Monday, 27 March 1865
Aboard the steamer River Queen at City Point, Virginia, President Abraham Lincoln, Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant, Major General William T. Sherman and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter conferred about the state of the respective campaigns. The first day's talk, largely social, included an account of Sherman's campaign, since Sherman came up from Goldsboro, North Carolina, where his army was located. Sherman shared stories from the Carolinas Campaign. The commanders agreed that "...one more bloody battle was likely to occur before the close of the War." Lincoln also brought up a discussion concerning his policy on Confederate surrender and reconstruction.
Full report: On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln meets with Union Generals Hiram U. Grant and William T. Sherman at City Point, Virginia, to plot the last stages of the Civil War.
Lincoln went to Virginia just as Grant was preparing to attack Confederate General Robert E. Lee's lines around Petersburg and Richmond, an assault that promised to end the siege that had dragged on for 10 months. Meanwhile, Sherman's force was steamrolling northward through the Carolinas. The three architects of Union victory convened for the first time as a group-Lincoln and Sherman had never met-at Grant's City Point headquarters at the general-in-chief's request.
As part of the trip, Lincoln went to the Petersburg lines and witnessed a Union bombardment and a small skirmish. Prior to meeting with his generals, the president also reviewed troops and visited wounded soldiers. Once he sat down with Grant and Sherman, Lincoln expressed concern that Lee might escape Petersburg and flee to North Carolina, where he could join forces with Joseph Johnston to forge a new Confederate army that could continue the war for months. Grant and Sherman assured the president the end was in sight. Lincoln emphasized to his generals that any surrender terms must preserve the Union war aims of emancipation and a pledge of equality for the freed slaves.
After meeting with Admiral David Dixon Porter on 28 March, the president and his two generals went their separate ways. Less than four weeks later, Grant and Sherman had secured the surrender of the Confederacy.
Major General Frederick Steele's Union column reaches Canoe Station, Alabama, in the Mobile Campaign.
Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby's 32,000 Federals began laying siege to Spanish Fort outside Mobile, Alabama. Ironclads in the Gulf of Mexico backed the Federal siege.
Major General Philip Sheridan's Federals finished crossing the James and joined the Army of the Potomac. Sheridan had hurried out of fear that Sherman would persuade Grant to send him to North Carolina instead of joining the final drive against General Robert E. Lee.
The Tenth US Army Corps is reorganized and Major General Alfred H. Terry, USA, is assigned to its command in North Carolina.
Brigadier General Elkanah Greer, CSA, is assigned to the command of the Reserve Corps in the State of Texas. Vice-Brigadier General Jerome B. Robertson, CSA, is relieved, and assigned to the command of a brigade.
Federal troops scout from Winchester to Woodstock, Virginia.
Captain Henry S. Stellwagen, the senior naval officer at Georgetown, South Carolina, reported to Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren "...the return of another expedition of four days' duration up the Waccamaw River some 50 miles, to Conwayboro." Detailing the nature of one of the ceaseless naval expeditions in coastal and inland waters that facilitated the land campaign, Stellwagen continued: "Having heard that threats of a visit in force had been made by the guerrillas against the plantations and settlements, in view of which great alarm was felt on the whole route by blacks and whites, I dispatched the Mingoe, having in tow some ten armed boats, to proceed as high as Buck's Mills, and leaving it discretionary with Lieutenant-Commanders G. U. Morris and William H. Dana to proceed the remaining distance by boats or land. The arrival of the steam launch and two large row launches from the Santee [River] enabled me to follow with them, and the steam tug Catalpa determined to ascend as far as the water would permit. I found the Mingoe ashore near her destination, towed her off, and caused her to drop to a point where she could anchor. The shore expedition had gone on, and I took the remainder of boats in tow as far as practicable, then causing them to row. After incredible labor and difficulty, succeeded in getting to Conwayboro at nightfall, just after the Marching division. No enemies were encountered, but it was reported many small parties fled in various directions on our approach by river and land. "
"The people of the town were glad to see us; even those having relatives in the army professed their joy at being saved from the raiding deserters. They assure us that the penetration of our parties into such distances, supposed to be inaccessible to our vessels, has spread a salutary dread, and that our large force of Catalpa, 4 large launches, and 10 boats, with about 300 men in all, at the highest point, presented such a formidable display, with 7 howitzers, that they thought they would be completely prevented [from] returning to that neighborhood."
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered the USS Wyoming, Commander John P. Bankhead in charge, then at Baltimore, to sail in search of the CSS Shenandoah. So delayed were communications between the Pacific and Washington that although Wyoming was ordered to cruise from Melbourne, Australia, to China, the Shenandoah had departed Australia more than five weeks before and was now nearing Ascension Island. The Wyoming would join USS Wachusett and Iroquois on independent service in an effort to track down the elusive commerce raider.
Captain Thomas Jefferson Page, commanding the CSS Stonewall, wrote Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch in England that he would sail from Lisbon, Portugal, to Teneriffe and then to Nassau where his subsequent movements "...must depend upon the intelligence I may receive..." That evening, USS Niagara and Sacramento, which had followed the Stonewall from Coruna, Spain, entered Lisbon. The Confederate ram, however, was able to put to sea the next day without interference because international law required the two Union ships to remain in port for 24 hours after the Stonewall had departed.
Combined Army-Navy operations, the latter commanded by Rear Admiral Thatcher, aimed at capturing the city of Mobile commenced. The objective was Spanish Fort, located near the mouth of the Blakely River and was the key to the city's defenses. Six tinclads and supporting gunboats steamed up the Blakely River to cut the fort's communications with Mobile while the army began to move against the fort's outworks. The river had been thickly sown with torpedoes which necessitated sweeping operations ahead of the advancing ironclads. These efforts, directed by Commander Peirce Crosby of USS Metacomet, netted 150 torpedoes. Nevertheless, a number of the Confederate weapons eluded the Union with telling results. In the next five days three Northern warships would be sunk in the Blakely.
Aboard the steamer River Queen at City Point, Virginia, President Abraham Lincoln, Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant, Major General William T. Sherman and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter conferred about the state of the respective campaigns. The first day's talk, largely social, included an account of Sherman's campaign, since Sherman came up from Goldsboro, North Carolina, where his army was located. Sherman shared stories from the Carolinas Campaign. The commanders agreed that "...one more bloody battle was likely to occur before the close of the War." Lincoln also brought up a discussion concerning his policy on Confederate surrender and reconstruction.
Full report: On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln meets with Union Generals Hiram U. Grant and William T. Sherman at City Point, Virginia, to plot the last stages of the Civil War.
Lincoln went to Virginia just as Grant was preparing to attack Confederate General Robert E. Lee's lines around Petersburg and Richmond, an assault that promised to end the siege that had dragged on for 10 months. Meanwhile, Sherman's force was steamrolling northward through the Carolinas. The three architects of Union victory convened for the first time as a group-Lincoln and Sherman had never met-at Grant's City Point headquarters at the general-in-chief's request.
As part of the trip, Lincoln went to the Petersburg lines and witnessed a Union bombardment and a small skirmish. Prior to meeting with his generals, the president also reviewed troops and visited wounded soldiers. Once he sat down with Grant and Sherman, Lincoln expressed concern that Lee might escape Petersburg and flee to North Carolina, where he could join forces with Joseph Johnston to forge a new Confederate army that could continue the war for months. Grant and Sherman assured the president the end was in sight. Lincoln emphasized to his generals that any surrender terms must preserve the Union war aims of emancipation and a pledge of equality for the freed slaves.
After meeting with Admiral David Dixon Porter on 28 March, the president and his two generals went their separate ways. Less than four weeks later, Grant and Sherman had secured the surrender of the Confederacy.
Major General Frederick Steele's Union column reaches Canoe Station, Alabama, in the Mobile Campaign.
Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby's 32,000 Federals began laying siege to Spanish Fort outside Mobile, Alabama. Ironclads in the Gulf of Mexico backed the Federal siege.
Major General Philip Sheridan's Federals finished crossing the James and joined the Army of the Potomac. Sheridan had hurried out of fear that Sherman would persuade Grant to send him to North Carolina instead of joining the final drive against General Robert E. Lee.
The Tenth US Army Corps is reorganized and Major General Alfred H. Terry, USA, is assigned to its command in North Carolina.
Brigadier General Elkanah Greer, CSA, is assigned to the command of the Reserve Corps in the State of Texas. Vice-Brigadier General Jerome B. Robertson, CSA, is relieved, and assigned to the command of a brigade.
Federal troops scout from Winchester to Woodstock, Virginia.
Captain Henry S. Stellwagen, the senior naval officer at Georgetown, South Carolina, reported to Rear Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren "...the return of another expedition of four days' duration up the Waccamaw River some 50 miles, to Conwayboro." Detailing the nature of one of the ceaseless naval expeditions in coastal and inland waters that facilitated the land campaign, Stellwagen continued: "Having heard that threats of a visit in force had been made by the guerrillas against the plantations and settlements, in view of which great alarm was felt on the whole route by blacks and whites, I dispatched the Mingoe, having in tow some ten armed boats, to proceed as high as Buck's Mills, and leaving it discretionary with Lieutenant-Commanders G. U. Morris and William H. Dana to proceed the remaining distance by boats or land. The arrival of the steam launch and two large row launches from the Santee [River] enabled me to follow with them, and the steam tug Catalpa determined to ascend as far as the water would permit. I found the Mingoe ashore near her destination, towed her off, and caused her to drop to a point where she could anchor. The shore expedition had gone on, and I took the remainder of boats in tow as far as practicable, then causing them to row. After incredible labor and difficulty, succeeded in getting to Conwayboro at nightfall, just after the Marching division. No enemies were encountered, but it was reported many small parties fled in various directions on our approach by river and land. "
"The people of the town were glad to see us; even those having relatives in the army professed their joy at being saved from the raiding deserters. They assure us that the penetration of our parties into such distances, supposed to be inaccessible to our vessels, has spread a salutary dread, and that our large force of Catalpa, 4 large launches, and 10 boats, with about 300 men in all, at the highest point, presented such a formidable display, with 7 howitzers, that they thought they would be completely prevented [from] returning to that neighborhood."
Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered the USS Wyoming, Commander John P. Bankhead in charge, then at Baltimore, to sail in search of the CSS Shenandoah. So delayed were communications between the Pacific and Washington that although Wyoming was ordered to cruise from Melbourne, Australia, to China, the Shenandoah had departed Australia more than five weeks before and was now nearing Ascension Island. The Wyoming would join USS Wachusett and Iroquois on independent service in an effort to track down the elusive commerce raider.
Captain Thomas Jefferson Page, commanding the CSS Stonewall, wrote Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch in England that he would sail from Lisbon, Portugal, to Teneriffe and then to Nassau where his subsequent movements "...must depend upon the intelligence I may receive..." That evening, USS Niagara and Sacramento, which had followed the Stonewall from Coruna, Spain, entered Lisbon. The Confederate ram, however, was able to put to sea the next day without interference because international law required the two Union ships to remain in port for 24 hours after the Stonewall had departed.
Combined Army-Navy operations, the latter commanded by Rear Admiral Thatcher, aimed at capturing the city of Mobile commenced. The objective was Spanish Fort, located near the mouth of the Blakely River and was the key to the city's defenses. Six tinclads and supporting gunboats steamed up the Blakely River to cut the fort's communications with Mobile while the army began to move against the fort's outworks. The river had been thickly sown with torpedoes which necessitated sweeping operations ahead of the advancing ironclads. These efforts, directed by Commander Peirce Crosby of USS Metacomet, netted 150 torpedoes. Nevertheless, a number of the Confederate weapons eluded the Union with telling results. In the next five days three Northern warships would be sunk in the Blakely.
