On This Day - 17th May Prev / Next
Friday May 17 1861
- The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
- Don Carlos Buell, USA
- James Cooper, USA
- Darius Nash Couch, USA
- Jacob Dolson Cox, USA
- Samuel Ryan Curtis, USA
- William Buel Franklin, USA
- Ulysses Simpson Grant, USA
- Charles Smith Hamilton, USA
- Samuel Peter Heintzelman, USA
- Joseph Hooker, USA
- Philip Kearny, USA
- Benjamin Franklin Kelley, USA
- Erasmus Darwin Keyes, USA
- Rufus Ring, USA
- Nathaniel Lyon, USA
- John Alexander McClernand, USA
- William Reading Montgomery, USA
- John Walcott Phelps, USA
- John Pope, USA
- Andrew Porter, USA
- Fitz John Porter, USA
- Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss, USA
- Joseph Jones Reynolds, USA
- Robert Gumming Schenck, USA
- Thomas West Sherman, USA
- William Tecumseh Sherman, USA
- Franz Sigel, USA
- Charles Pomeroy Stone, USA
- Alpheus Starkey Williams, USA
Saturday May 17 1862
- Thomas Lanier Clingman, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Alvin Peterson Hovey, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Skirmish on the Little Red River, AR, with the Confederate capture of a Union foraging party and wagons.
- Col. George W. Bowie, 5th California Infantry, assumes the command of the District of Southern California.
- Action at Russell's House, near Corinth, MS, with Maj. Gen. Henry Wager Halleck, USA, continuing to advance on Corinth.
- Federal expedition up the Pamunkey River, VA, aboard the tug boat, Seth Lowe.
- Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell, USA, at Fredericksburg, VA, is ordered to form a junction with the Army of the Potomac and move upon Richmond, VA, in co-operation with Maj. Gen. George Brinton McClellan, USA.
Sunday May 17 1863
- Operations on the west side of the Mississippi River, near Port Hudson, LA, by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, as Confederate Cavalry capture pickets and cattle.
- Engagement at Big Black River Bridge, MS.
- Skirmish about 3 miles from Bridgeport, MS, with the 6th Missouri Cavalry capturing 2 wagons and about 160 prisoners.
- Skirmish on the Bradyville Pike, TN.
- Federal scout from La Grange, TN.
- Cavalry skirmish near Dumfries, VA.
Tuesday May 17 1864
- Affair at Madison Station, AL.
- Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby's, Confederate scout in Northern Arkansas. (May 17-22)
- The Confederate capture of Dardanelle, AR, by Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby, CSA.
- Engagement at Adairsville, GA, as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, is attacked by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, as Johnston pulls back, heading toward Atlanta, GA.
- Action at Rome, GA, with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA.
- Action near Moreauville, LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.
- Skirmish at Yellow Bayou, LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.
- Operations on the Bermuda Hundred front, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA, in charge. (May 17-Jun 2)
- Skirmish near Waterford, Loudoun County, VA, as Lieut. Col. John S. Mosby, CSA, with his 43rd VA Cavalry battalion, attack the men who joined up with the Union and formed a company of independent cavalry; Mosby inflicting 9 casualties on these Virginian Federals.
Wednesday May 17 1865
- THE CONFEDERATE TROOPS IN FLORIDA SURRENDER TO BVT. BRIG. GEN. ISRAEL VOGDES. USA. (May 17-20)
- Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, USA, is assigned to the command, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, is relieved from command of the Dept. of The Gulf.
- The State of Mississippi is added to the Dept. of the Gulf, LA.
- The Military Division of West Mississippi is abolished, and the Dept. of the Gulf is constituted from the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and the District of Key West and the Tortugas.
- Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, USA, is assigned to the general command west of the Mississippi River and South of the Arkansas River.
On This Day information kindly provided by Martin Cross, 2nd U.S. Artillery, Bty B.