Sunday, 12 March 1865
Union Major General William T. Sherman's army remained in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They undertook the usual destruction of machinery, buildings and property they deemed useful to the Confederate war effort, including the former U.S. Arsenal and the machinery brought up from the old Harper's Ferry Arsenal in 1861. Sherman also ordered the coastal troops to march straight for Goldsboro, North Carolina.
A boat arrived from the Cape Fear River to deliver mail to the Union troops, many of whom had not received news from the outside world since leaving Savannah in January.
Sherman informed Federals at Wilmington and New Berne that he would move on March 15 for Goldsboro after feinting toward Raleigh. Sherman wrote to U.S. General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant, guessing that General Joseph E. Johnston would try concentrating his Confederates at Raleigh.
Skirmishing occurs near Peach Grove, Virginia; Morganza Bend, Louisiana; and near Lone Jack, Missouri.
Federals scout from Lewisburg into Yell and Searcy Counties, Arkansas, where the Yankees deal death to partisan guerrillas near Danville, and in Searcy County. The Federals also seize some wheat.
A Union expedition sails from Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the 53rd US Colored Troops, aboard the steamer, Diana, and accompanied by the Union gunboat, Mound City, to Grand Gulf and vicinity.
Brigadier General Mosby M. Parsons, CSA, is assigned to the command of the Missouri District of Infantry, as Major General Sterling "Old Pap" Price, CSA, is relieved.
Federal expeditions move from Fort Churchill to Pyramid and Walker's Lakes, Nevada, with skirmishes against Smoke Creek Indians at Mud Lake and near Walker's Lake, Nevada.
Federals scout in Loudoun County, Virginia, in pursuit of Major John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers of the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry. Mosby is wary, and as usual, evades the Yankees.
A skirmish breaks out near Peach Grove, 2 miles from Vienna, Virginia, with partisan guerrillas, that results in loss of Union life and several Yankee casualties.
At the request of Brigadier General Schofield, Acting Master H. Walton Grinnell, leading a detachment of four sailors, succeeded in delivering important Army dispatches to General Sherman near Fayetteville. Grinnell and his men began their trip on the 4th in a dugout from Wilmington. About 12 miles up the Cape Fear River, after passing through the Confederate pickets undetected, the men left the boat and commenced a tedious and difficult march towards Fayetteville. Near Whiteville, Grinnell impressed horses and led a daring dash through the Confederate lines. Shortly thereafter, the group made contact with the rear scouts of Sherman's forces, successfully completing what Grinnell termed "...this rather novel naval scout." Naval support, no matter what form it took, was essential to Sherman's movements.
The USS Althea, Acting Ensign Frederic A. G. Bacon, was sunk by a torpedo in the Blakely River, Alabama. The small 72-ton tug had performed duties as a coaling and supply vessel since joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in August 1864. She was returning from an unsuccessful attempt to drag the river's channel when she "...ran afoul of a torpedo". The Althea went down "immediately" in 10 to 12 feet of water. Two crewmen were killed and three, including Bacon, were injured. Althea had the dubious distinction of being the first of seven vessels to be sunk by torpedoes near Mobile in a five week period. The Confederate weapons took an increasing toll of Union ships as they swept for mines and pressed home the attack in shallow waters. Althea was later raised and recommissioned in November 1865.
The USS Quaker City, under Commander William F. Spicer, captured the blockade running British schooner R.H. Vermilyea in the Gulf of Mexico with a cargo of coffee, clothes, rum, tobacco, and shoes.
This morning, with the main Southern armies facing long odds against must larger Union forces, the Confederacy--in a desperate measure--reluctantly approves the use of black troops.
The situation was bleak for the Confederates in the early spring of 1865. The Yankees had captured large swaths of Southern territory, General William T. Sherman's Union army was tearing through the Carolinas, and General Robert E. Lee was trying valiantly to hold the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, against General Hiram U. Grant's growing force. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis had only two options. One was for Lee to unite with General Joseph Johnston's army in the Carolinas and use the combined force to take on Sherman and Grant one at a time. The other option was to arm slaves, the last source of fresh manpower in the Confederacy.
The idea of enlisting blacks had been debated for some time. Arming slaves was essentially a way of setting them free, since they could not realistically be sent back to plantations after they had fought. Major General Patrick Cleburne had first suggested enlisting slaves more than a year before, but few in the Confederate leadership considered the proposal, since slavery was the foundation of Southern society. One politician asked, "What did we go to war for, if not to protect our property?" Another suggested, "If slaves will make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong." Lee weighed in on the issue and asked the Confederate government for help. "We must decide whether slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves be used against us, or use them ourselves." Lee asked that the slaves be freed as a condition of fighting, but the bill that passed the Confederate Congress on March 13, 1865, did not stipulate freedom for those who served.
The measure did little to stop the destruction of the Confederacy. Even though several thousand blacks were enlisted in the Rebel cause, they could not begin to balance out the nearly 186,000 Negroes who became Union soldiers.
Union Major General William T. Sherman's army remained in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They undertook the usual destruction of machinery, buildings and property they deemed useful to the Confederate war effort, including the former U.S. Arsenal and the machinery brought up from the old Harper's Ferry Arsenal in 1861. Sherman also ordered the coastal troops to march straight for Goldsboro, North Carolina.
A boat arrived from the Cape Fear River to deliver mail to the Union troops, many of whom had not received news from the outside world since leaving Savannah in January.
Sherman informed Federals at Wilmington and New Berne that he would move on March 15 for Goldsboro after feinting toward Raleigh. Sherman wrote to U.S. General-in-Chief Hiram U. Grant, guessing that General Joseph E. Johnston would try concentrating his Confederates at Raleigh.
Skirmishing occurs near Peach Grove, Virginia; Morganza Bend, Louisiana; and near Lone Jack, Missouri.
Federals scout from Lewisburg into Yell and Searcy Counties, Arkansas, where the Yankees deal death to partisan guerrillas near Danville, and in Searcy County. The Federals also seize some wheat.
A Union expedition sails from Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the 53rd US Colored Troops, aboard the steamer, Diana, and accompanied by the Union gunboat, Mound City, to Grand Gulf and vicinity.
Brigadier General Mosby M. Parsons, CSA, is assigned to the command of the Missouri District of Infantry, as Major General Sterling "Old Pap" Price, CSA, is relieved.
Federal expeditions move from Fort Churchill to Pyramid and Walker's Lakes, Nevada, with skirmishes against Smoke Creek Indians at Mud Lake and near Walker's Lake, Nevada.
Federals scout in Loudoun County, Virginia, in pursuit of Major John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers of the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry. Mosby is wary, and as usual, evades the Yankees.
A skirmish breaks out near Peach Grove, 2 miles from Vienna, Virginia, with partisan guerrillas, that results in loss of Union life and several Yankee casualties.
At the request of Brigadier General Schofield, Acting Master H. Walton Grinnell, leading a detachment of four sailors, succeeded in delivering important Army dispatches to General Sherman near Fayetteville. Grinnell and his men began their trip on the 4th in a dugout from Wilmington. About 12 miles up the Cape Fear River, after passing through the Confederate pickets undetected, the men left the boat and commenced a tedious and difficult march towards Fayetteville. Near Whiteville, Grinnell impressed horses and led a daring dash through the Confederate lines. Shortly thereafter, the group made contact with the rear scouts of Sherman's forces, successfully completing what Grinnell termed "...this rather novel naval scout." Naval support, no matter what form it took, was essential to Sherman's movements.
The USS Althea, Acting Ensign Frederic A. G. Bacon, was sunk by a torpedo in the Blakely River, Alabama. The small 72-ton tug had performed duties as a coaling and supply vessel since joining the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in August 1864. She was returning from an unsuccessful attempt to drag the river's channel when she "...ran afoul of a torpedo". The Althea went down "immediately" in 10 to 12 feet of water. Two crewmen were killed and three, including Bacon, were injured. Althea had the dubious distinction of being the first of seven vessels to be sunk by torpedoes near Mobile in a five week period. The Confederate weapons took an increasing toll of Union ships as they swept for mines and pressed home the attack in shallow waters. Althea was later raised and recommissioned in November 1865.
The USS Quaker City, under Commander William F. Spicer, captured the blockade running British schooner R.H. Vermilyea in the Gulf of Mexico with a cargo of coffee, clothes, rum, tobacco, and shoes.
This morning, with the main Southern armies facing long odds against must larger Union forces, the Confederacy--in a desperate measure--reluctantly approves the use of black troops.
The situation was bleak for the Confederates in the early spring of 1865. The Yankees had captured large swaths of Southern territory, General William T. Sherman's Union army was tearing through the Carolinas, and General Robert E. Lee was trying valiantly to hold the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, against General Hiram U. Grant's growing force. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis had only two options. One was for Lee to unite with General Joseph Johnston's army in the Carolinas and use the combined force to take on Sherman and Grant one at a time. The other option was to arm slaves, the last source of fresh manpower in the Confederacy.
The idea of enlisting blacks had been debated for some time. Arming slaves was essentially a way of setting them free, since they could not realistically be sent back to plantations after they had fought. Major General Patrick Cleburne had first suggested enlisting slaves more than a year before, but few in the Confederate leadership considered the proposal, since slavery was the foundation of Southern society. One politician asked, "What did we go to war for, if not to protect our property?" Another suggested, "If slaves will make good soldiers, our whole theory of slavery is wrong." Lee weighed in on the issue and asked the Confederate government for help. "We must decide whether slavery shall be extinguished by our enemies and the slaves be used against us, or use them ourselves." Lee asked that the slaves be freed as a condition of fighting, but the bill that passed the Confederate Congress on March 13, 1865, did not stipulate freedom for those who served.
The measure did little to stop the destruction of the Confederacy. Even though several thousand blacks were enlisted in the Rebel cause, they could not begin to balance out the nearly 186,000 Negroes who became Union soldiers.
