© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - #975

  During Sherman’s march through Georgia, General Joseph Wheeler’s reinforced Confederate cavalry corps constituted the one and only effective threat to Sherman’s Union invaders.  In late November, on the 27th, Wheeler’s cavalry defeated in a two-day engagement at Waynesborough a force of Union cavalry under Hugh Kilpatrick, the leader of the abortive Union raid on Richmond earlier in 1864.  On Sunday, December 4, 1864 Wheeler once again attacked Kilpatrick’s cavalry which guarded Union troops at work destroying railroad tracks near Waynesborough.  An extended cavalry engagement ensued for most of the day, with Kilpatrick soon advancing against Wheeler, whose forces in turn, countercharged.  Eventually, dismounted Union cavalry concentrated their fire and drove Wheeler’s attacking forces from several positions, regaining credibility for both the Union cavalry and its Georgia commander, Hugh Kilpatrick.