Today in the WBTS, March 27th 1862 Beginning of five day Federal operation approaching and on Santa Rosa Island, FL. Beginning of a five day Federal operation between Middleburg and White Plains, VA. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, CSA, was known as “Prince John” for his rather flamboyant approach to life in general and his uniform in particular. He was in charge of forces on the Peninsula as McClellan’s Army of the Potomac was inching its way toward Richmond, VA. In consequence thereof, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was ordered from Richmond to reinforce him. 1863 Skirmish at Palatka, FL. Skirmish in the vicinity of Madisonville, KY. Skirmish along the Rio Bonito, the New Mexico Territory. Skirmish along the Woodbury Pike, TN. 1864 Not all Civil War naval warfare was conducted off the immediate shore of North America or even in the Atlantic Ocean. On this day Secretary of the Navy Welles sent orders to the USS Wyoming, docked in Baltimore, MD. Her commander, John P. Bankhead, was instructed to sail in search of the CSS Shenandoah, Lt. Waddell commanding. The last report of the location of Shenandoah had her leaving Melbourne, Australia, and that report was five weeks old. Skirmish at Branchville, Brook’s Mill, Little Rock, and Benton, AR. Four day Federal operation including Pine Bluff, Mount Elba, and Long View, AR. Skirmish with Indians along the Eel River, CA. Several times during the Civil War there were outbreaks of fighting against the government by its own citizens who sympathized with the “other side.” One such occurred overnight and into tomorrow in Charleston, in central Illinois. “A dreadful affair took place in our town”, the local newspaper said, when a group of about 100 Copperheads attacked Federal troops who were home on leave. Five were killed and more than 20 wounded before reinforcements arrived and restored order. Skirmish in the vicinity of Columbus, KY. Skirmish at Livingston, MS, which is located 14 miles north of present day Ackerman, MS. Skirmish at Deepwater Township, MO. Skirmish at Louisville, TN. 1865 Beginning of thirteen days of siege at Spanish Fort, AL. Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele’s column from Pensacola, FL, reaches Canoe Station, AL. Three day Federal operation between Winchester and Woodstock, VA. A meeting of President Abraham Lincoln, Lieutenant General Ulysses Grant, and Major General William T. Sherman, occurs at City Point, VA, about the River Queen. The object of this meeting was to discuss what Abraham Lincoln’s policy on Confederate surrender and reconstruction were to be. Lincoln came to Virginia just as Grant was preparing to attack Confederate General Robert E. Lees lines around Petersburg and Richmond, an assault that promised to end the siege that had dragged on for 10 months. Meanwhile, Shermans force was steamrolling northward through the Carolinas. The three architects of Union victory met for the first time as a group--Sherman and Lincoln had never met--to plot the final destruction of the Confederacy. Lincoln came to Grants headquarters at City Point at the general-in-chiefs request. Lincoln boarded the River Queen with his wife Mary and son Tad on March 23, and the first family had a hectic visit. Lincoln went to the Petersburg lines and witnessed a Union bombardment and a small skirmish. He also reviewed troops, visited wounded soldiers, and then met with Grant and Sherman. Sherman had traveled from Goldsboro, NC, to the coast before catching a steamer to Virginia. During the meeting, Lincoln expressed his concern that that Confederate armies might slip away. He was worried that Lee might escape Petersburg and flee to North Carolina, where he could join forces with Joseph Johnston to forge a new Confederate army that could continue the war for months. Grant and Sherman confidently assured the president that the end was in sight. Lincoln emphasized to his generals that any surrender terms must preserve the Union war aims of emancipation and a pledge of equality for the freed slaves. After meeting again the next day, which included Admiral David Porter, they went their separate ways. In less than four weeks, Grant and Sherman had secured the surrender of the Confederacy. Sources: The Civil War Day by Day, Philip Katcher. The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, by E. B. Long with Barbara Long. The Chronological Tracking of the American Civil War Per the Official Records of the War of Rebellion, by Ronald A Mosocco.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 11:23:20 +0000
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