Diary of Orrin Brown—Dec 31, 1864

Diary of Orrin Brown, Savannah, Georgia

Saturday–Dec. 31st

The weather is cloudy and cool this morning and some sign of rain, we cleaned up our Guns etc. for inspection and it commenced raining about 9 AM and was so bad that we mustereed for pay but let the inspection go. It stoped raining about 4 Oclock and began to get colder. I read 4 Chapt in Testament today.

The shooting war had begun on 12-13 April 1861 when South Carolina troops fired on Ft. Sumter, which Robert Anderson surrendered to P.G.T. Beauregard.  The timeline from there is extensive, but highlights include:

• 15 April 1861 President Lincoln declares a state of insurrection and calls for volunteers to enlist for 3 months of service.  The consensus is that one large battle will decide the question.
• 19 April 1861 President Lincoln orders blockade of all Confederate ports.
• 20 April 1861 Col. Robert E. Lee resigns his commission in the United States Army.
• 21 July 1861 Rebel victory at First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia, where Confederate Gen. Thomas  “Stonewall” Jackson earns his nickname.  Touristing picnickers witness fact one large battle will decide nothing.
• 6 Feb 1862 Union Gen. U.S. Grant captures Ft. Henry on the Tennessee River from Rebel forces.
• 8 March 1862 Battle of ironclad ships USS Monitor (for the Union) and USS Merrimack (CSS Virginia for the Confederates).
• 26-28 March 1862 The Colorado and New Mexico volunteers under Col. John P. Slough stop a Confederate force of Texas Mounted Rifles at the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico Territory.
• 6-7 April 1862 Gen. U.S. Grant defeats Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, who was killed at the Battle of Shiloh, which saw the highest casualties of any U.S. battle to that point.
• 29-30 August 1862 Gen. Robert E. Lee defeats Union Gen. John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run at Manassas, Virginia.
• 17 September 1862 Gen. George McClelland and Gen. Robert E. Lee engage in the single bloodiest day in American history, with a combined 22,717 casualties at the Battle of Antietam outside Sharpsburg, Maryland.  The result was inconclusive.
• 22 September 1862 President Lincoln issues preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
• 13 December 1862 Gen. Robert E. Lee defeats Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside at the Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia.
• 1-4 May 1863 Gen. Robert E. Lee defeats Union Gen. Joseph Hooker at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia.
• 1-3 July 1863 Union Gen. George Meade defeats Gen. Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, ending Lee’s foray into Union territory.
• 4 July 1863 Confederate forces surrender the city of Vicksburg to Gen. U.S. Grant after a two-mont siege, securing Federal control of the Mississippi River.  Gettysburg and Vicksburg are generally considered the turning point of the Civil War.
• 19-20 September 1863 Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg stops Union Gen. William Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga in northern Georgia.
• 19 November 1863 President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address.
• 23-25 November 1863 Gen. U.S. Grant breaks Union Troops out of Chatanooga, Tennessee, forcing Gen. Braxton Bragg and his Confederate troops to retreat into Georgia.
• 10 March 1864, Ulysses S. Grant is commissioned Lieutenant General and given command of all Federal forces.
• 5-6 May 1864 Lt. Gen U.S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee engage in inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia with heavy casualties.
• 10-12 May 1864 Grant continued to press Lee at Spotsylvania Courthouse and Yellow Tavern, where Confederate cavalryman Gen. J.E.B. Stuart was killed.
• 2 September 1864 Union Gen. William T. Sherman captures Atlanta, Georgia
• 8 November 1864 Abraham Lincoln re-elected President of the United States.
• 16 November – 21 December 1864, Sherman’s March to the Sea.

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