Monthly Archives: January 2012

January 12, 1862: Letter from escaped slave to his wife

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Escaped slaves fled to the camps of the Union army, trusting that they would find freedom there. One such slave wrote a letter on January 12, 1862: Maryland Fugitive Slave to His Wife Upton Hill [Va.]  January the 12 1862 My … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, Contrabands, Slavery, Virginia | Leave a comment

January, 1862: What shall be done with the freed slaves?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Allen Gathman

From Douglass’ Monthly for January 1862, a plea for justice for the former slaves. Unfortunately, events wound up going almost entirely contrary to Douglass’ prescription. WHAT SHALL BE DONE WITH THE SLAVES IF EMANCIPATED? It is curious to observe, at … Continue reading →

Posted in Frederick Douglass, Slavery | 1 Comment

January 10, 1861: Still working on Grant’s feint

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Halleck ordered Grant to make a feint southward into Kentucky from Paducah, but he wasn’t prepared to send any troops from Missouri except a couple of unarmed regiments. Turns out even those were delayed. The 10th of January saw another … Continue reading →

Posted in C.F. Smith, Don Carlos Buell, George McClellan, Henry Halleck, Kentucky, Ulysses S. Grant | Leave a comment

January 9, 1861: Grant organizes a feint

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Allen Gathman

McClellan, Lincoln, and Buell all called on Halleck to attack the Confederates in western Kentucky to keep them from sending troops against Buell in the center of the state. After considerable resistance, Gen. Halleck, unwilling to send a real force … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew H. Foote, C.F. Smith, Don Carlos Buell, George McClellan, Henry Halleck, John A. McClernand, Kentucky, Ulysses S. Grant | Leave a comment

January 9, 1862: Halleck: I’m doing something!

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Halleck After over a week of fevered communication among the President, Gen. McClellan, Gen. Buell, and Gen. Halleck, Halleck reports to McClellan that he is taking action. Much of the dispatch is justification for his failure to send a strong … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Don Carlos Buell, George McClellan, Henry Halleck | Leave a comment

January 8, 1862: Grant will move

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Gen. C.F. Smith In the comedy of excuses, pleas, and vacillation that had characterized the planned move on East Tennessee for a week or so, someone finally stepped up to the plate. Halleck ordered Grant to move south in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Henry Halleck, Ulysses S. Grant | Leave a comment

January 7, 1862: Lincoln tells Buell and Halleck to move it.

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Allen Gathman

Lincoln is starting to show a little impatience with Halleck and Buell’s reluctance to move. Here he demands a date for Buell’s operation. Halleck on the same day tells Buell that all he can provide is a feint. From the … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Don Carlos Buell, Henry Halleck, Kentucky, Tennessee | Leave a comment

January 6, 1862: Halleck orders Grant to move

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Allen Gathman

On the same day that he sent a lengthy dispatch to the President explaining why he couldn’t attack Columbus seriously, Halleck decided to order Brig. Gen. Grant to make a feint in the direction of Tennessee — apparently the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Henry Halleck, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ulysses S. Grant | Leave a comment

January 6, 1862: Halleck can’t move

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Allen Gathman

A nice 19th-century Photoshop job of Halleck in a heroic pose In response to Lincoln’s and Buell’s urging, and before he could even have seen the dispatch from McClellan, Halleck wrote back to the President to explain why he couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Don Carlos Buell | Leave a comment

January 6, 1862: McClellan tells Buell to go to east Tennessee

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Allen Gathman

For the past week or so, Lincoln has been trying to get his generals in the west to coordinate their movements in a design ultimately to move on east Tennessee, where unionist partisans are fighting a guerrilla war. The Civil … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Don Carlos Buell, George McClellan, Henry Halleck, Kentucky, Tennessee | Leave a comment