38 



ARMY OPERATIONS. 



Davis Tillson, Augusta, Ga., Assistant Commis- 

 sioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for the btate ot 

 of Georgia. 



George J. Stannard, St. Albans, Vt. (Severely 

 wounded in battle.) 



Patrick B. Connor, Great Salt Lake City, Utah 

 Territory, commanding District of Utah, Department 

 of the Missouri. 



Gabriel R. Paul, Harrodsburg, Ky., in charge of 

 Soldier's Home. (Severely wounded in battle.) 



Adelbert Ames, Columbia, S. C., commanding Dis- 

 trict of Western South Carolina. 



Daniel H. Rucker, Washington, D. C., Chief Depot 

 Quartermaster. 



Robert Allen, Louisville, Ky., Chief Quartermaster 

 Vallev of the Mississippi. 



Rufus Ingalls, Washington, D. C., on duty at head- 

 quarters armies of the United States. 



RECAPITULATION. 



Jteyular Army Lieutenant-General, ... 1 

 " " Major-Generals, ... 6 



" " Brigadier-Generals, . . .18 



Total, 24 



Volunteers Major-Gen erals, . . .26 

 " Brigadier-Generals, . . 49 



Total, 



ARMY OPERATIONS. The severe weather 

 of the winter months of 1864-'65, caused no ces- 

 sation in array operations. Maj.-Gen. Thomas, 

 after pursuing the retreating forces of Gen. 

 Hood from Tennessee, collected his troops at 

 Eastport. Thence a considerable body of his 

 men, consisting of the 23d corps under Gen. 

 Schofield, were moved by railroad to the Atlan- 

 tic coast, and landed on the North Carolina 

 shore. Another small portion was sent to Gen. 

 Sherman at Savannah. To Gen. Thomas was 

 now assigned the defence of that extended por- 

 tion of the country from Atlanta north and 

 westward, which belonged to the department 

 under Gen. Sherman, when he commenced his 

 march upon Savannah. The large garrisons 

 which had been required at Memphis and other 

 places on the Mississippi River, also in Tennes- 

 see and Kentucky, had been set free by his new 

 position, and were able to join his forces. At 

 the same time, the army of Gen. Hood had been 

 fatally reduced. The situation of Eastport, on 

 the" Tennessee River, near the junction of the 

 lines of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, 

 placed the northern portion of the two latter 

 States at the mercy of Gen. Thomas. 



On Jan. 16th, 1865, Gen. Croxton, with a 

 division of the 16th corps and the 1st division 

 of cavalry, reconnoitred from Eastport toward 

 Corinth, passing through luka and Brownsville. 

 It appeared that a small force of Gen. Hood's 

 army held Corinth, while the main body was 

 at Tupelo. Thirty-five of the enemy were cap- 

 tured at the depot, and a hotel at Corinth 

 burned. Deserters, averaging from thirty to 

 fifty daily, were coming within Gen. Thomas's 

 lines, from Hood's army. Subsequently a part 

 of Gen. Hood's forces were marched by land 

 eastward across the State of Georgia, to assist 

 in opposing Gen. Sherman. This movement 

 left Gen. Thomas free in the latter part of Feb- 

 ruary to cooperate with Gen. Canby against 

 Mobile, and Southern Alabama, and Mississippi. 



Thus far the quiet of the Army of the Potomac, 

 since its operations last described, had been 

 undisturbed, except by those incidents usual to 

 hostile armies when near each other. No im- 

 portant movement had been attempted. Under 

 the call for troops in December, 1864, large 

 numbers were going forward to fill its ranks. 

 The withdrawal of a portion of the fleet and 

 of the forces of the Army of the James for the 

 second attack on Wilmington, tempted the ene- 

 my at Richmond to make a demonstration for" 

 the purpose of breaking the pontoon bridges 

 over the James, and cutting the communication 

 between the Federal forces on the two banks. 

 If successful, it was undoubtedly the purpose to 

 follow it up by an attack on the forces on the 

 north bank. A fleet, consisting of the V irginia, 

 Fredericksburg, and Richmond, iron-clads car- 

 rying four guns each, and the wooden vessels 

 Drewry, Nansemond, and Hampton, with two 

 guns each, the Buford, one gun, the steamer 

 Torpedo, and three torpedo boats, left Richmond 

 on Jan. 23d. About midnight the fleet passed 

 Fort Brady, and began to pass the obstructions. 

 A fire was now opened by the fort, to which 

 the enemy replied, dismounting a hundred 

 pounder in the fort, and escaping beyond its 

 range. The chain in front of the obstructions 

 beyond the lower end of the Dutch Gap Canal 

 was cut, and the Fredericksburg passed through. 

 But the Richmond, Virginia, and Drewry, in 

 attempting to follow, grounded. The Drewry 

 could not be got off, and was abandoned as day- 

 light appeared, and was blown up subsequently 

 by a shell from the battery on shore. The re- 

 port of the affair by the enemy was as follows : 

 The flagship of the expedition was the Virginia, 

 commanded by Lieutenant Dunington. The Rich- 

 mond was commanded by Lieutenant Bell, who was 

 First Lieutenant on the Alabama at the time of her 

 fight with the Kearsarge. The Fredericksburg was 

 commanded by Lieutenant Sheppard. The Tatter 

 vessel, being of light draught, passed clean through 

 the obstruction, out the others found a lower 

 tier of obstructions deeply submerged, and which 

 had not been moved by the freshet; the depth of 

 water over them beinjj impassable bv vessels of their 

 draught. The Virginia received a shot in the centre 

 by a three hundred pounder Parrott shell, fired from a 

 Yankee Monitor, being struck when trying to get off 

 sunken obstructions in the river. The shot displaced 

 a few of her bolts, and killed five of her crew. No 

 other damage was done, but it was found that her 

 engines were fouled, not in consequence of the shot, 

 and that she was not in fighting order ; in the mean 

 time the fire of our vessels had completely silenced 

 the Yankee shore batteries, and a number of shots 

 were exchanged with the Monitor, with what effect 

 is not known. In consequence of the condition of 

 the Virginia's engine, it was decided, on a consulta- 

 tion of the officers of the flotilla, to withdraw all ves- 

 sels, which was done without further casualty. It 

 had been impossible to survey the channel to any 

 great extent on account of the enemy's picket fire, and 

 the submerged obstructions of the river were found 

 to be more effectual than they were supposed to be. 



This was followed by shelling between the 

 hostile batteries on the river throughout the 

 day, and during the night the fleet returned to 

 Richmond. 



On the night of Jan. 31st, marching orders 



