US Military RR from June 1864 to April 1865
Abstract and Chronology of construction, from Official Records III(5):69-74
Mr. C.L. McAlpine, engineer of construction and repairs
13 June: take up track of Richmond and York River RR, remove all material of value
18 June: arrive at City Point, orders to rebuild City Point and Petersburg RR
"the bridges were gone, track taken up, and the iron removed for a distance of four miles."
" ... on to within two miles and a half from Petersburg ... ties were very much decayed and the gauge needed changing from five feet to four feet eight and one-half inches."
5 July: bridges all rebuilt, track repaired and road in running order for 7 miles
7 July: regular trains start running
22 July: orders to make a preliminary survey of branch line from Pitkin Station (5.5 miles from City Point) to 5th Corps HQ at Yellow House. Survey made w/o instruments.
9 August: explosion, accidental[??] of ammunition stored on ordnance boat
30 August: orders to commence building Pitkin to Yellow House
1 September: work commenced
10 September: Pitkin to Yellow House (9 miles), City Point to Yellow House (14.5 miles)
?? September: construction of earthworks about 0.5 miles to protect open track from rebel batteries
October: road bed put in first-rate order, the yard at City Point enlarged, switches, sidings, turn-tables, engine-house, shops; at all stations, sidings laid and station-houses built. Average of 9 trains run each way daily.
22 October: orders received to extend to Peebles house (2.25 miles)
2 November: work on Patrick branch begins; weather raining nearly all the time
9 November: work complete with all necessary sidings
10 November - 19 December: extra side tracks, quarters for RR employees; 15 trains daily.
21 December: work begins on branch from Hancock Station to Fort Blaisdell
29 December: work complete
2 January: orders to extend this branch 2.5 miles to HQ of Crawfords' Division (5th Corps)
20 January: Gregg Branch line opens with station-houses, platforms and water-stations.
8 February: order received to extend Army Line west
13 February: work begins (from Warren Station south down the old bed of the Weldon RR about 2 miles, then right, west, to the Cummings house on the Vaughan road, a distance of 5 miles)
24 February: work to Humphreys Station complete, sidings, buildings, platforms, water-stations; weather rainy almost the whole time
---- "A number of hospital cars were fitted up for the purpose of moving the sick and wounded from the front and along the line to City Point. These were kept in almost constant use."
Added 2 passenger trains daily for mail, officers and others to/from the front.
"At the time of building the Army Line many of the officers of the Army of the Potomac, together with the regular Engineer Corps, denounced this location, declaring that it would be impossible for an engine alone to ascend the heavy grades; and as for furnishing the necessary supplies for the army over it, they considered it altogether out of the question."
15 loaded cars/train (up to 23) pulled by one ordinary engine
21 miles, 3955 feet with 1 mile, 1393 feet of trestle at an average 21 feet high
28 February - 3 April: not much of note; maintenance, improvements, building up rolling-stock, timber and iron ready to move the army.
3 April: abandoned the Army Line and began relaying South Side RR to Petersburg.
4 April: that road open and in running order; yard work in Petersburg to change gauge.
11 April: completed gauge change on South Side RR to Burkeville, 62 miles from City Point, and trains began running with supplies
Monday, March 3, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Union Forts at Petersburg
Based on the Official Records, Series III, Volume 5, pages 173 - 182, the following map shows the growth of Union fortifications at Petersburg from June 1864 through April 1865. The "Narrative collated from the reports of N. Michler" lays out a fairly detailed chronological description of how fortifications came about and when. The original map is from Michler's 1866 version, scanned at 600dpi (2 inches/mile) at the National Archives in College Park, MD, July 2013. This version, scaled by a factor of 6 to 200 pixels/mile has also been cropped to show only the relevant fortifications.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Petersburg Maps
The operations of both armies in the Richmond-Petersburg campaign from June 1864 through April 1865 are complex and far-ranging. If there was ever a clear link from the set battle pieces of early to mid 19th century warfare to the continent/world spanning wars of the 20th century, this campaign has to be that link.
Maps that show coordinated operations in the theater have to cover a lot of territory; to see the place names and unit movements/fighting means text legibility; both of these together require digital maps that are very large in size, both dimensionally and by the megabyte. These are maps that do not fit easily into books. How to give readers enough information at enough detail is one of the puzzles Ed and I have to solve by the middle of 2014 when we plan to publish.
Just to illustrate: the line along Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg from Cemetery Hill to Round Top and across to Seminary Ridge, almost the entire engagement of that pivotal battle, fits into a map of operations on the South Side. The Gettysburg overlay is 2 miles wide by 4 miles tall and sits beside the engagements known as Poplar Spring Church -- Peebles Farm -- Pegram Farm which took place 30 September through 2 October 1864. Twenty thousand Union soldiers from four divisions in the V and IX Corps took three hours just to clear the lines on Friday morning; there was just one main road west and dense woods led to some caution as the columns approached them. A smaller number of Confederate soldiers under Heth, with support by cavalry detachments commanded by Hampton were able to give good battle in defense of the vital Boydton Plank Road and Southside Railroad over those three days.
Maps that show coordinated operations in the theater have to cover a lot of territory; to see the place names and unit movements/fighting means text legibility; both of these together require digital maps that are very large in size, both dimensionally and by the megabyte. These are maps that do not fit easily into books. How to give readers enough information at enough detail is one of the puzzles Ed and I have to solve by the middle of 2014 when we plan to publish.
Just to illustrate: the line along Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg from Cemetery Hill to Round Top and across to Seminary Ridge, almost the entire engagement of that pivotal battle, fits into a map of operations on the South Side. The Gettysburg overlay is 2 miles wide by 4 miles tall and sits beside the engagements known as Poplar Spring Church -- Peebles Farm -- Pegram Farm which took place 30 September through 2 October 1864. Twenty thousand Union soldiers from four divisions in the V and IX Corps took three hours just to clear the lines on Friday morning; there was just one main road west and dense woods led to some caution as the columns approached them. A smaller number of Confederate soldiers under Heth, with support by cavalry detachments commanded by Hampton were able to give good battle in defense of the vital Boydton Plank Road and Southside Railroad over those three days.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Civil War Carded Medical Records and Geneological Research
Civil War historians and family researchers have long known about the value of a soldier's compiled military service record (CMSR) and pension file (PF). Copies of both the CMSR and the pension file, which are filed in individual envelopes for each soldier, may be easily ordered from the National Archives. See Military Service Records at the National Archives, Reference Information Paper 109 at 10, 43 and NATF Form 86.
The value of the carded medical records (CMR) (Record Group 94, Entry 534) is less well known, probably because these records are not as easily accessible. The CMRs are filed by state, then regiment, and then roughly alphabetically within the regiment. (To complicate matters, there are many mispellings and misfiles both within and between regiments due to miscommunication of information at the time of admission.) (See Publication 109 at 10-11, 43)
The CMRs compiled information from casualty reports and hospital reports. Because a significant number of Civil War soldiers were sick enough to be admitted to hospital at some point and many were wounded, most Civil War soldiers will have a carded medical record. For the 179th New York, there are CMRs for roughly three-quarters of the soldiers. The CMR contains details not present in the CMSR. A comparison of the CMR and CMSR for my great-great grandfather, James C. Rutan, Co. A, 179th New York Volunteers, demonstrates the additional detail available in the CMR relating to a soldier's wounds and sickness.
CMR CMSR
July 30, 1864 Wounded: Right side (Missile: shell) July 30, 1864. Shell wound, right side
Treatment: Simple dressing. Sent to Depot
Hosp. Aug. 1 City Point
August 2, 1865 Admitted Depot Field Hospital, July-Aug 1864 (USAGH) Sick
9 AC, City Point. Bruised
August 5, 1864 Admitted to USA Hosp. Steamer
Atlantic. Sent to GH Aug 7, 1864
August 9, 1864. Admitted USA GH, Rochester, NY Sept -Oct 1864 (179th) Absent sick
Chronic hepatitus. Deserted 9/11/64 Sept 11, 1864 (USAGH) Deserted from
furlough
November 12, 1864. Returned to USA GH Rochester Nov-Dec 1864. (179th) Absent
February 14, 1865. Returned to duty from Rochester Jan-Feb 1865. (179th) Absent sick
Jan-Feb 1865 (USAGH) Sick
February 18, 1865. Admitted to USA General Hospital
Ladies' Home, NYC from Battery Barracks, NY
Pneumonia. Transferred to GH April 4, 1865
April 5, 1865. Admitted USA GH Elmira from Mar-Apr 1865. (179th) Absent sick
Ladies' Home. Contusion right kidney 7/30/64 Mar-Apr 1865. (USAGH) Sick
Missile: Wagon wheel
April 18, 1865. Furloughed
May 18, 1865 Discharged from service. May 23, 1865 Mustered out.
July 11, 1891. Charge of desertion removed. AWOL 9/11/64 to 11/12/64.
The value of the carded medical records (CMR) (Record Group 94, Entry 534) is less well known, probably because these records are not as easily accessible. The CMRs are filed by state, then regiment, and then roughly alphabetically within the regiment. (To complicate matters, there are many mispellings and misfiles both within and between regiments due to miscommunication of information at the time of admission.) (See Publication 109 at 10-11, 43)
The CMRs compiled information from casualty reports and hospital reports. Because a significant number of Civil War soldiers were sick enough to be admitted to hospital at some point and many were wounded, most Civil War soldiers will have a carded medical record. For the 179th New York, there are CMRs for roughly three-quarters of the soldiers. The CMR contains details not present in the CMSR. A comparison of the CMR and CMSR for my great-great grandfather, James C. Rutan, Co. A, 179th New York Volunteers, demonstrates the additional detail available in the CMR relating to a soldier's wounds and sickness.
CMR CMSR
July 30, 1864 Wounded: Right side (Missile: shell) July 30, 1864. Shell wound, right side
Treatment: Simple dressing. Sent to Depot
Hosp. Aug. 1 City Point
August 2, 1865 Admitted Depot Field Hospital, July-Aug 1864 (USAGH) Sick
9 AC, City Point. Bruised
August 5, 1864 Admitted to USA Hosp. Steamer
Atlantic. Sent to GH Aug 7, 1864
August 9, 1864. Admitted USA GH, Rochester, NY Sept -Oct 1864 (179th) Absent sick
Chronic hepatitus. Deserted 9/11/64 Sept 11, 1864 (USAGH) Deserted from
furlough
November 12, 1864. Returned to USA GH Rochester Nov-Dec 1864. (179th) Absent
February 14, 1865. Returned to duty from Rochester Jan-Feb 1865. (179th) Absent sick
Jan-Feb 1865 (USAGH) Sick
February 18, 1865. Admitted to USA General Hospital
Ladies' Home, NYC from Battery Barracks, NY
Pneumonia. Transferred to GH April 4, 1865
April 5, 1865. Admitted USA GH Elmira from Mar-Apr 1865. (179th) Absent sick
Ladies' Home. Contusion right kidney 7/30/64 Mar-Apr 1865. (USAGH) Sick
Missile: Wagon wheel
April 18, 1865. Furloughed
May 18, 1865 Discharged from service. May 23, 1865 Mustered out.
July 11, 1891. Charge of desertion removed. AWOL 9/11/64 to 11/12/64.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Historians
Who are the historians? and what is history?
It is amazing how many people who write about the Civil War are called historians. Can just anyone be a scientist? a doctor? an architect? a lawyer?
One has to be careful when reading history, given the broad spectrum of qualities that make up the group of historians. It should have come as no surprise that people write fiction (Jeff Shaara, who "draws on meticulous research" [Smithsonian Associates] for his new novel about Shiloh) that can fix the way readers come to see the conflict. There are narratives written to set a tone, to make history "come alive" by the careful choice of archaisms (Bruce Catton's use of "rod" and "furlong" to put us into a contemporary soldier's mind). Other narratives are written by reporters, who by training seek to influence and persuade (Clifford Dowdey). Some books seem to be more neutral, written to lay out the facts and their referents, as well as to expose mere opinions and falsehoods that were generated by the participants themselves (Gordon Rhea).
Several companies of the 179th New York were mustered in the spring of 1864 and reported in battalion strength to the army in the field after Cold Harbor. To better understand the context for their ensuing move to Petersburg I have been lucky to have time enough to read different descriptions of the Overland Campaign.
Here are two versions of the fact that
On 2 May 1864 the generals of the Army of Northern Virginia met on Clark's Mountain to have a look at the Army of the Potomac on the opposite bank of the Rapidan River.
First version **
pp25-26:
On May 2, Lee ordered his corps and division commanders to Clark's Mountain, a high ridge that dominated the surrounding countryside and afforded a bird's-eye view of Meade's camps. Longstreet, back less that two weeks, was up from Gordonsville with his new division heads, Field and Kershaw. A bachelor again for over a week, Ewell trotted from nearby Morton Hill with Early, Johnson, and Rodes. Hill's division chiefs, Wilcox, Heth, and Anderson, along with their frail commander, were there as well. This was the last time these men would meet.
From the summit, Lee and his generals assessed Grant's possible moves. Six hundred feet below, a shimmering line marked where the Rapidan meandered in a gentle arc from left to right. Earthworks scarred the banks, and Union pickets clustered just across the river. Farther back, at Culpeper, Stevensburg, and Brandy Station, all plainly visible from the mountain, spread cities of huts and white conical tents housing the Army of the Potomac....
Raising field glasses as so often during the winter, Lee studied Meade's camps. The bustle confirmed what he already knew. Meade was preparing to move. But what route would he take? ... Logic favored a Federal strike downriver, and Lee said so, pointing east and stating that in his opinion the Army of the Potomac would cross at Germanna Ford or Ely's Ford.
Second version ++
pg3:
In that spring the pageantry was not yet, not quite, gone from the war. Through all privations, general officers in Lee's army managed to turn themselves out well. Though the cadet-gray cloth of their uniforms was usually no more than a thread through the motley of the soldiers' makeshifts, when seen in a group, the generals still suggested the panoply of the chivalric tradition.
On May 2, 1864, the high command of the Army of Northern Virginia formed such a spectacle for the first time since Gettysburg, the year before, and for the last time in their lives. Full-bearded, booted and spurred, with gauntleted hands resting on sword hilts and buttons gleaming on double-breasted coats, the generals stood near their saddled horses like the figures in old lithographs and murals. Even the background, a mountaintop in spring, was almost an idealized setting.
pp31-33:
To Lee, silent on the mountaintop, no definite information from his cavalry or his usual sources guided him in anticipating the thrust the Federal host was obviously prepared to deliver ...
Grant's logical choices of approach were through a front restricted to little more than twenty-five miles in width...The tented city of the enemy's camp, with a population larger than that of all Virginia cities combined, was spread between the northwest and southwest forks of the Rappahannock, and the Federal army would be forced to cross two rivers if it advanced east of the forks, toward the ravaged small city of Fredericksburg.
...
Lee held his field glasses the longest on the wild country of the Wilderness, where two fords, Germanna and Ely, crossed the river in the heart of freshly flowering jungle. Then he pointed with his wide, strong hand, encased in a leather gauntlet, towards the two fords. Giving no reason, he said, "Grant will cross by one of those fords."
...
Perhaps becaused of the solemn overtones of the spectacle of this last meeting of Lee and his generals, men remembered more vividly Lee's prediction of Grant's move. Because the Army of the Potomac moved within thirty-six hours by the crossings to which Lee had pointed, the aging General became more deeply enmeshed in legend. It was as if a patriarch of the olden times had ascended the mountain and there he experienced a vision; then he came down from the mountain and it was as he had said it would be.
** The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864, Gordon C. Rhea
++ Lee's Last Campaign, Clifford Dowdey
It is amazing how many people who write about the Civil War are called historians. Can just anyone be a scientist? a doctor? an architect? a lawyer?
One has to be careful when reading history, given the broad spectrum of qualities that make up the group of historians. It should have come as no surprise that people write fiction (Jeff Shaara, who "draws on meticulous research" [Smithsonian Associates] for his new novel about Shiloh) that can fix the way readers come to see the conflict. There are narratives written to set a tone, to make history "come alive" by the careful choice of archaisms (Bruce Catton's use of "rod" and "furlong" to put us into a contemporary soldier's mind). Other narratives are written by reporters, who by training seek to influence and persuade (Clifford Dowdey). Some books seem to be more neutral, written to lay out the facts and their referents, as well as to expose mere opinions and falsehoods that were generated by the participants themselves (Gordon Rhea).
Several companies of the 179th New York were mustered in the spring of 1864 and reported in battalion strength to the army in the field after Cold Harbor. To better understand the context for their ensuing move to Petersburg I have been lucky to have time enough to read different descriptions of the Overland Campaign.
Here are two versions of the fact that
On 2 May 1864 the generals of the Army of Northern Virginia met on Clark's Mountain to have a look at the Army of the Potomac on the opposite bank of the Rapidan River.
First version **
pp25-26:
On May 2, Lee ordered his corps and division commanders to Clark's Mountain, a high ridge that dominated the surrounding countryside and afforded a bird's-eye view of Meade's camps. Longstreet, back less that two weeks, was up from Gordonsville with his new division heads, Field and Kershaw. A bachelor again for over a week, Ewell trotted from nearby Morton Hill with Early, Johnson, and Rodes. Hill's division chiefs, Wilcox, Heth, and Anderson, along with their frail commander, were there as well. This was the last time these men would meet.
From the summit, Lee and his generals assessed Grant's possible moves. Six hundred feet below, a shimmering line marked where the Rapidan meandered in a gentle arc from left to right. Earthworks scarred the banks, and Union pickets clustered just across the river. Farther back, at Culpeper, Stevensburg, and Brandy Station, all plainly visible from the mountain, spread cities of huts and white conical tents housing the Army of the Potomac....
Raising field glasses as so often during the winter, Lee studied Meade's camps. The bustle confirmed what he already knew. Meade was preparing to move. But what route would he take? ... Logic favored a Federal strike downriver, and Lee said so, pointing east and stating that in his opinion the Army of the Potomac would cross at Germanna Ford or Ely's Ford.
Second version ++
pg3:
In that spring the pageantry was not yet, not quite, gone from the war. Through all privations, general officers in Lee's army managed to turn themselves out well. Though the cadet-gray cloth of their uniforms was usually no more than a thread through the motley of the soldiers' makeshifts, when seen in a group, the generals still suggested the panoply of the chivalric tradition.
On May 2, 1864, the high command of the Army of Northern Virginia formed such a spectacle for the first time since Gettysburg, the year before, and for the last time in their lives. Full-bearded, booted and spurred, with gauntleted hands resting on sword hilts and buttons gleaming on double-breasted coats, the generals stood near their saddled horses like the figures in old lithographs and murals. Even the background, a mountaintop in spring, was almost an idealized setting.
pp31-33:
To Lee, silent on the mountaintop, no definite information from his cavalry or his usual sources guided him in anticipating the thrust the Federal host was obviously prepared to deliver ...
Grant's logical choices of approach were through a front restricted to little more than twenty-five miles in width...The tented city of the enemy's camp, with a population larger than that of all Virginia cities combined, was spread between the northwest and southwest forks of the Rappahannock, and the Federal army would be forced to cross two rivers if it advanced east of the forks, toward the ravaged small city of Fredericksburg.
...
Lee held his field glasses the longest on the wild country of the Wilderness, where two fords, Germanna and Ely, crossed the river in the heart of freshly flowering jungle. Then he pointed with his wide, strong hand, encased in a leather gauntlet, towards the two fords. Giving no reason, he said, "Grant will cross by one of those fords."
...
Perhaps becaused of the solemn overtones of the spectacle of this last meeting of Lee and his generals, men remembered more vividly Lee's prediction of Grant's move. Because the Army of the Potomac moved within thirty-six hours by the crossings to which Lee had pointed, the aging General became more deeply enmeshed in legend. It was as if a patriarch of the olden times had ascended the mountain and there he experienced a vision; then he came down from the mountain and it was as he had said it would be.
** The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864, Gordon C. Rhea
++ Lee's Last Campaign, Clifford Dowdey
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