Old Reliable Resigns

Confederate General William Joseph Hardee resigned his United State Army commission on January 31st 1861.

William Joseph Hardee the son of Major John and Sarah [Ellis] Hardee, he was born October 12th 1815 at his families home in Camden County, Georgia. He attended the United State Military Academy at West Point, graduating 26 out of a class of 45 in 1838. Hardee was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 2nd United States Dragoons. The Army sent him to France in 1840 to study military tactics. During the Mexican - American War Hardee was serving under General Zachary Taylor when he was captured at Carricitos Ranch, Texas. After being exchanged on May 11th 1846 he served under General Winfield Scott and was wounded at La Rosia, Mexico in 1847. He wrote “Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics” [known as “Hardee’s Tactics”] in 1855. Hardee returned to West Point where he taught tactics and served from 1856 to 1860 as commandant of cadets.

When Georgia seceded from the United States, Hardee resigned his commission on January 31st 1861. He became at Colonel in the Confederate States Army on March 7th 1861, with command of Fort Morgan in Alabama. Hardee was made a Lieutenant General October 10th 1862. His assignment was to organize an Arkansas regiment. Do to his seeing that his men were well supplied, they nicked named him “Old Reliable”. Hardee was a Corps commander in General Albert Sidney Johnston’s Army of Mississippi during the Battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded. His Corps was defeated by Union Major General George Henry Thomas during their assault on Missionary Ridge as part of the Battle of Chickamauga. Hardee was in the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865, where his only son 16 year old William was mortally wounded. Hardee surrendered to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham Station April 26th 1865.

Following the war Hardee went back to his wife’s plantation in Alabama. He latter moved to Selma, Alabama where Hardee worked in insurance and warehousing. He would become the president of the Selma and Meridian railroad, and co-author the book “The Irish in America” in 1868. Hardee took sick while with his family on vacation in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and died November 6th 1873 in Wytherville, Virginia. He is buried in the Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Alabama.

A Ship On Both Sides

The steamer USS Isaac Smith a Union warship was captured by the Confederate Navy during the Civil War on January 30th 1863.

The USS Isaac Smith a 453 ton screw steam boat, was built in 1861 by Lawrence and Foulks in Nyack, New Jersey for service on the Hudson River. The USS Isaac Smith was assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron on October 16th 1861, and was part of the assault on Port Royal, South Carolina. She joined the expedition to Savannah, Georgia on January 21st 1862 led by Captain Charles H Davis which was a diversionary attack to draw attention off an action in Fernandina, Florida. The USS Isaac Smith captured the blockade runner the British Empire on April 3rd 1862. After being beached for repairs in New York City from August 10th 1862 to October 11th 1862, the USS Isaac Smith was ordered to the Stono River by Rear Admiral Du Pont.

On January 30th 1863 the USS Isaac Smith sailed into a cross fire set up from batteries on the shore. Her deck was quickly covered with wounded and dead, and the ship was disabled by an accurate fire. The captain surrendered the USS Isaac Smith, which had 8 dead and 17 wounded. She was used by the Confederate navy and renamed the CSS Stono. While attempting to run a blockade June 5th 1863 she sank off Charleston.

A Compromise

The Compromise of 1850 presented to Congress on January 29th 1850 defused the confrontations between non slave and slave states for a time.

The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, which passed in September 1850 after eight months of politicking. It help to sooth the resistance between the Southern slave holding states and the Northern non-slave states. The Compromise was presented on January 29th 1850. The Compromise became possible after the death of President Zachary Taylor, it was drafted by Senator Henry Clay a prominent Whig from Kentucky, and pushed through congress by Illinios Democrat Stephen A Douglas. Although neither side was truly happy with all the provision of the Compromise, it was met with relief. Texas gave up its claim to New Mexico, but received the Panhandle and debt forgiveness. The south gave up Southern California, but got possible popular sovereignty slave states in the Utah and New Mexico Territories. The Compromise also included a tougher Fugitive Slave Act which did not make the Northern states happy.

The Thanks Of A Nation

Union General George Gordon Meade and the Army of the Potomac received a “Thanks of Congress” January 28th 1864 for their part in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Originally a formal governmental thanks, the “Thanks of Congress” was a series of resolutions passed by the United States Congress for victories or impressive military actions. These “Thanks of Congress” began during the American Revolutionary War, and were often accompanied by a commemorative medal. “Thanks of Congress” during the Civil War were published in Statutes at Large. Fifteen Union Army officers and fifteen Union Navy officers were named in these act during the Civil War. The first “Thanks of Congress” to be awarded during the Civil War was for "the gallant and patriotic services of the late Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, and the officers and soldiers under his command at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on 10 Aug. 1861."

The United States Congress awarded five “Thanks of Congress” on January 28th 1864. They were given to Nathaniel P Bank, Ambrose E Burnside, Joseph Hooker, Oliver Otis Howard, and George G Meade.

Do Something Already

President Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter on January 27th 1862, directing General George B  McClellan to get his butt moving.

President Abraham Lincoln became convinced after waiting for months, that Union General George B McClellan had no plans of attacking the Confederate armies of Northern Virginia. The letter contained General War Order Number 1. It directed all Union land and naval forces to move to action. It specified a forward movement to begin on George Washington’s birthday. It’s unlikely that Lincoln really believed much would happen.

The Other Athens

The Battle of Athens in Alabama, took place on January 26th 1864.

Union forces of the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry under Captain Emil Adams were attacked at the Battle of Athens on January 26th 1864. At about four in the morning 600 men of the Confederate 1st Alabama Cavalry under Lieutenant Col Moses W Hannon made an attack against the Union defenders in Athens, Alabama. Although out numbered by six to one and with no fortification Captain Adams’ men were able to hold for two hour, and finally force the Confederates to retreat. There were about twenty Union and thirty Confederate casualties.

Woman POW

Florena Budwin, who disguised herself as a man during the Civil War, died January 25th 1865 in a Confederate Prison.

Florena Budwin was born about 1845, [this was most likely not her real name].  She disguised herself as a man and followed her husband a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania soldier to war. Both were captured and sent to Andersonville. Budwin’s husband died in that notorious Confederate prison camp. When Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s troops got close to Andersonville, Budwin and many other prisoners were moved to the Florence Stockade in Florence, South Carolina. There were about 16,000 Union prisoners held in the Florence Stockade between September 15th 1864 and February 1865. Her gender was discovered after a routine exam by a doctor, a few months before her death. She was moved to a private room and put to work in the prison hospital. Budwin became ill with one of the many epidemics raging through the camp and died January 25th 1865. She is buried in the Florence National Cemetery grave D-2480. It is thought that she is the first woman to be buried in a National Cemetery.