Today an enormous explosion rocks City Point, Virginia, the headquarters of the Union Army during the current siege of Petersburg. Several large buildings, 180 feet of wharf, and some two million dollars worth of military munitions and supplies are destroyed, while more than forty workers lose their lives. Union General Ulysses S. Grant quarters…
Today in the Battle of Tupelo in Lee County, Mississippi, Union General Major General A. J. Smith, commanding some 14,000 men, is attacked by Confederate Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee wielding a force of some 8,000. The Rebel attack, however, is largely uncoordinated, allowing Smith and his forces to easily repel the enemy. Within a…
While in Virginia the North and South struggle over control of Petersburg–and hence the Confederate capital of Richmond–numerous minor skirmishes take place this summer throughout Virginia at large. One such clash occurs today when Confederate Col. John S. Mosby’s Rangers (or Raiders), a crack cavalry unit, attack 150 Union cavalrymen near the Mt. Zion Old…