 |
||
| Welcome to GeorgiaInfo | What's New | This Day in Georgia History | Instructional Handout Masters | Credits | Photos & Images | Georgia Trivia | | ||
|
This Week in Georgia Civil War History
Dec. 28, 1862: A Georgia soldier writing home to his wife told of the aftermath of the Battle of Fredericksburg, including a new means of reconnaissance.
Click here to see the Oath of Allegiance to the state of Georgia signed by an enlisting soldier on this day. Dec. 29, 1862: A wounded Georgia soldier (see December 15 and December 24) wrote to his wife from a Virginia hospital.
Click here to see another Oath of Allegiance to the state of Georgia signed by an enlisting soldier on this day. Dec. 30, 1862: The Confederate Union of Milledgeville printed an editorial on the sadness of Christmas for many this year.
The Southern Recorder of Milledgeville reported on another battle brewing in Tennessee, and at least one northern newspaper calling for recognition of the Confederacy as a separate nation.
A soldier writing home told of the great victory at the Battle of Fredericksburg, coupled with the sad news of the loss of one of his friends.
Dec. 31, 1862: A Georgia soldier writing home to his wife talked about the scouting work he was doing, and vainly hoped the war would end soon.
Click here to see yet another Oath of Allegiance to the state of Georgia signed by an enlisting soldier on this day. The Battle of Stone's River (or Battle of Murfreesboro) began in Tennessee; there were numerous Georgians involved. This battle pitted the same two generals who would oppose each other in the first major battle fought on Georgia soil - Braxton Bragg (Confederate) and William Rosecrans (Union). The Union army attacked first, but was repulsed and pushed back, before reinforcements arrived to slow the Confederate advance. Both armies remained in the field that night. Jan. 1, 1863: President Abraham Lincoln issued the final version of the Emancipation Proclamation. On September 22, 1862, he had issued a preliminary version announcing that on this day, he would issue a declaration as to which states were in rebellion against the United States. At that time, slaves in those states only would be freed. In the proclamation on this day, he announced that all eleven southern states that had joined the Confederacy were in rebellion, although designated areas of Louisiana and Virginia were exempted from emancipation.
Four currency notes were issued by the state of Georgia - for one five cents, 25 cents, 50 cents, and one dollar.
Images by Norman Eugene Satterwhite There was lull in the fighting at the Battle of Stone's River , as both armies re-grouped. Bragg believed Rosecrans would withdraw after being driven back the previous day, but Rosecrans continued to keep his army in the field. Jan. 2, 1863: A Georgia soldier again wrote his wife from a Virginia hospital (see December 29), discussing his convalescence, and how much he missed her.
The Battle of Stone's River concluded. The Confederates attacked a Union division which had advanced, and drove it back to its original position, before being halted by Union artillery fire - forcing the Confederates to also retire to their original position. While neither army gained a decisive victory, Bragg did pull his Confederate troops our two days later, upon which Rosecrans claimed a victory - much needed for Union morale after the disastrous loss at Fredericksburg. For the relatively small number of troops involved, casualties in the Battle of Stone's River were staggering - the Union lost over 13,000 men, while the Confederates lost over 10,000. Jan. 3, 1863: The Richmond Times Dispatch printed an observation on the piety of the Confederates expressed by a Georgia boy, as opposed (in his view) to that of the Yankees. In an interesting side note, the first recorded baseball score in Georgia happened in Savannah on this day. In a game played by Union troops occupying Fort Pulaski, the 48th New York defeated the 47th New York by a score of 20-7. This week's edition of Harper's Weekly printed an image of Christmas Eve - which poignantly showed what all soldiers and their families must have been feeling in those days.
Image Courtesy of Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library / University of Georgia Libraries This Week in Georgia Civil War History Table of Contents To the best of our knowledge, images on this site are either (1) in the public domain, or (2) qualify for educational Fair Use under federal copyright law, or (3) are used by permission. |
||||||||||||||
 |
||
|
||
| ©2013 Digital Library of Georgia | UGA | GALILEO | Contact Us | |