Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War
Roundtable
December 8, 1863 - President Lincoln offers his
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in an opening address to the 38th
Congress, in session in Washington. All Southerners in any of the seceded
states can take a loyalty oath and, when fully 10% of the voters of that state
have taken the oath and that state abolishes slavery that state's sitting
government can reorganize. Radical Republicans in the north find the offer too
conciliatory.
December 8, 1863 - General William W. Averell moves to
Salem, Virginia to carry out a raid on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.
General Eliakim P. Scammon's cavalry rides from Charleston, West Virginia to
Lewisburg in support.
December 9, 1863 - Citing his slow reaction to orders
during the Chattanooga Campaign, General Ambrose E. Burnside is replaced as
commander of the Department of the Ohio by order of General Grant. The new
commander is General John G. Foster. In the Confederate Army, General James
Longstreet draws up charges against several members of his staff for slow
reaction to his order to storm Fort Saunders at Knoxville.
December 11, 1863 - At Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor,
South Carolina, a random Union shot hits the ammunition magazine which explodes
killing 11 and wounding 41 Confederate soldiers. The defenders refuse to
surrender.
December 12, 1863 - Beginning on this date, many
supplies sent by Sanitary Commissions and packages from families of men in
Southern prisons are refused by Confederate authorities.
December 12, 1863 - Charles City Court House, Virginia
is the scene of a Union raid that captures 90 Southerners.
December 13, 1863 - General Mosby's Partisan Raiders
attack a sleeping Union camp at Germantown, Virginia. They capture two soldiers
and several horses.
December 13, 1863 - A force of 4,000 Union cavalry
occupies Bean's Station, Tennessee while in pursuit of General James
Longstreet's force as they leave Knoxville. General James M. Shackleford
continues to push his Union soldiers further from his supporting infantry.
General Longstreet turns on his pursuers and attempts to destroy Shackleford's
force but fails. Later that night, Longstreet sends Generals William Martin and
William Jones on circuitous routes to get behind General Shackleford's small
force.
December 14, 1863 - Using artillery, General
Longstreet tries to distract General Shackleford's force while two columns
strike their flank and rear. The Union troops make an orderly retreat through
Bean's Gap to Blain's Crossroad and dig in behind a rail breastwork.
Confederate forces decline to attack this strong position and withdraw. Bean's
Station is the last action of the dreary Knoxville campaign. Confederate losses
are 182 dead, 768 wounded, and 142 missing (1,092). Union losses are 92 dead,
394 wounded, and 207 missing (693).
December 14, 1863 - Emilie Todd Helm, Mrs. Lincoln's
half sister, is granted general amnesty when she visits the White House and
takes the loyalty oath.
December 15, 1863 - General Jubel A. Early is
appointed commander of the Confederate Valley District, Virginia. General Early
leads a sortie from Hanover Junction, Virginia to cut off General Averell at Millborough
where he continues to destroy railroad assets.
