150 years ago today: Louis Léon of the 53rd North Carolina Infantry, currently a POW, wrote in his diary: We are guarded by negro troops, who are as mean as hell. At each meal there is a guard placed over 500 prisoners, who go to their meals in ranks of four. We are not allowed to cross a certain line, called the Dead Line, but as 500 men go at one time to meals, of course near the door there is always a rush. To-day one of our men accidentally crossed the line. He was pushed over by the crowd, when a black devil shot and killed him, and wounded two others. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren’s V Corps and Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps of the Army of the Potomac approached the North Anna River, with the tactical objective being Hanover Junction, a vital supply line to Gen. Robt. E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia. Shortly after 6 p.m., an artillery barrage prefaced an infantry attack by Hancock’s men, who scrambled up the Confederate defenses and chased the rebels across the river. Warren’s corps crossed the river unopposed at Jericho Mill, but later in the evening, Gen. A.P. Hill struck Warren, nearly throwing the Federals back across. Lees North Anna River line had been breached, but he decided to set a trap for Gen. U.S. Grant: He would form a line shaped like a large V. As he pulled troops back to form the legs of the V, Lee hoped Grant would assume that the entire rebel army was in retreat, and divide his army into 3 separate columns that couldnt all attack at once. With his interior lines so deployed, Lee could shift his troops where needed and destroy Grant’s piecemeal attacks as they were hurled. The lines were constructed overnight, and tomorrow well see what happened. Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman’s entire army headed towards Dallas, Georgia from the Cassville area, in an attempt to turn Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s left flank. USS Columbine, Acting Ens. Frank Sanborn, was captured after a heated engagement with Confederate batteries and riflemen at Horse Landing, near Palatka, Florida. Columbine lost steering control and ran onto a mud bank, where she was riddled by accurate rebel fire. With some 20 men killed and wounded, Sanborn surrendered to prevent the further useless expenditure of human life. 80 years ago today: Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were killed near Sailes, Louisiana. A contingent of officers from Texas and Louisiana set up along the highway, waiting for them to appear, and then unloaded a 2-minute fusillade of 167 bullets at their car.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 16:03:17 +0000
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