November 30, 1862---The ALABAMA strikes again

NOVEMBER 30, 1862:      

The C.S.S. ALABAMA is busily raiding in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Today she takes (and scuttles) the prize PARKER COOKE off the coast of Hispaniola. 

November 29, 1862---Amnesty For An AWOL Army

NOVEMBER 29, 1862:      

The Confederate Army of The Tennessee is suffering from so much absenteeism that it is scarcely fit to fight. General Braxton Bragg issues an Amnesty to all soldiers Absent Without Leave, hoping to replenish his forces. AWOL officers are not excused and are subject to discipline. 

November 28, 1862---The Battle of Cane Hill, Arkansas

NOVEMBER 28, 1862:      

The Battle of Cane Hill, Arkansas. 11,000 Confederate troops, which had been haunting the Boston Mountains in northwestern Arkansas, attack 5,000 Union troops in the area. The Union forces, better supplied and disposed, push the Confederates back into the hill country.  

November 27, 1862---Fools rush in . . .

NOVEMBER 27, 1862:       

Lincoln and Burnside, meeting at Aquia Creek, discuss the attack on Fredericksburg. Lincoln is already vexed at Burnside’s dilatoriness, which smacks too much of McClellan, and he is very concerned about Burnside’s plan to make a full frontal assault on the heights across the river. He encourages Burnside to ford the river northward of the city (as General Sumner had suggested) and sweep down on the city from the Confederate side. Burnside, who “wants not of heart but of head,” rejects the President’s suggestion.  

November 26, 1862---Lincoln fears a defeat

NOVEMBER 26, 1862:       

The first of Stonewall Jackson’s troops reach Fredericksburg. A worried President Lincoln summons General Burnside to Aquia Creek, Virginia for a secret meeting.