What Happened in December 1864

Historical Events

  • Dec 1 Raid at Stoneman: Knoxville, Tennessee to Saltville, Virginia
  • Dec 1 Skirmish at Millen Brutal, Georgia
  • Dec 2 Skirmish at Rocky Creek Church, Georgia
  • Dec 3 Skirmish at Thomas' Station, Georgia
  • Dec 4 Battle of Waynesborough (Brier Creek), Georgia
  • Dec 4 Romanian Jews are forbidden to practise law
  • Dec 6 Battle of Deveaux's Neck, South Carolina
  • Dec 7 Skirmish at Ebenezer Creek/Cypress Swamp, Georgia

A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field

Dec 8 James Clerk Maxwell's paper "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" is 1st read by the Royal Society in London (published by the Royal Society 1865)

  • Dec 8 Pope Pius IX publishes encyclical Quanta cura ("Syllabus errorum")

Clifton Suspension Bridge,

Dec 8 The Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is finally opened in Bristol, England, 5 years after his death

Sherman Begins Siege of Savannah

Dec 10 General Sherman's armies reach Savannah & 12 day siege begins

  • Dec 13 Battle of Fort McAllister, Georgia

Paraguay Declares War On Brazil

Dec 13 War of the Triple Alliance: Paraguay officially declares war on Brazil, invades the next day

  • Dec 14 War of the Triple Alliance: Paraguay invades the Brazilian province of Mato Grosso
  • Dec 15 Battle of Nashville, Tennessee: Union forces under General George Thomas shatters General John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee
  • Dec 15 Raid on Stoneman: Abingdon & Glade Springs, Virginia
  • Dec 16 Battle of Nashville ends after 4400 causalities
  • Dec 20 -Dec 27th] Battle of Ft Fisher, NC
  • Dec 21 US Union General Sherman captures Savannah, Georgia, which surrenders to him, at the end of his March To the Sea Campaign
  • Dec 24 Battle of Gordonsville, Virginia
  • Dec 28 Battle of Egypt Station, Mississippi
1864 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Dec 3 Herman Heijermans, Dutch writer (Kamertjeszonde, Diamond City), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1924)
  • Dec 6 William S. Hart, American silent film actor (Wild Bill Hickok, Tumbleweeds), born in Newburgh, New York (d. 1946)
  • Dec 9 Sidney Homer, American composer, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1953)
  • Dec 9 Willoughby Hamilton, Irish tennis player (Wimbledon 1890), born in Monasterevin, Kildare (d. 1943)
  • Dec 12 Paul Elmer More, American critic and essayist, born in Saint Louis, Missouri (d. 1937)
  • Dec 13 Emil Seidel, German-American politician (36th Mayor of Milwaukee), born in Ashland, Pennsylvania (d. 1947)
  • Dec 17 (John) Felix Körling, Swedish composer and conductor, born in Kristdala, Sweden (d. 1937)
  • Dec 19 Adolf Sandberger, German composer and musicologist, born in Würzburg, Kingdom of Bavaria (now Germany) (d. 1943)
  • Dec 23 Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (d. 1890)
  • Dec 25 Thomas Cahill, American soccer coach and administrator (first coach US men's national team), born in New York City (d. 1951)
  • Dec 27 Joseph Lauber, Swiss concert pianist and composer, born in Ruswil, Switzerland (d. 1952)
  • Dec 27 René Georges Hermann-Paul, French artist (d. 1940)
  • Dec 30 Alessandro Longo, Italian composer and musicologist, born in Amantea, Italy (d. 1945)
  • Dec 31 Robert G Aitken, American astronomer (Binary Stars), born in Jackson, California (d. 1951)
Born in 1864

Famous Deaths

  • Dec 2 Archibald Gracie III, Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at Siege of Petersburg, Virginia aged 32

George Boole (1815-1864)

Dec 8 English mathematician and logician (Boolean algebra), dies at 49

Henry Schoolcraft (1793-1864)

Dec 10 American geographer, geologist and ethnologist who found the source of the Mississippi River, dies at 71

  • Dec 21 Archduke Louis of Austria, 14th child of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and Feldmarschal-Leutnant of Austrian Imperial Army, dies at 80
  • Dec 21 William Henry Fry, American composer (Niagara Symphony), music director (Musical Fund Society), journalist, and music critic, dies of tuberculosis at 51
  • Dec 31 George Mifflin Dallas, American politician (11th Vice President of the United States) and United States Minister to Russia, dies at 72