Chronological History of the American Civil War

P a g e | 133

Wednesday, July 15, 1863 : The smoke from riots, still hung in the summer air of Boston and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Rutland, Vermont, and Wooster, Ohio. But the storm of rage had rampaged hardest through the streets of New York, and today, new fires and outrages were still being perpetrated there. The best that could be said, was that the rioting was no longer spreading. The police were beginning to emerge from their stations, and retake street by street, now that they were supported by troops fresh from the fields of Gettysburg. Men who had faced down the worst that Robert E. Lee could throw at them, were not about to be intimidated by drunken rowdies. Brig. General John Hunt Morgan, (CSA), still on his raid through the North is pursued from Cincinnati, Ohio, eastward towards the Ohio River. Near Jackson, Tennessee on Forked Deer Creek, there is a skirmish. Thursday, July 16, 1863 : General Sherman (U.S.), fresh from his success at Vicksburg, advanced on Jackson, Mississippi. The Confederate forces there, commanded by General Johnston (CSA), withdrew. Friday, July 17, 1863 : In New York, more than 1,000 people died and property damage topped $2 million (about $30 - $50 million today). The draft was temporarily suspended, and a revised conscription began in August. As a result of the riots and the delicate political balance in the city, relatively few New Yorkers were forced to serve in the Union army. In an untimely rain squall the which ruined their powder, played a large part in the Confederate defeat, with Union troops using both the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry and Native Americans known as Indians Home Guard at Honey Springs Depot, Oklahoma. Union losses of only 76, with enemy casualties in excess of 500. Following this battle, Union forces controlled Indian Territory, north of the Arkansas River. Saturday, July 18, 1863 : Despite his image in the 1989 film starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel

Washington, Cary Elwes, and Morgan Freeman, “Glory,” Robert Gould Shaw (U.S.) (pictured) was a reluctant leader of the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the first African American regiments in the Civil War. Born to a prominent Boston abolitionist family in 1837, Shaw did not share the passion of his parents for freeing the slaves. Shaw and his men were among the units chosen to lead the assault on Battery Wagner, part of the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina. At the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, a beachhead near Charleston, South Carolina, Robert Shaw (U.S.) was killed in the charge, bravely urging his men forward. The 54th had proven that they were as brave as anyone, black or white. Confederate General Johnson Hagood refused to return Shaw’s body to the Union army, and to show

contempt for the officer who led black troops, Hagood had Shaw’s body buried in a common trench with his men. Rather than considering this a dishonor, Shaw’s father proclaimed, “We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers....We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor wish for him better company – what a body-guard he has!” Sunday, July 19, 1863 : Since June 11, Brig. General John Morgan (CSA) has been on his “Great Raid of 1863” through Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, leading his 2,460 hand picked men further north drawing the attention of tens of thousands of Federal troops away from their normal duties and strike fear in the civilian population of several Northern states. Today, the Union caught up with him and his remaining 1,700 men, as Union General Burnside out guessed Morgan’s next move to cross back into West Virginia. A battle takes place at Buffington Island, West Virginia, blocking his advance and forces Morgan back to Ohio. Morgan loses over 900 men either captured or killed and with only 400 of his men remaining, Morgan burned bridges and rode off northward back into Ohio. Monday, July 20, 1863 : At Hockingport, Ohio, Brig. General John Hunt Morgan (CSA) fights off another attack by Union forces and moves on northward. Federal scouts leave from Memphis, Tennessee to within 3 miles of Hernando, another within 24 miles from Memphis, burning some cotton. Federals track and kill a party of Ukie Indians, at Round Valley, California. A skirmish takes place at Berry's