Bombardment of Fort Henry

Currier & Ives. “Bombardment and capture of Fort Henry, Tenn.: By the federal gunboats under command of commodore Andrew H. Foote-Feby. 6th 1862” lithograph, hand-colored. New York: Currier & Ives, [ca. 1862]. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/90711973/ (accessed 8/26/2013).

Bombardment of Fort Henry

Lithographs of the ships bombarding Fort Henry.

Interesting that the Lithograph shows multiple misses of the ships on the Tennessee River but the Garrison was only run by a handful of troops and General Tilghman while the rest of the troops were either across the river at Fort Heiman or on their way to Fort Donelson. So they could not have been able to put up much of a fight, most of their guns were underwater due to the flood.

Trains, Railroad Bridges, Train Wrecks and "The General"

Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891, artist. "Destruction of the locomotives on the bridge over the Chickahominy." 1 drawing on brown paper : pencil, Chinese white, and black ink wash ; 18.3 x 25.9 cm. (sheet). 1862 June. Library of Congress Morgan collection of Civil War drawings. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004660377/ (Accessed 10/16/2013).

Trains, Railroad Bridges, Train Wrecks and "The General"

Richard's first battle was to keep control of the Danville Railroad Bridge over the Tennessee River. This bridge was vital to the South for supplying Forts Henry and Donelson and the North wanted it to cut off their supply chain and to use it to bring supplies when they invade eastern Tennessee. So in this case everyone wanted to keep the bridge intact and so it became a battle of control.

Railroad Map of the Southern US 1862

Hazard's rail road & military map of the southern states. Philadelphia: Drawn & engraved by P.S. Duval & Son, Lithrs., 1863, c1862. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3861p.cw0044000 (Accessed 10/15/2013)

Railroad Map of the Southern US 1862

Every Bridge was vital to the war effort. Richard's first fight in this war was to protect and defend the Railroad Bridge that went over the Tennessee River that was supplying Forts Henry and Fort Donelson. Railroads were vital to supply the forts. Roads were not paved as they are today and in a war you had to move heavy things like artillery and ammunition.

Waud, Alfred R. (Alfred Rudolph), 1828-1891, artist "Dragging artillery through the mud." 1 print : wood engraving ; 35 x 13 cm. (image).1864 March. Original drawing is Waud no. 169. Published in Harper's Weekly, March 19, 1864, p. 188. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Morgan collection of Civil War drawings http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004660244/ (Accessed 10/15/2013).

Three years In the C.S. Army (P.A.C.S) A Diary of a Confederate Soldier by Jerry Pepper and Richard Lauren McClung

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00FR2MT7I

Memphis Tennessee before the War, and the Foraging Parties of the Union Army

Strother, David Hunter, 1816-1888 "Memphis (Tennessee) before the war / sketched by Porte Crayon." wood engraving.Illus. in: Harper's weekly, 1862 March 15, p. 168. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/95509535/ (accessed on October 15, 2013).

Memphis Tennessee before the War, and the Foraging Parties of the Union Army

Memphis before the war, and during the Occupation. Richard traveled upstream against the current in a Riverboat from Gaines Landing Arkansas to Memphis.

The second image shows why the South was defending itself, the war for them was about the North coming down and robbing them of their crops, personal possessions and just about everything. The Cotton Crop was one of the first things taken in Charleston and the Union was notorious for burning down warehouses that stored the cotton all over the South. It was about a rape of the land and a destruction of the people. It is about politicians who bought their rank only to profiteer and the expense of everyone else including their own men.