Harper’s Weekly – August 3, 1861

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | August 3, 1861

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1861-1865: Seminar and Discussion Forum
The American Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts

First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.

Posting history, in reverse order

https://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:homerjsimpson/index?tab=articles

To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.

Link to previous Harper’s Weekly thread

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3979583/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Misses Scott – 1
The Death of General Garnett – 2, 6
The Two Furrows – 2
Our Institutions on Their Trial – 3
The “Tribune” on Mr. Russell – 3
The Lounger – 3-4
Humors of the Day – 4
Domestic Intelligence – 5
Foreign News – 5
Correspondence: The Naval Battery at Vera Cruz – 6
Presentation of the Flag to the Webster Regiment – 7, 12
The Schooner “S.J. Waring” – 8-9
The Battle of Carthage, Missouri – 10-11
Graves of the Ohio Volunteers – 11
General Hill’s Headquarters – 11, 15
General McClellan – 6, 11
The Rebels in Virginia – 12, 14
The Battle of Bull’s Run – 13, 18-19
Two Members of the Pennsylvania Seventeenth (Isaac Blakemore and George M’mullan) Hauling Down the Secession Flat at Harper’s Ferry* – 14
Fall’s Church – 14
Destruction of Locomotives at Martinsburg, Va. – 16-17
Skirmish on the Potomac – 17
Second Mississippi Regiment (Wildcats) Passing Along Main Street, Winchester, on Their Way to Bunker Hill, Virginia – 20
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, Ch LVII-LVIII – 21-22
Concerning Fire-Arms – 22-23
A Mild Shock for Our Virtuous Friend, Mr. John Bull – 24
Field-Marshal Greeley, the Mischief Maker – 25

* Per correction issued next week. The original says the two volunteers belong to the New York Ninth.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

James Lee McDonough, William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country, A Life

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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Home Letters of General Sherman, edited by M.A. DeWolfe Howe, 1909

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Colonel Ulysses S. Grant to Jesse Root Grant, August 3, 1861 (Grant on the attitude of Missourians toward secession and his gratitude on being made BG.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2013/09/colonel-ulysses-s-grant-to-jesse-root_6.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes,August 1-3, 1861 (“There is a report that General Lee is to be sent out here to look after General Rosecrans, with a considerable force.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-lucy-webb_14.html

Diary of Major Rutherford B. Hayes: August 3, 1861 (“Hottest day yet. Dr. Joe ailing. Young Jewett doing well, but getting tired and sore.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/diary-of-major-rutherford-b-hayes_18.html

Major Wilder Dwight: August 3, 1861 (“We must have an immense army. We must feed it, teach it, equip it, and all this must be done without delay.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/major-wilder-dwight-august-3-1861.html

Diary of Josephine Shaw Lowell: August 3, 1861 (“Where we fail is in the commissioned officers. The men are splendid.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/10/diary-of-josephine-shaw-lowell-august-3.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: August 3, 1861 (“a great many Northern men remain to be gratified as they had been; and the war will be a terrible one before they can be convinced that a reduction of the rebellion is not a practicable thing.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-august-3.html

[BroJoeK]

"Destruction of Locomotives at Martinsburg, Va. – 16-17"

The short article doesn't say how many locomotives were destroyed at Martinsburg, but the picture suggests a large number, perhaps dozens.
It seems a shame, from the Confederate perspective, considering how vital railroads were to their interior lines, those locomotives weren't moved south to Confederate rails.

But then a look at the map shows there was a ~50 mile gap between Martinsburg and the Confederate rails at Front Royal -- no way to get there directly, except conceivably by dismantling the locomotives and carting them overland.

I'm guessing that's just what they had in mind.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan: Selected Correspondence 1860-1865, edited by Stephen W. Spears

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Major Rutherford B. Hayes: Sunday August 4, 1861 (Hayes visits a hospital.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/diary-of-major-rutherford-b-hayes_19.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Sophia Birchard Hayes, August 4, 1861 (Hayes to his mother.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-sophia_20.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Laura Platt, August 4, 1861 (Hayes to his niece.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-laura-platt.html

Senator James W. Grimes to Elizabeth S. Nealley Grimes, August 4, 1861 (Senator Grimes is on a select committee to investigate failures of the military.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/senator-james-w-grimes-to-elizabeth-s_31.html

Major General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, August 4, 1861 (Lee tells Mrs. Lee about the precarious Confederate position in western Virginia.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2013/10/major-general-robert-e-lee-to-mary_12.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: August 4, 1861 (Nepotism in the War Department.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-august-4.html

[BroJoeK]

In addition to the major battle at Bull Run, this week's Harpers also mentions

1. CSA Gen. Garnett's death at the Battle of Corrick's Ford in West Virginia, Union victory,
2. The Battle of Carthage, Missouri, Confederate victory,
3. Confederate dismantling of locomotives at Martinsburg, western Virginia,
4. The engagement at Dug Springs, Missouri, Union victory

We should note that Dug Springs is counted a Union victory, in the face of Confederate forces outnumbering them by two-to-one.
Another Union victory, at Athens, Missouri was also against Confederates outnumbering them four-to-one.
At Athens Confederates were poorly armed while the outnumbered Union troops had excellent weapons and at least some inspired leadership.
A Confederate victory would have turned over to them huge stockpiles of Union weapons & ammunition.

Union & Confederate forces in southwestern Missouri are headed for a major battle in which the Union will once again be outnumbered two-to-one.

My count is now 30 total engagements in six states (2-Confederate, 4-Union) or territories resulting in nearly 8,000 total casualties.
For rough comparison, remember the US population today is about 10 times that of 1861, so 8,000 casualties then would equate to circa 80,000 today.

Date	Engagement	Military Units	Losses	Victor
April 12-14	Fort Sumter, SC	Confederate artillery (Beauregard), Union garrison (Anderson)	None	CSA
April 15	Evacuation of Fort Sumter, SC	Union garrison	Two Union soldiers killed, four wounded by accidental explosion	N.A.
April 19	Baltimore Riots, MD	MA 6th, PA 26th vs secessionist crowd	4 Union soldiers killed, 12 civilians killed, hundreds wounded	USA
May 10	St. Louis Riots, MO	Union forces vs secessionist crowd	4 Union soldiers killed, 3 prisoners, 28 civilians killed	USA
May 18-19	Sewell's Point, VA	Union naval squadron vs Confederate shore artillery	10 total	inconclusive
May 29- June 1	Aquila Creek, VA	Union naval squadron vs Confederate shore artillery	10 total	inconclusive
June 1	Fairfax Court House, VA	detachments from CSA & USA armies	8 on each side, 1 each killed	inconclusive
June 3	Philippi, WVA	Union Dept of Ohio (McClellan) -3,000, CSA infantry (Porterfield) -800	Union 4, CSA 26 (killed or wounded)	USA
June 10	Big Bethel, VA	Union (Butler) -3,500, CSA (Magruder) -1,400	Union 71-total (18-killed); CSA: 10-total (1-killed)	CSA
June 15	Hooe's Ferry (near Mathias Point) VA	Union schooner Christina Keen; CSA Farmer's Fork Grays	none -- Christina Keen captured and burned	CSA
June 17	Vienna, VA	Detachments from both Union & CSA armies	Union: 12-total (8 killed); CSA: none reported	CSA
June 17	Boonville, MO	Union Western Dept (Lyon) -1,700 vs. MO State Guard (Marmaduke) ~1,500	Union: 12-total (5-killed); MO Guard 22-total (5-killed)	USA
June 18	Camp Cole, MO	Union Home Guards (~500) vs. Confederate State Guards (~350)	Union: 120-total (35 killed, 60 wounded 25 captured); CSA: 32-total ( 7-K, 25-W)	CSA
June 27	Matthias' Point, VA	Union gunboats ~50 vs. Confed garrison ~500	Union: 1-killed, 4-wounded; CSA none	CSA
July 2	Hoke's Run, WVA	Union Army of the Shenandoah (2 brigades, Patterson) -8,000 vs. Confederate Army of the Shenandoah (1 brigade, Stonewall Jackson) - 4,000	Union: 70-total (3-killed); CSA 23-total ( 9-killed)	USA
July 5	Carthage, MO	Union Department of the West (Sigel) -- 1,000 vs. Confederate Missouri State Guard (Jackson) -- 4,000	Union: 44-total; CSA 200-total	CSA
July 5	Neosho, MO	Union 3rd Missouri vs. Confederate cavalry	Union: 137-total; CSA zero total	CSA
July 8	Laurel Hill, WVA	Union Dept of Ohio vs. Confederate Army of the Northwest	Union: 8-total; CSA unknown	USA
July 11	Rich Mountain, WVA	Union Department of the Ohio (McClellan & Rosecrans) -7,000 vs. Confederate Army (Pegram & Garnett) -1,300	Union: 46-total; CSA 300-total	USA
July 12	Barboursville, WVA	Union 2nd Kentucky vs. Confederate rangers & locals	Union: 16-total; CSA 1-total	USA
July 13	Corrick's Ford, WVA	Union Department of the Ohio (McClellan & Rosecrans) -20,000 vs. Confederate Army (Garnett) -4,500	Union: 53-total; CSA 620-total CSA Gen. Garnett killed	USA
July 17	Scary Creek, WVA	Union Department of the Ohio (Cox) -1,000 vs. Confederate Army of the Kanawha (Wise & George S. Patton) -800	Union: 51-total; CSA 10-total including Patton wounded	CSA
July 18	Blackburn's Ford, VA (pre-Manassas)	Union Department of NE Virginia (McDowell, Richardson) -3,000 vs. Confederate Army of VA (Beauregard, Longstreet) -5,100	Union: 83-total; CSA 70-total	CSA
July 21	Bull Run/Manassas, VA	Union Department of NE Virginia (McDowell, Patterson) -54,000 (18,000 engaged) vs. Confederate Army of VA (Beauregard, Longstreet) -34,000 (18,000 engaged)	Union: 2,708-total (481-killed); CSA 1,897-total (387-killed)	CSA
July 22	Forsyth, MO	Union Department of the West vs. Confederate Missouri State Guard	Union: 3-total ;Confederates: 15-total	USA
July 25	Mesilla, New Mexico	Union Department of the New Mexico (~300) vs. Confederate 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles (~380 +artillery )	Union: 9-total (2-killed); Confederates: 19-total (13-killed)	CSA
July 27	Fort Fillmore, NM	Union Department of the New Mexico (~500) vs. Confederate 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles (~300)	Union: 500-total (surrendered); Confederates: none	CSA
Aug 2	Dug Springs, MO (leadup to Wilson's Creek)	Union Department of the West (~6,000) vs. Confederate Missouri State Guard (~12,000)	Union: 38-total (8 killed ); Confederates:84-total (40 killed)	USA
Aug 3	Curran Post Office, MO (leadup to Wilson's Creek)	Union Department of the West (~6,000) vs. Confederate 1st Arkansas Rifles	Unknown	inconclusive
Aug 5	Athens, MO	Union 21st MO Infantry, Home Guards (~500) vs. Confederate Missouri State Guard (~2,000 + 3-cannons)	Union 23-total (3-killed); Confederate 31-total	USA

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Mary Chesnut’s Diary, Edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Major Rutherford B. Hayes: August 5, 1861 (Pistol practice went poorly. Cleaned the pistol.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/diary-of-major-rutherford-b-hayes_23.html

Major Wilder Dwight: August 5, 1861 – 5 a.m. (Battalion drill.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/major-wilder-dwight-august-5-1861-5-am.html

Charles Russell Lowell to Anna Jackson Lowell, August 5, 1861 (Lowell thinks his fellow officers should straighten up and fly right before it is too late.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/charles-russell-lowell-to-anna-jackson_8.html

1st Lieutenant Charles Fessenden Morse, August 5, 1861 (The 2nd Massachusetts is living in barracks made from bushes at Harper’s Ferry.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/12/1st-lieutenant-charles-fessenden-morse_13.html

Lieutenant William Thompson Lusk to Elizabeth Adams Lusk, August 5, 1861 (Lusk claims that officers of the 79th New York complained so convincingly to the War Dept. about Sherman’s mean behavior that the regiment was removed from his brigade.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/06/lieutenant-william-thompson-lusk-to_28.html

Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, August 5, 1861 (Gen. Jackson admonishes his wife to be more humble about his deeds on the battlefield.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/03/brigadier-general-thomas-j-jackson-to_19.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: August 5, 1861 (Col Bledsoe is such a chump.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-august-5.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued July 30 (reply #20).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3979583/posts#20

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

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All for the Union: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, edited by Robert Hunt Rhodes

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Company Aytch, or a Side Show of the Big Show: A Memoir of the Civil War, by Sam R. Watkins

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Mary Chesnut’s Diary, Edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Confiscation Act of 1861: August 6, 1861

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-confiscation-act-of-1861-august-6.html

Diary of Major Rutherford B. Hayes: August 6, 1861 (The Union Army has running the justice system in this part of Virginia.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/diary-of-major-rutherford-b-hayes_24.html

Major Rutherford B. Hayes to Sophia Birchard Hayes, August 6, 1861

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/major-rutherford-b-hayes-to-sophia_25.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: August 6, 1861 (“Custis [Jones’s son] arrived and entered upon the discharge of his duties.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-august-6.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

“Lee,” reply #12
Elisha Hunt Rhodes, #13
Sam Watkins, #14
Mary Chesnut, #15
Links to 4 items at Civil War Notebook, #16

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from July 25 (reply #81).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3977607/posts?q=1&;page=81#81

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Bruce Catton, Terrible Swift Sword

[Homer_J_Simpson]

With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860-1865, edited by Michael Burlingame

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Major Rutherford B. Hayes: Wednesday, August 7, 1861 (Pistol practice and the suspicious wounding of a picket.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/diary-of-major-rutherford-b-hayes_26.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: August 7, 1861 (Jones sees Col. William N. Pendleton and thinks there are Federal spies in the Confederate government providing information to northern newspapers.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/04/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-august-7.html