JANUARY 1864: THE HARDEST YEAR BEGINS
1/1/2012
As the war entered its fourth year, momentum was clearly in the North’s favor. Federal troops were advancing deeper and deeper into Confederate territory, and southern hopes for independence were slowly fading.
In the Union
In Washington, about 8,000 people visited the White House during the traditional New Year’s Day reception. President Abraham Lincoln asked Congress to continue the system of paying bounties to volunteers as a way to incentivize recruiting. Lincoln also commuted the death sentences of deserters “because I am trying to evade the butchering business lately.”
The Treasury Department lifted trade restrictions on Kentucky and Missouri, as necessities were growing scarce in the North. In the military Department of the Ohio, whiskey distilling was prohibited due the scarcity of grain. The overabundance of paper money (i.e., greenbacks) caused inflation, and consequently the price of gold steadily rose.
In the Confederacy
The southern economy was being ravaged by the war. Prices on necessities skyrocketed due to the Federal naval blockade, the mass selling of war bonds, and the printing of paper money. One gold dollar was worth 30 Confederate dollars. Coffee cost $10 per pound, beans cost $60 per bushel, and eggs cost $2 per dozen. Many southerners held “starvation parties” in an effort to remain optimistic about their desperate situation.
When North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance proposed negotiating a peace with the North, President Jefferson Davis reiterated his goal of acquiring peace through independence. He stated that “this struggle must continue until the enemy is beaten out of his vain confidence in our subjugation. Then and not until then will it be possible to treat of peace.”
A Proposal to Arm Slaves
In a meeting of top commanders in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, General Patrick Cleburne addressed the desperate need for more manpower by suggesting “that we immediately commence training a large reserve of the most courageous of our slaves and further that we guarantee freedom within a reasonable time to every slave in the South who shall remain true to the Confederacy in this war.”
General Joseph E. Johnston, commander of the Army of Tennessee, was shocked by Cleburne’s proposal. Some officers called it “revolting,” arguing that it would demoralize the army. General Howell Cobb called it “the most pernicious idea that has been suggested since the war began… You cannot make soldiers of slaves, or slaves of soldiers… if slaves seem good soldiers, then our whole theory of slavery is wrong.”
Johnston rejected Cleburne’s idea, but an unknown officer apparently tried to discredit Cleburne by forwarding the proposal to Jefferson Davis. Some later claimed that the idea ruined Cleburne’s chances for advancement in the army. Davis suppressed the proposal, but he did not reject it outright.
The Red River Campaign
After two unsuccessful attempts to conquer eastern Texas, General Nathaniel Banks, commander of the Federal Department of the Gulf, agreed to follow the Lincoln administration’s plan to invade the region via the Red River and Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana. President Lincoln had long coveted eastern Texas because of its military and economic importance, as cotton and other supplies from Mexico were funneled through the region.
The Red River campaign became the largest military operation west of the Mississippi, as about 30,000 Federal troops were to move upriver with a fleet of gunboats and transports. Banks would also receive reinforcements from Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee and Frederick Steele in Arkansas. Grant had opposed the plan, but the administration overruled him.
Banks had also opposed conducting this campaign, but he was convinced by officials in Washington that large warehouses of cotton in western Louisiana could be captured. Banks, a career politician, believed that shipping cotton north could appease potential voters. The general spent the next two months planning the campaign.
The Trans-Mississippi Front
Christopher “Kit” Carson and nearly 400 Federal troops routed a contingent of Navajo Indians at Canyon de Chelly, a stronghold considered sacred by the Navajo. Carson had been ordered by Colonel James Carleton to move out from Fort Canby, New Mexico to end Navajo raids in Arizona and New Mexico. About 8,000 Indians were captured and sent to the Bosque Redondo reservation.
Federal command in the Trans-Mississippi region was reorganized: General Samuel R. Curtis was given command of the reestablished Department of Kansas, and General Franklin Steele was given command of the Department of Arkansas. General William Rosecrans was given command of the Department of Missouri; he replaced General John Schofield, who had been accused by Radical Republicans of supporting the party’s conservative wing. Schofield was given command of the Department of the Ohio, replacing General John G. Foster.
Reconstruction
As the year began, President Lincoln began turning more attention toward restoring conquered southern states to the Union. These included Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, and Louisiana.
In Louisiana, Lincoln instructed Nathaniel Banks to “proceed with all possible despatch” to create a new state government, and Union supporters assembled to consider restoration. Lincoln also told Banks that the general was “at liberty to adopt any rule which shall admit to vote any unquestionably loyal free state men and none others. And yet I do wish they would all take the oath (of allegiance to the Union).”
Lincoln also directed General Quincy A. Gillmore to cooperate with civil officials to create a new state government restoring Florida to the Union. In Tennessee, pro-Union citizens assembled at Nashville and proposed creating a new state constitution that included the abolition of slavery.
In Arkansas, a pro-Union constitutional convention at Little Rock approved abolishing slavery. Lincoln directed Frederick Steele to schedule state elections immediately. Steele was authorized to supervise all matters in Arkansas until a new state constitution and government were established.
The Western Theater
Jefferson Davis warned his commanders in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi that Federal naval forces under Admiral David G. Farragut may attack Mobile in the same manner that he had attacked New Orleans in 1862.
Meanwhile, Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate Army of Tennessee remained camped at Dalton, Georgia. Davis told Johnston that a withdrawal from Dalton would demoralize the army and have harmful political implications, thus “I trust you will not deem it necessary to adopt such a measure.” Davis suggested that, if possible, Johnston should send troops to reinforce Mobile or northern Mississippi. However, the Confederate forces were already spread too thin and were getting thinner.
WalterCoffey.com
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