August 11 In Civil War History

Jim Klag

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On this day in Civil War history

Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

August 11, 1811 - Judah P Benjamin, US lawyer/minister of Confederacy navy born in U.S. Virgin Islands [or Aug 6] (d. 1884)

August 11, 1832 - Thomas Ogden Osbord, American lawyer, diplomat and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Licking County, Ohio (d. 1904)

August 11, 1852 - Free-Soil Party convention is held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

August 11, 1861 - Affair at Hamburg, MO, with Brig Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, MO State Guard.

August 11, 1861 - Brig. Gen. John Buchanan Floyd, CSA, assumes the command of the Confederate forces in the Valley of the Kanawha, WV.

August 11, 1862 - Skirmish near Helena, AR.

August 11, 1862 - Skirmish at Brown's Plantation, MS.

August 11, 1862 - Skirmish at Compton's Ferry, or Little Compton, Grand River, MO, including a 250 mile pursuit of Rebel irregulars.

August 11, 1862 - Action at and the surrender of Independence, MO, to Confederate irregular guerrillas, including William Clarke Quantrill.

August 11, 1862 - Skirmish at Taberville, MO.

August 11, 1862 - Affair near Kinderhook, TN, with Rebel guerrillas.

August 11, 1862 - Skirmish at Saulsbury, TN, with the rout of guerrilla cavalry.

August 11, 1862 - Skirmish near Williamsport, TN.

August 11, 1862 - Affair at Velasco, TX.

August 11, 1862 - Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Confederate corps retires to the vicinity of Gordonsville, VA, south of the Rapidan River.

August 11, 1863 - The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:

Robert Alexander Cameron, USA

Alexander Chambers, USA

John Murray Corse, USA

Manning Ferguson Force, USA

Walter Quintin Gresham, USA

John Aaron Rawlins, USA

Thomas Kilby Smith, USA

August 11, 1863 - Confederate batteries at Battery Wagner, Fort Sumter, and on James Island, near Charleston, SC, open fire on the Union trenches on Morris Island, SC.

August 11, 1863 - The capture of a 19 wagon Union wagon train near Annandale, Fairfax County, VA, by Maj. John S. Mosby, CSA.

August 11, 1863 - Federal expedition from Portsmouth, VA, to Edenton, NC, and skirmishes with loss of life. (Aug 11-19)

August 11, 1864 - The siege of Petersburg is ongoing.

August 11, 1864 - Daniel Davidson Bidwell, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

August 11, 1864 - Skirmish in Crawford County, AR.

August 11, 1864 - Federal expedition mostly of Negro forces, from Helena, aboard the steamer, H.A. Homeyer, to Kent's Landing, AR. (Aug 11-13)

August 11, 1864 - Skirmish on White Oak Creek, AR.

August 11, 1864 - Skirmish with the Kiowa Indians near Sand Creek, the Colorado Territory.

August 11, 1864 - Skirmish at Hartville, MO.

August 11, 1864 - Federal operations in Johnson County, MO, with skirmish near Holden (Aug 12), with bushwhackers. (Aug 11-19)

August 11, 1864 - Operations against the Brule Sioux Indians in the Nebraska Territory, with skirmish near Fort Cottonwood (Sep 20); the Pawnee and Ogallala Sioux Indians are encountered along the way but are friendly with the white man. (Aug 11-Oct 28)

August 11, 1864 - The CSS Tallahassee captures seven Federal vessels off the coast of Sandy Hook, NJ, burning all except one for the Federal crews to escape on.

August 11, 1864 - Lt. Gen. Jubal Early, CSA, moves his forces from Winchester, VA, up the Shenandoah Valley toward Cedar Creek as Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, USA, who recently replaced Maj. Gen. David Hunter, USA, Marches with the newly formed US Army of the Shenandoah against Early.

August 11, 1864 - Action at Newtown, VA, with Lieut. Gen. Jubal Early, CSA.

August 11, 1864 - Action at Toll-Gate, near White Post, VA, the Shenandoah Valley, VA, Campaign.

August 11, 1864 - Skirmish near Winchester, VA, the Shenandoah Valley, VA, Campaign.

August 11, 1868 - Thaddeus Stevens, US Republican congressional leader (Rep-R), dies at 76 in Washington, DC.
 

5fish

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Manning Ferguson Force, USA
Old @O' Be Joyful ...

General Force is a Cincinnati boy... he was not born there but made it his Home... Medal of honor winner... a Harvard man...

Rank and organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Born: Washington, D.C. December 17, 1824. Date of issue: March 31, 1892.
Citation:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Brigadier General Manning Ferguson Force, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 22 July 1864, while serving with U.S. Volunteers, in action at Atlanta, Georgia. Brigadier General Force charged upon the enemy's works, and after their capture defended his position against assaults of the enemy until he was severely wounded.
LINK:https://www.historynet.com/unknown-soldier-manning-ferguson-force-the-hero-of-atlanta.htm

Snip.... Here the story of what he did to get the MoH.... They took a hill and the boys in grey wanted it back...

As the sun came up the next morning, Force learned that the enemy was sidling to the left in an attempt to outflank the Union position. Suddenly the sound of musket fire broke the day’s silence and awakened his men to a new reality crashing down on them. Hood had successfully stolen a flanking march, and Confederates were attacking the Union defenses—including Bald Hill—from the west. As musket fire increased, officers all along the main line shouted to their men, “Fall in! Fall in!” In less than 15 minutes, the woods at the bottom of the hill were filled with Confederates rushing the Union lines.
After two hours of fierce fighting, two Confederate units hit the Union line at the same time, pushing the bluecoats back to the defensive works on Bald Hill. Atop the hill, there was so much confusion that no one could plainly see the attacking troops in the rear or on the flank.
Force, almost enshrouded in musket smoke, called for a flag.
A junior officer, believing Force meant to surrender, ran off and returned with a piece of white cloth. “Damn you, sir!” Force bellowed. “I don’t want a flag of truce; I want the American flag!” Someone finally brought the Stars and Stripes, and Force stood proudly and planted its staff firmly at the summit for everyone to see.
With the Confederates closing on his lines, the general readied his troops for the collision. “The men,” he said in a speech after the war, “leaped over the works” and waited for the assault. Through the woods, they could hear the Rebel yell above the racket of muskets, cannons, screams, and shrieks. A steady volley greeted the attacking Confederates and halted their advance.
The Rebels—Texans as it turned out— re-formed and stormed the Union breastworks again, but once more the Federal gunfire threw them back. Force’s flag fluttered in the breeze. It was now well after 3 p.m., and Force’s brigade was still taking fire from three sides. Ammunition was running low.
Just as Force stooped down to help put a tourniquet on the leg of a wounded officer, a minié ball struck his face. It penetrated his cheekbone below the corner of the left eye, passed through his face, and exited about an inch in front of the lower jawbone, just beneath the right ear, tearing pieces of the upper jaw. An artilleryman who saw Force go down described how “blood gushed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.” Yet Force “uttered no moan, nor a word of complaint.”
Nor did he lose consciousness. The general was carried from the hill to a field hospital in the rear. His wound was excruciating; he was lucky to be alive. If the bullet had penetrated his skull, it might have struck his brain. Five days later, Force was transferred to hospitals first in Nashville, then in Louisville. He regained the ability to speak fairly quickly, although he could talk only with great difficulty.
Meanwhile, the battle for Atlanta continued. Despite Force’s absence, his brigade held Bald Hill and sent the enemy tumbling back toward Atlanta.
Over the next month, Sherman’s troops encircled the city. Finally, on September 2, Force, recuperating at his father’s home in Washington, heard the news that Atlanta had fallen to Sherman.

Meanwhile, the battle for Atlanta continued. Despite Force’s absence, his brigade held Bald Hill and sent the enemy tumbling back toward Atlanta.
 

5fish

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August 11, 1864 - Skirmish in Crawford County, AR.
Got to like Arkansas...


Skirmish at Van Buren (August 12, 1864)
Location:Crawford County
Campaign:None
Date:August 12, 1864
Principal Commanders:Lieutenant John C. Anderson (US); Unknown (CS)
Forces Engaged:70 cavalry (US); 200 men (CS)
Estimated Casualties:Unknown (US); Unknown (CS)
Result:Confederate victory
Fought in the aftermath of the July 31, 1864, Action at Fort Smith, this skirmish was just one of many that continued to take place in western Arkansas late in the Civil War.
Fort Smith (Sebastian County) served as an important Federal post at this point of the war, and nearby Van Buren (Crawford County) was also held by Union forces. The late July skirmish was one of only a few organized movements by Confederate forces against the fortified settlements. Federal troops more typically faced guerrilla attacks at this time.
Colonel Thomas Bowen of the Thirteenth Kansas Infantry served as commander of the Federal garrison at Van Buren and regularly reported to Brigadier General John Thayer, commander of the District of the Frontier with headquarters at Fort Smith. Bowen sent out regular patrols to search for enemy movements. One of these patrols under the command of Captain Marion Beeler attacked a group of bushwhackers on the night of August 11, 1864. This took place about twenty-five miles northeast of Van Buren. Several of the Federals were wounded in the skirmish, including Beeler, who later died from his wounds. Bowen sent out an ambulance and more troops to escort the soldiers back to Van Buren.
Even though his command had just suffered losses in combat, Bowen continued to send parties outside the city. On the morning of August 12, seventy men under the command of Lieutenant John Anderson of the Sixth Kansas Cavalry set out from Van Buren. This unit was tasked with escorting the mail and a sutler’s train.
About thirteen miles north of the city, the command was attacked near Lee’s Creek. The enemy numbered around 200 and quickly overwhelmed the Federals. The mail and the train were both lost, but only seven of the Union troops were unable to escape easily. No casualties for either side during the engagement were listed in Bowen’s report, and the fate of the remaining troops is not known.
An extremely brief skirmish, this fight demonstrates just how dangerous it was for Union troops in Arkansas outside of their fortified outposts.
For additional information:
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Series 1, Vol. 41, Part II. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1889.
 
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