[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/4236199/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Engagement of Gun-Boats on the Red River – 1, 6-7
The Sharp-Shooter – 2
The Situation – 2
Words – 2
The Freedmen – 2
An Act of Justice – 2-3
Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair – 3
“Union and Liberty” – 3
A Monument – 3
A Correction – 3
Draper’s Photograph of the Moon – 3
Literary – 3
Domestic Intelligence – 3-4
Foreign News – 4
Army and Navy Items – 4
The Happy Family – 4
The Washington Aqueduct – 5-6
The Two Poets: April 23, 1864 – 6
Major-General Sheridan – 6-7
General Thomas E. Greenfield Ransom – 6-7
A Parrot on the Rampage – 7, 10
Union Refugees in the Louisiana Swamps – 7, 11
At Pleasant Hill – 7
A Story of Lawrence – 7-8
Origin of the Dew-Drop – 8
Milly Graham’s Rose-Bush – 8-9
Humors of the Day – 9
Only a Baby’s Grave! – 12
Quite Alone, by George Augustus Sala, Ch. XX-XXI – 12-13
To-Morrow – 13
The Black-Eyed Smuggler – 14
Foraging in Louisiana – 15-16
John Minor Botts – 16
Army Work-Shops – 16-17
Far Away – 17

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Battle Maps of the Civil War: The Western Theater, American Battlefield Trust

Continued from May 12 (reply #66).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#66

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of a Confederate Soldier: John S. Jackman of the Orphan Brigade, Edited, with an introduction, by William C. Davis

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Johnny Green of the Orphan Brigade: The Journal of a Confederate Soldier, Edited by A.D. Kirwan

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Inside Lincoln’s White House: The Complete War Diary of John Hay, edited by Michael Burlingame and John R. Turner Ettlinger

[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 Gideon Welles: Saturday, May 14, 1864 (“Attended the funeral of Colonel Harris [Commandant of the Marine Corps]. His death gives embarrassment as to a successor. The higher class of marine officers are not the men who can elevate or give efficiency to the corps.

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/11/diary-of-gideon-welles-saturday-may-14.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Saturday, May 14, 1864 (“Given by Captain Hastings a pair of spurs from Cloyd’s Mountain said to have been worn by General Jenkins.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/01/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_13.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 14, 1864 (“A few minutes after six I was ordered to deploy my company as skirmishers and relieve the 1st Brigade who were in our front. We shot with the Rebels until dark, and have just been relieved.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/08/captain-charles-wright-wills-may-14-1864.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Saturday, May 14, 1864 (“But how about the uneasy souls — the remorse of those who are responsible for this war in the hereafter? What does it all mean, anyway?”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_10.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 14, 1864 (“Heavy skirmishing most all day. Expected a big battle. Did not materialize.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/01/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-george-g-smith_7.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: May 14, 1864 (“A band of music came from Macon yesterday to attend the picnic. A large crowd of women were present to grace the occasion. The grounds on which the festivities were held lay a mile off and in sight of all.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom-may_26.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: May 14, 1864 (“This morning Colonel Rowett, with the Ninth Ohio Cavalry and the Seventh Illinois Mounted Infantry, leave Prospect on the road leading towards Lexington, Alabama.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/08/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose-may_12.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 14, 1864 (“Grant says he will not recross the Rappahannock as long as he has a man left. Lee seems determined to kill his last man.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-may-14.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 14, 1864 (“Have been prisoners since the 5th of this month, and have drawn three and a half days’ rations. On that kind of a diet I am not getting very fat. our Yankee guard gave us quite a lot of their own rations.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2024/02/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-14-1864.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: May 14, 1864 (“General Lee’s last telegram tells of a furious fight on Thursday, near Spottsylvania Court-House. The enemy was repulsed, and driven back; and yet General Grant prepares for a fresh attack.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/02/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_4.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The West Point Atlas of War: The Civil War, Chief Editor, Brigadier General Vincent J. Esposito

Continued from May 13 (reply #83).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#83

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume Two

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from Continued from May 13 (reply #79).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#79

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, May 15, 1864 – 9 P. M. (“General Grant showed me a despatch he had written to the War Department, speaking in complimentary terms of my services, and asking I be made a major general in the regular army.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/10/major-general-george-g-meade-to_10.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Sunday, May 15, 1864 (“Four men of Company F, who went out foraging at Blacksburg, reported to have been seen dead on the road. They went out foolishly unarmed.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/01/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_91.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, May 15, 1864 – 10 p.m. (“But now that there is a quiet day, I thought I would make a beginning of describing to you the sad, bloody work we have been at. . . .”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_24.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 15, 1864 (“The skirmishers are fighting briskly. Osterhaus’ artillery is on both sides and behind us. Sherman has just passed us to the front.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/08/captain-charles-wright-wills-may-15-1864.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Sunday, May 15, 1864 (“I saw a General lousing to-day. I hope this won’t shock anyone when they read it after I have passed along. It’s a part of the history of the civil war though, and should be recorded.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_11.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: Sunday, May 15, 1864 (“Quamtrell’s [sic] guerrillas on the opposite side of the river had a good time all day firing into our transports.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/01/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-george-g-smith_10.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: May 15, 1864 (“Kilpatrick said to be moving toward us for the purpose of effecting our release. Hope he will be more successful than in his attack on Richmond.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom-may_27.html

Diary of Private Charles H. Lynch: May 15, 1864 (“Sigel managed to get his main force in line, batteries posted, so the enemy was held in check. Our brigade suffered heavy loss. It looked to us like a case of mismanagement.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/diary-of-private-charles-h-lynch-may-15.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: May 15, 1864 (“The rebel battalion being saddled ready to start to church, are soon away towards the Tennessee where they plunge in and succeed in making their way on to Cedar Island”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/08/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose-may.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 15, 1864 (“Gen. Lee’s dispatches to the President have been withheld from publication during the last four days.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-may-15.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 15, 1864 (“Still here. They are fighting very hard on the front.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2024/02/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-15-1864.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 13 (reply #78).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#78

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume Two

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 12 (reply #65).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#65

1

2

Bruce Catton, Never Call Retreat

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, May 16, 1864 (“I yesterday took a steamer with a small company, and went down the Potomac to Belle Plain.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/01/diary-of-gideon-welles-monday-may-16.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, May 16, 1864 – 9 A. M. (“Sheridan was sent to get in the enemy’s rear, destroy their communications and supplies, fight their cavalry, and make his way to Butler. He reports having executed his orders, and it is said that J. E. B. Stuart was killed”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/10/major-general-george-g-meade-to_11.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Monday, May 16, 1864 (Col. Hayes’ command on an arduous march in West Virginia.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/01/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_29.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, May 16, 1864 (Lt. Col. Lyman continues his account of the weeks’ fighting in two installments.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/12/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_3.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, May 16, 1864

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_25.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 16, 1864 (“The old story — the Rebels evacuated last night. They made two or three big feints of attacking during the night, but are all gone this morning.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/08/captain-charles-wright-wills-may-16-1864.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Monday, May 16, 1864 (“I know not how long we shall remain in this position, but God grant that this suspense will soon be ended.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_12.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 16, 1864 (A lively fight at Mansura, Louisiana, a few miles south of the Red River.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/01/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-george-g-smith_12.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: May 16, 1864 (“Two men got away during the night and were brought back before noon. The men are torn by the dogs, and one of them full of buck shot.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom-may_28.html

Diary of Private Charles H. Lynch: May 16, 1864 (Gen. Sigel’s force falling back in the Shenandoah Valley.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/diary-of-private-charles-h-lynch-may-16.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Monday, May 16, 1864 (“This evening Colonel Rowett arrested Buckee and Judge Foster as hostages for the delivery of Dr. McVay, now held by the rebels because of his devotion to the old Union.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/08/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 16, 1864 (“Gen. Beauregard attacked the enemy on the south side of the river, and by 9 A.M. he had sent over to the city Gen. Heckman and 840 prisoners, the entire 27th Massachusetts Regiment.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-may-16.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 16, 1864 (“packed into the Steamer S. R. Spaulding. We are now on our way to a regular prison. . . .found it to be Point Lookout, Md.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2024/02/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-16-1864.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 13 (reply #81).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#81

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume Two

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from May 3 (reply #31)

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4234614/posts#31

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, by Jack Hurst

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, May 17, 1864 (“A painful suspense in military operations. It is a necessary suspense, but the intense anxiety is oppressive, and almost unfits the mind for mental activity.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/01/diary-of-gideon-welles-tuesday-may-17.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Mead, May 17, 1864 (“There is a determination on all sides to fight it out, and have an end put to the war”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/10/major-general-george-g-meade-to_15.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Tuesday, May 17, 1864 (“We are so absorbed in our own fate that the more important operations of Grant do not fill us with anxiety.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/02/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_51.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, May 17, 1864 (The final intstallment of Lt. Col. Lyman’s account of the Battle of the Wilderness and postscript.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_26.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, Tuesday, May 17, 1864

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/12/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_4.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: May 17, 1864 (“Ten p. m. — Have just got into camp, made12 miles to-day. Heavy firing on our left, which I hear is a division of Howard’s Corps.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/08/captain-charles-wright-wills-may-17-1864.html

From The Sixth (“Resaca, Georgia, May 17th, 1864., We have just fought one of the hardest fought battles of this war, and are again victorious.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2008/07/from-sixth.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Tuesday, May 17, 1864 (“Grant seems to be cautiously working round both flanks of the enemy; things look suspicious to-night; mistrust something’s afoot.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_19.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: May 17, 1864 (“[Gen. Andrew Jackson] Smith returning from a scouting expedition at the head of his forces, rode up to the Irishman coolly took the pipe out of his mouth and put it in his own, and rode on smoking contentedly as though nothing had happened.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/01/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-george-g-smith_14.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: May 17, 1864 (“Kilpatrick and Stoneman are both with Sherman and there are expectations of starting out on some mission soon, supposed to be for this place.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/06/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom-may_29.html

Diary of Private Charles H. Lynch: May 17, 1864 (“Captain Wm. L. Spaulding, Co. B, killed at Newmarket. Body brought along by members of his company.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/diary-of-private-charles-h-lynch-may-17.html

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Tuesday, May 17, 1864 (“At ten o’clock P. M., we receive orders to report immediately to Athens, Alabama. We are soon in the saddle and on the road.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/09/diary-of-private-daniel-l-ambrose_21.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: May 17, 1864 (“The battle yesterday decided nothing, that I am aware of. But we drove them back to Bermuda Hundred, behind their fortifications, and near their ships.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-may-17.html

Dr. Spencer G. Welch to Cordelia Strother Welch, May 17, 1864 (“I went over part of the battlefield as we were leaving, and saw that the Yankees had not taken time to bury their dead except behind their breastworks.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/05/dr-spencer-g-welch-to-cordelia-strother_5.html

Diary of Private Louis Leon: May 17, 1864 (“Saw Mack Sample, Will Stone and several of our company to-day that have been prisoners since the battle of Gettysburg. We get two meals a day.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2024/02/diary-of-private-louis-leon-may-17-1864.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: Tuesday Morning, May 17, 1864 (“Yesterday evening a brigadier, his staff, and 840 men, were lodged in the Libby Prison.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/02/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_5.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

The West Point Atlas of War: The Civil War, Chief Editor, Brigadier General Vincent J. Esposito

Continued from May 13 (reply #77).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4236199/posts?q=1&;page=51#77

Jean Edward Smith, Grant