What happened on March 15 during the U.S. Civil War?

2016-03-15T17:34:13-04:00

On the Ides of March, the Union Army & Navy conducted successful Joint operations at New Madrid, Missouri with Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote working with General John Pope in 1862 and on the Red River, Louisiana with Admiral David Porter in 1864. In 1862 Sherman arrived at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee on the west bank of the Tennessee river on the way to Shiloh. In 1866 Texas repealed seceding. Porter at top, then Pope at left and Sherman at right.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 15 at 2016 6:02 PM

2016-03-15T18:02:32-04:00

On the Ides of March, Joint Army Navy Operations occurred primarily in the western theatre primarily of the US Civil War. In Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and one of his division commanders Stephen Hurlbut arrive at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee and move inland to Shiloh Baptist Church. Little did they know the carnage which take place at Shiloh.
In 1866 Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention. On June 17, 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed Andrew Jackson Hamilton as the provisional civilian governor of the state and directed him to convene a constitutional convention restricted to loyal Americans.
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting the full text of each survey choice below:
1. March 15, 1862 Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and one of his division commanders Stephen Hurlbut arrive at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee on the west bank of the Tennessee river and move inland to Shiloh Baptist Church.
Background: After the losses of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in February 1862, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston withdrew his forces into western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and Alabama to reorganize. Johnston established his base at Corinth, Mississippi, the site of a major railroad junction and strategic transportation link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River, but left the Union troops with access into southern Tennessee and points farther south via the Tennessee River.
In early March, Union Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, then commander of the Department of the Missouri, ordered Grant to remain at Fort Henry, and on March 4 turned field command of the expedition over to a subordinate, Brig. Gen. C. F. Smith, who had recently been nominated as a major general. Smith's orders were to lead raids intended to capture or damage the railroads in southwestern Tennessee. Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman's troops arrived from Paducah, Kentucky, to conduct a similar mission to break the railroads near Eastport, Mississippi. Halleck also ordered Grant to advance his Army of West Tennessee on an invasion up the Tennessee River. Grant left Fort Henry and headed upriver (south), arriving at Savannah, Tennessee, on March 14, and established his headquarters on the east bank of the river. Grant's troops set up camp farther upriver: five divisions at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, and a sixth at Crump's Landing, four miles from Grant's headquarters.
Meanwhile, Halleck's command was enlarged through consolidation of Grant's and Buell's armies and renamed the Department of the Mississippi. With Buell's Army of the Ohio under his command, Halleck ordered Buell to concentrate with Grant at Savannah. Buell began a march with much of his army from Nashville, Tennessee, and headed southwest toward Savannah. Halleck intended to take the field in person and lead both armies in an advance south to seize Corinth, Mississippi, where the Mobile and Ohio Railroad linking Mobile, Alabama, to the Ohio River intersected the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. The railroad was a vital supply line connecting the Mississippi River Valley to Memphis, Tennessee, and Richmond, Virginia.
2. March 15, 1862 New Madrid, Missouri. A Union Navy flotilla, under the command of Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote, arrived March 15, upstream from Island Number 10. Digging A Bypass Canal. During this time Foote thought it would be suicide to run ironclads past Island Number 10 so General John Pope ordered a shallow canal dug to bypass the hairpin curve of Island Number 10 and come out just east of New Madrid thus bypassing the batteries. The canal was 50 feet wide and 12 miles long with 6 miles cut through heavy timber where every tree had to be sawed off 4½ feet below water. This remarkable event was completed in 19 days while Island Number 10 Confederate soldiers endured day and night shelling. By April 4th, it was possible to ferry shallow-draft troop transports down to Pope at New Madrid.
3. March 15, 1864 Moving men and vessels up the Red River, the Union Army arrives at Alexandria, LA.
Louisiana operations/Red River campaign: The operation is so far successful: Federals have gained control of south and central Louisiana. Celebrations for the capture of Ft. DeRussy, on the Red River, by the gunboats of Admiral David Dixon Porter, were brief. Captured on March 14, the fort was being destroyed today by the ironclads USS Benton and Essex. Three of the remaining boats were headed upriver at the highest speed they could manage, in hopes of cutting off the Confederate boats before they could ready the rapids at Alexandria. The Rebels escaped by half an hour, with one ship burned to avoid capture.
4. March 15, 1866 Texas repeals the actions of the Secessionist Convention
On June 17, 1865, President Andrew Johnson appointed Andrew Jackson Hamilton as the provisional civilian governor of the state and directed him to convene a constitutional convention restricted to loyal Americans. On March 15, 1866, the convention enacted an ordinance repealing the ordinance of succession.
Background: On February 1, 1861, a special convention in Texas adopted an ordinance of secession repealing the ordinance of annexation and seceding from the United States, and on February 7, the Legislature ordered a referendum to be held on the ordinance under the direction of the convention. On February 23, 1861, citizens of the state voted overwhelmingly to secede from the United States. During the American Civil War, Texas was invaded by Union troops many times including the final major clash of the war which was the Battle of Palmito Ranch.

Response by SSgt Robert Marx made Mar 15 at 2016 7:34 PM

2016-03-15T19:34:59-04:00

The Civil War introduced many modern innovations, not the least being inter-service cooperation in war making.

Response by SSG Leo Bell made Mar 15 at 2016 10:00 PM

2016-03-15T22:00:40-04:00

The civil war in itself is a very important part of history. We as a nation will never be able to move ahead without studying or past and mistakes that were made. The civil war brought about new invention and better weapons. It was brother fighting brother at times, but we have learned great lesson from it. The civil war wasn't mainly about slavery but it was about people's way of life, politics, land family's owned and a hole lot more.