July 28, 1942 - Tuesday - 80 years ago today

 Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower  .

On July 26th, the three carrier task forces, along with an allied cruiser task force escorting troop transports, met south of Fiji.  All the task forces were now merged into a new Task Force 61 for the duration of this initial invasion of the Solomon Islands.

Naval officers met the next day to see the full plan for the invasion operation; some had not yet seen any of the plan, and most had not seen the full plan.  Landings and disembarking of troops was expected to last 2 days, and cargo ships would remain for five days to fully unload.  As the islands were almost all tropical jungle, initial supplies had to be brough with the invasion force.  Controversy erupted when Admiral Fletcher, commanding the carriers, would not agree to cover the cargo ships unloading after the first two days.  He felt that the carriers would be vulnerable to attack due to staying in a confined area.

Invasion practice started on the 29th and continued for the next few days on Koro Island near Fiji before Task Force 61 re-formed.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor.  Extensive training was being done during this time.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) joined with other task forces at the meeting point and then participated in practice landings for the upcoming invasion.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) joined with other task forces at the meeting point and then participated in practice landings for the upcoming invasion.
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) joined with other task forces at the meeting point and then participated in practice landings for the upcoming invasion.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 235-236.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 27-30.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 278-280.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 32-36.
  

 

NEXT POST: AUGUST 1ST

July 28, 1862 - Monday - 160 years ago today

Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division - Wagner's Brigade

Wagner's Brigade apparently was ordered forward toward the rest of Wood's division on the 25th, but he is receiving more orders as the army seeks to protect vulnerable spots on the railroad from Forrest's Confederate cavalry that is still at large and threatening new attacks.  Below is a series of dispatches between Wood and the army headquarters regarding the disposition of Wagner's brigade.  None discuss individual regiments, so the 40th Indiana's location cannot be discerned precisely.  No further dispatches on the 27th or 28th give word on the status of Wagner's brigade.

-------------------------------------------   

Decherd,  July 27, 1862 -- 11 a.m.

Col. J. B. Fry:

   I am just in receipt of your dispatch of the 26th, saying it will be best not to move Wagner at present. I sent Colonel Wagner the order on the 25th, and I have reason to think he marched yesterday.  I will start a courier to try to intercept him with an order to return to Wartrace, but as there are several roads the order may not reach him.  In case he should arrive here should he be ordered back to Wartrace?  Please answer immediately.

TH. J. WOOD,

Brigadier-General.

  

------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------   

HEADQUARTERS,

Huntsville,  July 27, 1862

GENERAL WOOD,

Winchester, Office at Decherd:

   If Wagner has left Wartrace he must go back there to-night, and you must send a regiment from your immediate command to Duck River by cars to-night.  Forrest has appeared before Manchester, and it is probable he will strike at the railroad to-morrow between Duck River and Murfreesborough.  Wagner must guard the bridges about Wartrace, and every guard must erect defenses and resist to the last.  He must get that line open.  Get cars from General Smith.  Where is Wagner now?  Report.

JAMES B. FRY.

  

------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------   

Decherd,  July 27, 1862

Col. J. B. Fry:

   Your dispatch is received.  Colonel Wagner is at Tullahoma with one regiment, having sent one of his regiments back to Wartrace.  He informs me he remained at Tullahoma at the request of General Smith.  I have sent him an order to return to Wartrace at once, erect defenses, and resist to the last extremity.  I will send a regiment by cars to-night to Duck River Bridge, with the same instructions in regard to the erection of defenses and defending them as given to Colonel Wagner.

TH. J. WOOD,

Brigadier-General.

  

------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------   

TULLAHOMA,  July 27, 1862

Col. J. B. Fry:

   I am just in receipt of a note, dated at 9 this morning, from Colonel Wagner, informing me of his arrival at Tullahoma. I extract as follows from his note:

 

General Smith is fighting at Manchester, reports say, with a large force.  Whether this is so or not I cannot tell, but if so he will need help.  An officer has told me this who has just come from General Smith.

   I have sent the following to Colonel Wagner:

 

Try to learn reliably whether General Smith is engaged with the enemy at Manchester, and whether he needs assistance.  If so, push to him as promptly as possible, but use the greatest precaution, and don't allow yourself to be entrapped on the march by the enemy.  If you can get any reliable intelligence from Manchester, have it sent to me without delay, that I may take means to render assistance there.

   But I have ordered him in case he is not needed at Manchester to return to Wartrace, to await further orders.  I will send all my cavalry in the direction of Hillsborough and Manchester at once, to move rapidly, and if any considerable firing is heard in that direction to send me a report, and I will march at once in that direction with a view of re-enforcing General Smith.

   I sent General Smith a regiment on the 25th, which reached him that night.  In his requisition for a regiment he said one would make everything secure at Manchester.  I also wrote him yesterday requesting him to inform me promptly if he got into any trouble and I would give him all the help in my power.  If he has taken proper precautions he has not been surprised, and if likely to be attacked in force he should have informed me of it.  Moreover, to send to me he would have had to send his train by Tullahoma, where he would have found Colonel Wagner ready to go to his assistance.

TH. J. WOOD,

Brigadier-General.

  

------------------------------------------

Below is a map of the area, Wartrace is near the top, Tullahoma the middle, and Decherd and Winchester near the bottom.

 

Buell is gradually becoming aware that a Confederate army is gathering at Chattanooga.  General McCook is watching the city and reporting bits of information as it is learned.

Buell is also trying to keep the railroad open from Corinth, and is corresponding with General Rosecrans about how to accomplish that.  Rosecrans' forces have replaced the division of General Thomas, who is moving his division to reach Buell.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 211-224.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 77.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 561-564. 
• Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 1-4
• Kenneth Noe, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, pp. 42-46.

 

NEXT POST: AUGUST 1ST

 

 

 

July 24, 1942 - Friday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.  Although Task Force 17 was not supporting the Solomons invasion, it was still on high alert.  Admiral Nimitz was concerned about another attack on Hawaii while most of the fleet was in the South Pacific.  A single carrier task force was stretched very thin to protect the North Pacific

The Task Force 17 complement was:

• Carrier: Hornet
• Heavy Cruisers: Northampton, Salt Lake City, and Pensacola
• Light Cruiser: San Diego
• Destroyers: Destroyer Division 2

Nearly all of the remaining Sims-class destroyers in the Pacific were in the Hornet's destroyer screen, including Hughes, Anderson, Russell, O'Brien. and Mustin.  The lead ship of the class, Sims, had been lost at the Battle of the Coral Sea when attacked by most of the Japanese fleet, and Hammann was torpedoed after the Battle of Midway while escorting Yorktown; both Hammann and Yorktown were sunk.  Walke and Morris were in port for repairs.

With the plan for regular relief for carriers in the South Pacific, and Saratoga already having had engine repairs enroute, action in the South Pacific would soon be a reality for Task Force 17.

Operation Watchtower  .

Several task forces are moving toward the meeting point south of Fiji, and will then proceed for landing practice in the Fiji Islands.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor.  Extensive training was being done during this time.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was continuing toward the South Pacific meeting point.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) was enroute to rendezvous with Task Force 18.
  
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) with Wasp temporary repairs done, continued towards the meeting point.
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 234-235.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 19-27.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 261-277.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 25-32.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 28TH

 

July 24, 1862 - Thursday - 160 years ago today

Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division 

July 20th to 24th finds the Union armies still bedeviled by Confederate cavalry attacks and unable to keep the railroads operating consistently.  Providing supplies to troops at various points is still difficult.  

None of the dispatches during this time reveal any movements by Wood's division.

Below is a dispatch from General Buell regarding the situation:

-------------------------------------------   

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE OHIO, 

Huntsville, Ala.,(via Nashville, Tenn.) July 22, 1862 

Major-General HALLECK or 

General THOMAS, Adjutant-General:

  The enemy has thrown a large cavalry force, regular and irregular, upon our lines throughout Tennessee and Kentucky.  The embarrassment from this is great. Small guards cannot protect them, and to give large ones would scatter my whole force.  High water also has destroyed our bridges.  From these two causes we have had to repeat our work, and it has been impossible to get either road open to Nashville.

   Nashville is again threatened, and whether really in danger or not its security is a matter of too vital importance to be left in jeopardy, and I must keep force enough there to operate actively in that quarter and toward the east.  But these cavalry raids can only be effectually counteracted by cavalry, of which there should be at least five, or, if possible, eight more regiments in the two States.

   I am compelled to ascribe the greater part of our annoyance from geurilla bands to the spirit of hate and revenge which has been inspired on this quarter by and unwise policy and personal wrongs.  I just learn that the enemy's cavalry in considerable force captured the guards - 80 men - and burned three bridges between Nashville and Murfreesborough yesterday.  It will take eight days to rebuild them.

D. C. BUELL 

------------------------------------------

 Elsewhere, President Lincoln is presenting the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.  Discussion and division over the Proclamation will delay its release for the balance of 1862.

Confederate General Bragg, having permanently relieved General Beauregard, has decided to move an army to Chattanooga and operate from there.  General Bragg will arrive in Chattanooga, along with most of his army, by the end of the month.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 193-211.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 77.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 561-564. 
• Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 1-4
• Kenneth Noe, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, pp. 42-46.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 28TH 

 

 

July 20, 1942 - Monday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower

Amphibious Force, South Pacific Area, is established on July 19th, Admiral Turner commanding.  This will be the command that coordinates the invasions to be conducted in the Solomons.

Several task forces are moving toward the designated meeting point south of Fiji, and will then proceed for landing practice in the Fiji Islands.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor.  Extensive training was being done during this time.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) crossed the equator on July 19th and continued toward the South Pacific meeting point.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) was enroute to rendezvous with Task Force 18.
  
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) with Wasp temporary repairs done, continued towards the meeting point.
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 233-234.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 19-27.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 261-277.
• Neptune's Inferno, The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, James D. Hornfischer, pp. 1-25
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 24TH 

 

 

July 20, 1862 - Sunday - 160 years ago today

 Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division

On July 17th and 18th, Wood's division is being ordered to Winchester, TN, as part of a redeployment of forces to counter Confederate forces that are coming north from Chattanooga, and also looking for the cavalry of Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Protection of the line from Nashville to just north of Chattanooga (and of the railroad there) is of particular interest to General Buell.

Here is a dispatch from Wood describing the status on the 19th:

-------------------------------------------  

SHELBYVILLE, July 19, 1862 

Col. J. B. FRY:

   Dispatch ordering me to send the battery with me and Jackson's cavalry to Murfreesborough to report to General Nelson is this moment received, as I was about marching to Winchester under the order received last night.  I have ordered the battery to proceed at once to Murfreesborough, and directed Colonel Wagner tp send an infantry force across from Wartrace to Murfreesborough turnpike, to escort the battery and put it under care of other troops and then return to Wartrace.  I cannot send Jackson's cavalry, as it is not with me.  Why it is not is fully explained in two communications.  Colonel Wagner with two regiments, a battery, and part of a battalion of cavalry will remain at Wartrace.  I am left without a single piece of artillery; not in any good condition to meet an enemy who may be provided with it.  The 7 wagons from Huntsville came up late last Monday night, 15th, and the supplies from Reynolds' Station in the afternoon of the 17th.  The latter were in a miserable condition; much lost by wasting.  Barrels and boxes broken, &c.

 TH. J. WOOD,

------------------------------------------

Note that Wagner's brigade is the 21st, of which the 40th Indiana is a part.  So the 40th Indiana regiment is at Wartrace, TN at this point, an may or may not have been part of the escort of the battery noted above.

Wood is approaching Winchester, TN on July 20th and will arrive next day.  Wagner remains at Wartrace, for now.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 168-193.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. pp. 76-77.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 561-564. 
• Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 1-4
• Kenneth Noe, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, pp. 42-46.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 24TH

July 16, 1942 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower

On the 16th, there was a delay of the Solomons invasion from August 1st to August 7th.  More time was required to assemble and coordinate the invasion forces.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor and sailed out to conducted intense training exercises for the entire task force from the 13th to the 16th..
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) sailed on July 15th for the South Pacific.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) was nearing Samoa enroute to rendezvous with Task Force 18.
  
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) was nearing Tongatabu on the 13th when Wasp began to have engine trouble and slowed markedly.  Repairs were done to fix the problem but a future overhaul of the right engine would be needed.
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 231-233.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 19-27.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 261-267.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 20TH

July 16, 1862 - Wednesday - 160 years ago today

 Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division

 On the 11th, General Halleck was appointed to be General-in-Chief of all the Union armies, and was ordered to Washington.  He departed for Washington on the 17th.  General Grant was the ranking general remaining in the West, and would take over for General Halleck.

Wood's division was on the move, initially toward Stevenson, AL as ordered on the 12th (see previous blog post).  However, om the 13th, Nathan Bedford Forrest, with his Confederate cavalry. captured the Union garrison of 1400 troops at Murfreesboro, TN, and wrecked part of the railroad between Nashville and Chattanooga,.  This caused a beehive of activity as Union forces were moved quickly in an attempt to confront and capture Forrest and his men.  Part of this effort was to divert Wood's division first to Fayetteville, TN and them further north to Shelbyville, TN on the 16th.  Wood was paused at Shelbyville to await further orders as searches continued.

Forrest,was not found by the Union forces, mainly due to lack of cavalry in Buell's army, as it is difficult for foot soldiers to find cavalry on the move.  Buell's last request to Halleck was to send more cavalry to him as soon as possible. John Hunt Morgan was also executing a raid with his Confederate cavalry in central Kentucky, causing even more trouble for Union armies.

Supplies were still a problem as Confederate cavalry raids destroyed railroad bridges and other transportation. The hot and dry summer had caused the rivers to lower, making water transportation impossible in certain places.  The dispersed armies also created problems for delivery of supplies.

Map centered on Shelbyville, note Murfreesboro about 20 miles to the north, Fayetteville about 20 miles to the south.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 134-168.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 76.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 561-562. 
• Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 1-4
• Kenneth Noe, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, pp. 42-46.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 20TH

 

July 12, 1942 - Sunday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower

There was frenzied activity going on to assemble the invasion force for the Solomons.  The Army had no troops available as all its resources were being absorbed into Operation Torch (the initial invasion of North Africa).  Marine forces would have to be gathered from various South Pacific locations.  These marines would need replacements soon, and those needed to be found as well.  Ground based air forces from MacArthur would need to be coordinated.  The scramble to find forces would lead to the operation being informally known as "Operation Shoestring".

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor (until July 13).  Hornet was having some refitting done, mostly radar installations.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) would sail on July 15th for the South Pacific.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) sailed on July 7th for the South Pacific and a rendezvous with Wasp.
  
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) was heading for the South Pacific (initial destination Tonga), escorting transports with Marine forces that would  be part of the invasion of Guadalcanal (Operation Watchtower).
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 229-231.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 19-27-.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 261-266.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 16TH

July 12, 1862 - Saturday - 160 years ago today

Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division

On the 9th, Wood's division is proceeding to Woodville, AL as previously ordered:

-------------------------------------------  

DECATUR, July 9, 1862 

Col. J. B. FRY:

Despatches per special messenger received this morning.  Ordered headquarters and two battalions cavalry to march as soon as practicable to Woodville.  No other practicable route than by Huntsville. Left orders to report their departure immediately to you.  Have a regiment of infantry on the other side.  It marched down the railway.  Battery is coming down by wagon roads.  I have given Captain Wade such instructions as will in my opinion, if vigorously carried out, repulse a light attack or enable him to pass to the north side of the river readily if attacked in force.

 TH. J. WOOD,

Brigadier-General.

------------------------------------------

The next day, Wood is writing to headquarters regarding food supplies for the division:

-------------------------------------------  

HDQRS. SIXTH DIVISION, ARMY OF THE OHIO, 

Mooresville, Ala., July 10, 1862 

Col. J. B. FRY:

Assistant Adjutant-General, Chief of Staff:

SIR: I telegraphed you to-day to have a train sent down to move some of the corn which my command has collected here.  It is with extreme difficulty I can get enough subsistence from Athens to meet the current wants of my division.  In fact it is impossible to get a full supply of the constituent parts of the rations.  In the essential article of salt the supply has been altogether below the allowance for more than a month.  As a consequence ti has been impracticable to issue as much fresh beef to the troops as would have been judicious.  My commissary has no salt on hand and has not been able to draw any for several days.  I beg the commanding general will have these matters corrected.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

 TH. J. WOOD,

Brigadier-General Volunteers, Commanding.

------------------------------------------

Wood is moving his command from Mooresville, AL (southwest of Huntsville), to Woodville, AL, (southeast of Huntsville), On the 12th two of his three brigades were ordered further on to Stevenson, AL, northeast of Woodville and about 30 miles from Chattanooga which is still the destination of the army.

Below is a map of the area with Stevenson, AL, noted.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 110-133.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 75-76.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 558-561.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 16TH

July 8, 1942 - Wednesday - 80 years ago today

 Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had joined Task Force 17 at  Pearl Harbor.

Operation Watchtower

The discovery of the beginnings of a Japanese airfield on the island of Guadalcanal raised the urgency of the planned invasion of the Solomons.  If the airfield was completed, it would endanger the new base at Espiritu Santo, and deter US movements between there and the Solomons, thus making the American advance much more difficult. Planning was continued for an August 1st invasion date.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor (until July 13).  Hornet was having some refitting done, mostly radar installations.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) would sail on July 15th for the South Pacific.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) sailed on July 7th for the South Pacific and a rendezvous with Wasp.
  
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) was heading for the South Pacific (initial destination Tonga), escorting transports with Marine forces that would  be part of the invasion of Guadalcanal (Operation Watchtower).
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 226-229.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 18-19.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 260-261.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 12TH

July 8, 1862 - Tuesday - 160 years ago today

Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division

By the 8th, Wood had troops at Decatur, AL, and had been ordered to move his cavalry and headquarters to Woodville, AL. east of Huntsville.  

As mentioned earlier, the slowness of the advance into central and eastern Tennessee had raised concerns.  Buell received the following dispatch from Halleck, and he stated later that his astonishment kept him from responding for three full days, until prompted to respond by Halleck:

-------------------------------------------  

CORINTH, June 20, 1862 

Major-General Buell, Huntsville:

  It seems that the enemy at Tupelo and Okolona are moving, but what is to be their point of attack is doubtful.  General Grant thinks it is Memphis, others Corinth or Tuscumbia, and others again your lines at Chattanooga.  A few days more may reduce these doubts to a certainty, when our troops will operate accordingly.

  The President telegraphs that your progress is not satisfactory and that you should move more rapidly. The long time taken by you to reach Chattanooga will enable the enemy to anticipate you by concentrating a large force to meet you.

  I communicate his views, hoping that your movements hereafter may be so rapid as to remove all cause of complaint, whether will founded or not.

H. W. HALLECK,

Major-General.

------------------------------------------

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 95-110.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 75.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 558-560.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 12TH

 

July 4, 1942 - Saturday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien had returned to Pearl Harbor from Pago Pago, to join Task Force 17.

Operation Watchtower

Navy command had settled on the invasion of the Solomon Islands as the new direction for the Pacific War.  The intent was to move up the Solomons chain, to then attack and capture the Japanese naval base at Rabaul.  MacArthur would move into New Guinea and be available for the attack on Rabaul when the time came.

The initial invasion of the Solomons was to be covered by three of the US Navy fleet carriers; Task Force 17 (Hornet), with the O'Brien, was retained at Pearl Harbor as the other 3 carries went to the South Pacific.

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Hornet) was at Pearl Harbor (until July 13).  Hornet was having some refitting done, mostly radar installations.
  
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor (until July 15).  Enterprise also had some refitting, mainly anti-aircraft batteries.
  
• Task Force 11 (Saratoga) was at Pearl Harbor (until July 7).
  
• Task Force 18 (Wasp) was heading for the South Pacific (initial destination Tonga), escorting transports with Marine forces that would  be part of the invasion of the Solomons (Operation Watchtower).
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 224-226.
  
•  The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign,  John B. Lundstrom, pp 18-19.
• Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 260-261.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 8TH

 

 

July 4, 1862 - Friday - 160 years ago today

 Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division

The days of July 1st to 4th were mainly spent on the problems that had been chronic for the past few weeks; obtaining forage for the army's animals and food for the troops without the needed railroad engines to pull large quantities, rebuilding the railroads in central Tennessee. and protecting the troops from snipers and the repaired railroads from Confederate cavalry raids.  

The weather was hot and there was also a drought in the spring and summer.  The Tennessee River  having fallen, it was not possible for boats to supply the army this far up the river.  The army had recently been on half rations and this was only recently coming to an end.  With these problems, advances toward Chattanooga or Knoxville were moving slowly if at all.

More Information:

• Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence,  pp. 81-95.
• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 74-75.
  
• Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 558-560.
  

 

NEXT POST: JULY 8TH