United States Civil War (1861 – 1865) in Real Time

Day 324 of the United States Civil War, March 1st 1862

District of Columbia

The following are appointed Major Generals in the United States Army:

- Edwin Vose Sumner
- Irvin McDowell.

John McArthur is appointed Brigadier General in the United States Army.

Virginia

The following are appointed Brigadier Generals in the Confederate States Army:

- Robert Ransom, Jr.
- Charles Sidney Winder.

Legislators in Richmond proposed bills that would recover stolen funds from a bank in Weston and by proposing a road between Pocahontas and Braxton counties.

The Confederate Congress had voted Jefferson Davis the authority to declare martial law and suspend habeas corpus in "cities threatened with invasion." He had immediately declared martial law in Newport and Portsmouth, Virginia two days before and now extended the restrictions to Richmond itself. He also banned at the same time the production of hard liquor around the city and ordered distilleries and places of sale closed.

North Carolina

USS MOUNT VERNON under the command of United States Navy, Commander Glisson, captured the blockade-running British schooner BRITISH QUEEN OFF WILMINGTON with a cargo including salt and coffee.

Tennessee

The director of the Bank of Tennessee at Rogersville writes to the State Comptroller about war preparations and comments that he personally “intends to arm a company.”

The gunboats USS TYLER under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Gwin and USS LEXINGTON Lexington under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Shirk engaged Confederate forces preparing to fortify Pittsburg Landing. Under cover of the gunboats, a landing party of sailors and army sharpshooters from United States Army, Brigadier General George Washington Cullum’s command was put ashore from armed boats to determine Confederate strength in the area. They fired on and silenced a Confederate field battery.

United States Navy, Captain Andrew Hull Foote requested funds to obtain the steamer EASTPORT, which had been captured in the Tennessee River, and to fit it out as a gunboat. This vessel was over 100 feet longer than any of the existing United States armoured gunboats. If the Confederates had been able to complete its conversion, it could have disrupted the United States advance on the western rivers and its acquisition was a valuable addition to the United States fleet.

Missouri

United States Army, Brigadier General Frederick Steele assumed command of the District of Southeast Missouri, succeeding United States Army, Major General Ulysses Simpson Grant.

Arkansas

United States Army, Brigadier General Jefferson Columbus Davis’ division of the Army of the Southwest withdrew from Cross Hollows. Davis took up a position behind Little Sugar Creek to protect the line of communications from Fayetteville via Elkhorn Tavern to Springfield, Missouri.

Missouri

Skirmish near Sikestown.

New Mexico Territory

United States Army, Captain Herbert M Enos evacuated some of the United States military stores at Albuquerque and destroyed the rest when he heard that the Confederate column of Confederate States Army Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley was only thirty-five miles to the south at Belen. Sibley had planned to re-supply at Albuquerque for his onward march towards Santa Fe but this action restricted his movements and threatened the long-term existence of his force.

Day 326 of the United States Civil War, March 3rd 1862

District of Columbia

United States Senator from Tennessee, Andrew Johnson was nominated by (United States) President Abraham Lincoln and confirmed the same day by the United States Senate as Military Governor of his home state, with the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.

Virginia

United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan explained to his twelve divisional commanders his plans to advance on Richmond via the coastal route through Urbanna. When McClellan called together his divisional commanders to explain his plan, three of the four most senior officers (United States Army, Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, United States Army, Brigadier General Samuel Peter Heintzelman, and United States Army, Brigadier General Edwin Vose Sumner) opposed it as too risky. A fourth (United States Army, Brigadier General Erasmus Darwin Keyes) approved it only with conditions. The other eight endorsed the plan. The approval of this Council of War was communicated to (United States) President Abraham Lincoln, who nevertheless remained anxious for the security of the capital.

United States troops occupied Martinsburg after a brief skirmish.

Confederate States Army, General Robert Edward Lee, is called to Richmond, VA, by (Confederate States) President Jefferson Finis Davis, to act as military advisor.

The following are appointed Brigadier Generals in the Confederate States Army:

- Daniel Marsh Frost.
- John Bell Hood.

West Virginia

The regular March term of the Mason County Court was held in Point Pleasant.

Virginia legislators proposed a bill to shift Kanawha River travel maintenance funds to aid military efforts near the James River canal.

Massachusetts

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman and Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner, captured at the surrender of Fort Donelson two weeks before, arrived under heavy guard in Boston, Massachusetts. Met by a large crowd of curiousity seekers at the station, the two men were escorded by horse cab to the Union Wharf where a steamer took them immediately to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor for incarceration.

Arkansas

United States reconnaissance to Berryville began.

Confederate States Army, Major General Earl Van Dorn arrived in the Boston Mountains and took command of the combined state forces of Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch of Missouri and Pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard Major General Sterling Price.

Kentucky

Incident at Columbus.

Occupation of Columbus.

Maryland

The United States V Corps was established in the Army of the Potomac under the command of United States Army, Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, and with the two divisions of United States Army, Brigadier General Alpheus Starkey Williams and United States Army, Brigadier General James Shields. This force was stationed currently at Frederick with orders to operate in the Shenandoah Valley and did not participate in the forthcoming campaign on the Yorktown peninsula.

Missouri

United States Army, Brigadier General John Pope’s Army of the Mississippi reached New Madrid with an army of 12,000 men, having marched through 50 miles of Missouri springtime mud in three days. Pope commenced regular siege operations to reduce the 50 heavy guns and to eradicate a small fleet of Confederate gunboats blocking the Mississippi. Pope discovered that five Confederate gunboats under the command of Confederate States Navy, Commodore George Nichols Hollins supported the defenders of New Madrid. The river, typical of springtime stages, was nearly flooded out of its banks, allowing the heavy guns on board the boats to sweep the countryside for several thousand yards ahead of Pope’s army. Pope received valuable intelligence that the New Madrid garrison was so weak and small that he would not require a general assault to capture the position.

The Pro-Confederate Missouri legislature fled south from New Madrid, under the guard of Pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, Brigadier General Meriwether Jefferson Thompson. Thompson refused to be trapped and captured in the beleaguered fortified camp at New Madrid.

Florida

United States naval forces under United States Navy, Captain Samuel Francis Du Pont and troops under United States Army, Brigadier General Horatio Gouverneur Wright began operations to occupy Fernandina, Cumberland Island, Cumberland Sound, Amelia Island, and the river and town of St Mary’s. The Confederate defenders were in the process of withdrawing heavy guns inland from the area and offered only token resist­ance. Fort Clinch on Amelia Island was evacuated by the Confederates and occupied by an armed boat crew from USS OTTAWA. This was the first pre-war constructed fort to be recaptured by United States forces. United States Navy, Commander Drayton, aboard USS OTTAWA brought a railroad train under fire near Fernandina and chased it for a mile and a half before the passengers fled into the woods. Launches under United States Navy, Commander C R P Rodgers captured the steamer DARLINGTON with a cargo of military stores. The Fernandina operation brought the entire Florida coast into the possession or under the influence of the United States Navy.

New Mexico Territory

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley’s column arrived at Cubero and skirmished with a small United States force. The United States troops were driven away and the Confederates captured some much-needed supplies in the town.

Day 328 of the United States Civil War, March 5th 1862

District of Columbia

James Gallant Spears is appointed Brigadier General in the United States Army.

Virginia

James Morrison is appointed Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army.

In an attempt to restrict (Confederate States) President Jefferson Finis Davis’ authority, Congress called for the appointment of a commanding General-in-Chief. This was also an effort to oust Judah Philip Benjamin as Secretary of War. Davis repudiated this proposal as a violation of his powers as President. In response, he reappointed Confederate States Army, General Robert Edward Lee as Military Adviser to President Jefferson Finis Davis. Lee was given the conduct of military operations, but only “under the direction” of the President.

Skirmishes at Occoquan and Pohick Church involving United States Army, Colonel Alexander Hays (63rd Pennsylvania Infantry).

Skirmish at Bunker Hill involving United States Army, Brigadier General Alpheus Starkey Williams.

Reports received by Confederate States Army, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston of United States activity in Maryland across the Potomac from Dumfries suggested that the United States offensive was approaching its launch day. He ordered the evacuation of the lines at Manassas and Centreville towards a new position on the Rappahannock River. Discouraged by the continual and rapid spread of rumours from the capital, he did not notify the President of his decision, in order to maintain secrecy about his withdrawal.

The Confederates completed the reconstruction and equipping of the ironclad ram CSS VIRGINIA on the keel of the scuttled USS MERRIMACK, in the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk.

Tennessee

Confederate States Army, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, assumes command of the Army of the Mississippi, based at Jackson, TN.

The president of the Bank of Tennessee writes the General Assembly (now exiled in Memphis) concerning wartime removal of records and cash. Having anticipated the invasion of Tennessee and recognizing the vulnerability of Nashville, he has relocated the bank to Chattanooga.

United States Army, Brigadier General Charles Ferguson Smith’s division started landing at Savannah. This was the advance guard of United States Army, Major General Ulysses Simpson Grant’s Army of West Tennessee. Savannah was chosen as the base of operations for the further advance of the army up the Tennessee River. Smith commanded the army’s 2nd Division. Within two weeks he would be joined by the 1st Division of United States Army Brigadier General John Alexander McClernand, the 3rd Division of United States Army, Brigadier General Lewis Wallace, the 4th Division of United States Army, Brigadier General Stephen Augustus Hurlbut, and the 5th Division of United States Army, Brigadier General William Tecumseh Sherman. Field command of the force was to be exercised from March 17th 1862 by Grant, under the direction of Department commander United States Army, Major General Henry Wager Halleck.

The Confederate Army of Mississippi was established, as part of the plan to concentrate dispersed forces and reinforcements to oppose the United States incursion along the Tennessee River. The Army was built around troops in the Western Department (Department No 2) and was divided unofficially into two corps, named Grand Divisions. Confederate States Army, Major General Leonidas Polk’s former Confederate First Geographical Division was renamed (temporarily) the First Grand Division and Confederate States Army, Major General Braxton Bragg’s force was renamed (temporarily) the Second Grand Division. Bragg had about 10,000 men who had arrived from Pensacola and Mobile. A further 5,000 men in the three brigades of the unofficial Army of Louisiana were on their way from New Orleans under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles to join Bragg. Polk brought the remainder of his 22,000 men who had been holding the Mississippi River defences at Columbus, Kentucky, at Memphis, and further south along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Defeats had reduced Polk’s numbers from a peak of about 25,000 men to about 17,000. The withdrawal of Bragg and Ruggles exposed the Gulf coastline to United States naval landings but the risk to the primary line of defence at the Tennessee section of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad compelled this risk to be taken. The concentration of these forces raised the Army of Mississippi to be commanded by Confederate States Army, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard to a strength of 25,000 men, when he arrived on March 17th 1862.

Confederate States Army, General Albert Sidney Johnston had crossed the Tennessee River and marched westward with the Army of Central Kentucky through Decatur, Alabama, in order to combine with the Army of Mississippi. The brigade of Confederate States Army, Brigadier General John Buchanan Floyd was detached to garrison the important junction at Chattanooga while the cavalry of Confederate States Army, Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest rejoined the force after their rearguard operations around Nashville. Field command of this part of Johnston’s army was exercised by Confederate States Army,, Major-General William Joseph Hardee, while Johnston supervised the theatre as Department commander.

Arkansas

The United States Army of the Southwest was extended for about seventy miles from Maysville to Huntsville, with its main positions along Sugar Creek. The Confederates were thought to have retired to Cove Creek in the Boston Mountains between Fayetteville and the Arkansas River. However, Confederate States Army, Major General Earl Van Dorn had actually concentrated the commands of Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch, Pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, Major General Sterling Price, and Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Albert Pike, and was now advancing in force toward the two United States divisions of United States Army, Brigadier General Franz Sigel at Sugar Creek. When the Confederate approach was detected, United States Army, Brigadier General Samuel Ryan Curtis decided to concentrate his own forces against them. at Sigel’s position.

Florida

United States Army, Brigadier General Horatio Gouverneur Wright’s Brigade (3rd/SC Expedition) relieved the United States Marines who had captured Fernandina the previous day and established a garrison.

The wooden-hulled, sidewheel gunboat USS WATER WITCH(4 32-pdrs., 1 12-pdr.sb., 1 20-pdr. P.r. and 4 32-pdrs) under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Hughes, captured the schooner WILLIAM MALLORY off St Andrew’s Bay.

Kentucky

United States Navy, Captain Andrew Hull Foote reported that the gunboat fleet could not immediately attack the Confederate defences at Island No 10, downriver from Columbus. The gunboats required repairs and maintenance after their engagements at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.

Missouri

Incident at New Madrid.

South Carolina

Expedition to Hilton Head ended.

New York

The 92nd New York Infantry Regiment (United States), raised in St. Lawrence County, left for the front after being mustered at Potsdam, N.Y. During that period the unit was presented with a flag by local residents.

As a newspaper at the time recounted:

".. the most splendid affair of the day was the Regimental Flag, presented by T. S. Clarkson, Esq., on behalf of his daughters, to Col. Sanford, for the Regiment. A more magnificent emblem of American liberty we never saw, and we doubt if there were a dozen persons upon the ground who had ever seen anything more beautiful in the shape of an American flag. Mr. Clarkson’s remarks on presenting the flag were fired with the patriotism of a veteran, uttered distinctly, and received with applause. Col. Sanford replied appropriately, accepting the banner in behalf of the Regiment, and pledging their honor and lives to defend it."

Maryland

The Maryland State Legislature voted 56-38 to nominate the distinguished lawyer Reverdy Johnson to the United States Senate to replace the retiring American Party member Anthony Kennedy. Johnson, a Pro-United States supporter and a moderate Democrat who had served in the United States Senate before, defeated William Price and the more radical Henry Winter Davis in the caucus.

New Mexico Territory

The Confederate Army of New Mexico under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley occupied Santa Fe. Sibley’s expectation that he would be joined by large numbers of sympathisers and recruits was badly disappointed. Nevertheless, apart from the United States garrison isolated at Fort Craig and the main United States force at Fort Union, the New Mexico Territory was in Confederate hands. Fort Union was the rallying point for Union troops in the territory. Sibley sent 600 men to scout the route from Santa Fe towards Fort Union, beginning with Apache Canyon about twenty miles to the southeast, beyond which lay Las Vegas and Fort Union. The advance guard was to hold the mouth of the canyon against any United States advance from Fort Union while the main force prepared to advance from Santa Fe to join them.

Day 330 of the United States Civil War, March 7th 1862

District of Columbia

Thomas Alfred Davies is appointed Brigadier General in the United States Army.

Virginia

William Duncan Smith is appointed Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army.

William M Browne was appointed interim Confederate Secretary of State.

Arkansas

Reconnaissance to Berryville ended.

(Arkansas) Pea Ridge Campaign - Battle of Pea Ridge

At dawn, the United States Army of the Southwest under United States Army, Brigadier General Samuel Ryan Curtis discovered that the 17,000 Confederates and 60 guns under Confederate States Army Major General Earl Van Dorn had disappeared from their front at Pea Ridge. The United States force had about 10,500 men and fifty guns.

Van Dorn had planned for both of his divisions to reach Cross Timber Hollow in the United States rear but by dawn, only the head of Confederate States Army, Major General Sterling Price’s division had made it that far. Because of the delay, the Confederate army commander instructed Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch’s division to take the Ford Road from Twelve Corner Church and to meet Price at Elkhorn Tavern. United States patrols detected both threats during the morning, and Curtis became aware for the first time of the threat about to appear from a valley that ran north-south from beyond Pea Ridge into his unprotected rear. The option to retreat northwards was no longer feasible as his withdrawing column would be exposed to attack while in flight across a desolate region. A southward retreat would be disastrous with the Confederates lying across his lines of communication. The only possible decision was to accept battle.

United States Army, Brigadier General Franz Sigel’s two divisions (Brigadier-General Peter Joseph Osterhaus and Brigadier-General Alexander Asboth) were on the right and Curtis’ two divisions on the left (Colonel Eugene Asa Carr and Brigadier General Jefferson Columbus Davis). They changed face towards the north and, not knowing exactly where the Confederate main body was located, Curtis sent United States Army, Colonel Grenville Mellen Dodge’s brigade of Carr’s 4th Division northeast up the Wire Road to join the 24th Missouri Infantry at Elkhorn Tavern. Dodge was still worried about the threat to the Union rear and disobeyed orders to pull his brigade back to Pratt’s Store. This had made them unexpectedly available to reinforce the line at Elkhorn.

Curtis also sent a mixed force under the command of Osterhaus north to reconnoitre along Ford Road onto the western flank past Leetown. Davis was moved forward to support him soon afterward. Asboth’s division formed the reserve on the Wire Road under Sigel’s direction. Osterhaus’ force consisted of United States Army, Colonel Nicholas Greusel’s brigade of his own 1st Division, several cavalry units led by United States Army, Colonel Cyrus Bussey, and 12 guns.

McCulloch’s Confederate force consisted of a brigade of cavalry under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General James McQueen McIntosh, a brigade of infantry under Confederate States Army, Colonel Louis Hébert, and a combined force of Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Albert Pike. McCulloch’s troops swung west on the Ford Road and struck United States elements at Leetown. At 11.30 am Osterhaus rode north through a belt of timber onto Foster Farm and witnessed an astonishing sight. McCulloch’s entire division was marching eastwards along Ford Road only a few hundred yards away. In spite of the odds, Osterhaus ordered Bussey’s small force to attack in order to buy time for his infantry brigade to deploy. Three guns began shelling the Confederates, killing at least ten men. McCulloch wheeled McIntosh’s 3,000 horsemen to the south and ordered them to attack. The massed Confederate charge mobbed the Union attackers. They stampeded Bussey’s force and captured all three guns.

A little further west, two companies of the 3rd Iowa Infantry Regiment (United States) ran into a Cherokee ambush and were similarly routed, losing 24 men killed and 17 wounded. After the early clashes few of the Indian troops, apart from Colonel Stand Watie’s Cherokees, were willing to take an active part in this unfamiliar kind of warfare.

South of the belt of timber lay Oberson’s Field. Greusel had time to form his brigade and nine guns on the edge of the forest on the south side of Oberson’s Field. Confederate States Army, Colonel Sullivan Ross alertly led the 6th Texas Cavalry Regiment (Confederate States) in pursuit of Bussey’s force. But when Ross rode into the field, his men were fired on and quickly fell back. Greusel posted two companies of skirmishers from the 36th Illinois Infantry Regiment (United States) along the southern edge of the belt of timber between Oberson’s and Foster’s fields. The United States gunners began lobbing shells over the belt of timber. Although the howitzers were fired blindly, their first shell bursts panicked the Cherokees, who retreated rapidly and could not be rallied.

Meanwhile, McCulloch had formed Louis Hébert’s 4,000-man infantry brigade across a wide front and sent them south. Hébert took control of the four regiments east of the north-south Leetown Road, while McCulloch took charge of the four regiments west of the road. McCulloch rode forward into the belt of timber to personally reconnoitre the United States positions. While in the belt of timber he rode into the range of the Illinois skirmishers and was shot through the heart. McIntosh was quickly notified of McCulloch’s death and that he was now in local command. Fearing that the death of their popular leader would dishearten his soldiers, McCulloch’s staff made the unwise decision not to share the bad news with many of the subordinate officers. Without consulting Hébert, McIntosh impulsively led his former regiment, the dismounted 2nd Arkansas Mounted Rifles Regiment (Confederate States) into the attack. As the unit reached the southern edge of the belt of timber, it was met with a massed volley from Greusel’s brigade and McIntosh was killed.

In the meantime, unaware that he had now succeeded suddenly to the command of the division after McIntosh, Hébert led the left wing of the attack south into the woods. The colonels of the right-wing regiments decided to pull back and wait for orders and Hébert’s powerful attack was stopped by Davis and the United States 3rd Division. Davis was originally destined for Elkhorn, but Curtis had diverted his troops to Leetown after Osterhaus’ report reached him. The four Confederate regiments nearly overran Davis’ leading brigade under United States Army, Colonel Julius White. Davis ordered a cavalry battalion to charge, but this effort was easily routed by the Southern infantry. When Colonel Thomas Pattison’s brigade arrived, Davis sent them up a forest trail to envelop Hébert’s open left flank. Untroubled by the inert Confederate units on Foster’s Farm, Osterhaus was able to box in Hébert’s right flank. After very hard fighting in dense woods, the Confederates, pressed from three sides, were driven back to the Ford Road. In the smoky confusion, Hébert and a small party, having become separated from the rest of the left-wing, rode through a gap in the United States lines and got lost in the woods. Later that day, a United States cavalry unit captured Hébert and his group. At this point, command of McCulloch’s division would normally have devolved upon Confederate States Army, Colonel Elkanah Greer of the 3rd Texas Cavalry Regiment (Confederate States) but confusion meant that he was not notified of his superior officers’ death or capture for several hours.

In the meantime, Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Albert Pike stepped up to assume command on the Leetown battlefield around 3 pm. At 3.30 pm, even as Hébert was still battling in the woods, Pike decided to lead the regiments nearest to him in retreat back to Twelve Corners Church. This movement was confused and several units were left behind, some marching back towards Camp Stephens, others around Big Mountain towards Van Dorn and the rest of the army. At least one regiment was at this point ordered to discard its arms and bury them for later recovery. Several hours later, Greer assumed command of the remaining forces and was at that point informed of Pike’s actions. Initially, he considered remaining on the battlefield but, after consulting with Van Dorn, he decided to withdraw his forces as well and march to rejoin the remainder of the army in Cross Timber Hollow.

On the other side of Pea Ridge, Van Dorn and Price had encountered the Union line earlier near Elkhorn Tavern between 9.30 am and 10.30 am. Cearnal’s cavalry battalion in Price’s advance guard bumped into a company of the 24th Missouri Infantry Regiment (United States) in Cross Timber Hollow. Soon after, Carr arrived at Elkhorn Tavern with Dodge’s brigade right behind. Carr spread out his regiments facing north along the edge of the plateau near the tavern and pulled the 24th Missouri back to cover their left flank at the base of Big Mountain. The United States 4th Division commander then sent forward the 1st Iowa Battery’s four guns to slow the Confederate advance. At this point Van Dorn failed to rush against Carr’s outnumbered force with all available soldiers; he became cautious and ordered Price to deploy his division. When the United States guns began firing, Van Dorn ordered his own artillery into action. Soon, 21 Southern guns were pounding the Iowa battery and it lost three guns and two caissons. The Union line reformed further back around a second battery.

By the time Price’s infantry finally began edging uphill in a third advance toward the Union guns, they met Carr’s men advancing downhill in an aggressive counterstroke. The Confederate advance stalled near Elkhorn, but Price’s left flank units were marching up Williams Hollow further to the east. Once this force reached the plateau, Carr’s right flank would be turned.

By 12.30 pm Carr’s second brigade, United States Army, Colonel William Vandever’s, arrived at Elkhorn. The United States division commander immediately launched this unit in a counterattack on Price’s right flank. Superior numbers of Confederates eventually forced Vandever to pull back a short distance uphill. At 2 pm Van Dorn learned that McCulloch’s division could not meet Price’s at Elkhorn. Confederate Colonel Henry Little on his own initiative waved his 1st Missouri Brigade forward and the Confederate advance began to roll uphill. These events convinced Van Dorn to take more aggressive action. Price was wounded but remained in charge of his left wing while Van Dorn took tactical control of the Confederate right wing. More time was lost in reorganising Price’s division to attack.

Meanwhile, Curtis was rushing small units to Carr’s assistance as quickly as he could. Carr himself was wounded three times but refused to leave the field. When Price’s left finally emerged from Williams Hollow and attacked at about 4.30 pm Carr’s line was outflanked. Confederate artillery was systematically putting the Union guns out of action. On the right, Dodge’s brigade collapsed after putting up a fierce resistance at Clemon’s farm. On the left, in equally hard fighting, Vandever’s men were steadily pushed back to the tavern and beyond. In the centre, Little led his men forward in the face of Union artillery. After being forced back from position after position, Vandever’s men finally halted the Confederate drive at Ruddick’s field, over a quarter-mile south of the tavern. There they were joined by Dodge’s men, part of Asboth’s 2nd Division and Curtis. At 6.30 pm they launched a brief counter-attack but were soon recalled in the dark.

After the day’s fighting, only Confederate States Army, Colonel Stand Watie’s Cherokees and Confederate States Army, Colonel David N McIntosh’s Creeks were willing to fight on from among the Indian forces and these were placed on top of Pea Ridge to secure the Confederate right flank. By nightfall, the Confederates controlled Elkhorn Tavern and the Telegraph Road and Van Dorn decided to press the engagement the following day. Curtis drew his forces into a more compact defensive position. Asboth’s division was summoned from reserve and marched up the Wire Road, arriving around 7 pm to relieve Carr’s division. Asboth was wounded in skirmishing during the evening.

Map: Map of the Battle at Leetown, Pea Ridge Arkansas



Curtis held a council of war at which Sigel, Osterhaus, Carr, and Asboth advocated retreat. Only Davis agreed with Curtis in mounting a defensive stand in the morning. Although his army was now cut off from safety in Missouri, Curtis predicted victory in the morning, sensing that the Confederates must be at least as exhausted as his own men.

Drawing: The last hour of the Battle of Pea Ridge. United forces advance to retake the position near Elkhorn Tavern

Day 332 of the United States Civil War, March 9th 1862

District of Columbia

Receiving some criticism from newspaper editorials for his proposed joint resolution on gradual compensated emancipation, (United States) President Abraham Lincoln responds:“Have you noticed the facts that less than one half-day’s cost of this war would pay for all the slaves in Delaware, at four hundred dollars per head?—that eighty-seven days cost of this war would pay for all in Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Kentucky, and Missouri at the same price?” As such, Lincoln suggests that “another article” might be in order.

Virginia

Charles William Field is made Brigadier General in the Confederate States Army.

Skirmish at Sangster’s Station.

United States ships approached Cockpit Point. A landing party from USS Anacostia and USS Yankee destroyed the abandoned Confederate batteries at Cockpit Point, Shipping Point, and Evansport and found the CSS Page blown up. The Confederates, in keeping with their general strategy of withdrawal from the coast and coastal islands, had abandoned their works and retired closer to Richmond, after managing to seal off the Potomac River for nearly five months. The Confederate batteries at Aquia Creek were also abandoned as untenable. Confederate General Joseph Eggleston Johnston recalled their garrisons to defend Richmond. Union forces soon discovered that all the Confederate batteries at Aquia and along the Potomac River had been abandoned. The Union Army used the wharves and storage building at Aquia Landing as a storage depot until abandoned on 7 June 1863 but reactivated the facilities again during the campaign of 1864.

The Confederate Army of the Potomac under Confederate States Army, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston completed its evacuation of the Manassas and Centerville lines and marched for Culpeper Court House. During a long and complex process of evacuation, one division was left behind as a rearguard and had to extricate itself unaided towards Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock. Many heavy guns were abandoned and large quantities of supplies that had been stored too close to the front were distributed to departing troops, or local people, or consigned to fire.

United States reconnaissance of the abandoned Confederate works revealed that many of the cannons were “Quaker” guns – logs laid on fake carriages – to the embarrassment of United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan, who had been deterred from attacking the fortifications by their supposed strength in artillery.

Parallel to the United States advance towards Manassas, United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan ordered United States Army, Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks to advance south from Harper’s Ferry towards Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley.

(Virginia) Peninsula Campaign - Battle of Hampton Roads - MONITOR engages VIRGINIA

Both sides used the respite to prepare for the next day. VIRGINIA put her wounded ashore and underwent temporary repairs. Confederate States Navy, Captain Franklin Buchanan was among the wounded, so command on the second day fell to his executive officer, Confederate States Navy, Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones. Jones proved to be no less aggressive than the man he replaced. While VIRGINIA was being prepared for renewal of the battle, and while Congress was still ablaze, MONITOR, commanded by United States Navy, Lieutenant John L. Worden, arrived in Hampton Roads. The United States ironclad had been rushed to Hampton Roads in hopes of protecting the United States fleet and preventing VIRGINIA from threatening United States cities. United States Navy, Lieutenant Worden was informed that his primary task was to protect MINNESOTA, so MONITOR took up a position near the grounded MINNESOTA and waited. "All on board felt we had a friend that would stand by us in our hour of trial," wrote United States Navy, Captain Gershom Jacques Van Brunt, MINNESOTA'S commander, in his official report the day after the engagement.

The next morning, at dawn on March 9th 1862, VIRGINIA left her anchorage at Sewell's Point and moved to attack MINNESOTA, still aground. She was followed by the three ships of the James River Squadron. They found their course blocked, however, by the newly arrived MONITOR. At first, Jones believed the strange craft—which one Confederate sailor mocked as "a cheese on a raft"—to be a boiler being towed from the MINNESOTA, not realizing the nature of his opponent. Soon, however, it was apparent that he had no choice but to fight her. The first shot of the engagement was fired at MONITOR by VIRGINIA. The shot flew past MONITOR and struck MINNESOTA, which answered with a broadside; this began what would be a lengthy engagement. "Again, all hands were called to quarters, and when she approached within a mile of us I opened upon her with my stern guns and made a signal to the Monitor to attack the enemy," Van Brunt added.

After fighting for hours, mostly at close range, neither could overcome the other. The armor of both ships proved adequate. In part, this was because each was handicapped in her offensive capabilities. Buchanan, in Virginia, had not expected to fight another armored vessel, so his guns were supplied only with shell rather than armor-piercing shot. MONITOR'S guns were used with the standard service charge of only 15 lb (6.8 kg) of powder, which did not give the projectile sufficient momentum to penetrate her opponent's armor. Tests conducted after the battle showed that the Dahlgren guns could be operated safely and efficiently with charges of as much as 30 lb (14 kg).[63] However, despite this, as the two ironclads circled each other during the fight, Monitor was about to penetrate Virginia’s armor, but a misfiring of its weapons caused it to lose the advantage. At 10 AM that morning, Virginia grounded. Monitor opened fire on its vulnerable adversary, yet Virginia was able to scrape off the shore and rejoin the fight.

Lithograph: First Battle of Iron Ships of War by Henry Bill. Shown are USS MONITOR, CSS VIRGINIA, USS CUMBERLAND, CSS JAMESTOWN, USS CONGRESS and USS MINNESOTA



Later during the battle, United States Navy, Acting Master Louis N. Stodder and United States Navy, officers Alban C. Stimers and Truscott were inside the gun turret, discussing the course of action. Stodder was leaning against the turret's inside wall when it took a direct hit. Stodder was knocked unconscious and taken below, where it took him an hour to regain consciousness. Stodder thus became the first man injured during the battle. He was replaced by Stimers.

Chromolithograph: The First Fight Between Ironclads", a chromolithograph of the Battle of Hampton Roads



The battle finally ceased when a shell from Virginia struck the pilot house of MONITOR and exploded, driving fragments of paint and iron through the viewing slits into Worden's eyes and temporarily blinding him. As no one else could see to command the ship, MONITOR was forced to draw off. The executive officer, Lieutenant Samuel Dana Greene, took over, and MONITOR returned to the fight. In the period of command confusion, however, the crew of VIRGINIA believed that their opponent had withdrawn. Although MINNESOTA was still aground, the falling tide meant that she was out of reach. Furthermore, VIRGINIA had suffered enough damage to require extensive repair. Convinced that his ship had won the day, Jones ordered her back to Norfolk. At about this time, MONITOR returned, only to discover her opponent apparently giving up the fight. Convinced that VIRGINIA was quitting, with orders only to protect MINNESOTA and not to risk his ship unnecessarily, Greene did not pursue. Thus, each side misinterpreted the moves of the other, and as a result each claimed victory.

Map: events of the Battle of Hampton Roads




Georgia

A United States Naval force led by United States Navy, Commander Sylvanus William Godon and consisting of USS MONICHAN, USS POCAHONTAS, and USS POTOMSKA took possession of St Simon’s and Jekyl Islands and landed a boat party at Brunswick. All locations were found to be abandoned, confirming that the Confederates had withdrawn their forces from exposed and indefensible coastal areas and islands.

Mississippi

The UNDALILLA-class gunboat USS PINOLA (1 × 11-in Dahlgren smoothbore, 2 × 24-pdr smoothbore and 2 × 20-pdr Parrott rifles) under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Crosby, arrived at Ship Island with the prize schooner CORA, captured previously in the Gulf of Mexico.

Operation at Rolla ended.

Skirmishes at Mountain Grove Seminary and Mountain Grove.

Missouri

At New Madrid, United States Army, Brigadier General Joseph Bennett Plummer’s 5th division of the Army of the Mississippi abandoned Point Pleasant after Confederate gunboats had shelled their positions intermittently for three days. The Confederate Army remained within its fortifications at New Madrid, offering no support to the harassment achieved by their naval forces.

In a skkirmish on Big Creek, United States Army, Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Krekel (1st Battalion Missouri Cavalry Militia), killed the renegade Ted Sharp, who had killed the notorious Dr. Cleveland a few days earlier at the Virginia Hotel.

Tennessee

Operation at Crump’s Landing and an expedition to Purdy were begun by United States Army, Brigadier General Charles Ferguson Smith.

Skirmish at Nashville

Skirmish on the Granny White Pike Pike involving Confederate Colonel John S Scott (1st Louisiana Cavalry).

Day 334 of the United States Civil War, March 11th 1862

District of Columbia

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln issue Executive Order—President's Special War Order No. 3 which reads as follows:

March 11, 1862
Major-General McClellan having personally taken the field at the head of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered he is relieved from the command of the other military departments, he retaining command of the Department of the Potomac.

Ordered further, That the departments now under the respective commands of Generals Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that under General Buell as lies west of a north and south line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tenn., be consolidated and designated the Department of the Mississippi, and that until otherwise ordered Major-General Halleck have command of said department.

Ordered also, That the country west of the Department of the Potomac and east of the Department of the Mississippi be a military department, to be called the Mountain Department, and that the same be commanded by Major-General Fremont.

That all the commanders of departments, after the receipt of this order by them, respectively report severally and directly to the Secretary of War, and that prompt, full, and frequent reports will be expected of all and each of them.

Abraham Lincoln

Virginia

The following are appointed Brigadier Generals in the Confederate States Army:

- Seth Maxwell Barton.
- Paul Jones Semmes.
- Lucius Marshall Walker.

Following his inexplicable abandonment of Fort Donelson in February 1862, Confederate States Army, Brigadier General John Buchanan Floyd was relieved of his command by (Confederate States) President Jefferson Finis Davis, without a court of inquiry. He resumed his commission as Major General of Virginia Militia but did not resume active field service. Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow was similarly relieved for his failure to break out from the besieged fort but he was later reinstated.

Skirmish at Stephenson’s Depot.

As the United States army of United States Army, Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks approached Winchester from Harper’s Ferry, Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson evacuated the town and retreated to Mount Jackson. Jackson’s retreat away from superior numbers continued for ten days through Kernstown and Strasburg and then past the Massanutten mountains.

The United States Army of the Potomac withdrew northwards across Bull Run and made camp around Fairfax.

United States Army, Brigadier General Jacob Dolson Cox began new operations in western Virginia. He advanced with four brigades from Charleston and Gauley. One of these brigades was to head east through Lewisburg under United States Army, Colonel George Crook while Cox took the two brigades of United States Army, Colonel Eliakim Parker Scammon and United States Army, Colonel Augustus Moor to cut the railroad near Newbern. The fourth was available as a reserve and as a guard for the lines of communications. The Confederates had two brigades in the area under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Henry Heth and Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Humphrey Marshall, located near Lewisburg and Tazewell respectively.

Florida

A landing party from USS WABASH under the command of United States Navy, Commander Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers, occupied St Augustine after it was evacuated by the Confederates.

Two Confederate gunboats under construction at the head of Pensacola Bay were burned by the Confederates to prevent their falling into United States hands in the event of an anticipated move against Pensacola by Union naval forces.

Georgia

Expedition to Elba Island and Savannah River began.

Missouri

Reconnaissance to Douglass County, Laclede County, and Wright County ended.

Incident at New Madrid.

North Carolina

United States Army, Brigadier General Ambrose Everett Burnside’s command embarked at Roanoke Island on transports and sailed to rendezvous with United States gunboats at Hatteras Inlet to begin an expedition against New Bern.

Tennessee

Skirmish at Paris involving troops from United States Army, Major General Ulysses Simpson Grant’s Army of West Tennessee.

Having been given overall command and direction of military operations in the western theatre, United States Army, Major General Henry Wager Halleck devised a new strategic plan. His offensive campaign would advance up the Tennessee River, destroying the railroad hubs at Jackson, Humboldt, and Corinth, and wrecking the key railroad bridge at Big Bear Creek east of Iuka. Halleck’s base of operations was moved to Savannah on the Tennessee River, which had been occupied since March 5th 1862.

Confederate forces numbering 10,000 men under Confederate States Army, Major General Leonidas Polk reached Humboldt where Confederate States Army, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was collecting the Army of Mississippi for the defence of western Tennessee. This was the crossing point of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad and the Memphis & Louisville Railroad. The railroad offered some mobility for Beauregard to defend the extended line from Memphis to Corinth, Mississippi, by using trains to shift his troops.

Department of the Mississippi (United States)

The Departments of Kansas, of the Missouri, and part of the Ohio, are merged into the Departments of the Mississippi, under United States, Army Major General Henry Wager Halleck.

New York

The 96th New York Infantry Regiment (United States), recruited in New York’s North Country and known as the Plattsburg Regiment left Plattsburgh for Washington where it joined the Army of the Potomac.

The 5th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment (United States), raised from elements across the state, entered federal service for the Civil War.

Day 336 of the United States Civil War, March 13th 1862

District of Columbia

With recent scandals over military contracts still holding the public eye, (United States) Secretary of War Stanton appointed a Special Commission on Ordnance and Ordnance Stores headed by former war secretary Joseph Holt and Democratic diplomat and past Indiana congressman Robert Dale Owen, the son of the famous British socialist.

More than one hundred Articles of War, set by Congress, governed the conduct of the nation's armed forces. Reacting to recent developments, Congress added an additional article prohibiting Army and Navy officers from using the troops under them "for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due." The penalty for violating this article was set as dismissal from the service.

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln issue a Executive Order which reads as follows:

War Department

Major-General George B. Mclellan:

The President, having considered the plan of operations agreed upon by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no objection to the same, but gives the following directions as to its execution:

1. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position and line of communication.

2. Leave Washington entirely secure.

3.Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there, or, at all events, move such remainder of the army at once in pursuit of the enemy by some route.

Edwin M. Stanton,

Secretary of War

Arkansas

Action at Spring River.

Mississippi

United States Navy, Commander David Dixon Porter reported the arrival of the mortar flotilla at Ship Island. The vessels had been fitted out and left New York on February 26th 1862.

Missouri

Confederate States Army, Major General John Porter McCown’s garrison was holding the fortifications at New Madrid and Island No 10 against a naval and land siege directed by United States Army, Brigadier General John Pope’s Army of the Mississippi. Pope had been in position for ten days awaiting siege artillery and equipment and digging parallels.

Pope’s efforts to persuade United States Navy, Captain Andrew Foote to attack the forts with his ironclad gunboats were persistently rebuffed as Foote felt his ships were too damaged to commit them confidently in another dangerous action. After being placed in position overnight, the Union heavy artillery exchanged artillery fire in earnest. A day-long artillery duel ensued and total losses on both sides exceeded 100 killed and wounded. The United States gunners dismounted two heavy guns in Fort Thompson and scored several direct hits on the Confederate gunboats. In reply, the defenders managed to shoot an 8-inch ball directly into the muzzle of one of the besieging 24 pounders.

Pope ordered a surprise infantry assault on Fort Bankhead by United States Army, Brigadier General John McAuley Palmer’s 5th Division, but the Confederates discovered the plan and trained their big guns on the vulnerable attackers. Palmer approached to within a mile of the fort and then refused to order the assault because the enemy was ready to stop it. Pope acquiesced to Palmer’s decision. McCown launched a sortie against the besiegers led by Pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard, Brigadier General Meriwether Jefferson Thompson. He also brought up heavy artillery to bombard the United States infantry.

In the evening, Confederate States Army, Brigadier-General Alexander Peter Stewart, McCown, and Confederate States Navy, Commodore George Nichols Hollins met aboard the gunboat CSS MCREA (One 9 in (229 mm) smoothbore, six 32-pounder smoothbores, one 6-pounder rifle) and concluded that the situation at New Madrid was now hopeless. Within hours of the meeting, under the cover of a terrific spring thunderstorm, the Confederates evacuated New Madrid and crossed over to the opposite bank of the River under cover of Hollins’ gunboat squadron of CSS LIVINGSTON, CSS POLK, and CSS PONTCHARAIN. The evacuation was incompetently handled. There were too few transports, the heavy guns were not spiked, the caissons and limbers from the field pieces had to be thrown overboard from the transports, pickets were left behind in the trenches, and dead bodies were left unburied. The United States besiegers watched the movements of the enemy transports all night long but could not determine whether they were conducting an evacuation or bringing in supplies or reinforcements. The Confederate gunboats and troops were evacuated to Island No 10 and Tiptonville.

Photo: CSS MCREA, New Orleans, 1860