The Road To The End

The day before the Confederate loss at the Battle of Five Forks, on March 31st 1865 the Battle of White Oak road was fought.

Confederate General Robert E Lee moved his reinforcements March 30th 1865 to cover a Union movement on his right flank. Confederate Major WHF Rooney Lee’s cavalry moved to Five Forks, and Major General George Pickett’s division to Bermuda Hundred. The V Corps under Union Major General Gouverneur K Warren entrenched along the Boydton Plank Road, and Major General Romeyn B Ayres moved toward White Oak Road. On March 31st 1865 Warren moved his Corps on the Confederates entrenched along the White Oak Road. The plan being to cut Confederate communications with Pickett. A counterattack by Confederate Major General Bushrod Johnson slowed up the Union advance, however Warren’s men pulled it together and by the end of the day, the Union held the road.

Confederate loss were about 750, Union about 1,900.

A Man Of Others

Union Army Officer James Burton Pond was awarded the Medal of Honor on March 30th 1898 for his actions at the Battle of Baxter Springs.

James Burton Pond was born June 11th 1838 in Cuba, Allegany, New York. He moved with his family to Illinois in 1844 and then Wisconsin in 1847. Pond was an abolitionist, and reportedly a station master on the Underground Railroad. He learned the print trade working at several Fond du Lac County newspapers. He worked as a publisher, running “The Journal” in Markesan, Wisconsin 1860-61.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Pond enlisted in the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry as a lieutenant. He fought Confederate William Quantrill and his Raiders at the Battle of Baxter Springs October 6th 1863. It was for his action during this battle that Pond was awarded the Medal of Honor. At the end of the war Pond had reached the rank of Major.

Following the war Pond began a career as a manager. His first client was Ann Eliza Young the 52nd wife of Brigham Young, who Pond set up on a national speaking tour. He bought the Lyceum Theatre Lecture Bureau, and moved his office to New York City. Among the people Pond managed were Mark Twain, PT Barnum, Frederick Douglass and Winston Churchill. He wrote a book about his work called “Eccentricities of Genius” in 1900. Pond died from complications of an amputation June 21st 1903. He is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

Pond’s Medal of Honor award read, “For extraordinary heroism on 6 October 1863, while serving with Company C, 3d Wisconsin Cavalry, in action at Baxter Springs, Kansas. While in command of two companies of Cavalry, First Lieutenant Pond was surprised and attacked by several times his own number of guerrillas, but gallantly rallied his men, and after a severe struggle drove the enemy outside the fortifications. First Lieutenant Pond then went outside the works and, alone and unaided, fired a howitzer three times, throwing the enemy into confusion and causing him to retire.”

The First Band

The United State 1st Cavalry Band left their post in Fort Mason, Texas March 29th 1861, when it was turned over to the Texas Confederate Authorities.

The 1st United States Cavalry Band was created March 3rd 1855. In December of that year it was organized at Camp Verde, Texas. The band was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry in Texas. It took part in the war with the Comanche in 1856.

With Civil War on the brink the Band along with the United State 2nd Cavalry left their post March 29th 1861. Fort Mason, Texas was turned over to the Texas Confederates. The Band arrived at the Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where they were reorganized and were assigned to Union General George B McClellen’s Army of the Potomac. The Band members turned infantrymen fought in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21st 1861. Then under an act of congress August 3rd 1861 the Band along with the 2nd United States Cavalry were reassigned as the 5th United States Cavalry Regiment. The Band supported the regiment through out the war, including actions at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Appomattox.

When the war ended the Band was disbanded at Camp Sedgwick, Washington, DC December 1866. Threes years later the Band was brought back, reorganized and reassigned to the 5th United States Cavalry. It took part in the Indian Wars, and in 1916 the Band was part of General Pershing’s Mexican Expeditionary Force.

A Vermonter In Montana

Union General and United States Representative Henry Dana Washburn was born March 28th 1832.

Henry Dana Washburn was born March 28th 1832 in Windsor, Vermont. His family moved west shortly after his birth. He received his early education in local common schools, before becoming a tanner. He then attended and graduated from the New York State and National Law School, joining the bar in 1853. Washburn took up a practice in Newport, Indiana.

Washburn enlisted in the Union Army on August 16th 1861. He served with the 18th Indiana Infantry, as their Lieutenant Colonel. He received a promotion to Colonel with the Regiment July 15th 1862. Washburn and the 18th Indiana took part in the Siege of Vicksburg, and were with General Philip H Sheridan during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Washburn received a brevet on July 26th 1865 to Major General, and mustered out of service August 26th 1865.

Washburn returned to his law practice after the war ended, and he took up politics. He ran as a Republican, and served in Congress from 1866 to 1869. He took an appointment in 1869 as the Surveyor General of Montana. He was the head of the Washburn - Langford - Doane Expedition which explored what would become Yellowstone National Park. Washburn returned to his home in Clinton, Indiana. He died there January 26th 1871 and is buried in the Riverside Cemetery there.

Encircled Fort Falls

Beginning March 27th 1865 and running through April 8th 1865 the Battle of Spanish Fort was fought in Baldwin County Alabama.

Although the Union won the Battle of Mobile Bay, Mobile itself remained under Confederate control. On the eastern defense of Mobile was the heavily fortified Spanish Fort. Union Major General Edward R S Canby’s XIII and XVI Corp’s embarked on a land campaign, moving along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, pushing the Confederates back into their defenses. The Union troops focused on Spanish Fort, five miles to the north of Mobile. Canby’s Corps met on March 27th 1865 at Danley’s Ferry and began a siege of the fort. They had completely encircled Spanish Fort by April 1st 1865 and captured it on April 8th 1865. The Confederate troops under the command of Brigadier General Randall L Gibson mostly escaped and retreated to Mobile. There were 744 Confederate casualties and 657 Union losses.

Kind Of Late In The Game

An attack by the Confederate Major General John B Gordon that brought on the Battle of Fort Stedman on March 25th 1865, was an attempt to break the siege on Petersburg.

Confederate General Robert E Lee’s army of Northern Virginia had spent the last nine months in and around Petersburg, Virginia along a 37 mile long front. His supplies were short, and the Confederate soldiers there had suffered through a ruff winter. Lee had to break the Union hold. He pulled 12,000 soldiers, about half his army and massed them on the Union right, where the lines were only about 150 yards apart. The attack was to be focused on Fort Stedman and its 4 cannon.

On March 25th 1865 at 4am Confederate General John B Gordon’s skirmishers quickly overtook Union pickets. These were followed by ax men who cleared barriers in front of the fort. Fort Stedman under command of Union Major General John G Parke, fell in the first wave of Confederate attackers. This opened up a mile wide gap in the Union line. They turned the Fort’s captured cannons, using them to fire into nearby forts. Other of Gordon’s troops moved out into the trenches and batteries. Those Union soldiers who weren't taken prisoner, regrouped and slowed up the Confederate movement. Union reinforcements began massing for a counterattack. The counterattack placed the Confederates under a galling crossfire.

By 8am Lee who had been watching the attack, ordered Gordon to call it off. Many hundreds of Confederate soldiers surrendered. The battle was very costly for the Army of Northern Virginia, they lost over 2,900 men. Union losses were about 950.

A Life Time In The Sadle

Union Cavalry officer and Medal of Honor recipent Abraham Kerns Arnold was born March 24th 1837.

Abraham Kerns Arnold was born March 24th 1837 in Bedford, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1859. He was sent to the Western frontier where he was stationed at Fort Inge in the cavalry. Following the start of the Civil War Arnold was assigned to command the 5th United States Cavalry and promoted to Captain on July 12th 1862. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery “by a gallant charge against a superior force of the enemy, extricated his command from a perilous position in which it had been ordered" May 10th 1864 at the Battle of Davenport Bridge in Virginia. Arnold received a brevet to Major after the Battle of Todd’s Tavern, Virginia May 7th 1864.

Arnold stayed in the service after the war ended, where he was promoted to full Major in the 6th United State Regular Cavalry. Sent back out West, Arnold saw action in the Indian Wars, including the Battle of Cibecue in 1881 and the Expedition Against the Crow in 1887. Twenty-nine years after the battle at Davenport Bridge his Medal was awarded him September 1st 1893. He accepted a field commission during the Spanish - American War of Brigadier General where he led the 2nd United States Division of the 7th Army Corps in Cuba. Arnold would end his military career March 25th 1901 as the Colonel of the 1st United States Cavalry. He died November 3rd 1901 in Cold Springs - on - the - Hudson, New York. Arnold is buried in the Cemetery of Saint Philip’s Church in Garrison, New York.