May 17 In Civil War History

Jim Klag

Ike the moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,690
Reaction score
2,296
OnThisDay.png
On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

May 17, 1812 - Joseph Warren Revere, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1880)

May 17, 1861 - The following are appointed Union Brigadier Generals:
Don Carlos Buell, USA
James Cooper, USA
Darius Nash Couch, USA
Jacob Dolson Cox, USA
Samuel Ryan Curtis, USA
William Buel Franklin, USA
Ulysses Simpson Grant, USA
Charles Smith Hamilton, USA
Samuel Peter Heintzelman, USA
Joseph Hooker, USA
Philip Kearny, USA
Benjamin Franklin Kelley, USA
Erasmus Darwin Keyes, USA
Rufus Ring, USA
Nathaniel Lyon, USA
John Alexander McClernand, USA
William Reading Montgomery, USA
John Walcott Phelps, USA
John Pope, USA
Andrew Porter, USA
Fitz John Porter, USA
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss, USA
Joseph Jones Reynolds, USA
Robert Gumming Schenck, USA
Thomas West Sherman, USA
William Tecumseh Sherman, USA
Franz Sigel, USA
Charles Pomeroy Stone, USA
Alpheus Starkey Williams, USA

May 17, 1862 - Thomas Lanier Clingman, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

May 17, 1862 - Alvin Peterson Hovey, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

May 17, 1862 - Skirmish on the Little Red River, AR, with the Confederate capture of a Union foraging party and wagons.

May 17, 1862 - Col. George W. Bowie, 5th California Infantry, assumes the command of the District of Southern California.

May 17, 1862 - Action at Russell's House, near Corinth, MS, with Maj. Gen. Henry Wager Halleck, USA, continuing to creep toward Corinth, Mississippi.

May 17, 1862 - Federal expedition up the Pamunkey River, VA, aboard the tug boat, Seth Lowe.

May 17, 1862 - Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell, USA, at Fredericksburg, VA, is ordered to form a junction with the Army of the Potomac and move upon Richmond, VA, in co-operation with Maj. Gen. George Brinton McClellan, USA.

May 17, 1863 - Operations on the west side of the Mississippi River, near Port Hudson, LA, by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, as Confederate Cavalry capture pickets and cattle.

May 17, 1863 - Skirmish about 3 miles from Bridgeport, MS, with the 6th Missouri Cavalry capturing 2 wagons and about 160 prisoners.

May 17, 1863 - Skirmish on the Bradyville Pike, TN.

May 17, 1863 - Federal scout from La Grange, TN.

May 17, 1863 - Cavalry skirmish near Dumfries, VA.

May 17, 1863 - Battle of Big Black River - Pemberton placed his men with their backs to the Big Black River. When the U. S. attacked, Pemberton's line broke with most of the men crossing the Big Black River before the bridge was set on fire. Army of the Tennessee then crossed the Big Black, closing in on Vicksburg.

May 17, 1863 - President Lincoln declares Judge Leavitt's denial of motion for habeas corpus in the Vallandigham case the equivalent of 3 victories in the field.

May 17, 1864 - Affair at Madison Station, AL.

May 17, 1864 - Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby's, Confederate scout in Northern Arkansas. (May 17-22)

May 17, 1864 - The Confederate capture of Dardanelle, AR, by Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby, CSA.

May 17, 1864 - Engagement at Adairsville, GA, as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, is attacked by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, as Johnston pulls back, heading toward Atlanta, GA.

May 17, 1864 - Action at Rome, GA, with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA.

May 17, 1864 - Action near Moreauville, LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.

May 17, 1864 - Skirmish at Yellow Bayou, LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.

May 17, 1864 - Operations on the Bermuda Hundred front, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA, in charge. (May 17-Jun 2)

May 17, 1864 - Skirmish near Waterford, Loudoun County, VA, as Lieut. Col. John S. Mosby, CSA, with his 43rd VA Cavalry battalion, attack the men who joined up with the Union and formed a company of independent cavalry; Mosby inflicting 9 casualties on these Virginian Federals.

May 17, 1865 - THE CONFEDERATE TROOPS IN FLORIDA SURRENDER TO BVT. BRIG. GEN. ISRAEL VOGDES. USA. (May 17-20)

May 17, 1865 - Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, USA, is assigned to the command, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, is relieved from command of the Dept. of The Gulf.

May 17, 1865 - The State of Mississippi is added to the Dept. of the Gulf, LA. The Military Division of West Mississippi is abolished, and the Dept. of the Gulf is constituted from the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and the District of Key West and the Tortugas.

May 17, 1865 - Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, USA, is assigned to the general command west of the Mississippi River and South of the Arkansas River.

May 17, 1875 - John C. Breckinridge, US Vice-President and Confederate general, dies, Lexington, Kentucky.
 
Top