# On This Day: Battles of the Civil War



## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 24, 2013)

Being that this year is the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, I thought about starting up this thread. I wanted to start it back on Jan. 1st (listing the battles by each day), but never got around to it. I could wait until the day that marks the bombardment of Fort Sumter, but I know I would just put it off, so here goes. 

Basically this is a day by day list of every battle that was fought in the Civil War, with a little bit of info on each engagement. Feel free to discuss them if you wish.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 24, 2013)

*Feb. 23**

1862*
Battle of Socorro
Location: Socorro, New Mexico
Union Forces Committed: 2nd New Mexico Militia
Confederate Forces Committed: 5th Texas Mounted Rifles
Casualties: None
Outcome: Undecided 

*1864*
First Battle of Dalton (23 Feb - 27 Feb)
Location: Whitfield County, Georgia
Union Forces Committed: Army of the Cumberland under Major General George H Thomas
Confederate Forces Committed: Army of Tennessee under General Joseph E Johnston
Union Casualties: 289
Confederate Casualties: 140
Outcome: Confederate Victory

After several days of intense skirmishing, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas's army withdrew upon realizing Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's troops could repel any assault. However, the intelligence garnered from the Battle of Dalton helped pave the way for a Union victory that summer.


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 24, 2013)

You are off by a couple of months, July 1st through the 4th 1863 is when the battle of Gettysburg occurred. The war between the states began on April 13th 1861. 
According to several of the locals around here, the "war of northern Agression" isn't over yet. That is why I identify myself as an Arizonian.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 24, 2013)

meatloaf109 said:


> You are off by a couple of months, July 1st through the 4th 1863 is when the battle of Gettysburg occurred. The war between the states began on April 13th 1861.
> According to several of the locals around here, the "war of northern Agression" isn't over yet. That is why I identify myself as an Arizonian.



Yes I know. I said I wanted to start this thread since this year is the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. I also know when the war started at Fort Sumter. I said if I wait until the anniversary of that battle, I would never start this, so I am starting it now on this date while I am thinking about it...


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 24, 2013)

O.k., that wasn't clear to me. My apologies.
Thought you might have been testing us.
The South Will Rise Again! WHOO-HOO!!


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## parsifal (Feb 24, 2013)

Hi Adler, very intersting thread, will try to contribute. 

At the risk of upsetting you, might I suggest a differtn format. I really liked Syscoms "This day in WWII" thread, and NJs similar day by day account of the BoB. Both those threads are extremely useful resource items in my opinion. I admit it would ba lot of work, but I am prepred to contribute as much as i can if that is any help. 

I just hope the thread does not get silly politization. Its a great topic and one I would be very interested to contribute to.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 24, 2013)

I was planning on keeping this just to the battles, but only because I do not have the time. If you wish to contribute day to day events, feel free my friend. I don't have the time to do both. I will add in the battles, and you can fill the rest.


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## parsifal (Feb 24, 2013)

Okay here goes

I am going to preface this by saying that we are going to need help doing this....its a huge undertaking. I would consider this a living history account. I will be drawing on on-line and published sources mostly, and simply because I havent time to do a full detailed disertation, much of this is gpoing to be a simple cut and paste 

Feel free to provide corrections and additons as you guys see fit. I dont how far we will get, but surely its worth a shot to get themain events of the war down into our own record.

This is Adlers thread, and he has been gracious enough to allow us to contribute to a really intersting topic. We shoud respect that and try to avoid potiicising the subject I thinkk. If you want to have a discussion about a contentious issue, why not start a new thread linked to the entry in this thread....that way the factual account will remain just that

Anyway, somewhat arbitraily, Ive picked October 16-17 1859 (the John Brown raid) as the point at which the spark that lit the fuse that nearly burned down the United States

October 16-18, 1859

"On the evening of October 16, 1859 John Brown, a staunch abolitionist, and a group of his supporters left their farmhouse hide-out en route to Harpers Ferry. Descending upon the town in the early hours of October 17th, Brown and his men captured prominent citizens and seized the federal armory and arsenal. Brown had hopes that the local slave population would join the raid and through the raid’s success weapons would be supplied to slaves and freedom fighters throughout the country; this was not to be. First held down by the local militia in the late morning of the 17th, Brown took refuge in the arsenal’s engine house. However, this sanctuary from the fire storm did not last long, when in the late afternoon US Marines under Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived and stormed the engine house, killing many of the raiders and capturing Brown. Brown was quickly placed on trial and charged with treason against the state of Virginia, murder, and slave insurrection. Brown was sentenced to death for his crimes and hanged on December 2, 1859".
...


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## parsifal (Feb 24, 2013)

November 6 1860, Lincoln is elected president without any support from the southern states.

Abraham Lincoln President
February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865 
"Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family moved to Indiana when he was seven and he grew up on the edge of the frontier. He had very little formal education, but read voraciously when not working on his father’s farm. A childhood friend later recalled Lincoln's "manic" intellect, and the sight of him red-eyed and tousle-haired as he pored over books late into the night. In 1828, at the age of nineteen, he accompanied a produce-laden flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, Louisiana—his first visit to a large city--and then walked back home. Two years later, trying to avoid health and finance troubles, Lincoln's father moved the family moved to Illinois.

After moving away from home, Lincoln co-owned a general store for several years before selling his stake and enlisting as a militia captain defending Illinois in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Black Hawk, a Sauk chief, believed he had been swindled by a recent land deal and sought to resettle his old holdings. Lincoln did not see direct combat during the short conflict, but the sight of corpse-strewn battlefields at Stillman's Run and Kellogg's Grove deeply affected him. As a captain, he developed a reputation for pragmatism and integrity. Once, faced with a rail fence during practice maneuvers and forgetting the parade-ground instructions to direct his men over it, he simply ordered them to fall out and reassemble on the other side a minute later. Another time, he stopped his men before they executed a wandering Native American as a spy. Stepping in front of their raised muskets, Lincoln is said to have challenged his men to combat for the terrified native's life. His men stood down.

After the war, he studied law and campaigned for a seat on the Illinois State Legislature. Although not elected in his first attempt, Lincoln persevered and won the position in 1834, serving as a Whig.

Abraham Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois where he was practicing as a lawyer. They were married in 1842 over her family’s objections and had four sons. Only one lived to adulthood. The deep melancholy that pervaded the Lincoln family, with occasional detours into outright madness, is in some ways sourced in their close relationship with death. 

Lincoln, a self-described "prairie lawyer," focused on his all-embracing law practice in the early 1850s after one term in Congress from 1847 to 1849. He joined the new Republican party—and the ongoing argument over sectionalism—in 1856. A series of heated debates in 1858 with Stephen A. Douglas, the sponsor of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, over slavery and its place in the United States forged Lincoln into a prominent figure in national politics. Lincoln’s anti-slavery platform made him extremely unpopular with Southerners and his nomination for President in 1860 enraged them.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln won the presidential election without the support of a single Southern state. Talk of secession, bandied about since the 1830s, took on a serious new tone. The Civil War was not entirely caused by Lincoln’s election, but the election was one of the primary reasons the war broke out the following year.

Lincoln’s decision to fight rather than to let the Southern states secede was not based on his feelings towards slavery. Rather, he felt it was his sacred duty as President of the United States to preserve the Union at all costs. His first inaugural address was an appeal to the rebellious states, seven of which had already seceded, to rejoin the nation. His first draft of the speech ended with an ominous message: "Shall it be peace, or the sword?" 

The Civil War with the opening bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. Lincoln forced the Confederate hand with his decision to resupply the fort, which had suddenly become an outpost in a hostile nation. The Southern navy turned away the supply convoy and then fired the first shot of the war at Fort Sumter, forcing the Federal defenders to surrender after a 34-hour battle.


On November 10, the road to secession began when the two SDenators representing South Carolina resigned.


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 24, 2013)

2/24/1863
U.S.S. Indianola is captured by C.S.S. Queen of the West and the C.S.S. Webb.
After suprising the Union ship, the two Confederate rams pushed the larger Indianola aground and forced it to surrender.
Interesting note, the C.S.S. Webb was known as a "Cotton-clad", utilizing stacked bales of cotton as protection for her crew.


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## Njaco (Feb 24, 2013)

If you don't mind Chris, I have a book "The Civil War: Day by Day" by E.B. Long that I can help with the posts. You know I LOVE these kind of threads! 

*24 February 1862*
Northern troops under General Don Carlos Buell reached the north bank of the Cumberland River at Nashville as troop transports began arriving. Forrest's calvary formed the Confederate rear guard, retreating to the southeast. Other Federal troops under General Nathaniel Banks occupied Harper's Ferry, western Virginia, strategically situated at the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. There was fighting at Mingo Creek, near St. Francisville, at New Madrid and in St. Clair and Henry Counties, Missouri; as well as a small affair at Lewis Chapel, near Pohick Church, Virginia. Funeral services were held in Washington, DC for Willie Lincoln while his brother Tad showed improvement. (_Willie and Tad both became ill in early 1862, and although Tad recovered, Willie's condition fluctuated from day to day. The most likely cause of the illness was typhoid fever, which was usually contracted by consumption of fecally contaminated food/water. He died at the age of 11 on February 20, 1862_)

*24 February 1864*
General Braxton Bragg was charged with the conduct of military operations in the Armies of the Confederacy, thus becoming in effect chief of staff. Bragg, still very controversial, enjoyed Davis' trust, but his reputation had suffered from his defeat at Missionary Ridge and the constant conflicts with his generals.

The U.S. Senate passed a measure to revive the rank of lieutenant general with Grant clearly in mind. President Lincoln approved an act of Congress to compensate every Union master whose slaves enlisted in the Army, the sum not to exceed $300; the volunteer was to become free. The act also increased bounties for volunteers, redefined quota credits, increased penalties for draft resistance, subjected Negroes to the draft, provided that those opposed to bearing arms for religious reasons should be assigned non-combat tasks with freedmen or in hospitals, and give the President authority to call for such men as required. Debate began on recognizing the restored state of Louisiana. 

In northern Geotgia fighting continued at Tunnel Hill, Buzzard Roost and Rocky Face Ridge or Crow's Valley during the Federal Demonstration on Dalton. Elsewhere, skirmishing took place at Tippah River and near Canton, Miss.

*24 February 1865*
The heavy rain holding up Sherman's advance also hindered Confederate concentration but there was a skirmish at Camden, SC. In the Trans-Mississippi action included ab affair at Switzler's Mill, MO and a northern scout from Helena to Clark's Store, ARK. Lee once more wrote the War Department concerned over the;


> alarming number of desertions that are now occurring in the army.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Feb 24, 2013)

Parsifal you do need to keep it in the "on this day format.". Today is Feb. 24...


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 24, 2013)

Feb, 24th 1861. Lincoln spends his first full day in Washington, a quiet sunday, after "sneaking" through Baltimore on a train amidst threats of death.
All across the South, Ministers and Pastors are exhorting their congregations on behalf of the new Confederate Constitution, adopted only 16 days previously, the main theme seems to be the motto of the Confederacy, "Deo Vindice", God will avenge.


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## Njaco (Feb 25, 2013)

*25 February 1861*
President-elect Lincoln attended a reception in both the House and Senate at the Capital and visited the Supreme Court. In Montgomery President Davis was attempting to take in hand the situation at Charleston, sending out messengers and making inquires. 

*25 February 1862*
Federal troops moved into Nashville in full force. The capital of Tennessee, CSA was again capital of Tennessee, USA and a vital base for the Union, to be held throughout the remainder of the war. Its capture without bloodshed had been made possible by Grant's victory at Fort Donelson, although it was formally occupied by troops of Gen. Buell. Elsewhere there were minor operations in Loudoun County, VA and at Keetsville in Barry County, MO. Confederate Ma.Gen. Kirby Smith was assigned to command in east Tennessee.

The Federal War Department ordered control of all telegraph lines by the department to facilitate military moves. In Richmond President Davis sent a message to the Confederate Congress reviewing the war, calling for sterner measures and stating;


> ...we have been so exposed as recently to encounter serious disasters.


 Davis thought the financial system was adequate and the postal department was improving. He desired to establish a Supreme Court. Naval construction was proceeding despite limited resources, the need for more soldiers was being met, and strenuous efforts were being made to reinforce armies in the threatened West. It was not wholly a dark picture, although the military situation led to sobering thoughts.

*25 February 1863*
The Federal Congress completed passage of the Conscription Act. Mr. Lincoln signed an act setting up a national bank system and national currency, with a Currency Bureau of the Treasury was established with a Comptroller of the Currency. In addition, an act to prevent correspondence with the "_present pretended rebel government_" was approved.

Off St. Thomas in the West Indies USS '_Vanderbilt_' seized the British merchantman '_Peterhoff_' as a blockade runner. The capture had been ordered by Acting Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, "star" of the Trent Affair, from his West India Squadron flagship '_Wachusett_'. '_Peterhoff_' was bound for Matamoros, Mexico and the British claimed the United States had no right to stop such trade, albeit some of the shipments into Mexican ports found their way into the Confederacy. While a major international crisis was averted, the incident focused attention on the considerable trade from Mexico into the South. Eventually courts ruled that the United States could not halt shipping into a neutral port no matter what its ultimate destination.

Skirmishing occurred at Hartwood Church and near Winchester, Strasburg, Woodstock and Chantilly, VA. Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill assumed command of Confederate troops in North Carolina. In Charleston, SC., the price of bread per half pound loaf went to 25 cents and flour sold at $65 a barrel.

*25 February 1864*
Federals under Maj. Gen. J.M. Palmer made their main effort at Buzzard Roost in the Demonstration on Dalton, GA. Johnston's Confederate positions proved too strong for the limited probing attack, and Palmer withdrew his forces to the main lines of the Army of the Cumberland.

An affair occurred near Hudsonville, MISS; and a Union scout from Whiteside's Tenn., to Stevens' and Frick's gap, GA lasted two days.

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge was assigned to command the Confederate Trans-Allegheny Department or Western Department of Virginia, relieving Maj. Gen. Samuel Jones.

*25 February 1865*
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the Army of Tennessee, now in the Carolinas, and all troops in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Meanwhile there was a skirmish at West's Cross Roads and Federal troops occupied Camden on the Wateree River, SC. Calvary and other detached units were operating over a wide expanse of South Carolina. Gen. Johnston, at Charlotte, NC, pointed out to Lee the difficulties of concentrating his Confederates and stressed that, including Calvary, militia and units not recently heard from, he had between 20,000 and 25,000 men to oppose Sherman. 


> In my opinion, these troops form an army far too weak to cope with Sherman.


 He urged that his force join Bragg in North Carolina. In Kentucky a skirmish broke out at Piketon.


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 25, 2013)

Feb 25th, 1861.
The Confederate Navy, four days old, presents a finding. Out of 30 ships on hand, only 14 are seaworthy to the Union's 90. Knowing that they do not possess the shipyards of the North, the Confederates consider alternate means to counter the Unions strength. This will result in some of the more interesting designs of the war, Ironclads with railroad rails for armor, the "David" line of semi-submersible torpedo boats, and the worlds first submarine to sink an enemy ship.
Feb 25th 1862.
The U.S.S. Monitor is commissioned. A revolutionary warship, she was the product of an eccentric Swede, John Ericson. The Monitor had many innovative features, not least of which was the world's first gun turret.
Feb 25th 1863.
The captured U.S.S. Indianola is blown up by the Confederates to prevent it's re-capture, after a "dummy ironclad", the "Baches Quaker", is floated downriver by the Union navy.


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## parsifal (Feb 25, 2013)

Tuesday 25 February 1862. 

From the diary of Rev. Overton Bernard....he points to the disparities in sheer numbers between Union and Confederate troops. Entreating God’s protection over the Confederacy, he implies the Confederate losses emerged as a result of sinful behavior.

"The prisoners taken at Roanoke Island have been paroled, the Yankees disliking the expense of feeding them and not wanting to spare transports to send them North – Rumors are rife that Fort Donnelson has fallen into the hands of the Lincolnites after a most severe fought battle, of four days, during which our troops performed prodigies of valor amid snow and sleet, hunger and fatigue, after driving back the enemy, who were reinforced by some Fifteen thousand fresh troops, we had to surrender some severn or eight thousand troops, arms, etc. Genls Pillow and Floyd succeeded in cuting their way through the ranks of the enemy and got safe to Nashville with several thousand of their command– That place must fall into the hands of the enemy as it is not well defended. Lord look in mercy upon us in these sad reverses, brought about by our own negligence, and permitted as I fear as a punishment for our national and individual sins. Drunkenness and profanity seem to run to an awful extent in Army, Navy, and some high quarters".


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## Njaco (Feb 26, 2013)

*26 February 1861*
The Peace Convention still meeting in Washington, DC began voting on the resolutions or amendments it would advocate. Mr. Lincoln was embroiled in conferences over Cabinet posts and with political leaders. Camp Colorado, Texas was abandoned by Federal authorities. 

*26 February 1862*
There was a Confederate scout toward Nashville in a day of little or no fighting. Kentucky Senator William E. Simms declared in the Confederate Congress that the Confederacy would defend her rights to the last extreme. In Washington, DC Lincoln talked to Gen. McClellan, who was about to go to Harper's Ferry, supposedly to lead offensive operations into Virginia. Mr. Lincoln also signed the Loan and Treasury Bill creating a national currency of United States notes and providing for sale of stock to finance the currency.

*26 February 1863*
The Cherokee Indian National Council repealed its ordinance of secession, abolished slavery and vigorously proclaimed for the Union. There was an affair near Germantown, VA. Gen. Longstreet assumed command of the Confederate Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Mr. Davis wrote Gen. T.H. Holmes in the Trans-Mississippi of his concern for that area and the need for full crops and military success to preserve that section for the confederacy.

Near Woodburn, TENN., Confederate guerrillas halted, captured and burned a Federal freight train with merchandise, government stores and 240 mules.

*26 February 1864*
Sherman's troops skirmished near Canton, MISS., as their withdrawal after the successful Meridian campaign neared completion. To the north, W. Sooy Smith's wing of the expedition straggled into Memphis after severe harassment by Forrest. Other fighting flared at Washington and Sulphur Springs, TENN. 

A memorandum from President Lincoln confirmed his confidence in Gen. Benjamin Butler and asked that the controversial general be sustained in his efforts. Lincoln also ordered that the death sentence of all deserters be commuted to imprisonment during the war, thus continuing his policy of leniency. The U.S. Senate completed passage of the bill reviving the rank of lieutenant general.

*26 February 1865*
Sherman's XX Corps reached Hanging Rock, SC but other movements were slowed by the incessant rain. Skirmishing occurred at Lynch's Creek and near Stroud's Mill, SC. A Federal expedition from Pine Bluff to McMilley's Farm, ARK., lasted 3 days.


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## parsifal (Feb 26, 2013)

Feb 27 1863

Washington DC buzzed with fresh activity as all trains going east were commandeered for military use. The telegraphs, too, were brought under strict control by the government. It seemed to Washington’s residents that the massive Army of The Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, was finally on the move.

The view was not so optimistic from inside the White House. On February 27 President Lincoln told McClellan’s chief of staff Gen. Randolph B. Marcy “The general impression is daily gaining ground that the General does not intend to do anything.”

The criticism carried personal weight for Marcy, who was also McClellan’s father-in-law.

The mood in the Confederate capital was a bit more subdued on February 28, declared a day of fasting by President Davis at his second inauguration the previous week. This symbolic gesture would prove a bitter necessity for Richmond’s residents in the months and years to come.


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## parsifal (Feb 26, 2013)

Feb 27 1863 

Action at Pittsburgh Landing (a prelude to Shiloh?)

Undertaken over a period of 7 days, this action was essentially a raid of a key position held by the Confederacy. It officially began Feb 27.

Confederate pickets caught sight of the timberclads Lexington and Tyler at midday on March 1, just as they lumbered past the broad banks of Diamond Island. Each 180 feet long, the side-wheel steamships boasted armor of thick wood planks and 6-7 heavy guns.

Just two rifled cannon guarded the western bluffs overlooking a long, straight stretch of the Tennessee River beyond the island. Their first few shots fell short of the Yankee gunboats.

The Lexington and Tyler cleared for action and fired back a salvo at 1000 yards away, easily reaching the battery’s position. A group of Confederate riflemen briefly appeared on the bluff around a log cabin and fired an ineffective volley before retiring from range.

The Rebel battery lasted just 15 minutes under the timberclads’ superior firepower before withdrawing their guns. The Federal gunships now freely approached a wide landing south of the bluff, where they dropped anchor.

The place was called Pittsburg Landing. It was observed that a cluster of buildings were hastily fortified, and consequently Lieut. William Gwin, commanding the Tyler, and Lieut.James W. Shirk of the Lexington decided it would be wise to inspect the cluster of buildings hastily fortified and with freshly-dug rifle pits.

Loading up their guns with canister and grapeshot, the Lexington and Tyler released a barrage of cover fire as two boats brought a naval demolition team and two companies of sharpshooters from the 32nd Illinois Infantry to the landing.

Reaching the shore, the demolition party immediately headed for the log cabin. The remaining 100 or so sailors and sharpshooters under Capt. Thaddeus Phillips formed a line to cover the sailors and approached the crest of a ridge just beyond the river’s edge.

They were greeted by a volley from an entire regiment of Louisiana militia, who lay in cover as the Union troops approached. Facing 10 to 1 odds, the Illinois sharpshooters quickly fell back to the cover of the gunboats.

The demolition team had just enough time to fire the log cabin as the raiding party clambered back into the rowboats. As they rowed for the timberclads, the huddled Yankee soldiers made choice targets for the Confederate rifleman that dodged cannon fire on the bluff.

With the soldiers loaded back on board, the Lexington and Tyler hauled in their anchors and floated back downstream toward the Union base at Savannah, Tenn. The raiding party suffered just two dead, three missing and six wounded, including Capt. Phillips.

Despite their greater numbers the 18th La. Infantry, composed of militia, cadets, and novice volunteers, suffered anywhere from 9 dead and 21 wounded in the action. The regiment and their commander, Col. Jean Jaques Alexandre (Alfred) Mouton, would earn a citation for the “brilliant success of their first encounter with the enemy.”

In addition to destroying the Rebel-held cabin, the Union force had confirmed the importance of Pittsburg Landing. This spot would be the optimal place to land an army at the doorstep of the last large Confederate force in the West, encamped near Corinth, Miss.

Mouton understood the importance of the position as well, but also knew the federal gunboats would keep up non-stop pressure on the spot until the invasion came. He posted light pickets to monitor the landing and withdrew the bulk of his force to a small, rough-hewn log church called Shiloh........


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 26, 2013)

Feb 26 1862.
The U.S.S. Monitor is delayed by trim problems, mainly because of the loading of ammunition, from starting her "shake down" cruise. There is a real urgency to the matter as the Confederates had placed the C.S.S. Virginia, ex-U.S.S. Merrimack, in commission at least a week earlier. The Virginia is larger and more heavily armed, but has problems with her engines, a result of being submerged when, as U.S.S. Merrimack, she was burned and sunk to keep the Confederates from capturing her in April of 1861.


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## Njaco (Feb 27, 2013)

*27 February 1861*
President Davis in Montgomery named three Confederate commissioners to Washington, DC to attempt negotiations with the Federals. He chose Martin J. Crawford, John Forsyth and A.B. Roman. In Washington, DC the Peace Convention sent the results of its deliberations to Congress. Six constitutional amendments were proposed. First amendment - that involintary servitude be prohibited north of 360 30'; that in land south of the line slavery could exist while such area was a territory and Congress could not hinder it; that upon admittance as a state it could come in with or without slavery as its state constitution provided. Second Amendment - no further territory would be acquired except through treaty and by consent of four fifths of the Senate. Third Amendment - that Congress could not regulate, abolish or control slavery in the states or territories. Fourth Amendment - fugitive slave provisions of the Constitution should be enforced and Congress should not interfere. Fifth Amendment - that the foreign slave trade be prohibited. Sixth Amendment - there should be compensation for loss of fugitives from labor in certain cases. There was much dissatisfaction with the results and they never stood a chance in Congress. The Peace Convention had not even been too peaceful, with much bickering and dissatisfaction among its members.

From Charleston Governor Pickens wrote President Davis;


> We feel that our honor and safety require that Fort Sumter should be in our possession at the very earliest moment.



In Washington Lincoln was listening not only to politicians about appointments, but to others such as Senator Douglas and border-state men, pleading for conciliation or compromise. In the House proposal after proposal was voted down. A plan for a constitutional convention lost; the Crittenden proposal finally lost; an amendment not to interfere with slavery lost but was reconsidered the next day. 

*27 February 1862*
The Confederate Congress gave President Davis the power to suspend the privilege of habeas corpus, which was sparingly used. President Davis ordered martial law for the threatened cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, VA in the wake of the launching of the USS 'Monitor'.

*27 February 1863*
President Davis called for a day of fasting and prayer on March 27. Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price was ordered to the Trans-Mississippi Department. There was a skirmish near Bloomington on the Hatchie River in TENN., a Federal expedition from Fort Pillow, TENN; and a 2 day scout from Centreville to Falmouth, VA.

*27 February 1864*
Near Americus, GA Federal prisoners of war began arriving at an unfinished prison camp, officially Camp Sumter, but known to history as Andersonville. Insufficient food, shelter, clothing and accommodations made the prison notorious.

The Demonstration by Federals on Dalton, GA ended with a skirmish at the Stone Church near Catoosa Platform or Station. Skirmishing took place in the Sequatchie Valley, TENN; at Madisonville and Sharon, MISS; near Poplar Bluff, MO; and at Pinos Altos, Arizona Territory. Federals destroyed large Confederate salt works on Goose Creek near St. Marks, FLA.

*27 February 1865*
The Shenandoah valley was coming alive again. Sheridan's force of some 10,000 Calvary under immediate command of Wesley Merritt left Winchester, VA., heading south. Sheridan had orders from Grant to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad and James River Canal, take Lynchburg and then either join Sherman or return to Winchester. Early, in front of him, had only e weakened brigades and a few pieces of artillery, his other troops being employed elsewhere. In the Carolina campaign, minor skirmishing flared near Mount Elon and Cloud's House, SC. The only other actions were near Sturgeon, MO. and Spring Place, GA.

.


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## parsifal (Feb 27, 2013)

*February 27, 1860 *- Lincoln's Speech at Cooper Institute. Abraham Lincoln addresses gathering at the Cooper Institute in New York, attacking slavery and insisting that the Federal government has "the power of restraining the extension of the institution." 


*February 28, 1861 *- Territory of Colorado Organized. The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 had brought large numbers of settlers to the Denver area, although the population collapsed following an initial mining boom. The Colorado Territory was organized as a United States territory on February 28, 1861 and Colorado attained statehood in 1876 (earning it the monicker the "Centennial State"). 

*February 18-April 21, 1862 *- 1st Session of the First Confederate Congress. The provisional Confederate Congress, which had met for four sessions between February 4, 1861 and February 17, 1862, was replaced by a permanent legislature on February 18, 1862. Elections for the First Confederate Congress were held on November 6, 1861 and held it first (of four) sessions in Richmond, Virginia, from February 18 to April 21, 1862

[not sure if Im supposed to report on battles....please clarify Adler, but here goes for the moment]

*February 28-April 8, 1862 *- The Battle of New Madrid and Island Number Ten. Confederate forces under Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow started construction of these two positions in April 1861, to block Federal navigation of the Mississippi. When Leonidas Polk withdrew from Columbus, Ky., during the period February 29-March 2, 1862, in the preliminary moves of the Shiloh campaign, he sent the 5,000-man division of John P. McCown to reinforce the 2,000 then occupying these two river positions. On a peninsula 10 miles long by three miles wide the defenses consisted of a two-regiment redoubt at New Madrid, and land batteries on a floating battery at Island No. 10. The latter was covered by land batteries on the Tennessee shore. Federal forces had to reduce these forts in connection with their general offensive down the Mississippi (the Henry-Donelson and Shiloh campaigns). Gen. Henry W. Halleck had sent some of John Pope's force in central Missouri to reinforce Ulysses S. Grant's attack on Donelson; he also told Pope to organize a corps from the remaining troops in Missouri and to capture New Madrid. Pope realized that the 50 heavy guns and the small fleet of gunboats the Confederates had in and near the position necessitated a regular siege operation. He sent for siege artillery and started a bombardment and the construction of approaches on March 13. On this same date McCown ordered the evacuation of New Madrid and moved the garrison across the river to the peninsula in order to avoid being isolated. For this action he was relieved of command and succeeded by William Mackall. Pope now decided to cross the river south of New Madrid and turn the defense of Island No. 10. Since his supporting naval transports were upstream, he had a canal cut through the swamps so that boats could by-pass the defenses of Island No. 10. The canal was finished on April 4. Two Federal gunboats ran the Confederate batteries to support the river crossing, and on April 7 four regiments were ferried across the Mississippi to cut the Confederate line of retreat at Tiptonville. Mackall surrendered 3,500 men (over 1,500 of whom were sick) and 500 escaped through the swamps. The defeat of the Confederates opened the river for the capture of Memphis, Tennessee two months later in the Battle of Memphis. Pope's victory opened the Mississippi to Fort Pillow, and gave him a reputation which led to his being selected by Lincoln two months later to command the Army of Virginia (Second Bull Run Campaign). (Island Number Ten has since disappeared as a result of erosion from the Mississippi River).


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## meatloaf109 (Feb 27, 2013)

Feb, 27, 1862.
U.S.S. Monitor attempts to leave the New York Navy yard by way of the East river. The Commanding Officer, Lt. Worden informs the Navy Department that, "She steered so very badly that I deemed it advisible not to proceed further with her." He anchors off the Navy yard to await Mr. Ericsons repairs and adjustments.
Feb, 27 1863.
The C.S.S. Alabama captures the merchantman "Washington" of New York, off the coast of Brazil, after a short chase.
Being that she carried a cargo from a neutral to a neutral, Capt. Semmes released her under "Ransom-Bond" and transfered the prisoners he had on board the Alabama to her.


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## parsifal (Mar 1, 2013)

*1 March 1861* - Texas was accepted as a state by the provisional government of the Confederate States of America. Texas' secession from the Union was not official until the next day.

The U. S. Congress rejects the Washington Peace Conference proposals 

The washington Peace Conference

The "old gentlemen's convention" was the last ditch effort to end the growing conflict peaceably. Although 22 states did send representatives, the states of the Deep South, which were meeting at the Convention of Seceding States, refused to send delegates to the Convention. 

As the Deep South was in the process of seceding from the Union, Virginia call for a "peace convention" 

Proceedings were held in secret. The meeting used the Crittenden Plan as its starting point for finding common ground, but failed. 


*1 March 1864* - Union General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick arrived at the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia. Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren was killed while trying to rejoin Kilpatrick. (Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid). The raiders intended to free Union prisoners of War held in Gaols in the centre of Richmond. Unknown to the attackers, the Confederates were fully aware of their arrival and had raised scratch forces to meet them. 

Custis Lee, son of Robert E. Lee, led the Confederate scratch forcees that turned back Dahlgrens 500 strong force of cavalry, 2 miles west of Richmond. 

*1 March 1864* - U.S. President Lincoln nominated Ulysses S. Grant for the newly revived rank of lieutenant general. 

*1 March 1865* - General Thomas Rosser set fire to a bridge along the middle fork of the Shenandoah River. General George Custer's troops charged across the burning span and extinguished the fire before the bridge was destroyed.


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## parsifal (Mar 1, 2013)

*2 March 1861* Colonel Richard Anderson, a Kentucky born regular army soldier and commander of Fort Sumter, issues a message to Washington that he would soon either need reinforcements, or would need to evacuate. The message arrives in 3 march, and is a prime consideration for Lincoln even whilst being sworn in as 16th president. 

Fort Sumter was located at the mouth of Charleston Harbour and was a source of great irritation to the secessionists. Lincolns predecessor, James Buchanan, was an easy going and slow to take action kind of leader, but when approached with demands to evacuate the fort, is said to have quoted his overarching responsibility to preserve the Union . With the advice of his aged commanding general, Winfield Scott, supplies and a reionforcement of 250 men were sent to the fort. on the merchant sailing vessel, Star Of The West. 

The ship arived off the Charleston Bar around midnight 8 January 1861. As she negotiated the navigational hazards, signal rockets could be see being fired on the shoreline. Confederate gunners were rushing to man the rebel batteries that had been set up at their Fort Moultrie. Poorly trained, their shooting was very poor, and did little damage to the ship, apart from a single grazing shot to the forepeak of the ship. 

Anderson forbade his men to give covering fire for the re-suply ship. He said he was determined not to fire the shot that began the civil war. Next day he sent a protest to the South Carolina Governor, who replied that ther arrival of such a ship was considered a hostile act. The situation continued to smoulder, but outright war had been averted for the moment. 

After being sworn into office of President of the Confederacy 18 Feb 1861, Davis's first move was to attempt to remove Sumter by negotiation. He sent emissaries to Washington for this purpose. meanwhile on 1 March he appointed PGT Beuregard as the local military commander. The situation was developing an ominous tone very rapidly.


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## meatloaf109 (Mar 1, 2013)

March 1, 1862.
U.S.S. Mount Vernon captures blocade runner British Queen, off Wilmington N.C.


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## Njaco (Mar 3, 2013)

*3 March 1861*
President-elect Lincoln had a full day in Washington, giving a dinner for his new Cabinet, visiting the Senate and conferring on appointments. Army commander Gen. Winfield Scott wrote William H. Seward that he believed it impracticable to relieve Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, the Army went ahead with preparations to protect the inaugural ceremonies set for March 4. At Charleston, Brig. Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard assumed command of Confederate troops around Charleston Harbor.

*3 March 1862*
On the Mississippi, Federals under Pope began the siege of New Madrid, MO. Other Federals occupied evacuated Columbus, KY., to the north. There was a skirmish at Martinsburg, western VA as Federals occupied that town; Confederates evacuated Amelia Island, FLA.; Cubero, N.Mex. Territory was taken by the Southerners; an action occurred at Comanche Pass, N.Mex. Territory and there were several days of Federal operations around Berryville, ARK. In Richmond, President Davis recalled Gen. Lee from Charleston and South Carolina to be a military adviser in Virginia.

In Washington, President Lincoln approved a lengthy list of officers for appointment as major and brigadier generals. Gen. Halleck in St. Louis was authorized by Washington to place Brig. Gen. C. F. Smith in command of the expedition from Fort Henry up the Tennessee, after Halleck accused Grant of not reporting properly at the time of Fort Donelson and other misconduct.

*3 March 1863*
FEDERAL DRAFT ACT APPROVED: President Lincoln signed "An Act for enrolling and calling out the National Forces, and for other purposes." Thus, the first effective Federal draft, imposed liability on all male citizens between 20 and 45 with the exception of the physically or mentally unfit, men with certain types of dependents, those convicted of a felony and various high Federal and state officials. Draft quotas for each district would be set by the President on the basis of population and the number of men already in the service from each district. A drafted man could hire another as a substitute or purchase his way out for $300. Despite its many defects, the measure increased volunteering. For the entire war only 162,535 men, or about 6 per cent, were raised by the draft. Of these 46,347 were held to personal service and 116,188 furnished substitutes. An additional 86,724 paid commutation.

Other acts approved by the President as Congress neared the end of a session were: an act to prevent and punish frauds on revenue; an act to turn over to the Treasury in trust all captured and abandoned cotton, sugar, rice and tobacco in states in insurrection; a loan to the government authorizing $300,000,000 for 1863, and $600,000,000 for 1864; an act fixing the number of Supreme Court justices at ten; authorization for the President to suspend the privilege of writ of habeas corpus on any necessary case during the war; issuance of not more than $50,000,000 in fractional currency to replace postage stamp currency; a measure making Idaho a territory; and one naming Jay Cooke as government agent to direct the campaign to popularize the sale of U.S. bonds.

Still another Federal naval attack on Fort McAllister below Savannah,GA., failed despite eight hours of bombardment. Confederates raided Granby, MO and there was skirmishing near Bear Creek, TENN. Federal expeditions operated for 6 days each from Murfreesboro to Woodbury, TENN., and from Belle Plain to Coan River and Machodoc Creek, VA. Still another Union expedition of 4 days was from Concord Church to Chapel Hill, TENN.

*3 March 1864*
In a day of minor fighting, skirmishes occurred at Liverpool and Brownsville, MISS.,Petersburg, W.VA.; at Jackson and near Baton Rouge, LA. The Federal Treasury was authorized by Congress to issue $200,000,000 in ten-year bonds. Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant was ordered to Washington to receive his commission as lieutenant general.

*3 March 1865*
The 38th Congress of the United States held its last regular session, finally adjourning about 8am March 4. President Lincoln and Cabinet members went to the Capital in the evening to consider a flurry of last minute bills. Most important was an act establishing a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees. The Freedmen's Bureau would supervise and manage all abandoned lands and have "control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states." It would provide temporary subsistence, clothing and fuel and also would assign land. Another act set up the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company. Other measures dealt with Indian tribes, freedom for wives and children of Negro soldiers, railroad expansion, appropriations and soldiers' affairs.

Federal troops entered Cheraw, SC after skirmishes at Thompson's Creek and Big Black Creek as well as near Hornsborough and Blakeny's, SC. The Confederates pulled back across the Pee Dee River and burned the bridges. Large amounts of ammunition and supplies were taken at Cheraw. Otherwise there was skirmishing near Tunnel Hill, GA and at Decatur, ALA. A Union reconnaissance March 3-5 probed from Cumberland Gap toward Jonesville, VA. Federal expeditions operated from Memphis into northern Mississippi until March 11 and until March 7 from Bloomfield into Dunklin County, MO. Union operations against raiders about Warrenton, Bealeton Station, Sulphur Springs, Salem and Centreville, VA., lasted until about March 8. The Northern escort convoying prisoners from Waynesboro northward in the Shendoah Valley was attacked several times until March 7. Meanwhile Sheridan's unopposed troops occupied Charlottesville, VA as they headed in the general direction of Petersburg.

President Davis wrote a Confederate congressman;


> "On spite of the timidity and faithlessness of many who should give tone to the popular feeling and hope to the popular heart, I am satisfied that it is in the power of the good man and true patriots of the country to reanimate the wearied spirit of out people...I expect the hour of deliverance."



Lincoln wrote a message, signed by Stanton, directing Grant;


> "...to have no conference with General Lee unless it be for the capitulation of General Lee's army....you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands; and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. Meantime you are to press to the utmost, your military advantages."



This signal order laid the policy for the generals in the surrenders to come, although the message was sent only to Grant and not to Sherman.


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## meatloaf109 (Mar 8, 2013)

March 8, 1862.
C.S.S. Virginia sets sail to conduct one of the most one-sided battles ever. With her armored casement rendering her invulnerable to Union guns she destroyes U.S.S. Congress, U.S.S. Cumberland, and causes U.S.S. Minnesota to run aground.


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## meatloaf109 (Mar 9, 2013)

March 9, 1862.
U.S.S. Monitor is on station guarding the U.S.S. Minnesota when the C.S.S. Virginia emerges around 8am. After pounding each other for four hours, during which the Monitor sustains a hit to the pilot house blinding her C.O., and the Virginia suffers hits around the waterline causing a leak, both ships draw off. The Virginia, back up river. The Monitor back to standing along side the stricken Minnesota.
Europe takes serious note of this battle of the first "Iron-clads". Every Navy in the world is now obsolete.
Despite the lead the Americans had, after the War between the States, the U.S.N. falls into serious neglect. It would not be until the 1890's before new ships are built.
The most impressive of which would be the Indianna class coastal Battleships.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 9, 2013)

Damn, I am so far behind! Damn 2nd shift has really screwed up my participation. Sorry about that, my days are all screwed up. I will try and catch up all the days of battles I missed in one day. 

*Mar. 2*

*1864*
Battle of Walkerton
Location: Walkerton, Virginia
Union Forces Committed: 4000 Cavalry Corps of the Army of Potomac (Brig. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick) 
Confederate Forces Committed: 9th Virginia Cavalry Detachment and Home Guards (Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton)
Union Casualties: 100 Killed, Wounded and Captured. Col. Ulric Dahlgren Killed.
Confederate Casualties: 0
Outcome: Confederate Victory

*1865*
Battle of Waynesboro
Location: Waynesboro, Virginia
Union Forces Committed: 2,500 (Army of Shenandoah under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan and Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer)
Confederate Forces Committed: 1,600 (Army of the Valley District under Lt. Gen. Jubal Early)
Union Casualties: 30 Killed and Wounded 
Confederate Casualties: 100 Killed, 1500 Captured (Brig. Gen William Henry Harman Killed)
Outcome: Union Victory (Confederate Army of the Valley District Destroyed)

It was the final battle for Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early, whose force was destroyed.

The campaign started with Brig. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick leaving Stevensburg on February 28 with 4,000 men, intending to raid Richmond. The force rode along the Virginia Central Railroad tearing up track, while an advance force was sent south along the James River. The plan was that the advance force, led by Col. Ulric Dahlgren, son of Rear admiral John Dahlgren, should penetrate Richmond's defenses from the rear, and release prisoners at Belle Isle. Yet, when Kilpatrick reached Richmond on March 1, Dahlgren had not yet arrived. Kilpatrick had to withdraw because he was under pursuit by Confederate cavalry, led by Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton. Hampton caught up with Kilpatrick near Old Church on March 2, but the Federals were able to take refuge with elements of Butler's command at New Kent Court House.

Meanwhile, Dahlgren had found himself unable to penetrate Richmond's defenses, and tried to escape northwards. The group became separated, and on March 2, Dahlgren, along with about 100 men, was ambushed by a detachment of the 9th Virginia Cavalry and Home Guards in King and Queen County near Walkerton. Dahlgren was killed and most of the men were captured.

The gravest implications of the raid came as a result of papers found on Dahlgren’s body. The papers allegedly contained an official Union order to burn Richmond and assassinate Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. Meade, Kilpatrick, and Lincoln all disavowed any knowledge of the Dahlgren Papers, and their authenticity has been disputed. At the time, however, the affair caused a great public outcry among Southerners, who accused the North of initiating "a war of extermination."

*Mar. 5*

*1863*
Battleo of Thompson's Station
Location: Williamson County, Tennessee 
Union Forces Committed: 1 Brigade of the Army of Cumberland (Brig. Gen John Coburn)
Confederate Forces Committed: 1 Cavalry Corps of the Army of Tennessee (Maj. Gen Earl Van Dorn)
Union Casualties: 1,906 Killed, Wounded and Captured/Missing
Confederate Casualties: 300 Killed, Wounded and Captured/Missing
Outcome: Confederate Victory

In a period of relative inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a reinforced Union infantry brigade, under Col. John Coburn, left Franklin to reconnoiter south toward Columbia. Four miles from Spring Hill, Coburn attacked with his right wing, a Confederate Army force composed of two regiments; he was repelled. Then, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn seized the initiative. Brig. Gen. W.H. "Red" Jackson's dismounted 2nd Division made a frontal attack, while Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's division swept around Coburn's left flank, and into his rear. After three attempts, characterized by hard fighting, Jackson carried the Union hilltop position as Forrest captured Coburn's wagon train and blocked the road to Nashville in his rear. Out of ammunition and surrounded, Coburn surrendered, along with all but two of his field officers. Union influence in Middle Tennessee subsided for a while.

Van Dorn and Forrest received help with their victory from an unlikely participant. Miss Alice Thompson, age 17 at the time, was visiting the residence of Lieutenant Banks. The Third Arkansas was advancing through the yard, lost their Colonel (Earle), their color bearer and the regiment was thrown into disorder. Miss Alice Thompson rushed out, raised the flag and led the regiment to victory. The enemy lauded her action.


*Mar. 6*

*1862*
Battle of Pea Ridge (6-8 March)
Location: Garfield, Arkansas
Union Forces Committed: 10,500 (Army of the Southwest under Maj. Gen Samuel Ryan Curtis)
Confederate Forces Committed: 16,500 (Army of the West under Maj. Gen Earl Van Dorn)
Union Casualties: 203 killed, 980 wounded and 201 missing.
Confederate Casualties: 2,000 Killed, wounded and missing. Generals McCulloch, McIntosh, and William Y. Slack killed. 
Outcome: Union Victory

In a two–day battle, Curtis held off the Confederate attack on the first day and drove Van Dorn's force off the field on the second day. The outcome of the battle essentially cemented Union control of Missouri and northern Arkansas. The battle was one of the few during the war in which a Confederate army outnumbered its Union opponent.

*1865*
Battle of Natural Bridge
Location: Woodville, Florida
Union Forces Committed: 2nd U.S. Colored Infantry and 99th U.S. Colored Infantry under Brig. Gen. John Newton
Confederate Forces Committed: 1000 troops made up of Kilcrease Artillery; Dunham’s Battery; Abell's Battery; 5th Florida Cavalry; 1st Florida Militia; Barwick’s Company Reserves; Hodges Company Reserves; Company A, Milton Light Artillery; Companies A, B, and F, Reserves and reinforcements from Georgia as well as Teenage Students from the Florida Military and Collegiate Institute.
Union Casualties: 21 Killed, 89 Wounded and 38 Captured. 
Confederate Casualties: 3 Killed and 23 Wounded.
Outcome: Confederate Victory

A small band of Confederate troops and volunteers, mostly composed of teenagers from the nearby Florida Military and Collegiate Institute that would later become Florida State University, and the elderly, protected by breastworks, prevented Union forces (consisting of African-American soldiers of the United States Colored Troops) from crossing the Natural Bridge on the St. Marks River. This action prevented the Union from capturing the Florida capital and made Tallahassee the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River not to be captured by Union forces during the war.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 9, 2013)

*Mar. 7*

*1865*
Battle of Wyse Fork (Mar. 7-10)
Location: Kinston, North Carolina
Union Forces Committed: 12,000 troops (Cox's Provisional Corps under Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield)
Confederate Forces Committed: 8,500 troops (Department of North Carolina under Gen. Braxton Bragg)
Union Casualties: 1,101 Killed, Wounded and Missing
Confederate Casualties: 1,500 Killed, Wounded and Captured/Missing
Outcome: Union Victory

On March 7, Federal advance units encountered Bragg's entrenched forces along Southwest Creek east of Kinston. Bragg's position not only blocked Cox's path but threatened a vital cross road and the New Bern-Goldsboro Railroad. Cox saw the importance of this position and moved forward the divisions of Brig. Gen. Innis N. Palmer to protect the railroad and Maj. Gen. Samuel P. Carter to protect the roads. Bragg's forces were also reinforced by veterans from the Army of Tennessee and the North Carolina Junior Reserves, all under the command of General D.H. Hill. Reinforced, Bragg went on the offensive and sent a division under North Carolina native Robert Hoke into the Union left flank. Hoke's attack hit a New England brigade in Carter's division, capturing an entire regiment. Hill joined the advance with the Junior Reserves but they panicked and refused to go any further. Hill left them behind and moved on with his veterans, hitting the Union brigade and defeating it. Disaster threatened the Union flank when Bragg stopped Hill's advance and sent him far to the north to counterattack a Union threat. When Hill arrived he found no Federals in sight. At this time Cox, who had been away from the front lines, returned and moved up his reserve division under Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Ruger to plug the gap between Palmer and Carter.

Skirmishing continued for the next few days until Hoke tried again to turn the Federal left flank on March 10. The Federal position had been strongly fortified by artillery and repulsed Hoke's attack within an hour. Hill then moved against the Union center but again Federal artillery proved decisive and the attackers were repulsed. The remaining elements from the Federal XXIII Corps, which had just arrived in New Bern from Tennessee, were moving on Kinston. Facing five Union divisions, Bragg withdrew.

*Mar. 8*

*1862*
Battle of Hampton Roads (8-9 March) (Also known as the Battle of Monitor and Merrimack)
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Union Forces Committed: USS Monitor, USS Congress, USS Cumberland, USS Minnesota, USS Roanoke, USS St. Lawrence, USS Mystic, USS Suave, USS Dragon, USS Whitehall, USS Young America and USS Cambridge
Confederate Forces Committed: CSS Virginia, CSS Raleigh, CSS Beaufort, CSS Patrick Henry, CSS Jamestown and CSS Teaser
Union Casualties: USS Cumberland, USS Congress sunk. 261 Killed and 108 wounded.
Confederate Casualties: 78 Killed and 17 wounded.
Outcome: Undecided 

The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as either the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (or Virginia) or the Battle of Ironclads, was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. It was fought over two days, March 8–9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond Rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.

The duel ended indecisively, Virginia returning to her home at the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs and strengthening, and Monitor to her station defending Minnesota. The ships did not fight again, and the blockade remained in place.

*Battle of Hampton Roads*


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 10, 2013)

*Mar. 10*

On this day in 1863: Lincoln offers amnesty. In the early days of the War Between the States, the assumption had been common in the North that any military action to reunify the country would be swift, neat and uncomplicated. Recruiting agents had easy work as men on both sides flocked to the colors seeking excitement more than anything. After it became clear that the war would be neither short nor tidy, the government had resorted to quotas, and states, counties and towns offered bounty money to get men to enlist to fill them. Now that the grim reality was known to all, President Lincoln was obliged to offer an amnesty for those who had had enough. Any man who returned to his unit by April 1 would not be prosecuted. Any who did not would be regarded as a deserter, liable to be shot.

On this day in 1864: Newly commissioned Lt. Gen. U.S. Grant was today given an additional title: Commander of the Armies of the United States. He did not pick up the paperwork in person, though, as he was already in Virginia holding a rather touchy meeting with Gen. George G. Meade, who still held the title of commander of the Army of the Potomac. The two needed to work out ways to work together, as Grant planned to operate in the field with an army that had been commanded by Meade since just before Gettysburg. In fact the two worked out one of the great partnerships of the War when Meade, unlike his more egotistical predecessors, sent Grant a statement offering his services in whatever capacity Grant thought he would be most useful. In the end Grant kept him in command of the Army of the Potomac, which freed Grant from many onerous administrative duties.

On this day in 1865: Confederate General William H. C. Whiting died in prison from the wounds he had suffered at during the fall of Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

On this day in 1865: Gen. William T. Sherman’s forces were still working on their approach to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Their progress was being considerably slowed by the terrain. The roads were mud with an unusually high percentage of sand. This meant that wagons could only travel if the roads were “corduroyed”, or paved with logs. As the rain increased even this was not enough: the road itself would sink after only a few wagons passed over them. More logs were added on top of the sunken ones, but this was not only an incredibly tedious process, but the supply of suitable logs along the roadside was not infinite. The coordinated activity on the nearby Cape Fear River was nearly as difficult. The river, according to the ship captains, was “very narrow and torturous, with a strong current”. Overhanging trees just complicated matters further, to the extent that branches would knock smokestacks partly or completely off the boats. Paddlewheels were fouled by rubbish. The gunship Chickamauga gave up the ghost entirely, blocking the river at Indian Wells.

*Battles*

*1865*
Battle of Monroe's Crossroads
Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina
Union Forces Committed: 1,850 troops from 3rd Cavalry Division (under Maj. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick)
Confederate Forces Committed: 3,000 troops from Hampton’s Cavalry Division (under Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton and Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler).
Union Casualties: 183 Killed and Wounded.
Confederate Casualties: 86 Killed and Wounded.
Outcome: Undecided

Involving more than 4,500 men, it pitted mounted Confederate cavalry against dismounted Union cavalry. It was one of the last all-cavalry battles of the Civil War. The inconclusive fighting lasted for several hours early on the morning of March 10, 1865. The Confederate attack delayed the Federal cavalry's movement toward Fayetteville, denying Brevet Maj. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick the honor of entering the town first.

The main Confederate assault was at dawn and against a poorly guarded and sleeping Union camp. In command of the Confederate forces were Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton and Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, who were operating together for the first time. One of the goals (not fulfilled) was the capture of Kilpatrick himself, using a small elite squadron of hand-picked troopers. Kilpatrick, ensconced with his mistress in a small log cabin near the farmhouse of Charles Monroe, managed to flee the chaotic scene in his nightshirt, hiding for a period in a nearby swamp before regaining his composure and reorganizing his troops. While initially routed, the Federal cavalry soon recovered and counterattacked, eventually pressuring the Confederates to relinquish the camp. Anticipating the approach of Union infantry, the Confederate commanders ordered their troops to disengage from the action in the mid-morning. Hampton's cavalry finally withdrew in good order toward Fayetteville. Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Harrison, Brig. Gen. William Y.C. Humes, Col. and brigade commander James Hagan and Col. and brigade commander Moses W. Hannon were wounded during the battle. Brig. Gen. William W. Allen and Colonel and brigade commander Henry Marshall Ashby were injured when their horses were shot from under them.

The Battle of Monroe's Crossroads gained the additional time needed for the Confederate infantry to conduct an organized crossing of the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville unmolested by the advancing Federals. With their troops and equipment east of the Cape Fear, the Confederates burned the bridges as Union forces entered the city.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 12, 2013)

*Mar. 11*

On this day in 1862: Management shuffles took place in both the armies and the departments today. The Department of Kansas was merged with Missouri and part of the monstrous Department of Ohio, which stretched from western Pennsylvania to Illinois. This new construct was named the Department of the Mississippi, with Gen. Halleck in command. A new one was created in West Virginia and parts of Virginia, called the Mountain Department and headed by Fremont. Gen. McClellan was relieved of his title of General-in-Chief but kept command of the Army of the Potomac. His men, who idolized McClellan, were the only ones not amused.

On this day in 1863: Gen. Grant’s plodding progress toward Vicksburg suffered a setback today when his gunboats couldn’t get past a fort built out of cotton bales. Gen. Pemberton had sent Maj. Gen. W.W. Loring to a patch of flooded swamp near Greenwood to build a fort. Loring, tactfully, named it Fort Pemberton, and built it out of earthworks and cotton bales. With a couple of cannon he fended off the USS Chillicothe. The fort was effective not nearly so much because of its power as because of the element of surprise.

On this day in 1864: Yesterday Lt. General U.S. Grant had spent the day in consultations and discussions of management theory with Gen. George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac. Today he returned to Washington, but just long enough to catch a train. He was setting out for Nashville, Tenn., to have just the same sort of meeting with Gen. William T. Sherman, who was henceforth to be the commander in the Western Theater. Sherman had sent Grant a letter after he had been informed that he (Grant) would be placed in command of the overall Union war effort. In the letter Sherman had strongly recommended that Grant keep his headquarters in the field and stay as far away from Washington as possible, to avoid “meddling” by Lincoln and other politicians. This was, in fact, precisely what Grant wound up doing.

On this day in 1865: Gen. Sherman’s men today completed their march to Fayetteville, N.C., nearly surrounding the town. The first forces to enter the city itself were the targets of sniping by Confederate cavalry. The last defenders were soon compelled to flee by the last remaining exit, the bridge over Cape Fear River. Sherman sent his report that the city was secured to Schofield at Wilmington and US Navy warships were soon on their way up the river.


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## parsifal (Mar 12, 2013)

*March 13 1864 *

On this day in 1864, one of the biggest military fiascos of the Civil War begins as a combined Union force of infantry and riverboats starts moving up the Red River in Louisiana. The month-long campaign was poorly managed and achieved none of the objectives set forth by Union commanders.

The campaign had several strategic goals. The Union hoped to capture everything along the Red River in Louisiana and continue into Texas. Additionally, President Abraham Lincoln hoped to send a symbolic warning to France, which had set up a puppet government in Mexico and seemed to have designs on territorial expansion. Finally, Union officials wanted to capture cotton-producing regions, as cotton was in short supply in the North.

The plan called for Admiral David Dixon Porter to take a flotilla of 20 gunboats up the Red River while General Nathaniel Banks led 27,000 men along the western shore of the river. Porter's squadron entered the river on March 12. Two days later, Fort Derussy fell to the Yankees and the ships moved upriver and captured Alexandria. The expedition was going well, but Banks was moving too slowly. He arrived two weeks after Porter took Alexandria, and continued to plod towards Shreveport. Banks traveled nearly 20 miles from the Red River, too far for the gunboats to offer any protection. On April 8, Banks' command was attacked and routed by Confederate General Richard Taylor, son of former U.S. president Zachary Taylor. The two sides fought again the next day, but this time the Yankees held off the Rebel pursuit.

The intimidated Banks elected to retreat back down the river before reaching Shreveport. Porter's ships followed, but the Red River was unusually low and the ships were stuck above some rapids near Alexandria. It appeared that the ships would have to be destroyed to keep them from falling into Confederate hands, but Lt. Colonel Joseph Bailey of Wisconsin, an engineer with a logging background, supervised several thousand soldiers in constructing a series of wing dams that raised the water level enough for the ships to pass. The campaign was deemed a failure--it drew Union strength away from other parts of the South and the expedition never reached Texas

*March 13 1865.*

The Confederacy authorises the enlistment of Black Americans into its army 

*March 14 1862*

On this day in 1862, at the Battle of New Bern, Union General Ambrose Burnside captures North Carolina's second largest city and closes another port through which the Confederates could slip supplies.

The capture of New Bern continued Burnside's success along the Carolina coast. Five weeks earlier, he led an amphibious force against Roanoke Island between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. The Yankees captured the island on February 8; now Burnside moved against New Bern on the mainland. On March 13, he landed 12,000 troops along the Neuse River, 15 miles south of New Bern. Accompanied by 13 gunboats, Burnside's army marched up river to face 4,000 Confederate troops commanded by General Lawrence O. Branch.

The city was protected by extensive defenses, but Branch did not have enough soldiers to properly staff them. He concentrated his men along the inner works a few miles downriver from New Bern. Early on the morning of March 14, Burnside's men attacked in a heavy fog, and two of the three Yankee brigades crashed into the fortifications. General Jesse Reno's brigade struck the weakest part of the line, where an inexperienced Rebel militia unit tried to hold off the Federals. Burnside's third brigade joined Reno and the Confederate line collapsed. That afternoon, Union gunboats steamed into New Bern.

Union casualties for the battle were around 90 killed and 380 wounded, while the Confederates suffered approximately 60 killed, 100 wounded, and 400 captured. The conflict produced a Confederate hero, Colonel Zebulon Vance, who rescued his regiment by using small boats to bypass a bridge set afire by his comrades. Vance was elected governor of the state later that year.


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## parsifal (Mar 22, 2013)

*March 22 1863* A detachment of John Morgan's Confederate cavalry captures the federal outpost at Mount Sterling, Kentucky


*March 22, 1863* Confederate John Pegram enters Kentucky on a series of raids. Kentucky


*March 22, 1865 *- Major General James Wilson [US] begins a "raid" in Selma.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Mar 22, 2013)

This 2nd shift crap is screwing me up. I can't keep up with it.


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## parsifal (Mar 23, 2013)

Theres a lot to this....we need some help


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