JANUARY 10, 1862:
The Battle of Big Sandy River: Following the Battle of Middle Creek, C.S.A.
forces fall back to Prestonburg, Kentucky, where Colonel James A. Garfield, the
future U.S. President, engages them in a sharp engagement that pushes them, in
confusion and unsupplied, into extreme southwestern Virginia. Given the weather
conditions, the Confederates, foodless, bootless, and ill-clothed suffer on
their retreat march through Virginia.
Also, on this day, weapons manufacturer Samuel Colt dies in
Hartford, Connecticut (his hometown) at the age of 47. Colt is (no surprise)
one of the wealthiest men in America at the time of his death, with a net worth
of $15,000,000.00 (half a billion dollars in 2013 value). It is 1/966 of the
entire U.S. Gross Domestic Product (North and
South) for 1862. An unabashed capitalist, Colt made his weapons available to
both combatants, at first directly, and then through a British subsidiary (for
the South).
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