Who was Turner anyway?

Who was Turner anyway?

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Field Musicians Wanted!

A Turner Bugler, 2004

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News of 150 Years Ago–July and August 1864.

NEWS OF 150 YEARS AGO

July and August 1864

For many months, the columns of the DEMOCRAT had included reports of Northern merchant vessels destroyed by the Confederate commerce raider Alabama. In June 1864, the U.S.S. Kearsarge, which had been pursuing the elusive rebel ship for two years, finally caught up with her at Cherbourg, France, where the Alabama was in for much-needed repairs. The result was a stunning blow to the Confederates, and a much-needed lift to Union spirits.

From The Missouri Democrat, Saturday, July 9, 1864.

GREAT NAVAL ENGAGEMENT.

THE ALABAMA AND KEARSARGE.

GRAPHIC ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLE.

THE ALABAMA SUNK AFTER AN HOUR’S FIGHTING.

THE REBEL CAPTAIN WOUNDED.

An English Yacht Rescues him and Brings him Ashore.

English and French Sympathy with the Pirates.

Correspondence New York Herald.

CHERBOURG, June 27, 1864.

A little after ten o’clock on this beautiful, bright sunshiny Sabbath morning, the Kearsarge, then lying about four miles off the port, the Alabama was discovered steaming towards her, through what is known as the “eastern passage.” The men were immediately beat to quarters, and every man sprang to his place, eager for the commencement of the fray….

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Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s bloody Overland Campaign in Virginia pushed Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia into the formidable works around Petersburg, Virginia, in its last attempt to save Richmond. A long siege ensued. In an attempt to penetrate the Confederate lines, miners in Burnside’s corps tunneled under the works and placed four tons of gunpowder beneath a redoubt. The mine was a significant feat of engineering, but the results were tragic.

From The Missouri Democrat, Tuesday, August 2, 1864.

THE LATEST NEWS.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM GRANT.

THE ASSAULT ON PETERSBURG.

Detailed Account of the Explosion of the Mine.

BRILLIANT CHARGE OF THE 2D DIVISION.

Two Lines of the Enemy’s Works Carried.

CHARGE BY THE NEGRO DIVISION.

Partial List of Casualties.

HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, July 30, 9 P. M.—After the explosion at an early hour this morning, everything betokened a brilliant victory, but soon after matters assumed an different aspect, part of the attacking force having given away thus exposing the balance to an enfilading fire from both artillery and infantry.

The programme was as follows: The mine was to be exploded at three A. M., and the batteries open at once along the entire line….

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From The Missouri Democrat, Tuesday, August 2, 1864.

BY TELEGRAPH.

REGULAR AFTERNOON DISPATCHES.

FROM PETERSBURG.

Particulars of the Firing of the Mine.

GENERAL OPERATIONS.

THE RAIDERS AGAIN.

NEW YORK, August 1.—The morning papers have nothing later from Petersburg than our dispatches yesterday, and but few additional details. The following is all there is of interest:

 

[Special Dispatch to the N. Y. Times.]

BEFORE PETERSBURG, July 30.—Soon after daybreak as was practicable for the troops to move in co-operation, an immense mine, reaching far away under the enemy’s line of earthworks in front of Burnside’s corps, was fired.

The explosion was the signal to discharge every piece of artillery we have in position from the Appomattox to our extreme left. The effect was magnificent. Ninety-five pieces of ordnance fired so simultaneously that it seemed as if they might have been discharged by the pull of one lanyard….

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From The Missouri Democrat, Friday, August 5, 1864.

FROM GRANT’S ARMY.

The Assault by our Troops on Saturday.

FAILURE OF THE ATTEMPT.

The Loss on Both Sides Between Four and Five Thousand.

A Detailed Sketch of the whole Matter.

THE ASSAULT—ITS CHARACTER AND RESULTS.

HEADQUARTERS IN FRONT ARMY OF POTOMAC,
Saturday Evening, July 30, 1864.

I am called to the fulfillment of an ungracious task to-night. Instead of success and victory which the morning fairly promised, I have to write of disaster and defeat. To-day’s brief history affords another striking proof of the uncertain issues of battle, showing how the shrewdest and most elaborate strategic planning may be completely thwarted by an error or an accident in tactics. To-day’s disaster finds solution in the old story that “some one has blundered” in a manner “worse than a crime,” but precisely who the blunderer is, I do not know, and if I knew it would not devolve upon me at present to tell. A military tribunal must decide that point….

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