September 9, 1863---The "Battle" of The Cumberland Gap

SEPTEMBER 9, 1863:        

The Battle of The Cumberland Gap.  Having taken Knoxville, Tennessee with hardly a shot being fired, General Ambrose Burnside U.S.A. decides to move against the strategically critical Cumberland Gap with 15,000 men. The Gap is occupied by a Confederate holding force of 2,500, all other Gray troops in the area having been reassigned to Braxton Bragg’s force in the Lookout Mountain region. Although The Gap is a superb defensive position, the Confederate Commander is intimidated by the sheer weight of Union numbers and surrenders The Gap after just a symbolic spattering of shots. The Union occupies The Gap in force, ending the “battle” before it ever begins. 

September 8, 1863---The Second Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas

SEPTEMBER 8, 1863:       

The Second Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas. In keeping with President Lincoln’s order to secure the Texas border against any planned French military adventures, U.S. Grant orders seven troopships full of men and four gunboats to take and hold Sabine Pass and establish a beachhead for further action. The only Confederate troops standing against this force are 44 men in shoreside Fort Griffin, all of whom were assigned there as punishment for disciplinary infractions. With nothing else to do at the remote outpost but practice their gunnery skills, they have become expert artillerists, and when the Union landing force approaches the pass the Confederates drive them off despite being outnumbered roughly 100-to-1. While not a grand victory for the South, word of the Union embarrassment at Sabine Pass helps bolster Confederate morale which had been flagging dangerously low.