Confederate General John Bell Hood, marching through northern Alabama with some 39,000 soldiers and en route to a planned invasion of western Tennessee, today arrives at Decatur, Alabama. Here he encounters some 3,000-5,000 Union soldiers defending entrenchments, two forts and a rifle pit, in addition to two Federal gunboats patrolling the Tennessee River. Needing to…
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…
Today Union General Ulysses S. Grant surveys the results of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House thus far. The fighting has raged since May 8, but his forces have been unable to break through the entrenched Confederate lines. Casualties and losses have been extremely heavy, approaching 30,000 total for both sides, about 18,000 for the…