Posted on 05/24/2008 5:32:49 AM PDT by mainepatsfan
May 24th
- Union soldiers occupy Alexandria and Arlington Heights in Virginia. During the day Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York takes down a Confederate flag flying from atop the Marshall House Inn. As he proceeds down the stairs he is killed by innkeeper James Jackson who almost immediately thereafter is killed. Ellsworth is the first Union officer killed in the war and becomes a martyr in the north.
1862:
- Confederate forces under Gen. Thomas Jackson assault the rear guard of Union Gen. Nathaniel Banks retreating army at Middletown and Newton, VA taking many wagons and prisoners.
- Alarmed by Stonewall Jackson's success in the Shenandoah Valley, President Abraham Lincoln orders Gen. Irwin McDowell's army to halt at Fredricksburg, VA and for Gen. John C. Fremont to advance his forces into the Shenandoah Valley. Another result of Jackson's actions is for Lincoln to wire Gen. McClellan on the peninsula that reinforcements will not be coming.
- The British blockade-runner Stettin is seized by the USS Bienville outside of Charleston, SC.
- The Confederate steamer Swan is captured by the USS Amanda and Bainbridge off the Tortugas, FL.
1863:
- Federal gunboats assigned to the Yazoo River expedition move up the adjoining Sunflower River to destroy Confederate supplies along it's banks.
- A.P. Hill is promoted to the rank of lieutenant general C.S.A. and Henry Heath is promoted to major general C.S.A.
- Boats from the USS Port Royal capture the Confederate ship Fashion and burn a repair dock at Devli's Elbow, FL.
- Union Gen. Samuel Curtis is replaced as commander of the Department of Missouri by Gen. John Schofield.
1864:
- The Army of the Potomac begins crossing the North Anna River not realizing that Gen. Lee's army is positioned in an inverted "V" formation which would isolate parts of Grant's army after it crossed. Unfortunately for the Confederates Gen. Lee is ill that day and no major attack is launched.
- Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston orders his retreating forces to fall back onto new defensive positions at Dallas, GA.
- Union supply lines at Burnt Hickory, GA are attacked by Confederate calvary under Gen. Joseph Wheeler.
- The federal steamer Lebanon is captured and burned by Confederate forces at Ford's Landing, Arkansas.
- Confederate forces attacking Union troops at Wilson's Wharf on the James River are shelled by the USS Dawn.
1865:
- Union Gen. William Sherman's army parades through the streets of Washington, D.C.
- The Confederate blockade runner Denbigh and schooner Le Compt are both sunk off Galveston, TX by the USS Cornubia and Princess Royal.
ping
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