MCCWRT: Sherman's March-- Part 2: Joseph Wheeler's Cavalry and the Howell Cobb Plantation

**  Macon, Georgia, was a major manufacturing center for the Confederacy.

**  Sherman did not burn Savannah.  He got cotton as tribute.

**  The cavalry of Joseph Wheeler were the only real resistance Sherman faced on his way to Savannah.

**  Confederates had placed torpedoes (artillery shells) on the roads into Savannah rigged to blow up is stepped upon.  Confederate prisoners were sent ahead of Union troops to explode them one way or another.

**  Sherman burned the Howell Cobb plantation near Milledgeville, Georgia.  On the night of November 22, 1864,  on his March to the Sea, Gen. Sherman camped there.  Upon learning it was owned by Howell Cobb, former U.S. cabinet member, Congressman and now an important man in the Confederacy, he ordered its total destruction except for the slave quarters.

**  Runaway slaves following Sherman's army were often used as pioneers in road construction.

**  There is a double-barreled cannon in Athens, Georgia.

--Old Secesh

December 19: The President Taunts Crowd at Augusta Visit

From the August 19, 2020, Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle.

I bet you're thinking that President Trump left the White House for one more campaign rally.  But that is not the case because the December 19 in this instance is December 19, 1898, and the president is William McKinley.

DECEMBER 19, 1898

President William McKinley came to town and he brought his sense of humor with him.  On  a damp day in the week before Christmas, the republican drew one of the largest crowds ever on Broad Street.

During a lull in the activities, an ex-Confederate who was chatting with the president pointed with pride to a large marble memorial only a few yards away  and said, "That represents what sort of soldier we were."

"Yes, and what you were," replied the president who was a Union Army sergeant at the Battle of Antietam, "for I see the soldier surmounting the column has a 'U.S.' on his cartridge box."

McKinley referred to the  figure atop the memorial, according to an account in the Baltimore Sun,  and told the old Confederate that things had really worked out for the best.

Then, he wasted little time introducing a local favorite, Gen. Joseph  Wheeler.  The Augusta native and once dashing Confederate cavalryman was now a hero of the Spanish-American conflict.

Earlier this month, an Augusta task force has recommended this memorial be removed to a cemetery.  You know why.

Back Then, Not Now.  --Old Secesh

Failure in the Saddle: Confederate Cavalry at Chickamauga-- Part 6: Not All Bragg's Fault

Braxton Bragg has often been accused of having lost one of the greatest opportunities of the war at the Battle of Chickamauga and considering his record, that probably has a ring of truth to it.  But, at the same time, his two cavalry corps commanders, Joe Wheeler and Nathan Forrest also need to take their shar of the blame according to David Powell.

Bragg himself admitted that he had achieved as big of a victory as might have been because his cavalry let him down.

And, also his Army commanders let him down because of their incessant squabbling among themselves.  The Army of Tennessee had a major reorganization after the battle.

Prior to Chickamauga, Bragg had a high opinion of Forrest,  That opinion is no longer there afterwards.

As for Joe Wheeler, despite his failings at the battle, he got promoted, partly because he refused to criticize Bragg and remained a Bragg loyalist throughout the war.  He ended up in command of all Confederate cavalry in the West.

This was a very interesting and enlightening presentation.  I sure never thought Forrest to be a military failure, ever.  But he sure did not shine at Chickamauga.

--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

Failure in the Saddle, Confederate Cavalry at Chickamauga-- Part 3: Battle of Chickamauga

In the summer of 1863, Union General William Rosecrans decided to capture Chattanooga.  He determined a direct attack on the city, considering how easily it could be defended and the close quarters his troops would have to operate in to do so, was not in his best interest so decided to flank attack it.

Braxton Bragg had his Army of Tennessee at Chattanooga, but had his cavalry guarding his flanks. Joe Wheeler was guarding the Tennessee River to Chattanooga's southwest.  Forrest was northeast of the city.

Wheeler had only left about a thousand troops to guard the area nearest to Chattanooga while he and the rest of the corps was at Rome, Georgia, some 60 miles away. His command was having rest and recuperation, preparing for the upcoming campaign.

On August 28-29, 1863, Rosecrans began moving his troops across the Tennessee River to the southwest of the city.  This was easily accomplished with the token cavalry Wheeler had left behind.  Wheeler did nothing to stop it like hurry his command northward and also didn't report the Union move.  Bragg was completely in the dark as to what his enemy was doing.

--Old Secesh

Failure in the Saddle: Confederate Cavaly at Chickamauga-- Part 2: Joe Wheeler

The other Confederate cavalry corps commander, Joseph Wheeler was essentially the complete opposite of Forrest.  He had graduated from West Point (and Bragg preferred West Point grads for his officers, in 1859 after five years.  The additional year was added for extra training in tactics, and Wheeler received him in cavalry.  After commissioning, he spent time at the Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania which was the headquarters for U.S, cavalry and then, in the time before the Civil War served in the cavalry in the Southwest.  No doubt about Wheeler having the knowledge.

Bragg picked him for cavalry command.  Wheeler was just 26 in 1863.

He immediately started having conflicts with the older, self-taught cavalryman Forrest.  Plus, Wheeler had other problems with his division commanders, especially John Wharton.

--Old Secesh

Chickamauga Expert David Powell at McHenry Civil War Round Table Last Night

Last night, October 14th, we were treated to a presentation by David Powell, who wrote the book  "Failure in the Saddle: Nathan Bedford Forrest, Joe Wheeler, and the Confederate Cavalry in the Chickamauga Campaign."  I sure know a whole lot more about the campaign, battle and aftermath of what Powell regards as the second biggest battle of the war (after Gettysburg, of course).

David Powell is a recognized authority on the Battle of Chickamauga whose battlefield tours of it are considered exceptional by those who have been on them.  (Something for me to think about in the future.)

He is a 1983 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute with a BA in History and owns and operates a delivery company in Chicago.  We even had a couple of members of the Chicago Civil War Round Table in attendance.

I was greatly tempted to buy his book, which he had for sale, but didn't as I really should be starting to get rid of stuff instead of buying more (isn't working though).

I will be writing about his presentation beginning tomorrow.

If You get the Chance, Definitely See Him.  --Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil Round Table Meeting Tonight

In a little bit I am leaving for Woodstock, Illinois, to attend the Round Table meeting at the Woodstock Library.

Tonight's topic will be "Failure in the Saddle" and apparently will be about Confederate cavalry generals Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joseph Wheeler.

Personally, I'm not sure Nathan Bedford Forrest can be classified as a military failure even though he has certainly come under a lot of attack in these vehement slavery days because of his pre-war career as a slave trader, the massacre at Fort Pillow and his post-war heading up of the Ku Klux Klan.

I have read some about Joseph Wheeler and been to a Battle of Bentonville presentation day where Wheeler's role was a bit questionable.

I look forward to getting some information on these two men.

--Old Secesh