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.