Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Tuesday, April 21, 1863 : General Joseph Hooker (U.S.) finalised his plan of attack. He hoped to fool the South into thinking that Fredericksburg was his main target while moving three corps of troops against Lee’s left flank. 2,000 mules were acquired by Hooker to

speed up the movement of his army. Federal expedition from Opelousas, Louisiana, to Barre's Landing and the capture of the Confederate steamer, C.S.S. Ellen . Union Colonel Abel Streight (U.S.) (pictured) begins a raid into northern Alabama and Georgia with the goal of cutting the Western and Atlantic Railroad between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta. In Georgia, the Weekly Columbus Enquirer reports: “Whiskey sells in Little Rock at two dollars and fifty cents a drink, and the purchaser is not allowed to pour it out, or gauge his own, so says the True Democrat.” (Times were getting rough!!!) Wednesday, April 22,1863 : Of the 6 ships, only 3 Union transports ships

successfully made the journey pass the batteries at Vicksburg and Warrenton, Mississippi. After this President Jefferson Davis, (CSA), suggests that Lieut. General John Clifford Pemberton, (CSA) set rafts on fire and send them down the Mississippi River from Vicksburg, to obstruct the Union advance. Colonel Benjamin Grierson’s Union troops dispatches a regiment to destroy telegraph lines at Macon, Mississippi, while Grierson rode to Newton Station. Here, Grierson could inflict damage on the Southern Mississippi Railroad, the one specific target identified by General Grant (U.S.). The Montgomery Weekly Advertiser printed: “In Atlanta, thieves have taken to entering houses, and stealing hats from racks in the passages. Hats are now worth thirty or forty dollars a piece, and it will be well for people to keep their front doors locked.” Thursday, April 23, 1863 : President Lincoln commutes one man's death sentence, and approves another. The latter of the two sentences is a soldier to be shot for desertion. Interest in spiritualism was intense in mid-century America, and was considered a combination of scientific investigation and parlor entertainment. This night a séance was held at the White House, with participants including the President and First Lady as well as many cabinet members. There were reports that after Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln left, the “spirits” tweaked the nose of Secretary of War Stanton, and tugged on Navy Secretary Welles’ beard. Friday, April 24, 1863 : The Confederate Congress passed a tax set at 8% on all agricultural produce grown in 1862 and a 10% tax on profits made from the sale of iron, clothing and cotton. There was much public hostility to these new taxes, but a general acceptance, that they were needed. The biggest problem facing the South’s economy, was the fact that much land, was used for the growing of cotton and not for food. At Garlandville and Birmingham, Mississippi, Colonel Benjamin Grierson’s Union troops tore up the train tracks and telegraph wires. They also destroyed two trainloads of ammunition, bound for Vicksburg. This wrecked communications, between Vicksburg and the Eastern Theatre commanders. The Union army issues General Orders No. 100, which provided a code of conduct for Federal soldiers and officers, when dealing with Confederate prisoners and civilians. The orders were the brainchild of Francis Lieber, a Prussian immigrant, whose three sons had served during the Civil War. One son, was mortally wounded, while fighting for the Confederacy, the other two sons fought for the Union. He wrote, many essays and newspaper articles on the subject early in the war, and he advised General Henry Halleck, general-in-chief of the Union armies, on how to treat guerilla fighters captured by Federal forces. The code, was later borrowed by many European nations, and its influence could later be seen at the Geneva Convention. Saturday, April 25, 1862 : In Marshall, Texas, The Republican reports: “To Our Patrons.—Having made vigorous efforts to procure printing paper from beyond the Mississippi river, we shall make another as early as it can be got through. The latest accounts are of a very discouraging character. One of the largest paper mills in the Confederacy, has been recently burned down, and others are about to close for the want of material to make paper. The Montgomery Mail, contains a very gloomy article on the subject of paper. Many newspapers, it states, will have to suspend, and the most fortunate to diminish their size. We have sufficient paper, for our present dimensions to last until the first of August.” In Virginia, Union