What happened on March 16 during the U.S. Civil War?

2016-03-16T15:13:03-04:00

In 1861 Sam Huston was replaced as Texas governor because he was loyal the union, the Arizona territory seceded, the CSA appointed ambassadors to Britain and the CSA Marine Corps was established. 1863 Sherman was forced to leave before his force was ready in the Joint Army-Navy Yazoo River to Steele’s Bayou expedition. 1864 Alexandria, Louisiana is occupied by Federal troops.

Response by SPC Andrew Griffin made Mar 16 at 2016 3:17 PM

2016-03-16T15:17:56-04:00

Thank you for sharing this. I'm going to take a guess at it

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 16 at 2016 4:08 PM

2016-03-16T16:08:14-04:00

Joint Army Navy Operations occurred primarily in the western theatre primarily of the US Civil War. In 1863 Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman was forced to leave before his force as ready in the Yazoo River expedition to Steele's Bayou. Admiral David Porter, however, was impatient and left on March 16th, before Sherman was ready. Here are a few actions which I didn't fit into the choices. A lot was recorded about the actions on this day.
March 16, 1864 (a) Nathan Bedford Forrest begins a raid into West Tennessee and Kentucky; (b) and Sterling Price takes command of the Confederate District of Arkansas; and (c) Federal Troops occupy Alexandria. The town's 600 remaining residents hid in their houses.
March 16, 1865 Battle of Averasboro NC (1,500 causalities). William Hardee tries to halt the federal advance near this small town. Slocum easily turned his flank.
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting the full text of each survey choice below:
1. March 16, 1861 (a) Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy; (b) 1861 Confederate government appoints commissioners to Britain; and (c) Arizona Territory votes to secede from the Union. (d) Abraham Lincoln chose Edwin Sumner as commander of the Department of the Pacific appointing him as one of only three brigadier generals in the regular army. This made Sumner the first new Union general created by the secession crisis. Sumner was initially dispatched to the Department of the Pacific in California, which meant he took no part in the 1861 campaigns.
2. March 16, 1861 The Provisional Confederate Congress established the C.S. Marine Corps under the act of March 16, 1861. The act, providing for the organization of the navy, authorized a corps of marines to consist of one major, one quartermaster sergeant, and six companies of one hundred men each. Later an amendatory act of May 20, 1861, increased the size of the corps and raised the rank of headquarters officers. During the war, marines served in small detachments on land and at sea. Many recruits and new officers trained at Camp Beall at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia. Confederate marine guard detachments served at naval stations at Richmond, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and Charlotte. Marine detachments were also assigned to many of the larger vessels of the C.S. Navy.
3. March 16, 1862 Battle at Pound Gap, Kentucky is on the Virginia/Kentucky border by Pine Mountain. General Humphrey Marshall, who had his headquarters at Gladeville, led an army of Confederates through the Pound Gap into Kentucky, occupying territory near Prestonsburg. He was beset by many adverse circumstances. Many of his men became ill with mumps and measles. He was attacked by Union forces and driven back a few miles. Many of his troops deserted, some of them going over to the Union side. In Pikeville, Kentucky, on March 7, 1862, General James A. Garfield wrote to Assistant Adjutant General J. B. Fry as follows: "...There has been a marked change in favor of the Union among the citizens of Wise, Buchanan, and Scott Counties. At the foot of the Cumberland Mountains, within the past few weeks several meetings have been held inviting me to come among them and promising me their cordial support." In view of the adverse circumstances, General Marshall was ordered by General Samuel Cooper to fall back to Pound Gap, which he did. Although General Marshall, now in Wise County, was having his troubles, General Garfield intended to pursue him just the same. No food was available to Marshall on either side of Pound Gap, and he complained to General Cooper that food and supplies for the rifle battalion at Pound Gap had been hauled a distance of 55 miles.
4. March 16, 1863 In Mississippi, General William T. Sherman and 11 Federal gunboats tried advancing through the twisting waterways from the Yazoo River to Steele’s Bayou, north of Vicksburg. However, Confederate obstructions in the water made progress virtually impossible.
Background: The whole point of the Yazoo Pass idea was to steam down the Coldwater, Tallahatchie and Yazoo Rivers to come in behind Vicksburg. Since Fort Pemberton blocked the way, it now seemed fruitless. Storming up the Yazoo River from the Mississippi, however, seemed even more so. Rebel batteries guarded the Confederate right and made landing troops there nearly impossible. Admiral David Dixon Porter’s idea was to bypass the Confederate batteries and steer clear of Fort Pemberton. To do this, he wanted to take five ironclads up the Yazoo to Steele’s Bayou, well before the Rebel batteries. From there, they’d steam north to Deer Creek and finally past Rolling Fork to the Big Sunflower River, which they would take south. It would empty back into the Yazoo River downstream from Yazoo City, but well upstream from the batteries. The way would be twisted and far from easy, but he had faith that it could be done.
Grant held this same faith and ordered some of William Tecumseh Sherman’s troops, along with Sherman himself, to assist. Porter, however, was impatient and left on March 16th, before Sherman was ready. The Navy would be going it alone.
The slog through Steele’s Bayou was a rough one, and got worse the farther they went, but they finally reached Deer Creek. From there, they could take the narrow waterway south, and it would let them out near the Rebel batteries. The original plan, however, was to take Deer Creek north to Rolling Fork and Big Sunflower River. Sherman, sans his troops, had joined Porter to sort it out. He preferred to take it south – the quicker path towards the enemy. Porter, on the other hand, wanted to stick to the original plan. Sherman acquiesced and returned to his troops, still sloshing through the swamps and bayous towards Deer Creek.
For a time, as Porter ascended the creek, his decision made more and more sense. The farther they went, the wider and easier it got. But there was another problem.
News of Porter’s flotilla preceded it and soon reached the ears of Samuel Ferguson, Confederate cavalry commander charged with protecting the waterways north of Vicksburg. He immediately ordered his men to obstruct the rivers at Rolling Fork, blocking the Federals’ pass into Big Sunflower River. He also sent for reinforcements.
By March 20th, all five of Porter’s ironclads had made it to Rolling Fork, where they were slowed by the Confederate obstructions. Ferguson’s men arrived that same day and tried to attack, but a Federal battery and the ironclads themselves kept them at bay.
Throughout the night, Ferguson’s troopers felled trees behind the Union flotilla, trapping the ships. This is when Porter gave up the idea of pressing onward and focused all his energy into trying to escape.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Mar 16 at 2016 4:41 PM

2016-03-16T16:41:33-04:00

Thanks - great history lesson.

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Mar 16 at 2016 6:03 PM

2016-03-16T18:03:41-04:00

LTC Stephen F. Sam Houston not taking oath of loyalty to CSA could have been seen as uncertainty in the lone star state. The CSA could not afford to have any of its member states unsure about joining the cause. So I voted for the boot of Sam Houston.

Response by SSG Leo Bell made Mar 17 at 2016 1:23 AM

2016-03-17T01:23:30-04:00

Thanks for sharing this bit of history