Part 10 - Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg overview

Robert E. Lee

Ambrose Burnside

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia.  It was one of the most bloody battle's of the war.  Ambrose Burnside planned to take the Army of the Potomac and race to Richmond before Lee could stop him.  However bureaucratic delays slowed Burnside down because he could not obtain the necessary pontoon bridges.  Lee caught up to Burnside and blocked his way at Fredericksburg.  When Burnside finally got the bridges the army crossed under fire and from December 11th to the 12th urban fighting ensued.  After driving the confederates out they prepared to assault the strongly fortified Confederate positions south of the city at Marye's Heights.  On the 13th  Gen. William Franklin pierced Stonewall Jackson's line but was finally repulsed.  Burnside launched many head on assaults that did nothing but add to their casualties.
On December 15th Burnside finally retreated having lost 12,653 men.  The Confederates only lost 5,377 men.

Thus ended Burnside's campaign in the Eastern Theatre.

October 9th, This Day in Provedential History

In 1047- Pope Clement II dies
In 1760 - The Seven Years War, Russian forces capture Berlin.
In 1824 - Slavery is abolished in Costa Rica.
In 1854 - The Crimean War The Siege of Sebastopol begins.
In 1914 - WWI Antwerp falls to German troops.

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Part 9 - The Maryland Campaign

McClellan - Lee

The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign (September 4–20, 1862) is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War.

Following up his victory in the Northern Virginia Campaign on September 4, 1862 Lee moved north with his 55,000 man Army of Northren Virginia.  Lee moved north through the Shennandoah Valley.  His objective was to resupply his army outside of the war-torn Virginia theater and to damage Northern morale in anticipation of the November elections. He undertook the risky maneuver of splitting his army so that he could continue north into Maryland while simultaneously capturing the Federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry.  McClellan accidentally found a copy of Lee's orders, wrapped in three cigars, to his subordinate commanders and planned to isolate and defeat the separated portions of Lee's army.

Battle of Antietam

While 'Stonewall' Jackson captured Harper's Ferry, McClellan moved quickly through the South Mountain.  However Lee found out and though being out numbered heavily, delayed McClellan for more than a day before withdrawing.  This delay allowed Lee enough time to concentrate his forces at Sharpsburg, Maryland(Antietam).  The next day, September 17 was the bloodiest one-day battle in U.S. history.  There were over 22,000 casualties.  Lee, outnumbered two to one, moved his defensive forces to parry each offensive blow, McClellan never deployed all of the reserves of his army to capitalize on localized successes and destroy the Confederates. On September 18, Lee ordered a withdrawal across the Potomac and on September 19 and September 20, fights with Lee's rear guard at Shepherdstown finally ended the long bloody campaign.

Although Antietam was a tactical draw, Lee's Maryland Campaign failed to achieve its objectives.  President Lincoln used this to announce the Emancipation Proclamation which effectively ended any foreign alliance with the Confederates.

Part 8 - The Cruise of the CSS Alabama

CSS Alabama

The CSS Alabama is one of the most famous ships in history.  It was built in 1862 by the Confederate Navy to try and break the blockade.  The CSS Alabama is a screw sloop of war.  The ship, however was not built in America, but at Birckenhead, England.  The ships main purpose was to raid commerce so that federal ships would have to come off of the blockade therefore making it easier to slip through.  She never even docked at any Confederate port but sailed around the world and wreaked havoc with Federal shipping.  The captain of the ship was 52 year old Ralph Semmes, a Mexican War veteran.  He sailed all seven seas and tore into Federal shipping wherever he could find them.  The Union navy sent several warships after the Alabama.
One of those ships, the USS Hatteras, the CSS Alabama met and left a flaming wreckage.  He sank 10 ships off the Azores coast.  Captured 11 ships off the Canadian coast.  
Finally in 1864 the Union ship USS Kearsarge cornered the Alabama in the port of Cherbourg, France.  The Alabama sailed out, it was needing major repairs and its ammunition was defective.  The Kearsarge, had been newly outfitted with 11 pound Dahlgrens.  And not even known to Semmes it had been outfitted with sheet chain and was in fact an ironclad.  At first the battle swayed in the Alabama's favor.  One of the shells from the Alabama stuck in a vital position.  However the shell was a dud and the battle swayed now toward the Kearsarge.  The Kearsarge's shells wrecked havoc on the Alabama while most of the shots from the CSS Alabama just bounced off.

Ralph Semmes

Even though the Alabama sunk the Union ship could still not catch Semmes, he escaped on a English Yacht.  In the end the CSS Alabama cost the U.S. Government nearly 7 million dollars, and 66 ships.

Part 7 - Shiloh

Grant

Albert Sydney Johnston

Carlos Beull

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the western theater. 
It was also a turning point.  Union General Ulysses S. Grant led his army of Tennessee (48,894 strong) after his victories at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and his drive through Tennessee.  As Grants army was encamped at Pittsburg Landing.  The Confederates under General Albert Sydney Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard launched a massive ambush of Grants troops as they marched from Pittsburg Landing.  On the first day of the battle, the Confederates struck with the intention of driving the Union defenders away from the river and into the swamps of Owl Creek to the west, hoping to defeat Grant's Army of Tennessee, before the anticipated arrival of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Beull's Army of the Ohio. (17,918 strong)The Confederate battle lines became confused during the fierce fighting, and Grant's men instead fell back to the northeast, in the direction of Pittsburg Landing. A position on a slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's Nest", defended tenaciously by the Federal forces.

Beauregard

This provided critical time for the rest of the Union line to stabilize under the protection of numerous artillery batteries. Gen. Johnston was killed during the first day of fighting, and Beauregard, his second in command, decided against assaulting the final Union position that night.  Jefferson Davis, President of CSA said when he heard the news of Johnston's death "I realized that our strongest pillar had been broken."

 Reinforcements from Gen. Buell and from Grant's own army arrived in the evening and turned the tide the next morning, when the Union commanders launched a counterattack along the entire line. The Confederates were forced to retreat from the bloodiest battle in United states history up to that time.  The battle itself was a draw, but a tactical victory for the Federals.  It cost the CSA 10,699 men in casualties, their best western theater General, locked the Confederates out of west Tennessee for good, and shook the armies confidence.

September 28th This Day in Providential History

In 1066 - William the Conqueror invades England and the Norman Conquest begins.
In 1781 - American forces, backed by the French Fleet begin the siege of Yorktown.
In 1787- The American Constitution is voted on by the U.S. Congress to be sent to the State Legislator.
In 1791 - France becomes the first European nation to emancipate the Jews.
In 1939 - Nazi Germany and Russia agree to divide Poland after their invasion.
In 1939 - Warsaw surrenders to Germany.
In 1944 - Soviet troops liberate the Klooga Concentration Camp in Klooga, Estonia.

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The Civil War Part 6 - The Northren Virginia Campaign

Pope and Lee

The Northern Virginia Campaign, also known as the Second Bull Run Campaign or Second Manassas Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Northern Virginia  these battles lasted during August and September 1862.  Confederate General Robert E. Lee, following up his successes at the Seven day's campaign moved the Army of Northern Virginia (48,500 strong), north to confront General John Pope's Army of Virginia (75,000 strong).   Lee did this because of his concern that Pope's and McClellan's still large army would combine and overwhelm him. 

So Lee sent Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson north to intercept Pope at Gordonsville the forces though clashed at Cedar Mountain which was a confederate victory.  So Lee followed Jackson with most of his army.  Jackson then conducted a wide-ranging move around Pope's right flank, seizing the large supply depot in Pope's rear, at Manassas Junction.  Placing his men between Pope and Washington D.C. Jackson put his men in a well defended area near the battle of the First Manassas.  Jackson successfully repulsed Union attacks on August 29 as Lee and Longstreet's command arrived on the battlefield. On August 30, Pope attacked again, but was surprised to be caught between attacks by Longstreet and Jackson, and was forced to withdraw with heavy losses. The campaign concluded with another flanking maneuver by Jackson.  Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Bull Run. On September 1, beyond Chantilly Plantation on the Little River turnpike, near Ox Hill.  Jackson sent his divisions against two Union divisions, fierce fighting broke out.  The confederate attacks were stopped by fierce fighting during a severe thunderstorm. Union generals Stevens and Kearny were both killed. Recognizing that his army was still in danger at Fairfax Courthouse, Pope ordered the retreat to continue to Washington.
Lee's maneuvering against Pope is considered a great military masterpiece. Historian John J. Hennessy wrote that "Lee may have fought cleverer battles, but this was his greatest campaign."

In the end the Army of Northern Virginia lost 9,197, while the Union forces lost 16,054.

Part - 5 The Seven Days Battle's Continued

McClellan and Lee

   The next days were a series of small battles such as Battle of Garnett's & Golding's Farm on June 28th, and Savage Station on the 29th.  On June 30th Lee tried to intercept the retreating Army of the Potomac at the battle of  Battle of Glendale, also known as the Battle of Frayser's Farm, Frazier's Farm, Nelson's Farm, Charles City Crossroads, New Market Road, or Riddell's Shop.  Though the casualties were about equal (3,797 297 killed, 1,696 wounded, and 1,804 missing or captured by the Union Forces, and 3,673 638 killed, 2,814 wounded, and 221 missing by the Confederate Forces) this battle was lost because of poorly executed orders by the Confederates Forces, the loss also gave the Union troops time to dig in at Malvern Hill.

Malvern Hill

   The final battle of the Seven Days Battle's was the the Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, which took place on July 1, 1862. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly impregnable Union forces at Malvern Hill.  Lee's forces took more than 5,300 casualties without gaining an inch of ground.  Despite his victory Gen. McClellan continued his retreat down the James river.  If McClellan had gone on the offensive the war may have been much shorter.
   The Seven Days ended with McClellan's army in relative safety at Harrison's Landing on the James River, having suffered almost 16,000 casualties during the retreat. Lee's army, which had been on the offensive during the Seven Days, lost over 20,000.  As Lee became convinced that McClellan would not resume his threat against Richmond, he moved north for the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Maryland Campaign.

The Civil War Part 4 - The Seven Days Battles

McClellan-Lee

The Seven Days Battle was a series of six major battles that happened around Richmond from June 25 to July 1, 1862.  General Robert E. Lee led his army of 92,000 men against Union General George B. McClellan with 104,100 men.  Gen. Lee drove the invading Union's back into Maryland.
The first battle was the battle of Oak Grove.  Gen. McClellan tried to advanced his lines with the objective of bringing Richmond in range of his siege guns.  The battle began when two union divisions from the III Corps attacked across the headwaters of White Oak Swamp, but were repulsed by Maj. Gen Huger's Division.  The end result was that the Union troops gained only 600 yards, at a cost of over a thousand casualties on both sides.

Beaver Dam Creek

The second battle, Battle of Beaver Dam Creek, also known as the Battle of Mechanicsville or Ellerson's Mill was the first real engagement.  Lee's first counter offensive against McClellan.  Lee attempted to turn the Union flank bet was repulsed, Gen. Stonewall Jackson arrived late.  Gen A.P. Hill threw in his division in the vain attempts at the works at Beaver Dam Creek, which were manned by the V corps under Gen. Fitz John Porter who after the battle fell back to Gaines Mill.  There were nearly 1,700 casualties on both sides.

Gaines Mill

The Battle of Gaines' Mill, also known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27 the third battle in the campaign.  Lee renewed his attacks on the V corps, at Gaines Mill.  which had established a strong defensive line behind Boatswain's Swamp north of the Chickahominy River. Porter's reinforced V Corps held fast for the afternoon against disjointed Confederate attacks, inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers. At dusk, the Confederates finally mounted a coordinated assault that broke Porter's line and drove his soldiers back toward the river. The Federals retreated across the river during the night. Defeat at Gaines' Mill convinced Gen McClellan to give up Richmond.  Though he could have defeated Lee's forces.

 To be continued...

June 7th This Day in Providential History

This is what happened today in Providential History,

In 1099 The First Crusade, The Siege of Jerusalem begins.
In 1420 Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas, Which divided the New World between them.
In 1862 The US and Britain agree to suppress the slave trade.
In 1942 WWII The battle of Midway ends.
In 1967 Isreali forces enter Jerusalem during the Six Day War.

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May 17th This Day in Providential History

This is what happened today in Providential History,

In 1792 The New York Stock Exchange is formed
In 1891 Napoleon Zervas, a Greek resistance fighter is born.
In 1900 The Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking
In 1940 World War II: the old city centre of the Dutch city Middleburg is bombed by the Luftwaffe.
In 1943 World War II: the Dam buster raids by Squadron 617 RAF on German Dams.

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This Day in Providential History

This is what happened today in Providential History,

In 1241 The Battle of Liengitz: The Mongol army defeats the German-Pole army.
In 1413 Henry the V was crowned.
In 1682 Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River, and claims it for France and name's the area Louisiana.
In 1860 The first audible recording of a man's voice.  See Here
In 1865 Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appotomax Courthouse, ending the war.
In 1867 Congress passes the bill to buy Alaska.
In 1916 WWI The Germans launch their third offensive in the Battle of Verdun
In 1917 The battle of Arras starts.
In 1957 The Suez Canal opens.

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