effectively ended the Civil War, and during the next few weeks the remaining Confederate armies surrendered one by one. Davis was devastated by the fall of the Confederacy. Refusing to admit defeat, he hoped to flee to a sympathetic foreign nation such as Britain or France, and was weighing the merits of forming a government in exile when he was arrested by a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry.

A certain amount of controversy surrounds his capture, as Davis was wearing his wife's black shawl when the Union troops cornered him. The Northern press ridiculed him as a coward, alleging that he had disguised himself as a woman in an ill-fated attempt to escape. However, Davis, and especially his wife, Varina, maintained that he was ill and that Varina had lent him her shawl to keep his health up during their difficult journey.

Imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Davis was indicted for treason, but was never tried--the federal government feared that Davis would be able prove to a jury that the Southern secession of 1860 to 1861 was legal. Varina worked determinedly to secure his freedom, and in May 1867 Jefferson Davis was released on bail, with several wealthy Northerners helping him pay for his freedom.

After a number of unsuccessful business ventures, he retired to Beauvoir, his home near Biloxi, Mississippi, and began writing his two-volume memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). He died in 1889 and was buried at New Orleans; four years later, his body was moved to its permanent resting spot in Richmond, Virginia.[:D]

Lt.Phil Prete
5th Brigade, 2nd Division
Army of the Potomac

Forget the capture of Davis...

May 10

<b>1863 Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson dies</b>


The South loses one of its boldest and most colorful generals on this day. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson died of pneumonia a week after losing his arm when his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the first two years of the war, Jackson terrorized Union commanders and led his army corps on bold and daring marches. He was the perfect complement to Robert E. Lee.

A native Virginian, Jackson grew up in poverty in Clarksburg, in the mountains of what is now West Virginia. Orphaned at an early age, Jackson was raised by relatives and became a shy, lonely young man. He had only a rudimentary education but secured an appointment to West Point after another young man from the same congressional district turned his appointment down. Despite poor preparation, Jackson worked hard and graduated 17th in a class of 59 cadets.

Upon graduating, Jackson served as an artillery officer during the Mexican War, seeing action at Vera Cruz and Chapultepec. He earned three brevets for bravery in just six months and then left the service in 1850 to teach at Virginia Military Institute. He was known as a difficult and eccentric classroom instructor, prone to strange and impromptu gestures in class. He was also a devout Presbyterian who refused to even talk of secular matters on the Sabbath. In 1859, he led a group of VMI cadets to serve as gallows guards for the hanging of John Brown.

When war broke out in 1861, Jackson became a brigadier general in command of five regiments raised in the Shenandoah Valley. At the Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, Jackson earned distinction by leading the attack that secured an advantage for the Confederates. Confederate General Bernard Bee, trying to inspire his troops, exclaimed "there stands Jackson like a stone wall," and provided one of the most enduring monikers in history.

By 1862, Jackson was recognized as one of the most effective commanders in the Confederate army. Leading his force on one of the most brilliant campaigns in military history during the summer of 1862, Jackson marched around the Shenandoah Valley and held off three Union armies while providing relief for Confederates pinned down on the James Peninsula by George McClellan's army. He later rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia for the Seven Days battles, and his leadership was brilliant at Second Bull Run in August 1862. He soon became Lee's most trusted corps commander.

The Battle of Chancellorsville was Lee's and Jackson's shining moment. Despite the fact that they faced an army twice the size of theirs, Lee daringly split his force and sent Jackson around the Union flank—a move that resulted in perhaps the Army of the Potomac's most stunning defeat of the war. When nightfall halted the attack, Jackson rode forward to reconnoiter the territory for another assault. But as he and his aides rode back to the lines, a group of Rebels opened fire. Jackson was hit three times, and a Southern bullet shattered his left arm. His arm had to be amputated the next day. Soon, pneumonia set in, and Jackson quickly began to fade. He died, as he had wished, on the Sabbath, May 10, 1863, with these last words: "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."




Regards,
Lt. Col. Alan Lynn
3rd Battery "Jacksonville Greys"
4th Div, II Corps, AoA
God bless <><

Sirs!

A question that begs to be asked (from this Irishman's viewpoint at least) . . . . and no Doubt <i>might</i> invoke some heated debate![:I]

Are any of these events marked or observed Nationally in the USA?

Or even in the Deep South?

And if not . . . why not?

And if not . . . shouldn't they be?

After all . . . . they <i>are</i> an important part of Your Collective History . . . nes pas?

Pat. [8D]

Colonel Patrick G.M.Carroll,
II Corps, Commanding.
"Spartan Southrons"
Army of Georgia,
C.S.A.

" When My Country takes it's rightful place, amongst the Nations of the World, then and only then, let My Epitaph be written. "

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by eireb</i>
<br />Sirs!

A question that begs to be asked (from this Irishman's viewpoint at least) . . . . and no Doubt <i>might</i> invoke some heated debate![:I]

Are any of these events marked or observed Nationally in the USA?

Or even in the Deep South?

And if not . . . why not?

And if not . . . shouldn't they be?

After all . . . . they <i>are</i> an important part of Your Collective History . . . nes pas?

Pat. [8D]

Colonel Patrick G.M.Carroll,
II Corps, Commanding.
"Spartan Southrons"
Army of Georgia,
C.S.A.

" When My Country takes it's rightful place, amongst the Nations of the World, then and only then, let My Epitaph be written. "
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Colonel Carroll,

We prefer not to remember the SAD days [:D] !

Seriously, I do think some in the South remember/honor Robert E. Lee's birthday. Other than that, we have 'Memorial Day', which commemorates ALL who have lost their lives in conflicts. (To many Americans, however, this holiday has come to be a time to remember ANYONE who has died, military OR civilian.)

We DO celebrate St. Patrick's Day, however [^] !


Your humble servant,
LGen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

David W. Mallory
ACW - Lieutenant General, Chief of the Armies, Confederate States of America
CCC - Corporal, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Deaprtment, Colonial American Army

May 10, 1864. Spotsylvania, VA.

Late in the day, Col. Upton led an assault against the western face of the Mule Shoe salient--part of the Rebel entrenchments built around the strategic crossroads of Spotsylvania, VA. The attack's initial success (it breached the Rebel lines on the western side of the salient) was due largely to the innovative tactics devised by Upton. He ordered a charge by a massed column of Union infantry against the entrenchments--the leading regiments of which advanced with empty weapons so as to preclude them from stopping and firing. The attack initially overwhlemed Dole's Georgians, only to fail for lack of support.

The tactic of employing a massed column to overwhelm an entrenched foe was appreciated by Gen. Grant, who on May 12th ordered a similar attack using 20,000 Union troops against the tip of the Mule Shoe. That attack again achieved initial success only to be stymied by desperate Confederate counterattacks and 20 hours of hand-to-hand combat around the infamous "bloody angle".

On May 12, 1864, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was killed in action at Yellow Tavern. Stuart was in pursuit of Gen Phil Sheridan's Union troopers raiding near Richmond, VA.

BG Ken 'Muddy' Jones
1/1/XXIII Army of Ohio
USA