November 1, 1863---Longstreet goes to Knoxville

NOVEMBER 1, 1863:         

After The Richmond Examiner publishes a scathing editorial criticizing General Braxton Bragg for his failure to attack General Ambrose Burnside’s Union troops in Knoxville (carping that  “the hogs of East Tennessee, affording 25 millions of pounds of pork, are now being slaughtered for the Yankee armies,” and declaiming vociferously on the Southern army’s lack of shoes for their soldiers), Bragg, under pressure, sends the insubordinate petition-writing James Longstreet (and most of The Army of Tennessee) to operate against Burnside. There are skirmishes at Eastport and Fayetteville, Tennessee. A shrunken Confederate force remains near Lookout Mountain to harry the Union forces in Chattanooga. 

October 31, 1863---The Siege of Charleston goes on . . .

OCTOBER 31, 1863:            

The seemingly endless siege of Charleston, South Carolina continues. Bombarded by Union forces on land and sea since late Spring, the “Cradle of Secession” is constantly rocked, but will not fall.  

Indomitable Charlestonians attempt to sink the U.S.S. NEW IRONSIDES by night, but are unsuccessful.

October 30, 1863---“I will show them how a Confederate Soldier can die.”

OCTOBER 30, 1863:           

John Nichols, one of only two members of the Confederate guerrilla band “James Johnson’s Boys” is hanged in Jefferson City, Missouri. Nichols is one of the few men denied clemency by President Lincoln. Johnson and Nichols had been particularly active in the Sedalia, Missouri area, and so effective (primarily against Unionist civilians, mainly women and children) that the Union ordered a “shoot on sight” order against them. As the rope was being adjusted around his neck, Nichols defiantly said: “I will show them how a Confederate Soldier can die.”

October 29, 1863---"It is thought by some that we will have a fight soon, but I hardly think so. ..."

OCTOBER 29, 1863:            

Marion Hill Fitzpatrick, a Georgian serving with the Army of Northern Virginia, writes to his wife about his nearly bucolic conditions in camp. His tone is very different than his Army of Tennessee comrade’s:

"...I wrote to you a week ago and gave you a rough sketch of our late tramp. We have been resting quietly here since I wrote and it has been pleasant most of the time. We have had one rain and it has faired off pretty cold. We were on pickett last night and yesterday. This morning was ice and a large frost. We went on pickett on the Rappahannock about 1 1/2 miles from here. There was some excitement with those that were on post. Our Co. was not on post. The Yankee cavalry came in sight on the other side several times and our picketts fired on them pretty rapidly. I do not know if they killed any. The Yanks would retreat when our men would fire in them. There was also canonadeing going on at intervals some distance off, the result of which is unknown to me. It is thought by some that we will have a fight soon, but I hardly think so. ..."

October 28, 1863---The Battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee

OCTOBER 28, 1863:            

The Battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee. Confederate troops attempt to break the “Cracker Line,” the Union’s Main Supply Route into Chattanooga. In one of the few night actions of the Civil War, the Confederates are soundly defeated, in part because they mistake a line of mules for cavalry at the advance. After the battle, Union troopers insist that the mules “be breveted as horses.” Each side is said to have lost 450 men; however, one report states that the Confederates lost nearly one thousand. The Gray troops retreat back to Lookout Mountain. They never attack the “Cracker Line” again.