War Path

This map presents a broad view of the places where William Graham lived, fought and passed through during the three years he participated in the American Civil War. Click on the map to zoom in on particular places.

Civilian Life

A Short Life

 

After the Civil War, William Graham resumed his farming life.  During the 1865-67 period William Graham was recorded as a farmer in two different places. One location was Horseheads, Chemung County, 18 miles southeast of Townsend, Schuyler County.  The second was Wayne, Steuben County, at the county line adjoining Schuyler County and 15 miles northwest from Townsend.

Platt/Graham farmhouse prior to being torn down

On March 1, 1869, at the age of 36, William Graham married Mary Elizabeth Platt (then age 27) in Townsend, New York. William was a Townsend neighbor of Mary. Upon their marriage, William moved into Mary Platt's family homestead and received a share of the farm.

Mary had been known to William's sister Libbie since before 1860.  The women had lived in the same neighborhood, a few farms apart.

The custom of the men marrying in their 30s or later started, so far as I know, with William's father James who married at age 48. It continued among 'Graham' oldest sons into the present day. 

Mary Platt Graham about the time of her marriage

Following marriage, William and Mary lived on the farm of Brewster Platt, Mary’s father. It was located near Townsend in the Town of Dix in Schuyler County, New York. They had two children: my grandfather Hiram Hovey Graham born December 9, 1870 [same birthday as mine] and Sarah born May 24, 1875. Hiram was named after Mary's brother who died in 1864 from disease contracted as a soldier in the Civil War.

William died on November 22, 1877 at the age of 44,  8.5 years after his marriage. Mary Graham’s 1900 pension application said kidney & liver disease incurred during military service was the cause of William’s death. Doctor William Heist, who was the family physician, said on May 17, 1895, “the hardship and explosives during the war hastened his death. He was a man of the best habits strictly temperate in every respect. And one of the best men I ever knew.”

In his obituary, the following was stated: "Especially will the poor and unfortunate miss the sympathy so freely and delicately rendered to them by the subject of this notice. As a citizen and neighbor Mr. Graham was esteemed by all who knew him and his life and its results are a worthy example to be imitated by all his acquaintances as showing how much that is good and praiseworthy may be accomplished even by a youth in a strange land without influential surroundings." (Watkins Express, November 29, 1877)  

In 1884, William's sister, Elizabeth 'Libbie' Graham (at the age of 46) finally married. Her husband was Eugene Pangborn, a widower with four living children. Three of them ranged from 5 to 15 years of age at the time of the marriage. The youngest, Ruth lived to the age of 102. Elizabeth died at the age of 71 in 1910, never having borne a child of her own.

Mary Graham applied for a Civil War widow's pension. Elizabeth Pangborn submitted an affidavit as part of Mary Graham’s 1900 pension application. Elizabeth’s affidavit said she had known Mary Graham for more than 40 years and knew William Graham for his lifetime. She said she was present at the marriage of William to Mary in 1869.

 

Mary's Pioneer Family

Mary's parents were some of the first pioneer settlers of the Townsend area.

Brewster Platt

Mary's father, Brewster Platt, according to his obituary, at 25 (1823) together with an older brother John migrated to what was then the Town of Catlin in the county of Tioga and settled on a farm of 150 acres about a half mile southeast of what was known as the Townsend settlement. The brothers drove back the forest and built a home to which soon came the parents and one other brother and sister.  Townsend eventually became part of Schuyler County.

Elizabeth Hovey Platt

Mary's mother, Elizabeth (Betsey) Scribner Hovey, was the descendant of an old New England family. The family could trace its roots to Daniel Hovey who arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 at the age of 17.

Her immediate Hovey family entered the State of New York at Niagara Falls. The British burned them out during the War of 1812 and they migrated to Canadaigua, New York. Around 1830 they arrived in Townsend. She married Brewster in 1835.

After Brewster's 1835 marriage to Betsey Hovey, the brothers divided the farm with Brewster taking the south portion. John Platt subsequently sold his portion and moved on to Illinois.

Brewster and his wife had one son, Hiram Hovey and one daughter, Mary Elizabeth. The son, Hiram died at 24 in the Civil War. Mary Elizabeth Platt was born on Christmas day in 1842.

A Hard Life

William's premature death in 1877, at the age of 44, left Mary a widow with two small children (age 6 [almost 7] and 2 years). Mary's elderly father died in 1883 and her invalid mother in 1886. Mary never remarried.

As stated in Mary's pension application, the farm included 106 acres and was valued at $2000 in 1900. It was her family's sole source of sustenance.

Mary Platt Graham in 1900.
Clearly, the hard farm life has
taken its toll.

Life was hard on that farm. According to Mary's granddaughter, Irene Graham Evans, "it was such a little farm. I do not know how they made a living. They must have had lots of chickens, as I remember at family dinners Dad would always pass on the chicken as he said he had had his fill in early life."

To put some hard numbers on their poverty, the following was stated in Mary's pension application: Personal property consisted of $500 of furniture, farming implements and stock plus $500 in US Bonds. Gross yearly income does not exceed $200 out of which must be paid taxes and repairs. This leaves a net income of $100. Produce of the farm included wheat, oats, potatoes, butter, wool, pigs, calves and other livestock.

Hiram Hovey Graham about 1903

Between 1895 and 1902, the highest annual gross income from the farm was $250. After taking out produce kept by the family and the expense of hired help, repairs and taxes, the highest annual net income was $5. Four of those years the farm operated at a loss.

Mary wanted to educate her son Hiram and so sent him in a horse and buggy to school 13 miles north in Dundee. Hiram finally had to quit school before graduation when his mother could no longer get help in running the farm.

Hiram self educated himself from that point forward, becoming a political power in Schuyler County and elected a member of the New York State Assembly (lower legislative body) in 1918.

In 1983, Hiram's only son, Joseph Graham, described him as "pretty well known as a raconteur and he enjoyed nothing more than getting together with a group of three or thirty to tell a humorous episode."

Mary Platt Graham died in 1905 at the age of 62. She lived to see both her children married and the birth of two grandchildren.

Hiram Platt

Hiram Platt's Portrait

Hiram Hovey Platt was born on the New York frontier in 1839.  His only surviving sibling was Mary Elizabeth Platt. Prior to the Civil War, Hiram worked as a farmer on the land of his father, Brewster Platt.

On August 14, 1862, Hiram enlisted as a corporal with Company A of the 141st Regiment. At his enlistment he was described as 5 feet 9 inches tall, of florid complexion, with blue eyes and auburn hair.

According to his war record, he was absent on leave in New York from February 10, 1864 until March 10, 1864. While home on furlough in Dix, New York, he died of chronic diarrhea on May 9, 1864. He was 24 years old at his death. His sister's future son was named for him.

He never married but was engaged to Delia Coryell. In 1860, Adelia Coryell was 17 years old and working as a teacher. She lived with her father and mother and 19 year old sister Harriet on a farm in the Town of Dix.

Some doodles from Hiram's diary

According to stories handed down in the family, Hiram was handsome and very intelligent. His single surviving diary would support the latter characteristic. His surviving photo would support the former.

Hiram kept several diaries during the war. The two best diaries, depending on who told the story, were lost either by (1) theft when my father took them to school as a boy or (2) appropriated by his Syracuse College professor to whom he loaned them. Whatever the exact cause, Hiram's future grand nephew received the blame. Hiram Platt's surviving diary covers the period from August 22, 1862 to May 1, 1863 and contains about 100 pages.

The 141st Regiment fought in numerous battles. However, other than the siege of Suffolk, Virginia, all regimental conflicts with Confederate forces occured subsequent to the period covered in the surviving diary.

Hiram would have participated in a number of skirmishes or battles with the regiment including: Diascund Bridge, Virginia - June 16, 1863, Crump's Cross Roads, Virginia - July 2, 1863, Wauhatchie, Tennessee - October 28-29, 1863, Chattanooga and Rosswill Campaign in Tennessee (including Missionary Ridge) - November 23-27, 1863, and London, Tennessee - December 5, 1863. At the time of his death, the regiment was participating in the Atlanta Campaign.

Aftermath

Wagon train in Union occupied Atlanta

Commentary

Last Letter

This is the last of the letters written by my great grandfather which have come to my attention as of early 2019. I am most grateful to the possessors of these missives for sharing their contents with me.

Based on William's comments in his letter, I would conclude that secrecy was imperative as Sherman planned for and initiated his March to the Sea. With the 'light' city guard duty by the 20th Corps, there appeared to be little danger from Confederate spies, saboteurs or common criminals. After the destruction wrought by the long siege and its aftermath, one might wonder if many of the resident civilians saw the Union troops as protectors?

Meanwhile it appears that Sherman's army was well supplied and fed. A healthy and confident army would soon be led by him across the heartland of the American South. Until the March began, William had his fancy soldier's shanty in Union occupied Atlanta. It also appears that the long awaited pay finally reached his hands and those of his soldier compatriots.

Richmond, Virginia served as the capital of the Confederate States of America during most of the American Civil War. Not only was Richmond the seat of political power for the Confederacy, it served as an important source of munitions, armament, weapons, supplies, and manpower for the Confederate States Army. It was the target of numerous failed attempts by the Federal Army to seize its possession. Richmond finally fell to the victorious Union soldiers in April 1865.

20th Corps  

On April 4, 1864 the 11th and the 12th Army Corps were consolidated as the Twentieth Army Corps. Together with other army corps, they formed an army of 100,000 under General William T. Sherman. That vast army would become of one of the most famous in the history of warfare.

On May 4, 1864 the Twentieth Corps started on the Atlanta Campaign. During the next four months it participated in all the important battles - hardest fighting occurring at Resaca, May 15th, at New Hope Church, May 25th, and at Peach Tree Creek, July 20th.

During the four months fighting from Chattanooga to Atlanta, it lost over 7,000 men killed, wounded and missing. Before reaching Atlanta, Hooker had a disagreement with Sherman, and asked to be relieved. He was succeeded by Major-General Henry W. Slocum.

The 20th was actively engaged in the siege of Atlanta, sustaining losses daily in killed and wounded while occupying the breastworks and trenches and skirmishing with enemy forces.
 
Upon Confederate General Hood's evacuation of Atlanta in the beginning of September, troops of the Twentieth Corps were the first to enter and occupy the city. William's 107th Regiment and the rest of the Corps were assigned responsibility for the occupation and guarding of Atlanta from September 2 to November 15, 1864. The entire 20th Corps remaining there to hold and police this important prize, while Sherman and the rest of the Army went off in pursuit of Hood.

The one break from this 'onerous' assignment was an expedition to Tuckum's Cross Roads from October 26-29, 1864. I have no knowledge about the purpose or success of this expedition. An internet review provided no useful information. Tuckum seems to have disappeared from current maps of the Atlanta area.

However, there is a Tucker located some 20 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Ironically, Tucker is only about five miles from Stone Mountain where sympathizers of the lost cause financed the carving of a huge monument to three Confederate leaders (a politician and two generals) out of the side of said mountain.

Union occupation of Atlanta lasted two and a half months while Sherman pursued Hood and planned his next move. The course he chose (his legendary March to the Sea) meant abandoning Atlanta to possible Confederate reoccupation. Sherman made sure the city would have no military value. In November, he ordered the destruction of any remaining part of Atlanta that might support war.

The March

Raising the colors of the 107th NY at Mil-
ledgeville, GA, during the March to the Sea

On Nov. 15, 1864, Sherman’s army set out from Atlanta on its famous March to the Sea, cutting a swath of destruction toward Savannah on the coast. Sherman swore to “make Georgia howl,” and in his Special Field Order No. 120 he laid out the rules of destruction and conduct for the march. The army was to “forage liberally on the country” with details of men and officers sent out each day to gather food. Soldiers were instructed not to enter private homes and to discriminate between the rich, “who are usually hostile,” as Sherman observed, and the poor and industrious, who were usually “neutral or friendly.”  (New York Times, W. Todd Groce, Rethinking Sherman's March, Nov 17, 2014.)

Sherman entering Savannah December 21, 1864 to accept its surrender

The March to the Sea lasted from November 15 to December 21, 1864. William's 107th Regiment participated in it and the battles that followed.

Outside of Savannah the almost forgotten Battle of Montieth Swamp resulted in a Union victory on December 9, 1864. The subsequent Siege of Savannah lasted for 10 days starting December 10, 1864. It ended with the city's surrender on December 21, 1864. The sea had been reached and the army would now pivot to the north.

The succeeding Carolinas Campaign would last from January to April 1865. The battles, incidents and other highlights experienced by William Graham and the 107th Regiment on this now northward march were as follows:

Sherman's Christmas gift to Lincoln

• Robertsville, S.C., January 29. 
• Averysboro, N.C., March 16. 
• Battle of Bentonville, NC., March 19-21
• Occupation of Goldsboro, March 24
• Moccasin Swamp, April 10. 
• Occupation of Raleigh, NC, April 14. 
• Surrender of Johnston and his army - Bennett's House, NC, April 26.
• March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 19.  
• Grand Review of the Armies, Washington, DC, May 24.  
• Mustered out of the army, Wash., DC, June 5,1865

 

Siege of Atlanta

William T. Sherman (leaning on breach of cannon) and staff at Federal Fort No. 7 outside Atlanta

By the second week of July, Sherman's forces had reached the outskirts of Atlanta, then a city of about 20,000 that served as a rail hub and manufacturing center.  On July 20, 1864 Union cannons reached a position where shells could hit Downtown Atlanta. For the next 36 days; defensive fortifications, factories, homes, stores and streets were bombarded. Fortunately, a reduced civilian population meant the number of non-combatants killed (around 25) was much smaller than it might have been.

Unsustainable Losses

Coincidentally, the first shells started falling on the same day the battles for Atlanta would begin in earnest. Over the next six weeks, a series of battles would change history. General Hood, now that he was in command, decided not to rely exclusively on the extensive defensive fortifications ringing Atlanta and instead went on the attack. 

John Bell Hood

Hood's first offensive took place on July 20 at the Battle of Peachtree Creek mentioned in the previous post. Despite Hood's determined assault, the Union forces held and were victorious. With an almost 3 to 1 deficit in casualties, the losses were of a magnitude the Confederates could not continue to sustain if they wanted to retain Atlanta. [According to the CWSAC Battle Summary, total casualties were 6,506 (US 1,710; CS 4,796)]

Hood's second offensive followed close on the heels of the first in the Battle of Bald Hill (Also called the Battle of Atlanta) on July 22, 1864.  Hood intended to attack the Union troops from both east and west. The fighting centered on a hill east of the city known as Bald Hill. The Federals had arrived two days earlier, and began to shell Atlanta proper. A savage struggle, sometimes hand-to-hand, developed around the hill, lasting until just after dark. The victorious Federals retained the hill and this important entrance to Atlanta, while the Confederates retired away from the hill.  A major Union loss in this battle was the death of General James McPherson killed by Confederate skirmishers. [CWSAC Battle Summary, total casualties were 12,140 (US 3,641; CS 8,499)]

The Battle of Ezra Church occurred on July 28, 1864. Up until the end of July, Sherman had approached Atlanta from the east and north. He now decided to attack from the west and cut one of Hood's last railroad supply lines. Hood, in what he thought would be a surprise, sent forces to block the move at Ezra Church.

Union General Oliver Howard predicted such a maneuver based on his knowledge of Hood from their time together at West Point before the war. Howard's troops were already waiting in their trenches when Hood reached them. Instead of striking the Union flank, the Confederates hit the Union center, where the Yankee troops were positioned behind barricades made from logs and pews taken from the church. Several attacks were made on the Union lines. Each was turned back, and the Confederates were not able to get around the Union flank. Nevertheless, despite the Union victory, the Federals failed to cut the railroad line. [CWSAC Battle Summary, total casualties were 3,562 (US 562; CS 3000)]

Federal soldiers relaxing by guns of captured fort during Siege of Atlanta

The Battle of Jonesboro, August 31 to September 1, 1864, would be the final blow against the Confederate defense of Atlanta. With it now clear that Hood could no longer effectively confront Union forces in the field, Sherman stepped up the artillery bombardment of Atlanta and maneuvered to permanently cut the Confederate railroad supply lines.

In previous raids by small detachments, temporary success had been achieved through destruction of parts of the railroad. However, the Confederates had always quickly repaired the damage. Sherman now believed that if he could completely sever Hood's last railroad, the Confederates would be forced to evacuate Atlanta. 

On August 25 Sherman began moving six out of his seven infantry corps against the railroad between the towns of Rough and Ready and Jonesboro. In response, two Confederate corps were sent to halt and possibly rout the Union troops. However, Hood failed to realize that the majority of Sherman's army was approaching in force. The Confederate defending forces were highly outnumbered. Once the last rail line fell to the federal onslaught, Hood realized saving Atlanta was a hopeless cause. He evacuated the city on September 1, 1864. A long munitions train was blown up  as he left the city so that it wouldn’t fall into Union hands. [CWSAC Battle Summary, total casualties were 3149 (US 1149; CS 2000)] 

Casualty figures are a vivid indicator of the circumstances that led to the ultimate Confederate defeat in Atlanta. Since battle figures may vary considerably depending on sources, I have decided to refer to one probably reliable source; the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Battle Summaries. These indicate the total cumulative casualties for each side from the four battles experienced during the Siege of Atlanta as follows: Union 7,062; Confederate 18,295. Given that the Confederate Army forces at Atlanta were outnumbered from the beginning, losses of more that 2.5 to 1 were unsustainable.

Commentary

With his mention of General Howard and William's experience the previous day, in the first two paragraphs he is describing the Battle of Ezra Church. 

In the third paragraph he reflects back to July 20th and the Battle of Peachtree Creek. 

He seems to think that Sherman does not want to destroy the city given the ability to throw shells over the city combined with not so much Union shelling. 

William's mention of the breastworks gives a more positive view early on than the words highlighted below written two weeks later by his commanding officer Col. Crane.

Failure to pay the soldiers seems to be a continuing problem with the Union Army. Seven months in arrears is quite a bit. William would certainly put the money to good use.

General Hooker's July 22nd request of Sherman to be relieved of command duty is mentioned in the previous post. 

Given the constrained distance between the two army's lines, it is not surprising that Union skirmishers get so close to the Confederate lines that the Rebs can not use all their artillery.

Col. Nirom M Crane

The excerpts in the following letter written on August 12, 1864 by Nirom M. Crane, Commander of the 107th NY Volunteers, William Graham's Regiment, give his commanding officer's view of the the six week siege:  

   "Just now, we are within three hundred yards of the enemy's main line, and are compelled to burrow like rabits to escape the bullets and shells which are aimed at us from every available point and at all hours of day and night. We have laid in the trenches nearly three weeks, and I can assure you, this sort off work is wearing us out very fast—however, we can and do stand it with a good heart. 

   Our army line is now about twelve miles long and I think we are good for the work before us. Hood's army has been very recently strongly reinforced; and how soon we shall take Atlanta I cannot tell, but hope quite strongly."

Commentary

[This letter was written 5 days after Atlanta fell to Sherman's Army but provides details regarding its final days as it slipped out of Confederate control. I consider this the gem of William's letters. He clearly states his views and his reasoning on a broad range of topics. I agree with virtually all he says. Wonder how far he would have gone in his life with a better education and different circumstances.]

Note at top of William's letter - Don’t show this letter to anybody, it is so badly written. On side - I have had sweet potatoes today & different good things. Excuse the writing for the ink won’t flow

The Copperheads were a vocal group of Democrats in the Northern United States who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. The name Copperheads was given to them by their opponents, the Republicans, because the venomous, although not usually deadly, copperhead snake can strike without warning (unlike a rattlesnake). The Copperheads nominally favored the Union and strongly opposed the war, for which they blamed abolitionists, and they demanded immediate peace and resisted draft laws. They wanted Lincoln and the Republicans ousted from power, seeing the president as a tyrant who was destroying American republican values with his despotic and arbitrary actions.

Abraham Africanus I is a rare Copperhead political pamphlet from 1864 that satirically depicts Abraham Lincoln making a pact with the Devil to become the monarchical ruler of the United States

This letter was written during the campaign leading up to the 1864 election where Abraham Lincoln won a second term. Sherman's capture of Atlanta contributed to Lincoln's victory at the polls. Lincoln had been a Republican but he ran under the National Union Party banner against his former top Civil War general, the Democratic candidate, George B. McClellan, and the Radical Republican Party candidate, John C. Frémont. 

Jefferson Fenis Davis

Jefferson Davis was President of the Confederate States. At the adoption of an ordinance of secession by Mississippi on January 9, 1861, Davis resigned from the United States Senate (where he was a senator from Mississippi) and returned to Mississippi. On February 9, 1861, a Constitutional convention at Montgomery, Alabama named him provisional President of the Confederate States of America and he was inaugurated on February 18, 1861. In meetings of his own Mississippi legislature, Davis had argued against secession; but when a majority of the delegates opposed him, he gave in.

William Graham's description of the ruling forces in the South as a stinkin aristocracy of slaveholders is probably the most vivid depiction in these letters of his strong feelings regarding the Confederacy. Remaining a loyal soldier of the Union army for almost three years through numerous battles, despite a debilitating illness, backs his words with strong action.

Public education, whether for whites or blacks, was nonexistent in the South before slavery ended. Wealthy whites sent first their sons and later their daughters off to private schools and colleges in the North and England. They objected to paying taxes to support education for those with lesser means regardless of race.

As soon as slavery ended, freed people began setting up schools all over the South. Many southern whites were shocked, appalled, infuriated by this phenomenon. Some responded by burning down schools, threatening teachers, whipping and killing black teachers and writing editorials dripping with disgust. 

Eventually though, some white elites began to notice that former slaves were outpacing poor whites on the educational front. Powerful whites began to discuss the need to provide schooling for poor whites. Then, during Congressional Reconstruction when black men and white Northern Republicans were elected to legislatures in the South, states passed laws that provided for public schooling for whites and blacks and imposed taxes to fund the schools.

Woodcut of early schoolroom, 1826-27

William Graham's words, "... that others, the oppressed of all nations, might here have a home in a free country." signify that this poor Irish immigrant (1) possesses a strong bond with poor immigrants from throughout the world and (2) has powerful feelings of appreciation for the value placed on the individual in his adopted country. 

There was no general military draft in America until the Civil War. The Confederacy passed its first of 3 conscription acts 16 April 1862, and scarcely a year later the Union began conscripting men. Government officials plagued with manpower shortages regarded drafting as the only means of sustaining an effective army and hoped it would spur voluntary enlistments.

Compulsory service embittered much of the public, who considered it an infringement on individual free will and personal liberty and feared it would concentrate arbitrary power in the military. Believing with some justification that unwilling soldiers made poor fighting men, volunteer soldiers despised conscripts. Conscription nurtured substitutes, bounty-jumping, and desertion. Charges of class discrimination were leveled against both Confederate and Union draft laws since exemptions and commutation clauses allowed propertied men to avoid service, thus laying the burden on immigrants and men with few resources. Occupational, only-son, and medical exemptions created many loopholes in the laws. Unpopular, unwieldy, and unfair, conscription sometimes seemed to raise more discontent than soldiers.

Union pickets relaxing after successful siege of Atlanta

Hood evacuated Atlanta on September 1, 1864 and the 20th Corps took possession the next morning, ending the Atlanta Campaign.

Sherman pursued Hood to Lovejoy but found him concentrated with his entire command in a position that was too strong to be assaulted. Union forces returned to Atlanta September 4-8, 1864. This was probably the reconnaissance beyond the Chattahoochee River described by William in his letter.

Thomas's command (Army of the Cumberland - where William Graham and the 107th Regiment fought) occupied Atlanta. Howard's (Army of the Tennessee) was located nearby at East Point 20 miles southwest of the city, and Schofield's (Army of the Ohio) was at Decatur 10 miles to the east. Unable to advance farther, but determined to hold his gains, Sherman evacuated the Southern civilians from the city and converted it into an armed camp that could be held with the smallest possible force. Sherman was busy hatching plans to lead the bulk of his army elsewhere.

General Henry Slocum

General Henry Warner Slocum (September 24, 1827 – April 14, 1894), was a Union general during the American Civil War and later served in the United States House of Representatives from New York. During the war, he was one of the youngest major generals in the Army and fought numerous major battles in the Eastern Theater and in Georgia and the Carolinas. 

Controversy arose from his conduct at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was accused of indecision and a dilatory advance to the battlefield, earning him the derogatory nickname "Slow Come".

Slocum was born in Delphi, a hamlet in Onondaga County, New York. He attended Cazenovia Seminary and worked as a teacher. He obtained an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he did well academically—considerably better than his roommate, Philip Sheridan.

As indicated in William Graham's letter, General Slocum was in command of the 20th Corps. General Joseph Hooker asked to be relieved of duty and Sherman replaced him with Slocum.