He Served Through Out The War

Union Brigadier General Green Berry Raum a politician, author and lawyer died December 18th 1909.

Green Berry Raum was born December 3rd 1829 in Golconda, Illinois. He attended local schools, studied law and admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1853.

Raum enlisted in the Union Army when the Civil War started. He was a Major in the 56th Illinois Infantry, and was their Colonel by 1862. Serving under Major General William S Rosecrans during the Siege of Corinth, Raum ordered the charge on the Confederate left, capturing an artillery battery. They were part of the army at the surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi in July 1863, and he led the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division of the XVII Corps at Chattanooga. Raum was wounded at the Battle of Missionary Ridge November 1863. In 1864 Raum’s brigade held the line of communication during the Atlanta Campaign. He received a brevet to Brigadier General in September 1864. He and his men were called in to reinforce Resaca, Georgia in October and held the town against Confederate General John Bell Hood. He served through to the end of the war.

Following the war Raum returned to his home in Illinois. In 1866 he secured the charter for the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad and became its first president. He ran for and served as a Congressmen for two terms. Raum was the United States Commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service from 1876 through 1883. He oversaw the Commission of Pension, rejecting or accepting Union Civil War pension application from 1889 to 1893. Raum spent the rest of his life practicing law in Chicago, Illinois. He died December 18th 1909, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

They Were In A Battle Before They Mustered

The 14th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry was mustered into the Union Army, December 10th 1861 for three years.

Organized at Camp Wallace near Louise, Kentucky, the 14th Kentucky Infantry was mustered in December 10th 1861 for a three year enlistment. They were under the command of Colonel Laban Theodore Moore. The 14th saw action before mustering in at Ivey’s Mountain on November 8th 1861 on the border of Virginia. They were active through out the war mostly in the western theater. The 14th was ordered to join General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Atlanta Campaign, were they participated in the actions; until moving against Confederate General John Bell Hood in Alabama and Tennessee. The 14th saw losses of 201 men during the war, 49 enlisted and 5 officer where killed, and 142 enlisted and 5 officer died from disease. The 14th mustered out of service September 15th 1865 at Louisa, Kentucky.

The Chief Engineer Of The Confederacy

Chief Engineer of the Confederate Army, Jeremy Francis Gilmer died December 1st 1883.


Jeremy Francis Gilmer was born February 23rd 1818 in Guilford County, North Carolina. He graduated fourth in his class at West Point in 1839, and entered the army corps of engineers as a second Lieutenant. Gilmer started as an assistant professor of engineering at West Point, before being assigned to Fort Schuyler in New York City. During the Mexican - American War he was the Chief Engineer of the United States Army of the West, located in the New Mexico Territory, he also surveyed battlefields near Mexico City. Through 1861 Gilmer was in San Francisco California working on harbor improvements, and fortifications.

Gilmer resigned his commission when the Civil War started, and joined the Confederate army. He was appointed as a Major in engineers. He was quickly promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and worked on the staff of General Albert Sidney Johnston. He was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, and after recovering was promoted in August 1862 to Brigadier General and stationed in Richmond Virginia. In 1863 Gilmer was appointed to the Chief of Engineer Bureau for the Confederacy, overseeing the building and maintance of defenses in Charleston South Carolina. It came along with the promotion to Major General. Gilmer saw that Atlanta was weak and a likely target for the Union, he developed a plan of forts and earthworks that ringed the city. He returned to Richmond Virginia in 1864 and spent the rest of the war there.

When war was over Gilmer was the director of the Georgia Central Railroad, and until his death was the president of the Savannah Gas Company in Savannah Georgia. He died in Savannah December 1st 1883, and is buried the Laurel Grove Cemetery.

Another web site worth a look - Gilmer Civil War Maps

A State Holiday

The movie “Gone With the Wind” premiered December 15th 1939 in Atlanta Georgia.

December 15th 1939 was the culmination of a three day celebration for the premier of the movie “Gone With The Wind” in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta Mayor William B Hartsfield hosted receptions and a parade with the stars of the film riding in limousines, past thousands of Confederate flags. Georgia Governor Eurith D Rivers declared December 15th to be a state holiday. Years later President Jimmy Carter would say it was “the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime."

Due to “Jim Crow” laws however, the black actors in the film; like Hattie McDaniel, were not allowed to attend the premier. When Clark Gable learned that these actors were being barred from the theater he threatened to boycott the event, but McDaniel talked him into attending.

Lost A Regiment

General William Tecumseh Sherman lost a whole regiment on August 11th 1864 during the siege of Atlanta Georgia. The loss however was not due to fighting. The 1st Regiment of East Tennessee Infantry had been the first opponents of secession to volunteer for the Union Army in August 1861. and their three year were up.

The commander of the Army of the Ohio, General John McAllister Schofield issued a special order honoring the First for its service to the Union cause. The soldiers were told take a train to Knoxville Tennessee, where they were mustered out of the service.

Sherman in Atlanta

On September 5, 1864 Gen William Tecumseh Sherman arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, the first step toward the long march to the sea.

The Union Army began the long continuous artillery shelling of the city of Atlanta, Georgia on August 9th 1864. This continued until the September 2nd 1864 when the Mayor of Atlanta surrendered the city to Colonel John Coburn. Two days after Sherman arrived in Atlanta, he issued an ordered for the inhabitants of the city to leave, for their own safety. From this time through November, Sherman’s forces remained in the city, defensively holding it against John B Hood’s troops.