Chronological History of the American Civil War

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starts its major attack on Fort Fisher (CSA). The fort, was all that protects the port of Wilmington – the only port that the South still had open that could trade with Europe. Union troops are landed by the fort, and the Union Navy’s sixty ships are heavily bombarding it from the sea. Sunday, January 15, 1865 : Fort Fisher falls to Union forces. The North lost a total of 1,341 men in the attack (226 killed, 1018 wounded and 57 missing). The South lost 500 men killed and wounded with over 2,000 taken prisoner. Wilmington was no longer able to operate as an overseas port and the South was effectively cut off with regards to external trade.

General Pierre G. T. Beauregard (CSA) assumes temporary command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, at Tupelo, Mississippi. The right wing of the Union forces under Major General William T. Sherman (U.S.) moves from Beaufort to Pocotaligo, South Carolina with some skirmishing along the way. The Tennessee State Convention unanimously passes a resolution, declaring slavery forever abolishing, and prohibiting it throughout the State. W. G. “Parsons” Brownlow (pictured) is the unanimous choice of the convention for Governor of Tennessee.

Monday, January 16, 1865 : In Washington, President Lincoln is made aware that Davis (CSA) was willing to discuss peace based around the South’s independence. Lincoln immediately dismisses the idea. In Virginia, the Confederate Senate appoints General Lee as commander of all the armies of the Confederacy. The black powder magazines at the captured Fort Fisher, North Carolina, accidentally explode, causing over 100 Union casualties. Rumor has it some drunken Union soldiers and/or sailors, may have unknowingly set off the explosion. In Louisiana, a federal expedition from Brashear City aboard the Union gunboat, U.S.S. No. 41 , and the steamer, U.S.S. Carrie to Whiskey Bayou; the Yankees visit numerous plantations on their excursion, taking everything of value, destroying what they can't take with them. Tuesday, January 17, 1865 : What General Sherman did next made a lot of Southerners very unhappy. While in Savannah, he issues Field Order Number 15. As his army made successful advances in the South, it attracted many former slaves that followed them on the leading edge. In Sherman’s order, he gives to slaves land that had been confiscated, or abandoned along the Georgia coast – a maximum of 40 acres per person. This move ensures that those former slaves who were near Sherman’s army were more than willing to help and support him. As the news of what Sherman had done spread, so did the hopes of all former slaves still in the South. Sherman is ready to exact full revenge on the state, that had led the secession and started the war by firing on Fort Sumter, but heavy rains will postpone his main force’s march through South Carolina for now. He waits impatiently in Savannah, Georgia for the rain to stop, fearing the road conditions will slow his progress. In Virginia, Fort Anderson (CSA) had protected the Cape Fear River and supply lines into Wilmington is now under a land and sea attack. Wednesday, January 18, 1865 : It is a hard winter, and you know things had to be bad when, Federal scouts on patrol against guerrilla fighters from Warrensburg to the Snibar Hills, Missouri, due to the horrendous weather and current provisions in the area; the Yankees decide not to take the local's livestock, food, and etc., from the local area. The women and children living on farms in the area would greatly suffer regardless if their husbands and fathers, are Bushwackers or not. Near Napoleonville, Louisiana that night, soldiers surround a residence