March 3 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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

March 3 Birthdays

None

March 3 Antebellum Events

1819 - Edwin Vose Sumner enters military service at the rank of Second Lieutenant.
1820 - Maine admitted to the U. S. as a free state, Missouri admitted to the U. S. as a slave state.
1836 - Charter of the Second Bank of the United States expires.
1839 - Hiram Ulysses Grant appointed to West Point.
1843 - John C. Calhoun resigns from the Senate to run for President in 1844.
1853 - Transcontinental railroad survey is authorized by US Congress.

Sunday March 3 1861

• Brig. Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, CSA, assumes the Confederate command at Charleston Harbor, SC.
• Bvt. Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott, USA, determines that the relief of Fort Sumter, SC, is not practical.

Monday March 3 1862

• Daniel Marsh Frost, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
• John Bell Hood, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.
• Federal reconnaissance to Berryville, AR. (Mar 3-7)
• Amelia Island, FL, is evacuated by the Confederate forces.
• The siege and capture of New Madrid, MO. (Mar 3-14)
• The Confederate capture of Cubero, the New Mexico Territory.
• Gen. Robert Edward Lee, CSA, is called to Richmond, VA, by President Jefferson Davis, to act as military advisor.
• Skirmish at, and occupation of, Martinsburg, WV, by the Federals troops.

Tuesday March 3 1863

• Another unsuccessful Union naval attack on Fort McAlister, below Savannah, GA, by the gunboats, USS Nahant, Passaic, and the Patapsco.
• Confederate raid on Granby, MO, with a quick Rebel exit.
• Skirmish near Bear Creek, TN.
• Federal expedition from Concord Church to Chapel Hill, TN. (Mar 3-6)
• Federal expedition from Murfreesborough to Woodbury, TN. (Mar 3-8)
• Federal expedition from Belle Plain to Coan River and Machodee Creek, VA. (Mar 3-8)
• The US Government creates the Idaho Territory from an area previously part of the Washington Territory.

Thursday March 3 1864

• Skirmishes at Jackson and near Baton Rouge, LA.
• Skirmish at Brownsville, MS, the Meridian, MS, Expedition.
• Skirmish at Liverpool, MS, the Meridian, MS, Expedition.
• Skirmish near Petersburg, WV, with Union cavalry.

Friday March 3 1865

• Skirmish at Decatur, AL.
• Skirmish near Tunnel Hill, GA, as Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's Confederates capture a small squad of Yankees out and about repairing downed telegraph wires.
• The Idaho Territory is attached to the District of Oregon.
• Brig. Gen. Thomas J. McKean, USA, assumes the command of the District of Morganza, LA.
• Federal expeditions from Bloomfield, 25 miles into Dunklin County, MO, with skirmishes (Mar 3 &7) near Bloomfield and (Mar 4) in Dunklin County, where the Yankees kill 6 Rebels, in fierce fighting. (Mar 3-7)
• Affair near Big Black Creek, SC.
• Skirmish near Blakeny's, SC.
• The Union forces, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, occupy Cheraw, SC, as the Confederates retreat across the Pee Dee River, and yield large depots of precious military supplies.
• Skirmish at Juniper Creek, near Cheraw, SC.
• Skirmish at Thompson's Creek, near Cheraw, SC.
• Skirmish near Hornsborough, SC.
• Federal reconnaissance from Cumberland Gap, TN, toward Jonesville, VA, with skirmishes (Mar 4) at Ball's Bridge, VA, and (Mar 5) at Tazewell, TN. (Mar 3-5)
• Federal expedition from Memphis, TN, into Northern Mississippi. (Mar 3-11)
• The occupation of Charlottesville, VA, by the Federal troops under Maj. Gen. Philip Henry Sheridan, USA, who continue to ride toward Petersburg, VA.
• Federal operations about Warrenton, Bealeton Station, Sulphur Springs, Salem, and Centerville, VA, and encounters with guerrillas dressed in Union garb. The Union officer in charge commenting how the Federal cavalry is misbehaving badly as they pillage and plunder farms and houses along their ride. (Mar 3-8)
• The Federals begin moving their convoy of Confederate prisoners up the Shenandoah Valley from Waynesborough to Winchester, VA, with skirmishes along the way at:
  • Harrisonburg (Mar 5)
  • Mount Jackson (Mar 7)
  • Rude's Hill (Mar 7)
• Before adjourning, the 38th Congress of the U.S.A. establishes the Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees, designed to manage and supervise all abandoned lands controlled by the US and to provide assistance to the refugees and freed slaves.
• Abraham Lincoln issues instructions on surrender discussions. He gives Grant wide-ranging powers on military matters, but reserves political matters for himself.

March 3 Deaths

1874 - Millard Fillmore dies of complications from a massive stroke, Buffalo, New York.