Stonewall Jackson and Ewell Prepare to Disregard Orders; Surrender of Vicksburg Demanded

| May 18, 2012

May 18, 1862 (Sunday) The Spring of 1862 in the Shenandoah Valley was shaping up to be beautiful, and this quiet Sunday was no different. As the camp of Stonewall Jackson knelt in prayer near Mt. Solon, a very flustered and conflicted General Richard Ewell dropped by unannounced and without orders. This Sabbath would not [...]

Victory Against the Galina and Monitor at Drewry’s Bluff

| May 15, 2012

May 15, 1862 (Thursday) Drewry’s Bluff rose ninety feet above the James River. The small fort, eight miles away from Richmond, built by Virginia farmers in 1861 had been expanded to a veritable fortress with seven pieces of heavy artillery. When the Union Army of the Potomac began their campaign up the Virginia Peninsula, after [...]

Slaves Hijack the CSS Planter, Sail it to Freedom

| May 13, 2012

May 13, 1862 (Tuesday) Robert Smalls was born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina, moving to Charleston with his master when he was twelve. There, through being hired out to other slave owners, he was able to learn the art of navigating the water, and to finally become a seaman. In Charleston is where he [...]

The CSS Virginia (Merrimac) is No More!

| May 11, 2012

May 11, 1862 (Sunday) Well before dawn, the southeastern sky over Norfolk, Virginia burned a brilliant orange as Rebels set flames to ships, supplies and anything that would slow their flight to Richmond.1 The Federals had, the previous day, taken Norfolk, rendering the Naval Yard untenable. Many ships were sunk in the James River as [...]

The Fleet to Fleet Battle of Plum Run Bend; Norfolk Captured

| May 10, 2012

May 10, 1862 (Saturday) The Union campaigns in the Spring of 1862 had bogged down. Both Generals Henry Halleck and George McClellan’s offensives had the crawling feel of being stuck in large pits of tar. In the west, the Army of the Tennessee, Halleck commanding, was inching and creeping closer and closer to the Rebels [...]

Yorktown Falls! McClellan Dallies, Rebels Nearly Escape

| May 4, 2012

May 4, 1862 (Sunday) From high in a balloon above the Yorktown defenses, Lt. George Armstrong Custer peered through the gray pre-dawn towards strange fires, as if buildings were ablaze and homes set to burning. He had not a clue what to make of it. He saw flashes, like blasts of heavy artillery. The dark [...]

Halleck Reorganizes, Grant Made Second-in-Command; Farragut Finishes in New Orleans

| April 30, 2012

April 30, 1862 (Wednesday) Union General Henry Halleck, commanding the Department of the Mississippi, had taken a steamer from his headquarters in St. Louis to the battlefield at Shiloh, where the Army of the Tennessee and Army of the Ohio, commanded by Generals Grant and Buell, respectively, had been victorious. In the span since the [...]

Rebel Flags Hauled Down in New Orleans; Plans in the Shenandoah

| April 29, 2012

April 29, 1862 (Tuesday) Union Flag Officer David Farragut was again taking his title quite literally. He had threatened to bombard the city of New Orleans if United States flags were not flying over City Hall, the Mint and the Custom House by the following day. The city was without military defenses, and the Mayor [...]

The Surrender of Forts Jackson and St. Philip; New Orleans Still Holds Out

| April 28, 2012

April 28, 1862 (Monday) Half of his men had deserted. The guns had been spiked and many of the gunboats destroyed. Confederate General Johnson Duncan, commander of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, was a beaten man. Those soldiers who remained at the forts were completely demoralized. Before the Union fleet, under Flag Officer David Farragut, [...]

Mutiny at Fort Jackson! Stonewall Expects too Much of his Foes

| April 27, 2012

April 27, 1862 (Sunday) Way down south, at Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Rebels had not yet surrendered to Captain David Porter, who commanded the fleet of mortar boats on the lower Mississippi River. Porter had demanded the surrender of the forts on April 24th, just after Farragut had steamed his fleet towards New [...]