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On This Day - 160 Years Ago (More ...)
Monday April 15 1861
- Fort Macon, NC, is seized by the North Carolina state troops.
- The Governors of Kentucky and North Carolina refuse to furnish any militia to the United States.
- Fort Sumter, SC, is evacuated by the Federal forces, under Maj. Robert Anderson, USA. In the firing of a final salute to the US flag, an explosion of gunpowder occurs, resulting in 2 Federal dead and 2 wounded.
Tuesday April 15 1862
- Julius Adolph de Lagnel, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
- Benjamin Alvord, USA
- Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, USA
- Charles Devens, Jr., USA
- George Lucas Hartsuff, USA
- Rufus Saxton, USA
- Carl Schurz, USA
- William Sooy Smith, USA
- James Henry Van Alen, USA
- Skirmish at Picacho Pass, near Tucson, the Arizona Territory.
- Skirmish at Lost Creek, MO, the Arizona Territory.
- Skirmish at Peralta, the New Mexico Territory.
- Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's, CSA, Confederate forces are ordered to Memphis, TN.
- Skirmish at Pea Ridge, TN.
- Federal reconnaissance to the Rappahannock River, VA, led by Capt. Robert F. Dyer, USA, 1st ME Cavalry, is repulsed near Bealeton, VA.
Wednesday April 15 1863
- The CSS Alabama captures two Federal whaling ships off the coast of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha.
- Federal expeditions (Apr 15-May 2) to Courtland, AL, and (May 2-8) Tupelo, MS. (Apr 15-May 8)
- Brig. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge's USA expedition from Corinth, MS, to Courtland, AL. (Apr 15-May 2)
- Skirmish at Piketon, Pike County, KY.
- Skirmish near Dunbar's Plantation, Bayou Vidal, LA, as Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, continues his advance on Vicksburg.
- Franklin, LA, is occupied by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA.
- The Confederate siege of Washington, NC, is raised.
- Federal expedition from La Grange to Saulsbury, TN.
- Skirmish on the Edenton Road, near Suffolk, VA, with Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet, CSA.
- Engagement near the Norfleet House, near Suffolk, VA.
Friday April 15 1864
- Skirmish at Camden, AR, the Camden (AR) Campaign.
- Skirmish at Roseville, AR.
- Operations in the Indian Territory, with rebel forces that came in from the southeast from the Choctaw Indian Nation. (Apr 15-20)
- Skirmish near Baton Rouge, LA.
- The Union ironclad, USS Eastport, is sunk by a Confederate torpedo, Red River (Campaign), LA, then raised by the Union forces.
- Skirmish at Spencer's Ranch, near Presidio del Norte, the New Mexico Territory.
- Federal demonstration on Battery Island, Charleston Harbor, SC, and vicinity.
- Skirmish near Greeneville, TN, as Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield, USA, commanding the Dept. of the Ohio has his cavalry surprise the Rebel cavalry, killing and capturing 25 Confederates.
- Affair 1.5 miles from Bristoe Station and Milford, VA, where the Union commander accuses his vedettes of cowardice.
- Skirmish at Waterford, VA, where Lieut. Col. John S. Mosby, CSA, routs a marauding Federal cavalry party.
Saturday April 15 1865
- George Armstrong Custer, U.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
- Skirmish at McKenzie's Creek, near Patterson, MO, where the Yankees surprise a Rebel camp, killing and wounding the occupants there.
- Skirmish near Chapel Hill, NC.
- President Jefferson Davis flees Greensborough, NC.
- Federal scout through the counties of Randolph and Pocahontas, WV, and of Bath and Highland, VA, with a assortment of events, including capturing weapons, prisoners, stragglers, deserters; running into paroled men of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia on their way home, etc. (Apr 15-23)
- THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN, at 7:22 a.m. from injuries received at the hands of John Wilkes Booth the night before, Washington, DC. The pistol shot had entered the back of the President's head and lodged near his right eye. Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, proclaims, "Now he belongs to the ages." Lincoln is granted enough time on this earth to see his part through to the end - the end of the American Civil War which he guided the United States successfully through.
On This Day information kindly provided by Martin Cross, 2nd U.S. Artillery, Bty B.
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