American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

October 13, 1862 Monday
The second session of the First Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourned at Richmond after renewal of the law authorizing suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus until Feb 12, 1863. However, it was required that investigation be made of persons arrested. In a lengthy letter to Gen McClellan ( http://www.familytales.org/dbDisplay.php?id=ltr_abl410 ), President Lincoln urged renewed activity and asked, “Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing?” President Lincoln advised a drive against Lee and Richmond.

Federal troops carried out a reconnaissance with some action about Paris, Snickersville, and Middleburg, Virginia. Other fighting was at New Franklin, Missouri; Lancaster and on Crab Orchard Road, Kentucky; and on the Lebanon Road, near Nashville, Tennessee.

Bragg’s Confederates, pulling back from Perryville, Kentucky took up the march for Cumberland Gap. Colonel Joseph Wheeler ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wheeler ), CSA, is placed in command of all the cavalry of Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. Major General Ambrose E. Burnside ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Burnside ), USA, is assigned command of the Federal defenses of Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Maj Gen Jacob D. Cox ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Dolson_Cox ) assumed command of the Federal District of Western Virginia.

U.S.S. America, commanded by Acting Master Jonathan Baker, seized schooner David Crockett attempting to run the blockade out of Charleston with cargo of turpentine and rosin. U.S.S. Memphis, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Watmough, captured blockade running British steamer Ouachita at sea off Cape Romain, South Carolina.

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Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 14, 1862 Tuesday
Congressional elections in Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania resulted in gains by the Democrats, except in Iowa, where the Republicans carried the state. President Lincoln ordered the removal of army bakeries from the basement of the Capitol building.

Confederate Lt Gen John C. Pemberton assumed command of the Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana including forces intended to operate in southwestern Tennessee. There was fighting at Hazel Bottom, Missouri; Trenton, Arkansas; and continuing action in Kentucky at Manchester, Lancaster, and Crab Orchard Road. Francis Redding Tilloou Nicholls, CSA; and Gustave Paul Cluseret, USA; were appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 15, 1862 Wednesday
Skirmishing continued on widely scattered fronts; Fort Gibson, Indian Territory; Neely’s Bend on the Cumberland River, Tennessee; Crab Orchard and Barren Mound, Kentucky; and near Carrsville, Virginia. There were operations from this day to the twentieth against Confederate guerrillas in Henry, Owen, and Gallatin counties, Kentucky. Boat crew under command of Master's Mate Edwin Janvrin of U.S.S. Rachel Seaman, and boat crew under command of Second Assistant Engineer Timothy W. O'Connor of U.S.S. Kensington, destroyed Confederate railroad bridge by fire at Taylor's Bayou, Texas, preventing the transportation of heavy artillery to Sabine Pass, and burned schooners Stonewall and Lone Star and barracks. Federal Adm Farragut reported from Pensacola Bay that Galveston, Corpus Christi, and Sabine City, Texas were in Union possession. A small-boat naval expedition cut out and captured a Confederate blockade-runner up the Apalachicola River in Florida, despite shore opposition. In a river expedition during the month Lieutenant Commander Ransom captured 1,500 head of cattle en route for the enemy, and succeeded by great perseverance in getting them down to New Orleans. C.S.S. Alabama, commanded by Captain Semmes, captured and burned bark Lamplighter southeast of Nova Scotia. Gov Zebulon Vance of North Carolina called upon the people of the state to furnish blankets, carpets, and clothing for the Confederate Army. Eliakim Parker Scammon, USA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 16, 1862 Thursday
Gen McClellan launched two major Federal reconnaissances from Sharpsburg, Maryland to Smithfield, western Virginia and from Harper’s Ferry to Charles Town, western Virginia with some skirmishing ensuing. Lee’s army remained in the northern portion of the Shenandoah Valley. In Kentucky Bragg moved slowly toward Cumberland Gap without major interference. There was skirmishing at Mountain Gap and Mount Vernon, Kentucky. In Missouri there was action at Auxvasse Creek in Callaway County and at Portland; in Arkansas at Shell’s Mill and Elkhorn Tavern. The draft began in Pennsylvania and other portions of the North. The Federal Department of the Tennessee was constituted under command of Maj Gen Ulysses S. Grant. Major General William W. Loring ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W._Loring ), CSA, is relieved of command of the Confederate Department of Western Virginia and Brigadier General John Echols ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Echols ), CSA, assumes command of the Confederate Department of Western Virginia. Brigadier General George Burgwyn Anderson ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Anderson ), CSA, dies from complications from his wounds received on September 17, 1862, during the Battle of Antietam, Maryland.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 17, 1862 Friday
Resistance to the ineffective Federal militia draft was developing in some states, particularly several counties of Pennsylvania. At Berkley in Luzerne County troops had to put down opposition. Skirmishes were at Lexington, Missouri; Mountain Home and Sugar Creek, Arkansas; Valley Woods and Rock Hill, Kentucky; and Island Number 10, Tennessee. There was an expedition on this day and the eighteenth by Federals to Thoroughfare Gap, Virginia. President Lincoln asked Att Gen Bates to make out a commission for David Davis of Illinois as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 18, 1862 Saturday
John Hunt Morgan and his Confederate raiders defeated Federal cavalry near Lexington, Kentucky ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexington_ ... _Civil_War ), entered the city, captured the garrison, and moved off toward Versailles. There was other fighting this day at Kirk’s Bluff, South Carolina; Bloomfield, Big Hill, Little Rockcastle River, and Mountain Side, Kentucky; Uniontown and California House, Missouri; and Cross Hollow and Helena, Arkansas.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 19, 1862 Sunday
Bragg’s retiring Army of Tennessee arrived in the area of Cumberland Gap, Kentucky where they took until the twenty-fourth to get through completely, taking with them large amounts of grain and supplies appropriated in Kentucky. Federal opposition was fairly light. It was a quiet wartime Sunday, although there was the usual skirmishing, this time at Bardstown and Wild Cat ( http://www.bencaudill.com/leatherwood_battle.html ), Kentucky; between Catlett’s Station and Warrenton Junction, Virginia; and at Bonnet Carre in St John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 20, 1862 Monday
President Lincoln ordered Maj Gen John A. McClernand ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alexander_McClernand ), Illinois politician, to proceed to Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa to organize troops for an expedition against Vicksburg under McClernand’s command. This conflicted with Gen Grant’s new command and was to result in many charges and countercharges and much friction between Grant and McClernand. President Lincoln also penned memorandums, one showing the Army of the Potomac had a total of 231,997 men of which 144,662 were fit for duty (Confederate Army shows total of 89,563.), the other establishing a provisional court in Louisiana. Fighting included Federal repulse of a force under N.B. Forrest on the Gallatin Pike near Nashville, Tennessee; and skirmishes near Helena, Arkansas; Marshfield, Missouri; Hermitage Ford, Tennessee; Wild Cat, Kentucky; and Hedgesville, western Virginia. Steamer Minho ran aground after running the blockade out of Charleston. Rear Admiral Du Pont reported that ". . . it appears that . . . she will perhaps become a wreck, as there is much water in the hold, and part of the cargo [is] floating about in the vessel. So much of the cargo, it is stated ["by the Charleston papers"], as may be destroyed by water will be nearly a total loss." Major General Henry W. Slocum ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Warner_Slocum ), USA, assumes command of the 12th Army Corps, Federal Army of the Potomac. Robert Hall Chilton, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 21, 1862 Tuesday
Confederate President Davis wrote Maj Gen T.H. Holmes in Missouri of tentative plans to have Southern armies join together to drive the Federals from Tennessee and Arkansas and recapture Helena, Memphis, and Nashville. President Lincoln meanwhile called upon military and civil authorities in Tennessee to support elections for a state government, legislature, and members of Congress. There was a reconnaissance from Loudoun Heights to Lovettsville, Virginia by Federals; a skirmish at Woodville, Tennessee; and another at Pitman’s Cross Roads, Kentucky. U.S.S. Louisville, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Meade, escorted steamer Meteor, whose embarked Army troops were landed at Bledsoe's Landing and Hamblin's Landing, Arkansas. The towns were burned in reprisal for attacks by Confederate guerrillas on mail steamer Gladiator early in the morning, 19 October. "The people along the river bank," Meade reported to Rear Admiral D. D. Porter, "were duly informed that every outrage by the guerrillas upon packets would be similarly dealt with."

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 22, 1862 Wednesday
It appeared, after two weeks of skirmishing and less than vigorous pursuit, that Bragg’s Confederate army was making good its escape from Buell in Kentucky, following the Battle of Perryville. Cotton speculation caused President Lincoln to say that individuals purchasing cotton should not impose terms not included in the Federal rules. Fighting occurred at two points in Arkansas, Helena and Huntsville; at Van Buren, Missouri; Snickersville, Virginia; and Confederate cavalry under Gen Joseph Wheeler took London, Kentucky. A Union attack on Pocotaglico or Yemassee, South Carolina was repulsed after several skirmishes Oct 22-23 ( http://www.enter.net/~rocketeer/47thpa/ ... aligo.html ). A Federal expedition from Fort Donelson to Waverly, Tennessee fought several times Oct 22-25. There was a skirmish at Fort Wayne, Indian Territory near the Arkansas border ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Old_Fort_Wayne and http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/ok004.htm and http://www.okcivilwar.org/sites/fort-wayne ).

A naval battery consisting of three 12 pounder boat howitzers from U.S.S. Wabash took part in and furnished artillery support for Union infantry troops at the battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina. One of the gun crew, who was seriously injured, was ordinary seaman Oscar W. Farenholt, the first enlisted man in the Navy to reach flag rank. The battery from Wabash took part as artillery in amphibious operations all along the South Atlantic coast. U.S.S. Penobscot, under Commander Clitz, captured blockade running British brig Robert Bruce off Cape Fear, North Carolina. Lieutenant William B. Cushing reported that U.S.S. Ellis captured and destroyed blockade runner Adelaide at New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, with cargo of turpentine, cotton, and tobacco.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 23, 1862 Thursday
Bragg’s Confederate army passed into Tennessee through Cumberland Gap on their retreat from Kentucky. President Davis wrote of his worries over the pro-Union sentiments of east Tennessee. There was a skirmish at Clarkton, Missouri; and Waverly and Richland Creek, Tennessee; the Goose Creek Salt Works near Manchester, Kentucky were destroyed by Federals. C.S.S. Alabama, commanded by Captain Semmes, captured and burned American bark Lafayette south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

Gentlemen, I will be indisposed for a few days so some future postings have been made below. You may read them in sequence daily or all at once - your choice.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 24, 1862 Friday
Don Carlos Buell was removed from Federal command in Kentucky and Tennessee largely due to the escape of Bragg’s Confederates. Maj Gen William S. Rosecrans ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Rosecrans ) was assigned to command these troops and the new Department of the Cumberland, following his victories in Mississippi. Fighting was confined to a skirmish near Fayetteville, Arkansas; an affair on St Helena Island, South Carolina ( http://lestweforget.hamptonu.edu/page.c ... A7FE9EE27A ); skirmishes at Manassas Junction and near Bristoe Station, Virginia; and at White Oak Springs, Tennessee. A Federal expedition Oct 24-26 chased guerrillas from Independence to Greenton, Chapel Hill, and Hopewell, Missouri. Oct 24 - Nov 6 there were military operations in the La Fourche District, Louisiana. Sailors on horseback--a landing party from U.S.S. Baron De Kalb, commanded by Captain Winslow, debarked at Hopefield, Arkansas, to engage a small Confederate scouting party. Mounting horses which were procured, as Captain Winslow reported, "by impressement," the Baron De Kalb sailors engaged in a 9 mile running fight which ended with the capture of the Confederate party. The 13th Federal Army Corps is created. Major General Leonidas Polk, CSA, is temporarily placed in command of the Confederate Department No. 2.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 25, 1862 Saturday
President Lincoln, piqued at McClellan’s delays after Antietam, wired the commander of the Army of the Potomac, “I have just read your dispatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?” McClellan, of course, defended his cavalry and operations, pointing out various reconnaissances and raids. Meanwhile, Maj Gen Grant assumed command of the Thirteenth Army Corps and the Department of the Tennessee. There was skirmishing near Zuni, Virginia; Lawrenceburg, Kentucky; Donaldsonville, Louisiana; Helena, Arkansas; and near Pike Creek and Eleven Points, Missouri. Joseph Warren Revere, USA; and Joseph Rodman West, USA; were appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

October 26, 1862 Sunday
The Army of the Potomac, nearly idle since the Battle of Antietam in mid-September, began crossing the Potomac into Virginia. Confederate Gen Bragg completed the evacuation of Kentucky, retiring into Tennessee toward Knoxville and Chattanooga. Samuel Heintzelman succeeded Banks in command of the defenses of Washington. There were operations Oct 26-Nov 10 in Loudoun, Fauquier, and Rappahannock counties of Virginia. Indianola, Texas fell to Union gunboats. The Federal Army of the Mississippi is discontinued. C.S.S. Alabama, commanded by Captain Semmes, captured and burned schooner Crenshaw south of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In Washington President Lincoln wrote McClellan that he “rejoiced” that the army had begun to cross the Potomac ( http://www.classicreader.com/book/3767/200/ ). In an interview with the English Quaker leader Mrs Eliza P. Gurney, President Lincoln is reported to have said, “If I had my way, this war would never have been commenced; If I had been allowed my way this war would have been ended before this, but we find it still continues.” (http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/ ... ument=1081 )

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00