September 5 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

September 5 Birthdays

1815 - Tyree Harris Bell, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Covington, Kentucky (d. 1902)
1847 - Jesse James, American outlaw and son of a clergyman, born in Kearney, Missouri (d. 1882)

September 5 Antebellum Events

1855 - Free-staters meet in Big Springs, Kansas to elect representatives to a constitutional convention in Topeka, Kansas.

Thursday September 5 1861

• Skirmish at Papinsville, MO.
• President Lincoln meets with Bvt. Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott to discuss the future of Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont, USA, at his St. Louis, MO, post.

Friday September 5 1862

• The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
  • Herman Haupt, USA
  • Charles Edward Hovey, USA
  • Gabriel Rene Paul, USA
• The CSS Alabama captures and burns her first Union target, the Ocmulgee, eastern Atlantic, near the Azores.
• The command of the District of Western Arizona is shuffled as follows:
  • Maj. David Ferguson, 1st CA Cavalry, is relieved of command;
  • Col. Joseph R. West, 1st CA Infantry, assumes command;
  • Maj. Theodore A. Coult, 5th CA Infantry, is assigned to command.
• Skirmish near Madisonville, KY.
• Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles, CSA, is assigned to the command of the District of the Mississippi.
• Federal scout toward Holly Springs and skirmish at Olive Branch, MS, by Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson, USA. (Sep 5-6)
• Skirmish at Neoso, MO.
• Brig. Gen. John M. Brannan, USA, is temporarily in command of the Dept. of the South, SC.
• Skirmish at Burnt Bridge, near Humboldt, TN.
• Federal expedition from Fort Donelson to Clarksville, TN, and skirmishes (Sep 6) at New Providence and (Sep 7) at Riggin's Hill, TN. (Sep 5-10)
• The armies of the Potomac and Virginia being consolidated, Maj. Gen. John Pope, USA, is relieved and ordered to report to the Secretary of War, VA.

Saturday September 5 1863

• Skirmish at Lebanon, AL, as Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, USA, and the Army of the Cumberland moves toward Braxton Bragg, CSA, and the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, the Chickamauga Campaign.
• The destruction of Confederate salt-works at Rawlingsville, AL, the Chickamauga Campaign.
• Federal reconnaissance from Winston's Gap into Broomtown Valley, AL, the Chickamauga Campaign.
• Skirmish near Maysville, AR, when a third of the Union escort are reported being drunk, and run into some of William Quantrill's guerrillas.
• Skirmish with Indians near White Stone Hill, the Dakota Territory, as the Union party looking for missing men from the action at White Stone Hill the other day, are attacked by 300 Indians.
• The English Government seizes the two newly built ironclads ordered by the Confederacy in the Liverpool shipyards which halts the growth of the Confederate navy, and leaves the CSS Alabama as the lone Confederate raider on the high seas.
• Skirmish near Alpine, GA, the Chickamauga Campaign.
• Skirmish at Tazewell, TN, as Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, USA, moves from Knoxville, to assist Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, USA, against Braxton Bragg, CSA.

Monday September 5 1864

• Skirmish near Stephenson's Depot, north of Winchester, VA, on the Opequon river, with Early and Sheridan.
• Federal reconnaissance to Sycamore Church, outside Richmond, the Richmond, VA, Campaign.
• Maj. Gen. David B. Birney, USA, is in temporary command of the Army of the James, the Richmond, VA, Campaign.

Tuesday September 5 1865

• Brig. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfennig, USA, dies near Wernersville, PA, while trying to recuperate from camp fever (tuberculosis) which afflicted him for a very long time.
• Engagement with Indians at Powder River, the Montana Territory.

September 5 Deaths

1912 - Arthur MacArthur, Jr., U.S. Army general, Medal Of Honor winner, father of Douglas MacArthur, dies at 67 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (b. 1845)