November 7, 1861 Thursday
Hundreds of miles apart, two noteworthy military events of the fall broke upon the citizens of the warring nations. At one an important base was won for the Federals; at the other a Northern general received a course in offensive action. Flag Officer Du Pont led his powerful Federal naval squadron into Port Royal Sound, steaming straight in between Forts Beauregard and Walker (
http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/32963 ). The Confederate flotilla of 4 small vessels could do little to oppose them but did rescue troops by ferrying them to the mainland from Hilton Head. Circling slowly, the fleet pounded the earthworks of Fort Walker on Hilton Head Island and then of Fort Beauregard to the north. Outgunned Confederate defenders were forced to flee the forts and withdraw inland to form a new line of defense. Casualties were light with 11 Confederates killed, 48 wounded, 3 captured, and 4 missing. For the Federals, there were 8 killed, 6 seriously wounded, and 17 slightly wounded. No major damage was done to the Federal vessels. Quickly Marines and sailors were landed to occupy the forts until turned over to Army troops under Thomas W. Sherman whose 12,000 men began their occupation of the Hilton Head–Port Royal area. The Union now had a toe hold in Confederate territory, between Savannah and Charleston. Although they did not exploit it sufficiently on land, it remained a threat throughout the war and, most importantly, furnished a base for the coaling and supplying of blockaders. Port Royal represented a valuable enclave carved in Confederate soil and its menace could never be forgotten by Confederate commanders. Later it also became a center for Negro refugees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Port_Royal Early the same morning far to the west, another naval flotilla carried troops down the Mississippi from Cairo, Illinois. Two wooden converted gunboats escorted other boats carrying a little over 3,000 troops under command of Brig Gen Ulysses S. Grant. Landing on the Missouri shore north of the hamlet of Belmont opposite the bluffs of Columbus, Kentucky heavily defended by Confederate guns, Grant’s men advanced swiftly to Belmont, capturing it and driving the defenders to cover. Responding with haste, reinforcements from Maj Gen Leonidas Polk’s command crossed the Mississippi, and soon forced Grant’s men to retreat. Withdrawing hurriedly while grape, canister, and shell from the gunboats scattered the Confederates, enabling Union troops to re-embark on their transports. The “battle” was really a large raid or reconnaissance. A cooperating demonstration, from Paducah toward Columbus, as a diversion had little effect. Federal losses were put at 120 killed, 383 wounded, and 104 captured or missing for 607 out of some 3,000. Confederate losses were 105 killed, 419 wounded, and 117 missing for 641 out of about 5,000 men put across the river. Aside from the casualties nothing of strategic value to either side had been gained. Grant had tested Columbus although he knew its strength anyway and had no intention of attacking it. But there was the intangible result of a Union commander getting a schooling in war in the field without being placed in a major battle before his ripening; such was the legacy of Belmont to Grant and to the Federal cause.
http://www.factasy.com/civil_war/node/2147 and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belmont In Missouri Maj Gen Hunter repudiated the agreement of Fremont and Price in regard to political prisoners.
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