Friday Oct. 25 1861
FREMONT FRIENDS FAKE FRACAS

Battle cries, especially to signal the start of a battle, were nothing new, but it required some ingenuity to come up with one in Springfield, Missouri today. “Fremont, and the Union!” was the cry of Maj. Charles Zagonyi as he led the Federal horsemen on a furious charge into into the town. The affair was more noteworthy for this drama than any fighting, as only a tiny Confederate rearguard was there to oppose them. Sterling Price and his army were far away by this time, as Fremont had postponed the chase to engage in political infighting. Fremont was hoping that the dramatics would help him keep his job as Union commander in St. Louis, but in fact it was far too late for that. He had succeeding in uniting the state, but only insofar as both Unionists and Secessionists were unanimous in detesting him. Causing Abraham Lincoln horrid political embarrassment did not help either.

Keel of the Monitor laid
Signaling an important shift in the history of naval warfare, the keel of the Union ironclad Monitor is laid at Greenpoint, Long Island.

Union Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles appointed an Ironclad Board when he heard rumors that the Confederates were trying to build an iron-hulled ship-an ironclad ship could wreck havoc on the Union's wooden armada. In September 1861, the board granted approval for engineer John Ericsson, a native of Sweden, to begin constructing the U.S. Navy's first ironclad.

The wooden keel was laid at the Continental Iron Works on Long Island. Carpenters worked around the clock on the frame while the iron sheathing was prepared for the hull. The vessel was not large--172 feet long and 41 feet wide--but its design was unique. The craft had an unusually low profile, rising from the water only 18 inches. A 20-foot cylindrical turret in the middle of the ship housed two 11-inch Dahlgren guns that topped the flat, iron deck. The ship had a draft of less than 11 feet so it could operate in the shallow harbors and rivers of the South.

Ericsson pushed the production to be as speedy as possible, but he could not deliver the ship by the January 12, 1862, delivery date. It was finally launched into New York's East River on January 30. Many small engine problems also needed to be solved before the craft was commissioned on February 25. It sailed for Virginia soon after, arriving at Chesapeake Bay on March 6. On March 8, 1862, it engaged in one of the most famous naval duels in history when it clashed with the Confederate ironclad the Virginia (which had been constructed from the captured Union ship Merrimack). A day of heavy pounding produced a draw; each ship was immune from the other's shots. A new naval era had dawned.




Saturday Oct. 25 1862
MCCLELLAN MOPING MAKES MANAGEMENT MAD

The Battle of Antietam Creek, at Sharpsburg, Maryland, had occurred more than a month ago. The Army of Northern Virginia, unhampered by any pressure from Gen. George McClellan, had withdrawn back across the Potomac River and was busy rebuilding itself in peace. Meanwhile, aside from shifting some units back closer to Washington D.C. to defend the capital, McClellan had undertaken no offensive action at all. A vastly better organizer and administrator than a combat leader, McClellan busied himself in trivialities, such as a telegram he sent to the War Office today complaining that his horses had "sore tongues" and were fatigued. Lincoln went ballistic and fired a telegram back: “Will you pardon me for asking what the horses...have done since the battle of Antietam to fatigue anything?”



Sunday Oct. 25 1863
BLASTED BLUFF BATTLE BUNGLED

Relatively little Civil War fighting occurred in the state of Arkansas, but one such event occurred on this day. Confederate Gen. John Marmaduke led an attack on Pine Bluff, Ark. He had issued a demand that the town surrender yesterday, and today received word that the demand was refused. He assaulted the city, and managed to occupy a part of it. Unable to take over the whole thing, and assuming that even if taken it would be well-nigh impossible to hold, he withdrew his forces.



Tuesday Oct. 25 1864
PURSUING PLEASANTON PUMMELS PRICE

It had taken more than a day to get in gear, but once the Federal armies who had broken Sterling Price’s Confederate army in the Battle of Westport got serious about pursuit, things rapidly got fierce again. Today Gen. Alfred Pleasanton’s cavalry lined up for a charge and hit the fleeing wagon trains near the confluence of the Marais des Cygnes and Mine Creeks. Two defending divisions broke, but soon Shelby’s men came up in support. They held for awhile on a line at the Little Osage River, allowing more of the wagons to escape, but the forces opposing them were just too strong. Price bitterly burned about a third of the wagons, and pressed the remainder south at as fast a pace as could be managed.