JANUARY 23, 1865:
General John Bell "Sam" Hood
C.S.A. is cashiered from command of the broken Army of Tennessee. General
Richard Taylor C.S.A., the son of U.S. President Zachary Taylor (the former
father-in-law of C.S. President Jefferson Davis), a man who had grown up in the White House, is named to command the
once-proud army, which is down to some 5,000 troopers. Taylor begins his tenure
as commander by announcing an amnesty for all deserters. His shrunken force is
all that is standing in the way of the Union armies and the conquest of inland Alabama and Mississippi.
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| General Richard Taylor, C.S.A. |
The
Battle of Trent’s Reach:
Confederate gunboats from Richmond
attempt to force a passage down the James River to the sea with the intention
of bombarding the Union HQ at City Point. After three days of exchanging fire
with Union forces along the river, the Confederate naval force loses eight of
its eleven ships, and turns back for the quays of Richmond. The Confederate
capital is bottled up for the remainder of the war.
