Colonel John S. Mosby of the 1st Virginia Cavalry was known as the “Grey Ghost” because of his ability to elude and disappear from his Union opponents in the Civil War. His thoughts and memories are captured in a collection of writings that he wrote throughout the Civil War. These writings span from his early adulthood in 1855 to the end of the Civil War in 1865.
One...
Written after the passage of an impressments law, explained in General Orders No. 69 on August 27, 1864, this circular from the Confederacy's War Department in Richmond decries the lack of subsistence being provided for the war effort. Essentially, General Orders No. 69 held that “every exempt and detailed agriculturists' (i.e. plantation farmers, mainly) was to provide “100 pounds...
During 1864, General Jubal Anderson Early commanded the Confederate Army in its last invasions of the North. Early routed almost two-thirds of Sheridan's forces at the Battle of Cedar Creek (October 19, 1864), but Sheridan's forces quickly rallied to defeat Early in a decisive victory there, leaving the remaining troops hungry and exhausted. After the defeat, most of Early's troops would...
Chicago, during the 1860’s, was an up-and-coming commercial city filled with buzz, people, industry and trade. Steamships and large boats rolled down rivers, canals, and out into and in from the mighty Lake Michigan. Streets were filled with the hustle and bustle of shoppers and market traders. John Francis Campbell, who visited Chicago from England in 1864, likened the city to a major European...
During Union General Philip Sheridan's destruction of the Shenandoah Valley in the hot month of August 1864, Confederate Jubal Early's army occupied Winchester, Virginia, standing in Sheridan's way.
Sheridan tried to follow Early, and he approached this very carefully. His army sparred with Early's army throughout the month of August and into September, but was not able to...
Prisoners of war often suffered the worstamong soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Eugene Davis was one such prisoner of war at Elmira Military Prison in 1864. The two most infamous Civil War prisons opened that year in Andersonville, Georgiaand at Elmira, New York. After he arrived in Elmira, Davis wrote to his family in Albemarle County, who promptly wrote him back. He received letters from...
James Dunlavy received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest US military honor, on October 25, 1864 for his single-handed capture of Confederate Major General John S. Marmaduke. He is one of five Medal of Honor recipients buried in Oklahoma, in Dunlavy’s case in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery in Maramec, Oklahoma. During the capture of Marmaduke, Dunlavy performed...
Issued at the command of Brigadier General T.L. Rosser, this release of general orders is meant to warn against and dissuade poor behavior within the Confederate forces. Quoting the first line of the orders, “the want of discipline has been the cause of additional disaster to this army.' Responding to such indiscretions as breaking rank during battle for the purpose of plundering or desertion...
Large numbers of casualties and advanced weaponry made it necessary for surgeons to travel with military units during the Civil War. While they could take surgeons along with them, they could not transport hospitals. As a result, surgeons often had to improvise, turning abandoned buildings (when available) into makeshift hospitals or setting up field camps behind battle lines. Deering J. Roberts,...
On November 30, 1864 Colonel W.D. Gale participated in the Battle of Franklin and burying the large number of Confederate dead that filled the battlefield. He wrote a letter home to his wife, describing the battle and the Confederate hospital where he visited his wounded comrades. In the Battle of Franklin, the Confederate Army of Tennessee went on the offensive striking the Union army entrenched...