This Week in The Civil war, for week of Sunday, Dec. 2: Battle of Prairie Grove, Ark.
This week 150 years ago in the Civil War, Confederate and Union forces continued their fight for supremacy in Arkansas. Confederates led by Maj. Gen. Thomas Hindman moved to put his sizeable force between two Union divisions in hopes of smashing them. But rival Union commanders fought back against the Confederates, who set up defensive lines along a ridge at Prairie Grove. Attacks and counterattacks followed and at one point it looked as if the rebels would triumph. But then sunset brought a halt to the fighting with neither side a winner. Nonetheless, Hindman was forced to withdraw from the region, leaving the Union in control of a large swath of Arkansas. Elsewhere, newspaper reports spread word that Confederate leaders were rejoicing over the discovery a large cache of salt in the earth that can be used for any number of purposes, including preserving food. "The rebels are said to be rejoicing over the discovery of (the) immense bed of rock salt at Obelisk, Ala.," the Daily Illinois state Journal reported on Dec. 2, 1862.
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This Week in The Civil war, for week of Sunday, Dec. 9: Battle for Fredericksburg, Va.
This week 150 years ago in the Civil War, the North and South battled for Fredericksburg, Va. Midway between the federal capital of Washington, D.C., and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va., Fredericksburg was a strategic point for both sides. On Dec. 11, 1862, Union troops sneaked forward under the pre-dawn fog to begin building pontoon bridges crossing the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, drawing Confederate fire. Union commander, Gen. Ambrose Burnside, then ordered a bombardment opened up on the city. The fierce bombardment lasted nearly two hours as thousands of shells and projectiles rained down on the city. Amid the bombardment, Union soldiers crossed in boats to the other side and block-by-block street combat began â€" a rarity in the conflict. The full body of federal forces crossed the Rappahannock on Dec. 12, 1862, and Burnside ordered a series of deadly and ineffective frontal assaults on two heights in the city, leaving thousands dead and wounded. Even though Union forces briefly pierced the main Confederate line, they were repulsed By Dec. 15, Burnside had canceled the offensive and his battered and beaten forces retreated across the river. The fighting engaged some 100,000 Union troops and more than 72,000 troops under Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. When it was over, there were more than 13,000 Union casualties and some 4,500 others on the Confederate side. After the Union's defeat, Burnside would be replaced a month later at the head of the Union army by yet another general.
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This Week in The Civil War, for week of Sunday, Dec. 16: the sinking of the USS Cairo.
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