The Dissension of Defeat
From the editor: The dissension of defeat is ripping apart the armies of Braxton Bragg and Ambrose Burnside. After the disastrous Kentucky campaign, many of Bragg's generals already concluded that he is a “blundering incompetent” whose judgments cannot be trusted. Bishop Leonidas Polk is the leader of the anti-Bragg cabal, heartily seconded by ‘Old Reliable,’ William J. Hardee, and the up and coming Patrick Cleburne. Now, after the decimation of his "beloved Kentucky Orphans," John Breckinridge is also a fully vested member. The ex-Vice President is even pondering resigning his commission and challenging Bragg to a duel. Ambrose Burnside is also facing the nearly unanimous condemnation of his generals. Joe Hooker, never hesitant to denigrate a superior officer, is angling for command of the army, while ‘Old Burns’ other corps commanders, William B. Franklin and ‘Baldy’ Smith, continue to agitate for the return of George McClellan. Acutely aware of the loyalty deprived condition of the Army of the Potomac, Burnside is eager to take advantage of the mild winter weather and get another crack at Robert E. Lee's army across the Rappahannock.
January 11 1863 (Sunday)
The gunboats accompanying John McClernand's fleet, the U.S.S. Louisville, De Kalb, and Cincinnati, have spent the previous day bombarding Fort Hindman in preparation for a landward assault on Arkansas Post. After breaking off the attack at dark, Admiral David Dixon Porter, Mississippi Squadron, remarks that the return fire from the Confederate fort, "glanced off [the gunboats] like peas against glass." In the predawn hours, ‘Cump’ Sherman reconnoiters the enemy lines. He approaches the Confederate outposts so closely he hears a Rebel bugler play "as pretty a reveille as I ever listened to."
Report of Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand, U. S. Army, commanding Expedition of operations
COLONEL: Post Arkansas, a small village, the capital of Arkansas County, is situated on elevated ground, above the reach of floods, and defining for some miles the left bank of the river.... Fort Hindman, a square, full-bastioned fort, was erected within this village, upon the bank of the river, at the head of a bend resembling a horseshoe.... The parapet was 18 feet wide on the top, the ditch 20 feet wide on the ground level, and 8 feet deep, with a slope of 4 feet base.... On the southern face of the northeastern bastion was a casemate 18 by 15 feet wide and 7 ½ feet high in the clear.... This casemate contained a 9-inch columbiad. A similar casemate was constructed in the curtain facing the river, containing an 8-inch columbiad, and still another 9 inch columbiad was mounted in the salient angle of the southeastern bastion on a center-pintle barbette carriage. All of these guns commanded the river below the fort....
JOHN A. McCLERNAND, Major-General, Commanding.
At 10 a.m., Sherman reports he is "ready for the assault” and waiting for “the simultaneous movement of the gunboats." Shortly after noon, the gunboats are in position and the attack begins. McClernand has 30,000 men available against 5,000 defenders commanded by Thomas J. Churchill, who has been given orders "to hold out till help arrived or until all dead." Sherman reports: “The heavy naval batteries easily silence all the guns in Fort Hindman. Churchill reports: “They succeeded in silencing every gun we had with the exception of one small 6-pounder Parrott gun.” Finally, the commander of the river defenses, a former U.S. naval officer, Colonel John W. Dunnington hoists a white flag. Admiral Porter, aboard U.S.S. Black Hawk, steams up to the fort's shattered casements and, after going ashore, accepts the surrender of the fort. Churchill, although thoroughly disgusted with the surrender, has no choice but to comply.
Report of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Churchill, C. S Army, commanding Lower Arkansas and White Rivers.
GENERAL: The fort had…been silenced about an hour, most of the field pieces had been disabled, still the fire raged furiously along the entire line.... Just at this moment, to my great surprise, several white flags were displayed…and before they could be suppressed the enemy took advantage of them, crowded upon my lines, and…I was forced to the humiliating necessity of surrendering the balance of the command.... I hope and trust that the traitor will yet be discovered, brought to justice, and suffer the full penalty of the law.... I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T.J. CHURCHILL, Brig. Gen., Comdg. Lower Arkansas and White Rivers.
After asking Union General Egbert Brown to secure “proper treatment” for his wounded men, John Marmaduke withdraws from Springfield, Missouri. He reports: "The column was put in motion toward Hartville.” Shortly before daylight, Marmaduke encounters another Union force at Hartville. With a “strong cavalry force” behind him, Marmaduke attacks the troops in Hartville. After a fierce day-long fight, Marmaduke's men are victorious and they continue on their Southward trek. He continues: "The march was a long and most trying one, over rough, rock roads, through rain and snow and icy mountain streams, and a country laid waste by the Federals."
Report of Lieut. Col. Cornelius W. Dunlap, Twenty-first Iowa Infantry
GENERAL: Both armies arrived at Hartville at the same time, and took positions on opposite sides of the town.... In a few moments their cavalry dismounted and charged upon us along our whole line, but, receiving repeated and heavy volleys from our forces, they gave way and fled to the other side of the town.... Charges were repeatedly made, and as often repulsed, and a heavy and destructive fire of artillery and musketry maintained until about the middle of the afternoon.... Firing ceased on both my right and left, and, supposing that a strategic movement was going on, I increased the force of my fire.... In about half an hour, not hearing anything from our troops, I sent men out to look for them, who soon returned and reported that our forces had all left the field.... I remain, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
[Cornelius W.] DULAP, Lieutenant-Colonel, Comdg. Twenty-first Iowa Volunteers.
Casualties at Hartville, Missouri:
U.S. 78 (7 killed, 64 wounded, 7 missing/captured)
C.S. 114 (15 killed, 70 wounded, 29 missing/captured)
Casualties at Fort Hindman/Arkansas Post, Arkansas:
U.S.: 1,061 (killed, wounded, missing)
C.S.: 4,900 (109 killed, 4,791 missing/captured)
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. U.S. Grant complains that J.A. McClernand has “gone on a wild goose chase to the Post of Arkansas" and orders him to return to Milliken’s Bend.
2. In Murfreesborough, W.S. Rosecrans reports that “the crimes of spying, murder, arson, rape, and others, as well as desertion, are increasing” because the death penalty is a “nullity.” By the time the sentence is “approved by the President…the troops are relieved and the culprit escapes.”
2. James Birdseye McPherson assumes official command of the Seventeenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. After reading an article in the newspaper, B. Bragg sends a letter to his commanders asking for an opinion about the army's confidence in him. He writes: “I shall retire without a regret if I find I have lost the good opinion of my generals.”
2. From Port Hudson, J.C. Pemberton reports: “All quiet here. I think everything will be in good condition in one week.”
January 12 1863 (Monday)
After completing his 2,500 mile journey through the Confederacy, President Jefferson Davis returns to Richmond, Virginia, in time to convene the third session of the Confederate Congress. He writes: "We are justified in asserting with a pride surely not unbecoming, that these Confederate State have added another to the lessons taught by history for the instruction of man; that they have afforded another example of the impossibility of subjugating a people determined to be free." Davis also takes the opportunity to expound on his opinion of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation by threatening to put all captured Union officers to death.
Extract from President's Message, January 12, 1863.
To the SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES: We may well leave it to the instincts of that common humanity...to pass judgment on a measure by which several millions of human beings of an inferior race, peaceful and contented laborers in their sphere, are doomed to extermination.... So far as regards the action of this Government on such criminals as may attempt its execution I confine myself to informing you that I shall...deliver to the...State authorities all commissioned officers of the United States that may hereafter be captured by our forces in any of the States embraced in the proclamation that they may be dealt with in accordance with the laws of those States providing for the punishment of criminals engaged in exciting servile insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to treat as unwilling instruments in the commission of these crimes and shall direct their discharge and return to their homes on the proper and usual parole.
JEFF'N DAVIS.
Army of Northern Virginia commander Robert E. Lee attempts to appease Ambrose P. Hill in his request to have a formal hearing on the charges brought against him last fall by ‘Stonewall’ Jackson. He writes: "I do not think that in every case where an officer is arrested there is a necessity for a trial..., and I consider yours one in which such a proceeding is unnecessary." As Lee struggles with dissension among the generals in his army, Braxton Bragg is stung by the responses his generals have given him after circulating yesterday's letter. William J. Hardee states: "I feel that frankness compels me to say that the general officers...are unanimous in the opinion that a change in the command of this army is necessary." Hardee's opinion is seconded by John C. Breckinridge, who remains upset with Bragg's insinuation that he was slow to reinforce Leonidas Polk’s corps on the first day of the Stone's River battle.
HEADQUARTERS BRECKINRIDGE'S DIVISION, Tullahoma Tenn., January 12, 1863.
General BRAXTON BRAGG, C.S. Army: In obedience to your wishes, I have this day had a conference with the brigade commanders of my division, Generals [Gideon J. Pillow] and [William Preston] and Colonels [Robert P. Trabue] and [Randall L. Gibson] .... Acting with the candor which you invoke, they request me to say that, in their opinion, the conduct of the military operations in front of Murfreesborough made it necessary for our army to retire. They also request me to say that while they entertain the highest respect for your patriotism, it is their opinion that you do not possess the confidence of the army to an extent which will enable you to be useful as its commander. In this opinion I feel bound to state that I concur.... Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE, Major-general.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. In New York City, J.E. Wool assumes command of the Department of the East, which includes the New England states and the state of New York.
2. W.T. Sherman assumes command of the Fifteenth Corps and immediately orders a “thorough inspection of every regiment and boat” in his command.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. President Davis forwards a request from North Carolina Governor Z.B. Vance to have Robert E. Lee “survey the situation in North Carolina.” Davis adds: “Your presence there would be important; indeed, seems necessary.” Lee declines.
2. Commissary-General L.B. Northrop warns that “Middle Tennessee is lost.... Consequently want of meat rations seems certainly impending.”
January 13 1863 (Tuesday)
Braxton Bragg establishes his defensive line along the Duck River; Bishop Polk's Corps is situated near Shelbyville, and William J. Hardee's Corps is on the right near Wartrace. Cavalry extend the line westward to Columbia and eastward to McMinnville, giving Bragg a defensive line almost seventy miles long. To keep the Federal army off balance, the cavalry brigades of John H. Morgan, Nathan B. Forrest, Earl Van Dorn, and Joseph Wheeler are to conduct raids behind their lines, disrupt supplies, cut communications and wreak havoc whenever possible. It is ‘Fighting Joe’ Wheeler’s brigade who draws first blood with a strike at Harpeth Shoals, midway between Nashville and Clarksville. Robert B. Mitchell, commanding in Nashville, raises the alarm: "The rebels are burning everything on the river. There are at least four...freight boats destroyed." Wheeler's men also succeed in sinking the steamer Charter, loaded principally with commissary stores.
Report of Surg. Luther D. Waterman, Thirty-ninth Indiana Infantry.
SIR: On January 13, 1863, as surgeon in charge, I started with 212 wounded and sick soldiers...on the steamer Hastings, on the Cumberland River, bound for Louisville, Ky. At Harpeth Shoals...the boat was captured by the Confederate forces. The...boat and men [were] permitted to proceed only on condition that I certified to the lists as captured and paroled.... The Confederate officers, being intoxicated and getting rapidly more so, took the lists, names, and plunder, and hurried off, in spite of my protest and demand for copies.... I have the honor to be, very respectfully and obediently, yours,
L.D. WATERMAN, Surgeon Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, In charge General Hospital, No. 17, Nashville, Tenn.
In light of John McClernand's unexpected foray into Arkansas, Henry Halleck has given Ulysses S. Grant authorization to "relieve McClernand from command” and give it to the “next in rank” or take command himself. Losing no time, Grant rides ahead to Memphis and again orders McClernand to return his expeditionary force to the Mississippi River. He writes: "Unless there is some object not visible at this distance your forces should return to Milliken's Bend, or some point convenient for operating on Vicksburg."
MEMPHIS, TENN., January 13, 1863.
Maj. Gen. J.B. McPHERSON, La Grange, Tenn.: It is my present intention to command the expedition down the river in person. I will take two divisions with me.... I do not know where McClernand is, but have sent orders for him to proceed to Milliken's Bend and remain there or cooperate with Banks, should he be coming up the river.
U.S. GRANT, Major-General.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. The Supreme Court in Wisconsin rules that "the President has no right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in Wisconsin nor to declare martial law.” They writes: “Congress alone can suspend the writ."
2. A.E. Burnside sends out cavalry to inspect the proposed bridgehead site at U.S. Ford. ‘Old Burn’ also directs his generals to have their men "ready to move in twelve hours' notice."
3. Willis A. Gorman, commanding the District of East Arkansas, occupies Saint Charles, Louisiana, and begins an expedition up the White River.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. R.E. Lee reports that “no winter quarters are being erected, but the men are covering themselves, constructing chimneys to tents, &c.”
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to This Week in the Civil War to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.