Today the Confederate States win a much-needed, albeit small, battle in the east Tennessee counties of Hamblen and Green in the Battle of Bull’s Gap. In the battle, a Confederate expedition from Virginia enters east Tennessee in search of food and supplies, in the light of winter closing in. The Rebels also seek to drive…
Today Union General William T. Sherman, temporarily in Cartersville, Georgia, telegrams General Thomas in Nashville. Leaving Thomas in command of Union forces in Tennessee and north Georgia, Sherman departs Cartersville for Atlanta, thus beginning his march to the sea on the Georgia coast. Until December 13, the general will be out of communication with the…
Today U.S. President Abraham Lincoln is formally re-elected with the Electoral College support of all states except New Jersey and Delaware. Lincoln calls a cabinet meeting, in which he unseals a letter he had written earlier in the year, at which time he was expecting to be defeated by Democratic candidate General George B. McClellan.…