Happy Birthday tomorrow to   Roy Parrish ('61) of CA AND   Eddie Beasley ('64) in Ethiopia (or somewhere equally exciting) AND  Sandra Tilles Snyder ('65) (deceased 03/11/99)!

  Happy Birthday this week to:

From http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/This%20Day/thisday0731.htm - INCLUDING:

Wednesday, July 31, 1861
MISSOURI MAKES MOMENTOUS MOVE

Missouri, as both a border state and a Western one, could have easily gone either way as a Confederate or Union ally. Legally elected Gov. Claiborne Jackson had endeavored to speed up the process by simply declaring the state for secession. Thanks to Gen. Nathaniel Lyon and Francis Blair Jr., Jackson was no longer governor but a refugee with Confederate forces in Arkansas. A new convention was hastily held and Hamilton R. Gamble was inaugurated as his replacement. He made a patriotic speech.

Thursday, July 31, 1862
POPE’S POLICY PROVOKES PETULANCE

Negotiations had been underway for some time to work out a formal agreement, or cartel, for the exchange of prisoners. Jefferson Davis wrote to Robert E. Lee that the agreement was in place: with one exception. Gen. John “One pinch of owl dung” Pope had recently issued orders punishing Virginia citizens for depredations committed by Confederate soldiers on his Army of Virginia, and threatening to shoot any civilians caught crossing the lines. Davis told Lee that any prisoners taken from Pope’s forces were to be treated as common criminals, not prisoners of war. Lee used this only rarely.

Friday, July 31, 1863
RAIDER RACES REACHING REPAIRS

The commerce raiders of the Confederacy, although capturing or sinking relatively little of the commerce directed at Northern ports, had one curious effect: by driving insurance rates so high that they caused owners to re-register their vessels under the flags of other countries, they reduced United States flag shipping to levels that were never restored to this day. One of the fiercest, CSS Florida, was now two days out of Bermuda on course for the repair yards of Brest, France. Her skipper, Commander Maffitt, was ill and had requested that a replacement be sent over.

Sunday, July 31, 1864
CONFEDERATE CAVALRY CONFLAGRATES CHAMBERSBURG

Gen. Jubal Early’s Confederate cavalry had been on an extended raid into the North, attempting to force Lincoln to pull forces away from Grant’s siege of Petersburg, Va. He had gone to the gates of Washington and been driven off. He had gone as far as Chambersburg in Pennsylvania, demanded a ransom, and when it was not paid, burned a good part of the city. Today he was suddenly under attack by Gen. Averel’s Federal cavalry and headed for Cumberland, Md.

From http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/This%20Day/thisday0801.htm - INCLUDING:

Thursday, Aug. 1, 1861
CONFEDERACY CLAIMS CONSIDERABLE CONQUEST

A few weeks ago a large party of cowboys, ranch hands and roustabouts had gathered in West Texas to go on a “buffalo hunt”, or so they said. Joined by John Baylor, later Lt. Col. Baylor, they started a campaign to chase every Federal out of the area. Today they announced that all of New Mexico and Arizona south of the 34th Parallel was now Confederate territory. More pro-Union citizens regarded it as an invasion from Texas, and now began to get hostile about it.

Friday, Aug. 1, 1862
DAVIS DEPLORES DASTARDLY DEEDS

Heaven knows Jefferson Davis had enough to worry about, what with the extremely limited powers of the president under the Confederate Constitution, not to mention he had a war to run. Most of his worries and complaints wound up in his letters to Robert E. Lee, as one went out today. In it Davis revealed that he was increasingly concerned about reports that the North was arming Negroes--which they weren’t, yet--and the assumption that these arms were all going to escaped slaves--which they weren’t, either. He was also worried about John Pope’s deeds in the vicinity of Manassas.

Saturday, Aug. 1, 1863
CAVALRY CONFLICT CONCLUDES CAMPAIGN

As it was in the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign, way back in June, so it was today--a cavalry battle at Brandy Station, Va. In the earlier battle, the Union cavalry had staged a raid, which turned into a major fight. They didn’t win, but they didn’t lose either, and departed in good order at the end of the day, rather than being routed as had usually been the case. Today was a much smaller affair, more a feeling-out of the retreating Lee’s army and trying to determine their future plans.

Monday, Aug. 1, 1864
SHENANDOAH SAVIOR SOUGHT IN SHERIDAN

Gen Jubal Early’s raid on Washington, and now Pennsylvania and Maryland, was undertaken to force a withdrawal of Union troops from the siege of Petersburg. Grant was not about to do this, so another solution had to be found. From the Western Theater Grant brought the answer: Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan. Although a career cavalry officer, today he was given command of infantry, the Army of the Shenandoah, and told to abate the nuisance of Early once and for all.

       From Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/30/11 and 07/31/11 - "Web Site WGH Page":

    From Glenn Dye ('60) of TX - 07/30/11 - "These Old Photos are Priceless":