This Month in the War-- Part 2: Chickamauga, Shepherdstown, Third Winchester, Wood Lake, New Market Heights & Peebles' Farm

From the American Battlefield Trust September 2022 calendar.

SEPTEMBER 18, 1863

**  Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, begins.

SEPTEMBER 19, 1862

**   Battle of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, begins.

SEPTEMBER 19, 1864

**  Battle of Third Winchester, Virginia.

SEPTEMBER 23, 1862

**  Battle of Wood Lake, Minnesota

SEPTEMBER 29, 1864

**  Battle of New Market Heights, Virginia, begins.

SEPTEMBER 30, 1864

**  Battle of Peebles' Farm, Virginia, begins.

--Old Secesh

Thomas Morris Chester-- Part 4: After the War

After the war, Chester moved to England where he earned a law degree.  When he returned to the United States, he became an activist in Reconstruction Louisiana politics, where he became the first black in the state to practice law.

While he would accomplish much over his life before is death of a heart attack in 1892 at the age of 58, his legacy endures as the only black Civil War correspondent for a major newspaper who provided a perspective that was reflective of both  the black troop experience and the crucial final year of the war.

Chester effectively captured the frustration  of black veterans who believed their contributions to Union victory went largely  unnoticed," wrote Gary  Gallagher, a history professor at the University of Virginia who has written several books on the war.

Some years after the war, Morris wrote about the Battle of New Market Heights outside of Richmond, where a brigade of lack troops fought bravely against Confederate forces:  "It is a source of complain, and very justly too, that the colored troops and their officers have not received their meed of praise from the chroniclers  of events in the army, for their splendid advance and gallant bearing."

(Meed means a deserved share or reward.  I hadn't heard the word before.)

Ultimately,  14 black soldiers were awarded Medals of Honor for their valor in the battle.

--Old Secesh

Schedule of Events at the Hainesville (Illinois) Civil War Event Saturday, October 16

Public entry begins at 10 am.

10:15 to 10:45:  Military Drill

10:50 to 11:20:  Elijah Haines  (Hainesville Founder)

11:25 to 11:55:  Mary Todd Lincoln  (A Day in the Lincoln White House)

12:00 to 12:30:  William Irving Kirk  (A Southern Abolitionist Clergy)

12:40 to 1:10:  General Grant  (The Final Days)

1:15 to 2:00:  President Lincoln  (Finishing the Work)

2:10 to 2:40:  Thomas Morris Chester  (Battle of New Market Heights)  Thomas Morris Chester  was te only black reporter for a major newspaper during the war.

2:10:  Officers Call

2:45 to 3:15:  Battlefield Surgery 

3:15 to 3:30:  Assembly of Troops

3:30 to 4:00:  Narrated Battle featuring the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina.  The last major battle of the war.

4:00:  The event closes to the public

SUNDAY follows the same schedule, but one hour earlier in all times.

Looking forward to being there.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in September: Chickamauga, Third Winchester, New Market Heights and Peeble's Farm

1863

SEPTEMBER 18

**  Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, begins.

1864

SEPTEMBER 19

**  Battle of Third Winchester, Virginia

1864

SEPTEMBER 29

**  Battle of New Market Heights, Virginia, begins.

1864

SEPTEMBER 30

**  Battle of Peeble's Farm, Virginia

--Old Secesh

14 Medals of Honor for USCT at Battle of New Market Heights-- Part 3

Corporal Miles James   Co. B, 36th USCT,   born Princess Ann County, Va.

First Sergeant Alexander Kelly,  Co. F,  6th USCT, born Pennsylvania.

First Sergeant Robert Pinn    Co. I, 5th USCT   born Stark County, Ohio.

First Sergeant Edward Ratcliff   Co. C,   38th USCT,  born James County, Va.

Private Charles Veal   Co. D,    4th USCT,  born Portsmouth, Va.

Sergeant Major Thomas Hawkins   6th USCT,  born Cincinnati, Ohio     Cited for valor [at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, Virginia, on September 29, 1864].  MoH  was issued on February 8, 1870.

Sergeant Decatur Dorsey   Co. B,  39th USCT born Howard County, Md.    Cited [for valor  at the Battle of the Crater, Petersburg, Virginia,] on July 30, 1864--  issued November 8, 1865.

Private Bruce Anderson     Co. K,  142nd New York Infantry.  Born Oswego County, New York.  This was Martin Curtis' regiment that fought at Fort Fisher.  Received his Medal of Honor for action at Fort Fisher.

Sergeant Major Milton Murray Holland   5th USCT   born Austin, Texas.

--Old Secesh

Fourteen Medals of Honor for USCT Troops at Battle of New Market Heights-- Part 2

The following is a list of the 14 USCT soldiers receiving Medals of Honor for action at this battle.

Private William H. Barnes   Co. C, 38th USCT, born St. Mary's County, Md.

First Sergeant Powhatan Beaty  Co. G, 5th USCT, born in Richmond, Va.

First Sergeant James H. Bronson   Co. D, 5th USCT, born in Indiana County, Pa.

Sergeant Major Christian A. Fleetwood   4th USCT, born Baltimore, Md.

Private James Gardiner   Co, I  36th USCT, born Gloucester, Va.

Sergeant James H. Harris  Co. B, 36th USCT, born St. Mary's County, Md.  His MoH was issued Feb. 18, 1874.

Sergeant Alfred B. Hilton   Co. H, 4th USCT   born Harford County, Md.

Sergeant Major Milton M. Holland   5th USCT   born in Austin, Texas

--Old Secesh

Fourteen Medals of Honor Awarded to USCT Troops at the Battle of New Market Heights-- Part 1

From the HMdb "African American Medal of Honor Recipients Memorial" in Wilmington, Delaware.

Yesterday, I wrote about a proposed new statue by the Richmond (Virginia) City Council to honor a United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiment that was awarded 14 Medals of Honor during the war.  Unfortunately, the article did not say which regiment it was, so I did some more research on them.  Receiving 14 Medals of Honor for one regiment is certainly a worthy accomplishment.

I found out in this source that they were not all from a single regiment, but did belong to USCT and the 14 Medals awarded were at one battle.

"Fourteen of the following  men received their awards for valor during the Battle of New Market Heights [a.k.a. Chaffin's or (Chapin's) Farm] on September 29, 1864.  With the exception of Sergeant James H. Harris and Sergeant Major Thomas Hawkins, all were awarded their MOH citation  April 6, 1865.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Shell/Grenade Turns Up at Richmond 150 Years Later-- Part 2

In late 1864, Grant and Lee were busily entrenching around Pertersburg, Virginia and Grant determined to make Lee stretch his already hard-pressed lines even further and sent Union troops north of the James River to attack the defenses of Richmond itself.

Eventually the lines of the opposing forces extended 37 miles.

On September 29, 1864 the Union assault occurred in Henrico County and resulted in the capture of Confederate Fort Harrison, but failed to capture Fort Gilmer.  The victories at Fort Harrison and New Market Heights gave Grant a position just a few miles south of Richmond.

On Monday, September 29th, National Park Service rangers and Henrico County Recreation and Parks personnel will conduct tours of the New Market Heights, Fort Harrison and Fort Gilmer battlefields at the exact time events unfolded there 150 years previously.

Then, the next day, September 30th, tours of the next day's unsuccessful Confederate attack to retake Fort Harrison will be given.

--Old Secesh