civil war
The Civil War’s Battle of Shiloh left 23,000 casualties. It was a horrible battle, but something was about to happen with the wounded men…something no one expected and something they had no way to explain…at the time anyway. While in the hospital, some wounded soldiers began emitting a faint greenish-blue glow. Can you just imagine the thoughts going through the heads of those doctors? Then, something even more strange started happening. While the cause of the glow was unknown at the time, doctors observed that those with the mysterious glow tended to heal more quickly. That earned the greenish-blue glow the name of “Angel’s Glow” and the name stuck. I’m sure the doctors soon started praying for every wounded soldier to receive the strange glow.
“Angel’s Glow” would remain a mystery for nearly 140 years. Finally, the mystery behind this weird fact from history was solved. In 2001, a high school student named Bill Martin and his microbiologist mother, Phyllis, investigated the phenomenon and found it was likely caused by a bacterium called Photorhabdus Luminescens. This glowing bacterium may have even helped the soldiers recover by consuming other harmful bacteria or pathogens they encountered on the battlefield. Photorhabdus luminescens, formerly known as Xenorhabdus luminescens, is a Gammaproteobacterium in the Morganellaceae family and a deadly pathogen to insects.
There are no contemporary accounts of this phenomenon, meaning that it may be “a myth or that conditions including low temperatures, low lighting, abundance of blood, time on battlefield, presence of specific vegetation, presence of rain and humidity, and the time to organize medical evacuation would prevent the phenomenon from recurring in current conditions. Photorhabdus Luminescens’ genome has been sequenced. It contains a MACPF protein, however, this molecule appears non-lytic. It also contains the gcvB RNA gene which 
encodes a small non-coding RNA involved in the regulation of a number of amino acid transport systems as well as amino acid biosynthetic genes. A deletion of the hfq gene causes loss of secondary metabolite production.” That doesn’t seem so odd when you consider that many records, especially those that seemed inconsequential or maybe too farfetched to be believable, might have been overlooked or hidden. Still, I would think that the doctors might have talked to other doctors to see if they had ever heard of such a thing. Or maybe they didn’t, because they didn’t want to look like they had some kind of “battle fatigue” or PTSD as we know it today. Whatever the case may be, the phenomenon was not well publicized, yet somehow the story did survive the Civil War. I guess there were a few people who talked.
In October 1859, a man named John Brown led a group of armed abolitionists in an attack on the US military arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry used to be a part of Virginia, but it is now located in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers meet, hence the need for a ferry. The raid was meant to be the first step in a detailed plan to create an independent refuge for freed slaves in the mountains of Maryland and Virginia. It didn’t exactly end up that way. During the raid, Brown was captured. He was then convicted of treason and hanged. It was thought that the worst of the uprising might be over, but the raid actually heightened fears of slave uprisings among the white Southerners and escalated the growing tension between the Northern and Southern states which led up to the American Civil War that raged between 1861 and 1865.
John Brown was born in Connecticut in 1800 and raised in Ohio. He came from a staunchly Calvinist and anti-slavery family. Brown spent much of his life struggling with failed businesses, finally declaring bankruptcy in his early 40s and facing over 20 lawsuits. However, in 1837, his life took a drastic turn when he attended an abolition meeting in Cleveland. Brown was deeply inspired, and he pledged to dedicate himself to ending slavery. By 1848, Brown was launching plans to spark an insurrection.
In the 1850s, Brown took five of his sons to join the fight against pro-slavery forces in Kansas in the battle for 
the territory. After pro-slavery men attacked the abolitionist town of Lawrence on May 21, 1856, Brown sought revenge. A few days later, he and his sons set out to raid cabins along Pottawatomie Creek, killing five men with broadswords and sparking a summer of guerrilla warfare in the area. One of Brown’s sons lost his life during the conflict.
The death of his son only served to further anger Brown, and by 1857, he returned to the East and began raising money to carry out his vision of a mass uprising of slaves. Even with the loss of his son, Brown secured the backing of six prominent abolitionists, known as the “Secret Six.” They assembled an invasion force, and his “army” quickly grew to include more than 20 men. Several black men joined Brown and three of his sons. The group rented a Maryland farm near Harpers Ferry and began to prepare for the assault.
On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and his group seized the federal arsenal. Some of his men took several hostages, including a few enslaved individuals. News of the raid spread quickly, and by the next day, Brown and his men were surrounded. On October 18, US Marines, led by Colonel Robert E Lee and Lieutenant J 
E B Stuart, stormed the arsenal. Brown was wounded and captured, while 10 of his men, including two of his sons, were killed. Brown was tried for treason and murder in Virginia. He was found guilty on November 2nd. The 59-year-old abolitionist was executed on December 2, 1859. Before his execution, he gave his guard a note that read, “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood.” The raid definitely failed, but it served to heighten tensions between the North and South and influence the 1860 presidential election. It also proved that further compromise was impossible and became a key factor leading to the Civil War.
The life of a spy is always filled with risk, but sometimes the risk has nothing to do with spying. At the start of the Civil War, Rose O’Neal Greenhow, a Maryland native, resided in Washington, DC, with her four children. Her late husband had been wealthy and well-connected in the capital, and Greenhow used her influence to support the Southern cause. Collaborating with Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Jordan, she created an intricate spy network in Washington.
Greenhow’s prowess became evident with the operation’s first success. Greenhow obtained information about General Irvin McDowell’s army movements just before the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861. She instructed a female courier to deliver messages from Greenhow to Confederate General Pierre G T Beauregard at his headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. Beauregard later stated that this intelligence prompted him to request reinforcements from General Joseph Johnston’s nearby command. The actions contributed to the Confederates’ significant victory over the Union in the war’s first major battle. The day after the battle, Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent Greenhow a letter of gratitude.
As careful as she was, federal authorities quickly uncovered the security leaks anyway. They soon traced them back to Greenhow’s residence, and she was put under house arrest. Before long, other suspected female spies were also detained and joined her there. The house soon became known as “Fort Greenhow” and continued to supply intelligence to the Rebels, despite the house arrest. During a visit from her close friend, Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson, he inadvertently shared crucial information, which Greenhow passed along to her operatives. He had no idea he was being deceived and plied for information. After five months, Greenhow and her youngest daughter, “Little Rose” were moved to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, probably in an effort to quell the information leaks. She remained there until June 1862, after which she was exiled to the South. Her husband had been killed in an accident. Greenlow’s other daughters, were no longer in the home. Florence had married. Gertrude had passed away. She sent Leila to live with Florence, leaving just her and Little Rose.
Choosing safer accommodations for her daughter, Greenhow and Little Rose chose to spend the next two years in England, where she penned a memoir titled “My Imprisonment” while they traveled to England and France, drumming up support for the Southern cause. She then decided to return to the Confederacy to contribute more directly to the war effort. Greenhow and her daughter boarded the British blockade-runner, Condor. Coming into Cape Hatteras, the Condor was intercepted by the USS Niphon off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 
The Yankee ship forced the Condor aground near Fort Fischer. Greenhow, who was carrying Confederate dispatches and $2,000 in gold, demanded to be taken ashore. She boarded a small lifeboat, but it overturned in the rough surf. The weight of the gold dragged her under the surface, where she drowned. Her body washed ashore the following morning. She was given a hero’s funeral and buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina, wrapped in the Confederate flag.
When pioneer, August Scherneckau, arrived in Oregon, shortly after the Civil War, he bought a farm in the north central part of the state. Let’s face it, Scherneckau is not an easy name to pronounce, and not surprisingly the Indians pronounced it Shaniko. The name stuck, not for August, but for the town that would likely have born his name, had it not been mispronounced, and so the town of Shaniko, Oregon was born.
The Scherneckau ranch was located along the stage route from The Dalles to central Oregon, so it quickly became a stage station. On May 23, 1879, the first post office was set up there, with August Scherneckau serving as the initial postmaster. Named Cross Hollows after the area’s unique topography, the post office operated for just eight years before shutting down on May 27, 1887. In 1900, some businessmen established an official community in The Dalles as the endpoint of the Columbia Southern Railroad. The station became a hub for gathering the vast wool production from central Oregon, a role it held until the 1940s. On March 31, 1900, the Shaniko post office was opened, and the Shaniko Hotel, initially called the Columbia Southern Hotel, was constructed the same year. Built with 18-inch-thick walls and handmade bricks, the hotel is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also in 1900, a 10,000-gallon wooden water tower was built. Water was pumped from nearby Cross Hollow Canyon, piped through wooden systems, and stored in two large wooden tanks. Built in 1901, the three-room Shaniko School served kindergarten through high school students until 1946. After years of disrepair, it was restored in the 1990s and now functions as a community hall. It’s also one of the most photographed historic school buildings in Oregon. In 1901, Shaniko was officially incorporated. By that time, the town boasted a bank, two blacksmith shops, a two-story city hall housing the fire station and jail, three hotels, two newspapers, a post office, five saloons, two stores, and numerous other buildings. Church services took place in the schoolhouse.
Wool quickly became the commodity of the time, and Shaniko became a major trade center for the wool produced in central and eastern Oregon. Within a year, two financiers from The Dalles, B F Laughlin, and W Lord, constructed a huge wool warehouse in Shaniko, which was the largest in Oregon at the time. In 1903 Shaniko was referred to as the “Wool Capital of the World” after three wool sales brought in the largest total sale of wool on record. The next year, sheepmen sold an estimated five million dollars’ worth of wool to buyers in Shaniko.
In 1910, Shaniko boasted a population of 600, with what appeared to be a promising future ahead. But in 1911, the Oregon Trunk Railroad, connecting Bend, Oregon (70 miles south) to the Columbia Gorge, started diverting business from the more remote Shaniko. Then, a fire destroyed much of the downtown area, and there were no funds for rebuilding. While homesteaders, ranchers, and sheepmen remained in the region, Shaniko began to decline. These days, this near ghost town has only 20-25 residents but offers much to explore. There are still massive sheep sheds from that era and several Old West-style buildings with authentic boardwalks and false fronts. Many people consider Shaniko the best ghost town in Oregon. In addition to the other various buildings, there is still the old water tower, the City Hall complete with an old jail, the school, and the post office. The Shaniko Hotel is the town’s biggest attraction, mostly because it was restored to its former grandeur around 2000 by Robert Pamplin Jr. The hotel features an antique shop, the history of many families 
who once lived in Shaniko, and a café with home cooking said to be the best in the area. Unfortunately, due to a water rights dispute with the town council, the hotel closed again in 2009. The old Shaniko Livery Barn is now a museum featuring several antique cars in their original state. Next door is the Shaniko Sage Museum. All in all, it’s really a quaint little almost ghost town.
The Civil War was a bloody war that threatened to divide the United States. North fought against South, and brother fought against brother. In any war, fear is a constant companion, even for the bravest of soldiers. During the Battle of Mechanicsville, Virginia, Confederate General Robert E. Lee Army of Northern Virginia launched an attack on Union General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, marking the start of the Seven Days’ Battles. Despite suffering significant casualties and failing to achieve a decisive victory over the forces, the battle did succeed in unnerving McClellan. Over the course of the following week, Lee pushed McClellan from the outskirts of Richmond Virginia, back to his base along the James River.
Lee had replaced Joseph Johnston on June 1, 1862, and this was his first battle as commander of the army. Johnston had been severely wounded at the Battle of Fair Oaks, and Lee was eager to show his prowess. He saw this as his best chance. McClellan had been on the offensive, but his operation had stalled about five miles from Richmond. Nevertheless, his army was still there until late June. While McClellan was regrouping outside of Richmond, General J.E.B. Stuart and his Rebel cavalry made a reconnaissance ride around McClellan’s force. Following their ride, the spies brought back information that indicated that McClellan’s right flank was “in the air,” which means unprotected by natural barriers. On June 23rd, Lee told his commanders that he was going to attack the flank, which was occupied by Fitz John Porter’s V corps. They saw that Porter’s group was separated from the rest of the Union army by the Chickahominy River. Lee’s plan could have been viewed as risky, because it meant leaving a skeleton force to face the rest of McClellan’s army south of the Chickahominy River. It was an early indication of Lee’s bold and daring style.
The plan was probably a good one originally, but it quickly fell apart. McClellan had been alerted to the vulnerability of his flanks by Stuart’s ride two weeks prior, which had apparently not been as secret as they thought. So, McClellan shored up his left flank and moved Porter’s men to high ground with a deep creek in front of them. The new location gave them much better security. Lee’s plan had called for several smaller forces to overwhelm Porter’s men, but it required precise timing. Unfortunately, for Lee, when the assault came, the coordination did not materialize. A major problem was General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s corps, which was slow to move into place. Jackson was just back from his brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, but 
didn’t show the same vigor and speed at Mechanicsville.
Lee had planned to bring about 55,000 troops against Porter. Unfortunately, because of the mistakes made by Jackson and others, there were only about 11,000. Vastly undermanned, Lee lost 1,475 men in the battle, while the Union losses were only 361. Nevertheless, Lee had stunned McClellan, who then began to fall back away from Richmond. Lee continued to hammer on McClellan for the next week, and the Yankees had to retreat to the James River. For some reason, McClellan did not threaten Richmond again. Instead, and he eventually sailed his army back to Washington, D.C. in what could be viewed a retreat.
The CSS Alabama was a Confederate warship, built in an English shipyard and sold to the Confederates in 1861, the Alabama was a state-of-the-art ship. It was 220 feet long, with a speed of up to 13 knots. During the Civil War in the United States, CSS Alabama was used as a commerce raider. The cruiser was equipped with a machine shop and could carry enough coal to steam for 18 days, but its sails could greatly extend that time. Under its captain, Raphael Semmes, CSS Alabama prowled the world for three years, capturing United States commercial ships. It sailed around the globe, usually working out of the West Indies, but taking prizes and bungling Union shipping in the Caribbean, off Newfoundland, and around the coast of South America. In January 1863, CSS Alabama sunk a Union warship, USS Hatteras, after drawing it out of Galveston, Texas. The Union navy spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to track down CSS Alabama.
The ship was designed to disrupt Union merchant shipping, and over its two-year career, CSS Alabama captured or destroyed more than 60 Union vessels, making it one of the most successful of the Confederate ships. Nevertheless, as history has proven, no ship is unsinkable. For CSS Alabama, the end came in 1864 when it was sunk by the USS Kearsarge off the coast of Cherbourg, France, in a dramatic naval battle. The wreck of CSS Alabama was not discovered until 1984. It remains a significant historical artifact to this day.
The demise of CSS Alabama came in a rather unusual way. The ship had sailed around South America, across the Pacific, and then docked in India in 1864. By the summer, Captain Semmes knew that after three years and 75,000 miles his vessel needed overhauling in a modern shipyard. So, he sailed around Africa to France, to request dry dock repairs. The French denied him access to a dry dock. With no other option, Semmes moved 
the ship out of Cherbourg Harbor and immediately found the USS Kearsarge waiting. I’m sure he knew that his fate was sealed at that point. His ship was not in good shape, and he was unprepared for the upcoming fight. In a spectacular battle, the USS Kearsarge bested and sank CSS Alabama. During its career, it is said that CSS Alabama captured 66 ships and was hunted by more than 20 Federal warships.
As one side of a war begins to lose the battle to the other side, the army of the losing side, really begins to weaken. While the Battle of Bentonville was not the end of the Civil War, it was on the downhill run to the end. On March 19, 1865, at the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, Confederate General Joseph Johnston made a desperate attempt to stop Union General William T Sherman’s drive through the Carolinas. Unfortunately for Johnston, his bedraggled force couldn’t stop the advance of Sherman’s mighty army. Sherman’s men were well supplied and strong.
Sherman had taken a month off following his famous March to the Sea in late 1864. He stopped for a little rest and relaxation in Savannah, Georgia. Following his time off, Sherman turned north into the Carolinas. As he went, he literally destroyed everything in his path. It was his plan to demoralize the South and so bring the end of the war. Sherman left Savannah with 60,000 men divided into two wings, capturing Columbia and South Carolina, in February. Then he continued towards Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he planned to meet up with another army coming from the coast. His plan was to march to Petersburg, Virginia, where he would join General Ulysses S Grant and crush the army of Robert E Lee, the largest remaining Confederate force.
It was Sherman’s assumption that the Rebel forces in the Carolinas were too thinly spread to offer any much resistance, but Johnston had managed to put 17,000 soldiers together and proceeded to attack one of Sherman’s wings at Bentonville on March 19th. The attack was a surprise to the Yankees, and for a time, they were driven back. Then, a Union counterattack halted the advance and darkness halted the fighting. The next day, Johnston managed to establish a strong defensive position, where he waited and hoped for a Yankee assault. As more Union troops arrived, Sherman had a nearly three to one advantage over Johnston. When a Union force threatened to cut off the Rebel’s only line of retreat on March 21st, Johnston withdrew northward.
In the battles, the Union lost 194 men who were killed, 1,112 who were wounded, and they had 221 missing. The Confederates lost some 240 men who were killed, 1,700 who were wounded, and they had 1,500 missing. Johnston wrote to Lee concerning Sherman, that, he couldn’t do anything more than annoy him. Knowing that he had lost, just one month later, Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman.
Over the years, a number of automobile makers have come and gone. Their technology likely became outdated, and the next big thing came on the scene. Such was the fate of the makers of the Studebaker on March 18, 1933. At that point, they were heavily in debt, and it seemed there was no way out. The company went into receivership. As sometimes happens, the company’s president, Albert Erskine, resigned and later that year committed suicide. The company rebounded…for a time, and perhaps if Erskine had lived, he could have brought it back to life again. In the end, Studebaker eventually rebounded from its financial troubles, but it could not sustain itself again, and so, shut down the assembly line, and abandoned the automobile business entirely in 1966.
Studebaker Corporation started up in 1852, not as an automobile company, but to make wagons. Brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend, Indiana that year. Their work was of good quality, and they eventually became a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons, even suppling wagons to the US Army during the Civil War. As with the auto industry, the wagon industry began to fold, so Studebaker Corporation entered America’s blossoming auto industry, launching an electric car in 1902 and a gas-powered vehicle two years later that was marketed under the name Studebaker-Garford. Who knew that they could have actually been s forward thinking in 1902. Electric cars have been around longer than we might 
have thought. Studebaker partnered with other automakers and began selling gas-powered cars under its own name in 1913, while continuing to make wagons until 1920, when that market dried up.
Erskine was born in 1871 and took over as president of Studebaker Corporation 1915. Under his leadership, the company acquired luxury automaker Pierce-Arrow in the late 1920s and launched the affordably priced but short-lived Erskine and Rockne lines, which was named for the famous University of Notre Dame football coach, before his death in a plane crash in 1931. Rockne was paid to give talks at auto conventions and dealership events. The Great Depression hit Studebaker Corporation hard and in March 1933 it was forced into bankruptcy. Erskine was also hit hard by the Great Depression, and his great personal debt and health problems caused him to kill himself on July 1, 1933.
After Erskine’s death, the company went under new management, and they were able to get the company back on track. The Rockne brand in July 1933, and Pierce-Arrow was sold as well. In January 1935, the new Studebaker Corporation was incorporated. Raymond Loewy began working for Studebaker in the late 1930s. Loewy was a French-born industrial designer. He created iconic and popular models including the bullet-nosed 1953 Starliner and Starlight coupes and the 1963 Avanti sports coupe. It looked like the company might pull out of their funk.
Unfortunately, by the mid-1950s, Studebaker had to face the fact that they just didn’t have the resources of its Big Three competitors, so they merged with automaker Packard. Nevertheless, they continued to have financial 
troubles. By the late 1950s, the Packard brand was dropped. In December 1963, Studebaker closed the South Bend plant. This ended the production of its cars and trucks in America. After the US closure, the company’s Hamilton, Ontario, facilities remained in operation until March 1966. Finally, after 114 years in business, Studebaker shut its doors for good.
At the onset of the Civil War, combat involved bayonets, horses, wooden ships, and inaccurate artillery. As the war progressed, the armaments evolved to include mines, precise firearms, more lethal bullets, torpedoes, and ironclad ships as the new norm. Although the majority of battles were fought on land, the struggle for naval supremacy was a pivotal aspect of the war. Control over the coastline meant control over vital imports from Europe and Coastal America, including essential supplies like clothing, food, artillery, medicine, and occasionally, reinforcements.
As the United States Navy was constructing its first submarine, the USS Alligator, in late 1861, the Confederacy was also developing their own. Driven by a deep loyalty to the Confederate states and recognizing the potential financial benefits of sinking enemy ships, Horace Hunley, James McClintock (the designer), and Baxter Watson constructed the Pioneer. It underwent testing in the Mississippi River in February 1862 and was later moved to Lake Pontchartrain for further trials. The Union’s approach towards New Orleans led the team to halt development, and the Pioneer was scuttled in the following month. McClintock acknowledged the potential of a boat that could navigate freely at any depth, yet he believed improvements were necessary. The team, including Hunley, Watson, and McClintock, relocated to Mobile to work on a second submarine, the American Diver, in collaboration with Thomas Park and Thomas Lyons of Park and Lyons machine shops. The Confederate States Army supported their efforts, with Lieutenant William Alexander of the 21st Alabama Infantry Regiment overseeing the project. The builders tried various propulsion methods, including McClintock’s electromagnetic drive and a custom steam engine, but ultimately chose a hand-cranked system to avoid the excessive time and cost of more complex engines. By January 1863, the American Diver was ready for harbor trials, but its slow speed rendered it impractical. Despite this, an attack on the Union blockade was attempted by towing the submarine to Fort Morgan. Unfortunately, the submarine was lost to the turbulent waters and strong currents at the entrance of Mobile Bay during bad weather. The crew managed to escape, but the vessel was not retrieved.
The third submarine was the one that was eventually launched. The H.L. Hunley, also known as the CSS H.L. Hunley, played a minor role in the American Civil War. The Hunley demonstrated both the potential and perils of underwater combat. It became the first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship when it sunk the USS Housatonic. However, the Hunley was not fully submerged during the attack and was lost with all hands before it could return to base. Throughout its brief service, the Hunley sank three times, resulting in the deaths of twenty-one crewmen. The submarine was named after its inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, and was commandeered by the Confederate States Army in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Hunley, measuring nearly 40 feet in length, was constructed in Mobile, Alabama, and set afloat in July 1863. Subsequently, it was transported via rail to Charleston on August 12, 1863. Initially known as the “fish boat,” “fish torpedo boat,” or “porpoise,” the Hunley first sank during a trial run on August 29, 1863, resulting in the death of five crew members. Tragically, it sank once more on October 15, 1863, claiming the lives of all eight crew members, including Horace Lawson Hunley, who was on board despite not being part of the Confederate military. After each incident, the Hunley was recovered and restored to service…until February 17, 1864, that is. That day, the Hunley attacked and sank the 1,240-ton United States Navy screw sloop-of-war Housatonic, which had been on Union blockade-duty in Charleston’s outer harbor. Again, the Hunley didn’t survive the attack, taking all eight members of the third crew with it. This time, the Hunley was also lost.
For years, the Hunley lay at the bottom of the harbor, but she was finally located in 1995. The Hunley was 
recovered in 2000 and is exhibited at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, located on the Cooper River in North Charleston, South Carolina. A 2012 examination of the artifacts retrieved from the Hunley indicated that the submarine was approximately 20 feet from its target, the Housatonic, when the torpedo it had deployed detonated, leading also to the submarine’s demise.
In the latter part of September 1864, in the middle of the Civil War’s second half, the Union Army targeted Fort Harrison, a key Confederate stronghold. Capturing Richmond, Virginia, hinged on taking Fort Harrison, crucial to General Butler’s offensive strategy. As the most formidable segment of the Confederate defense line, Fort Harrison offered a clear view to the James River, rendering surprise attacks nearly impossible. Following intense summer skirmishes along Petersburg, Virginia’s earthworks, and a toll of around 27,000 casualties since June, a haunting silence had settled over the region. The II Army Corps, led by Major General Winfield Hancock and previously the backbone of Major General George G Meade’s Army of the Potomac, was now severely weakened. Positioned near Petersburg, the II Army Corps was tasked with monitoring and preventing any maneuvering of General Robert E Lee’s combat forces across the James River.
At that moment, Major General Benjamin Butler knew he needed to devise a strategy to turn the tide. The pause in activity presented an ideal opportunity for action. Butler considered that during such lulls, there’s often a slight drop in vigilance—just enough, he surmised, for a surprise attack. With this in mind, Butler approached Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant with a plan. The strategy involved relocating the Army of the James north of the James River to initiate an assault on the Confederate Outer Defenses near Richmond. The objective of the Federal Army of the James was to seize control of the road network southeast of the Confederate Capital, ultimately aiming to capture Richmond itself. 
Before Petersburg, there was little activity, but the situation was changing rapidly in the Shenandoah Valley. The battle at Fisher’s Hill occurred on September 22, 1864, resulting in numerous casualties, notably the death of Brigadier General William Nelson Pendleton’s son. Grant’s staff officers were against the subsequent boat journey up the James River, yet Benjamin Butler persuaded Grant to deploy the Army of the James for a northern offensive. The strategy was straightforward. The Confederates underestimated the Federal Armies’ ability to mount a significant offensive towards Richmond from the north, as they had troops defending the earthworks there, leading them to allocate their forces elsewhere. Even with General Robert E Lee’s focus on the north, the Confederate forces in the outer defenses were critically understrength. It was believed that if a genuine threat emerged in that area, Confederate troops could swiftly reinforce the defenses before an attack could be initiated. On the night of September 28-29, 1864, Major General Benjamin Butler convened his top officers for a briefing on the planned movements of his army. Major General Edward O C Ord of the 18th Army Corps, Major General David B Birney of the 10th Army Corps, and Brigadier General August V Kautz of the Cavalry Division were present.
The strategy involved Major General Ord and the 18th Army Corps making an unexpected crossing of the James River at Aiken’s Landing, then advancing up Varina Road. Their goal was to destroy the Confederate bridges at Chaffin’s Bluff before heading up Osbourne Road towards Richmond. At the same time, the 10th Corps, led by Major General Birney, would push forward from Deep Bottom to seize New Market Heights. Moving northwest, Birney’s divisions would proceed up New Market Road towards the Confederate capital. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Kautz’s cavalry was to dash down Darbytown Road towards Richmond. Unfortunately for the South, on September 29, 1864, the plan partially unraveled when 2,500 Union soldiers from Major General Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James overwhelmed Major Richard Cornelius Taylor’s 200-man Confederate garrison, taking the fort in the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm. The operation saw the unfortunate death of Brigadier General Hiram Burnham, a brigade commander from Maine in the XVIII Corps. In his memory, Fort Harrison was subsequently renamed Fort Burnham after the Union forces assumed control.
Ultimately, Fort Harrison stood as the sole victory of the day. Although the attempt to capture Richmond was unsuccessful, it quickly pointed out the region’s marked susceptibility. Recognizing the imminent threat to Richmond, General Robert E Lee then commanded a counterattack on September 30. The offensive was unsuccessful, and Brigadier General George J Stannard lost an arm during the resistance to Lee’s assault. This setback compelled the Confederates to reposition their defenses further west. Fort Harrison, also known as Fort Burnham, stayed under Union control until the war was over on November 6, 1865.
