Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Creek, Kansas in pursuit of Indians that have stolen livestock. Evidence points toward the Cheyenne Indians. Admiral D.D. Porter (U.S.) and his ships are still trying to move up the Red River, in Louisiana, but the water is unnaturally low. Admiral Porter writes: “The rebels are cutting off the supply by diverting different sources of water into other channels, all of which would have been stopped had our Army arrived as far as Shreveport.” Friday, April 15, 1864 : The Union ironclad, U.S.S. Eastport is sunk by a Confederate torpedo in the Red River, Louisiana but raised again by the Union forces. General Steeles’ Union troops (U.S.) meet up with a group of Confederate cavalry, when he entered Camden, Arkansas. After a brief fight, the Confederates were driven out of town and it becomes occupied. In Greeneville, Tennessee Major General John M. Schofield (U.S.) commanding the Department of the Ohio has his cavalry surprise the Rebel cavalry, killing and capturing 25 Confederates. Saturday, April 16, 1864 : A report released by the Union government showed that 146,634 Confederate prisoners had been captured, since the beginning of the war. In Bolivar, Tennessee, John Houston Bills reports on the economy in his diary: “ Gold selling here today at 2 in Greenbacks for one. I hear of $1000 being sold for $476 Government Credits falling rapidly.” Sunday, April 17, 1864 : Confederate General Robert Hoke (pictured) with 7,000 men Lieut. General Ulysses S. Grant (U.S.) issues a proclamation that about stopped all P.O.W. exchanges; there would be no distinction between exchanges of white and colored soldiers, which infuriated the South. From a military point of view, Grant knew it was obvious this move would reduce even further the potential for Confederate military reserves. But the South was finding it harder to feed itself, must less their unwanted Union prisoners. Monday, April 18, 1864 : General John Marmaduke (CSA) scored his first victory, today in a battle at Poison Springs, Arkansas. His cavalry expedition came upon a large wagon train headed for the Red River. After a short but sharp battle, the Federals fled, leaving their wagons behind, all 158 of them. Estimated casualties were 301 for the Union and 114 for the Confederates. Many men of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry (U.S.) did not make it back, due to revenge killings by the Confederates from the border regions and scalping by Native Americans in Confederate service, whose homes in the Indian Territory had been raided. Two Union gunboats at Plymouth, North Carolina, hold the Rebel attackers back at Fort Comfort. General Sherman (U.S.) replaces General Stephen Hurlbut with General C.C. Washburn as commander of U.S. forces in West Tennessee in Memphis. Tuesday, April 19, 1864 : The ironclad C.S.S. Albemarle’s Commander Cooke (CSN) finally arrives off Plymouth, North Carolina and attacks the Union warships. The Union blockade ship the U.S.S. Southfield , is rammed and sunk and the U.S.S. Miam i is disabled. In Bolivar, John Houston Bills of the Pillars, settler, planter and diarist writes: “I go to Hickory Valley, the roads dry and dusty…. We had to feed 11 Rebel soldiers & their horses this morning.” Wednesday, April 20, 1864 : Now with the C.S.S. Albemarle in control of the waters around Plymouth, North Carolina, Confederate forces under General Robert Hoke (CSA) the garrison at Fort Comfort surrendered driving the defenders into Fort Williams. General Hoke (CSA) is attacked the 2,800-man Union garrison at Plymouth, North Carolina, in an attempt to recapture ports lost to the Union two years before. He planned the attack with hopes of using the new C.S.S. Albemarle , an ironclad ship that was still being built on the Roanoke River inland from Plymouth. The ship got underway with workers still on-board, but the rudder breaks, soon after underway.