March 1 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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

March 1, 1781 - Articles of Confederation approved by all 13 states.

March 1, 1784 - Congress accepts the cession of western lands from the state of Virginia.

March 1, 1811 - Robert Christie Buchanan, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1878)

March 1, 1820 - George Davis, Attorney General (Confederacy), born in Wilmington, NC. (d. 1896)

March 1, 1820 - Missouri Compromise moves out of conference committee and to the floor of the House and Senate for debate.

March 1, 1822 - Albin Francisco Schoepf, Polish-American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Podgórze, Kraków, Poland (d. 1886)

March 1, 1822 - Charles Champion Gilbert, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Zanesville, Ohio (d. 1903)

March 1, 1828 - James Fleming Fagan, Major General (Confederate Army), born in Louisville, KY. (d. 1893)

March 1, 1831 - Hiram Bronson Granbury, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Copiah County, MS. (d. 1864)

March 1, 1841 - Joseph R. Anderson hired as commercial agent for Tredegar Iron Works.

March 1, 1845 - US President John Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas.

March 1, 1861 - P. G. T. Beauregard appointed Brigadier General [CS].

March 1, 1861 - Edwin Vose Sumner, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

March 1, 1861 - The Government of the Confederate States of America, (CSA) assumes control of the military affairs at Charleston, South Carolina.

March 1, 1861 - Bvt. Maj. Gen. David E. Twiggs, USA, in Texas, is dismissed from the US Military service by order of President Buchanan.

March 1, 1861 - Jefferson Davis orders General P. G. T. Beauregard to Charleston, South Carolina.

March 1, 1861 - Texas accepted as a state by the provisional government of the Confederate States of America.

March 1, 1861 - The U. S. Congress rejects the Washington Peace Conference proposals.

March 1, 1862 - Robert Ransom, Jr., CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

March 1, 1862 - Charles Sidney Winder, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

March 1, 1862 - David Hunter, U.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.

March 1, 1862 - Irvin McDowell, U.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.

March 1, 1862 - John McArthur, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

March 1, 1862 - Skirmish near Sikeston, MO.

March 1, 1862 - Engagement at Pittsburg Landing, TN, between Brig. Gen. George W. Cullum, USA, and Union gunboats, USS Lexington and USS Tyler, and Confederate batteries.

March 1, 1863 - The Federal capture of, and skirmish near, Bloomfield, MO.

March 1, 1863 - Federal expedition from New Berne aboard the US steamer, Escort, to Swan Quarter, NC, and skirmishes (Mar 3 & 4) near Fairfield and Swan Quarter; the Union taking casualties; they receive the protection of the US gunboat, North State. (Mar 1-6)

March 1, 1863 - Skirmish at Bradyville, TN, with Brig Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, CSA.

March 1, 1863 - Skirmish at Woodbury, TN.

March 1, 1864 - The following are appointed Confederate Brigadier Generals:
Richard Lucian Page, CSA
Claudius Wistar Sears, CSA
William Feimester Tucker, CSA

March 1, 1864 - Skirmish at Cedar Glade, AR.

March 1, 1864 - Skirmish in the Redwood Mountains, near Arcata, CA, with the Redwood Indians.

March 1, 1864 - Skirmishes at Cedar and McGirt's Creeks, FL, as the Federals advanced to ascertain the Confederates' position at Ten-Mile Station.

March 1, 1864 - Federal operations on the Ouachita River, LA, including actions at Trinity and Harrisonburg. The following US vessels were engaged: Conestoga, Cricket, Fort Hindman, Lexington, Osage and the Ouachita. (Mar 1-4)

March 1, 1864 - Skirmish at Ashland, VA, as Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, USA, calls off his column's attack on Richmond and crosses the Chickahominy east of Richmond, VA.

March 1, 1864 - Skirmish near Atlee's, VA, with portions of the Union cavalry of the Kilpatrick raid on Richmond, VA.

March 1, 1864 - Skirmishes on the Brook turnpike, near Richmond, VA, as Col. Ulric Dahlgren, USA, abandons his attempt to enter Richmond, VA, from the north, at Short Pump, and hangs his guide, a young Negro lad for leading them astray.

March 1, 1864 - Skirmish at Burton's Ford, Rapidan River, VA, as Brig. Gen. George A. Custer's, USA, diversionary expedition ends today.

March 1, 1864 - Skirmish near Stanardsville, VA, with Brig. Gen. George A. Custer, USA.

March 1, 1865 - The siege of Petersburg is ongoing.

March 1, 1865 - Alexander William Campbell, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

March 1, 1865 - Ellison Capers, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

March 1, 1865 - Federal expedition from Gravelly Springs to Florence, AL. (Mar 1-6)

March 1, 1865 - Skirmish at Holly Creek, GA.

March 1, 1865 - Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Cooper, CSA, assumes the command of the District of the Indian Territory.

March 1, 1865 - Federal expedition from Baton Rouge to Jackson and Clinton, LA, as the Yankees experience terrible weather, having to rebuild bridges across White's Bayou, Redwood and the Comite. The Rebels leave the impression they are about to abandon this area very soon; the local citizens are beginning to show a strong disposition to get on good terms with the Federal authorities. (Mar 1-12)

March 1, 1865 - Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Grierson, USA, is assigned to the command of the Military Division of West Mississippi.

March 1, 1865 - Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox, USA, assumes the command of the District of Beaufort, SC.

March 1, 1865 - With Admiral Ulrich Dahlgren aboard, his flagship, the Harvest Moon, strikes a Confederate torpedo near Charleston Harbor, SC, and sinks.

March 1, 1865 - Skirmish at Wilson's Store, SC, as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, continues his March through the Carolinas.

March 1, 1865 - Skirmish near Philadelphia, TN, as Brig. Gen. Davis Tillson, USA, commends the Federal officer in charge for his resolve of taking no guerrillas as prisoners, all the enemy being killed today.

March 1, 1865 - Skirmish at Mount Crawford, VA, as Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, USA, and Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt, USA, Union Cavalry meet up with Lieut. Gen. Jubal Early, CSA.

March 1, 1865 - Wisconsin becomes the 16th state to ratify the 13th amendment which will abolish slavery, if passed.

March 1, 1867 - Nebraska becomes a state.

March 1, 1875 - Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

 

[5fish]

March 1, 1862 - Engagement at Pittsburg Landing, TN, between Brig. Gen. George W. Cullum, USA, and Union gunboats, USS Lexington and USS Tyler, and Confederate batteries.

It the First Shiloh... http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862firstshiloh.htm

Two companies of the 18th Louisiana were stationed in the ravine between the northernmost houses, while the remaining seven companies camped in the woods behind the open field; pickets were set that evening near the mouth of Owl Creek a mile and a half downstream. Neither camp could be seen from the river. On the morning of Saturday, March 1st, the Miles Light Artillery arrived. The battery was under the command of Captain Claude Gibson, and so was also known as Gibson’s Battery. The captain posted two 12-pound howitzers under 2nd Lieutenant Charles A. Montaldo along the river about 100 yards downstream (north) from the landing and four 6-pound rifled guns under Junior 1st Lieutenant E. D. Terrebonne 300 yards further upstream (south) on “a high and conspicuous bluff.” This would put the guns on either side of the landing itself, in a position to enfilade any ship trying to land, and able to direct a plunging fire down from the heights onto any vessel passing by. It was a good position – possibly the best point at which to choke off the Tennessee. As per Federal reports, the two northern guns were sited near the log cabin atop the bluff.

Departing Savannah, Tennessee on Saturday, March 1st, 1862, the Tyler and Lexington headed upstream, the Tyler in the lead. Just before noontime the Confederate pickets at Owl Creek spotted the smoke from their stacks above the trees along the river and spread the word that “gunboats were coming.” At 12:00m the ships rounded Diamond Island and steamed into view of Pittsburg Landing. Gwin and Shirk were unaware of the Confederate presence. Atop the southern bluff, Lieutenant Terrebonne opened fire with his rifled cannon at 1200 yards, making “a few shots which were doubtless well-aimed, but which fell short of their mark some 200 or 300 yards.” Tyler and Lexington cleared for action and returned fire at 1000 yards. As the battle opened, Colonel Mouton rushed to the scene and pushed a single company forward over the brow of the hill, ordering them into “a rifle pit that was being made on the bank of the river in front of our camp.” Unfortunately, this fieldwork was incomplete and offered scant protection from the fire of the gunboats. Being in full view of the Navy gunners and at such a range that their musket fire was ineffective, the company was quickly withdrawn – “not however until two or three shots passed so close to us that we could feel the wind raising the hair on our heads. Had one of the shots been a couple of feet lower it would have enfiladed the company and settled up the accounts of a good many of us.”

The opposing guns exchanged fire for ten or fifteen minutes before the Confederate gunners were "compelled to travel," their retreat due in part to the fact that some of their guns were not returning fire! Lieutenant Montaldo (in charge of the two 12-pound guns on the northern bluff) “withdrew his howitzers without firing.” At his court-martial in April the lieutenant testified he “did not have enough men or the proper implements to work his guns.”(6) Grisamore reports “a few well-directed shots from the boats caused the [main] battery to fall back, whilst the two howitzers, from not being properly prepared, were not fired at all, and all fell back into the woods.” From the other side of the battle, Lieutenant Gwin reported, “we had the satisfaction of silencing their batteries” as the result of “exceedingly well-directed fire.”

In his defense, Montaldo – in addition to not being able to work his guns – may have been getting more than his fair share of attention from the gunboats. Although Grisamore comments only that enemy gunfire struck and burned a log cabin,(7) Federal records describe this specifically targeted structure as a “fortified house.” Rifle pits that the Rebels had started digging supported this impression. From the river, the two-gun battery, the entrenchments, and the infantry company rushing to fill them certainly suggested a fortified position. The Union sailors were aware of both batteries, since they cite the correct number of guns, but the “fortified house” and its entrenchments came in for special attention.

Realizing the importance of the position, Gwin and Shirk determined to land and ascertain the full strength and purpose of the Rebels and to destroy the “fortified house” above the landing. These works were newly constructed and could well be the beginnings of a more major bastion. In preparation, the Navy guns pounded the shore and surrounding woods for an hour with grape and canister. Recalled Silas Grisamore, “Having never seen but our company and the battery, it is presumed that they imagined the force on land to be small and to have retreated.” Unbeknownst to the Union officers, Alfred Mouton had formed his eight other companies in the safety of the ravine behind the bluffs and was simply biding his time.(8)

Having evidently hung downstream from Pittsburg Landing while shelling the enemy batteries, the gunboats now “proceeded abreast of the place” and landed two armed boats from each vessel, all the while covering the bluffs with fire.(9) Second Master Jason Goudy commanded the boats from the Tyler (with Rider’s Co. K) and was in charge of the whole landing party; Second Master Martin Dunn led the boats of the Lexington (with Phillips’ Co. C). All told there were about a hundred Union soldiers and sailors. Undercover of the ships’ fire, the landing was evidently uncontested.

 

[5fish]

See the first Shiloh ... http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1862firstshiloh.htm

Jason Goudy led the naval demolition party directly for the “fortified house” on the river face of the northern hill. Captain Phillips took the men of the 32nd Illinois (and perhaps a number of sailors) toward the top of the hill to screen Goudy and get a better idea of the scope of the fortifications.(10) As they crested the bluff, the fire of the entire 18th Louisiana met them. Silas Grisamore’s diary described the reaction of the Yankees to the Confederate ambush as a “precipitous rush” back to their boats, with the Louisianans in close pursuit. But the Rebels did not have everything their way, as the guns of the Tyler and Lexington reopened fire. "As we rose the brow of the bluff, Corporal Huggins C. Ensign, of the Orleans Cadets, fell, torn and mutilated by a [Navy] shell, his left arm broken and left side torn out.” First Lieutenant John T. Lavery, also of the Orleans Cadets, was shot through the thigh, but continued to fight on, "having borrowed a Maynard rifle, he leaned against a sapling, and blazed away as hard as he could" and 1st Lieutenant Andrew J. Watt of Captain Huntington’s company "was struck with an iron ring of a grape stand, which had glanced from a tree, bruising his leg very severely, but did not prevent him from following up the fight."(11) Union Navy Lieutenant Gwin’s report claimed that the “small force actually drove back the rebels and held them in check until they accomplished their difficult object, which was to discover their real strength and purpose, and to destroy a house in close proximity to the place where the batteries had been placed.” He cited Second Master Goudy for special bravery in the destruction of the house “under such heavy fire.” The “precipitous rush” must have taken a bit of time, and it is possible that the 32nd Illinois (with the help of the gunboats) managed to slow the Confederate charge despite being outnumbered 10:1, allowing Goudy time to complete his work Gwin’s report stated, “My thanks are due to Captain Phillips, Lieutenant Rider, and their men for the gallant manner in which, in the face of the enemy, they charged up the hill, drove back, and held in check, the rebels until the boats' crews had effected the destruction of the house designated. As Grisamore indicates, the Louisianans began taking casualties as they reached the top of the hill – where they became exposed to the guns of the timberclads. The Rebels would also at that time have been silhouetted against the sky, making perfect targets for the sailors and the Illinois sharpshooters. That they were feeling the effects of this combined fire is suggested by Grisamore’s statement that his fellows would “fire from the top of the steep banks and step back out of their sight, [i.e., over the edge of the hill] whilst they were reloading their pieces.”

Just as Goudy’s demolition team came under heavy fire at the house, so too did the Confederates pay special attention to the crew of the Tyler’s howitzer. This gun was under the command of Gunner Herman Peters “who displayed the greatest coolness and courage, although exposed to the whole fire of the enemy, all but one of his men having been wounded.” It is not clear whether mention of “armed boats” means that howitzers were actually landed or if they were fired from the decks of the ships. The photo of the Lexington seems to show that ship’s boat howitzer deployed on the foredeck, where the gun crew would have been easy targets for the Rebel infantry. Certainly the ships themselves came under heavy musket fire, and Gwin singled out the civilian pilots Hiner and Sebastian for “their coolness under such a tremendous fire of musketry, our vessel being perfectly riddled with balls.” The Rebel fire also began to tell among the men of the landing party: Seaman James Sullivan of the Lexington fell dead, shot through the chest; Corporal John Hines of the 32nd Illinois was also killed, and Orderly Sergeant Daniel Messick and Captain Phillips were wounded. Among the Tyler’s crew, Seaman Pleasant Gilbert went down with a leg wound (that would necessitate amputation), Seaman Crawford T. Hill was hit in the forearm, Seaman John Matthews in the shoulder, Seaman G. W. Shull in the back, and Seaman Robert Bell in the arm and chest. Some or all of these men may have been on the hard-hit crew of Gunner Peters’ howitzer. Two Lexington sailors and one from the Tyler would also be listed as missing in action.

In the face of the Rebel onslaught—and having destroyed the house—the Union force began to fall back toward their boats, “receiving in their retreat a most terrific fire of musketry.” Grisamore recalled that, as the gunboats could not get closer to the shore than 50 yards, it was a long pull for the Yankees in the boats and ”they became good marks for our men.” The crews of the timberclads poured fire upon the advancing Rebels. Gwin praised them in his reports as having “behaved with the greatest spirit and enthusiasm.” Aboard the Tyler, First Master Edward Shaw and Third Master James Martin were singled out for their efficient working of the batteries. All told, the Tyler expended 95 shell, 30 stand of grape, 10 of canister, and 67 rounds of shrapnel; the Lexington fired off 45 8-inch shell, 25 6-inch shell, and 16 stand of grape.(12)

The 18th Louisiana pressed on, firing several more volleys at the boats and at the timberclads. Grisamore boasted, “the gunboats were wooden affairs, and our riflemen silenced their pieces easily. Had the battery been present then we could have sunk them or compelled a surrender.” This last claim certainly could have been true, since the musket fire alone had riddled the ships, but the Navy guns were far from “silenced.” Lieutenant Shirk reporting at this time seeing “a shell from this vessel . . . take effect upon a field officer, emptying his saddle and dropping three foot soldiers.” The identity of this officer is uncertain: Grisamore states that Lieutenants Lavery and Watt were the only officers hurt in the engagement, and their wounds (described above) sound miraculously minor for being caught in a blast sufficient to unhorse them. The man in question may have belonged to the artillery battery or to the Mississippi cavalry (13) – or he may simply have been incredibly lucky.

Having repelled the enemy landing, the Louisianans retired over the hill. The gunboats fired a few more rounds and, receiving no answer, disengaged. A plaque in the National Cemetery says they continued upstream to Florence, Mississippi, but Gwin’s report of March 1st – which, since it described the engagement, had to be written later that afternoon or evening – is datelined “Savannah, Tennessee.” Evidently they dropped back downstream to offload their wounded. Silas Grisamore confirms this by recording that “they floated off down the river and did not use their engines until the current had carried them a mile or more below the scene of action.” The battle had lasted three hours.

Need to read the link for the ending...