Prelude to the Battle Grant’s Umbrella Strategy On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, Grant drafted a plan to have the various Union armies in the field to act in concert and strike the Confederacy from several … Read more
Early Life George Armstrong Custer was born on December 5, 1839, in New Rumley, Ohio. He was the son of Emanuel and Maria Custer. Custer’s father was a blacksmith and farmer. As a youngster, Custer’s parents sent him to live with his half-sister’s family in Monroe, Michigan. Later, he attended McNeely Normal School in Hopedale, … Read more
Early Life George Crook was born to Thomas and Elizabeth Crook on September 8, 1828, on a farm near Taylorsville, Ohio. Congressman Robert Schenck nominated Crook to the United States Military Academy, where Crook enrolled in 1848. Not an outstanding student, Crook graduated from West Point in 1852, thirty-eighth in his class of forty-three cadets. … Read more
Prelude Grant’s Umbrella Strategy On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, Grant drafted a plan to get the various Union armies in the field to act in concert and strike the Confederacy from several directions: Grant would … Read more
Prelude to the Battle of Nashville Siege of Chattanooga In September 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee were attempting to recapture Chattanooga, Tennessee from Federal forces by besieging the city. Union leaders responded by sending Major General Ulysses S. Grant and reinforcements to Chattanooga with orders to break the siege. After … Read more
Early Life George Henry Thomas was born on January 31, 1816, at Newsom’s Depot, Virginia. His parents, John Thomas and Elizabeth Rochelle Thomas were upper-class Southern planters who owned twenty-four slaves. Thomas’s father died in a farm accident in 1829, leaving Thomas’s maternal uncle, James Rochelle, to oversee Thomas’s education. In 1831, Thomas’s family fled … Read more
Early Life John McAllister Schofield was born on September 29, 1831, at Gerry, New York. His parents were Reverend James Schofield, a Baptist minister, and Caroline McAllister. In 1843, Schofield’s family moved to Freeport, Illinois, where Schofield attended public schools. U.S. Military Academy Cadet After a brief stint as a surveyor and schoolteacher in Wisconsin, … Read more
Early Life William Starke Rosecrans was born on September 6, 1819, at Little Taylor Run, Kingston Township, Delaware County, Ohio. He was the second of five sons of Crandell Rosecrans and Jemima Hopkins. His mother’s lineage included Stephen Hopkins, who signed the Declaration of Independence. U.S. Military Academy Cadet When Rosecrans was an infant, his … Read more
Early Life James Birdseye McPherson was born on November 14, 1828, in Clyde, Ohio, McPherson’s parents were William and Cynthia Russell McPherson. The couple had married near Canandaigua, New York before moving to Clyde, Ohio. William McPherson was a blacksmith, but his son James spent much of his youth working the family’s 160-acre farm. James … Read more
Early Life Philip Henry Sheridan was born on March 6, 1831. He was the third of six children of John and Mary Meenagh Sheridan, immigrants from County Cavan, Ireland. Sheridan’s birthplace is uncertain. Albany, New York is the most cited location, with Ireland and Boston, Massachusetts, being other possibilities. When Sheridan was an infant, his … Read more
Early Life Irvin McDowell was born at Columbus, Ohio on October 15, 1818, the son of Abram Irvin McDowell and Eliza Seldon McDowell. He received his early education at the College de Troyes in France before entering the United States Military Academy in 1834, at the age of sixteen. McDowell graduated from the Academy in 1838, … Read more
Early Life Henry Wager Halleck was born at Westernville, in Oneida County, New York on January 16, 1815. He was the third of fourteen children of Joseph Halleck and Catherine Wager Halleck. Not enamored with the farming life of his family, Halleck ran away from home at an early age, and his uncle, David Wager, … Read more
Prelude to the Siege of Corinth Defending Confederate Borders At the onset of the American Civil War, the State of Tennessee comprised most of the northern border of the Confederate States of America in the West. Defending that border was difficult for the Confederacy because three major rivers (the Mississippi, which flows south to the … Read more
Prelude Bright Union Prospects Union prospects were bright for a successful end of the American Civil War in the early part of 1862. In the East, Major General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had advanced up the Virginia Peninsula and was threatening the Confederate capital at Richmond by early June. West of the Appalachians, … Read more
Prelude Bright Union Prospects in Early 1862 Union prospects were bright for a successful end of the American Civil War in the early part of 1862. In the East, Major General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac had advanced up the Virginia Peninsula and was threatening the Confederate capital at Richmond by early June. West … Read more
Prelude to the Battle of Pea Ridge Tenuous Neutrality in Missouri When the American Civil War began, sympathies in the border state of Missouri were greatly divided. Although many Missourians favored remaining in the Union, Governor Claiborne Jackson strongly supported secession. Despite his secessionist leanings, Jackson affirmed Missouri’s neutrality by agreeing to the terms of … Read more
Prelude to the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, DC, Grant drafted a plan to have the various Union armies in the field to act in concert and to strike the Confederacy … Read more
Events Leading Up to the Lynchburg Campaign On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, Grant drafted a plan to have the various Union armies in the field act in concert and strike the Confederacy from several directions. … Read more
Events Leading Up to Sheridan’s Valley Campaign On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, DC, Grant drafted a plan to have the various Union armies in the field to act in concert and strike the Confederacy from … Read more
Prelude to the Battle Siege of Chattanooga In September 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee were attempting to recapture Chattanooga, Tennessee from Federal forces by besieging the city. Union leaders responded by sending Major General Ulysses S. Grant and reinforcements to Chattanooga with orders to break the siege. After establishing a … Read more