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

Day 416 of the United States Civil War, May 31st 1862

District of Columbia

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby is made Brigadier General in the United States Army.

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

- Silas Casey.
- Edwin Vose Sumner.

Virginia

Expedition to Norfolk ended.

Evacuation of West Point.

Skirmish at Front Royal.

By noon, the majority of Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson’s force of 15,000 men, with 2,000 prisoners and a double train of supply wagons seven miles long were approaching Strasburg from Winchester. The brigade with the longest march, thirty-five miles distance from the outskirts of Harper’s Ferry, had halted in exhaustion four miles south of Winchester. Despite the fact that 50,000 United States troops were planning to trap Jackson, and 40,000 more were being diverted from the concentric advance on Richmond, it was proving impossible so far to encircle or capture his command.

The United States Army of the Potomac was accompanied by the Army Balloon Corps commanded by Professor Thaddeus S C Lowe. Lowe had established two balloon camps on the north side of the river, one at Gaines’ Farm and one at Mechanicsville. Bad weather prevented the balloons from being launched before the start of the battle at Fair Oaks to provide an early warning of the attack. The aerostats or balloons Washington and Intrepid were finally launched after 2 pm but Lowe and his assistant were unable to see specific troop movements through the heavy forest from their position north of the river and provided no useful intelligence to the United States army at Fair Oaks.

Photo: Prof. Lowe ascending in the Intrepid to observe the Battle of Seven Pines



The first true machine gun to be used successfully employed in battle was used by its inventor, Captain R S Williams, at Fair Oaks. The Williams Rapid-Fire Gun was a 1-pounder steel breech-loader with a 2-inch bore. The positive results persuaded the Confederate government to order six weapons. They formed the equipment of Williams’, later Schoolfield’s, battery in the western theatre. It is thought that two batteries of six guns were made at Lynchburg, four batteries at the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, and one at Mobile, Alabama.

(Virginia) Peninsula Campaign - Battle of Seven Pines

Confederate States Army, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston attempted to overwhelm two United States corps that appeared to be isolated south of the Chickahominy River at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines.

Map: Peninsula Campaign, map of events up to the Battle of Seven Pines (Red) Confederate (Blue) United States



The Confederate divisions of Confederate States Army, Major General Ambrose Powell and Confederate States Army, Major General John Bankhead Magruder screened the crossings of the Chickahominy River while Confederate States Army, Major General Longstreet’s Centre Wing, reinforced by Confederate States Army, Brigadier General William Henry Chase Whiting’s division, marched to envelop the United states right flank along the Nine Mile Road. Confederate States Army, Major General Daniel Harvey Hill’s division was to make a secondary attack along the Williamsburg Road while Confederate States Army, Major General Benjamin Huger’s division came up to protect the Confederate right by marching south-eastwards along the Charles City Road.

The Confederate assaults were poorly coordinated and Longstreet took the Charles City Road and turned onto the Williamsburg Road, instead of taking the Nine Mile Road. This decision out him on the road prescribed for D H Hill and Huger. This delayed both of these divisions for many hours and also that of Whiting. Huger’s orders had not specified a time that an attack was scheduled to start and he was not awakened until he heard a division marching nearby and found his route blocked. Even when he got moving, Huger’s division became embroiled in the upper reaches of White Oak Swamp and could not find the enemy. His division contributed little to the attack.

Johnston and his second-in-command, Confederate States Army, Major General Gustavus Woodson Smith, unaware of Longstreet’s location nor his misguided change of route nor of Huger’s delay, waited at their headquarters for word or sound of the start of the battle. Five or six hours after the scheduled start of the battle at 1 pm, D H Hill became impatient and sent his brigades forward against United States Army, Brigadier-General Silas Casey’s division of United States Army, Major General Erasmus Darwin Keyes’ IV Corps. Hill attacked alone across boggy, wooded terrain towards Seven Pines. Casey’s line was manned by inexperienced troops. Some units buckled, others retreated, while others fought fiercely for possession of their earthworks, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Four of Hill’s five brigades under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Samuel Garland, Confederate States Army, Colonel George Burgwyn Anderson, Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Gabriel James Rains and Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Robert Emmett Rodes (who advanced separately on the right flank) suffered very severe losses of 1,094 out of 2,000 men taken into action. Casey sent for reinforcements but Keyes was slow in responding. Eventually, the Confederates broke through, seized a United states redoubt with eight guns, and Casey’s men retreated from Fair Oaks to the second line of defensive works at Seven Pines. Hill’s men pressed on towards Seven Pines.

As late as 2.30 pm, United States Army, Major General Samuel Peter Heintzelman reported to McClellan, who was still sick in bed, that he had received no word from Keyes. On the Confederate side, Johnston was only two and a half miles from the front, but an acoustic shadow prevented him from hearing the sounds of cannons and musketry and he and his staff did not know the battle had begun until despatches were received at about 4 pm.

The United States launched a counter-attack with a bayonet charge led by United States Army, Brigadier General Henry Morris Naglee’s brigade (1/2/IV), which allowed Casey (2nd Division of IV Corps) to extract his artillery to a safer line. The other IV Corps division of United States Army, Brigadier General Darius Nash Couch led a counter-attack by the 7th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (United states) and 62nd New York Infantry Regiment (United states) to reinforce the 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment (United states) and 61st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment (United states) on his right flank. Despite the aggressive riposte, the Confederates crushed this flank and Couch was forced back to avoid encirclement, joining United States Army, Brigadier General John Joseph Abercrombie’s brigade (2/1/ IV) at Seven Pines.

Around 4.40 pm, Hill, finally strengthened by reinforcements from Longstreet, hit the secondary United States line near Seven Pines, which was held by the remnants of Casey’s division. Casey was reinforced by Couch, and also by Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Philip Kearny’s division from Heintzelman’s III Corps. Hill organized a flanking manoeuvre, sending four regiments under Confederate States Army, Colonel Micah Jenkins from Longstreet’s command to attack Keyes’ right flank. The attack drove the United States line back to the Williamsburg Road, a mile and a half beyond Seven Pines. A later attack by Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Richard Heron Anderson’s brigade pushed the advance a little further. Longstreet committed two more brigades under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Cadmus Marcellus Wilcox and Confederate States Army, Colonel James Lawson Kemper on the Williamsburg Road and those of Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Raleigh Edward Colston and Brigadier-General Roger Atkinson Pryor on the right flank.

United States Army, Brigadier General John James Peck’s brigade (1/1/ IV) held the left flank at Fair Oaks for two hours before withdrawing in good order. Hurrying forward over muddy roads from Bottom’s Bridge, United States Army, Brigadier General Philip Kearny’s division (3/III) reinforced Peck’s weakening line. When further reinforcements from United States Army, Brigadier General Hiram Gregory Berry’s (3/3/III) and United States Army, Brigadier General Charles Davis Jameson’s (1/3/III) brigades arrived, Casey attempted to regain some of his lost ground but was repulsed. Late in the afternoon, the 10th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment (United States) was led across half a mile of open ground by United states IV Corps commander, Keyes, to a critical point which secured this third defensive line for the United States. Fighting ceased in this sector around 6 pm. Huger’s division never arrived to join the attack.

Just before Hill’s attack began, Johnston had received a note from Longstreet requesting that he come to join the battle, the first news he had heard of the fighting. Johnston went forward on the Nine Mile Road with three brigades of Whiting’s division and encountered stiff resistance near Fair Oaks Station, the right flank of Keyes’ line.

At 2.30 pm McClellan had finally responded to the sound of gunfire by ordering his II Corps under United States Army, Major General Edwin Vose Sumner to cross the rain-swollen Chickahominy River at the Grapevine Bridge as reinforcements. Sumner had heard the sounds of battle from his position north of the river and on his own initiative dispatched a division under United States Army, Brigadier General John Sedgwick over the sole remaining bridge. The treacherous “Grapevine Bridge” was near collapse from the swollen river, but the weight of the crossing troops helped to hold it steady against the rushing water. After the last man had crossed safely, the bridge collapsed and was swept away. Sedgwick arrived at Fair Oaks at about 4 pm, just as Whiting’s Confederate division arrived along the Nine Mile Road to reinforce D H Hill at Fair Oaks. Whiting was the vanguard of Confederate States Army, Major General Gustavus Woodson Smith’s troops. They turned to face the new arrivals, attacked, were repulsed in turn, and then driven back. The collision prevented Sumner from striking Longstreet’s exposed left flank and Whiting from hitting the right flank of Keyes, so the outcome was a stalemate.

During the chaos Johnston was struck in the right shoulder by a bullet, immediately followed by a shell fragment hitting him in the chest. He fell unconscious from his horse and was evacuated to Richmond. Command of the Confederate Army and Department of North Virginia devolved temporarily to Smith. Smith was plagued with ill health and was soon almost paralysed by a nervous affliction. He was not clear about Johnston’s plan and was indecisive about the next steps for the battle. (Confederate States) President Jefferson Finis Davis and Confederate States Army, General Robert Edward Lee, his military adviser had ridden from the capital to observe the action and concluded that Smith was not capable of leading the battle in the morning.

The first day of fighting favoured the Confederates despite their parlous staff work and command confusion. They had captured 10 guns and 347 prisoners. However, the casualty list in killed and wounded was higher for the Confederates.

Map: Battle of Seven Pines



Arkansas

Reconnaissance to Little Red River.

Incident at Grande Glaize.

California

Skirmish with Indians on the Eel River near Van Dusen’s Creek.

Mississippi

Skirmish at Tuscumbia Creek.

Missouri

Skirmish at Florida on the Salt River.

Skirmishes at Waynesville and Rensey’s Ferry.

Skirmish against pro-Confederate Cherokee Indians and guerrillas near Neosho.

North Carolina

Expedition to Edenton ended.

United States Navy, Commander Stephen Clegg Rowan, commanding the side-wheel, iron-hulled steamer USS PHILADELPHIA (2 × 12 pdr (5.4 kg) guns), reported the capture of the schooner W F HARRIS in Core Sound.

Artwork: USS PHILADELPHIA



South Carolina

USS KEYSTONE STATE under the command of United States Navy, Commander William Edgar Le Roy, captured the blockade-running British schooner CORA off Charleston.

Mississippi

Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Carmichael Hindman, assumes the command of the Trans-Mississippi District.

Day 418 of the United States Civil War, June 2nd 1862

Virginia

Around sunset on the first day of the two day battle at Fair Oaks, Virginia, Confederate States Army, General Joseph E. Johnston, commander of the Confederate army defending Richmond in the engagement, had been badly wounded on the battlefield. Confederate States Army, General G.W. Smith took command for the rest of the battle but the day after the fighting (Confederate States) president Jefferson Davis made the momentous decision appointed his military advisor Robert E. Lee as field commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Arkansas

Skirmish at Galloway’s Farm near Jacksonport.

United States Army, Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis held a council of war at Searcy and the United States commanders agreed to retreat towards the Ozark foothills. Unreliable supply lines and Confederate guerrilla activity had undermined the Army of the Southwest’s capacity to operate in the sparsely populated region. By the end of June, Curtis had abandoned entirely his campaign against Little Rock and he retreated to Helena to establish a new, secure supply line based on the Mississippi River.

Florida

Eleven men in two boats from the gunboat USS KINGFISHER (4 × 8 in (200 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns) made an expedition up the Aucilla River to obtain fresh water. They were surprised by Confederate local forces; two men were killed and the other nine were captured.

Louisiana

United States Army, Colonel George Foster Shepley (12th Maine Infantry) became the Military Governor of Louisiana.

Louisiana

Boats from USS NEW LONDON captured the yachts COMET and ALGERINE near New Basin.

Mississippi

Incident at Rienzi.

Missouri

Skirmish at the Little Blue River.

North Carolina

Skirmish at Tranter’s Creek.

South Carolina

UNDAILLA-class gunboats USS UNDAILLA, USS PEMBINA, gunboats USS E B HALE (four 32-pounder guns), USS ELLEN (2 × 32-pounder guns and 2 × 30-pounder rifles) and USS HENRY ANDREW (2 × 32 pdr (15 kg) guns and 1 × 20 pdr (9.1 kg) gun) provided naval gunfire support for Army landings on James Island.

Day 420 of the United States Civil War, June 4th 1862

Virginia

Incident at Miller’s Bridge.

Skirmish at Big Bend.

Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson’s army took a one-day rest while his lengthy wagon train gained a head start towards the Virginia Central Railroad. He resolved to move to Port Republic, which was the best location to prevent United States troops in the Luray Valley from combining with United States Army, Major General John Charles Frémont near Mount Jackson. He detached two mounted columns to burn the bridge at Conrad’s Store and to set up a signal station on the southernmost peak of Massanutten Mountain.

Tennessee

Skirmish at Sweeden’s (or Sweden’s) Cove near Jasper.

Fort Pillow was attacked by the ironclad USS BENTON (2 × D. 9-inch smoothbores, 7 × J. 42-pounder rifles and 7 × D. 32-pounder rifles) and five other United States gunboats. Confederate States Army, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard ordered the garrison to evacuate Fort Pillow and the city of Memphis. The two locations had been rendered untenable after United States Army, Major General Henry Wager Halleck’s armies had occupied Corinth. The Confederate River Defence Fleet, commanded by Confederate States Navy, Captain James E Montgomery and accompanied by troops under Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Meriwether Jefferson Thompson (Missouri State Guard), evacuated the important positions. Thompson’s troops encamped outside Memphis and the River Defence Fleet awaited developments.

Drawing: Drawing of USS BENTON



Alabama

Skirmish at Huntsville

Skirmish at Woodville.

Mississippi

Skirmish at Booneville.

Skirmish at Wolf’s Creek near Blackland.

Skirmish at Osborn’s Creek

Missouri

Operation in Lafayette County and Saline County began.

United States reconnaissance to Cambridge, Frankfort, Miami, Pink Hill, and Waverly began.

Skirmish at Eleven Points between United States foragers from the 1st Indiana Cavalry Regiment (United States) and Confederate guerrillas.

South Carolina

Incidents at James Island and Big Bend.

Day 422 of the United States Civil War, June 6th 1862

Virginia

Incidents at Harrisonburg and Mount Jackson.

As the Confederate Army of the Valley retreated from Strasburg, Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson sought an opportunity to defeat his pursuers in detail. United States Army, Major General John Charles Frémont, following the North Fork Shenandoah River with 15,000 men, reached Harrisonburg. United States Army, Brigadier General James Shields led a division of 10,000 men along the South Fork from Front Royal and the Luray valley. Shields halted two miles north of the burned bridge and fourteen miles from Port Republic. Jackson had the option of withdrawing over the Blue Ridge to Brown’s Gap but decided instead to strike at Shields’ weaker force, which was a day’s march distant at Conrad’s Store and was struggling towards Port Republic over poor roads in heavy rains. The hamlet of Port Republic lies on a neck of land between the North and South Rivers, which conjoin to form the South Fork Shenandoah River. Jackson’s army, numbering about 16,000 men, bivouacked north of Port Republic after a long march in the rain. Confederate States Army, Major General Richard Stoddert Ewell’s division moved along the banks of Mill Creek near Goods Mill. He was six miles from Harrisonburg near the hamlet of Cross Keys. Meanwhile, Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Charles Sidney Winder’s division lay on the north bank of the North River near the bridge. One regiment (15th Alabama Infantry) was left to block the roads at Union Church. Jackson’s headquarters were set up in Madison Hall at Port Republic. At Port Republic, Jackson now possessed the last intact bridge on the North River and the fords on the South River by which Frémont and Shields could unite. Jackson determined to check Frémont’s advance at Mill Creek, while meeting Shields on the east bank of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. A Confederate signal station on Massanutten Mountain monitored the progress of the United States forces. A skirmish occurred at Cedar Ridge.

Mississippi

Reconnaissance to Booneville.

Skirmish at Baldwyn.

United States Army, Major General William T. Sherman writes his friend Ulysses Grant, who still feels the barbs of the press from Shiloh: “There is a power in our land, irresponsible, corrupt and malicious—‘the press,’ which has created the intense feelings of hostility that has arrayed the two parts of the country against each other, which must be curbed and brought within the just limits of reason and law, before we can have peace in America.We can deal with armies who have a visible and tangible existence, but it will require tact and skill and courage to clip the wings of this public enemy,” Sherman is convinced that Grant’s enemies have turned the general’s “just celebrity” after Fort Donelson against him “to pull you from the pinnacle which you had richly attained.”

West Virginia

A Military Commission assembled at Clarksburg, for the trial of certain guerrillas and assassins. United States Army, Major Darr and United States Army, Major Swearingen have gone there to attend, in obedience to orders from headquarters.

Tennessee

United States troops drove the Confederates from Jackson, an important rail and road centre for the Confederate forces in West Tennessee.

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

As a result of the federal victory at Corinth, the railroads that linked Memphis with the eastern part of the Confederacy had been cut, severely reducing the strategic importance of the city. Therefore, in early June 1862, Memphis and its nearby forts were abandoned by the rebel army. Most of the garrison were sent to join units elsewhere, including Vicksburg and only a small rear guard was left to make a token resistance. The River Defense Fleet was also to have retreated to Vicksburg, but it could not get enough coal in Memphis. Unable to flee when the federal fleet appeared on June 6th, Montgomery and his captains had to decide whether to fight, or scuttle their boats. They chose to fight, steaming out in the early morning to meet the advancing flotilla and the rams trailing behind it, with Memphis citizens cheering them on.

The battle started with an exchange of gunfire at long range, the federal gunboats setting up a line of battle across the river and firing their rear guns at the cottonclads coming up to meet them as they entered the battle stern first. Two of the four rams advanced beyond the line of the gunboats and rammed or otherwise disrupted the movements of their opponents; the other rams misinterpreted their orders and did not enter the battle at all. With the federal rams and gunboats not coordinating their movements and the Confederate vessels operating independently, the battle soon was reduced to a melee. It is agreed by all that the ram flagship, QUEEN OF THE WEST, initiated hostilities by slamming into the cotton-clad ram ship CSS COLONEL LOVELL. She was then rammed in turn by one or more of the remaining cottonclads. Ellet was at this time wounded by a pistol shot in his knee, thereby becoming the only casualty on the United States side. The remainder of the battle is obscured by more than the fog of war. Several eyewitness accounts are available; however, they are mutually contradictory to a greater degree than usual. All that is certain is that at the end of the battle, all but one of the cottonclads were either destroyed or captured, and one United States boat, QUEEN OF THE WEST, was disabled. The sole boat to escape, CSS GENERAL EARL VAN DORN, fled to the protection of the Yazoo River, just north of Vicksburg.

Lithograph: Battle of the rams



Lithograph: The Total Annihilation of the Rebel Fleet by the Federal Fleet under Commodore Davis. On the Morning of June 6, 1862, off Memphis, Tenn. CSS GENERAL BEAUREGARD (center foreground) is being rammed by the federal ram MONARCH. At left are the disabled federal ram QUEEN OF THE WEST and the Confederate ships GENERAL
STERLING PRICE and LITTLE REBEL.

California

Skirmishes with Native Americans near Arcata at Daley’s Ferry and Mad River.

Kentucky

Skirmish at Tompkinsville involving United States Army, Colonel C Williams (9th Pennsylvania Cavalry).

South Carolina

A Confederate landing party arrived at Port Royal Ferry and burned the ferry house and crossing flats that were being used by the Union forces.

UNDAILLA-class gunboat USS PEMBINA under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant John P Bankhead, seized the schooner ROWENA in the Stono River.

Indian Territory

Skirmish at Grand River.

Day 424 of the United States Civil War, June 8th 1862

Virginia

Skirmishes at Muddy Creek near Palestine and near Big Bend.

Skirmish at Fair Oaks.

United States Army, Major General Irvin McDowell was given new orders for his future operations. He was ordered to resume his advance in the direction of Richmond to assist United States Army, Major General George Brinton McClellan in his Peninsula Campaign. This was a reversal of his previous instructions to support operations in the Shenandoah Valley.

(Virginia) Jackson's Valley campaign - Battle of Port Republic

During the night of June 8th to 9th 1862, Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Charles S. Winder's Stonewall Brigade was withdrawn from its forward position near Bogota (a large house owned by Gabriel Jones) and rejoined Jackson's division at Port Republic. Confederate pioneers built a bridge of wagons across the South Fork of the Shenandoah River at Port Republic. Winder's brigade was assigned the task of spearheading the assault against United States forces east of the river. United States Army, Brigadier General Isaac R. Trimble's brigade and elements of United States Army, Colonel John M. Patton, Jr.'s, were left to delay Confederate States Army, Brigadier General John C. Frémont's forces at Cross Keys, while the rest of Confederate States Army, Major General Richard S. Ewell's division marched to Port Republic to be in position to support Winder's attack.

United States Army, Brigadier General Erastus B. Tyler's brigade joined United States Army, Colonel Samuel Carroll's brigade north of Lewiston on the Luray Road. The rest of United States Army, Brigadier General James Shields's division was strung out along the muddy roads back to Luray. General Tyler, in command on the field, advanced at dawn of June 9th to the vicinity of Lewiston. He anchored the left of his line on a battery positioned on the Lewiston Coaling, extending his infantry west along Lewiston Lane to the South Fork near the site of Lewis's Mill. The right and center were supported by artillery, 16 guns in all.

Confederate States Army, Brigadier General Charles S. Winder's brigade crossed the river by 5 a.m. and deployed to attack east across the bottomland. Winder sent two regiments (2nd Virginia and 4th Virginia) into the woods to flank the United States line and assault the Coaling. When the main Confederate battle line advanced, it came under heavy fire from the United States artillery and was soon pinned down. Confederate batteries were brought forward onto the plain but were outgunned and forced to seek safer positions. Ewell's brigades were hurried forward to cross the river. Seeing the strength of the United States artillery at the Coaling, Jackson sent Richard Taylor's brigade (including the famed Louisiana Tigers) to the right into the woods to support the flanking column that was attempting to advance through the thick underbrush.

Winder's brigade renewed its assault on the United States right and center, taking heavy casualties. General Tyler moved two regiments from the Coaling to his right and launched a counterattack, driving Confederate forces back nearly half a mile. While this was occurring, the first Confederate regiments probed the defenses of the Coaling, but were repulsed.

Finding resistance fiercer than anticipated, Jackson ordered the last of Ewell's forces still north of Port Republic to cross the rivers and burn the North Fork bridge. These reinforcements began to reach Winder, strengthening his line and stopping the United States counterattack. Taylor's brigade reached a position in the woods across from the Coaling and launched a fierce attack, which carried the hill, capturing five guns. Tyler immediately responded with a counterattack, using his reserves. These regiments, in hand-to-hand fighting, retook the position. Taylor shifted a regiment to the far right to outflank the United States battle line. The Confederate attack again surged forward to capture the Coaling. Five captured guns were turned against the rest of the United States line. With the loss of the Coaling, the United States position along Lewiston Lane became untenable, and Tyler ordered a withdrawal about 10:30 a.m. Jackson ordered a general advance.

William B. Taliaferro's fresh Confederate brigade arrived from Port Republic and pressed the retreating Federals for several miles north along the Luray Road, taking several hundred prisoners. The Confederate army was left in possession of the field. Shortly after noon, Frémont's army began to deploy on the west bank of the South Fork, too late to aid Tyler's defeated command, and watched helplessly from across the rain-swollen river. Frémont deployed artillery on the high bluffs to harass the Confederate forces. Jackson gradually withdrew along a narrow road through the woods and concentrated his army in the vicinity of Mt. Vernon Furnace. Jackson expected Frémont to cross the river and attack him on the following day, but during the night Frémont withdrew toward Harrisonburg.

Map: Battle of Port Republic



United States losses were reported at 664 (or 14 killed, 443 wounded, 127 missing) from about 12,000 engaged and Confederate at 287 (or 41 killed, 232 wounded, 15 missing.

California

Skirmish at Fawn Prairie near Lascombe’s (or Liscombe’s) Hill.

Kentucky

United States Army, Brigadier General James Abram Garfield marched with his brigade from the area of the Big Sandy River into Kentucky.

Mississippi

UNDAILLA-class gunboat USS WISSAHICKON under the command of United States Navy, Commander John De Camp, and the wooden screw steamer USS ITASCA under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Charles H B Caldwell continued to shell Confederate batteries at Grand Gulf.

Missouri

Reconnaissance to Waverly began.

North Carolina

In South Carolina, diarist Mary Chesnut notes her sentiments regarding the earlier wounding of General Joseph Johnston near Richmond: “And now a heavy blow! Joe Johnston, the staff upon [which] we [have] leaned so heavily—his shoulder blade has been broken in battle.”

UNDAILLA-class gunboat PENOBSCOT under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant John M B Clitz, burned the schooner SERETA, which was found aground and deserted off Shallotte Inlet.

The 512-long-ton (520-tonne) steamer USS COMMODORE PERRY, gunboat USS SHAWSHEEN, and gunboat USS CERES (1 × 30-pounder rifle and 1 × 32-pounder smoothbore gun) made an expedition up the Roanoke River carrying an army force. They came under rifle fire from Confederate troops on the banks for two hours. The force landed unopposed at Hamilton and captured the steamer Wilson.

A skirmish at John’s Island near Secessionville resulted in a United States withdrawal to Legareville. Skirmish on James Island.

(Tennessee) Kentucky Campaign - First Battle of Chattanooga

The United States bombardment of Confederate troops near Chattanooga by United States Army, BrigadierGeneral James Scott Negley’s division continued until noon. The Confederates replied but the fire of the inexperienced gunners was uncoordinated and undisciplined.

Department (Military Division) of the Mississippi (United States

The areas of Eastern Kentucky and eastern Tennessee were transferred from the Mountain Department to the Department (Military Division) of the Mississippi.

Mountain Department (United States)

The parts of Virginia west of the road running from Williamsport to Martinsburg, Winchester, Strasburg, Harrisonville, Staunton and then south to the Blue Ridge Mountains were transferred from the Department of the Shenandoah to the Mountain Department.

Department of the Shenandoah (United States)

The Piedmont region and the Bull Run Mountains of Virginia were transferred from the Department of the Rappahannock to the Department of the Shenandoah.

Arizona Territory

Martial law is declared in Arizona.

Day 426 of the United States Civil War, June 10th 1862

Virginia

Skirmishes at Luray, West Fork, and White Plains.

Confederate States Army, Major General Thomas Jonathan Jackson concentrated his force at Swift Run Gap and then marched across the Blue Ridge. Confederate States Army, General Robert Edward Lee determined that the risk of a United States offensive from northern Virginia had subsided and made preliminary plans for Jackson’s force to reinforce Confederate States Army, General Joseph Eggleston Johnston outside Richmond for a counter-offensive to save the capital.

Arkansas

Operations on the White River began.

Illinois

The former Confederate ship RED ROVER, captured at Island No 10, had been converted at Cairo into the United States Navy’s first hospital ship. It joined the United States river fleet and shortly received her first patients. Sisters of the Holy Cross volunteered and served on board as nurses.

Mississippi

Reconnaissance to Guntown ended.

UNDAILLA-class gunboat USS WISSAHICKON under the command of United States Navy, Commander John De Camp,and the wooden screw steamer USS ITASCA under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Charles H B Caldwell engaged a Confederate gun battery near Grand Gulf. The ships withdrew after a short exchange of fire and were joined by the newly arrived MOHICAN-class sloop of war USS IROQUOIS and UNDAILLA-class gunboat USS KATAHDIN to resume the bombardment of the river port.

Sketch: USS KATAHDIN on the Mississippi



Missouri

Operation in Lafayette County and Saline County ended.

Reconnaissance to Cambridge, Frankfort, Miami, Pink Hill, and Waverly ended.

North Carolina

USS COMMODORE PERRY under the command of United States Navy, Lieutenant Charles W Flusser accompanied gunboat USS SHAWSHEEN and gunboat USS CERES,, which were carrying troops aboard, in an expedition up the Roanoke River to Hamilton. They came under small arms fire for two hours from Confederates on the river banks. The troops landed at Hamilton without opposition and the steamer WILSON was captured.

South Carolina

Skirmish with Confederate pickets on James Island. United States troops arrived at the Thomas Grimball plantation on the west side of James Island and the Confederates evacuated the area.

Tennessee

Skirmishes at Rogers’ Gap, Wilson’s Gap, and Winchester.

United States Army, Major General Don Carlos Buell and the Army of the Ohio started a slow advance from Corinth, Mississippi, towards Chattanooga. They were preceded by a demonstration by United States Army, Brigadier General James Scott Negley’s division which was already in position at Chattanooga. In response to the threat, the Confederate government sent Confederate States Army, Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest to Chattanooga to organise a new cavalry brigade for the defence of eastern Tennessee. Confederate States Army, Major General Edmund Kirby Smith arrived in Chattanooga to find that Negley had withdrawn and that the Confederate losses during his attack were minor.

United States Army, Major General Ulysses Simpson Grant was restored to command of the District of West Tennessee and ceased to act as second-in-command to United States Army, Major General Henry Wager Halleck in command of the Department of the Mississippi.