Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
December 16, 1862 - General Ambrose Burnside issues a directive accepting full responsibility for the disaster at Fredericksburg, as the Army of the Potomac re-occupies Falmouth, Virginia. By early 1863, Burnside reverses his position and blames several others.
December 16, 1862 - General Benjamin Butler leaves his command at New Orleans and is succeeded by General Nathaniel P. Banks.
December 16, 1862 - General Nathan B. Forrest approaches Lexington, Tennessee and Union Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll is dispatched, with 700 men and two cannons, to obstruct Forrest's raid on the town. Ingersoll must move 28 miles from Jackson, Tennessee to Lexington. Moving at a trot, some veteran soldiers arrive in time to delay Forrest. Only about 200 of the 700 Union soldiers are veterans, the rest hastily trained recruits.
December 17, 1862 - President Lincoln is put on the spot when Radical Republicans call for Secretary of State William H. Seward to be replaced by Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. Seward tenders his resignation at this insult. President Lincoln refuses to accept it.
December 17, 1862 - General Forrest prepares to enter Lexington, Tennessee with his 2,500 troops while 700 Union soldiers defend the town. Colonel Ingersoll orders all roads and crossings approaching the town destroyed. Somehow, a bridge on the Lower Road is overlooked.
December 17, 1862 - General Order No.11, expelling Jews from his theatre of operation, is issued by General U.S. Grant. The order reads "The Jews, as a class violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department, and also department orders, are hereby expelled from the department within twenty-four hours of the receipt of this order." The order is rescinded some weeks later.
December 17, 1862 - General Earl Van Dorn, recently disgraced but appointed by General John Pemberton to command a cavalry unit, leaves Granada, Mississippi to move on a Union supply depot at Holly Springs. Taking an indirect route, he passes the town and then turns back, attacking the objective from three directions.
December 18, 1862 - General Forrest leads his cavalry troops on Lexington and wins a hard fought, daylong battle. The unburned bridge on the Lower Road is the only weak spot in Colonel Ingersoll's defense of the town.
December 18, 1862 - The Army of the Tennessee is reorganized under General Grant. Generals are: XIII Corps - John A. McClernand, XV Corps - William Tecumseh Sherman, XVI Corps - Stephen A. Hurlbut, and XVII Corps - James B. McPherson.
December 18, 1862 - Admiral Farragut suggests to newly arrived Commanding General Nathaniel P. Banks, that the reoccupation of Baton Rouge would be a first step to the eventual campaign against Port Hudson on the Mississippi River.
December 19, 1862 - General Grant is alerted to the impending raid on his supply depot at Holly Springs and warns Colonel Robert C. Murphy to prepare.
December 20, 1862 - General Sherman's XIII Corps of 32,000 Union troops moves down river on several transports, from Memphis, Tennessee, toward Vicksburg. In concert with demonstrations by General Grant's forces, the intent is to hold Confederate forces at Granada and prevent them from reaching Vicksburg.
December 20, 1862 - Confederate Cavalry under General Van Dorn have startling success in their raid on Holly Springs, Mississippi and the Union supply depot. Disguising the objective by marching on a roundabout route, Van Dorn enters Holly Springs unopposed and destroys $1.5 million in supplies and captures 1,500 Union prisoners. One of the largest raids on supplies in U.S. history, the loss had an impact on the entire Vicksburg campaign.
December 20, 1862 - Commander David D. Porter, aboard the USS 'Black Hawk,' joins General W.T. Sherman at Helena, Arkansas in a joint operation against Vicksburg.
December 21, 1862 - General John H. Morgan departs Alexandria, Tennessee on his third raid into Kentucky. This time he has 3,100 Confederate Cavalry Troops and the prime objective is to cut General William Rosecrans' supply line from Louisville on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
December 21, 1862 - General Grant is forced to move back to Memphis with the loss of his supply depot at Holly Springs. Grant is determined to make supply arrangements that do not depend on the railroad. In the meantime, he also is without telegraph communication with General Sherman. General Sherman is approaching Vicksburg, planning to meet up with Grant's forces for an attack.
December 22, 1862 - General Burnside meets with President Lincoln and they confer on future strategy. President Lincoln downplays the recent losses, including Fredericksburg.
