[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/4284958/posts

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Chief Justices of the United States – 1, 8
Barbarism – 2
Sherman – 2
Ultimus Romanorum – 2
On a Late Message – 2
“Chivalry” – 2
Mr. Webb’s Letter – 2-3
Lord Wharncliffe & Co. – 3
A Railroad “Accident” – 3
Literary – 3
Domestic Intelligence – 3-4
Foreign News – 4
The Safest Way of Taking a Lady Down to Dinner – 4
Capture of Plymouth, N.C. – 5-6, 8-9
Grant’s Military Railroad – 7, 9
Homes of Rebel Women – 9, 11
Guerrilla Depredations – 9, 16-17
Christmas Hymn – 9
Santa Claus’s Wish Council – 9-10
Interesting Items – 10
Dining-Corpulency-Leanness – 10, 12
Margaret Miller: A Story in Nine Chapters, Ch. III – 12-13
Fleet of Whalers at San Francisco – 14
Apparatus for Measuring the Velocity of Projectiles – 14-15
Humors of the Day – 18
Petroleum – 18

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 23 (reply #39).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4284958/posts#39

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Volume Two

[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]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, December 24, 1864 (“Called on the President to commute the punishment of a person condemned to be hung. He at once assented. Is always disposed to mitigate punishment”)

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

Major-General William T. Sherman to Major-General Henry W. Halleck, December 24, 1864 (Gen. Sherman’s plans for the next phase of his campaign.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/02/major-general-william-t-sherman-to_10.html

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Fessenden Morse: December 24, 1864 (Morse describes operations of the 2nd Massachusetts since Dec. 15.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/08/lieutenant-colonel-charles-fessenden_27.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Saturday, December 24, 1864 (“commenced putting up my cabin this morning; not quite up to-night; regimental dress parade this evening.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_52.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Daniel L. Ambrose: December 24, 1864 (“unclad and unfed, their lamps of life flickered out in that worse than Egyptian bondage—a Confederate prison.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2024/03/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-daniel-l_83.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: December 24, 1864 (“This diary must soon come to an end. Will fill the few remaining pages and then stop.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/02/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_12.html

Francis Lieber to Senator Charles Sumner, December 24, 1864 (“I spoke of democratic absolutism in presence of Judge Story, or to him, when you were yet a Cambridge student.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/francis-lieber-to-senator-charles_8.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, December 24, 1864 (“General Foster’s command is still in pursuit of the fleeing rebels through South Carolina.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_10.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 24, 1864 (“There is something in the air that causes agitation in official circles. Mr. Secretary Seddon’s room was locked nearly all day yesterday.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_3.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: December 24, 1864 (“The city was surrendered by its mayor, Arnold by name, and he seems to be worthy of the traitorous name.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/04/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_2.html

Diary of Dolly Lunt Burge: December 24, 1864 (“Christmas Eve, which has ever been gaily celebrated here, is an occasion now of sadness and gloom.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/07/diary-of-dolly-lunt-burge-december-24.html

Our Indian Troops, published December 24, 1864 (“General Stand Watie, commanding our Indian troops, has fully clothed and armed all his men, and is attacking and destroying Yankee wagon trains.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/our-indian-troops-published-december-24.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Ping

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 21 (reply #25).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4284958/posts#25

William J. Cooper, Jr., Jefferson Davis, American

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 21 (reply #22).

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4284958/posts#22

1

2

3

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Continued from December 21 (reply #24)

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4284958/posts#24

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, by Jack Hurst

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[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]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Christmas Bells, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-bells.html

Diary of Gideon Welles: Sunday, December 25, 1864 (“The Rebellion is drawing to a close. These operations in the heart of the Rebel region are destroying their self-confidence”)

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

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, December 25, 1864 (“Fort Donaldson, as you are aware, was the scene of General Grant’s first great victory, and the starting-point to his present greatness.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/brigadier-general-thomas-kilby-smith-to_26.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Sunday, December 25, 1864 (“Rained all night; very muddy; working hard to finish my house by to-morrow night”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_17.html

Diary of 1st Sergeant John L. Ransom: December 25, 1864 (“General Kilpatrick told me I would probably not be called upon to do any more duty as I had done good service as a prisoner of war.”)
(“Shall not write any more, though I hardly know how I shall get along, without a self-imposed task of some kind.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2019/02/diary-of-1st-sergeant-john-l-ransom_21.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, December 25, 1864 (“This is a cloudy, cool day and a lonesome Christmas. We are on one-third rations now and poor prospects of getting more soon.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_11.html

Diary of Corporal Charles H. Lynch: December 25, 1864 (“Christmas at Halltown. We hope this will be our last Christmas in the service, and that the war will soon be over.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/09/diary-of-corporal-charles-h-lynch_1.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: Sunday, December 25, 1864 (“His son, Gen. Custis Lee, has mortally offended the clerks by putting them in the trenches yesterday, and some of them may desert.”)

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

Diary of Dolly Lunt Burge: December 25, 1864 (Empty stockings and tears on Christmas morning.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/07/diary-of-dolly-lunt-burge-december-25.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, December 26, 1864 (“Three hundred guns were fired by order of the Secretary of War on Vermont Avenue on account of the capture of Savannah.”)

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

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, December 26, 1864 (“The military are all agog at the good news from Sherman, but everybody here is as ignorant as I am of Hood’s movements”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/brigadier-general-thomas-kilby-smith-to_27.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Monday, December 26, 1864 (“Governor Stone of Iowa arrived in camp today . . . He came to issue commissions to the officers of veteran regiments”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_12.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 26, 1864 (“The Georgians in Lee’s army are more or less demoralized, and a reward of a sixty days’ furlough is given for shooting any deserter from our ranks.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_34.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: December 26, 1864 (“The sad Christmas has passed away.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/04/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_4.html

Diary of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire: December 26, 1864 (Good news, but untrue, from Wilmington.)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/04/diary-of-judith-brockenbrough-mcguire_7.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, December 27, 1864 (“I am opposed to the whole thing, and regret that our Minister should have pressed our naval officers to take any part in the fight with the Japanese.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-gideon-welles-tuesday-december.html

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General William T. Sherman, December 27, 1864 (“Without waiting further directions, then, you may make preparations to start on your northern expedition without delay.”) Reply to WTS 1225

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/02/lieutenant-general-ulysses-s-grant-to_10.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Tuesday, December 27, 1864 (“Quite decent under foot; hut about done; shall move into it to-morrow night.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_99.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, December 27, 1864 (“The Fourteenth Army Corps was reviewed at 9 a. m. by General Sherman. The troops looked fine.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_13.html

Charles Eliot Norton to Aubrey Thomas de Vere, December 27, 1864 (“I have little doubt that his course and his character will both be estimated more highly in history than they are, in the main, by his contemporaries”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/charles-eliot-norton-to-aubrey-thomas.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, December 28, 1864 (“The troops are said to have disembarked above Fort Fisher, to have taken some earthworks and prisoners, and then to have reëmbarked.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-gideon-welles-wednesday_10.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Wednesday, December 28, 1864 (“Tenth Vermont worked on breastworks this forenoon; finished my cabin today”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_10.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Wednesday, December 28, 1864 (“Nearly all the citizens inside of our lines have taken the oath, swearing that they will not aid the Southern Confederacy.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_14.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 28, 1864 (“It is still believed that Gen. Lee is to be generalissimo, and most people rejoice at it.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_5.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, December 29, 1864 (“Fox says Grant occasionally gets drunk. I have never mentioned the fact to any one, not even to my wife, who can be trusted with a secret. There were such rumors of him when in the West.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-gideon-welles-thursday.html

Francis Lieber to Senator Charles Sumner, December 29, 1864 (“You know I am a free-trader, which means nothing more than a non-obstructionist”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/08/francis-lieber-to-senator-charles_10.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Thursday, December 29, 1864 (“In my opinion we would look better in the house, and I am sure we should feel better”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_30.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Thursday, December 29, 1864 (“The glorious old Seventeenth Army Corps was reviewed at 9 a. m. by Major-General Sherman.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_15.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 29, 1864 (“Grant is said to be moving troops to the north side of the river again, fearing an attack from us, or intending one himself.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_66.html

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, December 30, 1864 (“President says Stanton readily gives up Butler, but makes a point whether Porter is any better.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2021/08/diary-of-gideon-welles-friday-december.html

Edwin M. Stanton to Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, December 30, 1864 – 9 p.m. (“Your dispatch of 12 noon to-day just received, and I am rejoiced at its indications. No living man shall know anything upon the subject from me except the Secretary of the Navy.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/02/edwin-m-stanton-to-lieutenant-general_44.html

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Admiral David D. Porter, December 30, 1864 (“Please hold on where you are for a few days and I will endeavor to be back again with an increased force and without the former commander.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/02/lieutenant-general-ulysses-s-grant-to_22.html

Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General William T. Sherman, December 30, 1864 (“it is of the greatest importance to open outlets by which the slaves can escape into our lines, and Savannah the great place of refuge.”)

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

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, December 30, 1864 (“I shall probably take command of a division made up from my old division and another in Smith’s corps.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/08/brigadier-general-thomas-kilby-smith-to_28.html

Diary of 1st Lieutenant Lemuel A. Abbott: Friday, December 30, 1864 (“Worked all day on muster and pay rolls; mild south wind; storm brewing.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/08/diary-of-1st-lieutenant-lemuel-abbott_44.html

Diary of 5th Sergeant Alexander G. Downing: Friday, December 30, 1864 (“Sherman has ordered Savannah to be strongly fortified. Heavy guns will be mounted so that no enemy can get close enough to do any harm with the ordinary field guns.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/10/diary-of-5th-sergeant-alexander-g_16.html

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: December 30, 1864 (“Gen. Bragg is credited with the repulse of the enemy at Wilmington.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2023/10/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-december_1.html

General Robert E. Lee to Mary Custis Lee, December 30, 1864 (“I pray daily and almost hourly to our Heavenly Father to come to the relief of you and our afflicted country. I know He will order all things for our good, and we must be content.”)

https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/03/general-robert-e-lee-to-mary-custis-lee_31.html