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On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag
February 15 Birthdays
1835 Alexander Stuart Webb, Major General (Union Army), born in New York, NY. (d. 1911)
February 15 Antebellum Events
1815 - Word reaches America that the Treaty of Ghent has been signed, ending the War of 1812.
1847 - Hannibal Hamlin offers the Wilmot Proviso to Polk's Three Million Dollar Bill.
1851 - Shadrach Minkins is seized in Boston by slave hunters under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Blacks broke into the courtroom to rescue Minkins.
1855 - Congress approves the rank of Lieutenant General by brevet. It is immediately conferred on Winfield Scott.
Friday February 15 1861
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag
February 15 Birthdays
1835 Alexander Stuart Webb, Major General (Union Army), born in New York, NY. (d. 1911)
February 15 Antebellum Events
1815 - Word reaches America that the Treaty of Ghent has been signed, ending the War of 1812.
1847 - Hannibal Hamlin offers the Wilmot Proviso to Polk's Three Million Dollar Bill.
1851 - Shadrach Minkins is seized in Boston by slave hunters under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Blacks broke into the courtroom to rescue Minkins.
1855 - Congress approves the rank of Lieutenant General by brevet. It is immediately conferred on Winfield Scott.
Friday February 15 1861
- President-elect Abraham Lincoln delivers his speech at Pittsburgh, PA, then traveling on to Cleveland, OH.
- The Peace Convention, meeting in Washington, DC, continues to debate and drag on, not reaching any conclusions.
- Raphael Semmes, who will later command the CSS Sumter and the CSS Alabama, resigns his US Naval Commission, Washington, DC.
- William Wing Loring, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
- Action at Venus Point, GA.
- Brig. Gen. John McAllister Schofield, USA, assumes the command of the District of Saint Louis, MO.
- Skirmish near Flat Creek, MO.
- Federal expedition from Cairo, IL, to Eastport, MS, by the US gunboats, Lieut. William Gwin USN, aboard the USS Tyler, commanding. (Feb 15-22)
- Brig. Gen. John Buchanan Floyd, CSA, passes the Confederate command of Fort Donelson, TN, to Brig. Gen. Gideon Johnson Pillow, CSA, who in turn, passes the command to Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, CSA, which allows the former two to escape through the Union lines with a portion of their commands towards Nashville. Lieut. Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA, leads his cavalry command to safety prior to Buckner's surrender of the Fort, opting not to surrender.
- Skirmish at Arkadelphia, AR, with the guerrillas routed.
- Skirmishes near Auburn, TN, as the Federals attack a Rebel party attempting to burn a bridge; they are counterattacked by the Confederates.
- Skirmish near Cainsville, TN, where Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan, CSA, is repulsed by Col. Monroe, USA.
- Skirmish near Nolensville, TN, where Sgt. Holmes, USA, fends off the Confederates.
- Skirmish at Saline River, AR.
- Federal expedition from Fernandina to Woodstock and King's Ferry Mills, FL, for the purpose of procuring lumber for military use. (Feb 15-23)
- Skirmishes at Marion Station, MS, the Meridian, MS, Expedition. (Feb 15-17)
- Federal expedition from Vicksburg to Grand Gulf, MS, as the 12th Louisiana Infantry of African descent is sent on numerous excursions throughout the area, confiscating and transporting mainly Confederate cotton, with assistance by the Union steamers, Shenango, Thomas E. Tutt, Autocrat, John Raines, Welcome, the gunboat, Pittsburg, and the ram Switzerland. No encounter with the enemy, although seen. The Federals lose only one man who was captured and hung, and a couple accidently wounded by friendly fire. (Feb 15-Mar 6)
- Affair near Charleston, MO, with guerrillas.
- Skirmish in Overton County, TN, with the Confederates defeating a party of buckwackers and lories, inflicting 19 casualties, including 17 dead, by Col. John M. Hughs', CSA, Confederate operations in Middle Tennessee.
- Skirmish at Laurel Creek, Wayne County, WV, 25 miles from Louisa, KY, with Rebel casualties and prisoners.
- Bryan Grimes, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
- John Horace Forney, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Thomas Muldrup Logan, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Green Berry Raum, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Charles John Stolbrand, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
- Brig. Gen. Mosby M. Parsons, CSA, is assigned to the temporary command of the District of Arkansas.
- Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth, USA, assumes the command of the District of West Florida, vice Brig. Gen. Thomas J. McKean, USA, is relieved.
- Skirmish at Bates' Ferry, Congaree River, SC, as the Confederates desperately attempt to slow Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's, USA, and his 4 US Army Corps advance with the aid of the Union Cavalry under Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpartick, USA.
- Skirmish at Congaree Creek, SC.
- Skirmish at Red Bank Creek, SC.
- Skirmish at Savannah Creek, SC.
- Skirmish at Two League Cross-Roads, near Lexington, SC.
- Federal scout from Nashville, on the Nolensville Pike, TN. (Feb 15-16)
- Federal scout from Fairfax Court-House to Aldie and Middleburg, VA, with the capture of 8 Confederate Cavalrymen. (Feb 15-16)
- 1869 - Charges of treason against Jefferson Davis are dropped, based on the general amnesty granted by President Johnson on Christmas.
- 1869 - Indictments against eighteen general officers of the Confederacy and nineteen other persons were dismissed.
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