March 25, 1864 Friday
Confederates were on the Ohio River. Federal outposts at Paducah, Kentucky were driven in sharply as Southern cavalry attacked the important Ohio River city. Although they occupied part of Paducah, two attacks by Forrest’s men were repulsed at Fort Anderson. Unable to destroy or capture the Federal garrison, the Confederates withdrew on the morning of March 26. The raid failed, but not before it had alarmed the Ohio Valley.
In other fighting the guns spoke at Rockport, Dover, White River, and in Van Buren County, Arkansas; in South Carolina at McClellansville. Two Federal scouts operated to the twenty-sixth – from Batesville to Fairview, Arkansas and from Beaufort to Bogue and Bear inlets, North Carolina.
Federal cavalry in Virginia had a temporary new commander when Brig Gen David McM. Gregg (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McM._Gregg ) superseded Maj Gen Alfred Pleasonton, who was sent to Missouri.
A boat expedition under Acting Master Edward H. Sheffield from U.S.S. Winona, commanded by Lieutenant Commander A. W. Weaver, after making extensive reconnaissance of the area, captured blockade runner Little Ada loading cotton at McClellansville in the South Santee River, South Carolina. As Union sailors sought to bring the prize out, Confederate artillery opened on the vessel with devastating accuracy. The attack by Sheffield, carried on deep in Confederate-held territory, had begun in darkness, but as it was now fully light, the riddled prize had to be quickly abandoned to prevent capture of the boarding party.
A closely coordinated Array-Navy expedition departed Beaufort, North Carolina, on board side-wheel steamer U.S.S. Britannia. Some 200 soldiers were commanded by Colonel James Jourdan, while about 50 sailors from U.S.S. Keystone State, Florida, and Cambridge were in charge of Commander Benjamin M. Dove. The aim of the expedition was the capture or destruction of two schooners used in blockade running at Swansboro, North Carolina, and the capture of a Confederate army group on the south end of Bogue Island Banks. Arriving off Bogue Inlet late at night, the expedition encountered high winds and heavy seas which prevented landing on the beach. Early on the morning of the 25th, a second attempt was made under similarly difficult conditions, but a party got through to Bear Creek where one of the schooners was burned. Bad weather persisted throughout the day and the expedition eventually returned to Beaufort on the 26th with its mission only partially completed.