Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Sunday, September 6, 1863 : Morris Island protected the southern rim of the harbor, at Charleston, South Carolina. Today after a 59-day siege, General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate defenses around Charleston, realized that the situation at Battery Wagner and nearby Battery Greg were hopeless. He ordered the two forts evacuated. Although the Yankees would capture Morris Island, Charleston was still beyond their grasp. The citizens at Chattanooga, Tennessee are evacuated on the orders of General Bragg (CSA). Just 12 days after their defeat in Arkansas at Reed’s Bridge, Brigadier General Lucius M. Walker (CSA) felt that he had been unjustly accused of cowardice and challenged Brig. General John S. Marmaduke to a formal duel. At dawn, both fired and missed. Marmaduke then re-cocked and fired a second time, mortally wounding Walker in the right side, just above the beltline. Walker forgave Marmaduke, when the latter offered his assistance. Monday, September 7, 1863 : Admiral John A. B. Dahlgren (U.S.) started a full-scale infantry assault on Battery Wagner, but found it was empty. He writes General Beauregard demanding that Fort Sumter surrendered as well, Beauregard replied, “...take it if he could”. Tuesday, September 8, 1863 : A storming party of about 400 marines and sailors (U.S.) attempted to surprise Fort Sumter, (CSA) in South Carolina. The attack was repulsed with the Union suffering 4 killed and 114 captured. Union troops reconquer the Cumberland Gap in Tennessee. On Sabine River in Texas, 4 gunboats and 7 transports loaded with troops (U.S.) are stopped by 44 Confederates at Fort Griffin. They capture one of the Union gunboats, 28 Yankees were killed, 75 were wounded, and 315 were captured. The loss was humiliating for the Union. Wednesday, September 9, 1863 : President Davis ordered 12,000 troops to Chattanooga, as he believed that, the city could not be allowed to fall. They were to come from Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Union forces began crossing Lookout Mountain above the city and enters the city. Again, General Bragg (CSA) was outmaneuvered and was forced to leave Chattanooga with only minor skirmishing. Thursday, September 10, 1863 : After a full day of battles near Little Rock, Arkansas, it too falls to Union control. The fall of Little Rock further helped to contain the Confederate Trans - Mississippi Theater, isolating it from the rest of the South. In Nashville, the Bureau of United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T) opened for business. George Luther Stearns (pictured), an abolitionist and later a leader in the Freedmen's Bureau, was placed in charge of recruiting U.S.C.T. in Tennessee. Stearns was John Brown’s largest financial backer and even owned the rifles Brown had used at Harper’s Ferry. He had earlier recruited the Union’s first African American regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, later to be featured in the movie “Glory”. More than 20,000 of the 180,000 U.S.C.T. were from Tennessee, and over 5,000 U.S.C.T. casualties occurred in the state. Friday, September 11, 1863 : In the early hours of this morning General Braxton Bragg issued orders for an attack on Union troops camped in a north Georgia region known as McLemore’s Cove. But the attack never happened. It seems that one Major Noquot, (CSA) a foreign soldier-of-fortune with a limited command of the English language, was to transport the message to attack. Noquot showed up late today after taking 12 hours to cover a distance of about five miles. He said he got lost in the dark and camped for the night. Union troops moved before an attack could be made. President Lincoln urges Andrew Johnson to establish a civil government in Tennessee. Generals Johnston and Forrest (CSA) skirmish with Union troops near Dalton, Georgia. Saturday, September 12, 1863 : Northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee were the scenes of numerous skirmishes. They didn’t amount to much unless you added them all up together. Sites where official skirmishes occurred included Rheatown, Tennessee, and Leet’s Tankards, Alpine, the Lafayette Road, and Dirt Town in Georgia.