Information courtesy of the
Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force
(www.mncivilwar150.com and “Minnesota Civil War 150” on Facebook)
Major Highlights for the Week
Wednesday October 26, 1864
The Confederate Army of Tennessee, under Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, demonstrated against the Federals at Decatur, Alabama and then proceeded westward, giving up any idea of crossing the Tennessee River at Decatur.
Skirmishing at Glasgow and Albany, Missouri, Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s troops were continuing their retreat after the failed battle at Westport (currently part of Kansas City).
Confederate guerrilla “Bloody Bill” Anderson was killed in an ambush near Richmond, Missouri.
Thursday October 27, 1864
The fighting front at Petersburg, Virginia had been quiet for several weeks except for firing from sharpshooters of both sides. Now the Federals had moved once again to the left towards Boydton Plank Road and Hatcher’s Run to Burgess’s Mill, about twelve miles west and south of Petersburg. They were aiming for the South Side Railroad. Near Burgess’s Mill on the Boydton Plank Road, they received a sharp Confederate opposition. After the engagement, the Federal force retired leaving the Boydton Plank Road and South Side Railroad in Confederate hands for the winter. Federal losses amounted to 166 killed, 1,028 wounded and 564 missing for a total of 1,758. Confederates sustained unknown losses.
During the night, a steam launch with a torpedo on the end of a pole moved silently up the Roanoke River to Plymouth, North Carolina, where the Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Albemarle was located. Led by Navy Lieutenant William B. Cushing, the launch struck the log boom that protected the Albemarle, smashed through and exploded the torpedo against the hull. Cushing and his crew plunged into the water and the Albemarle sank. It was one of the most daring, and successful, adventures of the entire Civil War.
Friday October 28, 1864
Federal Major General Samuel Curtis caught up with the retreating and enfeebled column of Confederates under Major General Sterling Price south of Newtonia, Missouri. Though Curtis wanted to decimate Price’s army, the troops belonging to Major General William Rosecrans Department of Missouri were called back to their stations. Though Curtis protested to Major General Henry Halleck in Washington, to no avail, pursuing Price was out of the question.
Action in Alabama intensified as Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s force moved westward across the state, skirmishing with Federals at Ladiga and Goshen. Federal Major General William T. Sherman, now at Gaylesville, Alabama, learned that Hood had left Gadsden for Decatur, and decided to return to Atlanta where he could march toward the coast. This would leave Major General George Thomas, currently at Nashville, in position to handle Hood. It now seemed that the two major armies were marching opposite from each other when normally their aims would have been to destroy each other.
Saturday October 29, 1864
Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennesee continued towards Courtland from Decatur, Alabama, while a skirmish at Upshaw’s Farm in Barry County, Missouri, brought an end to the Federal’s pursuit of Confederate Major General Sterling Price.
Other fighting occurred at Johnson’s Farm, Virginia; Beverly, West Virginia; Warrenton, Missouri; Nonconnah Creek, Tennessee; and Confederates attacked Vanceburg, Kentucky.
Sunday October 30, 1864
Advance elements of the Confederate Army of Tennessee reached Tuscumbia, Alabama. They also occupied Florence, north of the Tennessee River. Skirmishing flared at nearby Muscle Shoals. Meanwhile, Federals gathered in Tennessee to oppose Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s army. Hood expected Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s command to join him, but Forrest had moved north from Jackson, Tennessee to the Tennessee River near Forts Heiman and Henry.
C.S.S. Olustee, formerly the raider Tallahassee, ran the Wilmington blockade and took six prizes during the first week of November.
Monday October 31, 1864
Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood arrived at Tuscumbia, Alabama and reinforced his troops across the Tennessee River at Florence. Hood now felt that he had a base for the invasion of Tennessee and still hoped that Federal Major General William T. Sherman would follow him.
On the Tennessee River to the north, Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest arrived at Fort Heiman, where his men had disrupted Federal river traffic. Forrest decided to organize a makeshift Confederate “navy” on the Tennessee River utilizing the vessels that he had recently captured.
Nevada entered the Union as the thirty-sixth state by a proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln.
Tuesday November 1, 1864
Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest headed south with his “navy” of two captured vessels. The boats, with the artillery dragging its guns through the mud on the banks alongside, moved towards Johnsonville, Tennessee.
In Missouri, action occurred at Rolla, on the Big Piney River near Waynesville, near Lebanon, and at Greenton. Otherwise, skirmishes are recorded for Green Spring Run, West Virginia; and Union Station, Tennessee.
Two divisions of the U.S. Sixteenth Corps, under Major General A.J. Smith, detained in Missouri to help expel Confederate Major General Sterling Price, finally headed to Nashville to join Major General George Thomas’s command.
Where Minnesota Regiments were the week of October 26- November 1, 1864
Active units:
1st Battalion Minnesota Infantry - Participated in the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia until April 2, 1865.
2nd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – Participated in Operations in North Georgia and North Alabama against Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood until November 3, 1864.
3rd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On duty at Duvall’s Bluff, Arkansas until May 13, 1865.
4th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On garrison duty at Allatoona, Georgia until November 15, 1864.
5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On the expedition through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Sterling Price until November 15, 1864.
6th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On duty at Helena, Arkansas until Nov. 4, 1864.
7th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On the expedition through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Sterling Price until November 15, 1864.
8th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – En route to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for duty, arriving there November 7, 1864.
9th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On the expedition through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Sterling Price until November 15, 1864.
10th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On the expedition through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Sterling Price until November 15, 1864.
11th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – Assigned to duty guarding the line of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad from Nashville to the Kentucky line. Companies E, G, and I were at Gallatin, Tennessee. Company A was at Buck Lodge. Company B at Edgefield Junction. Company C at Richland. Company D at Sandersville. Company H was at Mitchellsville. The location of companies F and K are unknown at this time. The regiment remained on duty at these locations until June 25, 1865.
2nd Regiment Minnesota Cavalry – Engaged in frontier and patrol duty between Forts Wadsworth, Abercrombie, Ripley and Ridgely with headquarters at Fort Snelling, until November 17, 1865.
Brackett’s Battalion of Minnesota Cavalry – Engaged in frontier and patrol duty between Forts Wadsworth, Abercrombie, Ripley and Ridgely with headquarters at Fort Snelling until May 1866.
Hatch’s Independent Battalion of Cavalry - Companies A, B, C and D moved to Fort Abercrombie. Companies A and B assigned to garrison at Fort Abercrombie. Company C assigned to garrison at Alexandria and Pomme de Terre. Company D on patrol duty from Fort Abercrombie to Pembina. Companies E and F on frontier duty. The battalion would remain in these duty locations for the duration of thewar - until April 26, 1866.
1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery Battery – Organized at St. Paul and Rochester until February 1865.
1st Minnesota Light Artillery Battery - Participated in Operations in North Georgia and North Alabama against Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood until November 3, 1864.
2nd Independent Battery Minnesota Light Artillery – On duty as infantry at Fort Irwin, Defenses of Chattanooga until March 30, 1865.
3rd Independent Battery Minnesota Light Artillery – Various sections on duty at Fort Ridgely, Fort Ripley and Fort Sisseton until May 1865.
1st United States Sharpshooters Company I - Attached to the 1st Battalion, Minnesota Infantry at Petersburg, Virginia until Feb. 20, 1865.
2nd United States Sharpshooters, Company A – Participated in the Siege of Petersburg until Feb. 20, 1865.
Inactive units:
1st Regiment Minnesota Cavalry “Mounted Rangers” – Formally mustered out of service on December 7, 1863. Inactive.
1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – Mustered out of Federal service on April 29, 1864. Inactive.
