Chronological History of the American Civil War

P a g e | 113

distant relatives) to take the ramships U.S.S. Lancaste r and U.S.S. Switzerland past Vicksburg to help Farragut. The junior Ellet was ordered that if either ship was hit, the other was not to stop to help--it was vital that at least one ship get through. More fighting in Tennessee as a skirmish on Davis’ Mill road, near La Grange, with Col. Benjamin H. Grierson, (U.S.) Cavalry. General Forrest (CSA) had ordered Col. J.W. Starnes, commanding the 2nd Brigade, to go to Brentwood, cut the telegraph, tear up railroad track, attack the stockade, and cut off any retreat. Wednesday, March 25, 1863 : The two Federal ramships sent by General Ellet to assist Admiral Farragut had only one obstacle: they had to pass under the guns of Vicksburg to get to him. The current was with the ships, but the wind was against them, slowing them and letting the shore batteries send cannon fire. U.S.S. Lancaste r was hit first in the steam drum, then by a shot to the stern that sunk her quickly. Most of her crew escaped to the U.S.S. Switzerland which, although disabled, was able to float out of range. Union Lt. Col. Edward Bloodgood (U.S.) held Brentwood, Tennessee a station on the Nashville & Decatur Railroad, with 400 men, when Confederate Brig. General Nathan B. Forrest, with a powerful column, approached the town. Forrest offers the Union to surrender, but Bloodgood refused. Within a half hour, though, Forrest had artillery in place to shell Bloodgood’s position and had surrounded the Federals with a large force. Bloodgood decided to surrender. Forrest and his men caused a lot of damage in the area during this expedition. Brentwood, on the railroad, was a significant loss to the Federals. Estimated Casualties: 311 total (US 305; CS 6). Thursday, March 26, 1863 : The Baltimore Clipper newspaper tells of population is the great available and yet unavailed of, force for restoring the Union. The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi, would end the rebellion at once." West Virginia voted to emancipate its slaves. In Savannah, Georgia, the jewelry establishment of Mr. John Hill receives a pair of very magnificent spurs, of solid burnished gold, which were imported through the blockade, from citizens of Maryland, as a present to General Lee. They are each engraved, on the inside, with the following inscription: "Stimulus Dedit Virtus” (Let valor not fail). A Federal expedition from Camp Douglas to the Cedar Mountains, the Utah Territory, and skirmish with Indians (Goshutes) believed to be spending the winter in the Mormon settlements of Tooele Valley and who have been attacking the Overland Mail route at Cedar Fort. The Federals charge the Mormons of encouraging the Indians. Friday, March 27, 1863 : President Davis (CSA) calls for this to be a day of fasting & prayer. On the Mississippi River, Admiral Farragut (U.S.) had two ships near the mouth of the Red River to block Confederate traffic, but he was out of fuel. Grant floated two coal ships down to him past Vicksburg. He now had to sail upriver to join with the U.S.S. Albatross , which had snuck past Vicksburg but was now also out of coal. Henry Royce, automobile founder (Rolls-Royce) was born today in the small village of Alwalton, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. Saturday, March 28, 1863 : Brig. General James Cooper, (U.S.) dies while the commandant of the Federal prison, Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio, from camp fever sickness. The steamer, U.S.S. Diana , is captured near Pattersonville, Louisana, by Major General Richard Taylor, (CSA). In Bolivar, Antonia J. Ford (pictured) was the principal spy and guide for Captain Mosby in his recent raid on Fairfax Court House, and aided in planning the arrest of General Slaughter, Wyndham (U.S.) and others. She was arrested and brought to the Old Capitol Prison on Sunday last, with $1,000 Confederate money on her person and her “Honorable Aid-de-Camp” awarded to her by J.E.B. Stuart. President Lincoln writes to Tennessee's military governor, Andrew Johnson, and urges him to "rais[e] a negro military force." The move would inspire Unionists because, Lincoln explains, Johnson is an "eminent citizen of a slave-state, and himself a slave-holder." Lincoln adds, "The colored