This Week in the Civil War: Nov 26-Dec 2, 1862

Wednesday, November 26.  President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Virginia to confer with General Ambrose Burnside, commander of the Army of the Potomac. President Jefferson Davis wrote to Confederate state governors asking for help enrolling draftees and sending them to the various fronts, returning soldiers to the ranks who were absent without leave, and securing supplies for military use. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and western Virginia.

Thursday, November 27.  In Virginia, President Lincoln conferred with General Burnside at Aquia Creek about the upcoming Federal offensive against General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Burnside rejected Lincoln’s plan for a three-pronged attack, instead favored a direct assault on Lee at Fredericksburg. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Missouri, and Federals began an expedition near Grenada, Mississippi.

Friday, November 28.  Federal forces scored an important victory in the Trans-Mississippi Theater at Cane Hill, Arkansas. In Mississippi, skirmishing occurred at Holly Springs, where Federals were gathering supplies for their upcoming assault on Vicksburg. Skirmishing also occurred in Tennessee and Virginia.

Saturday, November 29.  General John B. Magruder assumed command of the Confederate District of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and Mississippi.

Sunday, November 30.  Skirmishing occurred in Mississippi, and Federals began an expedition from Rolla to the Ozarks in Missouri.

Monday, December 1.  In Washington, the third session of the Thirty-seventh U.S. Congress assembled. In his annual message to Congress, President Lincoln reported that foreign relations and commerce were satisfactory, and Federal receipts were exceeding expenditures. Lincoln also proposed three constitutional amendments: 1) compensating every state that abolished slavery before 1900; 2) all slaves freed during the war would remain free and their owners (if loyal to the Union) compensated for the loss; 3) Congress would colonize all consenting freed slaves in Africa.

In Virginia, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s corps of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia began moving into position to Lee’s right at Fredericksburg. In Mississippi, skirmishing intensified as General Ulysses S. Grant’s Federals continued advancing toward Vicksburg. Skirmishing occurred in Tennessee and western Virginia.

Tuesday, December 2.  In Virginia, skirmishing occurred along the Rappahannock between portions of the armies under Burnside and Lee. Federal forces began a reconnaissance from Bolivar Heights to Winchester, and a skirmish occurred in the Indian Territory.

Primary Source: The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long and Barbara Long (New York, NY: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1971)

This Week in the Civil War: Oct 8-14, 1862

Wednesday, October 8.  In Kentucky, the Battle of Perryville occurred as parts of General Don Carlos Buell’s Federals fought a portion of General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate army. Buell was unaware that a battle was taking place until afternoon due to an atmospheric phenomenon that prevented him from hearing the fighting. Part of Bragg’s force was still in Frankfort. The Federals fought off hard Confederate attacks until Bragg withdrew to the southeast. This was the largest battle fought in Kentucky, and it stopped the Confederate invasion of the state, just as Robert E. Lee’s invasion of Maryland had also been stopped.

Thursday, October 9.  General Jeb Stuart led Confederate cavalry in a reconnaissance and raid into Maryland en route to Pennsylvania. Federal cavalry unsuccessfully tried stopping this ride around General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. The Confederate Congress established military courts with defined powers.

Friday, October 10.  Braxton Bragg’s Confederates began their withdrawal from Kentucky. Jeb Stuart’s Confederate cavalry crossed the Potomac River into Maryland on the reconnaissance and raid of the Federal Army of the Potomac. Stuart reached Chambersburg, Pennsylvania by evening. In the Dakota Territory, Dakota Sioux Indians battled miners on the upper Missouri River below Fort Berthold. In Indiana, home guards drove off a band of Confederate guerrillas at Hawesville. President Jefferson Davis asked Virginia to provide 4,500 slaves to complete fortifications around Richmond. Confederate General John B. Magruder was assigned to command the Department of Texas.

Saturday, October 11.  In Pennsylvania, Jeb Stuart’s Confederates drove residents and officials out of Chambersburg and cut telegraph wires, destroyed railroad depots and equipment, seized horses, and burned any supplies they could not take. Stuart then moved southeast toward Emmitsburg, Maryland. The Confederate commerce raider Alabama destroyed the grain ship Manchester. Jefferson Davis signed a bill into law adding more exemptions to the Confederate draft. The most controversial provision exempted an owner or overseer of over 20 slaves. Richmond newspapers began discussing a possible end of the war due to recent Confederate victories.

Sunday, October 12.  Jeb Stuart’s Confederates crossed the Potomac back to Virginia after skirmishing at the mouth of the Monocacy River. General Earl Van Dorn assumed command of all Confederate troops in Mississippi. President Abraham Lincoln asked General Don Carlos Buell for updates in Kentucky; Lincoln was concerned that Buell was not pursuing the withdrawing Confederates fast enough.

Monday, October 13.  The second session of the First Confederate Congress adjourned after approving a bill suspending habeas corpus (with some exceptions) until February 12, 1863. President Lincoln wrote a letter to George McClellan urging him to renew the offensive against Robert E. Lee in Virginia: “Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing?” Federal General Jacob D. Cox assumed command of the District of Western Virginia. In Kentucky, Braxton Bragg’s Confederates began moving through Cumberland Gap back to Tennessee.

Tuesday, October 14.  In elections for congressional seats in Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, Democrats gained seats in every state except Iowa. Many cited the Lincoln administration’s war policies and the Emancipation Proclamation as reasons why voters turned against Lincoln’s Republicans. Confederate General John C. Pemberton assumed command of the Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana.