The Loving Story

Oliver Loving, one of the great cattle men of Texas and a suplier of beef to the Confederacy, died on September 25th 1867.

Oliver Loving was born in Hopkins County Kentucky December 4th 1812 the son of Joseph and Susannah Mary (Bourland) Loving , he married in 1833 to Susan Doggett Morgan. He moved his family to Texas in 1843, where he farmed and worked at a teamster. By 1857 he was living in Palo Pinto County Texas and owned 1000 acres of land. Besides land he also had a large herd of cattle, which he quickly found were profitable if driven north. In 1860 Loving drove a herd of 1500 cattle north to Denver Colorado, where miners were in need of meat.

After selling the beef in Denver Loving was ready to return to Texas, however by that time the Civil War had started and he was detained by the Union Army. It was only through the efforts of Colonel Kit Carson and the wealthy Lucien Maxwell, that Loving was set free to return home. Upon getting back to Texas Loving contracted with the Confederate Army to supply them with beef for their troops. When the war ended Loving was still owed about two hundred thousand dollars, for diliverys to the Confederate Army.

After the war Loving met another Texas cattle rancher, Charles Goodnight. The two became close friends and business partners. Selling cattle to the US Army, their trail through New Mexico and Colorado became known as the Goodnight - Loving Trail. In 1867 on a drive north, Loving with a scout Bill Wilson, traveled ahead of the herd to secure government contracts. They ran into a party of Comanche Indians, and in the skirmish Loving was wounded. Loving sent Wilson back for help from Goodnight. Loving managed to evade the Indians for three day, before he flagged down a wagon and was taken into Fort Sumner New Mexico. Loving died from gangrene September 25th 1867. He got a promise from his friend Goodnight to take him back to Texas where he was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford Texas.

Some other interesting web sites about this subject
The Real Lonesome Dove

The Story of Oliver Loving and the Goodnight-Loving Trail

End Of The Sioux Uprising

The Battle of Wood Lake in Minnesota on September 23rd 1862 was the beginning of the end of the Minnesota Sioux uprising.

Colonel Henry Hastings Sibley set out on September 19th 1862 with about 1,400 volunteers; among them 300 members of the 3rd Minnesota who were on parole after being captured by the Confederates at Murfreesboro. They left from Fort Ridgely to put down the Santee Sioux who were raiding in Minnesota. The soliders were nearly ambushed by 700 Indians under Chief Little Crow on September 23rd 1862 as the force approached Wood Lake. Sibley’s men were saved from ambush by some of the soldiers from the 3rd Minnesota Regiment who were looking for food. The Sioux shot at them, they returned the fire, and the sound of battle brought the rest of Sibley’s troops into the fray. The fight went on for two hours. US forces inflicted heavy casualties on the Sioux, winning the day.

Sibley was promoted to Brigadier General for his actions during this command. The battle led to the release of white captives held by the Sioux, who had been taken during the Sioux uprising.

An Acoustical Shadow

The Confederate Army of the West found themselves in the Battle of Iuka on September 19th 1862.

Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s main column arrived in Iuka, Mississippi on September 14th 1862. He had been ordered by his commander General Braxton Bragg to keep the Union army in Mississippi from moving into Tennessee.

Union General William Rosecrans began his march to Iuka, Mississippi at 4:30 am on September 19th 1862. Price had planned to rendezvous with General Earl Van Dorn, but saw that he could not evacuate Iuka at that time. As Rosecrans’s men advanced they fought an action with the Confederates along the route. At about 4pm the Union column halted on the top of a hill, because the Confederates were in the ravine below which was filled with trees and underbrush. The Confederate troops embarked on an attack up the hill, where they took an Ohio battery. The fighting went on until dark. Although by all accounts the fighting was heated, an acoustical shadow kept all sound from the battle from being heard just two miles away where other Union troops were located. Rosecrans’ men camped behind the ridge and Price redeployed his troops across their front.

Following the 19th’s battle Price planned to reengage the enemy, but his subordinates convinced him to join his army up with Van Dorn. The Union army occupied Iuka, before making a pursuit on September 20th 1862. The Confederate rearguard and a heavily overgrown terrain prevented the chase from amounting to much. The Union saw casualties of about 800 killed, wounded or missing. The Confederate side saw about 1500 casualties from the battle.

The Newest Slave Act

The Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress September 18th 1850.

Passed by mostly southern congressmen as part of the Compromise of 1850, The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, was meant to deter slaves from escape and other American citizens from helping those escapees. The law stipulated that no American citizen could assist an escaped slave. More than this it stated that if an escaped slave was sighted he should be captured and turned over to the authorities for return to their rightful owner.

In 1842 the US Supreme Court ruled in Prigg vs. Pennsylvania that states; under current law, did not have to return runaway slaves. In order to pacify the south the law was tightened up in 1850. It included the rights of slave owners to organize posses to go anywhere in the United States to recapture escaped slaves. The act stated that any federal marshal who didn’t arrest an escaped slave could be fined $1,000. Should any one provide a runway with food or shelter or aid of any kind they could be jailed for up to six months and fined $1,000.

A Horse Shoe Caused The Explosion

On September 17th 1862 the Allegheny Arsenal, an important manufacturing and supply depot for the Union Army blew up.

At about 2pm on Wednesday September 17th 1862 the Allegheny Arsenal in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, which is located about 5 miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania exploded. Colonel John Symington the commander of the arsenal rushed from his quarters when he heard the sound of the explosion. As he approached the arsenal there were two more explosions. A volunteer fire company from Pittsburgh came to assisted in fighting the fire, using a bucket brigade of water to put out the flames.

By the times the flames were out, the Arsenal had been reduced to rubble. There were 78 deaths at the lab, all workers who were mostly women. Fifty-four of the bodies were never identified and were buried in a mass grave at the Allegheny Cemetery. The explosion is thought to have been caused when a metal horse shoe made a spark in the roadway near the arsenal and set off several barrels of gunpowder. A Coroner’s Jury held Colonel Symington responsible for the explosion, as he and his subordinate had allowed loose black powder to accumulate in the roadway and around the arsenal. The military inquiry into the explosion found Symington innocent of any wrong doing.

The explosion of the Allegheny Arsenal was superseded by the news of the Battle of Antietam which took place the same day in Sharpsburg Maryland.

The Two Armys Met

Union Major General George B McClellan on September 16th 1862 the Army of the Potomac met up at Sharpsburg Maryland with Confederate General Robert E Lee‘s Army of Northern Virginia. The next morning on September 17th 1862 Union General Joseph Hooker mounted an assault on the Confederate left flank setting off the bloodiest day in American military history.

Death's Of Two General

Fox’s Gap, one part of three battles known collectively as the Battle of South Mountain were fought on September 14th 1862.

The Battle of Fox Gap was one of the three battle fought on September 14th 1862, known as the Battle of South Mountain. Major General George B McClellan’s Army of the Potomac needed the passes in order to pursue General Robert E Lee’s Confederate Army of the Northern Virginia. Confederate General A P Hill’s division defended Fox Gap against Brigadier General Jacob D Cox. Cox’s Kanawha Division attack at 9am and secured south side of the gap. The Union troops pushed through the North Carolina troops at the crest of the gap, but were exhausted when they got there, and the failed to drive the Confederates out. Major General Jesse Reno sent in more Union troops, but they were unable to dislodge the Confederates due to Brigadier General John Bell Hood’s reinforcements.

At the end of the day, with Crampton’s Gap lost to the Confederates and Fox’s and Turner’s Gap sketchy at best, Lee ordered a withdrawal from the area. Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Garland Jr and Union Major General Jesse Reno were both killed in nearly the same spot at Fox’s Gap, with in hours of eachother. With Confederates broke up, McClellan could have closed in but instead gave Lee time pull his divisions together in time for the coming battle of Antietam.

Another good web site
The Battle of South Mountain Fox's Gap