May 6 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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

May 6 Birthdays

1801 - George Sears Greene, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Apponaug, Rhode Island (d. 1899)
1813 - Joseph Tarr Copeland, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in New Castle, Maine (d. 1893)
1825 - Joseph Bailey, American civil engineer and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Morgan County, Ohio (d. 1867)

Monday May 6 1861

• The ordnance of secession is adopted by the Arkansas Convention, at Little Rock, by the overwhelming vote of 69-1 in favor of secession.
• Brig. Gen. Daniel M. Frost, Missouri State Militia, establishes a camp of instructions near Saint Louis, by the direction of the Governor of Missouri.
• The State Legislature of Tennessee, votes 66-25 in favor of secession.

Tuesday May 6 1862

• Skirmish on White River, AR.
• Williamsburg, VA, is occupied by the Union forces, as the Chocura, Sebago, and the USS Wachusett sail up the York River toward West Point, VA.
• Skirmish near Harrisonburg, VA, as Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, CSA, moving from Conrad's Store, VA, forces Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, USA, to withdraw toward Strasburg, VA, as Jackson turns his attention to the Union forces at McDowell, WV.
• Skirmish at Camp McDonald and Arnoldsburg, WV.

Wednesday May 6 1863

• Federal scout between the White and St. Francis Rivers, AR. (May 6-15)
• Confederate scout from Creek Agency, the Indian Territory, to Jasper County, MO, with skirmishes at Martin's House, Centre Creek, and Sherman, MO, killing about 30 Federal white and black soldiers. The Federals returned the next day and burned the town of Sherwood, MO. (May 6-19)
• Federal expedition from Bowling Green, KY, to the Tennessee State Line.
• The US Navy, under Admiral Porter, takes possession of Alexandria, LA.
• Maj. Gen. Ambrose P. Hill, CSA, is assigned to the command of the 2nd Army Corps, the Army of Northern Virginia, replacing the mortally wounded Lieut. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, now at Guiney's Station, VA.
• Skirmish at Warrenton, VA.
• Skirmish at West Union, WV, with Brig. Gen. William E. "Grumble" Jones, CSA.

Friday May 6 1864

• The following are appointed Confederate Brigadier Generals:
  • John Bratton, CSA
  • Samuel Jameson Gholson, CSA
  • Stand Watie, CSA
• James Samuel Wadsworth, U.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
• Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins, CSA, dies from the battle wound to his brain he received the day before at the Battle of the Wilderness, VA, receiving his wound near the same spot that Lieut. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, CSA, was killed a year earlier at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Va.
• Maj. Gen. James Samuel Wadsworth, USA, is mortally wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, VA, receiving his deathwound with a Confederate minieball lodging in his brain, while he rode atop his horse and leading his men against a Confederate charge.
• Skirmish with Indians near Boynton's Prairie, CA, after which 15 Indians went to the Federals and surrendered.
• Affair at Tampa, FL, where a Federal expeditionary force from Key West temporarily occupies Tampa.
• Skirmishes at Tunnel Hill, GA. (May 6-7)
• Skirmish near Morganfield, KY.
• Skirmishes at Bayou Lamourie, LA, Red River, the Red River (LA) Campaign. (May 6-7)
• Skirmish at Boyce's Plantation, LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.
• Confederate operations in the Calcasieu Pass, LA, where the Rebels capture the Union gunboats, Granite City and Wave. Federals report 174 killed, wounded and missing while the Rebels lose 21. (May 6-7)
• Confederate raid on Napoleonville, LA, where the Rebels ransack the stores there.
• Skirmish at Well's Plantation, LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.
• Federal scout from Bloomfield, MO, after guerrillas.
• Federal scout from Patterson, MO, and skirmish (May 8) at Cherokee Bay, AR, where the Rebels attack but soon after skedaddle, leaving 12 dead behind. (May 6-11)
• Encounter on the James River, near City Point, with the Union ironclad gunboat, the Commodore Jones, destroyed by a Confederate electronic torpedo, while Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Union army fails to take the city of Petersburg, VA, which is defended by Maj. Gen. George Pickett, CSA.
• The Engagement at Port Walthall Junction and Chester Station, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA, and the Army of the James. (May 6-7)
• Skirmish at Princeton, WV, with Brig. Gen. William W. Averell, USA, and his movements on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad.

Saturday May 6 1865

• James Harrison Wilson, U.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.
• Federal scout with the 79th US Colored Infantry, from Little Rock, aboard the steamer, Rose Hamilton, to Bayou Meto and Little Bayou, AR. (May 6-11)
• Federal expedition from Richmond to Stauton and Charlottesville, VA, including the surrender of Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser, CSA, Cavalry at Lexington. (May 6-14)
• Maj. Gen. David Hunter, USA, is appointed to head the commission which will try those accused of assassinating President Abraham Lincoln, Washington, DC.
• 1959 - California ratifies the 14th Amendment.