Chronological History of the American Civil War

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for more supplies. Davis is genuinely distraught, as he has nothing to send. President Davis gives Lee permission to commandeer food and supplies from the citizens in Virginia. Neither liked this, but such measures may help his troops but not the people of the state. Near Sparta, Tennessee, the Union men kill, wound, and capture bushwackers, recapture supplies taken from sutlers, (civilian merchant who sells provisions to the army) seize Confederate stragglers, horses, arms, clothing, etc. Tuesday, January 5, 1864 : The weather is extremely cold, but on the Pecos River, near Fort Sumner, in the New Mexico Territory, a battle with Navajo Indians. The Apaches assist the Federals since it was their herd of horses were stolen, that results with many Navajo casualties. In Tennessee, a Union forage party attacked the Confederate pickets at Lawrence's Mill, 5 miles east of Mossy Creek, and captured 12 Confederates with their arms and 9 horses, without any loss. Wednesday, January 6, 1864 : Some might call the early Indian wars not a part of the Civil War, but Indians of many tribes fought on both sides, while some Indians fought only to protect what was theirs. Federal troops under commander Kit Carson are called into action one side, and the Navajo Nation on the other start a month long fight for such freedoms. Of course, we know how this will eventually end, but by the spring of 1864, 8,000 Navajo men, women and children were forced to march or ride in wagons 300 miles from Fort Canby to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Navajos call this “The Long Walk.” An estimated 300 Navajo died along the way. Many more died during the next four years on the encampment at Fort Sumner. Thursday, January 7, 1864 : President Davis (CSA) just the day before commutes a death sentence, today, this deed unknown to President Lincoln, (U.S.) does the same for a Union deserter. When asked for a reason, he could only reply wearily “Because I am trying to evade the butchering business lately.” His move, as commander-in-chief, was not well received by the Union’s military hierarchy who felt that it would undermine discipline even more. Union desertion was at an all-time high, especially in the Army of the Potomac. Friday, January 8, 1864 : In Little Rock, Arkansas, seventeen year old, David O. Dodd

(pictured) convicted of spying for the Confederacy was hung. A crowd of five or six thousand gathered to watch the hanging. Tensions were high at this time, since Union sympathies ran high in Arkansas and a constitutional convention was in session to enable the state to rejoin the Union. Dodd's execution fueled renewed divisions between Union and Confederate factions. Dodd quickly became a folk hero, and a force behind a renewed Confederate war. David Owen Dodd became known the “Boy Martyr of the Confederacy.” Saturday, January 9, 1864 : In Washington, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles received a disturbing telegram from Admiral C.H. Bell in California. Bell just received word that the Confederates were constructing a large new raider in an unexpected place, Vancouver,

British Columbia. The Union had stopped most ships being built in Europe, but had overlooked the Canadian option. In Richmond, Jefferson Davis (CSA) was sending notices to commanders in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia that Admiral Farragut (U.S.) was preparing to attack Mobile. Sunday, January 10, 1864 : The Confederacy was broke, and its answer to their economic plight of inflation, with no real means through normal trade to stop it, decided to print more money. Foreign governments were unwilling to lend money to it, and only accepted gold for the