u/Aaronsivilwartravels

Today in the Civil War October 6

1861-Winfield Scott informs General Robert Anderson that he is relieved of duty by telegram. He relinquishes command of the Department of Kentucky the following day.

1863-President Davis heads south from Richmond on a trip to South Carolina and North Georgia.

1863-Confederate guerilla leader William Clarke Quantrill attacked Baxter Springs, Kansas. He failed to capture the stronghold. Quantrill and his men did massacre a Union detachment that happened to be traveling nearby.

1864-Cavalry engagement at Brock's Gap, Virginia.

Today in the Civil War October 5

1861-Major papers in London reflect the division over the American Civil War in Britain. In an editorial, the London Post backs an independent Southern Nation. Previously, the London Times had backed the Union.

1862-Battle of Hatchie Bridge [US]/Battle of Metamora [CS] Mississippi. Edward Ord [US] discovers Confederates retreating from Corinth. When Ord was severly wounded fighting paused as command passed to Stephen Hurlbut [US]. Sterling Price [CS] was able to escape.

1863-Joe Wheeler cuts the railroad between Nashville and Chattanooga at Stones River. The loss is a major blow to the besieged Army of the Cumberland.

1863-A torpedo attack on the USS New Ironsides by the CSS David in Charleston Harbor damages the ship, but the New Ironsides remains on duty, without repair until May, 1864.

1864-Battle of Allatoona Pass Georgia. Confederates under Samuel French attack entrenched Federals under John Corse protecting the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Union: 2000 engaged, 142 (k), 352 (w), 212 (m), 706 (c). Confederate: 2000 engaged, 122 (k), 443 (w), 234 (m), 799 (c).

1864-Skirmish, North River, Rockingham County Virginia.

1864-Systematic destruction of the Shenandoah Valley continues. The burning as it was known started in late September and would continue through mid-October.

Today in the Civil War October 4

1861-President Lincoln views a tethered hot-air balloon ascent outside Washington D. C. The balloon was considered a top secret observation instrument to be used for observation during battles.

1861-Confederate government signs treaties with the Shawnee and Seneca Indians.

1862-Richard Hawes is inaugurated as Confederate governor of Kentucky. Braxton Bragg attends.

1864-Moving north along the Western and Atlantic Railroad in an attempt to sever Sherman's supply line, John Bell Hood attacks blockhouses and encampments at Acworth and Moon's Station.

1864-Skirmish, North River, Rockingham County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War October 3

1861-Battle of Greenbriar Virginia/West Virginia.

1862-[3-4] Battle of Corinth. Earl Van Dorn [CS] and Sterling Price [CS] attack William Rosecrans [US] northern perimeter, driving it back to a reinforced line. Rosecrans successfully defends the city.

1863-President Lincoln calls for a national day of Thanksgiving at the end of November.

1864-Skirmish, Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, North River, Rockingham County Virginia. Lt. John R. Meigs (US) is killed.

Today in the Civil War September 30

1863-[Sept. 30-Oct. 17] Gen. Joseph Wheeler [CS] raids Federal positions north and east of Chattanooga.

1864-Battle of Poplar Springs Church Virginia. G. K. Warren's [US] 5th Corps and John Parke's [US] 9th Corps are attacked by A. P. Hill [CS] at Squirrel Level Road southwest of Petersburg. Warren and Parke did extend the siege lines.

1864-Skirmish at Carter's Station, Tennessee.

Today in the Civil War September 29

1862-General William A. Nelson gets into an altercation with General Jefferson C. Davis at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. Davis returns later with a gun and shoots and kills Nelson.

1862-George Thomas offered command of the Army of the Ohio. He refuses, unaware that Abraham Lincoln had made the offer after receiving a plea for Thomas from 20 officers in the Army of the Ohio.

1864-[Sept. 29-Oct. 02] Battle of Peebles' Farm Virginia. Hoping to extend his line westward south of Petersburg, George Meade pushed towards the Southside Railroad. Fighting occured at various farms throughout the rolling hills with most of the action occuring at Wyatt's, Peebles, and Pegram's farms, Chappell House, Poplar Spring Church and Vaughan Road.

1864-[29-30] Battle of Fort Harrison Virginia.
Southeast of Richmond, Fort Harrison was the main bastion of a string of Rebel defenses. 3,000 men under George Stannard [US] swarmed over the fort, capturing it in less that 20 minutes. Robert E. Lee directed a counter-attack the following day that failed to regain the position.

1864-Union General Ulysses S. Grant attacked forces under Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of New Market Heights. The attempt failed.

1864-Confederate General John Bell Hood began tearing up the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

1864-Skirmish, Waynesborough/Waynesboro, Augusta County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Rockfish Gap, Augusta County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Port Republic, Rockingham County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 28

1863-Repercussions from Chickamauga: US Generals Crittenden, Alexander McDowell and McCook are relieved of duty and ordered to Indianapolis to face a court of inquiry.

1864-President Davis approves Hood's request to relieve William Hardee.

1864-Confederate forces under General Sterling Price forced Union defenders away from Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob, Missouri. Started on September 27.

1864-Skirmish at Decatur, Georgia.

1864-Skirmish, Waynesborough/Waynesboro, Augusta County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Rockfish Gap, Augusta County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Port Republic, Rockingham County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 23

1862-Newspapers in the North print the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

1863-President Lincoln orders the 11th and 12th Corps to Stevenson, Alabama to relieve the Army of the Cumberland surrounded in Chattanooga.

1863-Colonel Henry Sibley defeats the Sioux at Wood Lake, ending the Great Sioux Uprising.

1864-To please Radical Republicans before the Election of 1864, Lincoln asks Montgomery Blair to resign as Postmaster General, which he does later in the day.

1864-Skirmish at Athens, Alabama.

1864-Skirmish, Woodstock, Shenandoah County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, near Edinburg, Shenandoah County Virginia.

1864-Mosby’s Rangers are Executed in Front Royal, Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Front Royal, Warren County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 22

1862-Following the preemptive strike at Antietam President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in states or portions of states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863.

1862-Skirmish, Ashby Gap, Clarke County Virginia.

1863-[Sept. 22-Oct. 26] General Joseph O. "Jo" Shelby raids Missouri and Arkansas.

1864-Battle of Fisher's Hill
George Crook's [US] 8th Corps overpowers Jubal Early [CS] marking the start of Phil Sheridan's [US] destructive Shenandoah Valley campaign.

1864-Engagement, Milford, Page/Warren County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 17

1861-Confederate General Sterling Price encircled a Union garrison at Lexington.

1861-Skirmish near, Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County West Virginia.

1862-Battle of Sharpsburg (Confederate)
Battle of Antietam (Union)
Army of the Potomac under McClellan [US] defeats the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee [CS], resulting in the bloodiest day in American history.
Union losses:12,401 men
2,108 dead
9,540 wounded
753 missing
Confederate losses:10, 406
1,546 dead
7,752 wounded
1,108 missing.

1862-Union forces evacuate Cumberland Gap, a strategically important mountain pass near the junction of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

1862-Munfordville, Kentucky surrenders to Confederate forces.

1863-Forward echelons of Longstreet's Corps begins arriving in Northwest Georgia.

1864-John C. Fremont withdraws from the race for President.

Today in the Civil War September 16

1861-Committee of Naval Constructors recommends three plans for building ironclads, Galena, Ironsides, and Monitor.

1862-Union General George B. MeClellan arrived in Sharpsburg, Maryland and prepared to attack General Robert E. Lee's forces along Antietam Creek. The next day the Battle of Antietam took place.

1863-Thomas Crittenden [US] reaches Lee and Gordon Mill on the Chickamauga River. Rosecrans [US] orders the rest of his men, spread out along 50 miles of Georgia's backwoods, to concentrate at this landmark.

1863-Skirmish, Smithfield, Jefferson County West Virginia.

1864-Meeting in Charles Town, Ulysses S. Grant and Phil Sheridan discuss the problems in the Shenandoah Valley with Jubal Early's [CS] Corps.

1864-Confederate General Wade Hampton's raid at Coggins Point (Great Cattle Road), Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Snicker’s Gap, Clarke, Loudoun County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 15

1861-Skirmish, Pritchard’s Mill, Jefferson County West Virginia.

1862-With the fall of Harper's Ferry, Stonewall Jackson begins sending men to Robert E. Lee, preparing to face the Army of the Potomac at Sharpsburg.

1863-Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.

1864-Skirmish, Seiver’s Ford, Clarke/Frederick County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 14

1861-Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee retreated from Cheat Mountain without a shot being fired. The campaign was considered a fiasco and damaged Lee's reputation.

1862-Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson rolled his artillery into place and began to shell Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

1862-Brigadier General Samuel Garland [CS] is mortally wounded during the Battle of Fox's Gap, dying later that day. Later that day, Major General Jesse Reno [US] is also mortally wounded a few feet from the spot where Garland fell.

1862-Battles of South Mountain also known as Battle of Turners Gap
Battle of Fox's Gap
Battle of Cramptons Gap.
George McClellan reacts to finding Special Order No. 191 with attacks on the gaps in South Mountain, forcing Lee to reorganize at Sharpsburg Maryland.

1862-[14-17] Battle of Munfordville Kentucky. After being initially repulsed by a federal garrison of 4,000, Braxton Bragg [CS] laid a brief seige. Federals surrendered on the 17th.

1864-Skirmish, near Berryville, Clarke County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 13

1861-Entering Confederate-controlled Pensacola harbor, Lt. John Henry Russell destroys the privateer Judah, marking the first naval action of the Civil War.

1862-George McClellan's men find a copy of Lee's Special Orders No. 191 issued on September 9, detailing deployment of Confederate troops during the initial phase of the invasion of Maryland, including the attack on Harper's Ferry.

1862-W. W. Loring advances down the Kanawha Valley. Federal forces evacuate Charleston West Virginia.

1863-Sensing a change in Lee's lines, George Meade [US] pushes the Army of the Potomac to the Rapidan River.

1864-Skirmish, Gilbert’s Ford, Clarke/Frederick County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Locke’s Ford, Frederick,Clarke County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Bunker Hill, Berkeley County West Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, Abrams Creek, Frederick County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 12

1861-[12-15] Battle of Cheat Mountain
West Virginia. Other names: Cheat Summit, Fort Milroy.
Joseph Reynolds [US] defeats Robert E. Lee [CS].

1861-[12-20] Battle of Lexington Missouri. Sterling Price, with 18,000 men, lays siege to Lexington, Missouri, with a federal force of 3,600 under Colonel James Mulligan. After fighting intensified on September 19, Mulligan surrendered on the 20th.

1862-[12-15] Battle of Harpers Ferry West Virginia. Stonewall Jackson takes 12,000 prisoners.

Today in the Civil War September 11

1861-President Lincoln orders John C. Fremont to rescind his order freeing some slaves in Missouri and issue a new order conforming to the Confiscation Act passed by Congress.

1861-Abraham Lincoln has Secretary of War Simon Cameron order the arrest of Maryland legislators who are openly pro-South.

1861-Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee moved into position against a Union stronghold on Cheat Mountain in western Virginia. Three days later the Confederates retreated without firing a shot.

1862-Skirmish near, Martinsburg, Berkeley County West Virginia.

1864-A 10-day truce was declared between General Sherman and General Hood so that civilians could leave Atlanta, Georgia.

Today in the Civil War September 09

1861-Skirmish, Shepherdstown, Jefferson County West Virginia.

1862-General Robert E. Lee issues Special Order No. 191.

1862-Skirmish at Barnesville, Maryland.

1862-Samuel P. Heintzelman is put in command of defenses south of Washington, D. C.

1863-Brigadier General John W. Frazier [CS] surrenders his men guarding the Cumberland Gap.

1863-Federal troops enter Chattanooga, Tennessee following its evacuation by the Army of Tennessee.

1863-James Longstreet leaves Virginia with his corps to reinforce the Army of Tennessee.

Today in the Civil War September 08

1862-Moving north through Maryland Confederates destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge over the Monacacy River.

1863-General William Franklin [US], intending to begin the occupation of Texas, steamed past Sabine Pass to Confederate Fort Griffin on the Texas-Louisiana border. John Bankhead Magruder [CS], with two "cotton-clads" and a force of 44 men turned back more than 200 Union troops.

1863-At the Second Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas, a small Confederate force thwarted a Federal invasion of Texas.

1863-Union General William Rosecrans approached Chattanooga, Tennessee from the west and began crossing Lookout Mountain. The next day Union troops captured the city with only minor skirmishing.

1864-George McClellan accepts nomination as Democratic candidate for President.

Today in the Civil War September 07

1862-Skirmish, Darkesville, Berkeley County West Virginia.

1863-Union forces arrived at Sabine Pass, Texas. The next day their attack was thwarted by a small Confederate force.

1864-W. T. Sherman [US] orders the evacuation of Atlanta Georgia.

1864-USS Wachusett captures CSS Florida at Bahia, Brazil.

1864-Skirmish, near Winchester, Frederick County Virginia.

1864-Skirmish, near Brucetown, Frederick County Virginia.

Today in the Civil War September 06

1861-Grant takes Paducah, Kentucky unopposed.

1862-Army of Northern Virginia enters Frederick Maryland.

1863-P. G. T. Beauregard orders Battery Wagner and Morris Island evacuated. The evacuation is accomplished that night.