Civil War Alabama

Military Events in the State of Alabama by Date and Location

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#OTD Jun. 9, 1864

Co. A, Lewis' Btn.: "From Talladega…to Oxford."

Earlier:
Brig. Gen. G.J. Pillow ordered to command new Cavalry Division at Oxford:

Neely's Cav. Brig.
Armistead's Cav. Brig. (new)

Armistead's 16th C.S.
8th (Ball's/Hatch's) Ala.
Lewis' (Harrell's) Btn. Ala.

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[South Doc @GeorgeDAndrews2]

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.

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."

[Civil War Alabama @CW_Alabama]

#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."