1861

In western Virginia, Federal troops under George McClellan and William Rosecrans skirmished with Confederates under Robert S. Garnett and John Pegram at Belington, Laurel Hill and Glenville.  On July 11, Rosecrans defeated Pegram at Rich Mountain.  Two days later, Garnett became the first general officer on either side to die in combat when he was killed while leading a rear-guard action near Corrick's Ford on the Cheat River.

McClellan began the campaign in western Virginia in May on orders from Winfield Scott.  The only east-west railroad from Washington was the Baltimore and Ohio.  It ran through Harpers Ferry and Grafton to the Ohio River.

After Confederate infantry occupied Grafton, Scott telegraphed McClellan on May 24.  "Can you counteract the influence of that detachment?" he wired.  Although "Little Mac" wasn't even present for most of the engagements, this minor campaign propelled him to national attention.

In August, he was ordered to lead the Army of the Potomac.  On November 1, he was made General-in-Chief of all the United States armies.  The remainder of his Civil War career, however, was marked by "lost opportunities and frustration" (Warner).

1862

With time on his hands at Harrison's Landing, George McClellan wrote a lengthy letter to Abraham Lincoln known as the "Harrison's Bar letter."  In it, McClellan expressed his "general views concerning the existing state of the rebellion."

The war, he said, should be conducted on the "highest principles known to Christian civilization. "  It should not be fought against civilians, nor should its purpose be "the subjugation of the people of any State…Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organization of States, or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment…A declaration of radical views, especially upon slavery, will rapidly disintegrate our present armies"

When the President visited Harrison's Landing the next day, McClellan handed him the letter.  According to McClellan, the President read it, thanked him for it and put it in his pocket.  Clearly Lincoln could not prosecute the war with a General-in-Chief that did not support the administration' s views.  Just four days later, he appointed Henry Halleck to the post, replacing McClellan.

1863

In the Gettysburg Campaign, the Army of the Potomac began an earnest pursuit of Robert E. Lee's retreating Confederates.  By different routes the Federals were to march into Maryland and concentrate at Middletown, seven miles west of Frederick.  But due to the halt ordered by George Meade the day before, the Army of the Potomac again found itself trying to catch up.  Over wet roads, many columns marched fifteen to twenty miles.  Henry Slocum reported that his 12th Corps covered twenty-nine miles.

At Port Hudson on the Mississippi River, Nathaniel Banks had been bombarding the Confederate works night and day and digging tunnels for mines.  On this day, Banks learned that Vicksburg had surrendered on July 4^th.  Federal pickets passed the word to the defenders of Port Hudson but Confederate General Franklin Gardner refused to believe it.  Under a flag of truce, Banks sent Gardner a copy of U.S. Grant's dispatch the next day and the Confederate garrison surrendered.

1864

In Maryland and Pennsylvania, militia and Federal troops concentrated to repel Jubal Early's army, erroneously reported to be 40,000 men.  The day before, U.S. Grant had sent James Ricketts' division of the 6th Corps from Petersburg to Baltimore and rumors of invasion raced through Washington. 

On July 5, Lew Wallace, who later wrote the epic novel Ben Hur, had learned that large numbers of Confederates were approaching.  He immediately headed for the Monocacy River, 45 miles west of Baltimore and three miles southeast of Frederick, Maryland.  Whether the Confederates were aiming for Baltimore or Washington, Wallace surmised that they would have to cross the river at Monocacy Junction.  At the time, Wallace only had about 2,500 men with which to stop Early's 18,500 Confederates.

1865

In Washington, four of the Lincoln conspirators --- Mary Surratt, Lewis Payne, George Atzerodt and David Herold --- were led to the gallows on the grounds of the Old Capitol Prison shortly after noon.  On June 30, a military commission had sentenced them to death.  On July 5, President Andrew Johnson approved all of the death warrants even though a majority of the commission members had recommended that Surratt's sentence be reduced to life in prison because of her "sex and age."

Her lawyers quickly drafted a writ of habeas corpus that was issued by Judge Wylie of the District of Columbia.  President Johnson, however, countered their efforts by suspending the writ, saying it was necessary "in cases such as this." 

Winfield Scott Hancock, head of the Middle Military Division that included Washington, was in charge of the execution.  "I am a soldier, sworn to obey, and obey I must," he later said.

About 1:15 p.m. the trap doors snapped open and the four dropped to their death.  According to reporters covering the event, the last words spoken from the gallows came from George Atzerodt who just before the hanging said, "May we meet in another world."  Surratt was the first woman in U.S. history to be executed by the Federal government.

According to Mrs. Allie Hancock, her husband had personally urged President Johnson to issue a pardon for Surratt, but there is no other evidence to support her claim.  The Surratt hanging probably cost Hancock the Presidency in 1880.

Copyright © Bob Nelson, 2002, 2004