What happened on March 13 during the U.S. Civil War?

2016-03-13T20:07:00-04:00

1862 all Union officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States from returning fugitive slaves to their masters. 1863 an explosion in the Confederate Ordinance Laboratory on Brown's Island in kills 69 people, 62 of them women and young girls. 1865 Jefferson Davis signs law authorizing the induction of "negro soldiers" to serve in CSA Army. 1868 POTUS A. Johnson impeached.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Mar 13 at 2016 8:07 PM

2016-03-13T20:07:53-04:00

Great post on history

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Mar 13 at 2016 8:08 PM

2016-03-13T20:08:49-04:00

LTC Stephen F. thanks once again for posting Civil War History, its a unique part of our military heritage and very important to our Nations history.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 13 at 2016 8:19 PM

2016-03-13T20:19:40-04:00

On this day in 1862 Jefferson Davis orders Robert E. Lee to "...conduct military operations of the armies of the Confederacy." This single appointment would allow the war to be extended because of the skill of Robert E. Lee to take advantage of interior lines of communication seven while outnumbered. His strategic abilities were second to none in the Civil War.
When eighteen-year-old Mary Ryan who was at work at the Confederate States Laboratory on Brown’s Island struck a primer 3 times it set off a devastating explosion that killed 69 people including 62 women and young girls in 1862.
In 1868 the first POTUS was impeached as Andrew Johnson is charged with violation of the Tenure of Office Act by the U.S. House of Representatives which voted 11 articles of impeachment him,
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting the full text of each survey choice below"
Unlisted: March 13, 1862 Jefferson Davis orders Robert E. Lee to "...conduct military operations of the armies of the Confederacy.
1. March 13, 1862 U.S. article of war forbids all officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States from returning fugitive slaves to their masters.
An Act to make an additional Article of War.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such:
Article —. All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, that this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
APPROVED, March 13, 1862.
2. March 13, 1863 An explosion in the Confederate Ordinance Laboratory on Brown's Island in the James River near Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond kills 69 people, 62 of them women and young girls. A friction primer exploded.
On Friday March 13th, 1863, eighteen-year-old Mary Ryan was at work at the Confederate States Laboratory on Brown’s Island. The small ammunition factory had several hundred employees, most of whom were young women between the ages of twelve and twenty. The work, which often required small hands, was vitally important to the Confederate war effort, which suffered often from shortages in the supply of ammunition.
The C.S. Laboratory was divided into six departments, and Mary Ryan worked in the last one. Seated at the end of a table with a handful of other employees, she was filling friction primers–the devices used to ignite gunpowder inside a cannon. This was dangerous work. In fact, the superintendent Captain Wesley N. Smith had reminded her of that during his routine inspection of the facility just fifteen minutes prior. Shortly after 11:00 AM, Mary noticed that the primer had gotten stuck and so she struck the table three times to dislodge the primer. Upon the third strike, the primer ignited and an explosion sent her flying upwards. The first explosion ignited other materials in the room, causing a second, much-larger explosion that destroyed the building completely.
http://rvanews.com/features/civil-war-an-explosion-rocks-browns-island/86556
3. March 13, 1865 Jefferson Davis signs law authorizing the induction of "negro soldiers" to serve in Confederate Army. The measure did not state that blacks who fought for the Confederacy would be free, although that was apparently the understanding.
4. March 13, 1868 The Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson opens. He is charged with violation of the Tenure of Office Act by the U.S. House of Representatives which voted 11 articles of impeachment him, nine of which cite Johnson’s removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act.
The House vote made President Johnson the first president to be impeached in U.S. history.
The Republican-dominated Congress greatly opposed Johnson’s Reconstruction program and in March 1867 passed the Tenure of Office Act over the president’s veto. The bill prohibited the president from removing officials confirmed by the Senate without senatorial approval and was designed to shield members of Johnson’s Cabinet like Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had been a leading Republican radical in the Lincoln administration. In the fall of 1867, President Johnson attempted to test the constitutionality of the act by replacing Stanton with General Ulysses S. Grant. However, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to rule on the case, and Grant turned the office back to Stanton after the Senate passed a measure in protest of the dismissal.
On February 21, 1868, Johnson decided to rid himself of Stanton once and for all and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas, an individual far less favorable to the Congress than Grant, as secretary of war. Stanton refused to yield, barricading himself in his office, and the House of Representatives, which had already discussed impeachment after Johnson’s first dismissal of Stanton, initiated formal impeachment proceedings against the president. On February 24, Johnson was impeached, and on March 13 his impeachment trial began in the Senate under the direction of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. The trial ended on May 26 with Johnson’s opponents narrowly failing to achieve the two-thirds majority necessary to convict him.

Civil War: An Explosion rocks Brown's Island

On March 13th, 1863 a deadly explosion rocked Brown's Island.

Response by SSgt Robert Marx made Mar 13 at 2016 10:27 PM

2016-03-13T22:27:06-04:00

The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court (1858) had made return of fleeing slaves mandatory for any arresting agency. Before that, the slave master had to personally go to wherever the slave had escaped to and collect the prodigal person. This decision to reverse the judicial ruling made common sense because of the rebellion then on going.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Mar 13 at 2016 10:29 PM

2016-03-13T22:29:03-04:00

Great history lesson!

Response by SSG Leo Bell made Mar 14 at 2016 9:31 AM

2016-03-14T09:31:58-04:00

These are all important fact in our history

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Mar 14 at 2016 9:59 AM

2016-03-14T09:59:11-04:00

LTC Stephen F. I went all of the above. Impeachment is not something that happens very often, the loss of so many in one incident, a law preventing the return of fugitive slaves, and a law paving the way for the conscription of slaves into the CSA army are all significant. The saddest event would be the loss of life, more specifically the loss of children. The most interesting (to me) is the law allowing for "Negro Soldiers" in the CSA military, specifically, those conscripted soldiers would have no vested interest in the CSA winning the war, so how would they convince them to fight?

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Mar 16 at 2016 8:40 AM

2016-03-16T08:40:08-04:00

LTC Stephen F. I get a great lesson in education on the Civil War - good historical information - thanks!