Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Wednesday, October 26, 1864 : General Hood (CSA) tries to bluff the Union-occupied city of Decatur, Alabama into surrender, so he could cross the Tennessee River. Hood’s bluff consisted primarily of marching around, and while occasionally firing off a volley of gunshots, trying to give the impression of a much larger force. This might possibly alarm the Union commander into falling back from the position.

All things come to an end they say, in Missouri it was the fighting, but not until one last fight. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel P. Cox (U.S.) and his men were on special orders to kill or capture guerrilla chief “Bloody” Bill Anderson (pictured). A fight takes place throughout the town of Albany, but when Bloody Bill charges the Union line, he is shot twice in the head and falls dead. Anderson’s body was triumphantly paraded by Union soldiers through the streets of nearby Richmond, Missouri, still clad in his ornate guerrilla shirt and made to clutch a revolver. The soldiers bury Anderson in a field on the outskirts of Richmond. In 1908, ex-bushwhacker Cole Younger, by then released from prison in Minnesota, had Anderson’s body reburied in Richmond’s Pioneer Cemetery (where it remains today). Many of Anderson’s men will rejoined William C. Quantrill’s guerrillas, while others will just go home. Bill Anderson’s

brother, Jim manages to survive the war. In 1866, the governor of Missouri, Thomas C. Fletcher, dabbles with the idea of having Jim Anderson assassinated for the good of the state, but before he could; Jim moves to Texas and in 1867, Jim helps Jesse James murder former- guerrilla Ike Flannery to steal his inheritance. In retaliation, Ike’s nephew, George H. Shepard (who also rode under Quantrill) finds Jim and slits Anderson’s throat in front of the state capitol building in Austin, Texas. Thursday, October 27, 1864 : With winter approaching, General Grant (U.S.) decides to make one last attempt to capture the Southside Railroad that supplied Petersburg,Virginia and try to end the siege. On this cold rainy morning, General Meade (U.S.) sends 40,000 troops and 3,000 cavalry troopers to attack the well-defended Southern trenches. The fighting continues at Hatcher’s Run until after dark, but when it ends no territory has changed hands, and the siege continues. About 1,700 Federals are killed, wounded, or captured. Confederate losses were not reported, but were thought to be less than 1,000, most of them captured soldiers. In Tennessee, Lieutenant Colonel Jesse A. Forrest, (CSA) one of General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s five brothers, unsuccessfully attacks the steamer, “ Belle Saint Louis ” from an earthenworks Fort Randolph, on the Mississippi River north of Memphis. Friday, October 28, 1864 : In another daring attack on the Lee’s defenses, General Ulysses S. Grant orders an attack at Fair Oaks, about 24 miles from the assault at yesterday’s Hatcher’s Run. Another some 1,100 Union men are killed, wounded, or captured during this attack, while the Confederates lost some 450 troops. The Rebels still continue to hold out. At Plymouth, North Carolina, the Confederate ramship C.S.S. Albemarle is sunk by a Lieut. William B. Gushing (USN) using a spar torpedo. General Sherman (U.S.) decides to turn back toward Atlanta and not chase General Hood (CSA). Saturday, October 29, 1864 : The Union soldiers burn the town of Decatur, Alabama, and General Hood will now have to find another place to cross the Tennessee River. General