A Gathering at Corinth
From the Editor: Union forces flush with success from their smashing victories in Tennessee begin preparing for a new round of attacks. In Mississippi, Benjamin Butler gathers forces on Ship Island for an assault on New Orleans. Near Sandy Hook, Maryland, Nathaniel Banks is preparing a move up the Shenandoah Valley towards Winchester, Virginia. And, along the Mississippi River, John Pope is given command of 10,000 troops and heads towards fortified New Madrid, Missouri. To counter the ever-growing Union strength, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his advisors make a fundamental shift in strategy. No longer will they attempt to defend every inch of territory. Rebel troops will now be concentrated at strategic locations along defensible lines. This strategy will be tested at New Madrid, Missouri and New Berne, North Carolina, but the main Confederate forces in the West are being gathered at Corinth, Mississippi, an important railroad junction of the Memphis & Charleston and Mobile & Ohio Railroads.
February 23 1862 (Sunday)
Benjamin Butler, the esteemed ex-politician from Massachusetts, is named commander of the Department of the Gulf. This new military department comprises all of the Gulf of Mexico west of Pensacola Harbor. Butler takes command of 15,225 men and his mission is to cooperate with the Navy in an expedition to capture New Orleans, Louisiana. However, Butler is warned to “use every means” to keep his destination “a profound secret.”
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, Washington, February 23, 1862.
Maj. Gen. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, U.S. Volunteers: You are assigned to the command of the land forces destined to co-operate with the Navy in the attack upon New Orleans.... This will make your force 14,400 infantry, 275 cavalry, 580 artillery--total, 15,255 men.... The object of your expedition is one of vital importance--the capture of New Orleans.... Allow nothing to divert you from obtaining full possession of all the approaches to New Orleans.... I may briefly state that the general objects of the expedition are, first, the reduction of New Orleans and all its approaches; then Mobile and its defenses; then Pensacola, Galveston, &c.... In the meantime you will please give all the assistance in your power to the Army and Navy commanders in your vicinity, never losing sight of the fact that the great object to be achieved is the capture and firm retention of New Orleans. I am, very respectfully,
[George] B. McCLELLAN, Major-General, Commanding in Chief.
Union General Nathaniel Banks is marshaling his division in Frederick, Maryland, for a move up the Shenandoah Valley. He informs General-in-Chief George McClellan: “The troops of this division are ready for immediate movement. The quartermaster and commissary are completing their arrangements for transportation and supplies.” He continues, “The Charlestown road is the best for travel, and carries us to the weakest points of the town. I am entirely satisfied that the outline of movement suggested will be a successful one.”
HDQS. DIVISION, FREDERICK, MD., February 23, 1862.
Brig. Gen. [Randolph] B. MARCY, Chief of Staff &c.: If the pontoon train arrives tomorrow we shall occupy Harper's Ferry tomorrow night, and be on the road to Charlestown in the morning. It is expected [Colonel John W. Geary, 28th Pennsylvania,] will seize the heights tonight.... [Colonel Samuel H. Leonard, 13th Massachusetts,] can cross at Williamsport with 1,900 men; General [Alpheus S. Williams], if not engaging the enemy with General [Frederick W. Lander’s division], will have 3,000 more men; and should it prove that no encounter with the enemy at Bath or in that vicinity will take place, ought we not to put in execution the plan of attack on Winchester, if the anticipated battle does not occur outside? This is a favorable opportunity. The roads to Winchester are turnpikes and in tolerable condition, and the only roads that are passable. The enemy is weak, demoralized, and depressed.... Our force alone is not sufficient, but we will gladly risk it. I have the honor to be, with great respect, yours, &c.,
N.P. BANKS, Major-General, Commanding Division.
Commanding the Union forces in Port Royal, South Carolina, Thomas W. Sherman establishes two batteries on the Savannah River above Confederate held Fort Pulaski, Georgia. Sherman considers the Confederate coastal defenses to be "but a cobweb, to be penetrated with ease." He is also satisfied that the Savannah River is, "closed as tight as a bottle between Savannah and [Fort] Pulaski."
HEADQUARTERS EXPEDITIONARY CORPS, Port Royal, S.C., February 23, 1862.
Maj. Gen. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Commanding U.S. Army: We have now two batteries on Savannah River of six guns each; one on Jones Island at Venus Point, and the other on the upper end of Bird Island. The river is effectually blocked, but never were batteries put up and maintained under precisely the same circumstances before. The guns were hauled by hand over the soft marsh of Jones Island with the greatest labor the distance of a mile, the marsh knee-deep and covered with water at high tide; indeed, both batteries are actually in the river. Very truly, yours,
T.W. SHERMAN, Brigadier-General, Commanding.
P.S. Pulaski is reported to have from six to ten months' provisions for its garrison, about 500 men, but the prisoners say that they have only ammunition enough for two days' fighting.
Near Valverde, New Mexico Territory, Henry H. Sibley, Army of New Mexico (C.S.), sends a delegation of officers to Fort Craig demanding the surrender of the fort and its supplies. The Union commander, Colonel Edward R.S. Canby, Department of New Mexico, refuses. Sibley, with only five days rations left, is unwilling to attack the heavily defended fort and starts his army northward towards Albuquerque, leaving Canby and the fort isolated in his rear. Meanwhile, Canby considers his options and decides to remain at Fort Craig.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NEW MEXICO, Fort Craig, N. Mex., February 23, 1862.
The ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE ARMY, Washington, D.C.: After the battle...there remained for the troops at this post but three plans of operation: 1. To retain this post to the last extremity.... This post is regarded as of paramount importance. 2. To abandon the post and endeavor to throw the force now here above the enemy.... This course would involve the loss of the supplies on hand, the abandonment of an important strategic point, and of the sick and wounded who could not be transported. 3. To bring on a second battle with the Confederate Army, and submit this portion of our Army and New Mexico to the chances of that battle. The first of these plans was in my judgment best calculated to secure the ultimate success of our operations.... The enemy still occupies a position near the battlefield. His intentions are not yet developed; but as a demand for a surrender has been made, I anticipate, of course, an attempt to enforce it. If it should be made, I have no apprehensions as to the result. Very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,
ED. R. S. CANBY, Colonel Nineteenth Infantry, Commanding Department.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. For the fourth time, H.W. Halleck asks for command over all the Union armies in the West. He writes: “Give me authority, and I will be responsible for results.”
2. Senator Andrew Johnson is named military governor of Tennessee.
3. John Pope takes command of the newly formed Army of the Mississippi, assembling in Commerce (MO)
4. J.E. Wool, Dept. of Virginia, meets “with Brig. Gen. Howell Cobb, of the rebel army” to discuss prisoner exchanges. The only point Wool does not agree to is the proposal that “prisoners be discharged or paroled within ten days after their capture.” He explains the great objection “we had” was the numerous prisoners taken at Fort Donelson (TN).
5. Major R. Clendenning, 1st Indiana Cavalry, leads a scouting party from Greenville (MO), towards St. Francisville.
6. Captain Ralph Ely, 8th Michigan, and commanding on Saint Helena Islands (SC), employs “three rowboats” to conduct a reconnaissance up Bull River and Schooner Channel.
7. Crews from the U.S.S. Tyler capture 1,100 barrels of flour and 6,000 bushels of wheat at Clifton (MS).
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. In Murfreesborough (TN), A.S. Johnston assumes immediate command of the Central Army in Tennessee.
2. L. Polk is instructed to make “all necessary preparations” for the rapid evacuation of Columbus (KY). G.T. Beauregard writes, “I must call your attention to the necessity of making the works at Island No. 10 and at New Madrid (MO) as strong as circumstances will permit.”
3. C.S. forces evacuate Fayetteville (AR), which is promptly occupied by Union forces.
4. Charles Wilkinson is killed during submarine testing in the harbor of Savannah (GA). According to the Savannah Daily Morning News: “The chain of a crane upon which the instrument was suspended gave way, and Dr. Wilkinson, the inventor, lost his life.”
February 24 1862 (Monday)
From his headquarters in Winchester, Virginia, Thomas J. Jackson, Valley District, aware of Nathaniel Banks' imminent move up the valley, begins making preparations for the impending Union advance. He writes to Joseph E. Johnston, Department of Northern Virginia: “I am making arrangements to construct, if practicable, a raft bridge...so the troops at Leesburg and this place can co-operate with the least loss of time. If the two places were connected by telegraph several hours would be saved.” He also considers fortifying Winchester, Virginia.
[WINCHESTER VA.,] February 24, 1862.
General JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON: The subject of fortifying is of such importance as to induce me to consult you before moving in the matter. If you think that this place will be adequately re-enforced if attacked, then it appears to me that it should be strongly fortified. I have reason to believe that the enemy design advancing on this place in large force. Respectfully, your obedient servant,
T.J. JACKSON, Major-General.
In Coosawhatchie, South Carolina, Robert E. Lee, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Eastern Florida, is directed to concentrate his troops into a more defensible position. Secretary of War Judah Benjamin writes: “The only troops to be retained in Florida are such as may be necessary to defend the Apalachicola River, as the enemy could by that river at high water send his gunboats into the very middle of the State of Georgia.” Lee begins to comply, but warns that “the withdrawal of the troops and guns will have to be done with extreme caution, and…arrangements for that purpose must be done so quietly and executed so speedily as not to attract the attention of the enemy.”
WAR DEPARTMENT, C.S.A., Richmond, Va., February 24, 1862.
General R.E. LEE, Savannah, Ga.: The recent disaster to our arms in Tennessee forces the Government to the stern necessity of withdrawing its lines within more defensible limits, so as to enable us to meet with some equality the overpowering numbers of the enemy. The railroad line from Memphis to Richmond must be defended at all hazards. We can only do this by withdrawing troops from the seaboard. You are therefore requested to withdraw all such forces as are now employed in the defense of the seaboard of Florida, taking proper steps to secure the guns and munitions of war, and to send forward the troops to Tennessee, to report to General A.S. Johnston, by the most expeditious route.... I am, your obedient servant,
[Judah] P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War.
James De Long, U.S. Consul in Morocco, is having trouble holding his two rebel prisoners, [former Consul] Thomas T. Tunstall and Henry Myers, a paymaster for the C.S.S. Sumter. He writes to Captain Tunis A. Craven, commander of the U.S.S. Tuscarora: “It may be that the rebel portion of Europeans might combine with the Moors to raise a mob and try to have these men released.... These prisoners should be placed on board a Federal man-of-war as soon as possible, and I trust you will consider the very disagreeable position I am in and release me as soon as possible.”
CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, Tangier, February 24, 1862.
To the COMMANDER OF THE TUSCARORA: I have the united good will of the British minister and all the consular corps as well as the Moorish authorities.... My guards are all Moors and the prisoners have tried several times to bribe them. First they offered them a valuable gold watch and $100 in gold. This is very tempting to semi-barbarians. They finally offered to secure to them $5,000 to assist them in making their escape. I had to put them in irons, and Myers got a case knife and sawed off the rivets and got the irons off and jumped out of the second story of the consulate, but fortunately into the consulate lot. He then got over the wall into the house of a Moor and was again arrested and taken back to his room and the number of guards increased.... I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES DE LONG, U. S. Consul-General.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. Mary Todd Lincoln, still confined to her room, is incapable of attending the funeral of her son Willy
2. Abner Doubleday is assigned duty as "inspector of the defensive works about Washington."
3. Forces commanded by N.P. Banks occupy Harper’s Ferry (VA).
4. Forces commanded by D.C. Buell reach the banks of the Cumberland River opposite Nashville (TN).
5. H.G. Wright embarks his men from Hilton Head (SC), for an expedition to Amelia Island and Fernandina (FL)
6. Union pickets at Lewis Chapel are attacked near Pohick Church (VA).
7. The *U.S.S. Harriet Lane captures the schooner Joanna Ward of the coast of Florida.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. From Jacksonport (AR), E. Van Dorn, Trans-Mississippi Dist. reports that S. Price’s and Ben. McCulloch’s forces “are concentrated at Cross Hollow, seventy miles north of Fort Smith.” He writes, “I leave this evening to go to the army, and will give battle.”
2. Captain F. Buchanan, C.S.N., takes command of the James River (VA) naval defenses. The squadron consists of the ironclad C.S.S. Virginia, and five small gunboats.
3. Nashville (TN) is evacuated by C.S. forces. A.S. Johnston explains his action: “The situation left me no alternative but to evacuate Nashville or sacrifice the army.”
4. Skirmishes take place at Mingo Creek, near Saint Francisville, and New Madrid (MO); and at Mason’s Creek near Occoquan (VA).
*Editors Note: The Harriet Lane was commanded by Lt. Jonathan Wainwright, U.S.N., grandfather of the general who surrendered Bataan in World War II.
February 25 1862 (Tuesday)
Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote, Cairo Flotilla, sends his gunboats up both the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The gunboats penetrate up the Tennessee all the way to Eastport, Mississippi. On the Cumberland, the gunboats approach Nashville, Tennessee, finding it deserted of all Confederate troops.
Col. Jacob Ammen’s [24th Ohio] Diary of movement from Paducah, Ky., to Nashville, Tenn.
February 25.--Dawn; something like a battery on the bank a mile or more up the river is observed....When we reached the battery (Fort Zollicoffer, 5 miles below Nashville) the rebels had deserted the place…. After this examination we proceeded to the city and the Tenth Brigade took position on the public square.... I was the senior officer in Nashville. About noon the mayor, &c., called on me to furnish them a pass to General, to enable them to ask for terms of surrender.... During the day many persons called on me and professed that they always had been Union men; told who were rebels, &c.; mutually accused each other; and some informed me where Confederate provisions and clothing had been stored. The places were examined, and tons of salt pork were found, flour, forage, &c., but not much clothing.... There are some good Union men, but many more rebels; not a few that were pressed into the rebel service, as they claim. Hard to believe all they say.
Col. J. Ammen.
Throughout the winter the Confederates have maintained an advanced defensive position in northern Virginia, centered near Manassas Junction with forward batteries along the lower Potomac River. Joseph E. Johnston, growing ever more nervous as spring campaigning season draws near, wants to withdraw to positions along the Rappahannock River. Johnston’s precarious position is exasperated by his lack of experienced officers. He writes to Confederate President Jefferson Davis: “The army is crippled and its discipline greatly impaired by the want of general officers. The four regiments observing the fords of the Lower Occoquan are commanded by a lieutenant-colonel...and at least half the field officers are absent--generally sick. In addition, retreating puts his large accumulation of subsistence stores at Manassas in jeopardy.
HEADQUARTERS, Centreville, February 25, 1862.
His Excellency the PRESIDENT: The accumulation of subsistence stores at Manassas is now a great evil. The Commissary-General was requested more than once to suspend those supplies. A very extensive meat-packing establishment at Thoroughfare is also a great incumbrance. The great quantities of personal property in our camps is a still greater one. Much of both kinds of property must be sacrificed in the contemplated movement. Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.E. JOHNSTON, General.
Sterling Price reports to exiled Missouri Governor Claiborne Jackson in Memphis, Tennessee, that he was able to “raise and equip about 4,000 men for the Confederate service” before being forced to retreat to Arkansas. He continues: “A brigade of these, consisting of two regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and two light batteries of artillery, have been tendered the Confederate Government.” Of his retreat, Price is unapologetic. He writes: “Retreating and fighting all the way..., I am rejoiced to say my command, under the most exhausting fatigue all that time...came through, repulsing the enemy upon every occasion with great determination and gallantry.”
HEADQUARTERS MO. S.G., Camp on Cove Creek, Ark., February 25, 1862.
His Excellency C.F. JACKSON, Governor of Missouri: I have the honor to lay before you an account of the circumstances surrounding my command within the last two weeks, compelling me to evacuate Springfield and retreat beyond the State line into the territory of Arkansas, the intelligence of which has no doubt reached you.... About the latter part of January my scouts reported that the enemy were concentrating in force at Rolla, and shortly thereafter they occupied Lebanon. Believing that this movement could be for no other purpose than to attack me, and knowing that my command was inadequate for such successful resistance as the interest of my army and the cause demanded, I appealed to the commanders of the Confederate troops in Arkansas to come to my assistance.... No resource was now left me except retreat, without hazarding all with greatly unequal numbers upon the result of one engagement. This I deemed it unwise to do. I commenced retreating at once.... My loss does not exceed 4 to 6 killed and some 15 or 18 wounded. That of the enemy we know to be ten times as great.... Governor, we are confident of the future.
STERLING PRICE, Major-General, Commanding Mo. S. G.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. Secretary Stanton announces that President Lincoln will take “military possession of all telegraphic lines in the United States.”
2. Wm. Nelson’s 4th Division takes control of the state capitol Nashville (TN).
3. U.S. Grant reports he “shall go to Nashville immediately after the arrival of the next mail.”
3. The U.S.S. Monitor is commissioned in N.Y., Lt. J.L. Worden, U.S.N., commanding.
4. Col. J.W. Geary, 28th Penn., is ordered to occupy Loudoun Heights (MD) to establish communications over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
5. Major Clendenning’s scouting party is “surprised by a party of rebels,” near St. Francisville (MO). The retreat turns into a “stampede” and six men are “knocked down and run over.”
6. The 6th Missouri Cavalry is surprised at Keetsville (MO), losing “2 men” and “60 or 70 horses.”
7. The U.S.S. Kingfisher captures the blockade-runner Lion in the Gulf of Mexico after a three-day chase; and the U.S.S. Mohican and Bienville capture the blockade-running schooner Arrow off Fernandina (FL).
8. The U.S.S. R.B. Forbes is grounded in a gale near Hag’s Head (NC), and destroyed. She was on her way to New Orleans (LA) to join the mortar fleet.
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. From Murfreesborough (TN), A.S. Johnston reports “by the junction of the command of General [G.B. Crittenden] and the fugitives from Fort Donelson,” his command “will amount to about 17,000 men.” He reports: “I will move this corps...towards the left bank of the Tennessee in order to enable me to co-operate or unite with General Beauregard.”
2. E.K. Smith is ordered to “proceed” to Knoxville (TN) and “assume command of the troops in East Tennessee.”
3. Ben. Huger’s Dept. if Norfolk is enlarged to include the “counties of Martin, Berrie, Halifax, Northampton, and Hertford, in North Carolina.”
4. W.W. Loring is ordered to report to Norfolk (VA) “for assignment to the command of troops…within [Huger’s] department.”
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