Harper’s Weekly – December 17, 1864

Harper's Weekly archives ^ | December 17, 1864

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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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/4283626/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

General George H. Thomas – 1, 10
Two Pictures from the War – 2
The Situation – 2
Congress – 2
The “Florida” – 2
A Letter of Goldwin Smith – 2
Railroad Travel – 2-3
“Reform it Altogether” – 3
Literary – 3
There Comes a Time – 3
Domestic Intelligence – 3-4
Robbing the Cradle and the Grave – 4
Foreign News – 4
General John M. Schofield – 5
General David S. Stanley – 5
Torpedo Raft off Mobile – 6, 10
Our Fleet in Hampton Roads – 7, 10
Margaret Miller: A Story in Nine Chapters, Ch. I-II – 8-10
Humors of the Day – 10, 12
Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman – 11
Uncle Luther – 12-13
Interesting Items – 13-14
Adjoining Rooms in a Hotel in New York – 15

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[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, December 17, 1864 (“Admiral Dahlgren writes me that Sherman is with him in his cabin (14th inst.).”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-saturday_27.html

Major-General John A. Dix to Edwin M. Stanton, December 17, 1864 (“I shall immediately revoke the portion of the Order thus disapproved.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/major-general-john-dix-to-edwin-m_24.html

Diary of Captain Luman Harris Tenney: Saturday, December 17, 1864 (“More good news from Thomas. Brigade officer of the day. Rode over to infantry. Received a beautiful pair of shoulder straps as Christmas gift”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/09/diary-of-captain-luman-harris-tenney_88.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Saturday, December 17, 1864 (“men busy putting up quarters; shall commence my hut when the men finish theirs ; good news from Generals Sherman and Thomas this evening”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_1.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: December 17, 1864 (“Troops are encamped on the main road. Every cross road has its pickets, and it is slow business to escape running into them.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/12/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_16.html

Diary of Corporal Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, December 17, 1864 (“Two more boats came up the river today, one loaded with hay for the mules, the other with our provisions.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-corporal-alexander-g-downing_3.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 17, 1864 (“It was reported on the streets, to-day, that the President was dead. He is much better; and will probably be at his office today.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-sunday_4.html

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, December 17, 1864 (“I received day before yesterday the box with hat, gloves, and socks; also the barrel of apples.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/03/general-robert-e-lee-to-mary-custis-lee_30.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: December 17, 1864 (“The military movements are important, but to what they tend we know not. More troops have been added from Sheridan to Grant, and Early to Lee”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/04/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_0.html

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General William T. Sherman, December 18, 1864 (“Your march will stand out prominently as the great one of this great war.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/02/major-general-henry-w-halleck-to-major_10.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, December 18, 1864 (“at one time looked unfavorable for him, it appearing as if he was giving Hood too much time; but it now turns out Old Thom, as we call him, knew what he was about”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/major-general-george-g-meade-to_18.html

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fessenden Morse: December 18, 1864 (“We are now on an island in the Savannah river, very near the Carolina shore, our principal duty being to guard a rice mill”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/08/lieutenant-colonel-charles-fessenden_26.html

Captain Luman Harris Tenney to Professor Henry E. Peck: Sunday, December 18, 1864 (“Everybody in the 2nd Ohio is familiar with the name and services of Prof. Peck, of Oberlin, the man who has always done so much for the Ohio soldiers”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/09/captain-luman-harris-tenney-to.html

Diary of Captain Luman Harris Tenney: Sunday, December 18, 1864 (“A good letter from Prof. Peck. A beautiful picture of Melissa and the darling baby (Carrie Nettleton Thurber). Letter from home. Wrote to the Prof.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/09/diary-of-captain-luman-harris-tenney_22.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: December 18, 1864 (The fugitives have a tense few minutes getting past a Confederate sentry.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/12/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_20.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Sunday, December 18, 1864 (“I have been recommended for the Captaincy of Company G overslaughing several other officers’)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_16.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, December 18, 1864 (Downing’s rank finally catches up to his photograph.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeantl-alexander-g.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 18, 1864 (“If Savannah falls, our currency will experience another depreciation, and the croaking reconstructionists will be bolder.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-sunday_3.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

John Hay, reply #6
John G. Nicolay, #7
John Jackman, #8
Links to 9 items at Civil War Notebook, #9

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 15 (reply #35).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4283626/posts#35

Jean Edward Smith, Grant

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 16 (reply #43)

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4283626/posts#43

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, by Jack Hurst

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, December 19, 1864 (“Captain [John Ancrum] Winslow called on me to-day. He is looking well and feels happy. Luck was with him in the fight with the Alabama.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-monday-december_27.html

Captain Charles Wright Wills: December 19, 1864 (“We have only been [before Savannah] a couple of days, but to-night we are to make and occupy a line within 700 yards of the Rebels.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/12/captain-charles-wright-wills-december_1.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Monday, December 19, 1864 (“got a Washington Chronicle to-night; good news from Generals Sherman and Thomas”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_70.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: December 19, 1864 (The fugitives fed and aided by a Unionist woman and her daughter and narrowly escape recapture.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/12/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_26.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Monday, December 19, 1864 (“at 1 a. m. and at 2 o’clock our brigade started for the rifle pits in front of Savannah.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeantl-alexander-g_5.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 19, 1864 (“It is rumored on the street that we intend evacuating Savannah. How did that get out—if, indeed, such is the determination?”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_67.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

“Grant,” reply #11
Mary B. Chesnut, #12
“Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography,” #13
Links to 6 items at Civil War Notebook, #14

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 19 (reply #13)

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, by Jack Hurst

[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]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, December 20, 1864 (“Seward is at the President’s every day when there is no Cabinet-meeting and at a different hour on Cabinet days.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/07/diary-of-gideon-welles-tuesday-december.html

Major-General George G. Meade to Margaretta Sergeant Meade, December 20, 1864 (Gen. Meade questioned by Congressmen about the Petersburg mine disaster.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/01/major-general-george-g-meade-to_19.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Tuesday, December 20, 1864 (“rumored in camp Jeff Davis is dead; don’t believe it.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_34.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Daniel L. Ambrose: December 20, 1864 (“Sherman’s army is now in a good condition to sweep Savannah from the earth. The next forty-eight hours will tell the tale.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2024/03/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-daniel-l_43.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: December 20, 1864 (The fugitives are given safe refuge by a Unionist planter on the Ogechee River.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/01/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, December 20, 1864 (“We have very poor water to use, having to get it from the swamp. But we are now drawing full rations, for which we are very thankful.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 20, 1864 (“The great disaster would be the loss of Richmond and retreat of Lee’s army southward. This would probably be followed by the downfall of slavery in Virginia.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_76.html

General Braxton Bragg to Colonel John B. Sale, December 20, 1864—10 a.m. (“The head of the enemy’s fleet arrived off this point last night. Over thirty steamers are now assembling and more are following.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/general-braxton-bragg-to-colonel-john-b_6.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Today’s posts:

“Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography,” reply #16
Elisha Hunt Rhodes, #17
George Templeton Strong, #18
Links to 8 items at Civil War Notebook, #19