December 2, 1863---The Capitol Dome is completed

DECEMBER 2, 1863:          

The dome of the U.S. Capitol is completed with the installation of the Statute of Freedom atop her pedestal. The architect, Thomas U. Walter, a dour stoic of a man who felt he was underpaid, never advised anyone in advance that the project was completed, and so Washington missed out on an opportunity for ceremony and speechmaking. Belatedly, the President ordered a 35-gun salute (one for each State of The Union) to mark the occasion.

December 1, 1863---The First Battle of New Hope Church

DECEMBER 1, 1863:           

Following desultory fighting at Payne’s Farm on November 27^th, the Union’s “winter offensive” along Mine Run petered out with skirmishing near New Hope Church  on December 1st. Although General George Meade U.S.A. had planned a major series of actions beginning in late November, neither The Army of The Potomac nor The Army of Northern Virginia seemed to want to join battle. General Robert E. Lee C.S.A. admitted to a subordinate that he was “too old” to lead the Confederate military anymore; Meade for his part, reported that the Confederate line was too strong to break. He ordered the Union Army into winter quarters at Brandy Station. Though Lee was reportedly disappointed that Meade withdrew, he did not order his men forward, but likewise retired his men to winter quarters. And so, with a splutter rather than a roar, battle ended for the winter in the Eastern Theatre. With the Confederate defeats at Chattanooga and Knoxville in the Western Theatre, it promised to be a dark winter in the South.

November 30, 1863---A Southerner's Thanksgiving

NOVEMBER 30, 1863:      

Union prisoner Major Henry McDaniel C.S.A., wounded and captured at Gettysburg, receives a letter from his wife:

"...For the first time in five months am I permitted to pen you a brief letter. What a privilege! Yours of 26th Oct. has been received with a welcome it were idle to attempt to describe. Do you know that for three long months we heard not one syllable from you? Yes, the faintest ray of hope had well night fled when the news reached us that you still lived. With what a silent thrill of gratitude to Almighty God did the tidings come! ..."

November 29, 1863---The Battle of Fort Sanders

NOVEMBER 29, 1863:      

Skirmishes continue between The Army of The Potomac and The Army of Northern Virginia, in and around Mine Run, but the two sides seem equally chary of committing to battle. 

The Battle of Fort Sanders:     

In Knoxville, Tennessee, General James Longstreet, C.S.A. is determined to break through the Union’s defenses and capture the city. He launches an attack on the Union redoubt of Fort Sanders, but it goes badly awry. His men are forced to attack in freezing rain across slippery ground, and they find themselves confronted by a steep, deep ditch they must cross, over which only a few planks have been laid as causeways. His men must cross these icy planks slowly in single file, making them perfect targets for Union sharpshooters. Once across the ditch, the surviving men charge, only to find themselves snagged up in telegraph wire. A number of men don’t see the wire, and have their throats sliced open as they dash forward. The entangled men are again picked off by Union riflemen. After only 20 minutes, Longstreet calls a retreat. The Confederacy loses 1000 men (over 800 killed) in the battle. The Union loses 13, killed and wounded. This marks the effective end of the Siege of Knoxville.   

Combined with the ignominious end of the Siege of Chattanooga, the Confederacy loses all hope of maintaining a presence in East Tennessee.   

November 28, 1863---Sackcloth and Ashes

NOVEMBER 28, 1863:      

General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A., personally humiliated after the loss of Chattanooga, resigns his command of the Army of Tennessee, and urges President Jefferson Davis to investigate the failure of the campaign---in effect, requesting that he himself be court-martialed.