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On This Day - 165 Years Ago (More ...)
Monday February 18 1861
- CSA President Jefferson Davis is sworn in at Montgomery, AL, ahead of USA President Abraham Lincoln.
- Bvt. Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs, USA, commanding the Dept. of Texas, surrenders all US military posts\public property to the Texas authorities, agree US troops are to retain their arms and to retire unmolested. However this is considered by many an act of treason on Twiggs' part.
- President-elect Abraham Lincoln delivers his speech at Buffalo and Albany, NY, on his way to Washington, DC, still attempting to reconcile any differences between the Northern and Southern States.
Tuesday February 18 1862
- Action at Bentonville, AR, with Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, USA.
- Skirmish at Independence, MO.
- Federal expedition to Mount Vernon, MO, by Capt. Mudgett, 3rd IA Cavalry. (Feb 18-19)
- Federal expedition to Winton, NC and skirmish on Feb 19. (Feb 18-20)
Wednesday February 18 1863
- Operations in Central Kentucky, including skirmishes at:
- (Feb 22) Coombs' Ferry,
- (Feb 24) at Stoner Bridge, and
- (Mar 2) at Slate Creek, near Mount Sterling, KY.
(Feb 18-Mar 5)
- The South Carolina Militia is called into service.
- Affair near Moscow, TN, with the Confederate attack on a Union forage train. The Federals lose 42 mules, 2 horses and 18 men.
- Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, USA, is placed in temporary command of the 21 st US Army Corps, TN.
- Two divisions of Longstreet's Confederate Corps is ordered from the Army of Northern Virginia, near Fredericksburg, VA, to the defense of Richmond, VA.
Thursday February 18 1864
- Alexander Travis Hawthorn, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Skirmish at Ringgold, GA.
- Skirmish at Aberdeen, MS, with Maj. Gen. William Sherman, USA, the Meridian, MS, Expedition.
- Affair near Okolona, MS, as Brig. Gen. William S. Smith's, USA, Cavalry forces attempt to join up with Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, at Meridian, MS.
- Affair near the headwaters of the Piney River, MO, with guerrillas and bushwacker sustaining casualties.
- Skirmish near Maryville, TN, with fatalities.
- Skirmish at Mifflin, TN.
- Federal scout from Ooltewah, TN, to Burke's and to Ellidge's Mills, GA, with a brief skirmish with Rebel pickets. (Feb 18-19)
- Skirmish at Sevierville, TN.
Saturday February 18 1865
- The following are appointed Confederate Brigadier Generals:
- Collett Leventhorpe, CSA
- William Raine Peck, CSA
- Reuben Lindsay Walker, CSA
- Galusha Pennypacker, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- The Confederate commerce raider, CSS Shenandoah, leaves the port of Melbourne, Australia.
- The Confederate guerrilla attack on Fort Jones, near Colesburg, KY, the 12th US Colored Heavy Artillery sustaining fatalities.
- Maj. Gen. John M. Palmer, USA, assumes the command of the Dept. of Kentucky.
- The 13th and the 16th US Army Corps are constituted; the former from the Reserve Corps, the Military Division of West Mississippi, the latter from the troops arriving from the Army of the Cumberland, MO.
- Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, USA, is assigned to the command of the 13th US Army Corps, MO.
- Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith, USA, is assigned to the command of the 16th US Army Corps, MO.
- Action at Fort Anderson, near Wilmington, NC, as Maj. Gen. Jacob Dolson Cox, USA, lands his troops, and advances on the fort while the US Navy bombards the fort.
- Skirmish at Orton Pond, NC.
- The Union forces, led by Brig. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfennig, USA, of Maj. Gen. Sherman's army, occupies Charleston, SC.
- Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, orders the burning of all important buildings, railroad tracks, and military stores that were not already burned by the fire that swept through Columbia, SC.
- Federal expedition from Camp Averell (near Winchester) into Loudoun County, VA, and skirmish (Feb 19) at Ashby's Gap, as the Federals take 2 deserters from Lieut. Col. John S. Mosby's, CSA, command along to point out the houses that belonged to Mosby's men. The Yankees find themselves attacked by a superior Cavalry force, with the majority of the expeditionary force killed, captured, or wounded. (78 men). (Feb 18-19)
- Federal scout in Prince William County, VA, with the destruction of Rebel property. (Feb 18-19)
On This Day information kindly provided by Martin Cross, 2nd U.S. Artillery, Bty B.
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