American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

January 1, 1865 Sunday
The year opened quietly, with only a skirmish at Bentonville, Arkansas. Throughout most of the month Federals operated against guerrillas in Arkansas.

General Robert E. Lee clung doggedly to his position defending Richmond, conscious that world opinion had come to regard the fate of the Confederacy as inseparable from that of its capital city. Equally determined that Richmond should fall, General Ulysses S. Grant, with great superiority in numbers, pressed against Petersburg, the key to the capital's southern defense line. Grant also sought to break through to the westward, encircling Lee and Richmond, and cutting the Weldon, Southside (Lynchburg), and Danville railroads by which the city and the soldiers were supplied.

That Grant lay in front of Petersburg and less than 20 miles from Richmond was wholly due to Federal naval control of the James and Potomac Rivers. His waterborne line of supply extended up the James to City Point, only seven miles from Petersburg. From this principal base at City Point, Grant coordinated the joint movements of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James.

In Richmond, the prospect of a naval attack was so threatening that the government assembled for the city's defense the strongest naval force it ever placed under one command. The James River Squadron, commanded by Flag Officer John K. Mitchell, consisted of three ironclads, seven gunboats, and two torpedo boats. In addition to its defensive functions, Mitchell's squadron also constituted a potentially formidable threat to the security of the vital City Point base. It operated behind a protective minefield at Chaffin's Bluff, some 35 miles upriver from City Point.

To counter Mitchell's warships and protect Grant's waterborne supply line, the Fifth Division of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron lay on the James guarding the sunken hulk obstruction line at Trent's Reach and the pontoon crossings of the James and Appomattox Rivers and protecting supply vessels against sharpshooters and hidden batteries on shore. Normally the Fifth Division consisted of five monitors and some 25 gunboats. However, in January four of the monitors and a number of the gunboats were away from the James with the fleet being assembled by Rear Admiral David D. Porter for the second attack on Fort Fisher. Hence the Confederate squadron above City Point enjoyed an unprecedented opportunity for offensive operations on which it sought to capitalize before the month ended.

Receiving General Grant's 30 December notification of a renewed Army assault by sea on Fort Fisher with an "increased force and without the former commander [General Benjamin F. Butler]", Rear Admiral Porter acted vigorously to set up a massive and overwhelming attack behind the fleet's heavy guns. He directed that his 43 warships concentrated at Beaufort, North Carolina, and the 23 on station off the Cape Fear River send in their operations charts for corrections and onload "every shell that can be carried" for shore bombardment. Porter replied immediately to the Army commander-in-chief: ". . . thank God we are not to leave here with so easy a victory at hand . . . ." He assured his old Vicksburg colleague that he would "work day and night to be ready." At Fort Fisher, mindful of General Lee's message that the work must be held at all costs or the Army of Northern Virginia could not be supplied, Colonel William Lamb and his garrison readied themselves for the further attacks forecast by the sizeable Federal naval force which had remained off the Cape Fear River entrances since the first attempt to take the fort had been broken off.

On the James River, Commander William A. Parker, commanding the double-turreted monitor Onondaga, reported that 12,000 pounds of gunpowder had been detonated in an effort to remove the end barriers of the canal excavation at Dutch Gap, Virginia. "The earth was thrown up into the air about 40 or 50 feet," he noted, "and immediately fell back into its original place. This earth will have to be removed to render the canal passable for vessels." Major General Butler had begun the canal in 1864 with a view to passing Confederate obstructions above Trent's Reach. If the passage had been effected, Butler's Army of the James could have bypassed key positions in Richmond's southern defense system and moved on the city in a diversionary threat aimed at reducing General Lee's resistance to the main Union thrust under General Grant.

U.S.S. San Jacinto, commanded by Captain Richard W. Meade, ran on a reef at Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, in the Bahamas. She was found to be seriously bilged and was abandoned without loss of life. Meade was able to salvage the armament, ammunition, rigging, cables, and much of the ship's copper. At an early period of the war, San Jacinto had gained fame when her commanding officer, Captain Charles Wilkes, stopped the British ship Trent and removed Confederate commissioners James M. Mason and John Slidell

_________________
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

January 2, 1865 Monday
Union troops operating against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad fought Confederates at Franklin and Lexington, Mississippi. There was scouting for bushwhackers by Federals in Shannon County, Missouri as well as a Federal scout from Benvard’s Mills to South Quay, Virginia.

A group of Kentuckians applied to have Butler assigned to their state and the President said, “You howled when Butler went to New Orleans. Others howled when he was removed from that command. Somebody has been howling ever since at his assignment to military command. How long will it be before you, who are howling for his assignment to rule Kentucky, will be howling to me to remove him?” The regular New Year’s reception was held at the Washington White House for the diplomatic corps, Cabinet officers, judges, and military officers attending. There were complaints that congressmen were not invited. President Davis told Beauregard that if it became necessary he should remove Hood as commander of the Army of Tennessee and name Richard Taylor to command.

_________________
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

January 3, 1865 Tuesday
A Federal expedition was readying for another attempt on Fort Fisher and Wilmington. Preparations were under way at Bermuda Hundred and at Fort Monroe for the combined army-navy operations. In Georgia Sherman, planning for the move northward into South Carolina, began transferring part of Howard’s Army of the Tennessee from Savannah to Beaufort, South Carolina. A skirmish broke out near Hardeeville, South Carolina. To the west, Federals operating along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad fought a skirmish near Mechanicsburg, Mississippi.

_________________
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

January 4, 1865 Wednesday
Federal troops embarked at Bermuda Hundred for the new expedition against Fort Fisher, North Carolina. This time they were under command of Maj Gen Alfred H. Terry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Terry ), a sound soldier. Most of the men had taken part in the abortive Butler expedition of December. The huge fleet was again under Admiral Porter. At Thorn Hill, Alabama there was a brief skirmish, part of the aftermath of the December Franklin-Nashville Campaign. On the Mobile and Ohio a skirmish flared at The Ponds, Mississippi. A Union expedition from Bloomfield to Poplar Bluff, Missouri lasted until Jan 16. Until Jan 27 Federals operated from Brownsville to Augusta, 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

January 5, 1865 Thursday
President Davis continued to be concerned and frustrated by the increasing dissension, controversy over the draft, manpower problems, and the war itself. In Washington President Lincoln, bothered by job seekers after election rewards, tried to concentrate on trade in recovered areas and domestic affairs. The President issued a pass to go through the lines to James W. Singleton, one of the several unofficial and self-named envoys seeking a possible settlement of the war. Sec of War Stanton headed for Savannah to consult with Sherman; President Lincoln wrote Stanton that “time, now that the enemy is wavering, is more important than ever before. Being on the down-hill, & some what confused, keeping [keep] him going….”

President Lincoln receives his December salary warrant for $1,981.66 and tucks it away in his desk. [This is one of four found in his desk after his death.]

Acting Lieutenant James Lansing succeeded in refloating U.S.S. Indianola in the Mississippi River. Indianola had been sunk by the Confederates almost two years before (see 24 February 1863) and the Union had been attempting to float her ever since.

_________________
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

January 6, 1865 Friday
In the United States House of Representatives, Republican J.M. Ashley of Ohio again brought up the proposed Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery. The amendment had passed the Senate, where Republicans and unionists had the requisite two thirds, but had failed in the House. President Lincoln, the Administration, and of course the Radicals, as well as some none-Radical Republicans, were putting pressure on certain Democrats to change their votes. Republicans undoubtedly would be able to pass the measure in the Thirty-ninth Congress, but that did not meet until December, and many, including the President, were anxious to see the amendment in effect as soon as possible. For the rest of the month the debate took up much of the time of the House. Ashley said, “Mr. Speaker, if slavery is wrong and criminal, as the great body of enlightened Christian men admit, it is certainly our duty to abolish it, if we have the power.” James Brooks of New York replied, “Is the abolition of slavery the only object for which this war is hereafter to be prosecuted, or is now prosecuted? I do not believe it.”

Gen Grant at Petersburg wired President Lincoln asking that Gen Butler be removed from command of the Army of the James. Grant felt there was a lack of confidence in his military ability, “making him an unsafe commander for a large army.” By rank Butler would have commanded in Grant’s absence. There was probably no more controversial figure in the North than Butler and since the Fort Fisher fiasco agitation for his removal had increased.

Military action was confined to a skirmish at Huntsville, Arkansas. President Davis wrote a lengthy and contentious letter to Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens, who had long been extremely critical of Davis. He objected mainly to Stephens’ alleging that Davis had preferred Lincoln over McClellan in the Union election: “I am aware that I was unfortunate enough to incur your disapproval of my policy…. I assure you that it would be to me a source of the sincerest pleasure to see you devoting your great and admitted ability exclusively to upholding the confidence and animating the spirit of the people to unconquerable resistance against their foes.” Meanwhile, Davis was trying still to find troops to defend the Carolinas. Richard Lee Turberville Beale, CSA, is 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

January 7, 1865 Saturday
The active military career of Maj Gen Benjamin F. Butler ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_B ... politician) ) came to an end. Orders were issued by the Secretary of War removing Butler from command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. His replacement was Maj Gen E.O.C. Ord ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ord ). For a long time Butler had held high military posts, possibly because President Lincoln felt he was less a thorn in the side that way; but there had to be an end. The mess of Fort Fisher had brought matters to a head, and now Butler had to go regardless of political implications. More Federal troops were pulled out of the Shenandoah Valley, now static, and sent elsewhere. Military action remained light, with skirmishing in Johnson County, Arkansas and with Indians at Valley Station and Julesburg, Colorado Territory. Union scouts operated from Pine Bluff, Arkansas and from Fort Ellsworth, Kansas. Danish ironclad Sphinx left Copenhagen for Quiberon Bay, France. She had been secretly purchased by the Confederates and would become C.S.S. Stonewall ( http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-u ... onewll.htm ).

_________________
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

January 8, 1865 Sunday
The huge naval fleet under Rear Admiral David D. Porter ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dixon_Porter ), plus the transport fleet containing Terry’s expeditionary force, arrived at rendezvous off Beaufort, North Carolina before again attempting to take Fort Fisher. Maj Gen E.O.C. Ord took command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina, as well as the Army of the James, in place of the relieved Butler. Maj Gen John A. Logan resumed command of the Union Fifteenth Corps, relieving Maj Gen Peter J. Osterhaus. Skirmishing occurred only near Ivey’s Ford, Arkansas and at Dove Creek, Concho River, Texas.

_________________
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

January 9, 1865 Monday
The Constitutional Convention of Tennessee adopted an amendment abolishing slavery in the state and putting it to the vote of the people, who ratified it Feb 22. John Bell Hood moved his discouraged and greatly diminished Army of Tennessee to Tupelo, Mississippi. There would have to be an effort to pick up the pieces of the Confederate army in the West, for it was desperately needed in the Carolinas. Fighting broke out in Texas County of Missouri, and near Disputanta Station, Virginia. Federals carried out a reconnaissance from Eastport to Iuka, Mississippi. U. S. President Abraham Lincoln sends U. S. secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, to Savannah, Georgia, for discussions with Major General William T. Sherman, USA, on military strategy and his alleged mistreatment of black freedman.

In the U.S. House, Democrat Moses Odell of New York indicated his change of position regarding abolition of slavery: “The South by rebellion has absolved the Democratic party at the North from all obligation to stand up longer for the defense of its ‘cornerstone’.” Odell later received an important political job from President Lincoln and was one of the Democrats who made it possible to pass the Thirteenth Amendment. In opposition, Robert Mallory of Kentucky said, “the Constitution does not authorize an amendment to be made by which any State or citizen shall be divested of acquired rights of property or of established political franchises.”

Lieutenant Commander Earl English, U.S.S. Wyalusing, reported the capture of schooner Triumph at the mouth of the Perquimans River, North Carolina, with cargo including large quantity of salt.

_________________
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

January 10, 1865 Tuesday
The debate in the U.S. House of Representatives over slavery continued heatedly. John A. Kasson of Iowa: “you will never, never, have reliable peace in this country while that institution exists, the perpetual occasion of moral, intellectual, and physical warfare.” Fernando Wood of New York: “The Almighty has fixed the distinction of the races; the Almighty has made the black man inferior, and, sir, by no legislation, by no partisan success, by no revolution, by no military power, can you wipe out this distinction. You may make the black man free, but when you have done that what have you done?”

A skirmish near Glasgow, Missouri was the only fighting. The one major operation now under way, the second expedition to Fort Fisher, was being held up by raging seas and stormy weather off Beaufort, North Carolina.

U.S.S. Valley City, commanded by Acting Master John A. J. Brooks, seized steamer Philadelphia in the Chowan River, North Carolina, with cargo including tobacco and cotton.

_________________
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

January 11, 1865 Wednesday
The Constitutional Convention of Missouri, meeting in St Louis, adopted an ordinance abolishing slavery.

Thomas Lafayette Rosser ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_L._Rosser ), with a small band of about 300 Confederates, was raiding in West Virginia. This time he fell on Beverly in bad weather, capturing 580 Federals and causing some 28 casualties, and seizing considerable rations. Union investigators called it a disaster due to Federal carelessness and lack of discipline. There was a skirmish near Lexington, Missouri; a Union expedition from Helena, Arkansas to Harbert’s Plantation, Mississippi; and a Federal scout until Jan 21 from Fort Wingate to Sierra del Datil and vicinity, New Mexico Territory.

In Richmond President Davis was still trying to build up an army to face Sherman in South Carolina. He planned to bring the Army of Tennessee, or most of what was left, to the east coast, and to gather all available reserves, militia and recruits.

_________________
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

January 12, 1865 Thursday
In the early evening the immense Federal war fleet of about sixty vessels and a large number of troop transports bearing 8,000 army men arrived off Fort Fisher. The seas were calmer now and Admiral Porter’s fleet and General Terry’s expeditionary force were anxious to erase the stain of the first failure to take the vital fort that had kept Wilmington partially open to blockade-runners. Landings, however, had to be put off until the thirteenth. Onshore Col William Lamb at Fort Fisher learned of the expedition’s arrival and notified Gen Bragg, who commanded the Wilmington area.

Elsewhere, an affair took place near Sugar Loaf Prairie, Arkansas. Union operations included a four-day expedition form Morganza, Louisiana with skirmishes; a four-day scout from Camp Grover to Texas Prairie, Missouri; and a six-day scout from Warrensburg to Miami, Missouri.

Francis Preston Blair, Sr, aging Democratic political leader, conferred with President Davis in Richmond on possible peace. Blair, unofficially but with apparent sanction of President Lincoln, presented suggestions to Davis. The Confederate President gave Blair a letter to be shown Lincoln which indicated Davis was willing to enter into peace negotiations and that he would appoint an agent “to enter into conference, with a view to secure peace to the two countries.” That was the rub – Davis was not willing to give up independence for the South and the North’s entire policy was that “”of one common country.” But at least there had been talk between the two contending sides.

The abolition debate continued in the U.S. House as Democrat Samuel S. Cox of Ohio said, “Whatever it may be termed, I am opposed to compounding powers in the Federal Government.” Republican James A. Garfield of Ohio said, “Mr. Speaker, we shall never know why slavery dies so hard in this Republic and in this Hall, till we know why sin outlives disaster, and Satan is immortal….” Thaddeus Stevens, Radical leader from Pennsylvania, stated that slavery was “the worst institution upon earth, one which is a disgrace to man and would be an annoyance to the infernal spirits.”

President Davis wrote Lieut Gen Richard Taylor, son of President Zachary Taylor, “Sherman’s campaign has produced bad effect on our people, success against his future operations is needful to reanimate public confidence. Hardee requires more aid than Lee can give him, and Hood’s army is the only source to which we can now look.” Davis said some troops should be kept by Taylor in the West to hold Thomas in check, but the main part of what was left of the Army of Tennessee should be sent “to look after Sherman.”

The new and formidable Confederate ram Columbia, ready for service, grounded while coming out of her dock at Charleston. Extensive efforts to refloat her failed and she was abandoned when Charleston was evacuated in mid-February. Columbia was saved by Union forces after much effort and was floated on 26 April. Rear Admiral Dahlgren described the ram: "She is 209 feet long (extreme), beam 49 feet, has a casemate 65 feet long, pierced for six guns, one on each side and one at each of the four corners, pivots to point ahead or astern and to the side. She has two engines, high pressure, and [is] plated on the casemates with 6 inches of iron in thickness, quite equal, it is believed, to the best of the kind built by the rebels."

The following appointments are made to Brigadier General: John Grant Mitchell, USA; John Morrison Oliver, USA; Benjamin Franklin Potts, USA; James Sidney Robinson, USA; and Robert Kingston Scott, USA.

_________________
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

January 13, 1865 Friday
The extremely powerful Federal naval fleet of Adm Porter, packing the greatest firepower in naval history, 627 guns in 59 vessels, began bombarding Fort Fisher, North Carolina at the mouth of the Cape Fear River ( http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fort-fisher.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bat ... ort_Fisher ). The firing in three days totaled around 20,000 projectiles and appeared to be much more effective than the December attack. Accuracy was high and Confederate guns and defensive works were battered. Meanwhile, with small boats from the navy, some 8000 Union troops under Gen Alfred Terry were put ashore on the narrow north-south peninsula above Fort Fisher. There was no opposition to the landing from Gen Bragg’s some 6000 men between Wilmington and the fort. The fort was relatively powerless, and the naval vessels suffered little damage during the fight. The army dug in, constructing a defense line facing north to hold off Bragg, and then prepared to move southward to assault the fort after its softening by the fleet. Meanwhile, Col William Lamb, in command of Fort Fisher, called upon Bragg to attack the Federal landing party and crush it.

John Bell Hood resigned as commander of the Army of Tennessee, ending the flamboyant career of a gallant, hard-fighting, but often losing general. Lieut Gen Richard Taylor was to be named to succeed him under the supervision of P.G.T. Beauregard.

James Alexander Williams, USA, is 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

January 14, 1865 Saturday
Gen Terry’s expeditionary force secured its position on the sandy peninsula north of Fort Fisher, North Carolina and completed its defensive, or north, line to hold off Bragg’s Confederates. Terry also carried out reconnaissance and other preparations for assaulting Fort Fisher, now isolated except by boat on the Cape Fear River side. The fire of the Union fleet, monitors and wooden ships alike, was termed “magnificent” for its power and accuracy. In Fort Fisher the Confederates had no chance to repair damage to the fortification. Their commander, Col William Lamb, increased his calls to Bragg for help, as did Maj Gen W.H.C. Whiting, who was with Lamb in the fort. Already both were bitter in their denunciation of Bragg for his alleged failure to attack the Federal defensive lines.

To the south some of Sherman’s forces moved out to a new position from Beaufort to Pocotaligo, South Carolina with skirmishing. For the rest of January Federal troops operated against Indian depredations on the Overland Stage Road between Julesburg and Denver, Colorado Territory with intermittent fighting.

Beauregard temporarily took command of the Army of Tennessee at Tupelo, Mississippi but it was to be under Richard Taylor from Jan 23. Thomas Harrison, CSA, is appointed to Brigadier General.

Blockade runner Lelia foundered off the mouth of the Mersey River, England. Flag Officer Samuel Barron wrote Secretary Mallory from Paris: "The melancholy duty devolves on me of reporting the death on the 14th instant, by drowning of Commander Arthur Sinclair, C. S. Navy, and Gunner P. C. Cuddy, late of the Alabama." Commander Hunter Davidson, learning of the accident while in Funchal, Madeira, early in February, commented: "What an awful thing the loss of the Lelia. To death in battle we become reconciled, for it is not unexpected and leaves its reward; but such a death for poor Sinclair, after forty-two years' service . . .!"

U.S.S. Seminole, under Commander Albert G. Clary, captured schooner Josephine bound from Galveston to Matamoras with cargo of cotton.

_________________
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

January 15, 1865 Sunday
After a continuing heavy naval bombardment, the Federal forces attempted a two-pronged assault of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. A naval and marine brigade of about 2000 moved forward on the ocean, or east, side of the narrow peninsula. However, they met the full force of the defenders’ infantry and three remaining movable guns, and fell back in panic and defeat. On the Cape Fear River, or west side, the enlarged division of Adelbert Ames of Gen Terry’s command, totaling 3300 men, also rushed forward and was much more successful. After being held up for a time by the strong traverses constructed by the Confederates, they got through. By late evening they had taken the entire fort and its garrison of about 1900 men, many of whom, including the two top officers, Col Lamb and Gen Whiting, were injured. Major General William Henry Chase Whiting, CSA, is mortally wounded during the Federal assault on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, is captured, and dies as a prisoner of war on March 10, 1865. Colonel Lamb, the fort's gallant commandant, later recorded: "For the first time in the history of sieges the land defenses of the works were destroyed, not by any act of the besieging army, but by the concentrated fire, direct and enfilading, of an immense fleet poured into them without intermission, until torpedo wires were cut, palisades breached so that they actually afforded cover for assailants, and the slopes of the work were rendered practicable for assault." Confederate casualties were about 500, while Federal army and navy losses were 266 killed, 1018 wounded, and 57 missing for 1341 casualties. To the north, the remainder of the Federal army, 4700 strong, manned the defensive works against R.F. Hoke’s ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hoke ) men of Bragg’s command, 6000 strong, but were never seriously attacked. The Southern officers at the fort violently assailed Bragg for failing to relieve the pressure. Bragg claimed the defensive line was too strong. The result, though belated, was significant: Wilmington was cut off as a blockade-running port and it had been the last major access point for the South. While Wilmington itself remained in Confederate hands, it was now of little importance.

Federal monitors at Charleston, South Carolina had been demonstrating nightly near the forts at the entrance of the harbor. The Confederates therefore placed torpedoes somewhat farther out. U.S.S. monitor Patapsco, dragging for torpedoes, struck one herself. In some fifteen seconds the ironclad went down with the loss of 62 men. A number on deck did escape. Meanwhile, at Clifton, Tennessee, Schofield’s Twenty-third Army Corps left for the east and would eventually take Wilmington and move inland. There was a skirmish in Madison County, Arkansas. Federal expeditions of several days each moved from New Orleans to Mandeville, Louisiana and from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Jan 15-21 a Union scout operated from Fort Larned to Pawnee Fork, Walnut Creek, and Smoky Hill River, Kansas.

President Lincoln wrote Maj Gen Grenville M. Dodge in St Louis of his concern over “so much irregular violence in Northern Missouri as to be driving away the people and almost depopulating it.” The President told Dodge to appeal to the people to “let one another alone.”

In Richmond President Davis wrote Gen Hardee in South Carolina, “I hope you will be able to check the advance of the enemy,” and added that he was seeking all possible reinforcements to oppose Sherman. He wrote the intransigent Gov Joseph E. Brown of Georgia asking for troops.

_________________
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