Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1912 — The CIVIL WAR [ARTICLE]

The CIVIL WAR

FIFTY YEARS AGO pjjpns WEEK _

June 24, 1882. .. /.-y General Earl Van Dorn of the Confederate army, at Jackson, Miss., issued an order assuming the command over the “Department of Louisiana," and recommending “that all persons living within eight miles of the Mississippi rlvier remove their families and servants to the interior, as it was the intention to defend the department to the last extremity.” President Lincoln visited West Point, N. Y, Captain Jocknick of the Third New York cavalry made a successful reconnoissance froth Washington, N. C., to Tranter’s Creek. : y r Maj. Gen. J. C. Hindman of the Confederate army issued a proclamation to the people of Arkansas calling on them to assist him in preventing General Curtis from Joining the Union, fleet on the Mississippi river.

June 25, 1862. , General Hooker’s division of the Army of the Potomac, advancing to occupy a new position on the Chickahominy, was attacked at Oak Grove by the Confederates, who contested the ground with him for seven hours before finally giving way. General Hooker’s loss was over two hundred in killed and wounded. Having learned the day before from contrabands picked up at sea in an open boat from Little River inlet, S. C., that two schooners were preparing to run the blockade with cargoes of cotton and turpentine, which was already stored in the warehouse next the wharf, Captain Glisson of the U. S. S. S. Monticello sent Lieutenants Braine and Bunce to destroy the schooners and the stores. The work was accomplished without difficulty, the town having been deserted by its inhabitants and thero being no guard at the wharf. General Butler at New Orleans ordered that “air the property in New Orleans belonging to Gen. D. E. Twiggs and of his minor son, the income of which he has received, and under the charge of his agent, H. W. Palfrey, Esq., consisting of real estate, bonds, notes of band, treasury notes of the United States, slaves, household furniture, etc., is hereby sequestrated, to bo held to await the action of the United States government.” The Union ram fleet arrived Off Vicksburg, Miss., and communicated with Commodore Farragut, commanding the Union gunboats. A train of cars on the Memphis and Ohio laden with a company of Union troops, was captured by a body of Confederate cavalry, who killed ten of the soldiers.

June 26,1862. The battle of MechanicsvlUe was fought between McClellan’s army in campaign against Richmond and the Confederate defenders of their capital. The fight, beginning at noon with long range artillery fire, waxed into a con* test as fierce as any preceding It in the war, and continued until night, when the Confederates withdrew, but not-jintil they had inflicted damages that*deprived the National troops of y victory. At Beaver Dam creek the Confederates were terribly repulsed by General McCall’s division of Gen. Fltz John Porter’s corps. West. H. Humphreys, convicted of having acted as a Judge under the Confederate government, was impeached by the senate of the United States. The Union mortar fleet on the Mississippi, under Commodore Porter, commenced to shell the Confederate works at Vicksburg. The bombardment lasted for three hours, without result / The National forces under Generals Banks, McDowell and Fremont, which General Stonewall Jackson had kept occupied by his campaign in the Shenandoah, were organized into the army of the Virginia and placed under the command of General Pope. , Lieut Col. Alfred W. W. Ellet, commanding Union ram flotilla an the Mississippi, took two rams and started up the Yazoo river to capture three Confederate gunboats. The Confederates set lire to their vessels and let them go down on him, driving him from the river to save his own craft from destruction. . - ■tt Nine vessels of the gunboat fleet under command of Captain Rodgers, entered the Appomatox river for the purpose of discovering the condition of the river. When six miles from its 'mouth they were fired upon by the •Confederates, who held out for an hour against the combined fire pf the fleet. The vessels discovered that the •river had been blocked a mile above ■by sunken hulks. June 27, 1862. I The battle of Gaines' Mills, Ya* one of the “seven days’ battles,” was (fought. McClellan’s advance toward Richmond was severely checked by it. ! The work of cutting off Vicksburg by means of a canal severing a loop of •the Mississippi was begun under the supervision of General Williams of (the Union ajmy. • The bombardment of Vicksburg by the Union fleet was resumed.. The London Herald, in an article on the aspect of affairs In America, declared the Union a “nuisance among nations.” ' . ; Colonel Keith, Twenty-first Indiana, •encountered the enemy in two skirmishes near Baton Rouge. ~ Tb» British steamer Modem Greece,

laden with arms and other munitions of war, ran aground throe miles east of Fort Fisher, N. a The blockading fleet fired on her with the view of defraying her, but the fort opened on them and compelled than to withdraw* A small skirinlsh r occuiTed at Smith Creek, N. C. Seepley, military commandantof New Orleans, by order and approval of General Butler, suspended the municipal government of the city until such time as there should be a sufficient number of citizens in New Orleans loyal to their qotmtry and their constitution to entitle them to resume the right of self-government. White House, Va., base of the peninsula campaign, was evacuated by the Union forces under General McClellan.

June 28,18<&. * - */?- McCleiian’s army continued to meet defeat at the hands of the Confederates in Its campaign against Richmond. After the Union defeat of the day before at Gaines’ Mills the Confederates renewed the fighting on the 28th, pounding at the disheartened and disconcerted Nationals along the Chickahomlny, with high hopes of hemming in and destroying the invading enemy. . JC Bmall party of Union troops under Lieutenant Glenn was attacked by a body of Indians near Rocky Ridge, Utah. •-/ The Confederate General Hindman burned the railroad bridge at Madison, Ark., fearing that General Curtis would pass that way to the Mississippi. Five clergymen who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States were Imprisoned In Nashville, Tenn., by order of Governor Johnson. Flag Officer D. G. F&rragut reported to the secretary of the navy that the Union fleet passed above Vicksburg, silencing the shore batteries while passing, and that he had communicated' with General Halleck and Commodore Davis. General McClellan began his retreat to the James river, where a new base has been in process of establishment by the transports. The move was made necessary by the threat of Lee to sever his communications. June 29, 1862.

The battles of Peach Orchard and Savage’s Station, in the “seven days," was fought, resulting In the further embarrassment of the Union Army of the Potomac'under McClellan. The British steamer Ann was cut out from under the guns of Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay by the United States steamer Kanawha. The steamer passed the blockaders during the night, and was discovered unloading in the morning. The Susquehanna and the Kenawha ran in and opened fire, and the steamer, abandoned by ber crew, got adrift and came within reach of the Kanawha. A fight took place In Henderson, Ky., between a company of the Louisville provost-guard supported by a detachment of Captain Andrew’s Michigan battery, and a force of Confederate guerillas. The Confederates were driven off. ” Moorefleld, Vh., was captured by a body of Ashby’s cavalry under Colonel Harris. • A large company of the Maryland Borne Guard occupied the place at the time, but they made no defense., having been informed that the Confederates were four thousand strong. They were taken prisoners, but were released next day as noncombatants. General Halleck, at Corinth, Issued an order authorizing the protection of the mall service In his department The bombardment of Vicksburg was continued. The firing commenced at noon, and with the exception of an hour’s intermission, did not ce&se until nearly midnight Lee attacked the Federal rearguard at White Oak Swamp.

June 30, 1862. General Butler continued his efforts to restore peace and tranquillity in New Orleans by issuing the following order: “John W. Andrews exhibited a cross, the emblem of the sufferings of our blessed Savior, fashioned for personal ornament, which he said was made from the bones of a Yankee soldier, and having shown this, too, without rebuke, in the Louisiana club, which claims to be composed of chivalrlc gentlemen. u "It is therefore ordered that for this desecration, of the dead, he be confined at hard labor for two years in the fortifications at Ship Island, and that he he allowed no verbal or written communication to or with any one except through these headquarters.” General Crawford, with a portion of his Union brigade and a support ot cavalry, made a reconn oissance in force up the Shenandoah valley, In which they succeeded in driving four companies of Confederates out of Luray, Va. The bombardment of Vicksburg was reopened at two o’clock, and continued all night A turnpike bridge between Harrodaburg and Ferryville, and another between Nicholasville and Pekin, Ky., were burned, supposedly by Confederate irregulars. i The United States gunboat Sagamore made an attack on the city of Tampa, Fla. She succeeded in silencing the Confederate battery ashore, but could not get close enough in to cover her landing beats, and was obliged to give up the plan of occupying the place.. General Franklin, commanding the Fedef&r rear guard, held General Jack, son at White Oak Swamp, while McClellan was holding Lee off at Charles City Cross Roods. Lee was endeavoring desperately to cut MoClellan’B line of retreat to the James river and destroy his army. (Copyright, 1912, by W. O. Chapman)