Sunday October 20 1861

• Union forces under Col. William Passmore Carlin, 38th Illinois Infantry, advance from Pilot Knob, MO.
• Brig. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner, USA, relinquishes the command of the Dept. of the Pacific to Col. George Wright, 9th US Infantry.
• Federal reconnaissance to Hunter's Mill and Thorton Station, VA, near Leesburg, VA, by Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone, USA.

Monday October 20 1862

• Robert Hall Chilton, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
• Skirmish near Helena, AR.
• President Lincoln orders Maj. Gen. John McClernand, USA, to organize troops from Indiana, Illinois and Iowa for an independent expedition against Vicksburg, MS, which will in turn upset Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA's area command.
• Skirmish at Pitman's Cross-Roads, near Bardstown, KY.
• Skirmish near Wild Cat, KY.
• Skirmish near Marshfield, MO.
• Skirmish at Hermitage Ford, TN.
• Skirmish on the Gallatin Pike, near Nashville, TN, with Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA, repelled.
• Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum, USA, assumes the command of the 12th US Army Corps, the Army of the Potomac.
• Skirmish at Hedgesville, WV.

Tuesday October 20 1863

• Federal reconnaissance from Bridgeport toward Trenton, AL, with skirmish and capture of a few Confederates and their horses.
• Maj. Gen. Cadwallader C. Washburn, USA, assumes the command of the 13th US Army Corps, MS.
• Skirmish at Treadwell's Plantation, MS.
• Skirmish at Warm Springs, NC, as a Rebel attack on the pickets here is repulsed.
• Operations on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, TN. (Oct 20-29)
• Skirmishes at Barton's and Dickson's Stations and Cane Creek, AL, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
• Action at Philadelphia, TN, as Confederate Cavalry forces under Col. George G. Dibrell attack a wagon train belonging to Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnsides, USA, commanding the Dept. of the Ohio, inflicting 479 casualties on the Federals in the process.
• Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, USA, supersedes Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, USA, in the command of the Army of the Cumberland, TN.
• The Confederate cavalry, under Maj. Gen. JEB Stuart, CS A, retires across the Rappahannock River, VA, the Bristoe Campaign.

Thursday October 20 1864

• Maj. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur, CSA, dies from wounds received the day before at the Battle of Cedar Creek, VA.
• George Washington Custis Lee, CSA, is appointed Maj. Gen.
• Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
• Skirmish at Blue Pond, AL.
• Skirmish at Little River, AL.
• Skirmish in Benton County, AR, with Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, CSA.
• Skirmish near Waterloo, LA.
• Skirmish at Dover, MO, as Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, CSA, is becoming alarmed at the Union Calvary forces under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, the Army of the Border under Maj. Gen. Samuel Ryan Curtis, as well as Brig. Gen. Andrew Jackson Smith, USA, are surrounding and hemming him in.
• The Indian attack on the settlements in the Platte Valley, near Alkali Station, the Nebraska Territory.
• Skirmish near Memphis, TN.
• Skirmish at Fisher's Hill, VA, as Lieut. Gen. Jubal Early retreats southward with the last remnants of Confederate opposition in the Shenandoah Valley.
• President Abraham Lincoln officially sets the last Thursday in November to be forever celebrated as "Thanksgiving."

Friday October 20 1865