United States Civil War (1861 – 1865) in Real Time

Day 234 of the United States Civil War, December 1st 1861

District of Columbia

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln submitted a plan to United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan, proposing offensive operations in Virginia. In response, McClellan revealed for the first time the first outline of his “Urbana” plan which would involve the transportation of the Army of the Potomac by ship to Urbana on the Virginia coast of Chesapeake Bay. McClellan’s intention was to attack the Confederate capital by marching inland from Urbana, rather than marching overland from Washington, DC.

Georgia

The steam sloop-of-war USS SEMINOLE, under the command of United States Navy, Commander John P Gillis, seized the sloop LIDA bound from Havana off St Simon’s Sound, with a cargo of coffee, lead, and sugar.

Kentucky

Operation at Mill Springs and Somerset began.

Skirmishes at Camp Goggin and Whippoorwill Creek.

United States gunboats demonstrated at Fort Holt.

Louisiana

USS New London, under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant A Read, captured the sloop ADVOCATE in Mississippi Sound.

Missouri

Skirmish at Shanghai.

Tennessee

Expedition to Clarksville, Edgefield, Harpeth Shoals, and Sycamore Creek ended.

Utah Territory

Frank Fuller resumed his position as Acting Governor of Utah Territory.

New York

The gunboat USS PENGUIN (1 × 12-pounder gun, 4 × 32-pounder guns) under the command of United States Navy, acting volunteer Lieutenant Thomas A. Budd had captured the schooner ALIBION, formerly the LUCY R. WARING OF BALTIMORE, near Edisto Island, off the coast of South Carolina, after a three hour chase on the morning of November 25th 1861. Found to be running the Charleston blockade with arms, ammunition, and other military supplies, a prize crew under Master's Mate George N. Hood sailed the seized vessel into New York.

Day 236 of the United States Civil War, December 3rd 1861

District of Columbia

In his first State of the Union address, (United States) President Abraham Lincoln says,“A disloyal portion of the American people have during the whole year been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union.” He expresses concern about the damage the Southern rebellion has done to the country’s dealings with foreign countries, with Native Americans, and with business interests in general. He ends the speech by saying, “The struggle of to-day is not altogether for to-day;it is for a vast future also.With a reliance on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us.”

Virginia

A Confederate force encountered United States troops at Vienna. The Confederates launched an attack and captured a detachment from the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment (United States).

West Virginia

At the constitutional convention of the seceding Virginia counties in Wheeling, for various reasons, the provisional name for the new state, Kanawha, was dropped and a debate ensued for a replacement. Voted on in nominating style, other state names were proposed, till "West Virginia" emerged, strongly supported by Waitman T. Willey as the one by which the region was already widely recognized, with 30 of the 44 votes cast.

Missouri

United States Army, Major George C Marshall (2nd Missouri Cavalry) began a ten-day reconnaissance through Saline County.

Skirmish at Salem involving the 13th Illinois Infantry (Colonel John B Wyman).

Florida

USS SANTIAGO DE CUBA (two 20-pounder Parrott rifles and eight 32-pounder guns) under the command of United States Navy, Commander Daniel Bowly Ridgely, captured the British blockade-running schooner VICTORIA.

Atlantic Ocean

CSS SUMTER under the command of Confederate States Navy, Commander Raphael Semmes, captured and burned the American ship VIGILANT, bound from New York to the West Indies.

Missouri

United States Army, Brigadier General John Pope, assumes the command of all the forces between the Missouri and Osage Rivers.

Mississippi

Ship Island, Mississippi, is occupied by the Union forces under United States Army, Major General Benjamin F. Butler, with the assistance of the steamship, USS CONSTITUTION.

New York

The 85th New York Infantry Regiment (United States) recruited principally from Allegany, Ontario and Cattaraugus counties left the state under the command of United States Army, Colonel Uriah L. Davis for the 3rd Brigade, Casey’s Division, Army of the Potomac for three years United States service.

Day 238 of the United States Civil War, December 5th 1861

District of Columbia

Official reports for Congress indicate that there are 682,971 men on the rolls of the United States armed services.

West Virginia

Delegates at the Constitutional Convention debated the style of voting in elections, viva voce or ballot, and the question of the boundaries of the proposed new state. The Committee on Boundary reported a resolution that, in addition to the 39 counties named in the ordinance for the convention, would include Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Monroe, Mercer, McDowell, Buchanan and Wise counties.

Kentucky

Expedition to Caseyville ended.

Reconnaissance began to Russellville by Confederate States Army, Captain I F Harrison of Confederate States Army,Colonel William Wirt Adams’ 1st Mississippi Cavalry Regiment (Confederate States).

Confederate States Army, Major General William Joseph Hardee’s brigade arrived in Bowling Green after crossing the Mississippi from Arkansas. His troops reinforced Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner, who had led the original Confederate force north into Kentucky from Nashville, Tennessee. Hardee replaced Buckner in overall command of the combined force. Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Gideon Joseph Pillow later became second-in-command after he arrived with his troops from Columbus and Belmont.

Missouri

Expedition to Current Hills began by United States Army, Colonel John B Wyman (13th Illinois Infantry).

United Kingdom

The brig-rigged, side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer CSS NASHVILLE (2 × 12-pounder (5 kg) cannons) was a 1,200 ton former passenger side-wheeler fitted as a commerce raider, commanded by Confederate States Navy, Lieutenant Robert B. Pegram. She had burned the United States merchantman HARVEY BIRCH on November 19th 1861, and then docked in Southampton for repairs. She entered dry-dock to repair storm damage from her Atlantic crossing but strictly observed British neutrality laws forbid any strengthening of her poor fighting capability.

Day 240 of the United States Civil War, December 7th 1861

West Virginia

Delegates to the Constitutional Convention continued to debate the boundaries of the new state before voting 27 to 15 to eliminate Wise and Buchanan but retain Pocahontas, Greenbrier, Monroe, Mercer, and McDowell counties.

Confederate States Army, Colonel Edward Johnson, commander of Confederate forces stationed at Camp Allegheny, wrote to Confederate States Army, Colonel C. L. Stevenson, Assistant Adjutant General for the Army of the Northwest, stating his belief that United States forces in the region were still active and would take advantage of a contemplated Confederate withdrawal.

Louisiana

The side-wheel steamship USS SANTIAGO DE CUBA stops the English vessel, the EUGENIA SMITH, capturing Confederate agent, Mr. James W. Zacharie, off New Orleans, LA, which is similar to the Trent incident and the Slidell and Mason captures.

Missouri

Thomas C Reynolds became Confederate Governor of Missouri.

Kentucky

Expedition to Bacon Creek Bridge ended.

South Carolina

Expedition to Port Royal Ferry ended.

Day 242 of the United States Civil War, December 9th 1861

District of Columbia

The newly assembled United States Senate, alarmed at the recent defeats, voted 33 to 3 to appoint a Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War to investigate the progress of the war. The vote called for a group of seven legislators, three from the Senate, four from the House, with full powers of examination.

Clement Vallandigham sends a resolution to (United States) President Abraham Lincoln, asking for "all proclamations, or orders... relating to the pending contest."

Virginia

USS HARRIET LANE under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Robert H Wyman and other vessels of the Potomac Flotilla engaged Confederate forces at Freestone Point.

West Virginia

After debating whether to move to another subject for a time, delegates to the Constitutional Convention returned to consideration of the report of the Committee on Boundary, debating the second resolution on the possible inclusion of Craig, Giles, Bland, Tazewell, Russell, Lee, and Scott counties.

Mississippi

USS NEW LONDON under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant A Read, captured the schooner DELIGHT and the sloops EXPRESS and OSCEOLA off Cat Island Passage.

Missouri

Expedition to Current Hills ended. Skirmish at Union Mills.

South Carolina

Demonstrations against the Savannah & Charleston Railroad ended.

Day 244 of the United States Civil War, December 11th 1861

District of Columbia

Garrett Davis is elected the new United States Senator from Kentucky, taking the seat formerly held by Breckinridge.

Virginia

Skirmish at Dam No 4 on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.

West Virginia

At the Constitutional Convention, debate on the third resolution continued with several members offering amendments to remove one or more of the counties included in that resolution. Delegates agreed to strike Alleghany, Bath, and Highland.

South Carolina

Tragedy strikes Charleston, as an uncontrollable fire sweeps through the city, destroying half of the city, including the business district.

Florida

The gunboat USS BIENVILLE (1 × 30-pounder rifle, 8 × 32-pounder smoothbore guns) under the command of United States Navy, Commander Charles Steedman, captured the schooners SARAH and CAROLINE off St John’s River.

Louisiana

The gunboat USS SOUTH CAROLINA under the command of United States Navy, Commander James Alden, captured the Confederate sloop FLORIDA off the lighthouse at Timbalier.

Missouri

Skirmish at Bertrand.

Day 246 of the United States Civil War, December 13th 1861

District of Columbia

From Washington, (United States) President Abraham Lincoln issues a “full pardon for all political offences committed by him” against the United States government for Major John Pope in his former capacity as chief quartermaster under General William Hardee of the Confederate army located at Bowling Green, Ky.

Virginia

Edward Johnson is made Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army.

(Virginia) Operations in western Virginia - Battle of Camp Allegheny

In December, Confederate forces under Confederate States Army, Colonel Edward Johnson occupied the summit pass of Allegheny Mountain (roughly 4,400 feet above sea level) to defend the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike that offered a point of access from the mountains of western Virginia into the strategic Shenandoah Valley. This was called the "Monterey Line," named for the village behind them in Highland County. The occupation of the high mountain pass coincided with a bitter winter, with much suffering and disease among the Southern troops. Early Union victories in what is now West Virginia had solidified control in much of the western mountains of Virginia, emboldening a Union move to take the Staunton to Petersburg Pike.[5] Perhaps thinking that Confederate morale was low, a United States Army brigade of 2,000 men under United States Army, Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy attacked Johnson and his 1,200 Confederates at sunrise on December 13.

Milroy's advance and a Confederate scouting party had skirmished on December 12th. The next morning, Milroy divided his troops into a two pronged attack to flank the Confederate camp. The first column advanced up the Staunton-Parkersburg Pike, engaging the Confederate right side for several hours before withdrawing. Because of the difficult mountain terrain, the second United States column arrived shortly after the withdrawal of the first column, therefore unable to support the main body of United States troops on the right as planned, but then attacked the Confederate left. When the left column of United States forces arrived, an officer believed that they were his own pickets returning, ordered his men not to fire and rode forth to bring them into the camp. The Confederate officer was killed by a shot from the United States troops, and the second part of the battle commenced with fierce fighting. After the right United States column had withdrawn, Johnson ordered all his troops who had been fighting there to join the battle on the left flank, and the concentrated Confederate fire broke up the left United States assault and the final United States troops withdrew.

In a piercing winter wind, fighting had raged for much of the sunlit morning as each side maneuvered on the hillside slopes, fields and woods to gain the advantage. On the right flank, Milroy's force found a position in a mountain clearing, among the fallen timber, stumps and brush, which proved to be too difficult for the Confederate infantry to dislodge. A Confederate artillery battery unlimbered and unleashed a "storm of round shot and canister among them, knocking their timber defences about their heads, and making their nest too hot to hold them..." The fighting on the right moved back and forth from advance to retreat, with the Union temporarily occupying the post, only to be driven off. The Confederates attempted their own flanking maneuvers which quickly failed because their force was too thin. The fighting was in such close quarters that the Confederate cannons in the fortification could not be used.

After fighting for over seven hours without taking the position Milroy's troops withdrew, retreating to his camps at Green Spring Run near Cheat Mountain. Johnson claimed the Confederate losses were 20 men killed and 96 wounded and 28 missing.

West Virginia

At the Constitutional Convention, delegates considered the fourth resolution in the report of the Committee on Boundary regarding Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Rockbridge, and Botetourt counties but debate quickly shifted to questions regarding counties included in resolutions already approved. Delegates finally adopted the report, then agreed to a resolution to recommit it to the committee "with instructions to report a provision to be inserted in the Constitution embracing the substance of said resolutions and fully defining the boundaries of the proposed new State." Delegates then took up the report on Fundamental and General Provisions.

Kentucky

Operations at Mill Springs and Somerset ended.

Missouri

Incident at Charleston.

United Kingdom

From Liverpool, England, a Georgia Pro-United States sympathizer writes the United States Senator from Tennessee, Andrew Johnson to warn of dire international prospects for the United States regarding the Trent affair, referencing England’s version of America’s Uncle Sam: “I do not see that John Bull has softened his bellowing one atom. He has got a smell of blood, & it would seem as though nothing but a surfeit of the same article can abate his rage.”