March 21 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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

March 21 Birthdays

None

March 21 Antebellum Events

None

Thursday March 21 1861

• The Confederate seizure of the US supply ship sloop, the USS Isabella, at Mobile, AL, on its way to Pensacola, FL.

Friday March 21 1862

• Brig. Gen. William Yarnel Slack, CSA, dies from wounds he received on Mar 7, at the Battle of Pea Ridge, or Elkhorn Tavern, AR.
• The following are appointed Union Major Generals:
  • Samuel Ryan Curtis, U.S.A.
  • John Alexander McClernand, U.S.A.
  • William Starke Rosecrans, U.S.A.
  • Lewis Wallace, U.S.A.
• The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
  • Alexander Sandor Asboth, USA
  • Henry Beebee Carrington, USA
  • John Cook, USA
  • James Craig, USA
  • Speed Smith Fry, USA
  • Henry Moses Judah, USA
  • Jacob Gartner Lauman, USA
  • John Alexander Logan, USA
  • Robert Latimer McCook, USA
  • Horatio Phillips Van Cleve, USA
  • William Harvey Lamb Wallace, USA
• Naval engagement at Mosquito Inlet, FL, with the Union gunboats: Henry Andrew, Penguin, and the Union.
• The Federal occupation of Washington, NC, by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, USA.
• Affair at McKay's Farm, between Humansville and Warsaw, MO.
• Federal reconnaissance to and skirmish at Cumberland Gap, TN, against Maj. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, CSA. (Mar 21-23)

Saturday March 21 1863

• Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose "Bull" Sumner, USA, dies in Syracuse, NY, from natural causes, while he was travelling to his new assignment as the commander of the Dept. of Missouri.
• Skirmish on the Eel River, CA, with over 45 Indians killed and 37 squaws and children brought in as prisoners.
• Federal expedition from Bonnet Carre to the Jackson Railroad and the Amite River, LA. (Mar 21-29)
• Federal expedition from New Orleans to Ponchatoula, LA, and skirmishes. (Mar 21-30)
• Affair near Doniphan, MO.
• Confederate guerrilla attack on the Union railway train between Bolivar and Grand Junction, TN, which they are able to derail and burn.
• Federal scout from La Grange to Saulsbury, TN. (Mar 21-22)
• Cavalry skirmish at Salem, TN.
• Skirmish at Triune, TN.

Monday March 21 1864

• Skirmish near Moulton, AL, with Brig. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, USA, commanding the Left Wing. 16th US Army Corps, who reports sighting Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate Cavalry.
• Affair at Henderson's Hill, LA, with Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Mower, USA, defeating and capturing the better part of Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, CSA, scouting arm of the CSA service, the Red River (LA) Campaign.
• Skirmish at Reynoldsburg, 65 miles from Union City, TN, where the Confederates capture the Federal garrison of 50 men there.
• Affair at Velasco, TX, as an armed blockade runner fires on the grounded Federal steamship. Matagorda, whose crew then abandoned her, opting to go to shore.

Tuesday March 21 1865

• The Dept. of Arkansas and the Indian Territory is transferred from the Military Division of West Mississippi to the Military Division of Missouri.
• Federal scout from Pine Bluff to Monticello, AR, for the purpose of breaking up some conscripting and bushwacking parties that were in this section of the country. (Mar 21-23)
• The Union forces occupy Goldsborough, NC.
• Brig. Gen. Innis N. Palmer, USA, assumes the command of the District of Beaufort, SC.
• Federal expedition from East Tennessee into Southwestern Virginia and Western North Carolina, by Maj. Gen. George Stoneman, USA, commanding the District of East Tennessee. (Mar 21-Apr 25)
• 1866 - US Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes.

March 21 Deaths

1891 - Joseph Eggleston Johnston, General (Confederate) dies at 84 in Washington, D. C.