On This Day - 31st August Prev / Next

Saturday August 31 1861
  • The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
    • John Joseph Abercrombie, USA
    • Silas Casey, USA
    • Abram Duryee, USA
    • George Gordon Meade, USA
    • John Sedgwick, USA
    • Charles Ferguson Smith, USA
  • Skirmish at Munson's Hill, or the Little River Turnpike, VA, with Col. George W. Taylor, 3rd NJ Infantry.
Sunday August 31 1862
  • Samuel Gibbs French, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
  • Skirmish at Stevenson, AL.
  • Skirmish at Yates' Ford, KY, on the Kentucky River.
  • Skirmish near Marietta, MS.
  • Skirmish at Little River Bridge, MO.
  • Skirmish at Rogers' Gap, TN, as the Confederates there are dispersed by Brig. Gen. George W. Morgan, USA.
  • Skirmishes at Medon Station, TN, on the Mississippi Central Railroad.
  • Skirmish near Toone's Station, TN, the Mississippi Central Railroad.
  • The capture of the US transport W.B. Terry on the Tennessee River, after running aground.
  • Operations about Centreville and Chantilly, VA, with Maj. Gen. John Pope, USA attempting to consolidate his forces, while Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA, sent Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, CSA, to flank Pope's position.
  • Skirmish at Franklin, VA.
  • Union troops evacuate Fredericksburg, VA, leaving behind vast supplies.
  • Skirmish at Germantown, VA.
  • The Confederate capture of Weston,WV.
Monday August 31 1863
  • Skirmish in Will's Valley, AL, the Chickamauga Campaign.
  • Action on the Marais des Cygnes, KS.
  • The Confederate transport, Sumter, is sunk by the Union batteries on Sullivan's Island, SC.
  • Skirmish at Winter's Gap, TN.
  • Maj. Gen. Robert C. Schenck, USA, resumes the command of the Middle Dept. and the 8th US Army Corps, VA.
  • Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams, USA, is temporarily in command of the 12th US Army Corps, the Army of the Potomac.
Wednesday August 31 1864
  • The Battle of Jonesborough, GA, where Lieut. Gen. William Hardee, CSA, under Lieut. Gen. John Bell Hood, CSA, is repulsed by Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, USA. (Aug 31-Sep 1)
  • Skirmish near Rough and Ready Station, GA, as Maj. Gen. James Schofield's, USA, Army of the Ohio, capture the final railroad line, the Macon Railroad, into Atlanta, leaving Hood with the inevitable of evacuating Atlanta.
  • Affair at Steelville, MO, as a gang of bushwackers capture and plunder the town, killing militia men and citizens who tried to obstruct them.
  • Skirmish at Clinton, TN.
  • Skirmish near the Davis House, the Richmond, VA, Campaign.
  • Skirmish at Martinsburg, WV, the Shenandoah Valley, Campaign.
Thursday August 31 1865
No events on this date.

On This Day information kindly provided by Martin Cross, 2nd U.S. Artillery, Bty B.