Harper’s Weekly – October 15, 1864

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | October 15, 1864

[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/4269595/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Hunt and Duane – 1-2
Battle of Winchester – 1, 7
The Value of Character – 1
The British Lion Cheers for Chicago – 1, 3
To an Honest Doubter – 3
Rebel Terrorism – 3
“Blurting” – 3
The London-Chicago View – 3
“The Chicago Platform” – 3, 11
Two Mayors – 3
Death of Captain Speke – 3
Slander – 3
From the Army of the Northwest – 3
From the Army before Richmond – 3
From the Army of the Shenandoah – 4
A Word from the Navy – 4
General Dix’s Position – 4
Bishop Simpson and the Flag – 4
The New Loan – 4
Humors of the Day – 4
Domestic Intelligence – 4-5
Foreign News – 5
Generals Birney and Ord – 5-6
Major-Generals Crook and Torbert – 6, 8
The Ballad of a Rose – 8
A Man’s Mistake – 8-10
Interesting Items – 10
A British Bantling – 10
The Song of the Beggar – 12
A Russian Romance – 12-13
The Words of Schnieder – 13
Our Economical Soiree – 13-14
A Ruined Peace Democrat!!! – 14
Views in Atlanta – 15-17
General R.J. Oglesby – 17
Sally-Port at Fort Morgan, Mobile Point, after Its Surrender – 17
The Windows of the Soul – 17-18
Mining Affairs – 18

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, October 15, 1864 (“The speeches of Jeff Davis betoken the close of the War. The rebellion is becoming exhausted, and I hope ere many months will be entirely suppressed.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/05/diary-of-gideon-welles-saturday-october.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 15, 1864 (“I conjecture a raid is on foot for our Division, — perhaps to Charlottesville, — if so, you will not hear from me again for a week or even ten days.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to_39.html

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Lucy Webb Hayes, October 15, 1864 (“The Sixth came back yesterday. This morning the Sixth and Nineteenth are moving out as if for battle.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/colonel-rutherford-b-hayes-to-lucy-webb.html

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sophia Birchard Hayes, October 15, 1864 (“Early, or somebody with a considerable force, is entrenched near us. We may fight another battle with him, but I have no information as to the intention.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/colonel-rutherford-b-hayes-to-sophia.html

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes to Sardis Birchard, October 15, 1864 (“We are resting. Early, reinforced, came up a few days ago, evidently thinking a good part of our army had gone to Grant.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/colonel-rutherford-b-hayes-to-sardis.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Saturday, October 15, 1864 (“Mosby captures a railroad train. General Angus gets Mosby’s artillery. Mosby gets three hundred thousand [dollars].”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_12.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 15, 1864 — 10 a.m. (“for the last half hour we have heard very heavy skirmishing toward “Snake Creek Gap,” just about where we heard the first fighting of the campaign, a little over five months ago.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/05/captain-charles-wright-wills-october-15.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 15, 1864 (“Reveille at 3 a. m., but our brigade brings up the rear of the corps to-day, and we won’t get off until after daylight.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/05/captain-charles-wright-wills-october-15_19.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: October 15, 1864 (“Arrived at Vicksburg. We all went ashore to give the bands a chance to clean the boat. Myself and several others visited the town.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/02/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-george-g-smith_15.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: October 15, 1864 (“Some would think to look at me almost helpless and a prisoner of war, that I hadn’t much to feel glad about. Well, let them go through what I have and then see.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_23.html

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, October 15, 1864 (“We left Resaca early this morning, going out after the rebels whom we found at the south entrance of Snake Creek Gap. Here we formed a line of battle and skirmishing commenced”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/diary-of-corporal-alexander-g-downing.html

Frederick Douglass to Theodore Tilton, October 15, 1864 (“I was not for Mr. Lincoln, but as soon as the Chicago convention my mind was made up and it is made up still. All dates changed with the Domination of McClellan.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/06/frederick-douglass-to-theodore-tilton.html

Francis Lieber to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, October 15, 1864 (“From the ‘New York Times’ of this day I observe that much noise is made about the Rebels using our men, captured by them, for working in the fortifications”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/francis-lieber-to-major-general-henry-w_5.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 15, 1864 (“news from the United States indicates that Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana have gone for the Republican candidates. This foreshadows Lincoln’s re-election, and admonishes us to prepare for other campaigns”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-october_27.html

General John Bell Hood to James A. Seddon, October 15, 1864 (“This army struck the communications of the enemy about a mile above Resaca on the 12th instant, completely destroying the railroad, including the block-houses”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/07/general-john-bell-hood-to-james-seddon.html

[occamrzr06]

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell gets promoted to Brigadier General soon.

Not under the best of circumstances, however.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Orville Browning wrote of Mrs. Stanton’s desire to have her husband appointed Chief Justice on this date.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals

[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]

Major-General William T. Sherman to Major-General George H. Thomas, October 16, 1864 (“Send me Davis’ and Newton’s old divisions. Re-establish the road and I will follow Hood wherever he may go.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/07/major-general-william-t-sherman-to_25.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 16, 1864 (Uncertainty about Confederate intentions at Cedar Creek. See footnote.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to_95.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 16, 1864 (“The Rebels did some half a day’s work, with hundreds of men, and delayed us about—ten minutes.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/05/captain-charles-wright-wills-october-16.html

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant George G. Smith: October 16, 1864 (“It being Sunday, we had a sermon by the chaplain of the 161st New York. Passed Napoleon, Ark.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/02/diary-of-2nd-lieutenant-george-g-smith_16.html

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, October 16, 1864 (“We passed through Gooseneck Gap, about four miles long and quite narrow. The rebels did not take time to block this gap.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/diary-of-corporal-alexander-g-downing_97.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: Sunday, October 16, 1864 (“It appears that Gen. Butler has notified Gen. Lee that he is now retaliating fearfully—making them work in his canal—on certain Confederates for some alleged harsh treatment of negro prisoners in our hands”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-sunday.html

General Robert E. Lee to James A. Seddon, October 16, 1864 (“Colonel Mosby struck the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Duffield’s; destroyed U.S. military train consisting of locomotive and ten cars”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/02/general-robert-e-lee-to-james-seddon.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Major-General William T. Sherman to Major-General John Schofield, October 17, 1864 (“I want the road repaired to Atlanta, the sick and wounded sent north of the Tennessee, my army recomposed, and I will make the interior of Georgia feel the weight of war.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/07/major-general-william-t-sherman-to_26.html

Note on Col. Lowell: Excepting the few words of farewell to his wife, written in the last hours of his life, the three following letters, written on the same day, with which this volume closes, were the last which Colonel Lowell ever wrote.

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to_24.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Josephine Shaw Lowell, October 17, 1864 (“Good-morning. Such a night’s sleep as I had — ten hours strong — only interrupted a few minutes at reveille”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to_24.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to John M. Forbes, October 17, 1864 (“I tried to use him [Billy] as I knew you and Will would wish him used. He was a dear little horse”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to-john_28.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to Charles E. Perkins, October 17, 1864 (“I hope and trust and believe that you are doing all you can for Lincoln, — and I believe that McClellan’s election would send this country to where Mexico and South America are.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to_28.html

Colonel Charles Russell Lowell to John M. Forbes, October 17, 1864 (“Isn’t it lucky that I keep always well and hearty? My friends never feel any anxiety on that account”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/colonel-charles-russell-lowell-to-john_30.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Monday, October 17, 1864 (“My election [to Congress] reported.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_33.html

Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Lyman to Elizabeth Russell Lyman, Friday, October 17, 1864 (Lt. Col. Lyman accuses the Lincoln administration of purging a pro-McClellan officer from the Army of the Potomac.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/03/lieutenant-colonel-theodore-lyman-to_5.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 17, 1864 (“Eight hundred of the prisoners captured by them were negroes, who could not have been taken but for the cowardice of their Colonel, Johnson.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/07/captain-charles-wright-wills-october-17.html

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Monday, October 17, 1864 (“The muster rolls of the non-veterans of our regiment were made out today. They received their discharge papers, as their three years’ service will be up tomorrow.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/diary-of-corporal-alexander-g-downing_11.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 17, 1864 (“supposing they were Federals, our batteries and gun-boats have been shelling our own men!”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-october_32.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[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]

Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, edited by C. Vann Woodward

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, October 18, 1864 (“Yesterday General Grant came up in the morning with the Secretary of War . . . together with several military dignitaries.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/12/major-general-george-g-meade-to_17.html

Diary of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes: Tuesday, October 18, 1864 (“A letter from Stephenson congratulating me on my election by twenty-four hundred majority.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/diary-of-colonel-rutherford-b-hayes_23.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: October 18, 1864 (“There has been a pair of cavalry fights here, the fruits whereof can be seen in an addition to the cemetery, some 25 Rebel graves, and half as many Yankees.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/07/captain-charles-wright-wills-october-18.html

Charles Eliot Norton to George William Curtis, October 18, 1864 (“When I got home last Wednesday night I found a telegram from Goldwin Smith to say that he had been detained by a calm, and would be with us the next day”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/charles-eliot-norton-to-george-william_19.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: October 18, 1864 (“They seem a kindly set, and I don’t belive they would shoot a prisoner if they saw him trying to get away.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/03/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_24.html

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, October 18, 1864 (“The rebels are still moving to the north through the Blue mountains.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/diary-of-corporal-alexander-g-downing_4.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 18, 1864 (Jones reprints dispatches from Gens. Hood and Lee.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/02/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-october_44.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

John G. Nicolay, reply #10
George Templeton Strong, #11
Elisha Hunt Rhodes, #12
Mary B. Chesnut, #13
Links to 7 items at Civil War Notebook, #14

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

Continued from September 22 (reply #30).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4265351/posts#30

Bruce Catton, Never Call Retreat

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

Continued from October 6 (reply #30).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4268269/posts#30

Jean Edward Smith, Grant

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

Continued from October 14 (reply #38).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4269595/posts#38

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume Two

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from October 10 (reply #13).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4269595/posts#13

Douglas Southall Freeman, Lee, an abridgement by Richard Harwell

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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