Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
August 12, 1862 - Colonel John H. Morgan takes Gallatin, Tennessee by stealth, capturing 124 Union soldiers without firing a shot. A Louisville and Nashville Railroad tunnel is destroyed cutting General Don C. Buell's supply line. This delayed Buell's advance on Chattanooga for at least three months.
August 12, 1862 - Union forces leave Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and move toward Independence, Missouri to rid that city of Confederate irregulars.
August 13, 1862 - General Robert E. Lee begins moving his Army from the Peninsula toward Gordonville, Virginia. The first to move are 30,000 of General James Longstreet's men, transported by rail. They link up with General Jackson's corps near Gordonville. The abandonment of the Peninsula began when Northern units under General McClellan are moved from just east of Richmond to Aquia Creek, south of Washington, D.C. The Peninsula is completely emptied of both Union and Confederate field forces in the next several days.
August 13, 1862 - Union steamers (the George Peabody and the West Point) accidentally collide on the Potomac River resulting in 83 deaths, mostly convalescents.
August 13, 1862 - U.S. Navy Captain John W. Kittridge lands at Corpus Christi, Texas under flag of truce and urges Confederate leaders to evacuate local citizens as he intends to attack.
August 14, 1862 - President Lincoln confers with a delegation of free Blacks at the White House. He urges them to consider Central America as a possible location of a colony for free blacks. Black leaders, including Frederick Douglas, react with disdain and accuse the President of "contempt for Negroes."
August 14, 1862 - The III Corps and V Corps of the Union Army are transported from Harrison's Landing to Aquia Creek.
August 15, 1862 - General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia completes the move to fields around Gordonville, Virginia. General Lee plans a quick strike on the Union forces of General John Pope, still located on the south side of the Rappahannock. A rapid strike would isolate Pope and allow the Confederates to defeat this portion of the Union Army in detail (completely). General Lee is dissuaded from carrying out the plan by General Fitzhugh Lee who feels his cavalry horses are worn and need to rest.
August 16, 1862 - The Army of the Potomac completes its relocation from Harrison's Landing to Aquia Creek and is in position to better protect the capital.
August 16, 1862 - General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia is at Gordonville. The two armies are about 45 miles apart; the Union Army 35 miles Southeast of Manassas and the Confederates about 55 miles Southwest of that early war battlefield.
August 16, 1862 - A major Southern offensive to retake the border state of Kentucky is launched from Knoxville, Tennessee by General Edmond Kirby-Smith. His 10,000 troops move through the Cumberland Gap and occupy the town of Barboursville, Kentucky. Supply difficulties force the invaders to move on toward Lexington within two days.
August 17, 1862 - Half-starved Sioux tribe members stage an uprising in Southwest Minnesota, killing five settler farmers. A six-week continuous raid on settlers begins with Sioux Chief Little Crow realizing an Indian uprising is inevitable.
August 17, 1862 - J.E.B. Stuart becomes commander of all Cavalry units in the Army of Northern Virginia.
August 18, 1862 - The second session of the Confederate Congress convenes with a speech by President Jefferson Davis. The Confederate President dwells on a long list of bad behavior at New Orleans on the part of Union General Benjamin Butler.
August 18, 1862 - General Pope withdraws behind the Rappahannock River and awaits the arrival of reinforcements from General McClellan's army.
August 18, 1862 - Sioux tribe members attack the Upper and Lower Indian Agencies in Minnesota, killing 20 people including Agent Andrew J. Myrick. Agent Myrick's mouth is stuffed with grass in reprisal for his 'let the Indians eat grass' comments on August 6th.
August 18, 1862 - A landing party of 30 Union sailors with a single howitzer lands at Corpus Christi, Texas. A unit from the 8th Texas engages them and the attack is suspended.
