hide Matching Documents

Browsing named entities in Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative. You can also browse the collection for November or search for November in all documents.

Your search returned 6 results in 6 document sections:

Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative, Chapter 3: fall and winter of 1861 (search)
ootsteps along the railroad from Alexandria, and was defeated upon nearly the same ground which had witnessed McDowell's defeat. Fourth. Burnside took the railroad via Fredericksburg, and in December, 1862, met a bloody repulse at that point and gave up his campaign. Fifth. Hooker also took the Fredericksburg route, but was attacked at Chancellorsville so severely that he also gave up his campaign early in May, 1863. Sixth. Meade, after repulsing Lee at Gettysburg in July, 1863, in November essayed an advance from Alexandria upon Lee's right flank at Mine Run, about halfway between the two railroad lines. He found Lee so strongly intrenched that he withdrew without attacking. Seventh. On May 4, 1864, Grant, with the largest force yet assembled, set out from Alexandria on a line between Meade's Mine Run and Hooker's Spottsylvania routes. Lee attacked his columns in the Wilderness. The battle thus joined raged for over 11 months, and only ended at Appomattox on April 9, 18
Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative, Chapter 5: Seven Pines or fair Oaks (search)
ould sleep on their arms and renew the fight at dawn, when he received two wounds. The first was a flesh wound in the shoulder from a musket ball, and the second, a few moments later, was a blow in the chest from a heavy fragment of shell, knocking him from his horse. He was placed in an ambulance and started toward his headquarters, but suffered such pain from the motion caused by the fearful roads that a litter had to be substituted. He was incapacitated for service until the middle of November, when he was assigned to the principal command of the Army in the West. G. W. Smith succeeded Johnston in the command, and the action of the next day is therefore to be called Smith's Battle. It is sometimes stated in Confederate accounts, that this day offered the Confederates their best opportunity to crush the enemy, because it is supposed that the Chickahominy was now entirely impassable. This is a mistake. The railroad bridge had been repaired and covered with plank, and was alwa
Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative, Chapter 6: Jackson's Valley campaign (search)
Valley, and every other operation would be suspended to concentrate all efforts upon driving it out. This oversensitiveness of the Federals cut its greatest figure in 1862, and was, more than once, the only salvation of Richmond. For the Confederate generals understood it, and as the situation in front of Richmond became more threatening, they sought more earnestly to reenforce the Valley. It happened that Stonewall Jackson had been assigned as the commander of the Valley District in Nov., ‘61, and the reader has already been told of the battle of Kernstown, which he fought there on Mar. 23, ‘62. After that battle he had fallen back with his division, about 8000 strong, to Swift Run Gap. Ewell, with about as many more, was at Gordonsville, and Edward Johnson, with about 3000, was near Staunton. The Federals had made in West Virginia two separate departments. That of the Shenandoah, under Banks, included the Valley in which Banks had, in April, about 19,000 men near Har
Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative, Chapter 19: battle of Chickamauga (search)
the army which had taken Vicksburg. To remain idle was to give the enemy time to do this. Once more the necessity was upon us to devise some offensive which might bring on a battle with approximately equal chances. Lee, accordingly, urged forward the building up of his own army with the design of an early aggressive movement against Meade. It must be admitted that the opportunity for such was slight. The enemy's fortified lines about Alexandria were too near; as was proven later, when in Nov. an advance was actually attempted. But the Confederacy still held unimpaired the advantage of the Interior Lines, already spoken of as open to them in May, and then urged by Longstreet both upon Secretary Seddon and Lee. These still offered the sole opportunity ever presented the South for a great strategic victory. Already, however, movements of the enemy were on foot which, in a few weeks, would enable them to close the shorter route from Richmond to Chattanooga via Knoxville, and leav
Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative, Chapter 21: the movement against Petersburg (search)
, or among the officials of the government in Washington. The expenses of the war were nearly $4,000,000 a day. Gold was at a high premium and advancing rapidly. It went from 168 in May to 285 in July. The following table shows the fluctuations for each month of 1864:— MONTHDAYHIGHESTDAYLOWEST Jan.19159 3/86151 1/2 Feb.1616127157 1/8 March26169 3/41159 April26186 1/44166 1/4 May2719010168 June302508193 July112851222 Aug.5261 3/430231 1/2 Sept.2254 1/230191 Oct.31227 3/43189 Nov.826018210 Dec.724318212 3/4 Enlisting had almost ceased, although stimulated by enormous bounties. A thousand dollars per man was the ordinary price, and single regiments would sometimes take from their counties 1000 men, and draw a million dollars in bounties the day of their muster. There was growing bitterness in political circles in view of the approaching presidential election. The terrible lists of casualties in battle were daily bringing mourning and distress to every hamlet in
Edward Porter Alexander, Military memoirs of a Confederate: a critical narrative, Chapter 23: the fall of 1864 (search)
e Cabinet put their names on its back. The victories came like an interposition of Providence, and proved to be the final turning of the balance in the Federal favor. The Democratic party had nominated McClellan on a peace platform, mistaking the general discontent and depression, for a desire for peace at any price. McClellan himself had repudiated the platform, but, as victory now seemed inclining to the Federal banners, all opposition to the administration died out. At the election in Nov., Mr. Lincoln received 212 electoral votes and McClellan but 21. The attacks which Hood had made upon Sherman on the 20th and 22d had both been judiciously planned and had stood excellent chances of success. The failure in both cases was from want of strict compliance with orders on the part of one of his corps commanders, Gen. Hardee. To trace it further would bring it home to himself for failure to supervise the execution of important orders — a sort of failure from which even the most