The Ironclad Assault on Charleston Part III (April 7-After, 1863)

The sinking of the Keokuk as illustrated in Harper's Weekly

Charleston Stands

It seemed to the Federals that the Confederates were unfazed. This was almost true, and the Charleston defenders had reason to be elated. Losses at Fort Moultrie were paltry. When he took a boat over there, General Ripley learned that the most considerable damage was done to the flagstaff. It had been cut by enemy shot, the top part falling down and crushing a Private Lusby. Lusby soon died from his injury. The Confederates defiantly set their regimental flag on the traverse to replace the one that had fallen. The other casualty at this spot was a gunner, Private Harrison, who accidentally lost a finger while helping push his gun into place.[1]

Indeed, Confederate losses were light, especially in terms of men. An ammunition chest exploded in Battery Wagner, killing 4 men and wounding 4 others. Fort Sumter, which was hit about 55 times, can be said to have had the worst of it. One Columbiad exploded and flew back into the parade grounds, and a rifled 42-pound piece was put out of action not by enemy fire, but by a defective gun carriage that was crushed by the recoil of the gun. Six men, one of them a slave or free black, were hit by debris from shattered brick and wood. Major Echols, one of the engineers, added, “Nearly all the window panes and some of the sashes in the fort were broken by concussion.”[2] Total Confederate losses in manpower mounted to 4 dead and 10 wounded.[3]

The Ironclad Assault on Charleston Part II (April 7, 1863)

 

With Du Pont's attack force of 9 ironclad warships steaming towards the harbor, both sides were ready for the possibility of their success. Confederate war ships were waiting further back in the harbor. The most formidable were the Chicora and Palmetto State, both ironclads. For their part the Union had wooden ships waiting to join once the ironclads had done their part. Neither of these groups would act unless the ironclads made it past Fort Sumter.[1]

Storm in the Harbor

The Confederates knew the ironclads were coming, and they worked on ensuring that their batteries and works were ready for battle. At 2 PM the enemy fleet began to advance up the channel, and the South Carolinians waited expectantly for them to get into range. General Roswell S. Ripley, commanding the defense, had personally gone to Fort Sumter as it was sure to be the epicenter of the battle.[2] Frank Vizetelly, a British journalist, waited like the Confederate defenders, and reported on the appearance of the oncoming ironclads:

There they came, their turrets whirling in a waltz of death. Cautiously they worked their way up the ship channel, and, as I watched their approach through my glass, I could hear the thumping of my heart against my ribs…Every house is pouring out its inmates, eager to witness the engagement: ladies, in almost gala costume, are hastening to the battery promenade, from whence an unobstructed view of the harbor and forts, and of the enemy’s fleet, can be obtained. There is no terror expressed in any of these countenances – all are calm and collected; they are going to witness the bravery of their defenders.[3]

Frank Vizetelly was a traveling British journalist. At the start of the American Civil War he attended the Union Army, but then went South to report from the Confederate side. He grew so like the Confederates so much that he began to label the conflict the more secession-friendly "War Between the States." (https://emergingcivilwar.com/2012/04/04/drawing-the-war-part-3-frank-vizetelly/)

In Fort Sumter, as the defenders assembled for action and the flags were raised, the band struck up “Dixie,” though there’s no record that the Union seamen could hear it. However, they must have heard the 13-gun salute, either a humorous attempt to treat the battle like a gala occasion or a chivalric salute to the enemy.[4]

The Ironclad Assault on Charleston Part I (Leading up to April 7, 1863)

Charleston, South Carolina was the birthplace of the Confederacy. It was there that delegates from across the state successfully voted to secede on December 24, 1860. Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard found himself overseeing the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. This initiated the Civil War and gave the Northern states more reason to despise the city. Beauregard would go on to command at Bull Run and in Western Tennessee, but in September 1862 would return to the city that made him a nationwide name.

Beauregard’s engineering expertise arrived just in time. Surprisingly the Union Navy had made no firm attempt to take the rebellious city, instead seizing other ports. But as 1862 progressed it finally began to tighten its grip, and the Army mounted a failed expedition in July. Still absent was a major naval assault. It would finally come on April 7, 1863. Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, a lifelong sea man who had joined the Navy at age 12 in 1815, would try to force Charleston Harbor with the latest in naval machines, the Jon Ericsson-designed ironclad monitors. Du Pont would pay the price for the hubris and unrealistic expectations of his political superiors.

The Battle-turned-Massacre of Baxter Springs

 On October 6, 1863, the site of Baxter Springs, in Kansas just a couple miles from the Indian Territory border, hosted one of the more infamous moments of the Civil War. It saw the only clash of, up to that time, two of the most successful military commanders of Trans-Mississippi theatre. About a hundred Federals, along with a fair number of civilians, marched with Major General James Blunt to Fort Baxter, en route to Arkansas. As fate would have it, a few hundred guerillas were also nearby. Their leader was none other than Colonel William Quantrill, the most feared and notorious bushwhacker from Missouri. This clash is classified as a battle, but most prefer to call it the Baxter Springs Massacre.

Quantrill Heads to Texas

William Quantrill, the son of an Ohio schoolteacher and migrant to Missouri, began his career as a bushwhacker near the end of 1861. Starting with just ten men, he built up a fearsome reputation with an impressive series of raids. By the end of 1862 he directly commanded over 150 men. After wintering in Arkansas with General Sterling Price’s Confederate soldiers, they returned in spring 1863 to pick up where they left off.[1] This time the guerillas faced more formidable opposition. Major General Thomas Ewing Jr., a former judge, commanded the Federal District of the Border. Kansas had long been the victim of Quantrill’s raids and he was determined to stop them. He undertook harsher measures to contain and hopefully stop the scourge of the border.

Kurz & Allison Part VI: The Battles for Chattanooga

 Given that he operated out of Chicago, it was only natural that Kurz would focus much of his work on the glorious moments of the Army of the Cumberland (Illinoisans and other Midwesterners were heavily represented in this army) in the Chattanooga and Atlanta Campaigns. He extensively covered the former, producing a lithograph for three of the main actions outside the Tennessee transportation hub. First, we’ll look at the battle that turned General George Thomas into a national hero.

Battle of Chickamauga

In the summer of 1863 General William Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland skillfully maneuvered General Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee out of Chattanooga. Though Rosecrans captured all his objectives in Tennessee, the War Department was annoyed that he had not brought the Confederates into a major battle so he could crush them. Feeling intense political pressure, Rosecrans marched into Georgia. James Longstreet’s Corps arrived from Virginia to bolster Bragg’s force and the Confederates attacked the Federals near the creek of Chickamauga. Thanks to a mix-up, the Federals accidentally opened a hole in their line. The Confederates exploited this and shattered their right flank. General Thomas was able to form a defensive line on Snodgrass Hill and hold off the enemy so the rest of the army could escape. For this he was called the “Rock of Chickamauga.” Occurring on September 19-20, it was the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War and the largest (albeit pyrrhic) Confederate victory in the western theatres.

Kurz & Allison Part V: The Summer of ’63

 Mid-1863 saw several battles and campaigns that put military momentum solidly with the Union. Many consider this the turning of the tide, though it can be argued that the Union  was once on the verge of winning in mid-1862 and the Confederacy actually made some comebacks in 1864.

Battle of Chancellorsville

After restoring morale and efficiency within the Army of the Potomac, General Joseph Hooker attempted a flanking movement across the Rappahannock against Lee’s Confederate forces. He actually placed the heavily outnumbered Lee in a tricky situation near Chancellorsville at the start of May 1863. On May 2 General “Stonewall” Jackson executed an incredible flank march that routed the Union right. Jackson was hit by friendly fire (he would actually die of pneumonia instead of his wounds) while Hooker suffered a concussion that affected his judgment. The next day the Confederates were able to drive the Federals back across the river. Despite accomplishing one of his most celebrated victories, Lee believed that he could not afford any more such bloody battles.

Kurz focuses on the events of May 2. He shows the Union troops withdrawing towards the background, where artillery covers their retreat. The centerpiece, however, is the wounded Jackson. It looks like he’s been hit by a lucky enemy bullet rather than friendly fire. All the Confederate soldiers are ahead of him attacking the Federals. Also, Jackson was hit at night while reconnoitering ahead of his lines, not during  the height of the daylight action. Obviously Kurz wanted to show the infamous shooting while still displaying a battle vista.

Battle of Champion Hills

This is the first of two lithographs covering the Vicksburg Campaign. After a string of failures to take the last Rebel bastion on the Mississippi River, General Ulysses S. Grant finally put together his magnum opus. With the help of the Navy he was able to quickly slip his army from north to south of Vicksburg and cross back over the Mississippi (into the state of the same name). What followed was a string of battles where Grant defeated disunified Confederate forces. Champion Hill (called Champion Hills for the lithograph) was one of the more crucial encounters. On May 16 Grant struck General Louis Pemberton’s main force at the considerable height of Champion Hill. The Federals first flanked and then smashed through the Confederate lines, taking the nearby crossroads. The battle forced Pemberton towards Vicksburg with no escape route, ensuring a siege.

I am not as acquainted with this battle so I might miss a couple inaccuracies or neat references to real locations and figures. The Confederates in the foreground are notably more diverse in their clothing, especially the prisoners. Those on the right in front of the formidable Champion Hill sport a battle flag with inverted colors for St. Andrew’s Cross and the stars. The mounted figure leading his men on with his hat is General John Logan, who got into the Confederates’ flank. Logan was a political general from Illinois who enjoyed more success than others of his kind, possibly because his aggression worked well with Grant and Sherman’s battle plans.

The Battle of Gettysburg

The bloodiest (and almost largest) battle on North American soil, Gettysburg occurred from July 1 to 3. Lee, looking for a quick blow to end the war, invaded the North for the second time. Through a series of mistakes and circumstances, the two sides blindly struck each other north of the crossroads town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On the first day Confederates pushed the Federals south through the town. The Army of the Potomac, now under General George Meade, took the heights south of town and narrowly repulsed a series of attacks on the second day. The third day cemented the Confederate defeat when Lee’s major assault on the Union center turned into a bloodbath. This was the first and perhaps only massive tactical defeat for Lee.

As with most artists who choose one part of the battle, Kurz focuses on Pickett’s Charge, the ill-devised July 3 assault on Cemetery Ridge. This is definitely one of his more cluttered works and I have to say not as striking. Masses of men from both sides advance from the sides of the lithograph. A wrecked Union battery shows the work of the incredible pre-assault bombardment (which was actually ineffective thanks to untested ordnance). A clump of Confederate prisoners are escorted off while a thick line of men snakes over the stone wall. The fence along Emmitsburg Road can be made out behind a shell-struck group of Rebels. If the dying officer on horseback is supposed to be General Lewis Armistead, Kurz forgot he was on foot for the whole charge.

Siege of Vicksburg

The Siege of Vicksburg lasted from May 18 to July 4. Grant made several attempts to take the city by force, all of which failed. Bombardments, though terrifying to the civilians, also did not wear down Confederate resistance. It was starvation that finally forced the loss of the city. Pemberton was supposed to get relief from General Joseph Johnston to the east, but Johnston dallied. Relief attempts from the Trans-Mississippi came too late and ended in defeat anyways. On July 3 Pemberton opened up talks of surrender, which were finalized the following day. Combined with the defeat at Gettysburg, this was a disaster for the Confederacy, giving the Union unrestricted access along the Mississippi River.

This is one of the more placid works, though there is still some action. Shells burst among the entrenchments and Union gunboats patrol the Mississippi River. For once some of the soldiers are shown not fighting. Many are actually lounging about, in great contrast to all the activity on the left side of the lithograph. In the right foreground an officer directs Grant’s attention (to what we don’t know). A Confederate party carrying a white flag emerges from the trees. It could be a flag of surrender, but the tiny red cross in one corner indicates it may be something else.

8 Inaccuracies in the Movie Gettysburg (1993)

 Ted Turner’s Gettysburg is the 1993 film (with a successful mini-series performance on TNT) that got me interested in the Civil War. It’s my favorite Civil War movie period, even if technically there are better entries on the subject. While it will always hold a special place in my heart, I have noticed, through the observations of others and my own expanding knowledge of history that there are a few inaccuracies. Some are carried over from Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels, the historical novel on which the movie is based on. Others were mistakes or intentional cinematic choices on the part of the filmmakers. This is not a heavy criticism, as the inaccuracies are for the most part harmless and in a couple cases help make a better viewing experience. I will not list the soldiers’ well-fed and often older appearance, as the movie’s budget required the voluntary efforts of reenactors rather than meticulously selected extras or hired soldiers to fill out the battle scenes. Let’s start with a couple light ones.

#1. The 14th Brooklyn is at the Wrong Place

When General John Reynolds falls to a sharpshooter’s bullet, a regiment wearing red kepi hats and trousers stops to gather around him. Several units in the Army of the Potomac had colorful uniforms, but none were present for the first day’s battle around McPherson’s Ridge. The 14th Brooklyn, actually part of the 84th New York, was part of Reynold’s Corps, but fought at the Railroad Cut to the north. They were popularly known as the “red-legged devils” and were known to be Abolitionist in their politics. They were originally supposed to be off in the distance to show some scale to the battle scenes. Director Ron Maxwell, however, tired of shooting a sea of blue uniforms, decided to have them front and center for a big scene.

The Battle of Hanover (June 30, 1863)

 On June 30, the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg, three brigades of cavalry under the famed General J.E.B. Stuart clashed with a division of Union counterparts under General Judson Kilpatrick at the town of Hanover, Pennsylvania. This was one of many cavalry clashes on the way to the fateful battle of Gettysburg, but is worth some study for two reasons.

1.      First, this battle came about as Stuart, separated from the main body of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, tried to reconnect his three cavalry brigades. The Federals at Hanover stood in his way of getting to Gettysburg, where he thought he might find Lee. If he had plowed through Kilpatrick’s rear guard or been fortunate enough to arrive there after the Federals were gone, he would have gotten to Gettysburg at least on July 1, seriously altering the course of events.

2.     Secondly, it was the first battle where George Armstrong Custer, one of the most famous cavalrymen in US history, held field command. He had so far spent most of the war as a capable staff officer. This was his first serious test.

 

The First Battle of Cabin Creek (June 30-July 2, 1863)

 

This is something of a follow-up to my post on the Battle of Island Mound. This covers the next significant battle of the 1^st Kansas at Cabin Creek. Though I am going through the regiment’s battles, this post is not primarily focused on them outside the opening. While the Battle of Cabin Creek saw more men and had more significance in a strategic sense, I actually found even less information on the fighting itself then I did on Island Mound.  Thus this is more of a prelude on a planned future post covering the Battle of Honey Springs.

 

The 1^st Kansas Joins the U.S. Army

After Island Mound, the 1^st Kansas Colored Regiment saw no action for a long while. It still experienced a major event at the start of 1863. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. This proclamation declared all slaves in rebellious territories free and further authorized the use of black soldiers in the armed services. The 1^st Kansas Colored Regiment was now officially recognized as part of the US Army and would also receive Federal pay. On January 8 Brigadier-General General James G. Blunt, who was assigned command of the Department of Kansas and was expected to deal with the mostly Confederate-held Indian Territory, personally inspected the regiment at Fort Scott. The order and discipline of the soldiers impressed him and Blunt determined to utilize them when for his major 1863 campaign.

New Year's Battle: The Fight for Galveston (1862-1863)

One of the Union’s grand strategies was to strangle the Southern Coast with the Anaconda Plan. The Union government and navy purchased or enlisted as many civilian ships as it could to fulfill the enormous task of blocking off every Southern port. Up to 1863 the blockade was maintained with difficulty. Blockade runners regularly slipped through the cordon. To ease the blockade, the navy coordinated with the army to seize major Southern ports. This not only deprived the blockade runners of sites to drop off war supplies, it gave the navy facilities for maintaining and supplying their ships and the army launching points for further incursions. By the end of 1862, few major Southern ports remained open to blockade runners. At the dawn of 1863, however, Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder, newly arrived in the westernmost seceded state of Texas, launched a scheme that would defy the blockade. He aimed to take back Galveston and save Texas from a planned Union invasion.

 

The Great City of Texas

At the time of the Civil War Galveston was the largest city in Texas. Much of the state was still considered frontier territory and the time had not come yet for locations such as Houston and San Antonio. Galveston originated as a base of operations for the privateer Louis-Michel Aury, but soon the infamous Lafitte family from New Orleans took over. One of their most successful criminal enterprises was human trafficking. As Texas was part of Mexican territory and loosely controlled at that, the Lafittes were able to participate in the illegal slave trade with less intervention from the United State government. Even after Texas became an American state pirates continued to intercept slave ships in the Caribbean and sell their human cargo to Texas and Louisiana. The legal internal slave trade flourished as well, and Galveston boasted the largest slave market west of New Orleans. Since many slaves were involved in maritime businesses, slavery was enforced more rigidly than in other locations of the South. Heavier punishments and restrictions on the movement of blacks were necessary to prevent escape as slaves trained in ship work could would have the necessary skills to seize a boat and make for any number of Caribbean or Latin American countries where slavery was illegal. For a Southern city, Galveston also boasted an incredible number of immigrants. As a coastal city it was an ideal spot for people from Ireland, the German states, and other locations to enter the United States. By 1860 about 40 percent of the city’s population was foreign-born.[1]

Longstreet's Great Failure: The East Tennessee Campaign of 1863 (part 2 of 2)

 The Fortified City

The Federals reached the lines in and around Knoxville on the 17^th, but they could not be considered safe yet. The Confederates approached on the 18^th. Captain Orlando Poe, the engineer in charge of the defenses, had already set to work building upon the unfinished Rebel entrenchments. The exhausted soldiers found themselves having to hurriedly work on their own entrenchments before the Confederates arrived and hit them. Poe believed that he needed only a few hours before the army could have effective defenses. He and Burnside decided that General William Sanders and his cavalry would have to hold off the Confederates for the duration of that time. It was a large thing to ask of Sanders and his men. Dismounted cavalry could buy time for the infantry to come up, as General John Buford did at Gettysburg, but did not fare as well when expected to play defense on their own. Sanders took up the challenge with determination.

General William Sanders, the
martyr of the Knoxville Campaign

McLaws’ division was the first to reach Sanders’ line. Sanders’ men used piles of rails, intended for an unfinished railroad, as their breastworks. For hours they managed to hold off the Confederates. Poe wrote years later that their stand “excited the wonder of the rest of our army.” Whenever the line began to falter, “Sanders would walk up to the rail piles and stand there erect, with fully half his height exposed to a terrific fire at short range, until every retreating man, as if ashamed of himself, would return to his proper place.” Sanders also worked with the artillery. He directed its fire to a house full of sharpshooters, and Federal shells struck the building and drove them out. Sanders’ bravery cost him. One bullet found him and mortally wounded him. However, he had bought the necessary time for the rest of Burnside’s army. The grateful commanding general sat by his bedside as he passed away. In honor of the cavalry general Fort Loudon, one of the most prominent fortifications at Knoxville, was renamed Fort Sanders.[1] The armies now settled into a siege.