What was the most significant event on April 16 during the U.S. Civil War?

2016-04-16T20:37:11-04:00

In 1861 President Abraham Lincoln outlawed business with confederate states and signed legislation freeing the estimated 3,500 slaves in Washington, D. C.
1862 the CSA approves conscription for all white males (18-35 years)
1863 MG U.S. Grant has the ships he needs to cross his army over to the same side as Vicksburg, on dry ground thanks to Admiral David D. Porter who successfully got 11 Union gunboats past the guns of Vicksburg overlooking the Mississippi River.
Easter Sunday 1865 CSA BG Robert C. Taylor was killed in action at West Point, Ga. He was the last general to be killed in the civil war one week after Robert E; Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia.

Pictures: Running the Guns of Vicksburg - Porter's route; 1863 Vicksburg run; CSA Soldier; grave of CSA BG Robert C. Taylor

FYI SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL CWO4 Terrence Clark SPC Private RallyPoint Member MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. MSG Roy Cheever Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SMSgt Lawrence McCarter PO3 Edward Riddle MAJ Roland McDonald ltc-joe-anderson-taz-or-joe-retired-now-in-contract-complianceCPL Ronald Keyes Jr CSM Charles Hayden CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw COL Private RallyPoint Member SPC Michael Terrell SPC Miguel C.SPC Maurice Evans

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Apr 16 at 2016 8:38 PM

2016-04-16T20:38:21-04:00

Thanks for the post!

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Apr 16 at 2016 8:40 PM

2016-04-16T20:40:04-04:00

I voted for April 16,1861 when President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in Washington, DC. Many don’t remember or realize that Maryland, Kentucky were slave states and that there were significant numbers of slaves in the nation’s capital.
In 1862, realizing that the CSA had a shortage of available trained soldiers, the CSA Congress passed and the CSA President signed legislation calling for universal conscription of white southern males 18-35 years old.
In 1863, a war party of Dakota Sioux attacked a Union Army platoon patrol near Medalia, Minnesota, killing one and wounding two. The North and the south periodically had to deal with Indian attacks.
Pictures: Running the Guns of Vicksburg - Porter's route; Vicksburg Run; Battle of Columbus, GA - Bridges of Columbus, GA
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Tuesday, April 16, 1861: President Lincoln signs legislation freeing the estimated 3,500 slaves in Washington, D. C.
B. Wednesday, April 16, 1862: CSA President Jefferson Davis, in Richmond, signs into the law the Conscription Act, requiring all able-bodied males up through age 35 to serve for three years in the Confederate Army. This act is extremely unpopular throughout the South.
C. Thursday, April 16, 1863: Vicksburg Campaign – Gen. Grant wants Admiral David D. Porter, commander of the Union squadron on the Mississippi River, to try to rush past the guns of Vicksburg again with three transports, so that the Federal army can march down the west bank of the river, and the transports can ship the troops to the east bank of the river, on dry ground, so they can approach the fortifications at last. Grant suggests sending two gunboats as escort, but Porter changes that to eight gunboats to ensure that the Queen of the West and the Indianola debacles are not repeated. Lashing the more vulnerable transports on the sheltered side of the ironclad gunboats, the flotilla heads downstream from the mouth of the Yazoo on a moonless night. At first, due to a ball being held in Vicksburg that night, many of the Confederate guns are not manned.
But as the shooting started, the ball empties, and officers report to their batteries. Soon, all 37 heavy guns on the bluffs were in action. Porter’s ships answered with 79 guns, as they steered for the eastern shore, hoping that the Rebel guns could not shoot low enough to hit the Yankee gunboats so close to the bluffs. In the confusion, several coal barges have to be cut loose, and the USS Henry Clay is hit and hammered into uselessness. The crew abandons ship.
After another gunboat running aground and getting loose again, all but the Henry Clay and two other vessels manage to get past the fortress. As Porter docks at New Carthage, he discovers that he has only 12 men wounded. Now, Grant has the ships he needs to cross his army over to the same side as Vicksburg, on dry ground.
D. Sunday, April 16, 1865: Battle of West Point, Ga. Union General James Wilson swept west across Alabama for the key bridges over the Chattahoochee River at Columbus and West Point, Georgia. In anticipation of the attack, Confederate Brigadier General Robert C. Tyler had taken up a position in a square earthwork fort on a high hill overlooking the town with a force of between 120-265 men. The fort was armed with three pieces of artillery, two field guns and a 32-pounder. Other Confederate troops were positioned on the heights east of the Chattahoochee to protect the bridge. Most of Tyler's force was made up of soldiers on medical leave, militia and volunteers. BG Taylor was the last general to be killed in the civil war one week after Robert E; Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia.
1. Tuesday, April 16, 1861: US President Abraham Lincoln outlaws’ business with confederate states {[onthisday.com/events/april/16]}
2. Wednesday, April 16, 1862: In Corinth, Mississippi, Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard issues this proclamation of thanks and congratulations to his army: HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Corinth, Miss., April 16, 1862. Soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi: You have bravely fought the invaders of your soil for two days in his own position. Fought your superior in numbers, in arms, in all the appliances of war. Your success has been signal. His losses have been immense, outnumbering yours in all save the personal worth of the slain. You drove him from his camps to the shelter of his iron-clad gunboats, which alone saved him from complete disaster. You captured his artillery, more than 25 flags and standards, and took over 3,000 prisoners.
You have done your duty. Your commanding general thanks you. Your countrymen are proud of your deeds on the bloody field of Shiloh; confident in the ultimate results of your valor.
Soldiers, untoward events saved the enemy from annihilation. His insolent presence still pollutes your soil; his hostile flag still flaunts before you. There can be no peace so long as these things are.
Trusting that God is with us, as with our fathers, let us seek to be worthy of His favor, and resolve to be independent or perish in the struggle.
G. T. BEAUREGARD, General, Commanding.
{[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+16%2C+1862]}
3. Wednesday, April 16, 1862 --- Eastern Theater, Peninsula Campaign: Skirmish at Lee’s Mills - Gen. George McClellan orders Gen. William "Baldy" Smith to attack a section of the Rebel fortifications around Yorktown, to take gun emplacements that could prevent further Union siege activity. Smith sends four companies of Vermont troops across the mill pond, who easily drive off the scanty Rebel picket line. McClellan will not authorize Smith to do any more, and orders the Vermonters to be withdrawn. But Smith, on his own hook, sends across two whole regiments, the 4th and 6th Vermont. The 4th crosses the mill dam easily, but the 6th are fording upstream, and increasing Rebel fire, with the muddy ground, force them to retreat.
{[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+16%2C+1862]}
4. Thursday, April 16, 1863 --- A party of Dakota Indians attack a platoon of Union soldiers near Medalia, Minnesota, killing one and wounding two.
{[blueandgraytrail.com/year/186304]}
5. Saturday, April 16, 1864 --- In spite of Sherman’s orders that A.J. Smith and his divisions leave Louisiana immediately and return to Chattanooga, Gen. Banks forbids the move, insisting to Smith that it is “impossible for me to dispense with your services.”
{[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+16%2C+1864]}
6. Saturday, April 16, 1864 --- George Templeton Strong, in New York City, writes in his journal about the state of the market and of the nation: Gold keeps at about 170 and exchange was bought today at 200! Insolvency is imminent. Congress is inefficient. The country seems drifting to leeward. I dread the newspaper attacks and queries and criticism to which the Sanitary Commission is about to be exposed on its receipt of the proceeds of this fair, and I have my doubts and difficulties about this question of our establishing sanitaria. Everything looks black and life is a failure today. . . .
{[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+16%2C+1864]}
A Wednesday, April 16, 1862: President Lincoln signs legislation freeing the estimated 3,500 slaves in Washington, D. C.
{[blueandgraytrail.com/year/186204]}
A+ Wednesday, April 16, 1862 --- Within the last week, Pres. Lincoln has signed into law several bills concerning slavery, including one that forbids Union soldiers to return escaped slaves to their owners. Today, he signs a law that frees all 3,000 slaves in the District of Columbia. The black population spontaneously celebrate their emancipation in the streets of the capital.
{[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+16%2C+1862]}
B Wednesday, April 16, 1862: American Confederate Congress approves conscription act for all white males (18-35 years)
{[onthisday.com/events/april/16]}
B+ Wednesday, April 16, 1862 --- Pres. Davis, in Richmond, signs into the law the Conscription Act, requiring all able-bodied males up through age 35 to serve for three years in the Confederate Army. This act is extremely unpopular throughout the South.
{[civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+16%2C+1862]}
C Thursday, April 16, 1863: Rear Admiral David Porter sent 12 vessels south on the Mississippi past Vicksburg. Although hit a number of times by Confederate gunners, the vessels suffered little damage.
[{blueandgraytrail.com/year/186304]}
C+ Thursday, April 16, 1863 --- Vicksburg Campaign – Gen. Grant wants Admiral David D. Porter, commander of the Union squadron on the Mississippi River, to try to rush past the guns of Vicksburg again with three transports, so that the Federal army can march down the west bank of the river, and the transports can ship the troops to the east bank of the river, on dry ground, so they can approach the fortifications at last. Grant suggests sending two gunboats as escort, but Porter changes that to eight gunboats to ensure that the Queen of the West and the Indianola debacles are not repeated. Lashing the more vulnerable transports on the sheltered side of the ironclad gunboats, the flotilla heads downstream from the mouth of the Yazoo on a moonless night. At first, due to a ball being held in Vicksburg that night, many of the Confederate guns are not manned.
But as the shooting started, the ball empties, and officers report to their batteries. Soon, all 37 heavy guns on the bluffs were in action. Porter’s ships answered with 79 guns, as they steered for the eastern shore, hoping that the Rebel guns could not shoot low enough to hit the Yankee gunboats so close to the bluffs. In the confusion, several coal barges have to be cut loose, and the USS Henry Clay is hit and hammered into uselessness. The crew abandons ship.
After another gunboat running aground and getting loose again, all but the Henry Clay and two other vessels manage to get past the fortress. As Porter docks at New Carthage, he discovers that he has only 12 men wounded. Now, Grant has the ships he needs to cross his army over to the same side as Vicksburg, on dry ground.
D Sunday, April 16, 1865: The Battle of West Point, Georgia, took place on April 16. 1865, one week after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered in Virginia.
A key feature of the battlefield is Fort Tyler, the earthwork fort where Confederate forces made their last stand. It has been beautifully restored and is open daily.
During the final weeks of the Civil War, Union General James Wilson swept west across Alabama for the key bridges over the Chattahoochee River at Columbus and West Point, Georgia.
Dividing his army into two columns, Wilson moved with the main body for the important industrial city of Columbus, while Colonel Oscar H. LaGrange moved with a second force to take the important bridge at West Point, a community on the Alabama line north of Columbus.
With a command of around 3,750 men from the 2nd and 4th Indiana, 1st Wisconsin and 7th Kentucky Cavalries and the 18th Indiana Battery, a unit of light artillery, LaGrange moved north from Auburn. He reached West Point on the morning of April 16, 1865, an Easter Sunday.
In anticipation of the attack, Confederate Brigadier General Robert C. Tyler had taken up a position in a square earthwork fort on a high hill overlooking the town with a force of between 120-265 men (sources vary). Named in the general's honor, Fort Tyler was armed with three pieces of artillery, two field guns and a 32-pounder. Other Confederate troops were positioned on the heights east of the Chattahoochee to protect the bridge. Most of Tyler's force was made up of soldiers on medical leave, militia and volunteers.
Assessing the situation, LaGrange moved with the 4th Indiana around the fort and took the Chattahoochee River bridge, while the 2nd Indiana, 1st Wisconsin and 7th Kentucky were ordered to invest the fort. The 18th Indiana Battery unlimbered on a nearby hill and opened fire on Fort Tyler.
Tyler returned fire with his artillery, sending 32-pound cannonballs crashing toward the bridge. One of these killed LaGrange's horse and stunned the colonel. A Union cannon shot, meanwhile, cut the halyard on the flag-staff in Fort Tyler. A 17-year-old sergeant named Charlie McNeill climbed the pole, nailed the flag back in place and waved a salute to the Union gunners before safely sliding back down the pole to a roar of Rebel yells from Tyler and his men.
Fort Tyler held out defiantly for hours. One by one of its cannon were dismounted by Union fire and the Federal dismounted cavalrymen closed in on the ramparts. Realizing that the tide of the battle was turning against him, General Tyler fully exposed himself before the wall of the fort walking in clear view of the enemy soldiers.
He was quickly shot down and according to one eyewitness, never moved again. Tyler was the last general of either side killed during the war and kept his promise that he would either win the battle or die in the effort.
Fort Tyler surrendered at about 6 p.m., its garrison trapped and running low on ammunition. The battle, one of the last of the war, had cost the Confederates 19 killed and 28 wounded. The Union force lost 7 killed and 29 wounded.
Wilson attacked Columbus with the main body on the same day. The Battle of Columbus raged into the night, but that city eventually fell as well. Although there were later fights in Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Florida, and Columbus were the last significant engagements of the Civil War.
From West Point the Federals moved on to nearby LaGrange, where they would encounter the town's remarkable all-female militia company, the Nancy Harts.
The dead from the Battle of West Point are buried at Fort Tyler Cemetery on U.S. 29 North in West Point. Fort Tyler itself has been reconstructed on 6th avenue, 1/2 block north of 10th Street, near downtown West Point.
{[exploresouthernhistory.com/westpoint1.html]}

Grant's Bold Plan | History on Location | Vicksburg - 2
The second in a series exploring the locations associated with the Union attempts to take the stronghold of Vicksburg during the American Civil War. In this episode, we talk about Grant's bold plan to move south of Vicksburg to get across the Mississippi River, Porter's Gunboats running the gauntlet of the Vicksburg batteries, and Grant's decisive change of plans when he crossed the river with his army.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEhyV8jiB1U

FYI CSM Charles Hayden LTC Private RallyPoint Member MSG Andrew White SSG Franklin Briant SGT Tiffanie G. SFC Randy Purham SFC William Farrell SSG Franklin Briant PO3 Phyllis Maynard PO1 John Miller PO2 Tom Belcher PO2 Marco Monsalve SN Greg Wright PO1 Howard Barnes CWO4 Terrence Clark CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member LTC Private RallyPoint Member SSG Michael Noll SSG Bill McCoy

Grant's Bold Plan | History on Location | Vicksburg - 2

The second in a series exploring the locations associated with the Union attempts to take the stronghold of Vicksburg during the American Civil War. In this...

Response by SFC William Farrell made Apr 16 at 2016 11:38 PM

2016-04-16T23:38:08-04:00

Always good LTC Stephen F., thank you.

Response by MAJ Roland McDonald made Apr 19 at 2022 7:27 PM

2022-04-19T19:27:47-04:00

Thanks for the share LTC Stephen F.