June 3 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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

June 3 Birthdays

1808 - Jefferson Davis, CSA President, born, Christian County (now Todd County), Kentucky. (d. 1889)
1815 - Martin Edward Green, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Fauquier County, VA. (d. 1863)
1831 - Otho French Strahl, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Morgan County, Ohio. (d. 1864)

June 3 Antebellum Events

1849 - California Provincial Governor Bennett Riley calls for a convention on statehood to convene in Monterey in September.
1850 - Nashville Convention - 9 slave states hold a convention to determine their best course of action if the Compromise of 1850 passes.

Monday June 3 1861

• Stephen Arnold Douglas, The Democratic candidate for the US Presidency against Republican, Abraham Lincoln, dies at the age of fortyeight, at Springfield, IL.
• Action at Philippi, WV, where Col. G. A. Porterfield, CSA, is routed. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, USA, receives credit for the victory, although not involved.

Tuesday June 3 1862

• The following are appointed Confederate Brigadier Generals:
  • James Jay Archer, CSA
  • James Lawson Kemper, CSA
  • William Dorsey Fender, CSA
  • Ambrose Ransom Wright, CSA
• Col. George F. Shepley, 12th Maine Infantry, is appointed the Military Governor of Louisiana.
• Affair near Rienzi, MS, with Maj. Gen. John Pope, USA.
• Federal reconnaissance toward Baldwyn and Carrollsville, MS.
• Skirmish on James Island, SC, at Legare's Point, near Charleston, SC.
• Fort Pillow, TN, near Memphis, TN, is evacuated by the Confederates and occupied by the Union forces as the Federals continue their attempt to capture Memphis, TN. (Jun 3-5)
• North Carolina, west of the Blue Ridge, is added to the Dept. of East Tennessee.
• Action near Harrisonburg, VA.
• Maj. Gen. George McClellan, USA, orders a reconnaissance to the James River, VA, to communicate with the Union fleet. (Jun 3-7)
• Skirmish at Mount Jackson, VA, with Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, CSA.
• Skirmish at Tom's Brook, VA, with Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, CSA.

Wednesday June 3 1863

• Benjamin Henry Grierson, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
• Operations in Northern Louisiana, as Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, CSA, and Brig. Gen. Elias S. Dennis, USA, square off. (Jun 3-Jul 10)
• Federal expedition to Clinton, LA, Port Hudson Campaign.
• Engagement with the Federal gunboats, USS Switzerland and the USS Pittsburg, and Confederate shore batteries, near Simsport, LA.
• The transfer of the 9th US Army Corps from Kentucky to the vicinity of Vicksburg, MS. (Jun 3-17)
• The Gettysburg, PA, Campaign. (Jun 3-Aug 1)
• Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA. begins to move his forces out of Fredericksburg, VA.
• Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, USA, is assigned temporarily to the command of the Dept. of the South, SC.
• Col. Robert Gould Shaw, USA, arrives at Port Royal, SC, with the Negro Regiment, the 54th MA.
• Skirmish near Murfreesborough, TN.
• Skirmish near Fayetteville, WV.

Friday June 3 1864

• Skirmish at Searcy, AR.
• The US gun-boat, Water Witch, is captured by the Confederate forces in Ossabaw Sound, near Savannah, GA.
• Skirmish near Neosho, MO, where the Yankees pursue and kill some bushwackers, the bushwackers inflicting same on the Federals.
• Federal scout from Sedalia to the Blackwater River, MO, after some bushwackers shoot a Yankee and kill a civilian in front of the post office. (Jun 3-5)
• Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, loses about 7,000 men in less than an hour trying two frontal assaults on the entrenched Confederate lines at Cold Harbor. Grant does not negotiate a truce until Jun 7 to send rescue parties to help the wounded on the battlefield. Within the last month of the Army of the Potomac's advance, the estimates are 50,000 Union and 32,000 Confederate casualties.
• Cavalry action at Haw's Shop, VA, part of the Cold Harbor attack.
• Skirmish near Via's House, VA, during the Campaign from the Rapidan to the James River, VA.
• Brig. Gen. William W. Averell's, USA, Cavalry command sets out from Bunger's Mills, Greenbrier County, WV, to join up with Maj. Gen. David Hunter, USA, on his way to Lynchburg.

Saturday June 3 1865

• Skirmish with Indians at Dry Creek, the Dakota Territory, as the Indians attack the Platte Bridge Station, killing a few Union soldiers, and wounding others, before being driven off.
• Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, USA, assumes the command of the Dept. of the Gulf, LA.
• The 6th US Army Corps is reviewed in Washington. DC.