In Augusta County, Virginia the Battle of Waynesboro takes place this day. In the one day conflict Federal forces under General George Armstrong Custer spectacularly rout the forces of Confederate General Jubal Early just outside the town of Waynesboro. The Federals, losing only nine men, capture as many as 1,800 Confederates, as well as many…
In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley this day, Union forces deal a decisive blow to Confederates in the Battle of Cedar Creek. So conclusive is the Federal victory over Confederate General Jubal Early‘s army that Confederate resistance in the valley effectively comes to an end. Meanwhile, in Bridgeport, Alabama, Lewis Raymond, Baptist minister and chaplain of the…
Today Union General Ulysses S. Grant telegrams General William T. Sherman, in response to Sherman’s request to march from Atlanta to Savannah, destroying Confederate infrastructure and supplies along the way. “If you are satisfied the trip to the sea coast can be made holding the line of the Tennessee river firmly,” Grant tells Sherman, “you…