February 16 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

February 16 Birthdays

1807 - Lysander Cutler, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Royalston, Massachusetts (d. 1866)
1813 - Joseph Reid Anderson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) born in Fincastle, VA. (d. 1892)
1822 - James Patton Anderson, Major General (Confederate Army), born in FranklinCount, TN. (d. 1872)
1823 - John Daniel Imboden, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Staunton, VA. (d. 1895)

February 16 Antebellum Events

February 16, 1850 - John C. Calhoun writes privately that the South "cannot with safety remain in the Union."

Saturday February 16 1861

• The US Arsenal and Barracks at San Antonio, TX, is seized by the Texas state troops.
• The Texas commissioners demand the surrender of all the US military posts and public property in Texas.

Sunday February 16 1862

• Action at Potts' Hill, Sugar Creek, AR.
• Brig. Gen. Simon Bolivar Bucker, CSA, surrenders Fort Donelson, TN, to Brig. Gen. Ulysses Simpson Grant, USA, under Grant's "unconditional terms of surrender." The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers are now under Federal control.

Monday February 16 1863

• Skirmish at Yazoo Pass, MS, as the Confederates contest the advance of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, on Vicksburg, MS.
• Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, USA, assumes the command of the 16th US Army Corps, MS.
• Skirmish at Bradyville, TN.
• Maj. Gen. George Sykes, USA, is placed in temporary command of the 5th US Army Corps, the Army of the Potomac, VA.
• Affair near Romney, WV, as Rebel Cavalry capture a Union forage train and guards.

Tuesday February 16 1864

• Robert Hall Chilton, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
• Operations about Mobile, AL, as the Union naval fleet bombards the Confederate fortifications. (Feb 16-Mar 27)
• Skirmish at Caddo Gap, AR.
• Skirmish at indian Bay, AR.
• Skirmish at Lauderdale Springs, MS, between Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, and Lieut. Gen. Leonidas Polk, CSA, the Meridian, MS, Expedition.
• Affair at Fairfield, NC, where the US gunboat, Foster, transports Federals to the Alligator River where a Confederate camp is surrounded and the entire Rebel company is captured; this all taking place during a severe snow storm.
• The Confederate vessels, Pet and Spunky, are captured off Wilmington, NC.
• Federal expedition against the Indians from Fort Walla Walla to the Snake River, Washington Territory. The Palouse Indians are unable to warn the particular Indian camp surrounded by the Yankees, who proceed to fire into the wigwams. The 31 bucks and 40 squaws and children not killed or mortally wounded were made prisoners. This action taking place 29 miles from a miners' camp, 80 miles from the post on the Snake River and 15 miles below the old Nez Perces Reserve. (Feb 16-23)

Thursday February 16 1865

• Milledge Luke Bonham, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
• Isaac Munroe St. John, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
• Skirmish 3.5 miles from Gurley's Tank, AL, as the Confederates attack a Federal foraging party.
• Federal operations about Bennett's Bayou and Tolbert's Mill, AR, where the Yankees burn the mill, considered to be a meeting place for guerrillas. (Feb 16-18)
• Skirmish near Cedar Keys, FL.
• Indiana, Louisiana and Nevada become the 13th, 14th, and 15th US states to ratify the 13th Amendment which abolishes slavery.
• Federal scout from Fort Larned, KS, to the North fork of the Pawnee, northwest to Walnut Creek, up the South Fork of Walnut Creek, to a large body of timber about 120 miles from Fort Zarah, with no signs of Indians. (Feb 16-21)
• Federal scout in Ozark County, MO, and Marion County, AR, against bushwackers. (Feb 16-20)
• Skirmishes about Columbia, SC, between Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, and Gen. G. T. Beauregard, CSA, as the Union forces arrive on the south bank of the Congaree River, as Beauregard evacuates the city. (Feb 16-17)
• The Confederate Cavalry attacks by Brig. Gen. John Crawford Vaughn, CSA, upon the garrisons of Athens and Sweet Water, TN, 45 miles below Knoxville, TN, with the Rebels capturing both garrisons.