His First And Last Battle

Union Lieutenant Colonel Julius Peter Garesché was killed December 31^st 1862 at the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee.

Julius Peter Garesché was born April 26^th 1821 near Havana, Cuba.  He was able to attend Georgetown College beginning in 1833.  After four years at Georgetown, Garesché received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point.  He graduated in the class of 1841 and began his military carrier in the 4^th United States Artillery.  After duty on the frontier and action during the Mexican American War he reached the rank of Captain in 1855.  Garesché was also a devout Catholic and he received recognition for services performed for the church from Pope Pius IX in the form of the Knight of St Sylvester medal.

When the Civil War started Garesché became the Chief of Staff with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel for Union Major General William S Rosecrans.  This placed him with the Army of the Cumberland in the Western Theater.  The Battle of Stone River was the first combat of the war for Garesché and on December 31 1862 as he rode with Rosecrans during the battle he was decapitated by a cannonball.  Shortly after Union General Philip H Sheridan found Garesché’s body and removed his bible and West Point ring from the dead body.  Garesché is buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, DC.

If you’re interested in reading more, check out, Eccentric Officer 'Knew' He Would Die in His First Battle and The Gallant Garesché

Rescue Of The Men On The Monitor

John Jones a sailor in the Union Navy was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on December 30^th 1862 in saving men from the Monitor.

John Jones was born August 25^th 1841.

Jones served on the USS Rhode Island as a Landsman, which was the rank afforded to men who had been recruited and had served for less than a year.  The USS Rhode Island was side-wheel steamer and in late December 1862 she had been assigned the job of towing the USS Monitor to the waters off South Carolina.  On December 30^th 1862 in heavy seas off Cape Hatteras, the Monitor was swamped and sank.  Jones at a risk to his own life rescued many of the men from the Monitor in a small boat.  His Medal of Honor citation says that while he was engaged “in the hazardous rescue of the officers and crew of the sinking Monitor, Jones, after rescuing several of the men, became separated in a heavy gale with other members of the cutter that had set out from the Rhode Island, and spent many hours in the small boat at the mercy of the weather and high seas until finally picked up by a schooner 50 miles east of Cape Hatteras.”

Jones would go on to reach the rank of Ordinary Seaman.  He died August 15^th 1907, and is buried in the St Mary’s Cemetery, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Creek To Creek

General Samuel D Sturgis

The Battle of Mossy Creek was fought December 29^th 1863 in Jefferson County, Tennessee.

Union Brigadier General Samuel D Sturgis’ troops were camped near Talbott’s Station on the Mossy Creek, when he received reports of  Confederate Cavalry camped on the south side of the creek near Dandridge.  Sturgis decided to try to capture this cavalry by sending a portion of his force toward Dandridge.  Shortly after this half of Sturgis troops left on the morning December 29^th 1863 Confederate Major General William T Martin’s cavalry moved from Morristown, Tennessee along Panther Creek and attacked the Union men who were left near Talbott’s Station.

Sturgis’ men fell back toward Mossy Creek, while he sent messages to recall the half of his men sent to Dandridge.  Martin’s troopers continued to drive the Union soldiers in their front.  At about 3 pm Sturgis’ other half arrived, and with these extra men the Union drove the Confederates out of Mossy Creek, pushing them back to Panther Creek.

Sturgis didn’t follow up the pursuit.  Martin continued his retreat towards Morristown, where they went into winter camp.  The Union side reported about 151 casualties.  Confederate casualties are unknown.

A Confederate Senator

Robert Jemison Jr took his seat December 28^th 1863 as the Senator from Alabama in the Confederate Senate in Richmond, Virginia.

Robert Jemison Jr was born September 17^th 1802 in Lincoln County, Georgia.  He owned several business including toll roads and bridges, a stagecoach line, grist and sawmill, and a hotel.  He also owned six plantations in Alabama totaling about 10,000 acres of land and about 500 slaves.  He lived on the largest known as Cherokee Place plantation in Northport, Alabama.  His main occupation was in bridge building.

Jemison was against Alabama succeeding.  He attended the Secession Convention in Montgomery, Alabama in January 1861, where he argued against taking that action.  Once the state joined the Confederacy however Jemison supported them finically.  He served in the Confederate Senate beginning December 28^th 1863 through till the end of the Civil War.

Jemison died October 16^th 1871 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at the family home the Jemison Van de Graaff Mansion.  He is buried in the Jemison Family Cemetery in Northport, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Last Boat

Not the USS Kate, but when she would have looked like

The USS Kate was purchased by the Union Navy December 23^rd 1864 from J B Porter and Son of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Kate B Porter was built at Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania in 1864.  She was purchased from J B Porter and Son of Cincinnati, Ohio December 23^rd 1864 by the Union Navy.  They re-christened her the USS Kate and converted her into a gunboat.  She was commissioned at Mound City, Illinois under the command of Lieutenant W R Wells, and set to work patrolling the Mississippi River.  The Kate was one of the last Union ships on naval duty in the Mississippi River.

When the Civil War ended the Kate was order to the Tennessee River, where she went to work cleaning up the hulks of barges and gunboat which had been sunk.  In August 1865 she was sent to the Jefferson Barracks Reserve where she was disarmed.  The Kate was decommissioned at Mound City, Illinois March 25^th 1866.  She was sold at auction and re-commissioned the James J Trover on April 12^th 1866.  She ended her life stranded on the Missouri River about 300 miles below Fort Benton, Montana on June 21^st 1867.

An Independent Battery

The 26^th Ohio Independent Battery, made up of men from the 32^nd Ohio Infantry, was organized as a distinct battery on December 22^nd 1863.

The battery was organized August 1861 as Company “F” of the 32^nd Ohio Infantry at Camp Dennison in Cincinnati, Ohio.  They were detached under the command of Captain Theobold D Yost; when they were captured at Harper's Ferry September 15^th 1862.  During the Vicksburg Campaign the unit was known as the Yost’s Independent Ohio Battery.  They were permanently detached from the 32^nd on December 22^nd 1863.

The men of the 26^th Ohio Battery mustered out of Union service on September 2^nd 1865 in Columbus, Ohio.  They lost 22 men during service all dying from disease.

Trapped By Their Own Torpedo

The CSS Savannah was burned December 21^st 1864 by the Confederates when Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s force threatened the city of Savannah, Georgia.

The CSS Savannah was an ironclad ram built by H F Willink at the Savannah Shipyard in 1863.  It was 172.5 feet long with a 34 foot beam and 12.5 foot draft.  The four inch thick iron armor covering her wooden haul was made in Atlanta.  The Savannah was armed with among other guns, two 7 inch rifled cannon and two 6.4 inch Brook guns.  Her top speed was about 6 knots and she carried a crew of 180.

The Savannah was launched February 4^th 1863, and by June was in the Savannah River under Flag Officer William Hunter.  She wasn’t engaged in battle until Union General William T Sherman moved on the city of Savannah, Georgia at the end of his March to the Sea in December 1864.  She was unable to stop Sherman’s capturing the city.  The Savannah stayed there on the river covering Confederate General William Joseph Hardee’s retreat from the city on a pontoon bridge.

The Savannah engaged in an artillery duel December 20^th 1864 with Union guns.  When she tried to escape the river she wound up trapped by one the Confederacies own torpedo mines.  On December 21^st 1864 in order to keep the Savannah from being captured her commander had her run aground on the South Carolina side of the river, and set afire.

Holding The Bridge

The Battle of Altamaha Bridge [Battle for Doctortown Railroad Trestle] was fought December 19^th 1864 in Wayne County, Georgia.

The Confederate 4^th Bridge of the Georgia Militia under the command of Brigadier General H K McKay began setting up a defense of the Savannah and Gulf Railroad Bridge at the Altamaha River in early December 1864.  On the south side of the river at Doctortown they mounted two 32 pounder guns, set to sweep the bridge.

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s march to the sea was delayed just outside of Savannah, Georgia.  He sent troops to tear up the railroad along the Ogeechee River to the Altamaha Bridge.  On December 19^th 1864 Union cavalry under command of Colonel Smith D Atkins attacked the bridge, doing some damage to the trestlework, but they were unable to capture the bridge or the Confederate’s 32 pounders.

The Union troops withdrew to the Ogeechee River.  This withdrawal left open the Confederate supply line into Savannah.

A Northern Born Confederate

Northern born and raised, Confederate Brigadier General Johnson Kelly Duncan died December 18^th1862 from malaria fever.

Johnson Kelly Duncan was born in Chanceford, York, Pennsylvania March 19^th 1827.  He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy, graduating 5^th out of the class of 1849.  He started his military career as a Second Lieutenant in the Third Artillery with fighting against the Seminole Indians in Florida.  In 1855 with the rank of First Lieutenant, Duncan left the army and moved the Louisiana.  He worked in New Orleans as an architect, surveyor and the Chief Engineer of the Board of Public Works.

When the Civil War started Duncan sided with those of his southern home, and enlisted in the Confederate service, becoming the Colonel of the 1^st Louisiana Artillery.  He was promoted to Brigadier General January 7^th 1862, and placed in command of the defenses of the Lower Mississippi.  When Union Admiral David Farragut captured Fort Jackson on April 28^th 1862, Duncan became a prisoner of war.  After a prisoner exchange on August 27^th 1862, Duncan was assigned to Confederate General Braxton Bragg as his Chief of Staff.  While on this duty, he contracted Malarial and died December 18^th 1862 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Duncan is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee.

Give Him Up Or We Burn Your City

In an attempt to capture Confederate Silas M Gordon, Union troops burnt Platte City, Missouri December 16^th 1861.

Silas M Gordon lived in Platte County, Missouri and had been fighting a kind of guerrilla war fare against Union troops and supporters in the area, including the September 1861 Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy that killed and injured over a hundred.  Union troops had tried to capture Gordon in November at Bee Creek, but he got away after killing two Union soldiers.  In early December Gordon along with about 35 men captured the town of Weston, Missouri, and captured two Union soldiers.  They moved to Platte City, where the Confederates camped on the Platte County Courthouse lawn. 

Union General David Hunter issued orders from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for the people of Platte City to deliver Gordon up or their city would be burned.  Union Colonel W James Morgan commanding the 18^th Missouri marched from St Joseph, Missouri to Platte City where they set fire to the city and the courthouse on December 16^th 1861.  While in that town they found two Confederate soldiers who were home on a furlough and took them prisoner.

Morgan ordered the two prisoners killed.  Despite pleas from the father of one the men, Black Triplett, Morgan took him and the other man Gabriel Case to Bee Creek.  At the same place where Union soldiers were killed Morgan had Triplett executed, and Case was bayonetted trying to get away on December 17^th 1861.

A Convention For Subvertion

The Topeka Constitution was approved December 15^th 1855 by Free State voters in Kansas.

The Free State’er met in conventions first at Lawrence, Kansas in August and then at Big Springs, Kansas in September.  The third meeting, the Topeka Constitutional Convention held in Topeka, Kansas with the delegates assembling October 23^rd 1855, to make the first effort to get Kansas a state constitution.  The Convention held by Free State’ers, voted to approve the anti-slavery Topeka Constitution on December 15^th 1855.  It passed by a wide margin of 1,731 to 46.  The convention was held in an attempt to subvert officially elected pro slavery legislature.  The Constitution banned slavery, and stated that "every civilized male Indian who has adopted the habits of the white man" should be allowed suffrage.

The United States Congress rejected the Topeka Constitution.

If you are interested in reading more about this topic, check out Kansas Constitutions

An Active Kentucky Unit

The 28^th Kentucky Infantry mustered out of service, after a long battle record on December 14^th 1865.

The 28^th Kentucky Infantry was organized in the New Haven, Kentucky area.  They mustered into Union service for a three year term in the command of Colonel William P Boone on October 8^th 1862.  The 28^th was made a part of the 16^th Brigade of the Union Army of the Ohio in January 1862.

They moved around Kentucky and Tennessee doing guard duty on various railroads protecting them from Confederate raiders.  The men of the 28^th saw action in many battles including Gordon’s Mills, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, and Franklin.  The 28^th was mustered out of duty December 14^th 1865.

The 28^th had 37 officers and enlisted killed, and another 75 died from disease during their service.

An Officer Of Merit

Union General Conrad Feger Jackson from Pennsylvania was killed December 13^th 1862 in action at the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Conrad Feger Jackson was born September 11^th 1813 in Alsace, Berks, Pennsylvania the son of Isaac Jackson a devote Quaker.  Jackson’s father died when he was 5 years old and Jackson went to live with an Uncle, Joseph Jackson, in Chester County Pennsylvania.  He received his education at the local Quaker schools, before becoming a conductor on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.  Jackson was appointed by President James K Polk to the revenue service and during the Mexican American War he carried dispatches for General Winfield Scott.  After returning to Pennsylvania he took a job with a petroleum oil company in the Kanawha Valley area of Virginia, which was where he was when the Civil War started.

Upon returning to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Jackson organized what became the 9^th Pennsylvania Reserve.  Jackson was appointed the Colonel of the 9^th by Pennsylvania Governor Andrew G Curtin, and served with them throughout the Peninsula Campaign.  He received a promotion to Brigadier General on July 17^th 1862 and was place in command of the 3^rd Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, leading them at the second Battle of Bull Run and Antietam.

On December 13^th 1862 at Fredericksburg Jackson led his brigade at the right wing of the Confederate army.  He had just road forward to give an order to clear the ground in his front, when a Confederate volley hit him in the head, killing him and his aide.  Jackson’s division leader General George Gorden Meade said of his death, "The public service has also to mourn the loss of Brigadier General C Feger Jackson, an officer of merit and reputation, who owed his position to his gallantry and good conduct in previous actions."  His body was taken back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where his buried in the Allegheny Cemetery there.

Send Military Support

United States Secretary of State Lewis Cass under President Buchanan resigned his office December 13^th 1860 over the failure to send troops to stop the Southern states from succeeding.

Lewis Cass was born October 9^th 1782 in Exeter, New Hampshire the son of Jonathan and Molly (Gilman) Cass.  He attended the Phillips Exeter Academy in his home town, before moving with his family to Marietta, Ohio.  He read for the law and became a lawyer.  Cass was a member of the Freemasons, becoming Grand Master in 1826 of the Grand Lodge of Michigan.  He served as the Governor of the Michigan Territory from 1813 to 1831.  Cass became the Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson August 1831, and formulated and implemented Jackson’s Indian policies.  He went on to represent Michigan as a US Senator, serving as chair of the Committee on Military Affairs from 1845 to 1848.  Cass ran for President in 1848, supporting the Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, which called for the people who lived in the territories to decide for themselves whether to or not to be slave holding areas.  His nomination caused a split in the Democratic Party.  Cass lost the election to Zachary Taylor.  He went back to the Senate, serving until 1857.

Cass began serving in 1857 as Secretary of State for President James Buchanan.  Cass resigned from his post December 13^th 1860 because of Buchanan’s failure to send troop to protect Federal interest in the southern states.  He felt the action might have helped to avert the Southern states from succeeding.

Cass died June 17^th 1866 in Detroit, Michigan.  He is buried the Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.

Building Pontoons Under Fire

Union engineers began before dawn December 11^th 1862 building a pontoon bridge across the Rappahannock River, so troops could be moved into Fredericksburg.

Before dawn on the morning of December 11^th 1862 Union engineers began assembling five pontoon bridges in three areas along the Rappahannock River.  Those who were putting them together across from the city came under fire from Confederate Brigadier General William Barksdale’s Mississippians.  Union artillery fired on the Confederate sharpshooters, but Barksdale’s men were well protected in the cellars of the houses along the water front.  After it became obvious that artillery wasn't working, Union infantry was sent across the river in pontoon boats to roust out the sharpshooters.  Union Colonel Norman J Hall volunteered to lead his brigade, with the 7^th Michigan spearheading the landing for the job.

Commanding Union General Ambrose E Burnside was reluctant to send the men, saying to Hall that "the effort meant death to most of those who should undertake the voyage."  Burnside relented and at 3 pm with Union artillery softening the way, 135 men from the 7^th Michigan and 19^th Massachusetts headed across the river in the small boats.  Landing, the Union troops spread out into a skirmish line, fighting the Confederates street by street as the engineers went back to building the bridge.

Some of Burnside’s troops began crossing at 4:30 on the 11^th, but most didn't get across until the next day.

A Laywer And A Soldier

Confederate Brigadier General John Carpenter Carter died December 10^th 1864 from wounds received at the Battle of Franklin.

John Carpenter Carter was born December 19^th 1837 in Waynesboro, Georgia.  He attended the University of Virginia in 1854, for two years before leaving to study law at Cumberland University under Judge Abram Carruthers.  Carter would stay at the Lebanon, Tennessee school after graduating as an instructor, and he would marry the Judge’s daughter.  He opened his own law practice in Memphis, Tennessee.

When the war started Carter became a Captain in the 38^th Tennessee, and quickly moved up to become their Colonel.  He saw action at the Battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga and the Atlanta Campaign.  During the Battle of Jonesboro on September 1^st 1864 Carter had temporary command of a division.  He was promoted to Brigadier General on July 7^th 1864.  At the Battle of Franklin on November 30^th 1864 while leading his brigade, Cater received a mortal wound, which caused his death on December 10^th 1864.  He is buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Tennessee.

Death On The Creek

The Tragedy of Ebenezer Creek on December 9^th 1864 occurred when Union General Jefferson C Davis refused to let the escaped slaves following his Union Corps, cross the creek on his pontoon bridge.

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman had only twenty miles left on his “March to the Sea”, heading toward Savannah, Georgia.  Former slaves had started following his army as he began the march from Atlanta, but Sherman didn’t have the means to support them all.  With food being scarce the freedmen were encouraged to turn back, but on December 9^th 1864 there were about 640 former slaves, men, women and children following the army.

Union Brigadier General Jefferson C Davis, the leader of the XIV Corps made a decision to rid himself of theses 640 souls.  Davis had the pontoon bridge laid out across Ebenezer Creek.  He ordered his troops to cross first telling the former slaves to wait for their own safety, in case there was fight in the front.  Once the Union troops were across the bridge Davis ordered the 58^th Indiana to cut the line holding the pontoon, and the current moved the bridge about thirty-five yard away from the bank.  This left the former slaves trapped on the far side of the icy water.

At just about the same time Confederate cavalry under the command of Major General Joseph Wheeler arrived at Ebenezer Creek where the former slave had been left.  Many of the trapped men and women went into the river trying to swim across and were drowned, other were killed during the skirmish with Davis men on the other side of the river.  The Confederates left to find another way around the river, but they came back later to round up any of the former slaves left behind.

The First Dragoons Form

The Prattville Dragoons were organized December 8^th 1860 in Autauga County, Alabama.

The original idea for forming a company was made by Samuel D Oliver of Robinson Springs, Alabama.  The Prattville Dragoons were organized December 8^th 1860 in the parlor of George L Smith at Prattville, Alabama.  Each member of the company was presented with a cavalry uniform, made of black broadcloth with gold trim.  Their first Captain, as voted by the men was Jesse Cox of Mobile, Alabama.  There were 18 officers, 82 privates and 2 black cooks.  The men formed for their send off at the Prattville Academy, where they were presented with a silk flag, hand sown by the ladies of the town.

The Dragoons moved to camp in Pensacola, Florida were they were placed under Confederate General Braxton Bragg.  The men were issued arms and became a mounted unit, Company I of the 7^th Alabama Infantry.  They took part in the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.  In June 1862 most of the men reenlisted, becoming part of Company H of the 3^rd Alabama Cavalry.  They saw action throughout the rest of war particularly at Barmlet’s Station and the Battle of Perryville.

The regiment reduced by heavy losses surrendered in North Carolina on April 26^th 1865, as a part of Confederate General Joseph E Johnston army.

They Withdrew In The Night

A tactical stalemate, the Battle of Prairie Grover which was fought December 7^th 1862 ensured the Union hold on northwest Arkansas.

Confederate Major General Thomas C Hindman moved his Army of the Trans Mississippi between two Union forces under the command of Brigadier Generals James Blunt and Francis Herron.  At dawn on December 7^th 1862 Hindman moved first on Herron’s cavalry, however running into the Union infantry he lost ground.  The Confederates established a line northeast of Prairie Grove Church on a high wooded ridge.  Union artillery opened on Hindman’s line, setting up two failed Union attacks.  Confederate attacks were halted in the face of Union canister fire.  At the moment it looked as though Hindman would be successful in his attack against Harron’s troops, Blunt arrived on his left flank.

With the coming darkness of night, both side still held their part of the field.  They called a truce so that the dead could be gathered and the wounded tended to.  Hindman had blankets wrapped around the wheels of his cannon and silently withdrew during the night, giving control of northwest Arkansas to the Union troops.  The battle ended with about 1,250 Union casualties, and 1,300 Confederate.

Towing Other Ships

The USS Owasco a Union gunboat was delivered to the Navy December 6^th 1861; she was named for the Owasco Lake one of the New York Finger Lakes.

The USS Owasco was launched at Mystic, Connecticut after being built by Charles Mallory.  She was a 691 ton Unadilla class screw steamer.  She was delivered to the Union Navy at the New York Navy Yard on December 6^th 1861, and commissioned under the command of Lieutenant John Guest.  Leaving New York on February 5^th 1862 the Owasco joined Commodore David G Farragut’s flotilla at Key West, Florida.  She captured two Confederate schooners on March 16^th 1862 while on route to Ship Island, Mississippi.

The Owasco was one of seven steamers used to tow Union schooners safely in the current of the Mississippi.  When Farragut’s ships ran past Forts Jackson, and St Philip, taking the port of New Orleans in April 1862, one of the Owasco’s own, Quartermaster Edward Farrell was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.  She was with Farragut again when he moved up the river to just below Vicksburg, Mississippi.  On October 3^rd 1862 the Owasco took part in the bombing of Galveston, Texas.  She continued blockading duty taking part in the capture of Brazos Santiago, Texas on November 3^rd 1863.  The Owasco captured an English schooner carrying supplies for Confederate General John B Magruder on April 19^th 1864.

The Owasco was decommissioned July 12^th 1865 at the New York Navy Yard and sold off at auction.  She would be renamed the Lulu and was still sailing as a commercial ship in 1885.