American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

March 17, 1862 Monday
At Alexandria, Virginia Gen McClellan began embarking the huge Army of the Potomac, en route to the James and York rivers and what became the Peninsula Campaign. Supposedly he was to leave sufficient troops in the immediate vicinity of Washington to guard the capital from the Confederate army on the Rappahannock and in the Shenandoah Valley. In Tennessee Maj Gen Grant regained his active command and as two more divisions arrived, set up his headquarters in a mansion at Savannah, north of the army concentration point at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. There was a skirmish at Riddle’s Point, Missouri as well.

U.S.S. Benton, with Flag Officer Foote on board, was lashed between U.S.S. Cincinnati and St. Louis to attack Island No. 10 and Confederate batteries on the Tennessee shore at a range of 2,000 yards. "The upper fort," Foote reported, "was badly cut up by the Benton and the other boats with her. We dismounted one of their guns . In the attack, Confederate gunners scored hits on Benton and damaged the engine of Cincinnati. A rifled gun burst on board St. Louis and killed or wounded a number of officers and men.

C.S.S. Nashville, commanded by Lieutenant Pegram, ran the blockade out of Beaufort, North Carolina, through the gunfire of U.S.S. Cambridge, under Commander W. A. Parker, and U.S.S. Gemsbok, commanded by Lieutenant Cavendy. News of the escape of Nashville caused concern to run high in Washington. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox wrote Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough: "It is a terrible blow to our naval prestige . . . you can have no idea of the feeling here. It is a Bull Run of the Navy."

The following appointments were made to Brigadier General: William Hemsley Emory, USA; Orris Sanford Ferry, USA; and Isaac Ferdinand Quinby, USA.

List of prisoners confined in the Old Capitol Prison, Washington, D.C., March 17, 1862 with the reasons provided for the confinement.
http://www.confederatevets.com/document ... son_1.html

_________________
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 18, 1862 Tuesday
A major Confederate Cabinet change: Judah P. Benjamin, often criticized for his management of the War Department, was named Secretary of State by President Davis to succeed resigned R.M.T. Hunter, who went to the Senate. George W. Randolph of Virginia was appointed Secretary of War. Att Gen Thomas Bragg stepped down for Thomas H. Watts of Alabama. The shifts represented internal politics of the Confederate government and its lifelong search for a really able War Secretary.

In Mississippi first units of Albert Sidney Johnston’s men from Murfreesboro began coming into Corinth, but the move was not completed until March 24. There was a skirmish at Middletown, Virginia and fighting at Point Pleasant, Missouri, part of Pope’s Federal drive on Island No 10. Till the end of the month in Missouri there was Union activity and skirmishing in Johnson, St Clair, and Henry counties.

President Lincoln writes Sec Stanton: "In going to Fortress-Monroe, Gen. McClellan gets into Gen. Wool's Department. He must not be interfered with by Gen. Wool. Yet I do not wish Gen. Wool's feelings hurt, and I am ready to make him a Major Genl. if it will do any good."

U.S.S. Florida, James Adger, Sumpter, Flambeau, and Onward captured British blockade runner Emily St. Pierre off Charleston. The master and steward, left on board, overpowered prize master Josiah Stone off Cape Hatteras, recaptured the vessel, and sailed to Liverpool, England.

Ambrose Everett Burnside, USA, was appointed to Major General; and Dabney Herndon Maury, CSA, 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

March 19, 1862 Wednesday
Action of the day was confined to skirmishing at Elk Mountain, western Virginia and Strasburg, Virginia. In the latter, Federal troops under James Shields had advanced against Jackson’s retreating Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley. Meanwhile, most of the remainder of Banks’ command in the valley had been ordered east toward Washington, to help protect the capital. There was a reconnaissance of several days’ duration by Federals on May River, South Carolina. At 6 P.M. President Lincoln discusses with Sen Browning (Ill.) the gift of a yacht from Cornelius Vanderbilt to the navy. Browning introduces Peter Peckham and Mr Taylor, inventors of a new type of fuse. In the evening artist George P. A. Healy confers with President Lincoln on placing in the Executive Mansion a series of paintings of Presidents ordered by Congress.

Flag Officer Foote's forces attacking Island No. 10 continued to meet with strong resistance from Confederate batteries. "This place, Island No. 10," Foote observed, "is harder to conquer than Columbus, as the island shores arc lined with forts, each fort commanding the one above it. We are gradually approaching . . . The mortar shells have done fine execution . . ."

Brigadier General Joseph R. Anderson, CSA, supersedes Brigadier General Richard C. Gatlin, CSA, in command of the Confederate Department of North Carolina. Confederate Colonel W. S. Dilworth, CSA, is assigned command of the Department of Florida. Samuel Jones, CSA, is appointed to Major General; and Daniel Phineas Woodbury, USA, is 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

March 20, 1862 Thursday
Federal troops, threatened by Stonewall Jackson, moved back from Strasburg, Virginia toward Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley as Banks’ command was weakened by diversion of a major portion of his army toward Washington. Jackson followed close on the heels of the withdrawing Federals. There was a skirmish at Philippi, western Virginia, a Union reconnaissance to Gainesville and another to Dumfries, Virginia. Burnside’s Federals from New Berne, North Carolina moved toward Washington, North Carolina, capturing the town on the twenty-first. In South Carolina there were operations near Bluffton and brief fights at Buckingham and Hunting Island until the twenty-fourth, part of the Federal operations from Hilton Head. After a long sea voyage Maj Gen Benjamin F. Butler assumed command of the Department of the Gulf at Ship Island, Mississippi, continuing the buildup of Northern forces looking toward an attack on New Orleans. Mrs Lincoln, confined to her room since the death of Willie, is almost back to normal health.

Confederate President Davis wrote regarding the defense of the James River approach to Richmond: "The position of Drewry's Bluff, seven or eight miles below Richmond . . . was chosen to obstruct the river against such vessels as the Monitor. The work is being rapidly completed. Either Fort Powhatan or Kennon's Marsh, if found to be the proper positions, will be fortified and obstructed as at Drewry's Bluff, to prevent the ascent of the river by ironclad vessels. Blockading the channel where sufficiently narrow by strong lines of obstructions, filling it with submersive batteries [torpedoes], and flanking the obstructions by well-protected batteries of the heaviest guns, seem to offer the best and speediest chances of protection with the means at our disposal against ironclad floating batteries." The Confederate Navy contributed in large part to these successful defenses that for three years resisted penetration. Naval crews proved especially effective in setting up and manning the big guns, many of which had come from the captured Navy Yard at Norfolk.

Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, assumes command of the 5th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. He is ordered to remove the majority of his command to the defense of Washington, D.C., with the remaining portion to continue operations in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The following appointments were made to Brigadier General: States Rights Gist, CSA; John Seldon Roane, CSA; and Marsena Rudolph Patrick, USA.

_________________
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 21, 1862 Friday
Nothing of moment occurred this day, which was unusual in this spring of violent action. There was a slight affair at McKay’s Farm, Missouri; a reconnaissance and skirmish at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. A Norfolk, Virginia paper, the Day-Book, complained about increased drinking, particularly among Confederate officers, who were said to imbibe “in quantities which would astonish the nerves of a cast-iron lamp-post, and a quality which would destroy the digestive organs of the ostrich.”

Brigadier General William Yarnel Slack, CSA, dies from a musket ball to his hip received during the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, March 7, 1862. The following appointments were made to Major General: Samuel Ryan Curtis, USA; John Alexander McClernand, USA; William Starke Rosecrans, USA; and Lewis Wallace, USA. The following appointments were made to Brigadier General: Alexander Sandor Asboth, USA; Henry Beebee Carrington, USA; John Cook, USA; James Craig, USA; Speed Smith Fry, USA; Henry Moses Judah, USA; Jacob Gartner Lauman, USA; John Alexander Logan, USA; Robert Latimer McCook, USA; Horatio Phillips Van Cleve, USA; and William Harvey Lamb Wallace, USA.

_________________
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 22, 1862 Saturday
Skirmishing occurred at Kernstown as Shields’ retreating Federals clashed with front elements of Stonewall Jackson’s command in what was the prelude to a battle on the morrow. Other fighting was on the Post Oak Creek and at Little Santa Fe, Missouri. The Federal government created the Middle Military Department with headquarters at Baltimore and commanded by Maj Gen John A. Dix.

C.S.S. Florida, commanded by Acting Master John Low, sailing as British steamer Oreto, cleared Liverpool, England, for Nassau. The first ship built in England for the Confederacy, Florida's four 7-inch rifled guns were sent separately to Nassau in steamer Bahama. under Commander Bulloch, CSN, wrote Lieutenant John N. Maffitt, CSN: "Another ship will be ready in about two months . . . Two small ships can do but little in the way of materially turning the tide of war, but we can do something to illustrate the spirit and energy of our people . . ."

General Lovell wrote Secretary of War Benjamin that he had six steamers of the River Defense Fleet to protect New Orleans. Lovell added: "The people of New Orleans thought it strange that all the vessels of the Navy should be sent up the river and were disposed to find fault with sending in addition fourteen steamers leaving this city without a single vessel for protection against the enemy . . ." Confederate officials in Richmond were convinced than the greatest threat to New Orleans would come from upriver rather than from Flag Officer Farragut's force below Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

Boat crew from U.S.S. Penguin, commanded by Acting Lieutenant T. A. Budd, and U.S.S. Henry Andrew, commanded by Acting Master Mather, was attacked while reconnoitering Mosquito Inlet, Florida. Budd, Mather, and three others were killed.

Don Carlos Buell, USA; John Pope, USA; and Franz Sigel, USA were appointed to Major General; while Richard James Oglesby, 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

March 23, 1862 Sunday
At the village of Kernstown, Virginia a few miles south of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley, T.J. Stonewall Jackson’s Confederates drove in on the Federal forces of James Shields. Confederate cavalry under Turner Ashby, having fought a skirmish the day before, had reported only a rear guard left in Winchester. Jackson struck hard with his 3500 men, but found Shields strongly placed with 9000 men. Despite this disparity, Jackson’s men fought well and won deserved honors before gathering in their wounded and retreating southward up the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson suffered 80 killed, 375 wounded, and 263 missing, total 718; the Federals had 118 killed, 450 wounded, and 22 missing for a total of 590. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Kernstown and http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/va ... l_War.html

Kernstown marked the opening of what would become the famous Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Furthermore, it had its effect; Gen J.E. Johnston had directed Jackson to divert Federal attention from his main army and keep troops from the gathering Army of the Potomac. Jackson did so by attacking. Washington, fearing a threat on Harper’s Ferry and Washington, ordered Banks and his Federal troops to return to the valley and others that had been heading for the Peninsula were withdrawn from McClellan’s command. The threat also influenced Lincoln to keep Irvin McDowell’s large corps south of Washington, instead of sending it by sea to the Peninsula, for Lincoln had soon discovered that McClellan had not fully honored his agreement to protect Washington properly. Thus, what became the First Battle of Kernstown was a small battle large in results. For the remainder of March, Jackson withdrew up the Shenandoah Valley, protected by Ashby’s cavalry, while Banks and his Federals slowly pursued as far as Strasburg.

Elsewhere there was an affair at Smyrna, Florida and a Federal expedition from Point Pleasant, near New Madrid, Missouri to Little River.

Fort Macon was a brick fort on a long, narrow, sandy island near the town of Beaufort, North Carolina, which had been garrisoned by a small command of Confederates. Burnside, as part of his attempted Federal conquest of North Carolina, ordered Brig Gen John G. Parke to move against the old-style fortification. On March 23 Parke and his command arrived at the fort and demanded surrender, which was refused. The Federals then instituted siege operations.

President Lincoln confers with Carl Schurz, minister to Spain, accepts his resignation, and nominates him for 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

March 24, 1862 Monday
The Federal Congress was still discussing the possibility of compensated emancipation. Abolitionist Wendell Phillips, attempting to lecture in Cincinnati, was hissed and pelted with eggs and rocks. Finally the meeting broke up in a wild fist fight, with Phillips taken away by friends. Congressman Colfax (Ind.) informs President Lincoln that Horace Greeley will support gradual compensated emancipation. Lincoln, in a letter to Horace Greeley regarding his proposed gradual compensated emancipation, said, “we should urge it persuasively, and not menacingly, upon the South.” There was a skirmish at Camp Jackson, Tennessee. At Corinth, Mississippi Albert Sidney Johnston’s army was completing its movement from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, preparing to oppose Grant, who was some twenty miles away at Pittsburg Landing.

Lieutenant Gwin, U.S.S. Tyler, reported the typically ceaseless activity of the gunboats: "since my last report, dated March 21, I have been actively employed cruising up and down the river. The Lexington arrived this morning. The Tyler, accompanied by the Lexington, proceeded up the river to a point 2 miles below Eastport, Mississippi, where we discovered the rebels were planting a new battery at an elevation above water of 60 (degrees), consisting of two guns, one apparently in position. We threw several shell into it, but failed to elicit a reply. The battery just below Eastport, consisting of two guns, then opened upon us. Their shot fell short. I stood up Just outside of their range and threw three or four 20 [second] shell at that battery, none of which exploded, owing to the very defective fuze (army). The rebels did not respond. I have made no regular attack on their lately constructed batteries, as they are of no importance to us, our base of operations being so much below them. I have deemed it my duty, however, to annoy them, where I could with little or no risk to our gunboats . . . The Lexington, commanded by Lieutenant Commanding Shirk, will cruise down the river from this point. The Tyler will cruise above."

U.S.S. Pensacola, towing a chartered schooner into which she had discharged guns and stores at Ship Island, arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi. She grounded and failed on four attempts to cross the bar even though water conditions were favorable and small steamships were towing her through the mud-on one occasion parting a hawser that killed two men and injured others.

Major General Theophilus Hunter Holmes, CSA, supersedes Brigadier General Joseph Reid Anderson, CSA, in command of the Confederate Department of North Carolina. Mahlon Dickerson Manson, 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

March 25, 1862 Tuesday
It was a day of Federal expeditions, with a three-day reconnaissance from Murfreesboro to Shelbyville, Tullahoma, Manchester, and McMinnville, Tennessee ( http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... report%3D1 ); a four-day expedition in Moniteau County, Missouri; a reconnaissance to Agnew’s Ferry, Tennessee; and a skirmish at Mount Jackson, Virginia. President Lincoln suspends the death sentence for breach of parole passed on Col. Ebenezer Magoffin, brother of former Gov Magoffin (Ky.) ( http://madison.ilgenweb.net/prison_magoffin_escape.html ).

C.S.S. Pamlico, commanded by Lieutenant William G. Dozier, and C.S.S. Oregon, commanded by Acting Master Abraham L. Myers, engaged U.S.S. New London, commanded by Lieutenant Read, at Pass Christian, Mississippi. The rifled gun on board Pamlico jammed during the nearly two hour engagement, and the Confederate vessels broke off the action, neither side having been damaged in the test of the strength of Flag Officer Farragut's gathering forces. Transports with General Butler and troops arrived at Ship Island which, until Pensacola was retaken, became the principal base for operations west of Key West. Flag Officer Farragut wrote: " I am now packed and ready for my departure to the mouth of the Mississippi River . . . I spent last evening very pleasantly with General Butler. He does not appear to have any very difficult plan of operations, but simply to follow in my wake and hold what I can take. God grant that may be all that we attempt . . . victory. If I die in the attempt, it will only be what every officer has to expect. He who dies in doing his duty to his country, and at peace with his God, has played out the drama of life to the best advantage."

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Mallory ordered Flag Officer Tattnall to relieve the injured Flag Officer Buchanan and "take command of the naval defenses on the waters of Virginia and hoist your flag on board the Virginia."

Reports of Confederate ironclads on the river disturbed Union commanders far and wide. Major General Halleck wired Flag Officer Foote: "It is stated by men just arrived from New Orleans that the rebels are constructing one or more ironclad river boats to send against your flotilla. Moreover, it is said that they are to be cased with railroad iron like the Merrimack. If this is so I think a single boat might destroy your entire flotilla, pass our batteries and sweep the Western rivers. Could any of your gunboats be clad in the same way so as to resist the apprehended danger? If not, how long would it require to build a new one for that purpose? I have telegraphed to the Secretary of War for authority to have any suitable boat altered or prepared; or if there be none suitable, to build a new one. As no time is to be lost, if any one of the gunboats now in service will bear this change it should be taken in preference to building a new one. I shall await your answer. Could not the Essex be so altered?" Flag Officer Foote sent Lieutenant Joseph P. Sanford, his ordnance officer, to confer with the General on the subject and replied: ."There is no vessel now in the flotilla that can be armored as you suggest. This [Benton] is the only one which could bear the additional weight of iron required and she already is so deep and wanting in steam power that it would make her utterly useless with the additional weight of iron. I suggest that a strong boat be fitted up in St. Louis and armored-in fact, two vessels-in the shortest possible manner, with a view of protecting the river at Cairo, or Columbus would do better, if it was fortified with heavy guns sweeping the river below. These boats will require at least a month to be fitted up. As to the place, etc., Lieutenant Sanford will consult with you. Commander Porter of the Essex, is also in St. Louis, who is fitting out the Essex, and who will remain there for the present. He will attend to the new boats and get them ready in the shortest possible time."

Gunboat U.S.S. Cairo, commanded by Lieutenant Bryant, seized guns and equipment abandoned by Confederate troops evacuating Fort Zollicoffer, six miles below Nashville.

Gunboat U.S.S. Cayuga, commanded by Lieutenant Harrison, captured schooner Jessie J. Cox, en route from Mobile to Havana with cargo of cotton and 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

March 26, 1862 Wednesday
The Confederate campaign in New Mexico was building to its climax. From Santa Fe a Confederate column marched out on the Santa Fe Trail southeast, where it unexpectedly met a Federal column of Colorado volunteers advancing from Fort Union to oppose the Southern offensive. At Apache Canyon near Johnson’s Ranch, portions of the two forces converged. After fairly severe fighting in the valley, the Federals, although victorious, fell back to Pigeon’s Ranch near Glorieta. Maj John M. Chivington ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chivington ) had made his first mark in the war. But it was clear that the campaign was not over ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass and http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gl ... onmap.html ). Elsewhere, farther east, there was action at Humansville, on the Post Oak Creek at the mouth of the Brier, and near Gouge’s Mill, Missouri.

President Davis wrote Gen Albert Sidney Johnston at Corinth, Mississippi, “You have done wonderfully well, and now I breathe easier in the assurance that you will be able to make a junction of your two armies.” By this the Confederate President meant Beauregard’s and Johnston’s meeting so they could face the Federals moving on the Tennessee River before more Yankees arrived from Nashville. A major clash was unavoidable in the West.

Two armed boats from U.S.S. Delaware, commanded by Lieutenant Stephen P. Quackenbush, captured schooners Albemarle and Lion at the head of Pantego Creek, North Carolina.

Daniel Harvey Hill, CSA, is appointed to Major General; and William Nelson Pendleton, CSA, and Gordon Granger, USA, are 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

March 27, 1862 Thursday
In Richmond Gen Joseph E. Johnston was ordered to reinforce the Confederates on the Peninsula under John Bankhead Magruder, now about to be seriously threatened by McClellan’s Army of the Potomac moving from Fort Monroe, Virginia. There were minor operations in the vicinity of Middleburg and White Plains, Virginia and a reconnaissance on Santa Rosa Island, Florida.

Armed boat expedition from U.S.S. Restless, commanded by Acting Lieutenant Conroy, captured schooner Julia Worden off South Carolina, with cargo of rice for Charleston, and burned sloop Mary Louisa and schooner George Washington.

Flag Officer Du Pont reported to Secretary of the Navy Welles that Confederate batteries on Skiddaway and Green Islands, Georgia, had been withdrawn and placed nearer Savannah, giving Union forces complete control of Wassaw and Ossabaw Sounds and the mouths of the Vernon and Wilmington Rivers, important approaches to the city.

_________________
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 28, 1862 Friday
There occurred a major fight of the Civil War in the Far West. At Pigeon’s Ranch in La Glorieta Pass, not far from Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory, the Federal command of Col John P. Slough met a portion of H.H. Sibley’s Confederates under Col W.R. Scurry. Brisk fighting ensued and the Federals, both Colorado volunteers and regulars, slowly fell back, outnumbered and on the defensive. Meanwhile, about 400 men commanded by Maj J.M. Chivington scrambled over the mountains and descended upon the parked Confederate wagons and supplies at Johnson’s Ranch in the rear of the fighting column. After Col Scurry heard of the disaster he was forced to retreat to Santa Fed, and the Southern invasion was nearly at an end. The Confederates had about 1100 men in the fight, with 36 killed, 60 wounded, and 25 missing; the Federals, 1342 men in all, 31 killed, over 50 wounded, and 30 missing. It soon would be necessary for Sibley to pull his thinning forces out of the territorial capital at Santa Fe and retreat southward along the Rio Grande. http://americancivilwar.com/statepic/nm/nm002.html , and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass , and http://www.nps.gov/peco/planyourvisit/u ... ield-2.pdf , and http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gl ... ssmap.html , and http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.anc ... 291862.htm

Elsewhere there was a Confederate expedition in Scott and Morgan counties, Tennessee; and there were several days of skirmishes on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in Virginia. Brig Gen George W. Morgan was assigned to command the Seventh Division of the Federal Army of the Ohio with an important object in mind: he was to capture Cumberland Gap, vital mountain pass at the junction of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Commander Henry H. Bell reported a reconnaissance in U.S.S. Kennebec of the Mississippi River and Forts Jackson and St. Philip. He noted that the " two guns from St. Philip reached as far down the river as any from Jackson" and called attention to the obstruction, "consisting of a raft of logs and eight hulks moored abreast," across the river below St. Philip. Scouting missions of this nature enabled Flag Officer Farragut to make the careful and precise plans which ultimately led to the successful passage of the forts and the capture of New Orleans.

Lieutenant Stevens reported his return to Jacksonville with a launch and cutter from U.S.S. Wabash and steamers U.S.S. Darlington and Ellen after raising yacht America which had been found sunk by the Confederates earlier in the month far up St. John's River, 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

March 29, 1862 Saturday
At Corinth, Mississippi the Confederate armies of Kentucky and the Mississippi were consolidated under Gen Albert Sidney Johnston ( http://www.emersonkent.com/map_archive/ ... mpaign.htm ). P.G.T. Beauregard was second in command, with corps under Leonidas Polk, Braxton Bragg, William J. Hardee, and George Bibb Crittenden. For the Federals Maj Gen John Charles Fremont took command of the Mountain Department in western Virginia from William S. Rosecrans. There was an affair on Edisto Island, South Carolina, and a skirmish on the Blackwater near Warrensburg, Missouri.

U.S.S. R. R. Cuyler, commanded by Lieutenant F. Winslow, captured blockade running schooner Grace E. Baker off the coast of Cuba.

Boat under command of Acting Master's Mate Henry Eason from U.S.S. Restless, captured schooner Lydia and Mary with large cargo of rice for Charleston, and destroyed an unnamed schooner in Santee River, South Carolina.

The CSA Sec of the Navy submitted a report to the Confederate Congress on this date explaining how the USS Merrimac became the CSS Virginia. http://cssvirginia.org/vacsn4/original/ms620329.htm

_________________
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 30, 1862 Sunday
Federals descended upon Union City, Tennessee; there was skirmishing near Clinton, Missouri; and a couple of days of fighting on Wilmington and Whitemarsh Island, Georgia. In the evening Gen. McClellan visits President Lincoln preparatory to sailing down the Potomac River to begin his Peninsula campaign.

Flag Officer Foote ordered Commander Henry Walke, U.S.S. Carondelet: "You will avail yourself of the first fog or rainy night and drift your steamer down past the batteries, on the Tennessee shore, and Island No. 10 . . . for the purpose of covering General Pope's army while he crosses that point to the opposite, or to the Tennessee side of the river, that he may move his army up to Island No. 10 and attack the rebels in the rear while we attack them in front." Five days later Walke made his heroic dash past Island No. 10 to join the Army at New Madrid.

_________________
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 31, 1862 Monday
The month ended with no major warfare, but armies were poised east and west. Action included the Federal capture of Union City, Tennessee; skirmishes at Deep Gully, North Carolina; on the Purdy Road near Adamsville, Tennessee; and at Pink Hill, Missouri. At Island No 10 and New Madrid Bend on the Mississippi River, Confederate Brig Gen William W. Mackall superceded Maj Gen John Porter McCown in command. In the Federal Department of the South at Hilton Head, South Carolina, Maj Gen David Hunter assumed command. Granville Mellen Dodge, USA, was appointed to Brigadier General.

President Lincoln, fearing for the safety of Washington and pressured by those accusing Gen McClellan of deserting the capital, ordered back a large division under Louis Blenker to join Fremont in the Mountain Department. He told McClellan "This morning I felt constrained to order [General Louis] Blenker's Division to [Major General John C.] Fremont; and I write this to assure you that I did so with great pain, understanding that you would wish it otherwise. If you could know the full pressure of the case, I am confident you would justify it—even beyond a mere acknowledgement that the Commander-in-chief, may order what he pleases." The picture of McClellan being denied troops was building up to engender the endless discussion that plagued the leaders of the Civil War and is with us today.

There was an ‘attack’ upon Camp Walton (Fort Walton Beach, Florida) on this day http://civilwarflorida.blogspot.com/201 ... -1862.html .

_________________
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