American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

March 1, 1864 Tuesday
Both branches of the Federal cavalry raid on Richmond were within a few miles of the Confederate capital. Wounded, veterans, office and factory workers, and home guards rallied to defend their city. There was consternation aplenty. Judson Kilpatrick approached with the larger Union force but decided against assault as the outer fortifications were too well manned. Kilpatrick turned east toward the Chickahominy River and the Peninsula. Col Ulric Dahlgren and his five hundred men coming in from the west approached to within a little over two miles of Richmond by nightfall. Faced with considerable resistance from a force under Custis Lee, Dahlgren, his own troops divided, realized Kilpatrick had failed. Dahlgren himself withdrew in the dark, wet night. The cavalry raid sputtered out, despite an audacious start, through lack of surprise, lack of force, and finally, lack of drive to see it through.

In Florida skirmishing flared at Cedar and McGirt’s creeks. Richard Lucian Page, CSA; Claudius Wistar Sears, CSA; and William Feimester Tucker, CSA; were appointed to Brigadier General.

As expected, President Lincoln nominated Maj Gen Ulysses S. Grant for the newly created rank of lieutenant general.

Commander George H. Preble, U.S.S. St. Louis, reported that C.S.S. Florida, Lieutenant Morris, succeeded in getting to sea from Funchal, Madeira, where she had sailed after leaving Brest. U.S.S. Connecticut, Commander Almy, took blockade running British steamer Scotia with cargo of cotton at sea off Cape Fear, North Carolina. U.S.S. Roebuck, commanded by Acting Master Sherrill, seized blockade running British steamer Lauretta off Indian River Inlet, Florida, with cargo of salt.

_________________
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

March 2, 1864 Wednesday
The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of U.S. Grant as lieutenant general.

As Kilpatrick’s discomfited raiders rode toward a junction with Butler’s Federals near New Kent Court House, Col Ulric Dahlgren and his detachment also moved north and east of Richmond, opposed by Confederate cavalry from Hanovertown on. Confederates of Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry division under Capt E.C. Fox and Lieut James Pollard got ahead of Dahlgren’s men and prepared an ambush at Mantapike Hill between King and Queen Court House and King William Court House. During the night Dahlgren fell into the trap and was killed. Over a hundred of his men were captured ( http://www.mdgorman.com/Written_Account ... enraid.htm ). In the aftermath, papers were said to be found on Dahlgren which indicated a plot to assassinate President Davis. Historians then and now have been uncertain of their authenticity ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlgren_Affair ). However, the threat to Richmond ended dramatically and conclusively.

There was a skirmish recorded for Canton, Mississippi and a two-day Federal expedition from Larkin’s Landing to Gourd Neck and Guntersville, Alabama. Having acted as a decoy for Kilpatrick’s raid, George A. Custer returned to Union lines from his own fairly successful raid in the Albemarle area of Virginia.

Rear Admiral Porter, in anticipation of the proposed campaign into Louisiana and Texas, arrived off the mouth of the Red River to coordinate the movements of his Mississippi Squadron with those of the Army. Previous attempts to gain control of Texas by coastal assault had not succeeded, and a joint expedition up the Red River to Shreveport was decided upon. From there the Army would attempt to occupy Texas. Ten thousand men from Major General W. T. Sherman's army at Vicksburg would rendezvous with Major General N. P. Banks' army and Porter's gunboats at Alexandria by 17 March. The naval forces would provide vital convoy and gunfire support up the river to Shreveport, where Major General Frederick Steele was to join them from Little Rock. This date, however, Porter wrote Secretary Welles, advising him of an unforeseen development that cast dark shadows on the entire expedition: "I came down here anticipating a move on the part of the army up toward Shreveport, but as the river is lower than it has been known for years, I much fear that the combined movement can not come off, without interfering with plans formed by General Grant." Porter was referring to the fact that the troops Sherman had detailed for the Red River campaign were committed to Grant after 10 April for his spring campaign. To wait for a rise in the river, Porter feared, would mean failure to meet that deadline; however, to ascend the river at its present stage would also jeopardize the large scale movement. Porter nevertheless pushed swiftly ahead to ready his squadron for the operation.

Rear Admiral Farragut wrote his son Loyall about his recent sighting of the Confederate ram Tennessee, commenting that "she is very long, and I thought moved very slowly." Nevertheless, this heavily armored and well-fought ship was to prove a formidable opponent for the Admiral's squadron in Mobile Bay.

_________________
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

March 3, 1864 Thursday
In a day of minor fighting, skirmishes occurred at Liverpool and Brownsville, Mississippi; Petersburg, West Virginia; at Jackson and near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Federal Treasury was authorized by Congress to issue $200,000,000 in ten-year bonds. Maj Gen U.S. Grant was ordered to Washington to receive his commission as lieutenant general.

U.S.S. Dan Smith, commanded by Acting Master Benjamin C. Dean, seized blockade running British schooner Sophia stranded in Altamaha Sound, Georgia, with an assorted cargo. Sophia was subsequently lost at sea in a heavy gale which disabled her and forced her abandonment on 8 May 1864 by Acting Ensign Paul Armandt and the prize crew.

_________________
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

March 4, 1864 Friday
The U.S. Senate confirmed Andrew Johnson as Federal Military Governor of Tennessee. In New Orleans the new pro-Union Louisiana government of Gov Michael Hahn took office. Major General James Patton Anderson ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Anderson ), CSA, assumes command of the Confederate District of Florida.

The bulk of Gen Sherman’s forces returned to Vicksburg after the campaign to Meridian, Mississippi. Confederates demonstrated against Portsmouth, Virginia; a skirmish broke out near Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and another at Rodney, Mississippi. Minor operations continued until May in Florida.

Adm John A. Dahlgren called on President Lincoln to learn the fate of his son, Col Ulric Dahlgren, whose death near Richmond was not yet known in Washington. President Lincoln had recently received a report from Gen Butler about Col Dahlgren’s raid and Col Dahlgren was still alive at that point.

U.S.S. Pequot, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Stephen P. Quackenbush, seized blockade running British steamer Don at sea east of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, with cargo including Army shoes, blankets, and clothing. Captain Cory, master of the steamer, reported that he had made nine attempts to run into Wilmington during his career but had succeeded only four times.

_________________
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

March 5, 1864 Saturday
The Confederate government ordered every vessel to give one half of its freight capacity to government shipments. This was an effort to cut down on private profit from blockade-running and to aid the government in obtaining badly needed supplies. Maj Gen John C. Breckinridge assumed command of the Confederate Department of Western Virginia. Alpheus Baker, CSA; and Daniel Harris Reynolds, CSA; were appointed to Brigadier General.

Fighting centered at Leet’s Tanyard, Georgia; Panther Springs, Tennessee; and Yazoo City, Mississippi.

Commander John Taylor Wood, CSN, led an early morning raid on the Union-held telegraph station at Cherrystone Point, Virginia. After crossing Chesapeake Bay at night with some 15 men in open barges, Wood landed and seized the station. Small Union Army steamers Aeolus and Titan, unaware that the station was in enemy hands, put into shore and each was captured by the daring Southerners. Wood then destroyed the telegraph station and surrounding warehouses, and disabled and bonded Aeolus before boarding Titan and steaming up the Piankatank River as far as possible. A joint Army-Navy expedition to recapture her was quickly organized, but Wood evaded U.S.S. Currituck and Tulip in the still early morning haze. A force of five gunboats under Commander F. A. Parker followed the Confederates up the river on the 7th, where Titan was found destroyed by Wood, "together with a number of large boats prepared for a raid."

_________________
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

March 6, 1864 Sunday
Federal forces, after being attacked the preceding day, pulled out of Yazoo City, Mississippi. Confederate raiders attacked Union pickets at Columbus, Kentucky and there was an affair near Island Number 10 on the Mississippi River. Skirmishing occurred at Flint Creek, Arkansas and Snickersville, Virginia. John Bullock Clark, Jr., CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

A Confederate "David" torpedo boat ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_David ) commanded by First Assistant Engineer Tomb, CSN, attacked U.S.S. Memphis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Memphis_(1862) ), commanded by Acting Master Robert 0. Patterson, in the North Edisto River near Charleston. The "David" was sighted some 50 yards to port and a heavy volley of musket fire directed at her, but Tomb held his small craft on course. The spar torpedo containing 95 pounds of powder was thrust squarely against Memphis port quarter, about eight feet below the waterline, but failed to explode. Tomb turned away and renewed the attack on the starboard quarter. Again the torpedo struck home, but this time only a glancing blow because Memphis was now underway. The two vessels collided, damaging the "David", and Tomb withdrew under heavy fire. The faulty torpedo had prevented the brave Tomb from adding an 800-ton iron steamer to a growing list of victims.

U.S.S. Grand Gulf, Commander George M. Ransom, captured blockade running British steamer Mary Ann which had run out of Wilmington with cargo of cotton and tobacco.

U.S.S. Peterhoff, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Thomas Pickering, was run into by U.S.S. Monticello and sunk off New Inlet, North Carolina. The following day, U.S.S. Mount Vernon destroyed Peterhoff to prevent possible salvage by the Confederates.

_________________
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

March 7, 1864 Monday
Anxious over the military situation in the West, President Davis wrote Gen Longstreet, at Greeneville in east Tennessee, “It is needless to point out to you the value of a successful movement into Tennessee and Kentucky, and the importance – I may say necessity – of our taking the initiative.”

President Lincoln wrote to Representative John A.J. Creswell of Maryland that while he had preferred gradual emancipation in Maryland, he would have no objection to immediate emancipation. The President issued an order designating the starting point of the Union Pacific Railroad on the western boundary of Iowa ( http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h868.html ). President Lincoln telegraphs Gen Butler: "Gen. Meade has Richmond Sentinel, saying that Col. Dahlgren was killed, and ninety of his men captured at King & Queen C. H. When did Kilpatrick's informant last see Col. Dahlgren?"

Fighting was limited to skirmishes at Decatur, Alabama and Brownsville, Mississippi. Richmond newspapers reported the first arrival of Negro prisoners of war in the Confederate capital.

_________________
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

March 8, 1864 Tuesday
The White House in Washington echoed with cheers and handclaps as a rather squat man in a disheveled major general’s uniform stood on a sofa in the East Room. U.S. Grant, soon to be General-in-Chief of the U.S. Armies, met President Lincoln for the first time. Both men appeared somewhat embarrassed, and little was said, but a working partnership was unobtrusively being forged. President Lincoln conferred with Gen Grant about the ceremony the following day, when the new commission of lieutenant general will be presented Grant.

Fighting occurred near Baton Rouge and at Cypress Creek, Louisiana; and at Courtland and Moulton, Alabama.

U.S.S. Conestoga, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Thomas 0. Selfridge, was rammed by U.S.S. General Price, commanded by Lieutenant J. E. Richardson, about ten miles below Grand Gulf, Mississippi, and sank in four minutes with the loss of two crew members. The collision resulted from a confusion in whistle signals on board General Price. Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Selfridge, who achieved a conspicuously successful record in the war, had singularly bad luck in having his ships sunk under him. He commented later in his memoirs: "Thus for the third time in the war, I had my ship suddenly sunk under me. It is a strange coincidence that the names of these three ships all begin with the letter 'C', and that two of these disasters occurred on the 8th day of March; the other on the 12th of December." Selfridge had been on board U.S.S. Cumberland during her engagement with C.S.S. Virginia in Hampton Roads on 8 March 1862, and had commanded U.S.S. Cairo when she was struck by a torpedo and sank instantly in the Yazoo River on 12 December 1862. Admiral Porter, upon hearing the young officer's report on the sinking of Conestoga, replied: "Well, Selfridge, you do not seem to have much luck with the top of the alphabet. I think that for your next ship I will try the bottom." Thus Lieutenant Commander Selfridge took command of the paddle wheel monitor U.S.S. Osage, and, after she grounded in the Red River, was sent as captain of the new gunboat U.S.S. Vindicator--further down the alphabet.

U.S.S. Virginia, commanded by Acting Lieutenant C. H. Brown, captured blockade running sloop Randall off San Luis Pass, 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

March 9, 1864 Wednesday
The President of the United States, in the presence of his Cabinet, officially handed Ulysses S. Grant his commission as lieutenant general. In the brief White House ceremony, the President reads brief remarks: "The nation's appreciation of what you have done, and it's reliance upon you for what remains to do, in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant General in the Army of the United States." Grant replies: "I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me and know that if they are met it will be due to those armies, and above all to the favor of that Providence which leads both Nations and men." Grant, already busy with plans, talked privately with the President about future operations for about half an hour after the ceremony.

Spasmodic skirmishing continued near Nickajack Gap, Georgia and near Greenwich and Suffolk, Virginia. Expeditions lasting several days were carried out by Federals in King and Queen County and to Piankatank River, Virginia.

Rear Admiral Porter directed Lieutenant Commander James A. Greer, U.S.S. Benton, to advise him as soon as General Sherman's troops were sighted coming downriver on transports. The Admiral wanted to move quickly upon the arrival of the troops in order to meet Major General Banks at Alexandria on 17 March. Porter had gathered his gunboats at the month of the Red River for the move. They included ironclads U.S.S. Essex, Benton, Choctaw, Chillicothe, Ozark, Louisville, Carondelet, Eastport, Pittsburg, Mound City, Osage, and Neosho; large wooden steamers Lafayette and Ouachita; and small paddle-wheelers Lexington, Fort Hindman, Cricket, and Gazelle.

_________________
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

March 10, 1864 Thursday
Gen Grant was given the official authority to take command of the Armies of the United States, but the general himself was not in Washington to receive the order. He was in Virginia visiting the Army of the Potomac, still commanded by George Gordon Meade. The generals discussed the position, condition, and future of the army, and worked out their relationship to each other, for Grant expected to be in the field with his army commander. In another command change the controversial Maj Gen Franz Sigel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Sigel ) superseded Brig Gen Benjamin F. Kelley ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Kelley ) in command of the Federal Department of West Virginia.

Confederate raiders hit Clinton and Mayfield, Kentucky; and skirmishing flared near Charles Town and at Kabletown, West Virginia. A three-day Federal expedition operated from Batesville to Wild Haws and Strawberry Creek, Arkansas. In the Southwest the first detachment of what was to become the Federal expedition up the Red River in Louisiana left Vicksburg. For some time Gen Nathaniel Banks, in the New Orleans area, had been readying a massive effort aimed at the heartland of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi domain. Ships, troops, transports were heading for concentration points before starting into Louisiana. Plans also called for Union troops to the north to strike south through Arkansas and join Banks.

Confederate steamer Helen, commanded by Lieutenant Philip Porcher, CSN, was lost at sea in a gale while running a cargo of cotton from Charleston to Nassau. Secretary Mallory wrote that Porcher "was one of the most efficient officers of the service, and his loss is deeply deplored."

U.S.S. Virginia, commanded by Acting Lieutenant C. H. Brown, captured schooner Sylphide off San Luis Pass, Texas, with cargo including percussion caps.

_________________
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

March 11, 1864 Friday
Grant returned to Washington from Virginia, interrupted a Cabinet meeting to inform President Lincoln of his plans to meet with Sherman, and in the evening left for Nashville, Tennessee.

For the rest of the month there were operations about Sparta, Tennessee with a few skirmishes. President Davis told Gen Pemberton that he thought his defense of Vicksburg had been the correct action and that if it had not been attempted, “few if any would have defended your course.”

U.S.S. Aroostook, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Chester Hatfield, captured blockade running British schooner Mary P. Burton in the Gulf of Mexico south of Velasco, Texas, with cargo of iron and shot.

Boats under Acting Ensign Henry B. Colby, from U.S.S. Beauregard, and Acting Master George Delap, from U.S.S. Norfolk Packet, seized British schooner Linda at Mosquito Inlet, Florida, with cargo including salt, liquor, and coffee.

U.S.S. San Jacinto, Commander James F. Armstrong, captured schooner Lealtad, which had run the blockade at Mobile with cargo of cotton and turpentine.

Schooner Julia Baker was boarded by Confederate guerrilla forces near Newport News, Virginia. After taking $2,500 in cash and capturing the master and five men, the boarders burned the schooner.

U.S.S. Beauregard, commanded by Acting Master Francis Burgess, captured blockade running British sloop Hannah off Mosquito Inlet, Florida, with cargo of cotton cloth.

_________________
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

March 12, 1864 Saturday
The official order setting up the new top command of the United States Armies was announced, albeit somewhat after the event. Maj Gen Halleck was relieved, at his own request, as General-in-Chief and named chief of staff; Grant, of course, was assigned to command all the armies; Maj Gen W.T. Sherman was assigned to the Military Division of the Mississippi commanding the Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas; Maj Gen J.B. McPherson replaced Sherman in command of the Department and Army of the Tennessee. In the general orders the President also expressed his approbation and thanks to Halleck for “able and zealous” service. ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln7%3A525 )

Rear Admiral Porter's gunboats moved up the Red River, Louisiana, to open the two month operation ( http://www.civilwarhome.com/redrivercampaign.htm ) aimed at obtaining a lodgement across the border in Texas. U.S.S. Eastport, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Samuel L. Phelps, pushed ahead to remove the obstructions in the river below Fort De Russy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_DeRussy_(Louisiana) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_De_Russy ), followed by ironclads U.S.S. Choctaw, Essex, Ozark, Osage, and Neosho and wooden steamers Lafayette, Fort Hindman, and Cricket. Porter took ironclads U.S.S. Benton, Chillicothe, Louisville, Pittsburg, and Mound City and wooden paddlewheelers Ouachita, Lexington, and Gazelle into the Atchafalaya River to cover the Army landing at Simmesport. A landing party from Benton, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Greer, drove back Confederate pickets prior to the arrival of the transports. Next morning, 13 March, the soldiers disembarked and pursued the Confederates falling back on Fort De Russy. Meanwhile, Eastport and the gunboats which had continued up the Red River reached the obstructions which the Southerners had taken five months to build. "They supposed it impassable," Porter observed, "but our energetic sailors with hard work opened a passage in a few hours." Eastport and Neosho passed through and commenced bombarding Fort De Russy as the Union troops began their assault on the works; by the 14th it was in Union hands. Porter wrote: "The surrender of the forts at Point De Russy is of much more importance than I at first supposed. The rebels had depended on that point to stop any advance of army or navy into rebeldom. Large quantities of ammunition, best engineers, and best troops were sent there. . . ."

A skirmish near Union City, Tennessee and a Federal scout to Nola Chucky Bend near Morristown, Tennessee were recorded actions.

President Davis suspended the execution of a deserter. The Lincolns entertained a number of top-ranking military men ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln7%3A514 ) but Gen Grant was not there – he was heading west to confer with Sherman. President Lincoln wrote Gen Butler that two ladies, seeking to visit Maryland, could not do so unless they took the oath of allegiance.

U.S.S. Columbine, commanded by Acting Ensign Francis W. Sanborn, supporting an Army movement up the St. John's River, Florida, captured Confederate river steamer General Sumter, commanded by Acting Master John C. Champion. Commanding a launch from U.S.S. Pawnee which was in company with tug Columbine, took command of the prize, and the two vessels pushed on up the St. John's, reaching Lake Monroe on the 14th. That afternoon the naval force captured steamer Hattie at Deep Creek. The expedition continued for the next few days, destroying a Southern sugar refinery and proceeding to Palatka, where the Army was taking up a fortified position.

U.S.S. Aroostook, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Hatfield, captured schooner Marion near Velasco, Texas, with cargo of salt and iron. Marion sank in a gale off Galveston on the 14th.

U.S.S. Massachusetts, commanded by Acting Lieutenant William H. West, captured sloop Persis in Wassaw Sound, Georgia, 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

March 13, 1864 Sunday
President Lincoln “barely” suggested to the recently elected free-state governor of Louisiana, Michael Hahn, that some of the “very intelligent” Negroes be seated in a convention which would define the elective franchise.

As to the skirmishing, it happened at Cheek’s Cross Roads and Spring Hill, Tennessee; Carrollton, Arkansas; and Los Patricios, Texas. For nearly the rest of March Federals scouted from Yellville to the Buffalo River, Arkansas.

_________________
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

March 14, 1864 Monday
The advance of Banks’ Red River expedition captured Fort De Russy near Simsport, Louisiana. Brig Gen Andrew Jackson Smith ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson_Smith ) with his troops from Sherman’s old command did the job with little difficulty. Meanwhile, another force of Federals moved from Franklin, Louisiana toward Alexandria. The Union Red River operation looked promising. Otherwise skirmishing erupted at Bent Creek, Tennessee; Claysville, Alabama; Jones County, Mississippi; and Hopefield, Arkansas. Fort Sumter was hit by another bombardment, with 143 rounds fired.

President Lincoln issued a draft order for 200,000 men for the Navy and to provide “an adequate reserve force for all contingencies” in the entire military service ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln7%3A536 ).

_________________
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

March 15, 1864 Tuesday
Gov Michael Hahn of Louisiana was invested with powers previously held by the military governor of Louisiana as President Lincoln acted to reconstruct occupied areas of the South. The President also said that the United States should not “take charge of any church as such” in New Orleans ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln7%3A542 ). President Lincoln interviews "gallant drummer boy," Robert H. Hendershot ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Henry_Hendershot ), who rendered meritorious service at Battle of Fredericksburg, and gives him letter to Sec Stanton ( http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... oln7%3A546 ).

A skirmish at Marksville Prairie was part of the campaign. Skirmishing also occurred at Bull’s Gap and Flat Creek Valley, Tennessee and at Clarendon, Arkansas. A Federal scout in Arkansas from Batesville to West Point, Grand Glaize, and Scarcy Landing lasted for seven days.

After ordering ironclads U.S.S. Benton and Essex to remain at Fort De Russy in support of the Army detachment engaged in destroying the works, Rear Admiral Porter convoyed the main body of troops up the Red River toward Alexandria, Louisiana. Porter dispatched U.S.S. Eastport, Lexington, and Ouachita ahead to try to overtake the Confederate vessels seeking to escape above the Alexandria rapids. The Confederate ships were too far ahead, however, and the Union gunboats arrived at the rapids half an hour behind them. Confederate steamer Countess grounded in her hasty attempt to get upstream and was destroyed by her crew to prevent capture.

U.S.S. Nyanza, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Samuel B. Washburn, captured schooner J. W. Wilder in the Atchafalaya River, Louisiana.

_________________
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