Just One Man

Union army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient James H Robinson died July 26th 1864.


James H Robinson was born about 1844 in Oakland County, Michigan. He was living in Victor Township, Michigan when he enlisted to fight in the Civil War. Robinson mustered as a Private into Company B of the 3rd Michigan Cavalry. At Brownsville Station, Arkansas on January 27th 1864 he defended against seven Confederate fighters, by himself; killing the leader of the group a Captain W C Stephenson. For this action Robinson was awarded the Medal of Honor April 4th 1864. He died July 26th 1864 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is buried the Memphis National Cemetery.

A Letter Writer

A Corporal in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, James Henry Gooding died July 19th 1864 in Andersonville.


James Henry Gooding was born 1837 in Troy, New York. He moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts where he signed onto a Pacific whaling voyage for four years as a cook. Returning from that voyage in 1860 Gooding signed onto the Montevideo for a one year merchant voyage in the Atlantic.

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry opened a recruiting office in New Bedford in February 1863. Gooding enlisted and became a member of Company C. Shortly after enlisting Gooding began writing letters on a bi-weekly bases for the New Bedford Mercury. He received a promotion in December 1863 to corporal. Gooding was with the 54th Massachusetts during the fight for Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863. He was wounded and captured during the Battle of Oustlee in Florida on February 20th 1864. Gooding died July 19th 1864 in the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.

Another web site related to the subject and worth a look is Letter from Corporal James Henry Gooding

Find The Flank

The Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, fought on July 18th 1861, was the opening of the Manassas Campaign.


Union Brigadier General Irvin McDowell marched with 35,000 troop from Washington, DC on July 16th 1861. He was moving on the Confederates concentrating near the railroad junction at Manassas. They arrived at Fairfax Court House on July 17th 1861 and looked for a place to cross the Bull Run Creek where they could flank the Confederates. The 22,000 men under the command of Confederate Brigadier General PGT Beauregard anticipated the Union movement and guarded the fords on Bull Run.

McDowell ordered Union Brigadier General Daniel Tyler on July 18th 1861 to find the Confederate left flank. Tyler moved to Centreville which he found unoccupied. In the late morning he reached Blackburn’s Ford, and looking across the stream thought the road was clear to Manassas Junction. But Confederate Brigadier General James Longstreet was hid in the wood just beyond the Ford. Tyler ordered Union Colonel Israel B Richardson to move forward. Richardson ran into resistance from the 1st, 11th and 17th Virginia Infantry. Tyler then ordered artillery and cavalry forward. Unfortunately the 12th New York Infantry began to retreat, which caused panic to spread through out the Union line. At about this same time Confederate Colonel Jubal A Early arrived on the field, which sealed the Confederate victory.

The Union failure at Blackburn’s Ford caused McDowell to decide not to make a frontal assault on Bull Run, he instead tried to cross the stream beyond the left flank of the Confederates.

A Fight In Indian Territory

Fought in the Indian Territory, the Battle of Honey Springs on July 17th 1863, was fought mostly by African and Native Americans.


Confederate General Douglas Hancock Cooper had command of troops made up mostly of the Five Civilized Tribes. Cooper was to meet with soldiers of General William Cabell’s command from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Cooper moved toward Honey Springs a Confederate supply depot in the Indian Territory with plans to rest and link up with Cabell. Union General James G Blunt received information about the Confederate movement and decided to attack them. On the morning of July 17th 1863 the battle opened with light skirmishing, which exposed that the Confederates troops had wet gunpowder. The Union troops began a full scale attack in the afternoon, when a heavy rain increased the Confederate’s gunpowder problems. Blunt ordered his 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, under the command of Colonel James M William to attack. The Confederates held there ground and the 1st Kansas withdrew. Cooper’s men moved back toward the depot at Honey Springs for more ammunition, and the Union troops continued to engage them. Making a stand on the bridge over Elk Creek, Cooper’s men fell back further, allowing Union soldiers to turn his left flank. The Confederate troops fell back another half mile, near the Depot, where the Chickasaw and Choctaw regiments made a strong stand while the rest of Cooper’s men retreated.

Union troops moved into Honey Springs, where they burned all the supplies in the depot. The battle was a Union victory. The Battle of Honey Spring was the largest fought in Indian Territory, and opened the way for Union capture of Fort Smith.

A recommended web site on this subject is HONEY SPRINGS, BATTLE OF

A Distraction

A part of the Operation Against the Defenses of Charleston, the Battle of Grimball’s Landing was fought July 16th 1863 in James Island, South Carolina.


In order to keep Confederate reinforcements from renewing the attack on Fort Wagner, Union Brigadier General Quincy Adams Gillmore made two maneuvers. He sent a force up the Stono River to move on the railroad bridge of the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, and another landing on James Island. The James Island force was a division under the command of Brigadier General Alfred Howe Terry. After landing on July 8th 1863, Terry made a few demonstration against the Confederates, but did not attack. The Confederates commanded by Brigadier General Johnson Hagood, attacked Terry’s men July 16th 1863 at Grimball’s Landing. Do to the swampy ground, and lack of good scouting the Confederate attack soon fell apart. Union troops pulled off the Island the next day.

The First Time In Town

In Rutherford County, Tennessee on July 13th 1862 the First Battle of Murfreesboro was fought.


Union Major General Don Carlos Buell started his Army of the Ohio toward Chattanooga, Tennessee from Corinth, Mississippi on June 10th 1862. In response to this Union threat, Confederate Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest moved to Chattanooga. In early July Confederate cavalry under Forrest and Colonel John Hunt Morgan began raiding around Middle Tennessee and Kentucky.

On July 9th 1862 Forrest took two cavalry regiments and left Chattanooga. He met up with some other Confederate units, making his total force about 1,400 men. The target was the Union supply depot on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Union troops under Brigadier General Thomas Turpin Crittenden where garrisoned in three location around the town of Murfreesboro. They were made up of parts of four companies of infantry, cavalry and artillery. In the early morning of July 13th 1862 Forrest’s cavalry engaged Union picket east of Murfreesboro, and then overran a Union hospital and the camp of the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry. The Confederate soldiers then moved onto the Union troops at the Murfreesboro’s jail and courthouse. By that afternoon all of the Union troops had surrendered, a total of about 1,000 men. The Confederates destroyed the railroad tracks and most of the Union supplies. The Confederates lost about 150 men.

Served For Almost Four Years

The 5th Wisconsin a Union infantry regiment was formed July 12th 1861 in Madison, Wisconsin.


The 5th Wisconsin Infantry was formed at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin July 12th 1861. The regiment left for Washington, DC July 24th 1861, where they went into camp on Meridian Hill. The 5th was assigned to Winfield Scott Hancock’s Brigade in the Army of the Potomac. This group saw action in many of the battles of eastern theater including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. In August and September of 1863 they were placed on detached duty in Albany and Tory, New York as part of the surpresion of the draft riots. The 5th was present at Appomattox when Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered. The unit served until June 24th 1865 and were mustered out of service July 11th 1865.

The 5th mustered in 1108 men, and add another 832 so the regiment totaled 1940 men. During the course of the war they had 17 officers and 332 enlisted who were killed or died from wounds and diseases.