January 19, 1865
Bowing to political pressure from the Confederate Congress, President Jefferson Davis will appoint and General Robert E. Lee, CSA, will grudgingly accept, the position of Commander of all the Confederate forces in the field.
General Truman Seymour, a division commander in the Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, is initially relieved from duty with the Army of the Potomac by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, but stays with that army after Major General George G. Meade intercedes on his behalf, getting the order rescinded.
Matthew C. Butler’s Cavalry Division leaves the Siege of Petersburg with Wade Hampton, bound for South Carolina to help retard the advance of William T. Sherman’s Northern armies north into that state.
Note: All “Today In The Petersburg Campaign” blog entries are used with permission from Ronald A. Mosocco’s Chronological Tracking of the American Civil War per the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. Order the book HERE.
Copyright © 1993, 1994 by Ronald A. Mosocco
Mentions of This Date at The Siege of Petersburg Online:
- LT: January 19, 1865 Robert E. Lee
- NP: January 27, 1865 The Roman Citizen (Rome, NY): 15th NY Eng Letter, January 19, 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #4: Itineraries of the Army of the Potomac, Sheridan’s Cavalry Command, and the Army of the James, January-April 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #6: Reports of Bvt. Col. James C. Duane, Engineers/AotP, Jan 14-Feb 25, 1865