Civil War digest: This week 150 years ago March 18-24, 1863 March 11-17, 1863 March 4-10,1863

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Published on Thursday, 21 March 2013 16:42

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Major Highlights for the Week Wednesday, March 18, 1863

In Paris, the house of Erlanger opened a loan of three million pounds to the Confederacy based upon 7-percent bonds for 20 years.

Confederate Lieutenant General Theophilus H. Holmes assumed command of the District of Arkansas.

Thursday, March 19, 1863

Admiral David Farragut’s U.S.S. Hartford and U.S.S. Albatross ran past the Grand Gulf, Miss., batteries just below Vicksburg.

Two divisions of the Federal Ninth Corps embarked at Newport News, Va., headed for the Department of the Ohio.

Friday, March 20, 1863

There was a small engagement at Vaught’s Hill near Milton, Tenn., and an affair in St. Andrew’s
Bay, Fla.

Saturday, March 21, 1863

On Steele’s Bayou, the gunboats, backed up by Major General William T. Sherman’s Federal troops, were harassed by Confederate sharpshooters along the banks.

Federal Major General Edwin Vose Sumner, an aged yet sturdy fighter, who had served well in the Peninsula and Antietam campaigns leading the Army’s Second Corps (including the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry), passed away at Syracuse, N.Y. He was 66 years old.

Sunday, March 22, 1863

Confederates under Colonel Basil Duke of Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry, began a new campaign with the capture of a Federal garrison at Mount Sterling, Ky., Colonel Duke was the general’s brother-in-law.

Skirmishing occurred at Blue Springs, near Independence, Mo.; near the head of the White River in Arkansas; and another near Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Monday, March 23, 1863

The Federal gunboats U.S.S. Hartford and U.S.S. Albatross attacked the Confederate batteries at Warrenton on the Mississippi River below Vicksburg, Miss. Other fighting occurred at Winfield, N.C.; Little River Turnpike near Chantilly, Va.; and Thompson’s Station, Tenn.

A Confederate act provided for the funding of treasury notes issued prior to Dec. 1, 1862, and for further issuance of treasury notes for not less than $5 or more than $50.

Tuesday, March 24, 1863

In the watery web of Steele’s Bayou north of Vicksburg, there was another skirmish, this time on Black Bayou, as the Federal expedition struggled to make its way through the swamps and lowlands. The action signified the end of the Steele’s Bayou campaign as the gunboat slowly withdrew, taking Major General William T. Sherman’s infantry troops with them. The expedition proved little except to annoy the Confederates and show the impracticability of using the inland waterways to reach Vicksburg, Miss. It was the last unsuccessful effort to find an entrance to the city before the major effort began under Major General Ulysses S. Grant.

Where Minnesota Regiments were the week of March 18-24, 1863

1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – In camp near Falmouth, Va., until April 1863.

2nd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On duty at Chapel Hill, Tenn., until June 4, 1863.

3rd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On duty at Fort Heiman, Ky., until June 2, 1863.

4th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – Expedition to Yazoo Pass via Moon Lake, Yazoo Pass, Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers until
April 8, 1863.

5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On duty at Duckport, La., until April 1, 1863.

6th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On garrison duty at Fort Snelling, Glencoe, Forest City and Kingston until April 1863.

7th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On garrison duty in Mankato and other points in Minnesota until June 1863.

8th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On frontier duty at various points in Minnesota: Anoka, Princeton, Monticello, Kingston, Manannah, Paynesville, Fort Ripley, Sauk Center, Pomme de Terre, Alexandria and Fort Abercrombie until May 1864.

9th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – On garrison duty in various frontier Minnesota communities until June 1863. 

10th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry – Regiment on detached service for garrison duty at various outposts in frontier Minnesota until June 1863.

1st Regiment Minnesota Cavalry “Mounted Rangers” – Organized at St. Cloud, St. Peter and Fort Snelling for frontier duty against Indians until June 1863.

Brackett’s Battalion of Minnesota Cavalry – On duty at Fort Donelson, Tenn., until June 5, 1863.

1st Minnesota Light Artillery Battery – On duty at Lake Providence, La., until April 22, 1863.

2nd Independent Battery, Minnesota Light Artillery – On duty at Murfreesboro Tenn., until June 4, 1863.

2nd United States Sharpshooters, Company A – In camp at Falmouth, Va., until April 27, 1863.