#OTD May 29, 1864
Action at Moulton
Long's Ohio Cav. Brig.
4 k, 14 w
Roddey's Cav., Dist N.
Ala.
Roddey: "Attacked at daylight…Force I engaged…3,000."
Patterson:"Desperate engagement…3 hrs…Drove the enemy…ammunition…exhausted."
Irvine:Lost "50 men…Maj. R.W. Johnson."
#OTD Jun. 21, 1864
Pillow's Lafayette, Ga. Raid
Gadsden
BG G.J. Pillow, Cav. Div., Dist. of N. Ala.: "Armistead is across, Neely crosses above, & my wagons below, but they not only have to ferry the river Coosa but smaller streams. I shall take no vehicles…beyond Blue Pond."
#OTD Jun. 20, 1864
Pillow's Lafayette, Ga. Raid
Brig. Gen. G.J. Pillow, Cav. Div.: "Moved with 1,600 men…toward N. Ga…My orders contemplated an interruption of the enemy's line of communication w/ Chattanooga."
Col. J.J. Neely, Cav. Brig.: "Moving thence to Jacksonville."
#OTD Jun. 19, 1864
Granger's Dist. of N. Ala.
Decatur
Pvt. A.A. Van Vlack, Co. F, 18th Mich. Inf.: "Regt. went out on a scout last night. We went out 5 miles. We did not see any Rebs. They come up within sight of our pickets most every day but they do not offer to shoot at us."
#OTD Jun. 18, 1864
Pillow's N. Ala. Ops
Oxford
Col. J.J. Neely, Cav. Brig.: "Received orders from Brig. Gen. Pillow to prepare 4 days' cooked rations & be ready to move w/ 40 rounds of ammunition."
16th CS Cav.: "W/ Ball's Ala. Regt. & Harrell's Btn….were formed into a Brig."
#OTD Jun. 17, 1864
Selma Dispatch: "Yankees captured by Gen. Forrest in N. Miss. [Brice's Crossroads], about 1000 in number, arrived here by the A.&M. RR…evening."
"These wretched creatures passed through our city…They were dirty, illy clad & very miserable in appearance."
#OTD Jun. 16, 1864
Pillow's N. Ala. Ops
(organization of Cav. Div.)
Arrival Cav. Regts.:
16th C.S.
8th (Ball's/Hatch's) Ala.
Oxford
Col. C.G. Armistead, 16th C.S. Cav.: "Ordered to report to Brig. Gen. G.J. Pillow at Selma, & by him ordered to Blue Mtn., thence to this place."
#OTD Jun. 15, 1864
March of
C.L. Matthies' 3d Brig., J.E. Smith's 3d Div., XV Corps
93d Ill.: "Marched to near Madison Stn."
5th Iowa: "Marched w/ the Brig. for Huntsville…15 miles."
26th Mo.: "Left Decatur."
17th NY.: "Crossed the pontoon bridge."
32d Wisc. "Regt. moved."
#OTD Jun. 14, 1864
USS Itasca "went out w/ the Adm. to reconnoiter the channel. A Ram came out to meet her…she came back."
Farragut: "Took…refugees…They say…Buchanan…will come out…when the weather suits him-very smooth, & that he will come w/ his whole force, & at night."
#OTD Jun. 13, 1864
Ops Dist. of N. Ala.
W.H. Marshall, Co. C, 18th Mich. Inf.: "Went on across the Tenn. river on the pontoon bridge to Decatur…We got to camp and 7 am & pitched our pup tents in the rain."
3d Brig., 3d Div., XV Corps: "18 Mich…is larger than our whole Brig."
#OTD Jun. 12 1864
Operations Dist. of N. Ala.
18th Mich. Inf.: "We arrived at Decatur
Junction at 10 P.M."
10 days earlier:
BG R.S. Granger,
1st Brig., 4th Div., XX Corps relieves MG J.E. Smith, 3d Div., XV Corps, transferred to Ga.
Established
Dist. of N. Ala.
HQ Decatur
#OTD Jun. 11, 1864
Lieut. T.W. Fanning, Co. G, 9th Ohio Cav.: "We were ordered to Decatur and the 2d Btn. left Mooresville at 11 pm, arriving at Decatur at 2 this am. Left Decatur at 4 am for a place 20 miles distant where Roddy was stationed, but he…left for some other point."
#OTD Jun. 10, 1864
Mobile Bay
Lieut. James D. Johnston, Cmdg. Ram CSS Tennessee: "Steamer Gaines came ahead; sent her hawser, & she towed us to a position nearer to Ft. Morgan & commanding channel."
off Mobile Bay
USS Brooklyn: "The Rebs have been very active with their Rams."
#OTD Jun. 8, 1864
USS Brooklyn, off Mobile Bay
Lieut. C.F. Blake, Master: "Target practice. Made two good shots myself, all I tried."
Cpl. MM Oviatt, Marine: "We also fired 3 shots at the lighthouse at Ft. Gaines. 2 of them struck on the beach. These were from the 60# rifle."
#OTD Jun. 7, 1864
"Chased in by…5…vessels, which kept up a steady fire."
Lt. J.D. Johnston, CSS Tennessee: "Heavy firing to the eastward at 4 am. The Denbigh came safely in & hove to off Ft. Morgan."
Adm. D.G. Farragut, USS Hartford: "We came very near catching the Denbigh."
#OTD Jun. 6, 1864
Mobile:"Steamer Donegal, in attempting to run the blockade, was captured."
US Galena:"Metacomet arrived…w/ a splendid steamer captured…while attempting to run into Mobile…400 bbls powder & rifles on board…would have been a valuable addition to the Rebels."
After the surrender of Confederate forces under Confederate General Richard Taylor in Citronelle, Alabama, on May 4, 1865, the respective staffs of both sides met at a social luncheon. Union General Peter Joseph Osterhaus, a recent "German 48er" immigrant, approached General Taylor and spoke in broken English. Osterhaus told Taylor that Southerners would now be instructed in the true American principles to learn to become good Americans.
Taylor, the son of a President and the grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier, responded with biting, witty sarcasm.
From Taylor's memoirs,
"I apologized meekly for my ignorance, on the ground that my ancestors had come from England to Virginia in 1608, and, in the short intervening period of two hundred and fifty-odd years, had found no time to transmit to me correct ideas of the duties of American citizenship. Moreover, my grandfather, commanding the 9th Virginia regiment in our Revolutionary army, had assisted in the defeat and capture of the Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, and I lamented that he had not, by association with these worthies, enlightened his understanding. My friend smiled blandly and assured me of his willingness to instruct me. Happily for the world, since the days of Huss and Luther, neither tyranny nor taste can repress the Teutonic intellect in search of truth or exposure of error. A kindly, worthy people, the Germans, but wearing on occasions."
The absurdity of an immigrant Union officer, ignorant of American Founding principles, political history, and culture, lecturing an old-stock Southerner, whose family had been here from the very beginning, on Americanism.
#OTD Jun. 5, 1864
Moulton
Brig. Gen. P.D. Roddey, Cmdg. Cavalry, Dist. N. Ala.: "[Forrest] ordered me to be ready at a moment's warning to march."
Capt. W.H. Jarman, Escort Co.: "[Johnson's Brig.] of Gen. Roddey's forces were sent…to Miss…under orders of Maj. Gen. Forrest."
#OTD Jun. 4, 1864
Neely's Brig.: "We arrived at Oxford, men & horses were in a bad shape…Camped on a hillside near a large…spring."
Blair's XVII Corps N.Ala. Expedition
"Crossed Coosa River & passed Cedar Bluff, marching 14 miles."
"Rains hard in evening draw 2/3s rations."
#OTD Jun. 3, 1864
"Russellville…Forrest rode w/ his staff & Escort…Met by a dispatch…Roddey…about Moulton, 25 or 30 miles distant…
Midday…dispatch was received from Maj. Gen. Lee, recalling the force…
Leaving Russellville, Forrest…ordered Roddey to send Johnson's Brig."