American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

January 16, 1862 Thursday
Gunfire and boat crews, including Marines, from U.S.S. Hatteras, under Commander Emmons, destroyed a Confederate battery, seven small vessels loaded with cotton and turpentine ready to run the blockade, a railroad depot and wharf, and the telegraph office at Cedar Keys, Florida. A small detachment of Confederate troops was taken prisoner. Such unceasing attack from the sea on any point of her long coastline and inland waterways cost the South sorely in losses, economic disruption, and dispersion of strength in defense.

Flag Officer Foote reported: "The seven gunboats built by contract were put in commission today." The Eads gunboats augmented Foote's wooden force and would turn the tide in the Union's effort to split the Confederacy. ( http://civilwarwiki.net/wiki/USS_Cairo )

U.S.S. Albatross, under Commander Prentiss, destroyed British blockade runner York near Bogue Inlet, North Carolina, where York had been run aground.

In Kentucky Confederate forces, encamped near Beech Grove with their backs to the Cumberland River to their south, heard reports of Federal advances under George H. Thomas, but did nothing about it. The Confederates under Brig Gen Felix K. Zollicoffer had been at Mill Springs, south of the Cumberland, but Zollicoffer had unwisely taken them north of the river. The new commander, Brig Gen George B. Crittenden, had ordered Zollicoffer to retire south of the river, but he had not done so.

In Washington Edwin M. Stanton took over the Federal War Department with a drive and efficiency that startled those used to the previous slipshod management. From the beginning Stanton was going to be a hard but generally just man to deal with. President Lincoln gives his first written assignment to new secretary of war, E. M. Stanton : "If a clerkship can be given Mr. [Richard D.] Goodwin I shall be very glad I am very earnest about this."

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 17, 1862 Friday
Gunboats with troops under Brig Gen C.F. Smith demonstrated until the 22nd against Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, as part of the two-prong major reconnaissance in Kentucky. The other prong consisted mainly of McClernand’s troops of Grant’s command from Cairo. Bad weather hampered the expeditions and a heavy ice gorge blocked the Mississippi River twenty miles below St Louis, halting shipping.

U.S.S. Conestoga, commanded by Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, and U.S.S. Lexington, commanded by Lieutenant Shirk, reconnoitered the Tennessee River below Fort Henry, attempting to determine the location of a reported " masked battery" at the foot of Panther Creek Island. Having become convinced that the battery had been removed, Phelps fired "a few shells" at the fort, but the range was too great for his guns to reach. ". . . our batteries," reported General Albert S. Johnston, CSA, "though ready, did not reply." As early as October 1861, the Navy had initiated a careful examination of the Confederate works in the area in preparation for the projected Army-Navy assault on Fort Henry. commanded by Lieutenant Phelps reported the results of a 5 October reconnaissance: "I examined the fort [Henry] carefully at a distance of from 2 to 2 1/2 miles . . . The fortification is quite an extensive work and armed with heavy guns, mounted en barbette, and garrisoned by a considerable force. It is situated about 1 1/2 miles above the head of Panther Creek Island . . . There is no channel upon one side of the island, and a narrow and somewhat crooked one upon the other, which continues so till within a mile of the fort, where the water becomes of a good depth from bank to bank, some 600 yards." Detailed knowledge and careful preparations in large measure provided for the ultimate success of the February offensive operations against both Forts Henry and Donelson with the objective of driving the Confederates out of Kentucky where they held a line across the southern part of the state.

General Robert E. Lees orders to Brigadier General, James H. Trapier, commanding in Florida, illustrated the growing impact of the Union blockade: "Arrangements have been made for running into Mosquito Inlet, on the cast coast of Florida, arms and ammunition, by means of small fast steamers. The department considers it necessary that at least two moderate sized guns be placed at New Smyrna, to protect the landing in the event of our steamers being chased by the enemy's gunboats. . . . The cargoes of the steamers are so valuable and vitally important, that no precaution should be omitted."

U.S.S. Connecticut, under Commander Woodhull, captured blockade running British schooner Emma off the Florida Keys.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 18, 1862 Saturday
Former President of the United States John Tyler, seventy-two, died in Richmond and was later buried with elaborate services in Hollywood Cemetery on the banks of the James River. The Confederate Territory of Arizona was formed, consisting of the southern half of the Federal New Mexico Territory. In Kentucky, in the vicinity of Mill Springs and Somerset, Federal forces under Gen George H. Thomas were converging on Confederates commanded by Brig Gen George B. Crittenden, who, thanks to his subordinate Brig Gen Felix Zollicoffer, was in a vulnerable position with his back to the Cumberland River.

U.S.S. Midnight, commanded by Lieutenant James Trathen, and U.S.S. Rachel Seaman, commanded by Acting Master Quincy A. Hooper, shelled Velasco, Texas. Lieutenant Trathen reported that "One object had been gained in this instance, making the enemy expend his ammunition." Colonel Joseph Bates, commanding at Velasco, wrote: "While the enemy remain on their vessels, with their long-range guns, etc., they can annoy and harass us, but when they come on land we will whip them certain."

C.S.S. Sumter, under Commander Semmes, captured and burned bark Neapolitan, with cargo of fruit and sulphur, in the Straits of Gibraltar and captured and bonded bark Investigator with cargo of iron. U.S.S. Kearsarge was ordered to Cadiz, Spain, in an effort to track her down.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 19, 1862 Sunday
On the north bank of the Cumberland River was fought one of the two principal battles of the war in Kentucky, variously known as Mill Springs, Logan’s Cross Roads, Fishing Creek, Somerset, or Beech Grove ( http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/ky/ky006.html and http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/mi ... rings.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mill_Springs ). Confederate Brig Gen George B. Crittenden, realizing an attack was near, moved out in the darkness and heavy rain. Zollicoffer with his Southern brigade drove the Federals back temporarily. But Zollicoffer, wearing a white raincoat, was shot and killed when he became confused as to who was friend and who enemy. The Confederates later rallied, but more Federals under George H. Thomas came up, and eventually the Confederate left broke and the line collapsed. With difficulty the Southerners withdrew across the Cumberland during the night, leaving only the abandoned camps and supplies to the Federals the next day. Crittenden’s troops were demoralized by the defeat, and the general himself was severely criticized for being in a position not of his own choosing. It was the first break in the Confederate Kentucky defense line, which ran from Cumberland Gap to Columbus on the Mississippi River. There were about 4000 Federals on the field, with 39 killed, 207 wounded, and 15 captured or missing for casualties of 261. The Confederates also had about 4000 effectives, with losses of 125 killed, 309 wounded, and 99 missing for a total of 533. A moderately small but strategically important battle, it presaged things to come in the West, showed the weakness of the Confederate line, and boosted the Federal cause among the people of Kentucky and eastern Tennessee.

U.S.S. Itasca, commanded by Lieutenant Charles H. B. Caldwell, captured schooner Lizzie Weston off Florida en route Jamaica with cargo of cotton.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 20, 1862 Monday
As the Confederates completed their withdrawal across the Cumberland River at Mill Springs, Kentucky leaving the spoils of war to the Federals, down in Charleston Harbor a second group of hulks loaded with stone was sunk by the Yankees at the entrance of the shipping channel to halt blockade-runners. As usual, this operation was not long effective. Jan 20th-24th there were minor operations and skirmishing in and about Atchison, Kansas. A blockade-runner, known as the British Andracita or Confederate J.W. Wilder, was run ashore by Federal vessels off the coast of Alabama. Federal small boats tried to take possession but were driven off by Confederate land troops.

Secretary of the Navy Welles ordered the Gulf Blockading Squadron divided into two squadrons upon the arrival of Farragut at Key West: Eastern Gulf Blockading Squadron, Flag Officer McKean, and Western Gulf Blockading Squadron, Flag Officer Farragut. Farragut's area of responsibility began on the Florida coast at the mouth of the Choctawhatchee River and extended over the Gulf to the west; McKean's jurisdiction covered the Florida Gulf and cast coasts as far as Cape Canaveral and also included Cuba and the Bahamas.

Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough, having arrived at Hatteras Inlet on 13 January, ordered under Commander Rowan to be certain that all officers in the squadron had been instructed in the use of the Bormann fuse in the 9-inch shrapnel shells, which were to be used in the attack on Roanoke Island. Careful planning and training were essential elements of victory at Roanoke Island as elsewhere.

C.S.S. Sea Bird, commanded by Flag Officer Lynch, with C.S.S. Raleigh in company, reconnoitered Hatteras Inlet and "there saw a large fleet of steamers and transports." Lynch pointed out in a letter to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory the importance of the area. which Roanoke Island controlled: "Here is the great thoroughfare from Albemarle Sound and its tributaries, and if the enemy obtain lodgments or succeed in passing here he will cut off a very rich country from Norfolk market."

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 21, 1862 Tuesday
The Federal reconnaissance of about 5000 from Grant’s command in Cairo, Illinois returned from a difficult but satisfactory expedition into western Kentucky. There had been little or no fighting, yet a definite threat had been posed to the Confederate bastion at Columbus, Kentucky. In Richmond the news of the defeat at Mill Springs, the expedition from Cairo, the threat of Burnside’s invasion of North Carolina, and the winter doldrums in the armies were having their effect.

Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, on the basis of his own reconnaissance missions and intelligence reports reaching him, re-emphasized the advisability of using mortar boats at Fort Donelson, noting that 1. the position of Fort Donelson is favorable for the greatest effect of bombshells, both in and about it. Effective mortar boats must prove the most destructive adversaries earth forts can have to contend with." However, Flag Officer Foote, urged into early action by the Army commanders, was unable to use mortar boats to "soften up" the Confederate works at [Fort] Donelson.

U.S.S. Ethan Allen, commanded by Acting Lieutenant William B. Eaton, captured schooner Olive Branch bound from Cedar Keys, Florida, to Nassau with cargo of turpentine.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 22, 1862 Wednesday
The war went on with a skirmish at Knobnoster, Missouri, and the occupation of Lebanon, Missouri by Federals. Richmond authorities named Brig Gen Henry A. Wise to the Confederate command at Roanoke Island, which was threatened seriously by Burnside’s overwhelming force at Hatteras Inlet.

In a letter to the Secretary of the War Edwin M. Stanton, President Lincoln rejects Stanton's suggestion to have "the Adjutant General [Lorenzo Thomas] . . . attend me wherever I go." Lincoln writes, "[I]t would be an uncompensating incumbrance both to him and me. When it shall occur to me to go anywhere, I wish to be free to go at once . . . It is better too, for the public service, that he shall give his time to the business of his office, and not to personal attendance on me."

U.S.S. Lexington, commanded by Lieutenant Shirk, with Brigadier General Charles F. Smith on board, conducted one of the frequent gunboat reconnaissances up the Tennessee River, and fired a few long-range shots at Fort Henry. The rising waters were making operations feasible as the new armored gunboats were becoming available. Shirk reported: "The river is so full at present (and is still rising) that whenever there is water there is a channel."

Lieutenant Worden reported the steady progress toward completion of U.S.S. Monitor. Awaiting the 11-inch guns which would make up the ironclad's battery, Worden noted that "It will take four or five days to sight them after they arrive."

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 23, 1862 Thursday
In St Louis Maj Gen Halleck put teeth into his martial law orders and seized the property of pro-secessionists who had failed to pay assessments for the aid of pro-Northern fugitives. Army officers were empowered to arrest anyone interfering with the execution of orders. A small Confederate force carried off the county records from Blandville, Kentucky.

President Lincoln interviews Sen. Lazarus W. Powell (Ky) regarding military assessments to provide for persons made homeless; confers with Lt Henry A. Wise (USN), Navy Bureau of Ordnance, regarding mortars under construction at Pittsburgh; and consults with Gen Lane and Sen Samuel C. Pomeroy (Kans.) regarding fugitive slaves and concludes that government cannot return them. In the evening, President Lincoln and his wife, Mary, attend the Washington Theater to watch the New York Academy of Music perform selections from two Italian operas—Giuseppe Verdi's "Il Trovatore" and Vincenzo Bellini's "I Puritani." A newspaper reports, "The President and Mrs. Lincoln were present, and on his appearance in one of the private boxes he was greeted with hearty applause." President Lincoln addresses a memorandum to heads of departments and bureaus: "This man wants to work—so uncommon a want that I think it ought to be gratified. I shall be obliged by any Head of of [sic] a Bureau, or Department who can and will find work for him."

Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough wrote from Hatteras Inlet that the 17 naval vessels present (two others reported later) for the Roanoke Island expedition were over the bar inside Pamlico Sound. Bad weather and the shallow, tortuous channel, which Goldsborough termed "this perplexing gut," I delayed entry of the naval vessels into the Sound, and presented extreme difficulties when attempting to get the heavily-laden troop transports over the bar.

Flag Officer Foote sent another insistent plea for men to Secretary of the Navy Welles, this time cutting his needs to the bone: "Can we have 600 men? Army officers object to their men shipping. Boats, except the Benton, are in commission waiting for men." Twelve days later, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wired Foote: "The Secretary of War today gave directions to detail from several Massachusetts regiments those soldiers who have been seamen up to the number of 600. These will be sent to you without arms or officers in detachments of 100, commencing next Monday."

Schooner Samuel Rotan, tender to U.S.S. Colorado, commanded by Captain Bailey, captured steamer Calhoun in East Bay, Mississippi River, with cargo of powder, coffee, and chemicals.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 24, 1862 Friday
U.S.S. Mercedita, under Commander Stellwagen, and other ships of the Gulf Blockading Squadron chased aground schooner Julia and an unidentified bark attempting to run the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi River; both were laden with cotton and were burned to prevent capture. The Federal lightship off Cape Henry, Virginia went ashore and its crew was captured; and there was a week of small expeditions by Federals to the Little Sandy River and Piketon, Kentucky, part of the eastern Kentucky operations.

President Lincoln consults with E. Delafield Smith, U.S. district attorney in New York, who favors noninterference by the President in the case of Capt Nathaniel Gordon, sentenced to be hanged for slave trading.

Richard Stoddert Ewell, CSA, was appointed to Major General; Bushrod Rust Johnson, CSA, James McQueen McIntosh, CSA, and Lewis Golding Arnold, USA, were appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 25, 1862 Saturday
At Hatteras Inlet the Burnside expedition was moving transports and naval war vessels with extreme difficulty over the shallow bar in to Pamlico Sound. But the laborious operations were not menaced by the Confederates, undermanned on land and sea alike. Subcommittee of Committee on Conduct of War interviews President Lincoln on military administration of Gen Fremont. U.S.S. Arthur, commanded by Acting Lieutenant John W. Kittredge, captured schooner J. J. McNeil off Pass Cavallo, Texas.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 26, 1862 Sunday
From the 26th-28th, Union squadron commanded by Captain Davis, comprising U.S.S. Ottawa, Seneca, and other vessels, with 2400 troops under Brigadier General Horatio G. Wright conducted a strategic reconnaissance of Wassaw Sound, Georgia. Telegraph lines between Fort Pulaski and Savannah were severed. Five Confederate gunboats under Commodore Tattnall were engaged while attempting to carry stores to Fort Pulaski. Though the exchange of fire was sharp, three of Tattnall's steamers made good their passage to the fort, the other two being unable to get through. In his report of the reconnaissance operation, Captain Davis noted: "As a demonstration the appearance of the naval and military forces in Wilmington and Wassaw Sound has had complete success. Savannah was thrown into a state of great alarm, and all the energies of the place have been exerted to the utmost to increase its military defenses, for which purpose troops have been withdrawn from other places." On the Confederate side, General Robert E. Lee commented: "If the enemy succeeds in removing the obstacles [in Wall's Cut and Wilmington Narrows] there is nothing to prevent their reaching the Savannah River, and we have nothing afloat that can contend against them."

The Confederate government ordered Gen P.G.T. Beauregard from the Potomac District to the West, where he became second-in-command to Albert Sidney Johnston in that threatened area. This left Gen Joseph E. Johnston in full command in Virginia. Irritated by slow production of mortars, President Lincoln decides, in interview as reported by Asst Sec Fox, "to take these army matters into his own hands."

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 27, 1862 Monday
President Lincoln took an unprecedented step by issuing the President’s General War Order No 1 ( http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index ... z1kFINUbxw ). Long disappointed and chagrined by the lack of action of the major Federal armies, the President “Ordered that the 22d of February 1862, be the day for a general movement of the Land and Naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.” He called especially for advances from the army about Fort Monroe, the Army of the Potomac, the Army of Western Virginia, the army in Kentucky, the force at Cairo, and the naval force in the Gulf of Mexico. This remarkable order was intended to bring about aggressive military operations, and was issued only after constant urging by President Lincoln for advances east and west.

President Lincoln writes an endorsement on a letter from Henry A. Wise, of the U.S. Navy's Ordnance & Hydrography Bureau. Wise forwarded a request from Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote, who is stationed at Cairo, Illinois. Foote explained, "As the mortar Boats have no accommodations for cooking, keeping or carrying provisions, the men must have a steamer for their accommodation. Shall I purchase or hire a steamer for them?" Lincoln replies, "If Flag-officer Foote, can find a suitable Boat which he can purchase at a fair price, let him purchase it at once."

Emperor Louis Napoleon of France told the French people that the American Civil War “has seriously compromised our commercial interests,” but that France would confine herself to hoping for termination of the war as long as the rights of neutrals were respected.

Brigadier General Jones Mitchell Withers, CSA, is assigned command of the Army of Mobile, Alabama. Brigadier General Samuel Jones, CSA, is assigned command of the Army of Pensacola, Florida.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 28, 1862 Tuesday
There was skirmishing for several days near Greensburg, Kentucky and Lebanon, Missouri.

Flag Officer Foote wrote Major General Halleck: "General Grant and myself are of the opinion that Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, can be carried with four gunboats and troops and be permanently occupied." Halleck replied the next day that he was waiting only for a report on the condition of the road from Smithland to the fort, and would then give the order for the attack. Seeking to push forward, Foote hurried an answer the same day, noting: "commanded by Lieutenant Phelps has been with me [at Cairo] for a day or two, and in consultation with General Grant we have come to the conclusion that, as the Tennessee will soon fall, the movement up that river is desirable early next week (Monday), or, in fact, as soon as possible." Flag Officer Foote and General Grant worked closely and cooperated fully with each other throughout the planning and preparations for the attack. Though inclement weather was to prevent Grant and his troops from taking part in the action at Fort Henry, the understandings and mutual respect formed here were to serve the Union cause brilliantly in other joint operations on the western waters as well as in General Grant's later campaigns in the east.

"On the 28th . . . "Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles, "all the vessels composing the naval branch of our combined expedition, intended by my arrangements to participate in the reduction of Roanoke Island and operate elsewhere in its vicinity, were over the bulkhead at Hatteras Inlet and in readiness for service, but . . . it was not until the 5th [of February] . . . that those composing the army branch of it were similarly situated." Goldsborough, however, used the time lapse to good advantage: "During our detention at the inlet," he wrote, "we resorted to every means in our power to get accurate information of the enemy's position and preparation . . ."

Captain John Marston wrote Secretary of the Navy Welles that "as long as the Merrimack is held as a rod over us, I would by no means recommend that she [U.S.S. Congress] should leave this place." Marston wrote in reply to a letter from the Secretary four days earlier in which he had suggested that Congress should go to Boston. Varying rumors as to the readiness of Virginia (ex-Merrimack) kept Union blockading forces in Hampton Roads in a constant state of vigilance.

Boat crews under Acting Master William L. Martine from U.S.S. De Soto boarded and captured blockade runner Major Barbour at Isle Derniere, Louisiana, with cargo including gunpowder, niter, sulphur, percussion caps, and lead.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 29, 1862 Wednesday
A small Federal force broke up a group of Confederate dancers at a party at Lee’s House on the Occoquan in Virginia after a brief skirmish. Maj Gen Earl Van Dorn assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi District of the Confederacy. There were several days of mild skirmishing in and around Blue Springs, Missouri.

President Lincoln meets with Ellen Sherman, the wife of General William T. Sherman, and with her father Thomas Ewing, a former United States Senator from Ohio. Some in the press speculate that General Sherman is insane. Ellen Sherman acknowledges to Lincoln that her husband is "in low spirits and in poor health," but she writes to General Sherman that she asked the President "if he thought you insane when in command at Fort Corcoran. I told him you were no more so now. That I had known you since you were ten years old and you were the Same now that you had always been." Ellen Sherman believes that some of her husband's superiors, including Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas and former Secretary of War Simon Cameron, have not been supportive of Sherman. She writes him, "I told him you had enemies among your fellow Generals & that the newspaper correspondants were mere tools. . . . I told him that Adj Genl Thomas and Mr Cameron were inimical to you & that they had placed you in a false light to him." Ellen Sherman states that she wanted to meet with Lincoln "to say a word against those who had conspired against you &c & in vindication of your name." She notes that Lincoln "seemed very anxious that we should believe that he felt kindly towards you." She adds, "The President is very friendly to you."

U.S. Storeship Supply, under Commander George M. Colvocoresses, captured schooner Stephen Hart south of Sarasota, Florida, with cargo of arms and munitions. Frederick Steele, USA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00

January 30, 1862 Thursday
A large crowd gathered at Greenpoint, Long Island, New York to witness the launching of U.S.S. Monitor, the revolutionary iron ship constructed by John Ericsson. The strange-appearing craft slid into the water with the cheers of the crowd and salutes from neighboring vessels. U.S.S. Monitor, the Union's first sea-going ironclad vessel, launched at Greenpoint, New York. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wired John Ericsson, referring to Monitor's launching: "I congratulate you and trust she will be a success. Hurry her for sea, as the Merrimack is nearly ready at Norfolk, and we wish to send her here."

Major General Halleck ordered the combined operation up the Tennessee, warned General Grant that the roads were quagmires, and directed that the movement of troops, munitions, and supplies be convoyed by gunboats.

U.S.S. Conestoga, commanded by Lieutenant S. L. Phelps, and U.S.S. Lexington, commanded by Lieutenant Shirk, reconnoitered the Tennessee River, making final preparations for the attack on Fort Henry. Phelps, who performed yeoman service on the western waters, reported: "In the right channel, and near the foot of the island, are numerous buoys, evidently marking the location of some kind of explosive machine or obstruction; these I think we can rake out with our boats."

U.S. S. Kingfisher, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Joseph P. Couthouy, captured blockade runner Teresita bound from Havana to Matamoras.

At Southampton, England the two Confederate commissioners to Britain and France, Mason and Slidell, landed from a British vessel, completing their delayed voyage after having been captured by the Federals and held in prison.

_________________
Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
Blood 'n Guts hisself, a land lovin' pirate. Show me some arty tubes and we'll charge 'em.
VMI Class of '00