Chronological History of the American Civil War

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Sunday, April 27, 1862 : Admiral Farragut’s night run past the Mississippi forts had taken him to the gates of New Orleans, where negotiations were in progress to surrender the town without further damage or loss of life or face. Meanwhile, the occupants of the forts found themselves in similarly embarrassing states. They were still armed to the teeth, quite undamaged...and thoroughly unemployed and surrounded. Four of them, Forts Wood, Pike, Quitman and Livingston, surrendered today. Monday, April 28, 1862 : Four small forts below New Orleans had surrendered, yesterday. Today, came the recognition of the inevitable at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Phillip formally surrendered to Union forces. These were the big ones, which had defended the lower Mississippi River from Admiral Farragut’s fleet with barricades and chains as well as artillery. Farragut had attacked them repeatedly to no avail, and finally had simply run past them at night. Pinkerton agent and Union spy, Timothy Webster (pictured) was the first spy in the American Civil War

to be executed. Confederate officers had trusted Webster many times with valuable documents and information and the Confederacy was extremely embarrassed by Webster's betrayal. When Pinkerton heard the news of the sentence, he and President Lincoln sent a message to the Confederacy threatening that, if Webster was put to death, the Union would reciprocate by hanging a Confederate spy. Union policy had been to keep Confederate spies in jail and exchange them for Union prisoners. After the initial attempt to hang Webster failed, he was helped to the gallows again and was heard to say, "I suffer a double death!" before being killed on the second and final attempt. Tuesday, April 29, 1862 : Ulysses S. Grant had brought the armies down from Cairo, Illinois to Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. The assembled forces now numbered more than 100,000 troops and was preparing to leave for Corinth,

Mississippi to combat the forces of General Beauregard--but not with Grant in command. He found himself in second place behind Major General Halleck (U.S.). Grant felt slighted after having been the victor of Shiloh. Wednesday, April 30, 1862 : April had brought unexpected reverses for the Confederate States of America. In one month’s time, so much was lost. Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson (CSA) led his forces away from Elk Run, near Swift Run, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. His immediate destination was Staunton. It was part of what would be known as the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. The Memphis Appeals reports: “SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 68. HDQRS. ARMY OF THE WEST, Memphis, Tenn., April 28, 1862 ~ All boats in Government employ will be burned or otherwise destroyed, if necessary, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy.~ By order of Maj.-Gen. Earl Van Dorn.” Thursday, May 1, 1862 : New Orleans formerly falls to Union forces. Soon afterwards soldiers under Major General Benjamin Butler (U.S.) occupied the city, which surrendered without fighting. The Union forces engraved "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved" on the statue of Andrew Jackson that honored him for the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Friday, May 2, 1862 : Unionist forces were massed for an attack on Yorktown, Virginia. General Johnson, the Confederate officer in charge of the city, knew he would not be able to make a stand against a mass attack and decided to evacuate the city. Saturday, May 3, 1862 : Confederate forces started to evacuate Yorktown and withdraw to Richmond. President Abraham Lincoln today, issued a second call for 42,000 army and 18,000 more navy volunteers. All of this was done without authorization from Congress, under Lincoln’s role as Commander-in-Chief. In the afternoon, Lincoln and his wife, Mary, go to the Navy Yard to "witness some interesting trials of a breech-loading cannon" that James C. C. Holenshade, of Cincinnati, Ohio, demonstrates.