December 4, 1863---To be called for at need

DECEMBER 4, 1863:          

Having withdrawn from Knoxville, General James Longstreet establishes his new headquarters at Greenville, Tennessee, about halfway between the Union lines in Tennessee and Virginia, allowing his forces to be shifted between the Eastern and Western Theatres at need. 

December 3, 1863---Charleston fails to fall

DECEMBER 3, 1863:          

Frustrated by the implacable resistance of the Cradle of Secession, Admiral John Dahlgren U.S.N. reorganizes the blockade and continuing bombardment of Charleston Harbor. 

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! ..."