July 18, 1862

July 18, 1862: Battle of Cynthiana - Gen. Boyle, in command of U.S. troops at Louisville, has been calling upon the governors of Ohio and Indiana to send him more troops, in the panic over the raid of John Hunt Morgan’s Rebel riders up through the center of the state of Kentucky. At the town of Cynthiana in northern Kentucky, Lt. Col. John Landram defends with one brass gun and 340 Yankee troops. Morgan attacks by dividing his force and riding them across the Licking River on three separate fords. Fighting in the streets of the town see-saws for a while, and then Landram orders his shrinking force to retreat. The Rebels scoop up a large number of prisoners. The Rebels have lost about 40 men killed and wounded, while the Yankees have lost over 70 shot, in addition to the prisoners.

July 17, 1862

July 17, 1862: The Richmond Daily Dispatch, on this date, quotes part of an editorial from the London Times, which calls for British intervention in the American war, since the lack of cotton in this season is causing great damage to British industries:

How long, then, are England and France to tolerate a war waged, utterly in vain, for an object whose attainment would confer no benefit on those who seek it, and would be an unmarred misfortune to the rest of the world? How long are we to suffer, while the North strains its powers to the uttermost to restore a Union, which, while it existed, was the common enemy of Europe, and, to an especial sense, the enemy of England? . . . If the cause of the North were a good or a holy one, England might be content to suffer long and severely for conscience sake; but we are not willing to see our countrymen starve that Northern lust of empire may be gratified by the sacrifice of Southern freedom, or that Massachusetts may grow rich on subsidies wrung by a protective tariff from Georgia and Alabama. It is time that some decided action should be taken by France and England on behalf of justice and humanity, as well as foe [sic] the protection of their half ruined manufacturers and hungry operatives. Such action must be taken at last; . . . and if we are to act after all, it is a saving of needless misery to act at once, with gentleness and courtesy, but with immovable firmness of purpose. The war in America, the cotton famine in Europe, must be terminated; when this resolution is once announced by the two great Powers, neither the patient sufferers here nor the exhausted combatants beyond the Atlantic will have long to wait for relief.

—Pres. Lincoln accepts a meeting with a Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, whose members present a resolution on Slavery, proposing immediate abolition. In his answer, the President offers his response:

Had Slavery no existence among us, and were the question asked shall we adopt such an institution? we should agree as to the reply which should be made. If there be any diversity in our views it is not as to whether we should receive Slavery when free from it, but as to how we may best get rid of it already amongst us. Were an individual asked whether he would wish to have a wen on his neck, he could not hesitate as to the reply; but were it asked whether a man who has such a wen should at once be relieved of it by the application of the surgeon's knife, there might be diversity of opinion, perhaps the man might bleed to death, as the result of such an operation.
Feeling deeply my responsibility to my country and to that God to whom we all owe allegiance, I assure you I will try to do my best, and so may God help me.'

—On this date, significantly, Lincoln signs into law the Second Confiscation Act, which provides freedom for slaves confiscated from owners who are in rebellion against the United States.

—Gen. Ambrose Burnside and 7,000 of his troops from coastal North Carolina arrive at Newport News, Virginia, intended as reinforcements to McClellan.

—George Templeton Strong of New York City writes in his journal of an Army friend who has been serving on McClellan’s staff:

Lawrence Williams denounces the Administration, Stanton especially, with plainness of speech that does not altogether become a major in the United States Army. He shudders at abolitionists as hydrophobic patients at the sound of falling water. But it is remarkable that his estimate of Lincoln has changed. He doesn’t call Lincoln a "gorilla ape" as he did last winter, but relies on him as the only honest and patriotic man in the Administration. Perhaps he is not so far wrong.

—Near Georgetown, Kentucky, Maj. R. M. Gano and an advance detachment of Morgan’s raiders arrive at Breadalbane, the plantation of the Reverend Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, the uncle of John Cabell Breckinridge, former Vice President of the United States and U.S. Senator, and currently a general in the Confederate States Army. In fact, the Reverend is a Unionist and abolitionist, unlike his nephew or his son William, who rides off the enlist with Morgan and serve the Confederacy. Morgan’s troopers cause some panic at the farm, but leave it unharmed.

July 15, 1862

July 15, 1862: Naval Action on the Mississippi - Near Vicksburg, Mississippi, the C.S.S. Arkansas, the South’s most powerful gunboat on the rivers, comes out from her havens in the Yazoo Delta country. Near the mouth of the Yazoo, the Arkansas encounters three U.S. Navy vessels steaming upstream—the ironclad Carondelet, the ram Queen of the West, and the "timberclad" Tyler. Believing that Confederate vessel to have better armor, the Carondelet and her two vulnerable wooden escorts turned downstream. A running battle of maneuver and gunfire ensues. The Carondelet is crippled by a shot through her steering gear, and runs aground. The Rebel ship chases on after the other two Federal ships, and all three run out of the Yazoo and turn downstream on the Mississippi. The Arkansas encounters the U.S.S. Lancaster, a side-wheeler ram, and pounds the Union vessel with gunfire, crippling her and killing many of her crew. As the chase rounds the bend, the entire Union fleet, anchored just upstream from Vicksburg, is caught unprepared: no guns are loaded, and none of the Yankee vessels have their steam up, and therefore cannot maneuver. The Arkansas runs through the entire fleet, trading fire with several Union ships, and anchors at last with no significant damage under the protection of Vicksburg’s big guns on the bluff.

Capt. Isaac Brown of the Arkansas specifies in his report: "I wish it to be remembered that we whipped this vessel, made it run out of the fight and haul down colors, with two less guns than they had; and at the same time fought two rams, which were firing at us with great guns and small arms this, too, with our miscellaneous crew, who had never, for the most part, been on board a ship or at big guns."

That night, Farragut runs his fleet downstream past Vicksburg, hoping to blast the Arkansas into oblivion as they passed by, but the darkness prevents the Yankees from doing any significant damage to the Confederate ironclad other than a lost smokestack—indeed, the thunder of shot and shell from the Arkansas and shore batteries inflicts much damage the Federals. Capt. Brown ends up with only 12 killed and 18 wounded, while the Union Navy suffers 23 killed, 59 wounded, and 10 missing. The Confederate Navy has struck a blow for Southern pride and morale, at least. Soon Farragut and Davis retreat downstream to New Orleans, unable to take Vicksburg without more troops.

C.S.S. Arkansas

July 14, 1862

July 14, 1862: On this date, Gen. John Pope officially takes command of the newly formed Army of Virginia. In an address to the troops, Pope exhibits the lack of tact and failure to understand his audience that will typify his tenure in high command:

Let us understand each other. I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies; from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary and to beat him when he was found; whose policy has been attack and not defense. In but one instance has the enemy been able to place our Western armies in defensive attitude. I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same system and to lead you against the enemy. It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily. I am sure you long for an opportunity to win the distinction you are capable of achieving. That opportunity I shall endeavor to give you. Meantime I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases, which I am sorry to find so much in vogue amongst you. I hear constantly of "taking strong positions and holding them," of "lines of retreat," and of "bases of supplies." Let us discard such ideas. The strongest position a soldier should desire to occupy is one from which he can most easily advance against the enemy. Let us study the probable lines of retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves. Let us look before us, and not behind. Success and glory are in the advance, disaster and shame lurk in the rear. Let us act on this understanding, and it is safe to predict that your banners shall be inscribed with many a glorious deed and that your names will be dear to your countrymen forever.

July 13, 1862

July 13, 1862:  Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac---still bottled up at Harrison’s Landing on the James Peninsula of Virginia---is beginning to assess the damage not only to the army but also to his own career.  McClellan had suspected Sec. of War Edwin M. Stanton of being the main force against him in Washington, and sent a letter of accusation---after which, Stanton wrote a letter protesting that “No man had ever a truer friend than I have been to you and shall continue to be.”  McClellan withdrew his letter.  However, the General continues to harbor suspicions.  In a letter to his wife Ellen, he empties both barrels at Stanton's character:

So, you want to know how I feel about Stanton?  I will tell you with the most perfect frankness. I think that he is the most unmitigated scoundrel I ever knew, heard, or read of; I think that (and I do not wish to be irreverent) had he lived in the time of the Saviour, Judas Iscariot would have remained a respected member of the fraternity of the Apostles, and that the magnificent treachery and rascality of E.M. Stanton would have caused Judas to have raised his arms in holy horror and unaffected wonder – he would certainly have claimed and exercised the right to have been been the Betrayer of his Lord and Master, by virtue of the same merit that raised Satan to his “bad eminence.” I may do the man injustice – God grant that I may be wrong – for I hate to think that humanity can sink so low – but my opinion is just as I have told you.

---Pres. Lincoln, having visited the seat of war and the Army of the Potomac in recent days, mulls over the figures given him by Gen. McClellan.  Note that Lincoln is gently trying to jog McClellan’s veracity a bit---as we see in the toned-down irony of the fourth sentence of the letter.  Thus, he has exposed the looseness with numbers in McClellan’s reports:

EXECUTIVE MANSION.

Washington, July 13, 1862

Major-General McCLELLAN:
    MY DEAR SIR: I am told that over 160,000 men have gone into your army on the Peninsula. When I was with you the other day we made out 86,500 remaining, leaving 73,500 to be accounted for. I believe 23,500 will cover all the killed, wounded, and missing in all your battles and skirmishers, leaving 50,000 who have left otherwise. Not more than 5,000 of these have died, leaving 45,000 of your army still alive and not with it. I believe half or two-thirds of them are fit for duty to-day. Have you any more perfect knowledge of this than I have? If I am right, and you had these men with you, you could go into Richmond in the next three days. How can they be got to you, and how can they be prevented from getting away in such numbers for the future?

A. LINCOLN.

--- Gen. Pope’s Federal army is spread from Falmouth in Stafford County to Warrenton to Sperryville, near the Blue Ridge in the west, where the bulk of his army was---the divisions under Gen. Banks and Gen. Sigel.  A Union cavalry contingent has advanced and taken Culpepper Court House, farther south along the line of the Orange and Alexandria RR, which runs north-south.  Pope orders Brig. Gen. John Hatch, who commands a small mounted division of 3,000, to establish Culpepper as his HQ, and to send out pickets 20 miles to the south and southeast.

---Gen. Lee gives Stonewall Jackson orders to take his own division and that of Gen. Ewell, about 11,000 men, and to move northward to challenge the new operations of Gen. Pope and the new Federal Army of Virginia, who is now threatening a number of railroads, including the Virginia Central, Richmond’s main link with the Shenandoah Valley.  As soon as Jackson receives the orders on this date, he moves.  By sundown he and his 11,000 troops are out of camp and on the road.  Jackson’s march follows the line of the Virginia Central Railroad, with the intention of occupying Gordonsville, astride Pope’s proposed path of advance.

 

July 12, 1862

July 12, 1862:  Maj. Gen Don Carlos Buell, slowly inching his way to Chattanooga while guarding and protecting railroads, hears of Morgan’s raids into Kentucky, and in response orders a squadron (two companies) of the 3^rd Ohio Cavalry Regiment to go see what Morgan is up to.  Meanwhile, Morgan’s telegraph operator, a Canadian named Ellsworth, taps the Yankee telegraph lines to learn that McClellan had not taken Richmond (as the Rebels had been misinformed); he also sends his own message to the Yankees in Louisville that Forrest had captured Murfreesboro, Tennessee (which was pure fiction).  On the evening of July 11^th, Morgan’s men encounter a small Federal force at a bridge outside of Lebanon, Kentucky.  The Rebels fire a cannon and chase them off, but just on the outskirts of town they encounter the Federals again, a force of 500 sent by rail from Louisville.  A sporadic firefight lasts for a couple of hours, but at around 10 PM, the Federals retreat, and the town surrenders to Morgan.  The Union commander at Lousiville, Gen. Jeremiah Boyle, panics and begs Buell for reinforcements.  (Morgan had issued a proclamation for all Kentuckians to rise up and join him, and Boyle is nearly unhinged by the thought of the entire state up in arms against the Union.)  Boyle claims that he has beatedn Morgan at Lebanon, and yet follows with the news that Morgan has burnt the town and that “the whole State will be in arms if General Buell does not send a force to put it down. . . . Morgan is devastating with fire and sword.”  Boyle pleads for more cavalry.

Col. John Hunt Morgan, CSA

---Georgeanna Woolsey, a nurse with the U.S. Sanitary Commission in Virginia, writes in her journal:

The Medical Department is greatly improved, and the Sanitary Commission, who were chiefly instrumental in putting in the new Surgeon-General (Hammond), who in his turn has put in all the good new men, finds its work here at an end, and might as well retire gracefully. Four thousand sick have been sent north from Harrison’s. . . . The Maratanza gave me a piece of the balloon found on the rebel gun-boat Teaser. It was made of the old silk dresses of the ladies of Richmond, forty or more different patterns. They gave me, too, the signal flag of the little imp. We went over her to see the damage the shell did her, bursting into the boiler and disemboweling her.

The army is quiet and resting, and the surgeons of the regiments have been coming in constantly to the Sanitary Commission supply boat with requisitions for the hospitals. We are giving out barrels of vegetables. The Small will run up the river and be ready to fill a gap in bringing off our wounded prisoners, and it will be a comfort to do something before going home ignominiously.

July 11, 1862

July 11, 1862:  On this date, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, otherwise known as “Old Brains” in the service, is given the post of General-in-Chief of Union armies and summoned to Washington.  Halleck seems to be the obvious choice, since he was in command over the armies in the West which had enjoyed so much success.  Gen. McClellan, in his recent “strong and frank letter” to Lincoln, had suggested with a transparent lack of tact, that he was available to take up his old post again and thus save the country, but Lincoln apparently does not take the bait.  The sidelined Grant, being Halleck’s second-in-command, is made chief over the western departments. 

Maj. Gen. Henry W. "Old Brains" Halleck

---Pleasant Hill, Missouri:  A company of State militia clashes with a company of Rebel bushwhackers, resulting in the defeat of the Rebels, with six killed and five wounded.

---A similar clash takes place in New Hope, Kentucky, between Federal cavalry and Rebel mounted guerillas, resulting in the guerillas’ rout.

---In a letter home to his mother, Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, with his regiment in the mountains of western Virginia, writes of how his men take care of themselves in this peaceful theater of the war:

The men are healthy, contented, and have the prettiest and largest bowers over the whole camp I ever saw. They will never look so well or behave so well in any settled country. Here the drunkards get no liquor, or so little that they regain the healthy complexion of temperate men. Every button and buckle is burnished bright, and clothes brushed or washed clean. I often think that if mothers could see their boys as they often look in this mountain wilderness, they would feel prouder of them than ever before. We have dancing in two of the larger bowers from soon after sundown until a few minutes after nine o’clock. By half-past nine all is silence and darkness. At sunrise the men are up, drilling until breakfast. . . .