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

Day 340 of the United States Civil War, March 17th 1862

District of Columbia

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

- William Hemsley Emory.
- Orris Sanford Ferry.
- Isaac Ferdinand Quinby.

Virginia

The first elements of United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan’s Army of the Potomac embarked for transportation by sea from Alexandria to the Yorktown peninsula. This was the first stage of McClellan’s campaign against the Confederate capital of Richmond. Twelve divisions were to be transported in increments by 389 vessels to Fortress Monroe. McClellan believed that he had satisfactorily met the conditions of the government to provide sufficient troops for the defence and protection of the capital before commencing his operations. A fleet of 113 steamers, 188 schooners, and 88 barges began to transport the army from Alexandria in echelons of 10,000 men with all their equipment and supplies. United States Army, Major General Irvin McDowell protected the embarkation from the defences at Alexandria. McDowell’s I Corps had been set aside to advance overland towards Fredericksburg, thereby protecting the capital from direct attack by the enemy armies in Virginia. The V Corps was operating in the Shenandoah valley, leaving McClellan with the II Corps, III Corps, and IV Corps to be transported to the Peninsula.

United States Army, Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks received orders from United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan to leave a covering force of one division (Brigadier-General James Shields’ 2nd Division of V Corps) in the Shenandoah Valley and to send the majority of his troops eastwards. McClellan wanted the bulk of V Corps to join the Army of the Potomac on the Yorktown peninsula but events prevented this from happening. Shields’ division continued to operate around Strasburg in the Shenandoah Valley while the 1st Division of Brigadier-General Alpheus Starkey Williams prepared to leave Winchester for Alexandria. Meanwhile, United States Army, Brigadier General John Sedgwick’s 3rd Division left Harper’s Ferry and headed to join the army at Alexandria.

West Virginia

Citizens of Upshur County met to consider their action in regard to the adoption of the Constitution, recently adopted by the convention at Wheeling, for the new State of West Virginia.

Arkansas

Confederate States Army, Major General Earl Van Dorn was ordered by Confederate States Army, General Albert Sidney Johnston to move eastwards across Arkansas to the Mississippi River. From here he would provide reinforcements for Confederate States Army, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard in Tennessee. Van Dorn responded that he could instead move immediately to join the action around New Madrid, Missouri, or make a bolder march to St Louis by way of the United States supply depot at Rolla, Missouri.

Kentucky

Expedition to Pound Gap ended.

Mississippi

Expedition to Yellow Creek ended.

Action at Riddle’s Point.

North Carolina

The CSS NASHVILLE under the command of Confederate States Navy, Lieutenant R B Pegram ran the blockade out of Beaufort, evading the gunfire of the gunboat USS CAMBRIDGE (2 × 8 in (203 mm) rifles), under the command of United States Navy, Commander W A Parker, and the gunboat USS GEMSBOK (4 × 8 in (200 mm) guns and 2 × 32-pounders) under the command of United States Navy, LieutenAnt Cavendy.

Drawing: U.S. Gunboat CAMBRIDGE. Broadside view steamship



Missouri

Confederate States Army, Major General Sterling Price officially disbanded the Missouri State Guard and enrolled it into regular Confederate service in the Army of the West.

(Missouri) Joint Operations Against New Madrid, Island No. 10, and Memphis - Battle of Island No. 10

United States Army, Major General John Pope continued to press United States Navy, Captain Andrew Hull Foote for two or three gunboats to run past the Confederate batteries at Island No 10 in order to help him cross the river and trap the garrison. Foote demurred, arguing that his boats were not invincible and that a chance disabling shot would deliver a valuable warship into Confederate hands. He added that a captured gunboat could threaten all the cities along the Mississippi and its tributaries. Nevertheless, Foote agreed to attack the Confederate fortifications at Island No 10 with three gunboats, which would begin by engaging the Redan Fort on the Tennessee shore. Foote ordered the USS BENTON to be lashed between two other ironclads (USS CINCINNATI and USS ST LOUIS), a precaution in case one of the boats became disabled so it would not float downstream into Confederate hands.

The three ironclads attacked the Redan with bows forward, the mortar boats and the rest of the fleet joining if the range of their guns allowed. The Redan, commanded by Confederate States Army, Captain Edward W Rucker, was armed with three 8-inch Columbiads and three 32-pounders (smoothbore) and was partially flooded. The 32-pounder smoothbores were out of range throughout the three-hour fight but the huge “Lady Polk Jr” (a 128-pounder gun on the island) fired from three miles away, as did a rifled 32-pounder in another shore battery. The USS BENTON took three direct hits and the ironclad USS ST LOUIS was struck several times. The Confederate guns also damaged the engine of the USS CINCINNATI. A rifled gun burst on board USS ST LOUIS while firing, killing three men and wounding a dozen others in the crew.

The Redan took a tremendous pounding but the Confederate gunners stood to their guns until Foote retired. The upper fort was slightly damaged by USS BENTON and the other boats which dismounted one gun.

Map: Siege of Island Number 10



Tennessee

Expedition to Pittsburg Landing and Savannah ended.

United States Army, Brigadier General Ulysses Simpson Grant’s Army of West Tennessee moved from Savannah to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The troops disembarked at Pittsburg Landing on the western bank of the Tennessee River. The Army had expanded to five Divisions. The interim commander, C F Smith, had established his headquarters at Savannah. Grant arrived in person to take command of operations from Smith and moved in with his staff. Grant was ordered to await the arrival of United States Army, Major General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio from Nashville before advancing any further south. The Confederate base at Corinth, Mississippi, was a long one or two days’ march distant and Buell was reported to be near Waynesboro, about forty miles away. Grant declined to fortify his camps, trusting that the Confederates were demoralised and too weak to oppose his advance before Buell arrived.

Day 342 of the United States Civil War, March 19th 1862

District of Columbia

Daniel Phineas Woodbury, is made Brigadier General in the United States Army.

Virginia

Samuel Jones, is made Major General in the Confederate States Army.

Skirmish at Elk Mountain.

A Confederate force commanded by Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson advanced against the United States division of United States Army, Brigadier-General James Shields at Strasburg. Since the United States division of United States Army, Brigadier General Alpheus Starkey Williams at Winchester had orders to leave the Shenandoah Valley, Shields’ unsupported garrison at Strasburg was recalled from its advanced position at Strasburg towards Winchester.

Pennsylvania

The side-wheel steamer USS RHODE ISLAND (4 × 32-pounder guns) arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Yard carrying prisoners of war. Included among these were the twenty-seven crewmen of the privateer BEAUREGARD whose seven-day career as a raider had come to end with capture by the gunboat USS W.G. ANDERSON (six 32-pounder guns and 1 24-pounder howitzer) on November 12th 1861. The BEAUREGARD crewmen had been held at Key West in Florida and were on their way to their eventual imprisonment at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor.

California

Expedition began from Camp Latham to Owen’s River.

Kansas

The transfer of United States Army, Major General David Hunter to command the new Department of the South, allowed the reduction of the Department of Kansas to become the District of Kansas in the Department of the Mississippi. The Department of the Mississippi was now once again effectively a Department rather than a putative Military Division as it had no authority over other Departments.

Missouri

United States expedition to Carthage began under United States Army, Lieutenant-Colonel Powell Clayton (5th Kansas Cavalry).

Missouri

United States operations in Johnson County were led by Pro-United States Missouri State Guard BrigadierGeneral James Totten.

Incident at Leesville.

Tennessee

The United States Army of the Ohio under United States Army, Major General Don Carlos Buell reached Columbia on its march from Nashville to join United States Army, Major General Ulysses Simpson Grant at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. At this point, Buell was delayed for ten days by the flooding of the Duck River and a shortage of bridging materials.

South Carolina

United States reconnaissance up the May River began.

North Carolina

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Joseph R. Anderson, supersedes Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Richard C. Gatlin in the command of the Confederate Department of North Carolina.

Florida

Confederate States Army, Colonel W.S. Dilworth, is assigned to the command of the Department of Florida.

Day 344 of the United States Civil War, March 21st 1862

District of Columbia

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

- Samuel Ryan Curtis.
- John Alexander McClernand.
- William Starke Rosecrans.
- Lewis Wallace.

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

- Alexander Sandor Asboth.
- Henry Beebee Carrington.
- John Cook.
- James Craig.
- Speed Smith Fry.
- Henry Moses Judah.
- Jacob Gartner Lauman.
- John Alexander Logan.
- Robert Latimer McCook.
- Horatio Phillips Van Cleve.
- William Harvey Lamb Wallace.

Virginia

Confederate war clerk John Beauchamp Jones notes the degree to which black-marketing has flourished in Richmond, while offering not such a thinly-veiled criticism of the hypocritically-motivated efforts of those supposedly engaged in curtailing such activities: “Gen. [John H.] Winder’s detectives are very busy. They have been forging prescriptions to catch the poor Richmond apothecaries. When brandy is thus obtained it is confiscated, and the money withheld. They drink the brandy, and imprison the apothecaries.”

Reconnaissance to Dumfries ended.

Confederate States Army, Colonel Turner Ashby, commanding the cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley, detected the withdrawal of United States forces eastwards from Winchester. On receiving this intelligence, Confederate States Army, Major-General Thomas Jonathan Jackson made plans for a forced march down the Shenandoah Valley from Mount Jackson in order to deter the enemy from sending reinforcements to Richmond.

Arkansas

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General William Yarnel Slack, dies from wounds he received on March 7th 1862, at the Battle of Pea Ridge, or Elkhorn Tavern, AR.

Florida

Naval engagement at Mosquito Inlet involving the gunboats USS HENRY ANDREW, USS PENGUIN Penguin and USS UNION.

Missouri

Skirmish at McKay’s Farm between Humansville and Warsaw.

North Carolina

United States Army, troops reached Washington from New Bern and occupied the town.

United States Army, Brigadier General John Grubb Parke occupied Carolina City during his gradual progress to capture the ports of the inner shore and to isolate Fort Macon at Beaufort.

Tennessee

Reconnaissance to Cumberland Gap began.

Day 346 of the United States Civil War, March 23rd 1862

Virginia

George Wythe Randolph formally succeeded Judah Philip Benjamin as Confederate Secretary of War, having been appointed on March 18th 1862.

Two divisions of United States Army, Brigadier General Samuel Peter Heintzelman’s III Corps (Army of the Potomac) disembarked at Fortress Monroe on the Yorktown Peninsula. They were the advance guard of the Army of the Potomac. Shortage of transportation delayed the beginning of their march towards Yorktown for two weeks.

Confederate States Army, Major General John Bankhead Magruder observed the arrival of United States troops on the Yorktown peninsula and reported that more than twenty transports were disembarking troops at Old Point Comfort, suggesting that as many as 35,000 enemy troops had landed. Magruder called urgently for reinforcements. It was unclear as yet whether the United States forces were staying permanently or were making their way to reinforce the United States troops in North Carolina; or whether they were a diversion to draw troops away from the main theatre of operations around Manassas. Confederate States Army, General Robert Edward Lee alerted Magruder and Confederate States Army, Major General Benjamin Huger at Norfolk each to be ready to reinforce the other once United States intentions had been discerned. Reinforcements could not yet be released from Confederate States Army, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston’s Army of Northern Virginia on the Rapidan River. Johnston had already lost two brigades that were sent to operate in North Carolina.

The Confederate James River defences at Drewry’s Bluff, eight miles from Richmond, were strengthened and the capital’s reserves (two regiments of infantry and some cavalry) were sent to Confederate States Army, Major General John Bankhead Magruder.

(Virginia) Jackson's Valley campaign - First Battle of Kernstown

United States Army, Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was preparing to leave the Shenandoah Valley with the majority of his command, leaving United States Army, Brigadier General James Shields with a garrison of one division around Winchester. Shields had delegated command of the division temporarily to United States Army, Colonel Nathan Kimball. Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson marched 15 miles towards Kernstown and attacked aggressively before 11 am in order to overwhelm what he had been informed incorrectly was a much inferior enemy.

Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson performed no personal reconnaissance before he sent Confederate States Army, Colonel Turner Ashby on a feint with his cavalry and Confederate States Army, Colonel Jesse S Burks’ brigade against Kimball’s main position across the Valley Turnpike while his main force (the brigades of Colonel Samuel V Fulkerson and Brigadier-General Richard Brooke Garnett) attacked the United States artillery position on Pritchard Hill. Fulkerson was repulsed so Jackson decided to move around the United States right flank about two miles to the west along Sandy Ridge, which appeared to be unoccupied. A successful march would allow his men to advance along the spine of the ridge into the United States rear and to block their escape route to Winchester.

United States Army, Colonel Nathan Kimball countered the flanking maneuver by moving United States Army, Colonel Erastus Barnard Tyler’s brigade to the west. Fulkerson’s men reached a stone wall facing a clearing on the ridge ahead of the United States men. Jackson’s aide Confederate States Army, Lieutenant Alexander Pendleton obtained a clear view from the ridge of the United States forces arrayed against them and he estimated that there were 10,000 men present, greatly outnumbering Jackson.

Around 4 pm Tyler attacked Fulkerson and Garnett using an unorthodox approach by his brigade in “close column of divisions”, a brigade front of two companies in 24 lines. This formation was difficult to control and lacked firepower at the front. The Confederates were temporarily able to blunt this narrow frontal attack with their inferior numbers from behind the stone wall.

Map: Actions at the First Battle of Kernstown, 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m



Jackson, finally realising the strength of the force opposing him, rushed reinforcements to his left, but by the time they arrived around 6 pm, Garnett’s Brigade had run out of ammunition and he had pulled his brigade back, leaving Fulkerson’s right flank exposed. Jackson tried in vain to rally his troops but the entire Confederate force was forced into a general retreat. The Confederates fell back four and a half miles to Newton, but Ashby’s cavalry deterred the cautious United States pursuit about one and a half miles south of Kernstown. Garnett was relieved of command of his brigade by Jackson for ordering a withdrawal without permission.

Drawing: Decisive Bayonet-Charge of the Federal Troops at Winchester, Virginia, March 23, 1862



United States casualties were 590 men (118 killed, 450 wounded, 22 captured or missing). Confederate losses were 718 men (80 killed, 375 wounded, 263 captured or missing).

(North Carolina) Burnside's North Carolina Expedition - Siege of Fort Macon

Siege of Fort Macon began. United States Army, Brigadier General John Grubb Parke sent a message from his headquarters at Carolina City to Confederate States Army, Colonel Moses J White, demanding the surrender of Fort Macon near Beaufort. He offered to release the garrison on parole if the fort was turned over intact. White refused the demand. Meanwhile, Parke’s troops occupied Newport in force and the siege of Fort Macon commenced.

Map: Coastal North Carolina in the vicinity of Fort Macon, showing how it dominated the seaward approaches to Morehead City and Beaufort



Tennessee

Reconnaissance to Cumberland Gap ended.

New Mexico Territory

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley pressed on from Santa Fe towards Fort Union, sixty miles to the east, in order to replenish his dwindling supplies. He sent a force of 200 to 300 Texans under the command of Major Charles L Pyron on an advance expedition over the Glorieta Pass, a strategic location on the Santa Fe Trail at the southern tip of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains southeast of Santa Fe. The pass was at the mouth of Apache Canyon which led towards Las Vegas and Fort Union, the main base for all the United States garrisons gathered from across the territory. Control of the pass would allow the Confederates to advance onto the High Plains and to make an assault on Fort Union, the United States stronghold along the invasion route northward over Raton Pass.

Sibley also intended six companies under the command of Confederate States Army, Colonel Thomas Green to block the eastern end of Glorieta Pass, thereby turning any United States defensive position in the Sangre de Cristos. The main body of Sibley’s column now numbered around 600 men, having been reduced by losses and detachments from its original strength of 3,800 men in December 1861.

Arkansas

Despite the defeat at Pea Ridge, Confederate States Army, Major General Earl Van Dorn was determined to maintain the strategic initiative west of the Mississippi. As his army of 18,000 men marched northwards towards St Louis, aiming for the gap between Ironton and Rolla in Missouri, he had received instructions from the Confederate authorities to turn eastwards and to cross the Mississippi in order to reinforce Confederate States Army, General Pierre Gustave Toutant near Corinth, Mississippi. He was ordered to concentrate first at Des Arc and then to cross the Mississippi at Memphis, Tennessee. The movement of this force across the Mississippi effectively conceded control of Missouri to the United States. Despite raids and persistent guerilla activity, the Confederates were never able to collect as strong a field force again to regain the initiative in the region.

Florida

Skirmishes at New Smyrna and Smyrna.

Missouri

Skirmish at Carthage and Sink Pole Woods.

United States expedition from New Madrid to Little River by United States Army, Major Jonas Rowalt (7th Illinois Cavalry).

(Missouri) Joint Operations Against New Madrid, Island No. 10, and Memphis - Battle of Island No. 10

At Island No 10, United States Army, Brigadier General John Pope was growing increasingly impatient with the inactivity of the ironclad flotilla above the enemy fort. He telegraphed United States Navy, Captain Andrew Hull Foote daily asking him to make a move downriver. In desperation, Pope had ordered a canal cut across the Missouri peninsula to open a passage for the ships. United States Army, Colonel J W Bissell and an engineer detachment finished the effort on April 2nd 1862. The major part of the work involved cutting a path through the flooded bayous, which Bissell’s engineers accomplished by devising an ingenious method of sawing through trees below the waterline.

Day 348 of the United States Civil War, March 25th 1862

Virginia

Skirmish at Mount Jackson.

The United States army of Major General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks continued its pursuit of the Confederates after the victory at Kernstown and occupied Strasburg. The Confederate division of Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson continued to withdraw southwards to Mount Jackson.

Tennessee

(United States) President Abraham Lincoln had named former United States Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee as military governor of his state, with the rank of brigadier general, earlier in the month. Arriving in Nashville, Johnson made strenuous use of the loyalty oath to ensure a successful United States occupation. On this day, the Nashville mayor and the city council voted 16-1 refused to take the oath. Johnson instantly removed all of them and filled their vacancies with those that would swear allegiance to the United States.

Alabama

The UNADILLA-class gunboat USS CAYUGA (1 × 11-in Dahlgren smoothbore, 2 × 24-pdr smoothbores and 2 × 20-pdr Parrott rifles) under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Harrison, captured the schooner JESSIE J COX, on the way from Mobile to Havana with a cargo of cotton and turpentine.

Mississippi

The gunboat CSS PAMLICO (3×8-inch (20 cm) smoothbore cannons and 1×6.4-inch (16 cm) Brooke rifle) under the command of Confederate States Navy, Lieutenant William G Dozier, and the gunboat CSS OREGON (1 × 8 in (203 mm) gun, 1 × 32 pounder (15 kg), two howitzers) under the command of Confederate States Navy, Acting Master Abraham L Myers, engaged USS NEW LONDON under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Read at Pass Christian. The rifled gun on board CSS PAMLICO jammed during the two-hour engagement and the Confederate vessels broke off the action, with neither side having sustained damage.

Transports carrying United States Army, Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler and his Army expeditionary force arrived at Ship Island, the principal base for operations west of Key West. Butler’s troops were assigned to assist in the capture of New Orleans.

Missouri

United States reconnaissance in Moniteau County began under Missouri State Brigadier-General James Totten.

Incidents at Island No 10 and Monagan Springs.

North Carolina

United States Army, Brigadier General John Grubb Parke occupied the abandoned port of Beaufort, severing communications to the Confederate defences at Fort Macon. Before he could enforce the siege effectively, he needed to repair the burned railroad bridge at Newport, which was required to bring forward his heavy artillery.

Tennessee

Reconnaissance to Agnew’s Ferry by United States Army, Lieutenant Mortimer Neely (5th Iowa Cavalry).

United States Expedition from Murfreesboro to Manchester, Shelbyville, McMinnville, and Tullahoma began.

The gunboat USS CAIRO under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Bryant, seized guns and equipment abandoned by Confederate troops evacuating Fort Zollicoffer, six miles below Nashville.

Day 350 of the United States Civil War, March 27th 1862

Virginia

Operation at Middleburg and White Plains began.

Incidents at Middleburg and Strasburg.

United States Army, Colonel John White Geary (28th Pennsylvania Infantry) discovered burnt bridges, broken telegraph wires, and other destruction of military assets by the Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley. This suggested that the Confederates might be preparing to leave the region.

The 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment (Confederate States) and 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment (Confederate States) were sent from Richmond to reinforce Confederate States Army, Major-General John Bankhead Magruder’s Army of the Peninsula.

Concluding that the United States troops landing in large numbers at Fort Monroe represented the major offensive campaign of the United States army, Confederate States Army, General Robert Edward Lee transmitted orders from (Confederate States) President Jefferson Finis Davis to Confederate States Army, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston. Johnston was directed to move the remainder of his Army of Northern Virginia from Culpeper and the Rapidan River to the Yorktown Peninsula and to join forces with Confederate States Army, Major General Joh Bankhead Magruder.

South Carolina

An armed boat under the command of United States Navy, Acting Lieutenant Conroy from the gunboat USS RESTLESS, captured the schooner JULIA WORDEN off South Carolina, with a cargo of rice for Charleston, and burned the sloop MARY LOUISA and schooner GEORGE WASHINGTON.

New Jersey

Reverend Samual Aaron, a well-known abolitionist Baptist minister from nearby Mount Holly, attempted to give a public lecture at the City Hall in Burlington, New Jersey. His topic was "The Constitution" but his abolitionist reputation and his attitude towards the conduct of the war had attracted a raucous and drunken crowd of protestors whose charges against the stage and throwing of rotten eggs brought the event to near riot. The town mayor restored order and one man was arrested.

Florida

United States Army,Brigadier General Lewis Golding Arnold conducted a four-day reconnaissance of Santa Rosa Island.

Missouri

The United States War Department ordered the noted engineer Charles Ellet Jr to provide steam-powered rams for defence against the Confederate ironclad vessels being built on the western rivers. Ellet converted several powerful river towboats, removing their upper cabins and reinforcing their bows with heavy timber. These ships had some light protection for their boilers, engines, and upper works, and their upper superstructure was packed with timber and cotton bales. These timber-clad rams were not originally intended to be equipped with artillery, but most were fitted later with guns.

(New Mexico Territory) Engagements in United States New Mexico - Battle of Glorieta Pass

After the engagement at Apache Canyon, no further fighting occurred while reinforcements arrived on both sides. At about 3 am Confederate States Army, Lieutenant Colonel William Read Scurry’s troops (4th Texas Cavalry, 5th Texas Cavalry, 7th Texas Cavalry, and an independent volunteer company) swelled the ranks of Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley’s invading column to about 1,100 men with five guns. Scurry took command of the entire Confederate force.

Thinking that United States Army, Colonel John Potts Slough would attack again, and expecting Confederate States Army, Colonel Thomas Green to arrive in the Union rear at any time, Scurry chose to remain in place for the day, digging rifle pits. Meanwhile, Slough did arrive with about 900 men to raise the United States force to about 1,300 men. These United States reinforcements had performed an arduous forced march from Denver, over Raton Pass to Fort Union, and then to Glorieta Pass, covering a distance of 400 miles in just 14 days.