A new general is in town and a new chapter in the ongoing battle for control of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley begins this day. Union General Philip Sheridan is the man, and Winchester is the town. Upon hearing of the approach of Sheridan’s forces, Confederate General Jubal Early evacuates his own forces rather than engage the…
Today Confederate Calvary Commander General Joe Wheeler, in an attempt to hamper the Union offensive against Atlanta, begins raiding activities behind Federal lines in North Georgia, targeting Federal railroad supply lines. Wheeler operates in North Georgia and Tennessee for a month. Although the Confederate general does manage to temporarily destroy some stretches of rail, his…
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…