American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

January 31, 1863 Saturday
Confederate gunboats Chicora and Palmetto State moved out of Charleston Harbor, obscured in the haze, and raided the Federal blockaders. Mercedita was so severely damaged by ramming and shellfire that she surrendered, but later was able to get under way and escape. Keystone State was set afire, her boilers struck with ten or more shell. Other vessels were less seriously damaged. As usual, scalding steam caused most of the casualties, with four killed and three wounded on Mercedita and twenty killed and twenty wounded on Keystone State. The Confederate ironclads withdrew unhurt. The Confederates took the victory to mean a lifting of the blockade and so declared to foreign powers. But the blockade was not really broken, despite the temporary interruption.

There was an affair on Bull Island, South Carolina Jan 31-Feb 13. A Federal expedition from Murfreesboro to Franklin included skirmishing at Unionville, Middleton, and Dover, Tennessee. William Smith, CSA, was appointed to Brigadier General. C.S.S. Retribution, Master Power, captured schooner Hanover, in West Indian waters. The 9th Army Corps, Federal Army of the Tennessee, is ordered to the Department of Virginia.

In Morgan County, Indiana the arrest of alleged deserters was resisted and Federal cavalry sent out. After brief shooting, the civilian rioters were dispersed or captured, and the deserters taken into custody.

_________________
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

February 1, 1863 Sunday
Ironclad U.S.S. Montauk, under Commander Worden, with U.S.S. Seneca, Wissahickon, Dawn, and mortar schooner C. P. Williams, again tested the defenses of Fort McAllister south of Savannah, Georgia --described by Rear Admiral Du Pont as "rather a thorn in my flesh." On the 28th of January, Worden had learned, through "a contraband," the position of the obstructions and torpedoes which had effectively blocked his way in the assault of 27 January. "This information," Worden reported, "with the aid of the contraband, whom I took on board, enabled me to take up a position nearer the fort in the next attack. . . . "

Ammunition supplies replenished, Montauk moved to within 600 yards of McAllister in the early morning; the gunboats took a position one and three-quarters miles below the fort. Worden opened fire at 7:45 a.m., and reported at "7:53 a.m. our turret was hit for the first time during this action at which time the enemy were working their guns with rapidity and precision." The Confederate fire was concentrated on the ironclad, which took some 48 hits in the 4-hour engagement.

Colonel Robert H. Anderson, commanding Fort McAllister, paid tribute to the accuracy of the naval gunfire: "The enemy fired steadily and with remarkable precision. Their fire was terrible. Their mortar fire was unusually fine, a large number of their shells bursting directly over the battery. The ironclad's fire was principally directed at the VIII-inch columbiad, and . . . the parapet in front of this gun was so badly breached as to leave the gun entirely exposed."


Federals occupied Franklin, Tennessee during a reconnaissance. Feb 1-10 there was another Federal expedition from New Berne to Plymouth, North Carolina. U.S.S. Two Sisters, commanded by Acting Master William A. Arthur, seized sloop Richards from Havana off Boca Grande, Mexico. U.S.S. Tahoma, commanded by Lieutenant Commander A. A. Semmes, and U.S.S. Hendrick Hudson, commanded by Lieutenant David Cate, captured blockade running British schooner Margaret off St. Petersburg.

_________________
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

February 2, 1863 Monday
Ram U.S.S. Queen of the West, Colonel C. R. Ellet, attacked Confederate steamer City of Vicksburg, which lay under the batteries of that citadel. Ellet had hoped to get underway to make the attack before daybreak, but the necessity of readjusting the wheel put the engagement off until it was fully light and "any advantage which would have resulted from the darkness was lost to us." The Confederates opened a heavy fire on Queen of the West as she approached the city, but succeeded in hitting her only three times before she reached the steamer. Ellet reported: "Her position was such that if we had run obliquely into her as we came down the bow of the Queen would inevitably have glanced. We were compelled to partially round to in order to strike. The consequence was that at the very moment of collision the current, very strong and rapid at this point, caught the stem of my boat, and, acting on her bow as a pivot, swung her around so rapidly that nearly all her momentum was lost."

Having anticipated this eventuality, Ellet had ordered the starboard gun shotted with incendiary shell, which now set City of Vicksburg aflame, though this was rapidly extinguished by the Confederates. City of Vicksburg fired into Queen of the West, which had bulwarks of cotton built up around her sides and one shell set the ram afire near the starboard wheel; meanwhile, the discharge of her own gun set Queen in flames in the bow. "The flames spread rapidly and the dense smoke rolling into the engine room suffocated the engineers. I saw that if I attempted to run into the City of Vicksburg again that my boat would certainly be burned. . . . After much exertion, we finally put the fire out by cutting the burning bales loose." Queen of the West then steamed downstream under orders to destroy all Confederate vessels encountered.

Unable to ascend the Big Black River because of the narrowness of the stream, Ellet continued down the Mississippi.

Federals destroyed some salt works at Wale’s Head, Currituck Beach, North Carolina. There were scouts and skirmishes at Vine Prairie on White Oak River and near the mouth of Mulberry River, Arkansas; and in and about Mingo Swamp, Missouri. In Virginia Federals explored the Rappahannock River fords and engaged in a skirmish at Rappahannock Station. Feb 2-5 there was a Federal reconnaissance near Saulsbury, Tennessee.

C.S.S. Alabama experienced a fire on board which was rapidly extinguished but which prompted Captain Semmes to write: "The fire-bell in the night is sufficiently alarming to the landsman, but the cry of fire at sea imports a matter of life and death--especially in a ship of war, whose boats are always insufficient to carry off her crew, and whose magazine and shell-rooms are filled with powder, and the loaded missiles of death."

U.S. S. Mount Vernon, commanded by Lieutenant James Trathen, drove blockade running schooner Industry aground off New Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, and burned her.

_________________
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

February 3, 1863 Tuesday
Queen of the West under Ellet below the mouth of the Red River, met Confederate steamer A. W. Baker coming up river. Baker, "not liking the Queen's looks," ran ashore but was captured. She had just delivered her cargo to Port Hudson and was returning for another. Ellet had placed a guard on board when another steamer, Moro, was seen coming down stream. "A shot across her bows," Ellet reported, "brought her to . . . laden with 110,000 pounds of pork, nearly 500 hogs, and a large quantity of salt, destined for the rebel army at Port Hudson."

Running short of coal, Ellet turned back upriver, destroying 25,000 pounds of meal awaiting transportation to Port Hudson. Stopping at. the mouth of the Red River to release the civilians captured on Baker, and Moro, he also seized steamer Berwick Bay. She, too, carried a large cargo for Port Hudson: 200 barrels of molasses, 10 hogsheads of sugar, 30,000 pounds of flour, and 40 bales of cotton. Ellet ordered his prizes destroyed and returned to his position below Vicksburg. Some $200,000 worth of property had been destroyed by Queen of the West.

A Confederate attack on Fort Donelson/Dover in Tennessee was repulsed by the Federal garrison and gunboats ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dover_(1863) ). In Tennessee also there was a skirmish at the Cumberland Iron Works, and Feb 3-5 an expedition from Murfreesboro to Auburn, Liberty, and Alexandria, by the North.

In Washington the French minister, M. Mercier, talked with Sec of State Seward, offering French mediation of the war, but the suggestion was turned down. The levee at Yazoo Pass, far north of Vicksburg, Mississippi was opened in an attempt to reach the city via the Yazoo River.

C.S.S. Alabama, commanded by Captain Semmes, captured and burned at sea schooner Palmetto, bound from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with cargo of provisions. Of the chase of Palmetto, Semmes said: "It was beautiful to see how the Alabama performed her task, working up into the wind's eye, and overhauling her enemy, with the case of a trained courser coming up with a saddle-nag."

U.S.S. Sonoma, under Commander Stevens, captured blockade running British bark Springbok off the Bahamas.

_________________
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

February 4, 1863 Wednesday
Federal troops drove Marmaduke’s men out of Batesville, Arkansas; and there was a skirmish near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Maj Gen John Sedgwick succeeded W.F. Smith in command of the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. President Davis wrote Lee of the worry of authorities over the Federal threats on the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. U.S.S. New Era, temporarily under Acting Ensign William C. Hanford, captured steamer W. A. Knapp with cargo of cloth at Island No. 10.

_________________
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

February 5, 1863 Thursday
Queen Victoria’s address to the British Parliament stated that Britain had abstained from attempting to “induce a cessation of the conflict between the contending parties in the North American States, because it has not yet seemed to Her Majesty that any such overtures could be attended with a probability of success.”

In Virginia Hooker eliminated the grand divisions of the Army of the Potomac and corps commands were given to J.F. Reynolds ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Reynolds ), Darius N. Couch ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_N._Couch ), Daniel E. Sickles ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sickles ), George G. Meade ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meade ), John Sedgwick ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sedgwick ), W. F. Smith ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Farrar_Smith ), Franz Sigel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Sigel ), and H.W. Slocum ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_W._Slocum ). George Stoneman ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stoneman ) was assigned to command the cavalry. Operations at Rappahannock Bridge and Grove Church, Virginia continued for three days. There was also a skirmish near Olive Branch Church, Virginia; a four day Union scout from Camp Piatt into Wyoming County, West Virginia; a skirmish in Pope County, Arkansas; and another on Bear Creek, Johnson County, Missouri. Feb 5-12 Federal scouts operated from Fayetteville to the Arkansas River, with skirmishes at Threlkeld’s Ferry and near Van Buren, 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

February 6, 1863 Friday
Minor fighting occurred at Dranesville, Millwood, at Wiggenton’s Mill on Aquia Creek, Virginia; there was a Federal scout in the vicinity of Fort Pillow, Tennessee. Sec of State Seward informed the French government that Napoleon III’s offer of mediation had been refused by the North.

The Federal Ninth Army Corps under W.F. Smith was transferred from the Army of the Potomac to Newport News, Virginia Feb 6-21 to increase the threat to Richmond from the east.

_________________
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

February 7, 1863 Saturday
Three blockade runners successfully broke through the Federal cordon and arrived at Charleston, South Carolina. Skirmishing broke out at Olive Branch Church, Virginia; Edenton, North Carolina; and near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Maj Gen S. P. Heintzelman ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_P._Heintzelman ) assumed command of the re-created Federal Department of Washington. Lieutenant Colonel Harvey Lee, 4th California Infantry, assumed command of the Federal District of Southern California.

Commander Ebenezer Farrand, CSN, reported to Governor John G. Shorter of Alabama the successful launching of ironclads C.S.S. Tuscaloosa and Huntsville at Selma, "amid enthusiastic cheering." Both warships were taken to Mobile.

U.S.S. Glide, commanded by Acting Ensign Charles B. Dahlgren, was destroyed accidentally by fire at Cairo, Illinois.

_________________
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

February 8, 1863 Sunday
The circulation of the Chicago Times was suspended by military order for allegedly disloyal statements, only one of numerous such incidents in the North. The order later was rescinded. There was a skirmish near Independence, Missouri and an affair near Camp Sheldon, Mississippi.

_________________
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

February 9, 1863 Monday
There was an affair near Moscow, Tennessee and a skirmish near Somerville, Virginia. The Confederate Southwestern Army was extended to embrace the entire Trans-Mississippi Department. The following appointments were made to Brigadier General: Alfred Eugene Jackson, CSA; Joseph Pannell Taylor, USA; and William Henry Talbot Walker, CSA.

U.S.S. Coeur de Lion, commanded by Acting Master Charles H. Brown, captured blockade running schooner Emily Murray off Machodoc Creek, Virginia, with cargo of lumber, sugar, and whiskey.

Rear Admiral Du Pont wrote Secretary Welles of the difficulties in obtaining logistical support for his blockading squadron- a major problem for all naval commanders: " Our requisitions for general stores, I have reason to believe, are immediately attended to by the bureaus in the Department . . . but there seem to be unaccountable obstacles to our receiving them. We have been out of oil for machinery. Coal is not more essential . . . We were purchasing from transports or wherever it could be found, two or three barrels at a time. Finally the Union came with some, but it was stored under her cargo and the captain wished to defer its delivery until his return from the Gulf, which, however, I would not allow. The vessel was to have brought important parts of the ration, such as sugar, coffee, flour, butter, beans and dried fruit with clothing but she did not. The articles named are exhausted on the store ships of this squadron. My commanding officers complain that their wants are not supplied, and I have been so tried by the increasing demands for articles which I could not supply that I can defer no longer addressing the Department on the subject.

_________________
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

February 10, 1863 Tuesday
Federal Queen of the West, below Vicksburg, steamed down the Mississippi River for the Red River in response to orders from David D. Porter. There was skirmishing at Old River, Louisiana; Batchelder’s Creek, North Carolina; Sarcoxie Prairie, Missouri; and Chantilly, Virginia. In addition there was an affair near Camp Sheldon, Mississippi; a three-day Federal expedition from Beverly into Pocahontas County, West Virginia; and, until the sixteenth, operations in Westmoreland and Richmond counties, Virginia. Confederate troops disabled ram Dick Fulton at Cypress Bend, Arkansas, by gunfire.

_________________
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

February 11, 1863 Wednesday
The Confederate commissioner to Great Britain James M. Mason addressed a Lord Mayor’s banquet in London in his continuing drive for British recognition of the Confederacy.

_________________
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

February 12, 1863 Thursday
Action remained limited except for skirmishes near Smithfield and Charles Town, West Virginia; three-day Federal expeditions from Belle Plain to Mattox Creek, Currioman and Nomini bays, Virginia; and from Pratt’s Landing to Heathsville, Virginia. There also was a two-day Union expedition from Batchelder’s Creek and a skirmish on the fourteenth at Sandy Ridge, North Carolina. On the Red River Queen of the West destroyed a train of twelve army wagons, plus seventy barrels of beef and ammunition and stores from another wagon train. That night, Queen of the West was fired on near Simmesport, Louisiana. Next day, Ellet returned to the scene of the attack and destroyed all the buildings on three adjoining plantations in reprisal. U.S.S. Conestoga captured two steamers on the White River, Arkansas. C.S.S. Florida captured and later destroyed the clipper ship Jacob Bell in the West Indies bound from Foo-Chow, China, to New York with cargo of tea, firecrackers, matting, and camphor valued at over $2,000,000.

As on the East Coast and on the western waters at and above Vicksburg, great demands were placed on Farragut's fleet in the lower Mississippi and along the Gulf coast. Farragut observed: "Everyone is calling on me to send them vessels, which reminds me of the remark of the musician, 'It is very easy to say blow! blow! but where the devil is the wind to come from?' "

President Lincoln transmits to Senate: 1. report and documentation relating to mediation, arbitration, and similar measures looking to termination of existing civil war; 2. nomination of former Comdr. Preble to be commander on active list; 3. nomination of former Comdr. Roger Perry (USN, commission expired) to be commander.

_________________
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

February 13, 1863 Friday
U.S.S. Indianola, commanded by Lieutenant Commander George Brown, ran past the batteries at Vicksburg to join U.S.S. Queen of the West in blockading the Red River. Rear Admiral Porter's instructions to Brown added: "Go to Jeff Davis' plantation load up with all the cotton you can find and the best single male Negroes." Towing two barges filled with coal, Indianola steamed slowly past the upper batteries undetected. Abreast the point, Indianola was sighted and a heavy fire opened upon her without effect.

There was a skirmish near Washington, North Carolina; and a two-day Federal expedition from La Grange, Tennessee to Mount Pleasant and Lamar, Mississippi; as well as a skirmish at Dranesville, Virginia. U.S.S. New Era, commanded by Acting Ensign Hanford, captured steamer White Cloud, carrying Confederate mail, and steamer Rowena, carrying drugs, on the Mississippi River near Island No 10.

At the White House in Washington, Mrs Lincoln gives small evening reception for 50 guests in honor of "Gen. Tom Thumb" [Charles S. Stratton] and bride [Lavinia Warren].

_________________
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

February 14, 1863 Saturday
On the Red River Queen of the West captured the Confederate New Era No 5 with a cargo of corn. A few hours later, while engaging Confederate batteries, the Queen went aground. The steam pipe was severed and the vessel had to be abandoned. The men escaped mainly by floating to the U.S. army steamer De Soto on cotton bales. The commander, Charles Ellet, put his crew on the captured New Era No 5 and burned De Soto. Ellet blamed the loss of the Queen on a disloyal pilot. On the morning of the fifteenth below Natchez on the Mississippi River he met Indianola. There were affairs in Virginia near Union Mills, and on the Hillsborough Road, and a scout to Leesburg. From this day to the twenty-sixth there was a Federal expedition to Greenville, Mississippi and Cypress Bend, Arkansas with several skirmishes.

U.S.S. Forest Rose, commanded by Acting Master G. W. Brown, captured stern-wheel steamer Chippewa Valley with cargo of cotton at Island No. 63. Commander Clary, U.S.S. Tioga, reported the capture of blockade running British schooner Avon with cargo including liquor near the Bahamas.

_________________
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