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Time for another update.

Part Forty-One: Gaining Ground, the 1865 Campaigns

June Movements: While Seguin and Hancock chased after the Army of the Mississippi, the Union gained a slew of major successes in the east. Carlos Buell leading the Army of the Ohio and Joseph Hooker leading the Army of the Wabash recovered the remaining land in Kentucky that had been lost to the Confederacy in the previous years and quickly crossed into Tennessee. On the 11th of June, Buell entered into Greeneville and was accompanied by former president Andrew Johnson. Johnson's entrance into Greeneville was similar to a military parade and he received a warm welcome. They stayed in Greeneville for four days while the army rested and let Hooker's men catch up to them. Hooker and the Army of the Ohio[1] entered Tennessee on June 12th and defeated the Confederate Army of Georgia at Oneida just south of the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. As the Army of Georgia retreated east, it combined efforts with the Army of the Carolinas and in the Third Siege of Knoxville, finally had success in taking the city. The Confederates held Knoxville for only two weeks as the Army of the Wabash and the Army of the Ohio advanced from the north and southwest. From the 18th to the 26th the four armies fought around the city until the Confederates had been routed. The Final Battle of Knoxville is considered the decisive battle in the eastern theatre and Buell achieved great success for this and later campaigns in the war.

While Buell and Hooker were gaining ground in Tennessee, McClellan was mopping up the resistance in Virginia. McClellan and the Army of the Potomac went to Charlottesville on June 14th and Lynchburg on the 20th. While McClellan was handling a minor Confederate encampment in the Appalachians, the Confederate Atlantic squadron under James D. Bulloch[2] launched an attack on Fort Monroe and tried to break into Chesapeake Bay. The Union flotilla stationed at Norfolk, Virginia sallied out into the mouth of the bay but stayed back enough so that the Confederate ships would have to get in range of Fort Monroe as well as Fort Charles on the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. Bulloch brought the Confederate squadron into the bay where the Union forces fired on the ships from both land and sea. After hours of bombardment, Bulloch retreated his now battered squadron back down the coast. Using this opportunity, the Army of the Potomac crossed into North Carolina.


July Movements: From Knoxville, Buell and Hooker split up as they drove further into Confederate territory. Buell was set to go east from Knoxville and his Army of the Wabash entered North Carolina on July 5th and marched into Asheville four days later after a battle with the Army of the Carolinas in the outskirts of the town. The Army of the Wabash continued east into North Carolina for two weeks chasing the Army of the Carolinas and fighting two more battles with them in July. With the string of losses, the Army of the Carolinas was greatly demoralized and retreated east and north to Charlotte. Meanwhile, Joseph Hooker and the Army of the Ohio marched south from Knoxville toward Chattanooga. Hooker was set back at Sweetwater, Tennessee when the Army of Georgia briefly rallied against the Union but Hooker soon swung the Army of the Ohio south past Forrest, now commanding the Army of Georgia.

McClellan, meanwhile, continued into North Carolina. McClellan had learned that the Army of the Carolinas was headed northeast toward him, but he did not receive accurate information on the army's current location and its haggard condition. The Army of the Potomac set up fortifications on the north bank of the Roanoke River and waited for two weeks while no Confederate army showed up. Finally on July 19th, McClellan moved south and crossed the Roanoke River at Scotland Neck. The Army of the Potomac continued west toward the state capital of Raleigh.


August Movements: After the battle of Sweetwater, Joseph Hooker swung the Army of the Ohio around the Army of Georgia as Forrest led a cavalry corps ahead to warn the garrison in Chattanooga. Forrest readied the forts outside of the city in preparation for the attack. Hooker's army set up a camp a few miles east of Chattanooga on August 10th. As the siege drew on, the rest of the Army of Georgia reached Chattanooga and joined Forrest's defenses. After a drawn out battle, Forrest retreated beyond the Tennessee border and Hooker tooker Chattanooga where he remained for the rest of the month, fending off a counterattack by Forrest.

North Carolina was now only defended by Longstreet and the Army of the Carolinas, while both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Wabash were invading. On August 6th, McClellan at last realized that the Army of the Carolinas was nowhere in sight and crossed the Roanoke River. The army reached just east of Raleigh on the 18th of August when the Army of the Carolinas intercepted the Army of the Potomac. McClellan retreated somewhat to set up a defensive row of artillery, and as a result Longstreet gained a minor terrain advantage. However, when the fighting actually started, Longstreet made a major tactical mistake. He ordered a direct cavalry charge and his men were decimated by the Union cannons. The following attacks by the Army of the Carolinas and they were soon routed. In anger, Longstreet order his men to plunder Raleigh as they were retreating through the city. His men refused and were close to instigating a mutiny and were only stopped when Longstreet backed down. The Army of the Potomac entered Raleigh and Longstreet escorted the legislature out of the city. Buell, meanwhile took Charlotte and the Union Atlantic Squadron blockaded much of the coast, effectively neutralizing North Carolina's effectiveness for the Confederacy.

[1] General Grant is now Commanding General of the United States Army.
[2] James D. Bulloch, uncle of one Theodore Roosevelt.