Civil War Maj Gen Ormsby Mitchel

By Phil Kohn

Phil Kohn can be reached at USCW160@yahoo.com.

In Washington, D.C., President Lincoln pointedly notes on October 20, 1862, that the dormant Army of the Potomac, “McClellan’s Bodyguard,” as he’s termed it — consisting of a headquarters and staff plus 23 divisions in eight corps plus six brigades of cavalry — numbers 231,997 men, of which 144,662 are fit for duty.

About 3,500 Indian, Kansas and Indiana soldiers, commanded by U.S. Brig. Gen. James Blunt, attack some 1,500 Confederate Indian cavalry troops under Col. Douglas Cooper near Old Fort Wayne, in the Indian Territory near the Arkansas border, on October 22. The Confederates put up stiff resistance, but, outnumbered, are forced to withdraw. At Pocotaligo, South Carolina, roughly midway between Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, some 500 Confederate defenders successfully turn back an attack on the railroad there by 4,500 Union troops. In southeastern Kentucky, London is captured by Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. Joseph Wheeler.

On October 24, Lincoln removes Brig. Gen. Don Carlos Buell from command in Kentucky, primarily for failing to prevent Bragg’s escape into Tennessee. Lincoln replaces him with Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, the victor at Corinth, Mississippi, who shortly thereafter styles his troops “The Army of the Cumberland.”

President Lincoln is exasperated by Maj. Gen. George McClellan’s continued failure to launch an assault against Confederate forces in Virginia despite a personal visit to the general’s camp earlier in the month urging action. On October 25, Lincoln sends a telegram to the Army of the Potomac’s commander: “I have just read your despatch [sic] about sore-tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what your horses have done since the Battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?”

On October 26, Maj. Gen. George McClellan finally begins moving his Army of the Potomac across the Potomac River into Virginia, heading towards Warrenton. Gen. Lee shifts his forces south to avoid being flanked. Lincoln writes to McClellan that he “rejoices” in the army’s activity at last. Gen. Bragg’s Confederates complete their evacuation of Kentucky, moving toward Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Confederate division of Maj. Gen. John Breckinridge — the former vice president of the U.S. under President James Buchanan — arrives at Murfreesboro, in central Tennessee, from northern Mississippi on October 28.

At Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S. Maj. Gen. Ormsby Mitchel, whose men were involved in the raid known as the Great Locomotive Chase in April 1862, dies of yellow fever on October 30. From Paris, France, Emperor Napoleon III makes overtures to Great Britain and Russia, proposing that the three nations unite and offer to mediate the American Civil War. Previously, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer William Gladstone had publicly commented that President Davis and Confederate leaders “have made a nation” and were likely to succeed in separating. (Gladstone’s comments are widely criticized both in the United Kingdom and in the United States.)

Union forces from Corinth, Mississippi, and Bolivar, Tennessee (east of Memphis) on October 31 begin gathering at Grand Junction, Tennessee, in the southwestern corner of the state.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, military governor Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler on November 1 orders further restrictions on movements in and out of the city and frees imprisoned slaves “not known to be slaves of loyal [to the U.S.] owners.” At his headquarters at Corinth, Mississippi, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant begins planning a campaign targeting the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi.