This Month in the Civil War-- Part 2: Knoxville, Gettysburg Address, Chattanooga, Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Franklin

NOVEMBER 17

**  Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, begins.

NOVEMBER 19

**  President Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address at the Pennsylvania battlefield.

NOVEMBER 23

**  Battle of Orchard Knob, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 24

**  Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

NOVEMBER 29

**  Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado

NOVEMBER 30

**  Battle of Franklin, Tennessee

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in November: Knoxville, Gettysburg Address, Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Franklin

1863

NOVEMBER 17

Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee begins.

1863

NOVEMBER 19

President Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the Pennsylvania battlefield.

1863

NOVEMBER 23

Battle of Orchard Knob, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

1863

NOVEMBER 24

Battle of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

1864

NOVEMBER 30 

Battle of Franklin, Tennessee

--Old Secesh

Kentucky Union Soldier Gets New Gravestone-- Part 2: Trapped on a Mountain and Then, a Ruse Works

John Robert Lobb served in Company e, 27th Kentucky Infantry (Union).

In late November of 1863, he and several comrades were trapped for eighteen days by Confederate soldiers on Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

With the Confederates in hot pursuit, the Union soldiers rode their horses as far up the mountain as they could, then dismounted, tied their horses and continued further up on foot.  Food and water became scarce and they were reduced to half rations and the  to five men to one man's ration.

After fifteen days, their captain asked for a volunteer to carry a message down the mountain with plans to be captured by the enemy. indicated that there were a thousand or more Union soldiers on their way to reinforce and resupply the men on the mountain.

A volunteer was found and within about 24 hours, John Lobb and his fellow soldiers could see the Confederates  retreating and that their man had been captured by them.  The ruse had worked.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion This Saturday; The Chickamauga/Chattanooga Campaign

This Saturday, September 28, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group will be meeting at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake from 10 a.m. to noon.  This month's topic; the 1863 Chickamauga / Chattanooga Campaign.

Panera Bread is located at 6000 Northwest Highway (by the intersection with Main Street).

All are invited, not just MCCWRT members, so come on by, get some coffee and a bite to eat and let's talk Civil War.  Well talk Civil War at least part of the time as we often get sidetracked.

Get You started teaser:  Who commanded the Confederate forces at both battles?

--Old Secesh

That Civil War Reading Thing-- Part 1: "Able To Go On With His Latin"

From the Spring 2019, Civil War Monitor "Salvo:  Voices."  The magazine goes into first hand accounts on a given subject.  This one is on the importance of reading to Civil War soldiers.

**    "Please Drop Papers."  --   Message on a sign made by Union soldiers on guard duty along the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, in hopes that passengers might toss them reading materials.

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**  "While we were bringing water he sat down on the ground, and pulled from his bosom a copy of Andrews' Latin Grammar.  It was covered thick with his blood.  he turned to the fifth declension and began with res, rei.  He said that ... he found this book, and had carried it under his blouse in the fight, thinking if he was wounded or taken prisoner he would be able to go on with his Latin."  --  Rev. E.P. Smith, U.S. Christian Commission, on a wounded soldier he encountered after the Battle of Missionary Ridge.

Veni, Vidi, Vinca?  --Old SeCaesar

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets March 25 in Crystal Lake

I am planning on being there.

The McHenry County Covil War Round Table discussion group will meet Saturday, March 25, 2017, at Panera Bread at 6000 Northwest Highway (US Highway 14) in Crystal lake, Illinois.

The topic will be Ulysses S. Grant Beyond Chattanooga.  All welcome to attend and add to the discussion or just listen.

I plan on mentioning the "Fistfight That Stopped a Battle" at Saunders Field during the Battle of the Wilderness and the sharpshooter who killed Gen. Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania.

Many think it might have been Charles D. Grace of the 4th Georgia from the town of LaGrange who killed Gen. Sedgwick.   This town also was home to the female militia unit known as the Nancy Harts, named after an American Revolution heroine.  I have written about them in this blog earlier this month.  I also have had quite a few blog entries on Nancy Hart in my Cooter's History Thing blog.

Maybe also find out if Spottsylvania is spelled with one or two ts?

See You There.  --Old Secesh

13th Illinois Infantry-- Part 4: Heroics at Ringgold Gap

The 13th also were at the siege and capture of Vicksburg and second capture of Jackson, Mississippi.  After that they were sent to Chattanooga and participated in the big Union victory at Missionary Ridge.

Their last major action evidently was in the pursuit of Confederates to Atlanta when they sustained heavy casualties at Ringgold Gap in Georgia, where the regiment lost 67 men, including Major Douglas R. Bushnell on November 27, 1863.  Also lost at the battle were Captain Blanchard and the color bearer, Riley, who was shot through the breast and as he fell got his blood on the banner.

The 13th held their position under Confederate attack for two hours, most of which were without ammunition and at the point of their fixed bayonets.

--Old Secesh

Mort Kunstler November Civil War Calendar

This month's featured Mort Kunstler print is "Battle Above the Clouds."  The print shows a line of Confederate troops firing downward as Union troops approach.

"LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, TENNESSEE, November 23, 1863.

Overlooking Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain was the anchor of Braxton Bragg's left flank.  On the morning of November 23, 1863, troops led by Joseph Hooker bridged Lookout Creek and swept the face of the mountain.

"Among the rocks and tangled growth, Bragg's Confederates fought desperately, while fascinated observers in Chattanooga strained to see through the smoke which covered the fighting.

"Aptly named 'Battle Above the Clouds' opened the door to Confederate defenses on Missionary Ridge."

Impressive Print.  --Old Secesh

Pvt. Joseph M. Beavers, 56th Illinois: Victim of SS General Lyon-- Part 3

They participated in the Vicksburg Campaign and were at the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16, 1863 and the Battle of Big Black River on May 17.  They survived Grant's two disasterous attacks on Vicksburg May 19th and 22nd.

They were also at the Battle of Vicksburg Crater (I've never heard of it before) on June 26th and at the surrender of the fortress city on July 4th.

In October and November 1863 they were in the Chattanooga Campaign and fought at the Battle of Missionary Ridge.  Then, it was the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea.

On February 1, 1865, they left Savannah, heading northward on Sherman's Carolina's Campaign.  At this time, their enlistments were now just 26 days away.

--Old Secesh

Failure in the Saddle, Confederate Cavalry at Chickamauga-- Part 5: 3rd Failure

s both sides attacked and counterattacked.  .  On September 20th, a miscommunication among the Union command made a hole in the Union lines just as Longsteet's corps from the Army of Northern Virginia commenced an attack at that very spot.  This resulted in the collapse of the Union line and a general retreat.

THE THIRD CONFEDERATE CAVALRY FAILURE

On September 21st, Forrest sent out cavalry patrols to Missionary Ridge, south of Chattanooga.  he thought the Federals were in complete disarray and rapidly abandoning Chattanooga, but did nothing.  Actually the part of Missionary Ridge that the Confederates got to was the one spot where Union troops were not.  It was soon found that Rosecrans held a very strong defensive position on Missionary Ridge.

So, Forrest Misreported.  --Old Secesh

Failure in the Saddle: Confederate Cavalry at Chickamauga-- Part 4: Second Failure

So, Joe Wheeler's failure to cover and obstruct the Union Army crossing the Tennessee River southwest of Chattanooga was the first Confederate cavalry failure in the campaign.

Once the Union Army was across the river, Bragg was forced to leave Chattanooga without any fight. Rosecrans entered the city the following day and the Union held this strategic point for the rest of the war.  It served Sherman ably as a key supply link in his drive on Atlanta the following year.

 Bragg retired to Lafayette, Georgia and over the next week the two armies spent maneuvering.

Then, on September 18th, came the second great Confederate cavalry failure on the first day of tyhe Battle of Chickamauga.  This time it was Forrest's turn to blunder.

The Union Army launched a flank attack at Lee & Gordon Mill and Forrest did not report the move despite the massive amounts of dust put up as the Union Army moved and the myriad of fires used to light their way the night before.

David Powell believes that Forrest should have seen and reported this, but Forrest was not used to cavalry operations with an army where they were to screen and locate the enemy.

--Old Secesh

A General's Journey From Goat to Hero: Thomas J. Word-- Part 1

From the September 22, 2013, Washington Post by Jeff Leen.

Union Brigadier General Thomas J. Word, a career Army officer and West Point graduate served in the Mexican War and had cavalry postings along the frontier. His worst time was at the Battle of Chickamauga, but he fully exonerated his name at the Battle of Chattanooga.

When Union General Rosecrans took Chattanooga from Confederate General Bragg, it opened the door directly on the Heart of Dixie, the Confederate military complex at Atlanta.

Confederates sent reinforcements to Bragg.

On September 19, 1863, the Confederates won a huge victory at the Battle of Chickamauga and forced Rosecrans back to Chattanooga and besieged the city.

General Word became a scapegoat.

--Old Secesh