ACWS - On This Day in the American Civil War 12th March

Fort Mclntosh, TX, is abandoned by the Union forces, led by Maj. C. C. Sibley, 3rd US Infantry.

Jacksonville, FL, is occupied by Union forces from the USS Ottawa, under Lieut. T. H. Stevens, USN.
Skirmish near Aubrey, KS, with Col. Robert H. Graham, 8 KS Infantry.
Skirmish near Lebanon, MO.
Skirmish at Lexington, MO.

Henry Baxter, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
Federal expedition from Columbia, KY, to Perryville, TN. (Mar 12-20)
Skirmish at Louisa, KY.
Brig. Gen. William W. Morris, USA, is temporarily in command of the Middle Military Dept, VA.
Federal scout from Camp Piatt through Boone, Wyoming, and Logan Counties, WV, finding many locals sympathetic to the southern cause, and suspected of being bushwackers. (Mar 12-16)

Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, with the assistance of Union gunboats, under Admiral David Porter. USN, start up the Red River, LA.
Federal scout to Nola Chucky Bend, near Morristown, TN.
Skirmish near Union City, TN.
The Union Army has the following changes in command:
- Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, is assigned to the overall command of the Armies of the United States.
- Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, USA, is assigned as the Chief of Staff of the US Armies.
- Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, which encompasses the Depts. of the Arkansas, the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Tennessee, (as Union departments were named after rivers).
- Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, USA, to the command of the Dept. and Army of the Tennessee.

Federal scout from Lewisburg into Yell and Searcy Counties, AR, where the Yankees deal death to guerrillas near Danville, and in Searcy County. The Federals also seize some wheat. (Mar 12-23)
Skirmish at Morganza Bend, LA.
Federal expedition from Vicksburg, MS, by the 53rd US Colored Troops, aboard the steamer, Diana, and accompanied by the Union gunboat, Mound City, to Grand Gulf and vicinity. (Mar 12-14)
Brig. Gen. Mosby M. Parsons, CSA, is assigned to the command of the Missouri District of Infantry, vice Maj. Gen. Sterling Price, CSA, is relieved.
Affair near Lone Jack, MO.
Federal expeditions from Fort Churchill to Pyramid and Walker's Lakes, Nevada, with skirmish with Smoke Creek Indians:
- at Mud Lake and (Mar 14)
- affair near Walker's Lake, Nevada. (Mar 16).
  (Mar 12-19)
Federal scout in Loudoun County, VA, in pursuit of Maj. John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers. Mosby is wary, and evades the Yankees. (Mar 12-14)
Skirmish near Peach Grove, 2 miles from Vienna, VA, with guerrillas, resulting in loss of Union life and casualties.

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