September 7, 1863---"No war news"

SEPTEMBER 7, 1863: 

Confederate morale continues to plummet. 

A Georgia soldier by the name of Stilwell writes to his wife: “I have no war news here, all eyes are now turned to Charleston and to Bragg's army in Tennessee . . ." 

Richard Henry Brooks, also of Georgia, writes to his wife as well: ". . . I hear of no war news only some think we will be sent to Tennessee but I hope not.” 

As they write these letters, units of the Federal Army of the Cumberland and the Confederate Army of Tennessee fight a sharp skirmish in Summerville, Georgia on the Tennessee border.

September 6, 1863---Battery Wagner falls; Sumter crumbles

SEPTEMBER 6, 1863:       

Battery Wagner is evacuated by the Confederates and the United States retakes Morris Island in Charleston Harbor. Fort Sumter begins crumbling under the constant Union bombardment. 

September 5, 1863---"Detained in port"

SEPTEMBER 5, 1863:        

The United States Foreign Minister to Great Britain, Charles Francis Adams, sends an angry letter to the British government warning that war between the two nations could erupt if it allows a pair of powerful ironclad ships, called Laird Ramships, designed to help the Confederates break the Union naval blockade, to set sail. Lord John Russell assured Adams that the ships had been ordered “detained in port” three days earlier. They were never released to the Confederacy. This marked the first time the British Government interfered in the private arming of the Southern Rebellion, and marked the end of the laissez-faire attitude the Crown had taken toward British arms manufactures going to the Rebels. It was also the final death knell of any chance of international recognition of the Confederate States of America.

September 4, 1863---Chattanooga Choo-Choos

SEPTEMBER 4, 1863:       

General Ambrose Burnside U.S.A., who has occupied Knoxville, Tennessee, begins an ambitious program to rebuild the railroad infrastructure south to Chattanooga. The Confederates had torn up track and damaged bridges in an attempt to stymie any Union advance, and Burnside put his engineers to work aggressively, repairing any damage. Within days, Federal supplies began flowing freely toward the north Georgia area where Braxton Bragg C.S.A.’s men were digging in for battle.  

September 3, 1863---"The great campaign of the war is over!"

SEPTEMBER 3, 1863:        

“The great campaign of the war is over,” trumpeted the Union Press, after the fall of Knoxville, Tennessee is confirmed. Knoxville was a crucial rail link between eastern and western Confederate-held areas, and its seizure isolated Braxton Bragg C.S.A.’s retreating Army of Tennessee. In retrospect, the fall of Knoxville was far from the turning point it seemed, but at the time it was a severe blow that crumpled battered Confederate morale even further.

September 2, 1863---Knoxville, Tennessee is restored to the Union.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1863:         

Knoxville, Tennessee is restored to the Union.