Dec 14 1862 (Sunday)

General John Foster's advance towards Goldsborough encounters its first resistance at Kinston, North Carolina. Governor Zebulon Vance, aware of the paucity of troops in his state, frantically pleads for reinforcements. "For God's sake send us one regiment and some guns as quickly as possible. The fighting is raging and Evan's is overwhelmed." Confederate General "Shanks" Evans, commanding only four regiments, holds off the Union advance for ten hours until, "Major-General Foster sent his staff officer to summon me to surrender. I promptly declined. In an hour he commenced shelling the town, but hesitated to renew his direct attack. Taking advantage of my position, I retired."

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, Kinston, December 14, 1862. - Major-General HALLECK. - GENERAL: This morning I advanced on [Kinston]...and found the enemy strongly posted at a defile through a marsh bordering a creek....The main attack...was made by the infantry, assisted by a few guns pushed forward on the roads. We succeeded, after five hours' hard fight in driving the enemy from their position. We followed them rapidly to the river; the bridge over the Neuse at this point was prepared for firing and was fired in six places, but we were so close behind them that we saved the bridge. The enemy retreated...the result is we have taken Kinston, captured eleven pieces of artillery, taken 400 or 500 prisoners...I march to-morrow at daylight on Goldsborough. From that point I return to New Berne....I am, general, with great respect, your obedient servant, J. G. FOSTER.

Ambrose Burnside spends the early morning hours making plans for a grand bayonet charge, to be led by his trusted 9th Corps, on the Confederate position at the stone wall. He wires President Lincoln with his plans: "Our troops are all over the river. We hold the first ridge outside the town....We hope to carry the crest to-day." When "Old Burn" meets with his corps commanders, it is old "Bull" Sumner, his most aggressive subordinate, who convinces Burnside to belay the attack order. "There [is] not a general in the army who [expects] it to succeed." Without a dissenting voice from any of his general officers, Burnside cannot ignore Sumner's advice. "This caused me to decide that I ought not to make the attack I had contemplated....I felt I could not take the responsibility of ordering the attack, not withstanding my own belief...that the works of the enemy could be carried."

FREDERICKSBURG, December 14, 1862. - Col. LEWIS RICHMOND, Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of the Potomac: - COLONEL: I desire to call the attention of the major-general commanding the Army of the Potomac to the great number of troops and batteries in this city, and to the danger to which they are exposed....I respectfully suggest that all the troops be transferred to the opposite side of the river....I make these suggestions on the presumption that no immediate advance is contemplated from this point. Everything is quiet here to-night....I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HOOKER, Major-general.

The Missouri men commanded by ex-Governor Sterling Price are becoming more and more restless the longer they are forced to fight outside their home state. When they enlisted it was with "the assurance that they would not be brought away from Missouri, but would be permitted to fight for the independence of their own State and for the defense and recovery of their own homes." Once they joined the Confederate Army, they were immediately transferred east of the Mississippi River and are currently part of John Pemberton's army. To make matters worse, they were also "impressed...into the service beyond the period of their original and voluntary enlistment." Many now talk of deserting and returning to their "invaded homes and hapless families."

SPECIAL ORDERS No. 82. - HDQRS. 2D CORPS, DEPT. OF MISS. AND E. LA., Grenada, Miss., December 14, 1862. These facts have given them too much seeming cause to believe that the Government has designedly entrapped them into its service...The major-general commanding has carefully examined the laws relating to this subject, and he thinks that there can be no doubt that the terms of enlistment of all the Missouri troops in this corps between the ages of eighteen and forty years have been extended by the provisions of those acts to three years from their date of enlistment in the Confederate service....Soldiers of Missouri! be patient; be, as you have heretofore been, long-suffering and obedient.....Throw not away by an act of cowardly desertion all that you have so hardly and so gloriously won, and bring not disgrace upon the name which you have made so honored just at the day and perhaps at the hour when you may be reaching the wished-for goal of all your struggles and all your hopes....No past services, however glorious, can save from dishonor him who meanly deserts his country and his comrades in the hour of danger nor shield his wife and children from the shame and ignominy which cling ever after to the deserter's family....By order of Major-General Price: THOS. L. SNEAD, Assistant Adjutant-General.



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Dec 15 1862 (Monday)

Jefferson Davis' inspection tour returns from Murfreesborough, Tennessee, where he reviewed Braxton Bragg's army. While meeting with Bragg, Davis took time to personally confer the promotion of brigadier-general on the newly married John Hunt Morgan. Union spies report:"Jeff Davis attended John H. Morgan's wedding last night, was serenaded, and made a speech in which he said Lincoln's [Emancipation] proclamation put black and white on equality." Davis is impressed by the condition of Bragg's army and becomes convinced that the "enemy is kept close in Nashville and indicates only defensive purposes." On the spot, Davis decides to reinforce Vicksburg with a division from the Tennessee army telling Bragg: "Fight if you can, but if necessary fall back beyond Tennessee." Joe Johnston is incensed when he learns of Davis' decision and tells the President that weakening Bragg's army will invite an attack from the Union army in Nashville.

CHATTANOOGA, December 15, 1862. - Hon. JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War: Returned to this place from Murfreesborough last night; found troops there in good condition and fine spirits....Cavalry expeditions are projected to break up railroad communication between Louisville and Nashville, and between Memphis and Grant's army. General Johnston will go immediately to Mississippi, and will, with the least delay, re-enforce Pemberton by sending a division, say 8,000 men, from the troops in this quarter....I will proceed in the train of to-day....JEFFERSON DAVIS.

In Fredericksburg, occasional skirmishing between pickets is mixed with sharp, sporadic artillery duels. The pitiful moans of the wounded and dying compose a "strange mournful mutter on the battlefield, that pathetic cry ceaselessly [is] audible." Sergeant Richard Kirkland of the Second South Carolina had done his best yesterday in a heroic effort to slake the thirst of the wounded men near the stone wall, but Burnside, still refusing to admit total defeat, "disapproves of the proposition to send out a flag of truce, for the purpose of burying the dead." Finally, late in the afternoon, "Old Burn" issues orders for a withdrawal from the shattered city and allows a flag of truce to be sent across the lines. Robert E. Lee reports: "No attempt to advance had been made to-day. He has been busy collecting his dead and wounded."

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. - December 15, 1862. - Major-General HOOKER, Commanding Center Grand Division: - GENERAL: The commanding general directs that all the troops now occupying the right bank of the Rappahannock be withdrawn to-night....The two divisions of your command now on the left will be ordered to rejoin you as soon as they cross the river. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. G. PARKE, Chief of Staff.

Abraham Lincoln has made his decision. After reviewing the evidence under which 307 Dakota Indians have been sentenced to death, in retaliation for their bloody uprising last summer, Lincoln pardons 268 of them. The evidence, Lincoln decides is "flimsy and unconvincing" The remaining prisoners, after originally being scheduled to be hung on December 19th, are sentenced to be executed on the day after Christmas.

SAINT PAUL, December 15, 1862. - The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your order...for the execution of thirty-nine Indians just received by special messenger. They are imprisoned at Mankato, ninety miles distant, and the time fixed is too short for preparations....The excitement prevails in all sections of the State, and secret combinations exist embracing thousands of citizens pledged to execute all the Indians. Matters must be managed with great discretion and as much secrecy as possible to prevent a fearful collision between the U.S. forces and the citizens. I respectfully ask for authority to postpone the execution one week....Respectfully, H. H. SIBLEY, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

Benjamin Butler is officially relieved of command of the Department of the Gulf by Nathaniel Banks. "I take leave of you by this final order....I greet you my brave comrades and say farewell...! I commend you to your commander. You are worthy [of] his love. Farewell my comrades! Again farewell!" Of Banks' expeditionary force, only the 156th New York has failed to reach New Orleans.

HDQRS. ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIXTH REGT. N. Y. VOLS., Key West, Fla., December 15, 1862. - Maj. Gen. N. P. BANKS. - GENERAL: The steamer M. Sanford, having on board the One hundred and fifty-sixth Regiment New York Volunteers...sailed from the port of New....The voyage was continued down the coast of the United States until the morning of the 10th instant..., when the vessel was stranded upon the Carysfolt Reef....Captain Sanford immediately ordered the sail taken in, the engine reversed, and, with a view of backing her off, ordered the ship lightened by throwing the cargo overboard.....The gunboat Gemsbok..., saw our signal, and...rendered us most valuable assistance in disembarking the regiment and so much of the property on board as could be removed....The wreck...settled to the depth of her guards and lay upon the bottom. The stranding of this vessel was so palpably the result of the most criminal negligence, if not design, that I immediately arrested the sailing-master, Capt. A. W. Richardson...and...handed him over to the authorities here for examination. Fortunately no man was lost, nor have I learned that the slightest accident occurred in consequence of the wreck to any member of the regiment....I am, general, your obedient servant, ERASTUS COOKE, Colonel Comdg. One hundred and fifty-sixth New York Vols.


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Dec 16 1862 (Tuesday)

After a night-long sleet and rain storm, Robert E. Lee wakes up to discover, "Not a single live, unwounded Federal [remains] on the west bank of the Rappahannock." Burnside has retreated. James Longstreet is quite happy with the results; suffering less that 2,000 casualties, while his men inflicted almost 9,000 is a sure redemption of the defensive tactics used during the battle. "Old Jack" is not quite so pleased. "I did not think a little red earth would have frightened them...I am sorry they are gone. I am sorry that I fortified."

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. - December 16, 1862---5.30 p.m. (Received 6 p.m.) - Major-General HALLECK: The army was withdrawn to this side of the river because I felt the positions in front could not be carried, and it was a military necessity either to attack or retire. A repulse would have been disastrous to us. I hope this explanation will be satisfactory to the President. The army was withdrawn at night, without the knowledge of the enemy, and without loss either of property or men....A. E. BURNSIDE, Major-general, Commanding.

After capturing Kinston, General Foster continues his trek towards Goldsborough. Proceeding along the railroad, burning bridges and tearing up track, Foster's men run into resistance at the White Hall bridge. "In passing White Hall...[the] command was fired upon from the opposite side of the river." In the ensuing battle, friendly fire adds to the casualty list. Colonel Heckman writes: "To add to our discomfort...Colonel Ledlie of the Third New York Artillery, from a bluff in our rear opened (senselessly) several of his batteries with fuse shell, which burst overhead, showered fragments upon my men, wounding a number....If Colonel Ledlie...performs anything credible while the war lasts...the good citizens of New York will have reason to be thankful."

HEADQUARTERS, Goldsborough, N.C. - Capt. A. L. EVANS, Asst. Adjt. Gen., Hdqrs. Evans' Brigade, in the Field. - CAPTAIN: About 9 a.m...a brisk picket skirmish commenced....Owing to a range of hills on the White Hall side the enemy had the advantage of position. The point occupied by his troops being narrow, not more than one regiment at a time could advantageously engage him....No veteran soldiers ever fought better or inflicted more terrible loss upon an enemy considering the numbers engaged. It was with difficulty they could be withdrawn from the field. Three times did they drive the Yankee cannoneers from their guns and as often prevent their infantry regiments from forming line in their front. In spite of the four hostile regiments whose standards waved from the opposite bank did these brave men continue to hold their ground, and finally drove the enemy in confusion from the field....Very respectfully, sir, your obedient, servant, B. H. ROBERTSON, Brigadier-General, Commanding.

Gabriel Rains, the erstwhile Confederate expert on the use of "torpedoes," is named the first superintendent of the Conscription Bureau. The bureau is responsible for implementing the monstrous task of enrolling or exempting every eligible white male in the Confederacy.

"Oh weep not, conscript weep not,
Old Jeff has called for thee,
A soldier you must be
Make up your mind
To stand in line,
And quake not at the Yanks,
To shoot your gun
And call it fun,
And for your life return your thanks."
(*From the Augusta Weekly Constitutional)

SPECIAL ORDERS No. 294. - ADJT. AND INSP. GENERAL'S OFFICE, Richmond, December 16, 1862. Brig. Gen. Gabriel J. Rains is hereby assigned to duty as general superintendent of the conscription service for the Provisional Army of the Confederate States. He will forthwith proceed to Richmond and enter upon the duties of his office. By command of the Secretary of War: JNO. WITHERS, Assistant Adjutant-General.


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Dec 17 1862 (Wednesday)

"I believe I have been superseded," the news hits John McClernand like a thunderbolt as he immediately sends word to President Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton, "Please advise me." Stanton responds quickly: "Your telegram...surprises me, but I will ascertain and let you know immediately." McClernand is worried that the men he has raised for an expedition against Vicksburg have been stolen from him by U.S. Grant and "Cump" Sherman.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D.C., December 17, 1862. - Major-General McCLERNAND, Springfield, Ill.: There has been...no order superseding you. It was designed...to organize the troops for your expedition after they should reach Memphis or the place designated as their rendezvous. The troops having been sent forward they are now to be organized. The operations being in General Grant's department, it is designed to organize all the troops of that department in three army corps, the First Army Corps to be commanded by you, and assigned to the operations on the Mississippi under the general supervision of the general commanding the department. General Halleck is to issue the order immediately. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.

The term "Jew" has undergone a transition during the second year of the war. It no longer embraces only the people of a particular religious faith, but has come to describe "anyone...considered shrewd, acquisitive, aggressive, and possibly dishonest." Which much money to be made in West Tennessee in the illegal cotton trade, speculators have been plaguing Grant's army. Finally, when his own father brings three Jewish merchants to his headquarters seeking special permits, the general loses his temper and issues an order expelling all Jews from the department. "The Jews seem to be a privileged class that can travel everywhere. They will land at any wood-lot on the river and make their way through the country."

GENERAL ORDERS No. 11. - HDQRS. 13TH A. C., DEPT. OF THE TENN., Holly Springs, December 17, 1862. The Jews, as a class violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department and also department orders, are hereby expelled from the department within twenty-four hours from the receipt of this order....Any one returning after such notification will be arrested and held in confinement until an opportunity occurs of sending them out as prisoners, unless furnished with permit from headquarters. No passes will be given these people to visit headquarters for the purpose of making personal application for trade permits. By order of Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant: JNO. A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant-General.

Major G. Moxley Sorrel, General Longstreet's chief staff officer, crosses the Rappahannock River on a "leaky little bateau," to "call Burnside's attention to the revolting conduct" of his burial parties. They have made "hideous work with the dead soldiers; throwing them in heaps in shallow trenches, barely covered; filling the country ice houses and wells with them; indeed doing this work most brutally." After crossing, Sorrel is astounded by the abundance of food available in the Union camps. "Huge...vessels of odorous real coffee; immense chunks of fat, fresh beef...; great slabs of desiccated vegetables...which puffed out swelling each vegetable into something like freshness." The Federal repast is in stark contrast with the "bare necessities of life" doled out on the Confederate sides of the line.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, December 17, 1862. - General Commanding Confederate Forces near Fredericksburg : - SIR: Your note, by Major Sorrel, assistant adjutant-general...has been received. Preparations will be made to receive the prisoners to be delivered at noon near Fredericksburg....I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JNO. G. PARKE, Major-General and Chief of Staff.

Foster's raid reaches Goldsborough. Despite the reinforcements sent from Charleston and Petersburg, General G.W. Smith is unable to prevent the firing of the railroad bridge over the Neuse River. "One bold and daring incendiary succeeded in reaching the bridge..., lighted a flame which soon destroyed the superstructure, leaving masonry abutments and pier intact." Lacking sufficient ammunition to continue his destruction of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, Foster orders a hasty retreat back to New Berne.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, New Berne, N.C. - GENERAL: Maj. Gen. H. W. HALLECK, General. in-Chief, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. : I advanced on Goldsborough....The Ninth New Jersey' and Seventeenth Massachusetts were ordered to strike the rail road track and follow it up direct to the bridge, which they were to burn....The enemy replied with artillery from the other side of the river. Colonel Heckman advanced steadily up the track, fighting the enemy's infantry posted at the bridge....After two hours he reached the bridge, and under a heavy fire Lieutenant Graham, Twenty-third New York Battery..., fired the bridge. All who had previously attempted it were picked off....I brought all my artillery to bear to prevent any effort to save the bridge, and, when the fire was doing its work, ordered a countermarch for New Berne....The artillery force, under Colonel Ledlie, was well placed and well served, and the commanding officer and the batteries, without exception, did most excellent service....I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. G. FOSTER, Major-General, Commanding Department.

Nathaniel Banks finds New Orleans to be a strange and beautiful city. He also discovers a "whiff of something spoiled and corrupt" in a city where even lieutenants live in huge town houses, "where they use the plate, [and] drink the wine cellars dry." While he struggles to undo "the weird tangle" Butler has created in the city, Banks' sends the rest of his troops up the Mississippi River to retake Baton Rouge. Banks' swift move alarms General William Beall, commanding at Port Hudson; the next fortified Confederate position on the river. "Fourteen gunboats and sloops are at Baton Rouge this morning."

HEADQUARTERS, Baton Rouge, La., December 17, 1862. - ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Headquarters Banks' Expedition. - SIR: I reached this point at daybreak to-day, upon which the enemy (probably 500 strong) immediately evacuated the town. I landed my force...and occupied the place....It is highly important that either a river or wharf boat be sent here immediately. I do not intend to send back any of the transports today, as it is impracticable to unload what we want until to-morrow at the earliest. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, C. GROVER, Brigadier-General of Volunteers.


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Dec 18 1862 (Thursday)

Six days after crossing the Tennessee River, Nathan Bedford Forrest's raiders fall upon the Union outpost at Lexington. Although his men are poorly trained, "the rawest of raw recruits," and even more poorly armed, Forrest's men quickly subdue the small garrison force. Colonel Sullivan reports: "My cavalry was whipped...to-day " More importantly, Forrest's men tear apart the railroad, rip down telegraph wires and cut Grant's line of communications.

BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, Near Union City, Tenn. - General BRAXTON BRAGG, Commanding Army of Tennessee. - GENERAL: We met the pickets of the enemy near Lexington and attacked their forces at Lexington, consisting of one section of artillery and 800 cavalry. We routed them completely, capturing the two guns and 148 prisoners....We also captured about 70 horses, which were badly needed and immediately put in service in our batteries. The balance of the Federal cavalry fled in the direction of Trenton and Jackson. General....I am, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, N. B. FORREST, Brigadier-General, Commanding in West Tennessee.

U.S. Grant receives the bad news that "Cump" Sherman must step aside as commander of the Vicksburg expedition for John McClernand. "It is the wish of the President that General McClernand's corps shall constitute a part of the river expedition and that he shall have immediate command." Grant quickly sends out instructions to General Sherman informing him of the change in plans. "Inform General Sherman that General McClernand and he will descend the river." "Cump" has been chomping at the bit in Memphis, waiting for the water level in the river to rise sufficiently to allow the fleet to set sail. "Every possible preparation has been made, so that no moment should be lost. If the fleet comes to-day all shall be on board to-morrow." Unfortunately for McClernand, Forrest's raiders have cut the telegraph line and Sherman does not receive Grant's message.

HDQRS. RIGHT WING, THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS, Memphis, December 18, 1862. - Col. JOHN A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant-General, Oxford, Miss.: SIR: Admiral Porter is just in from above, having been detained four days by low water....I am...informed that there is a rise in the water above, so that the fleet of boats ought not to be longer delayed....The weather is fine, and I repeat that I only await the fleet of gunboats to be off. Yours, truly, W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General.

General Foster's men continue on their return march to New Berne. Lacking sufficient cavalry, G.W. Smith can only watch as the Union force slips away. Smith reports that the invasion caused only $10,000 in damages and that the enemy "utterly failed to...take advantage of the...interruption of our railroad line for the purpose of striking a decisive blow at any important point."

GOLDSBOROUGH, N.C., December 18, 1862. - Hon. JAMES A- SEDDON, Secretary of War: One of my best officers returned at 2 o'clock, having followed the enemy 13 miles on the road toward New Berne. He is satisfied that they are rapidly moving for that place. G. W. SMITH, Major-General.


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Dec 19 1862 (Friday)

With his communications cut, General U.S. Grant struggles to direct an effective response to Forrest's fast moving cavalrymen. However, his attention is diverted when he receives reports that another Confederate cavalry force in on the loose. "Scouts...bring information that a heavy cavalry force passed from Grenada to Graysport, and toward Pontotoc." Knowing that his supply depot at Holly Springs is vulnerable, Grant orders the post commander Colonel Murphy to send out all available cavalry to Rocky Ford. "[Van Dorn} must be prevented from getting to the railroad in our rear." Murphy sends a message back to Grant saying that he has ordered out the cavalry but asks, "Where is Rocky Ford...? I found no map here and have none...that are reliable."

OXFORD, MISS., December [19], 1862. - Commanding Officers at Holly Springs Davis' Mill, Grand Junction, La Grange, and Bolivar: [Van Dorn's] cavalry has gone north with the intention, probably, of striking the railroad north of this place and cutting off our communication, Keep a sharp lookout and defend the road, if attacked, at all hazards. A heavy cavalry force will be in pursuit of him from here. U.S. GRANT, Major-General.

John Hunt Morgan has organized a division of cavalry containing 4,000 men and is preparing to embark on another raid. His goal this time is to be William Rosecran's lines of communications. Morgan's force will be the third mounted force wreaking havoc behind Union lines in the West.

GALLATIN, December 19, 1862. - Lieutenant-Colonel GARESCHE: The surgeon in charge of our wounded men at Hartsville reports that John H. Morgan, with a considerable force, is within a short distance of that place. His camp-fires are seen from Hartsville, and a portion of his men are already across the river....SPEED S. FRY, Brigadier-General.

President Davis and General Joe Johnston make plans to "leave...by train this evening for Vicksburg." It is to be the last leg of the President's inspection tour. William Tecumseh Sherman is also ready to begin on a trip to Vicksburg. Unaware of the orders giving command of the expedition to John McClernand, who has yet to arrive at Memphis, Sherman begins embarking the troops. "The First, Second, and Third Divisions...will embark to-morrow...and proceed with all dispatch [to] Helena."

HDQRS. RIGHT WING, THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS, Memphis, December 19, 1862. - Col. JOHN A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant-General. - SIR: I estimate we have enough boats to carry our command. We are now embarking and will be all aboard to-morrow....Shall at once break railroad west of Vicksburg and then enter the Yazoo. You may calculate on our being at Vicksburg by Christmas....Gunboats are at mouth of Yazoo now, and there will be no difficulty in effecting a landing up Yazoo within 12 miles of Vicksburg....Yours, truly, W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General, Commanding.

In Washington, D.C., nine senators meet to discuss the fate of Secretary of State William Seward. Led by Senator Jacob Collamer from Vermont, the so-called "Green Mountain Socrates," these men are unhappy with Seward's "influence in President Lincoln's cabinet." Emboldened by the support of Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase the senators arrange a meeting with the President. In the ensuing meeting, in which all of the President's cabinet except Seward are present , Chase is "unable to stand up to the President," and withdraws his support from the conspirators. In an attempt to explain Chase's actions at the pivotal meeting, Collamer bluntly states: "He lied." After the meeting both Seward and Chase submit their resignations to the President who exclaims: "This cuts the Gordian knot. I can dispose of this subject now without difficulty." Lincoln promptly rejects their resignations and "in so doing establishes a clear limit on legislative interference in executive matters." Lincoln's biggest supporter in this "Cabinet Crisis" is Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Although Welles shares many of the concerns about Seward's influence in the White House, he understands, "That if a party of faction should be permitted to dictate to the President in regard to his Cabinet, it would be an evil example and fraught with incalculable injury to the Government and country."

*See the Fall 1998 issue of Columbiad: a quarterly review of the war between the states, for a more thorough examination of the December Cabinet Crisis.


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Dec 20 1862 (Saturday)

In a scene reminiscent to Jackson's sacking of Manassas Junction last fall, Earl Van Dorn, leading a 3,000 man cavalry force swoops down on Holly Springs, Mississippi. Colonel Murphy's garrison, responsible for guarding the valuable supplies, makes only a token defense before surrendering. Van Dorn's soldiers descend on the supply dump "like a swarm of locusts, destroying everything Grant's army possessed--$1,500,000 worth of food, ammunition and equipment."

HOLLY SPRINGS, MISS., December 20, 1862. - Lieutenant-General PEMBERTON: I surprised the enemy at this place at daylight this morning; burned up all the quartermaster's stores, cotton, &c.--an immense amount; burned up many trains; took a great many arms and about 1,500 prisoners...I move on to Davis' Mill at once....EARL VAN DORN, Major-General.

The successful actions of Nathan Bedford Forrest, in cutting his communication and railroad connection with the North, and Earl Van Dorn, who has destroyed all the supplies he had accumulated, place Ulysses Grant's plans for an advance on Vicksburg in jeopardy. Even Grant's close friend James Birdseye McPherson advises: "In view of the fact that the railroad from Grenada to Memphis is so seriously damaged that it will take some weeks to open it....I think it best to fall back to the north side of the Tallahatchie." The unexpected reverses leaves Grant in a quandary. If he does not continue the advance as previously planned, there is no way of notifying Sherman, whose downriver expedition has already set sail from Memphis. Such an action will leave "Cump" to face the Vicksburg defenses on his own.

MEMPHIS, December 20, 1862--.8 p.m. - GENERAL: We commenced loading this morning, and the first division, ten boats, are just leaving port; the second, thirteen boats, will follow in an hour, and the third, thirteen boats, will leave early in the morning....We all rendezvous early to-morrow at Helena, when General Steele's division joins us with twelve or fifteen boats. I think we have nearly if not quite fuel enough to carry us to Vicksburg....Everything has gone well so far....General Sherman is a trump, and makes things move. I like his business mode of doing things, his promptness and decision. Very respectfully, L. B. PARSONS, Colonel and Aide-de-camp.

Unwilling to tackle the extensive Union defenses at Jackson, Tennessee, Nathan Bedford Forrest leads his troopers on a path of destruction along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, "capturing...supply and ammunition dumps, brushing off hostile patrols, seizing horses, weapons, and other equipment...and utterly ruining the railroad for a stretch of sixty miles."

BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, Near Union City, Tenn. - General BRAXTON BRAGG, Commanding Army of Tennessee. - GENERAL: I...moved rapidly on Trenton and Humboldt. Colonel Dibrell's command was sent to destroy the bridge over the Forked Deer River between Humboldt and Jackson. Col. [J. W.] Starnes was sent to attack Humboldt....I dashed into town and attacked the enemy at Trenton. They were fortified at the depot, but were without artillery. After a short engagement between their sharpshooters and our cavalry our battery opened on them, and on the third fire from the battery they surrendered....Col. Starnes took Humboldt, capturing over 100 prisoners. He destroyed the stockade, railroad depot, and burned up a trestle bridge near that point....We remained in Trenton during the night of the 20th, paroling all the prisoners and selecting from the stores at the depot such as were needed by the command....General, I am, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, N. B. FORREST, Brigadier-General, Commanding in West Tennessee.

When he was appointed as commander of the Army of the Potomac there was, at best, only lukewarm support for Ambrose Burnside. "Fighting Joe" Hooker lusted over the job and made little effort to hide his belief that he should have been named to the position. There is also a cadre of old McClellan supporters, who would like nothing better than to have "Little Mac" reappointed as commander. The disastrous failure at Fredericksburg only serves to reaffirm the general belief that "Old Burn" is incapable of commanding the army. Seizing the initiative, Generals William Franklin and "Baldy" Smith, "impressed with the belief that...the plan of campaign which has already been commenced cannot possibly be successful," do not hesitate to advise President Lincoln to reconsider McClellan's old plan of advancing up the York River Peninsula. "Whether the investment of Richmond leads to the destruction or capture of the enemy's army or not, it certainly will lead to the capture of the rebel capital, and the war will be on a better footing than it is now or has any present prospect of being."

HEADQUARTERS LEFT GRAND DIVISION, December 20, 1862. - To the PRESIDENT: The undersigned, holding important commands in the Army of the Potomac present, with diffidence, the following views for consideration....We believe that the plan of campaign already commenced will not be successful for the following reasons: First. The distance from this point to Richmond is 61 miles....If the railroad be rebuilt as the army marches, it will be destroyed at important points by the enemy. Second. If we do not depend upon the railroad, but upon wagon transportation, the trains will be so enormous that a great deal of the strength of the army will be required to guard them....In our opinion: any plan of campaign, to be successful, should possess the following requisites....All of the troops available in the East should be massed....They should approach as near to Richmond as possible without an engagement....A campaign on the James River enables us to fulfill all these conditions more absolutely than any other.......Should the general idea be adopted, these can be thoroughly digested and worked out by the generals and their staffs to whom the execution of the plan is committed. Very respectfully, your obedient servants, W. B. FRANKLIN, Major-General, Commanding Left Wing, WM. F. SMITH, Major-general, Commanding Sixth Army Corps.

David Dixon Porter's gunboats have already stung once by the "infernal" torpedoes in the Yazoo River near Snyder's Bluff. "The Yazoo [is] obstructed by a raft; and for 3 miles below by a system of torpedoes, one of which had exploded and sunk the Cairo. Even the gunboats could not approach Snyder's Bluff, much less our frail transports." In lieu of this new Confederate weapon, which threatens the naval superiority of Porter's Mississippi Squadron, Porter decides the presence of torpedoes in the Yazoo will prevent his fleet from being able to debark Sherman's men very far up the river. Instead, Sherman will have to land his force at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, twenty miles above Vicksburg, and continue the rest of the trip on foot; through swamps, bayous and almost impenetrable forests. Despite the fact that Porter has chosen not to discipline his aggressive commander of the ill-fated Cairo, Captain Selfridge, Charles Ellet is adamant that is was Selfridge's negligence that caused the sinking.

UNITED STATES RAM MONARCH, Off Cairo, Ill. - December 20, 1862. - Brig. Gen. ALFRED W. ELLET, Commanding Mississippi Marine Brigade. - GENERAL: The object of the expedition was to remove some torpedoes which had been placed in the channel by the enemy. Captain Walke impressed upon Captain Sutherland the necessity of observing the utmost caution on this dangerous enterprise....According to the design of Captain Walker the Marmora and Signal, being light-draught boats, were to hug the shores and take up the torpedoes; while the Queen, Cairo, and Pittsburg were to protect them with their guns. While the fleet, however, was on its way up the Yazoo, Captain Selfridge, who commanded the expedition, and who brought up its rear in the gunboat Cairo, frequently and peremptorily ordered Captain Sutherland to move faster--a command which periled the safety of the boats ahead of the Queen....The fleet arrived in sight of the enemy's fort and opened an irregular fire. Captain Selfridge came alongside of the Marmora with the Cairo and inquired why they did not go ahead. The answer was that they were right at the torpedoes; the buoys, in fact, were plainly visible just before them. Captain Selfridge then advanced himself with the Cairo, moving up the middle of the stream. The unfortunate though natural consequence was that a torpedo immediately exploded under the Cairo, blowing her almost out of the water. She went down in about ten minutes, sinking nearly over her chimneys....Very respectfully, CHARLES RIVERS ELLET,Colonel, Commanding Ram Fleet.

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