October 18 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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

October 18, 1767 The Mason-Dixon line, the boundary between Maryland & Pennsylvania is agreed upon.

October 18, 1802 - Juan Ventura Moralis reveals that Spain intends to revoke the American "right of deposit" at New Orleans. Most historians believe that the revocation came because of American abuses of the Pinckney Treaty.

October 18, 1806 - John Breckinridge Grayson, Brig Genl (Confederate Army), born in Fayette County, KY. (d. 1861)

October 18, 1811 - Hugh Thompson Reid, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Union City, Indiana (d. 1874)

October 18, 1818 - Edward Otho Cresap Ord, American engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Cumberland, Maryland (d. 1883)

October 18, 1829 - Charles Sidney Winder, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Easton, Maryland. (d. 1862)

October 18, 1829 - Lucius Marshall Walker, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Columbia, TN. (d. 1863)

October 18, 1854 - James Buchanan pens the Ostend Manifesto.

October 18, 1859 - Robert E. Lee and JEB Stuart plan an attack against John Brown and his raiders at Harpers Ferry. At 6:30 am, Stuart signals Marine Lieutenant Israel Green who storms the firehouse holding the raiders and their hostages. Five of Brown's Raiders escape. The rest are caught or killed.

October 18, 1861 - Lloyd Tilghman, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

October 18, 1861 - Skirmish near Rockcastle Hills, KY.

October 18, 1861 - Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell, CSA, supersedes Maj. Gen. David Twiggs, CSA, in the command of Dept. Number 1, consisting of Louisiana and Texas.

October 18, 1861 - Union forces under Col. Joseph Bennett Plummer, 11th Missouri Infantry, advance from Cape Girardeau, MO, toward M. Jeff Thompson's Confederate Partisans which results in the following skirmish at Warrensburg, MO.

October 18, 1861 - Federal gunboat reconnaissance down the Mississippi River, MO.

October 18, 1861 - Skirmish at Warrensburg, MO.

October 18, 1861 - Federal reconnaissance towards the Occoquan River, VA, by Brig. Gen. Israel B. Richardson, USA.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Cross Hollow, AR.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish near Helena, AR.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Bloomfield, KY.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmishes at Cross-Roads, Big Hill, Little Rockcastle River, and Mountain Side, KY.

October 18, 1862 - Action at Lexington, KY, with Col. John Hunt Morgan's CSA troops routing the Federals, and Hunt entering the city.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Nelson's Cross-Roads, KY.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Rockcastle River, KY.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish at California House, MO, with Rebel guerrillas.

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish near Uniontown, MO.

October 18, 1862 - Affair at Kirk's Bluff, SC.

October 18, 1863 - William Price Sanders, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

October 18, 1863 - Skirmish at Carrion Crow Bayou, LA, with Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, USA.

October 18, 1863 - Skirmish on the Livingston road, near Clinton, MS.

October 18, 1863 - Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, assumes the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, which consists of all Union troops between the Mississippi River and the Cumberland Mountains.

October 18, 1863 - Skirmish at Carthage, MO, with Col. Joseph O. Shelby, CSA.

October 18, 1863 - Affair near Annandale, VA, where Maj. John Singleton Mosby, CSA, and his Virginia Partisan Rangers capture over 100 horses and mules, several wagons loaded with valuable stores, and between 75 and 100 prisoners, arms, equipment, etc., without sustaining any losses.

October 18, 1863 - Skirmish at Bristoe Station, VA, as Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA, withdraws to around Orange Courthouse.

October 18, 1863 - The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia is established on the line of the Rappahannock River, VA, under the command of Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA.

October 18, 1863 - The Confederate attack, under Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden, CSA, commanding the Valley District, on Charleston, WV, and skirmishes on the road to Berryville, VA, as Imboden surrounds Charlestown and captures the entire Union force there of 250 men, mostly the 9th Maryland.

October 18, 1864 - The siege of Petersburg is ongoing.

October 18, 1864 - Maj. Gen. David Bell Birney, USA, dies at his home in Philadelphia, PA, from camp fever (malaria) contracted in the summer of 1864 during Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign through Virginia.

October 18, 1864 - Skirmish near Huntsville, AL, as Lieut. Gen. John B. Hood, CSA, moves his Army of Tennessee towards Gadsden, AL, away from Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's, USA, railroad line on the Chattanooga to Atlanta Railroad.

October 18, 1864 - Skirmish near Summerville, GA.

October 18, 1864 - Skirmish near Milton, FL, as the Confederates attack the US steamer, Planter, which is busy gathering logs in Blackwater Bay, at Battledonge. Later the Planter enters Escambia Bay and carries away 15,000 new brick and a lot of doors and window sashes.

October 18, 1864 - Skirmish in Barry County, MO.

October 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Clinch Mountain, TN.

October 18, 1864 - Confederate raids on the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad, TN, as the Rebels burn nearly all the dwellings along the railroad for two miles.

October 18, 1867 - Russia turns over Alaska to the United States.

 

[5fish]

October 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Cross Hollow, AR.

Here is camp...

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Cross Hollow (or Cross Hollows), located along the Telegraph Road eighteen miles south of the Missouri-Arkansas border near modern-day Rogers (Benton ...

encyclopediaofarkansas.net

Cross Hollow (Camp)
Cross Hollow (or Cross Hollows), located along the Telegraph Road eighteen miles south of the Missouri-Arkansas border near modern-day Rogers (Benton County), was the site of Confederate winter quarters during the winter of 1861–62. A Civil War skirmish was fought near Cross Hollow in 1864.

Following the August 10, 1861, Confederate victory at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri, General Benjamin McCulloch’s army fell back into Arkansas. Feeling that the troops would be close enough to Missouri to march there readily if circumstances demanded, commanders chose Cross Hollow, a long, narrow valley at the intersection of an east-west road and the Telegraph Road, which was the major north-south road into Missouri. Abundant springs and forage and the presence of two mills nearby, coupled with the presence of several high ridges commanding the Telegraph Road, made it an excellent location for the camp.

The Confederates erected huts made of logs, boards, and turf in a cleared area, covering several acres near the road junction. Other encampments were established in the valley, the largest of which was Camp Benjamin, about two miles east of Cross Hollow. Peter Van Winkle was commissioned to build sixteen 18′ by 36′ cabins from boards cut at his mill. Van Winkle’s construction at Camp Benjamin was completed on December 11, 1861, and forty-nine other structures were built there with wood from Thomas K. Blake’s mill.

Major General Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Southwest drove Sterling Price’s Confederate Missourians into Arkansas on February 16, 1862, and Price marched to Cross Hollow to link up with McCulloch’s Confederate troops. Curtis, wary of reports that the camp at Cross Hollow was heavily fortified, declined to continue his march down the Telegraph Road and instead ordered Brigadier General Alexander Asboth to scout to the west to seek a way to flank McCulloch from his winter quarters. Following the February 18, 1862, Action at Bentonville, McCulloch concluded that Cross Hollow was indeed indefensible and, despite Price’s opposition, ordered his men to abandon their camps and march south into the Boston Mountains. The Sixth Texas Cavalry Regiment set fire to many of the cabins, and other supplies and equipment were also destroyed to deny them to Curtis’s Federal army.

Curtis stationed two divisions at Cross Hollow and two at McKissick’s Creek (near present-day Centerton (Benton County) as he waited to see what the Confederates’ next move would be. They remained there until March 5, when the Union commander learned that the Confederate army, now under Major General Earl Van Dorn, was advancing toward them. Curtis drew his troops back above Little Sugar Creek near Elkhorn Tavern, setting the stage for the climactic Battle of Pea Ridge on March 7–8, 1862.

More than two years later, Federal forces in northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri used cavalry patrols to prevent Confederate regulars and guerrillas from organizing in the Cross Hollow area. The June 23, 1864, Skirmish at Cross Hollow was part of an effort by Union forces in Missouri to disrupt small bands of the enemy gathering near Cross Hollow.

 

[Jim Klag]

Here is camp...

Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Cross Hollow (or Cross Hollows), located along the Telegraph Road eighteen miles south of the Missouri-Arkansas border near modern-day Rogers (Benton ...

encyclopediaofarkansas.net

Cross Hollow (Camp)
Cross Hollow (or Cross Hollows), located along the Telegraph Road eighteen miles south of the Missouri-Arkansas border near modern-day Rogers (Benton County), was the site of Confederate winter quarters during the winter of 1861–62. A Civil War skirmish was fought near Cross Hollow in 1864.

Following the August 10, 1861, Confederate victory at Wilson’s Creek in Missouri, General Benjamin McCulloch’s army fell back into Arkansas. Feeling that the troops would be close enough to Missouri to march there readily if circumstances demanded, commanders chose Cross Hollow, a long, narrow valley at the intersection of an east-west road and the Telegraph Road, which was the major north-south road into Missouri. Abundant springs and forage and the presence of two mills nearby, coupled with the presence of several high ridges commanding the Telegraph Road, made it an excellent location for the camp.

The Confederates erected huts made of logs, boards, and turf in a cleared area, covering several acres near the road junction. Other encampments were established in the valley, the largest of which was Camp Benjamin, about two miles east of Cross Hollow. Peter Van Winkle was commissioned to build sixteen 18′ by 36′ cabins from boards cut at his mill. Van Winkle’s construction at Camp Benjamin was completed on December 11, 1861, and forty-nine other structures were built there with wood from Thomas K. Blake’s mill.

Major General Samuel R. Curtis’s Army of the Southwest drove Sterling Price’s Confederate Missourians into Arkansas on February 16, 1862, and Price marched to Cross Hollow to link up with McCulloch’s Confederate troops. Curtis, wary of reports that the camp at Cross Hollow was heavily fortified, declined to continue his march down the Telegraph Road and instead ordered Brigadier General Alexander Asboth to scout to the west to seek a way to flank McCulloch from his winter quarters. Following the February 18, 1862, Action at Bentonville, McCulloch concluded that Cross Hollow was indeed indefensible and, despite Price’s opposition, ordered his men to abandon their camps and march south into the Boston Mountains. The Sixth Texas Cavalry Regiment set fire to many of the cabins, and other supplies and equipment were also destroyed to deny them to Curtis’s Federal army.

Curtis stationed two divisions at Cross Hollow and two at McKissick’s Creek (near present-day Centerton (Benton County) as he waited to see what the Confederates’ next move would be. They remained there until March 5, when the Union commander learned that the Confederate army, now under Major General Earl Van Dorn, was advancing toward them. Curtis drew his troops back above Little Sugar Creek near Elkhorn Tavern, setting the stage for the climactic Battle of Pea Ridge on March 7–8, 1862.

More than two years later, Federal forces in northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri used cavalry patrols to prevent Confederate regulars and guerrillas from organizing in the Cross Hollow area. The June 23, 1864, Skirmish at Cross Hollow was part of an effort by Union forces in Missouri to disrupt small bands of the enemy gathering near Cross Hollow.

Other than mentioning the name, Cross Hollow, what does this have to do with the skirmish on October 18, 1862?

 

[5fish]

A part about Cross Hollow...

http://ozarkscivilwar.org/archives/339

Meanwhile, the Confederate high command was in turmoil. A coalition of Missouri, Arkansas, and Confederate troops had won the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861, but this alliance fell apart in the months that followed. The strained relationship between victorious Generals Benjamin McCulloch and Sterling Price continued as it had before the battle. Like Curtis five months later, McCulloch worried about his supply line. Now forced to care for Union prisoners, in addition to his own troops, the battle exacerbated McCulloch’s already tenuous supply situation. This prevented the Confederates from capitalizing on their victory, and McCulloch had no interest in leading a campaign to the Missouri River with Price.4 In early December, McCulloch retreated to Cross Hollows, Arkansas. This was a wise move. Northwest Arkansas remained a valuable agricultural center which the Confederates could not afford to lose. Also, its proximity to Missouri, just eighteen miles across the state line, made Cross Hollows an ideal location for McCulloch’s winter quarters. From here McCulloch could remain close to his base, protect the resources of northwest Arkansas, and monitor events in Missouri.5

Cross Hollows was a sprawling Confederate encampment ranging from log huts to well-constructed cabins. Most of McCulloch’s men were quartered in cabins built by local resident Peter Van Winkle, who owned a mill near the White River, three miles from what became Camp Benjamin. The Confederate government paid Van Winkle for the lumber and labor he provided, including his small number of slaves.6 Though supplying troops in Missouri and Arkansas was a difficult task, the Confederate army at Cross Hollows was reasonably well-equipped. Archeological evidence suggests most of the soldiers here were armed with .69 caliber smoothbore muskets. The large number of hobnails recovered during excavations suggests their boots and shoes did not hold up well in the rugged hills of the Ozarks. Still, Confederate quartermasters overcame enormous logistical problems to provide their soldiers with the best equipment possible under the circumstances.7

Realizing that a new commander was the best hope for effective cooperation between McCulloch and Price, Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered flamboyant cavalryman Earl Van Dorn to take command of the Military District of the Trans-Mississippi.8 However, the strategic situation changed drastically before Van Dorn arrived to assume his new responsibilities. Curtis’ army advanced in January 1862 and Price abandoned Springfield on February 12, determined to join forces with McCulloch once more. Price abandoned a large amount of valuable supplies, a bounty the Federals greatly enjoyed. A Union soldier wrote the Missourians heard exaggerated rumors that Curtis was coming with 60,000 men and carrying black flags, thus, their hasty evacuation.9

 

[5fish]

Other than mentioning the name, Cross Hollow,

I could not find the 1862 skirmish but I found one much later... but now we know about Cross Hollow, Ar...

 

[5fish]

October 18, 1863 - Skirmish at Carthage, MO, with Col. Joseph O. Shelby, CSA.

Here we go ...

The Second Battle of Carthage MO - Oct 17, 1863

While not having nearly the impact of the first Battle of Carthage, the second battle had its impacts on the region. Col Joseph O. ...

theadventuresofbillymax.blogspot.com

The Second Battle of Carthage MO - Oct 17, 1863

While not having nearly the impact of the first Battle of Carthage, the second battle had its impacts on the region.
Col Joseph O. (JO) Shelby led a bold Confederate Cavalry raid through Union -controlled Missouri from his base in Arkansas in the fall of 1863. Going as far north as the Missouri River, Shelby and his raiders fought 10 actions against the Union forces and destroyed Union supply bases.

Then, in the Battle of Marshall (MO), Oct. 13, 1863, Union Gen Egbert B. Brown and 1800 soldiers turned back Shelby and his 1,200 cavalrymen in a day-long battle. Union forces attempted to encircle and divide Shelby’s troops, but the Shelby successfully withdrew and escaped approximately 200 miles southwest to Carthage. They reached Carthage on Oct 17, 1863, setting up camp north of town.

Early on the morning of Oct 18, 1863, General Thomas Ewing (brother-in-law of Gen. William T. Sherman) with a Union Cavalry force, attempted to block Shelby's returned trip to Arkansas. After an hour of violent action in and around the town, Shelby and his raiders managed to continue their escape to Arkansas.

Carthage continued to experience skirmishes and attacks throughout the war; pro-Confederate guerrillas and raiders returned from their base in Arkansas and burned most of the city, including the courthouse, in September 1864. The frequent battles and skirmishes lead to the destruction and depopulation of the mineral-rich area.

 

[5fish]

A note on Carthage, MO. ... Civil war Summary...

The Battle of Carthage, fought on July 5, 1861, was a clash between Union troops from St. Louis and Confederate troops led by the pro-Southern Missouri Governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson. The "Second Battle of Carthage" occurred in October 1863 when Union troops confronted Confederate troops north of town and forced them to return to Arkansas. The town experienced minor skirmishes and attacks throughout the war; pro-Confederate guerrillas burned most of the city (including the courthouse) in September 1864