Chronological History of the American Civil War

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found guilty of mistreating Union prisoners was also exempt from any Presidential pardon as were senior government officials. Lincoln also promised that all property in the South, (except former slaves) would be restored to their legal owners. He also guaranteed that any Southern state would be allowed back into the Union, if just 10% of those in a state swore allegiance to the Union. Each of these states would also have to abandon slavery. In the largest fire ever in Santiago, Chile, a city of about 100,000 inhabitants, between 2,000 and 3,000 people perished in a church fire. It is still considered one of the worst fire disasters in history. Wednesday, December 9, 1863 : There was a mutiny of Negro troops at Fort Jackson (U.S.) located just below New Orleans. The mutiny arose because of alleged mistreatment by one of the soldiers’ officers. A group of white officers soon put down the mutiny. Thursday, December 10, 1863 : Officers and men from the Union steamer U.S.S. Bloomer , report the destruction of salt works (pictured) in Saint Andrews Bay, near Panama City in the panhandle of Florida this morning.

Twenty-seven buildings, 200 kettles, 2,000 bushels of salt, and warehouses containing enough supplies for three months’ operations were destroyed. This destruction will continued down the bay for seven miles destroying 198 privately owned works most consisting of a couple of boilers and about ten kettles each along with a large quantity of salt. Many of the workers involved attempted to hide their kettles by burying them in the swamps; however the contrabands (slaves) that fled

to the attackers led them to the hiding places. Union soldiers were joined by 31 contrabands, including two females, who assisted in finding the buried kettles. Five-hundred and seven more kettles were dug up and destroyed, 300 buildings were burned along with 27 wagons and carts, and 5 flatboats. Mr. Blunt who was in charge of some of the works explained to the landing party about the salinity of the bay water and that it produced the highest quality of salt. He also stated that the destruction of the salt industry in this area would be “a greater blow and more severely felt than the falling of Charleston.” The value of the materials destroyed was estimated at $3,000,000. Friday, December 11, 1863 : Since the start of the war, Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, South Carolina has been the Southern holdout. Even though it has been shelled repeatedly, today it took a big hit. One of the 200-plus shells fired at the battered old fort hit a Confederate ammunition magazine. An immense explosion ensued which killed 11 Confederate soldiers and wounded another 41. Still, no hint of surrender was given, and the shelling was concluded for the year. Saturday, December 12, 1863 : Since his return from Gettysburg, President Lincoln has been ill with smallpox. Although somewhat better, he has been working almost daily from his sickbed. His meetings with advisors and Congress has been only brief at times. Today, he sees no callers. Sunday, December 13, 1863 : Mary Todd Lincoln received her sister for a visit at the White House.

The complicating factor was that her sister, actually half-sister, Emilie Todd Helm, (pictured) was the widow of General Ben Hardin Helm, general of the Confederate States of America. President Lincoln, confides in Illinois Senator, O. H. Browning that Emilie is at White House, and that this fact should not be made public. With winter fast approaching, most armies were in winter camp or heading for them, but this does not mean all the fighting stops. In Tennessee, military authorities seize all the horses and mules in Memphis for army use, “paying the owners a fair price for them.” Also skirmishes at Farley’s Mill on the Holston River, Dandridge’s Mill, and LaGrange, and in Ringgold, Georgia and more fighting at Bayou Boeuf, Arkansas and at Germantown, Stickleyville, and Strasburg in Virginia.

Monday, December 14, 1863 : In Washington, D.C., Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln’s half-sister, who was married to Brig. General Benjamin H. Helm, (CSA) and who had died Sep 21, is granted Federal amnesty by President Abraham Lincoln after taking the loyalty oath to the Union. She signed her name “Emily;”