Response by LTC Stephen F. made Apr 26 at 2016 9:57 PM

2016-04-26T21:57:53-04:00

Pictures:
1. 1863 Map of City Forts, Cape Girardeau;
2. 1863 GEN JOHN MCNEIL;
3. 1863 CSA GEN JOHN S MARMADUKE;
4. 1863 CSA GEN M JEFF THOMPSON Swamp Fox

Sunday, April 26, 1863: Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle, a British officer visiting the American war at the behest of the Crown, writes in his journal about his adventurous journey across Texas: At 11.30 A.M., McCarthy drove me in his buggy to see the San Pedro spring, which is inferior in beauty to the San Antonio spring. A troop of Texan cavalry was bivouacked there.
We afterwards drove to the “missions” of San Jose” and San Juan, six and nine miles from the town. These were fortified convents for the conversion of the Indians, and were built by the Jesuits about one hundred and seventy years ago. They are now ruins, and the architecture is of the heavy Castilian style, elaborately ornamented. These missions are very interesting, and there are two more of them, which I did not see.
In the afternoon I saw many negroes and negresses parading about in their Sunday clothes—silks and crinolines—much smarter than their mistresses.
At 5 P.M. I dined with Colonel Bankhead, who gave an entertainment, which in these hard times must have cost a mint of money. About fourteen of the principal officers were invited; one of them was Captain Mason (cousin to the London commissioner), who had served under Stonewall Jackson in Virginia. He said that officer was by no means popular at first. I spent a very agreeable evening, and heard many anecdotes of the war. One of the officers sang the Abolition song, “John Brown,” together with its parody, “I’m bound to be a soldier in the army of the South,” a Confederate marching-song, and another parody, which is a Yankee marching-song, “We’ll hang Jeff Davis on a sour-apple tree.”
Whenever I have dined with Confederate officers they have nearly always proposed the Queen’s health, and never failed to pass the highest eulogiums upon Her Majesty.
Wednesday, April 26, 1865: John Wilkes Booth is shot while fleeing a burning tobacco shed.

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. 1863: Grierson’s Raid – Grierson learns that the rebel Gen. Pemberton, in command in Mississippi, in a pan Sunday, April 26, 1863ic, has sent reinforcements to Jackson and all other points he can think of along Vicksburg’s supply line, he decides to carry a diversion. The equivalent early a whole division of Rebels have been sent to chase after the Yankee raiders. On this morning, Grierson decides to make a daring turn in his route, and dash in closer to Vicksburg, so he turns his column to the southwest, crossing the Leaf River and entering the town of Raleigh. From there, they ride to Westville, where they stop for the night.
B. Sunday, April 26, 1863: Battle of Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Union Victory. Brig. Gen. John Marmaduke of the Confederate Army led his force of 5,000 into southern Missouri. He moves against the heavily-fortified river town of Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi. After struggling though a swamp in a downpour, Marmaduke finally is able to deploy his troops, and launches a full frontal assault on the Federal works. Defending is Union Gen. John McNeil and 4,000 Union troops from Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Rebels, mostly Texas cavalry, make the charge mounted, and are mowed down by charges of canister and rifle volleys. More charges and countercharges were made, and Marmaduke finally withdraws his shattered regiments.
C. 1865: Realizing the tragedy of a prolonged war, CSA Gen Joseph E. Johnston disobeyed Jefferson Davis orders and met Sherman again at the Bennitt farm on April 26. Jefferson Davis, who opposed the more stringent terms, had ordered Johnston to disband the infantry and escape with the mounted troops. The final agreement was simply a military surrender which ended the war in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and involved 89,270 soldiers. The mustering out of the troops and the issuing of paroles for those who surrendered took place in Greensboro. Two surrenders followed; Richard Taylor in Alabama on May 4 and E. Kirby Smith at New Orleans on May 26. Together with Lee’s surrender, the Confederate forces were completely disbanded.
The surrender spared North Carolina the destruction experienced by her neighboring states. Equally important, the economy of the entire state and the development of Durham were boosted when troops in the area were introduced to “bright leaf” tobacco.
D. Wednesday, April 26, 1865: John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home, and Mudd treated Booth’s leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.
After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth’s luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering “Useless, useless,” as he died.
1. Friday, April 26, 1861: St. Louis, Missouri. Illinois state militia, U.S. Regulars, and Missouri volunteers, led by Capt. Nathaniel Lyon of the U.S. Army, take possession of the U.S. Arsenal and load 21,000 rifled muskets on a steamboat to Illinois for safe-keeping. Mostly German-speaking St. Louisians, solidly for the Union, form new militia units for the Union to keep the Federal property in hand.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+26%2C+1861
2. Saturday, April 26, 1862: The Battle of Yorktown or Siege of Yorktown was fought from April 5 to May 4, 1862 in York County and Newport News, Virginia.
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssc/yorktown/
3. Sunday, April 26, 1863 --- Virginia: Constant rains for the last two weeks have delayed Gen. Hooker’s scheduled plans for getting under way with his planned offensive: To flank Lee and force him to come out of the Fredericksburg fortifications south into open country. The rains have let up, and Hooker hopes to get his troops on the road by tomorrow, the 27th. His plan---the V Corps under Meade, the XI under Howard, and the XII under Slocum, are to march upstream toward Kelly’s Ford on the Rappahannock just due east of Culpeper Court House, the II Corps under Couch to the U.S. ford near the confluence of the Rappahannock and Rapidan; the I (Reynolds), III (Sickles), and VI Corps (Sedgwick) would remain near Falmouth. The idea was that the left wing under Sedgwick would make a demonstration across the river to threaten Fredericksburg and the right wing under Hooker would cross the fords, advance through the Wilderness, and get in Lee’s left rear to “turn” his line. Hooker will have nearly 120,000 men in play against the Confederates, who number less than half of that.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+26%2C+1863
4. Sunday, April 26, 1863 --- James H. Gooding writes to the Mercury on the progress of the 54th Massachusetts, the new black regiment in training at Camp Reading: The past week’s report of the 54th is encouraging, if not stirring. The number of recruits for the past week is 66 making a total of 740 men. Indeed, to see the men on dress parade, one would think there was a full regiment, when there is not more than 630, the balance being required for guard or fatigue duties. The most of the companies are now quite proficient in the manual of arms, and perform the evolutions with as much precision as a great many older troops. Soldiers and officers from other camps say they never thought it possible for men to learn in so short a time as much as these men have. The camp was visited by several members of the Legislature the past week, who expressed themselves highly pleased with the efficiency, discipline and cleanliness of the men; and one gentleman paid us a compliment by saying our barracks looked neater than those on the other side of the railroad. But the praise for that is due to Col. Shaw, whose quick eye detects anything in a moment out of keeping with order or military discipline. It is the best way to begin, saving a deal of trouble in the end; without order, the best men on earth would be worthless for military purposes.
Rev. Mr. Jackson is still with us, laboring for the soles, if the uppers are neglected — because there are men in this regiment who forget that there are other combs besides Combe on the understanding. Now Messrs. Editors, we want some more New Bedford men; if they don’t make up their minds very soon, the gate will be shut; every week the number wanted becomes less, and will our New Bedford men see those from other States earning their right to manhood? Where are all the loud orators, whose patriotic appeals said go to the war, we are with you? Come out, ye brave men, we want to see ye. And where, oh! where are the leaders of men? Why don’t they send one representative to the war? so they can say, “We filled our quota.” Don’t let the Journal of Commerce, and other powerful organs, have a chance to tell the truth about you, when they say “The colored man don’t know what’s good for him.” Rise up from your lethargy, and prove by your works that they know not what they say, or else — go and bag your heads.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+26%2C+1863
5. Sunday, April 26, 1863 --- Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle, a British officer visiting the American war at the behest of the Crown, writes in his journal about his adventurous journey across Texas: At 11.30 A.M., McCarthy drove me in his buggy to see the San Pedro spring, which is inferior in beauty to the San Antonio spring. A troop of Texan cavalry was bivouacked there.
We afterwards drove to the “missions” of San Jose” and San Juan, six and nine miles from the town. These were fortified convents for the conversion of the Indians, and were built by the Jesuits about one hundred and seventy years ago. They are now ruins, and the architecture is of the heavy Castilian style, elaborately ornamented. These missions are very interesting, and there are two more of them, which I did not see.
In the afternoon I saw many negroes and negresses parading about in their Sunday clothes—silks and crinolines—much smarter than their mistresses.
At 5 P.M. I dined with Colonel Bankhead, who gave an entertainment, which in these hard times must have cost a mint of money. About fourteen of the principal officers were invited; one of them was Captain Mason (cousin to the London commissioner), who had served under Stonewall Jackson in Virginia. He said that officer was by no means popular at first. I spent a very agreeable evening, and heard many anecdotes of the war. One of the officers sang the Abolition song, “John Brown,” together with its parody, “I’m bound to be a soldier in the army of the South,” a Confederate marching-song, and another parody, which is a Yankee marching-song, “We’ll hang Jeff Davis on a sour-apple tree.”
Whenever I have dined with Confederate officers they have nearly always proposed the Queen’s health, and never failed to pass the highest eulogiums upon Her Majesty.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+26%2C+1863
6. Tuesday, April 26, 1864: Admiral David Porter's fleet is badly damaged in engagements with on-shore Confederates. The fleet had become trapped by low water following Porter's rescue of Nathaniel Banks at the end of the Red River Campaign
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186404
7.

A. Sunday, April 26, 1863 --- Grierson’s Raid – Grierson learns that the rebel Gen. Pemberton, in command in Mississippi, in a panic, has sent reinforcements to Jackson and all other points he can think of along Vicksburg’s supply line, he decides to carry a diversion. The equivalent early a whole division of Rebels have been sent to chase after the Yankee raiders. On this morning, Grierson decides to make a daring turn in his route, and dash in closer to Vicksburg, so he turns his column to the southwest, crossing the Leaf River and entering the town of Raleigh. From there, they ride to Westville, where they stop for the night.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+26%2C+1863
B Sunday, April 26, 1863 --- Battle of Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Brig. Gen. John Marmaduke of the Confederate Army led his force of 5,000 into southern Missouri. He moves against the heavily-fortified river town of Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi. After struggling though a swamp in a downpour, Marmaduke finally is able to deploy his troops, and launches a full frontal assault on the Federal works. Defending is Union Gen. John McNeil and 4,000 Union troops from Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Rebels, mostly Texas cavalry, make the charge mounted, and are mowed down by charges of canister and rifle volleys. More charges and countercharges were made, and Marmaduke finally withdraws his shattered regiments. Union Victory.
Losses: Union – 12 Confederate – 325
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+26%2C+1863
B+ Sunday, April 26, 1863 Battle of Cape Girardeau
Prologue
As the sun rose on April 26, 1863, 5,000 Confederate soldiers under Brig. Gen. John Sappington Marmaduke took positions on a battle line on the western edge of Cape Girardeau, poised to attack. Six of the eight companies of rebels under Col. William L. Jeffers were Cape County boys, preparing to bombard and liberate their own hometown.
Ready to fend them off were 3,000 Union soldiers under the command of Gen. John "The Butcher" McNeil, who watched the Southerners advance as Cape Girardeau civilians rushed to the waterfront, frantically boarding steamboats to cross the river to the safety of the Illinois shore.
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, Marmaduke gave the command to attack. Fierce rebel yells and deafening cannonade soon filled the air.
Background
When the Civil War broke out, Cape Girardeau was a town of 6,000 people. It was bounded by Henderson Street on the west, Washington Street on the north, and Jefferson Street on the south. Its residents were evenly split between northern and southern sympathies.
With the fall of Fort Sumter on April 13, 1861, the people of Cape Girardeau were forced to pick sides. Some joined the north, like Lt. Col. Lindsay Murdoch, who fled to Cape Girardeau from Bollinger County and raised four companies called the Fremont Rangers; others joined the south, like William L. Jeffers, a Mexican War veteran residing in Jackson, who organized a cavalry called the "Swamp Rangers."
In July 1861, Union forces began an occupation of Cape Girardeau that lasted until the end of the war. They imposed martial law. All citizens of Cape Girardeau, including those whose relatives were off fighting for the South, were required to take oaths supporting the Union. Those who refused to take it were jailed. Those who violated it faced punishments including jail, banishment, confiscation of property, or death. One spy was hanged on Themis Street after having been hauled to the gallows astride his own coffin.
In early August, Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont arrived in Cape Girardeau for a tour of inspection. Finding the town unfortified, he ordered the immediate construction of four formidable forts. Lt. Col. Lindsay Murdoch warned "the rebel sympathizers" residing in Cape Girardeau that "if the town was attacked by the rebels, I would certainly demolish their houses with the guns of Fort A."
Cape Girardeau remained a Union stronghold as the whirlwind of the Civil War raged across Missouri. By August of 1861 the Union had 3,000 soldiers stationed at Cape. Union patrols rode out daily. As Murdoch recalled: "We were employed in doing the cavalry service and picket duty. We scouted through Southeast Missouri. We had frequent encounters with Rebel bands."
Gen. M. Jeff Thompson was the leader of the rebels operating a guerilla war out of the Mingo Swamps in Southeast Missouri. "The Swamp Fox" would lead his men in ambushes and skirmishes with Federal patrols, but would then disappear into the swamps when larger forces pursued him. A Wisconsin Cavalryman named Edmund Newton wrote from Cape Girardeau: "This country is infested with marauding bands that murder and plunder all that come in their way. There are some swamps where men can skulk and hide and it is impossible to ride a horse that they have the decided advantage."
Col. William L. Jeffers, a "prominent" local citizen before the war, was now referred to in Cape's Union newspaper as "a notorious bushwhacker and horse thief of Jeff Thompson's gang." The same paper reported that Matthew Moore, the former publisher of the newspaper, was now a Confederate Colonel. His property in Cape had all been confiscated and his wife had died "of a broken heart."
On August 28, 1861, Brig. Gen. Ulysses Grant was placed in charge of Southeast Missouri. Shortly after his first inspection of Cape Girardeau on September 1, 1861, he led his men to victories at Fort Donelson and Fort Henry. In the bloody battle of Shiloh in April 1862, his 43,000 forces eventually prevailed over 40,000 southerners.
By April, 1863, all large southern armies had been driven from the state, yet the smaller packs of rebels and bushwhackers still harassed Union fortifications, patrols and sympathizers across Missouri. The stage had been set for the Battle of Cape Girardeau.
Marmaduke's Mission
In April, 1863, the South sent John Sappington Marmaduke and 5,000 cavalrymen on a raid from Arkansas into Missouri. The plan was for him to secure provisions for his men, and to take Cape Girardeau, thereby forcing the Union to weaken its forces in the South by sending men back to Missouri. A fringe benefit would be the killing or capture of Union Gen. John McNeil, nicknamed "The Butcher" for his ruthless execution of rebel prisoners.
Marmaduke's 5,000 men were not quite as formidable as the figure sounds. "My whole strength was about 5,000 men, eight pieces of field artillery, and two light mountain pieces. Of this force about 1,200 were unarmed and 900 dismounted. Of those armed, the greater part had shotguns; some were armed with Enfield rifles and Mississippi rifles, and some with common squirrel rifles."
Marmaduke split his forces as he rode into Southeast Missouri. Half headed in the direction of Rolla, to disguise their true objective. The other half attacked a small Federal force at Patterson, and then attacked McNeil and 2,000 of his men at Bloomfield.
From captured correspondence, Marmaduke knew that McNeil had orders to go to Pilot Knob if attacked, so the Southern force that had started toward Rolla veered suddenly to Fredericktown, where it lay in wait to ambush McNeil.
Instead of heading to Rolla, McNeil and his men fled back to Cape after being attacked. Col. George W. Carter and 2,000 Texas cavalrymen chased them to the outskirts of Cape Girardeau, but pulled up when the Federals reached the safety of the fortifications. Carter boldly sent a formal demand for surrender to Cape Girardeau, giving 30 minutes for reply.
McNeil frantically sent word to General Samuel R. Curtis in St. Louis: "General: I am attacked by 8,000 men under Marmaduke. Expect to be stormed tomorrow. Can you send me two regiments of infantry and a field battery with supply of ammunition?"
Marmaduke and the rest of his men hurried to reinforce Carter, arriving at Cape Girardeau just in time for the battle. As Confederate Col. Gideon W. Thompson recalled: "We marched through the entire night and as red-eyed morning peeped out of the cloud-curtained window of the east, our advance entered the sleeping town of Jackson. Pushing on to a point 4 miles from town, the command was halted, where both men and horses partook of a hasty meal, during which a heavy fall of rain drenched to the skin my weary men. At about 8 o'clock [a.m.], I received orders from Col. Jo Shelby to move my command [into battle formation]."

The Battle Begins
From the heights of the Union forts, Federal soldiers waited nervously for the fight to start. Lt. Colonel William Baumer had been instrumental in preparing the plan of defense: "My idea was to meet the enemy outside the fortifications, and, [if] overpowered, to fall back to Fort B, and from thence to Fort A, which place could be held against any force of the enemy. The position selected by me was west of Cape Girardeau, about 3/4 mile from Fort B. The troops had made up their mind to defend the place to the last man, and never surrender to the rebels."
The Confederate forces advanced across fields at the base of a chain of hills on the outskirts of town, along a battle line extending roughly from what is now St. Mary's Cemetery near Capaha Park, across the general area of Clark Street near Central Junior High School, all the way to Bloomfield Road.
Deadly Cross-Fire
The main attack was made northwest of Broadway, near its intersection with Perryville Road. The Confederates quickly found themselves in a cross-fire from cannon at Fort B (the area now Academic Hall) and cannon on the hills where Southeast Hospital is now located.
Union Col. Baumer reported: "The guns of Fort B opened fire. The cross-fire of the artillerists so much skilled and intrepid, that the enemy could not advance from the ambush." Lindsay Murdoch recalled: "I was detailed to serve in Fort B, where the attack was first expected to be made. I was stationed at a siege gun manned by Lt. Zepp. I had a field glass and could easily locate the movements of the rebels. I observed a large field piece and indicated the position to Lt. Zepp, and he exploded a shell in the immediate vicinity of the gun, dismounting the same and killing three horses and wounding and disabling the whole battery."
From the rebel perspective, Col. Thompson said: "Captain Collins' battery, although greatly exposed to a cross-fire from the enemy's heavy guns, gallantly maintained its position and thundered forth a reply. The roar of artillery now became constant. The enemy's heavy guns from the forts on the apex of the hill overlooking our extreme left hurled their heavy shot and screaming shell furiously at our little battery."
Confederate Major John N. Edwards wrote: "A terrible artillery fire opened upon the advancing division, now wholly unprotected in the valley below. Collins rushed his battery to the front and engaged the heavy guns at close range, suffering so greatly that volunteers were called for to man his pieces. They came in dozens, and melted away almost as fast as they came."
Col. Thompson's description was poetic: "The enemy's forts and batteries continued to play upon our battery for more than one hour without intermission, and now and then swept the woods with shell and shot, canister and grape, while the mineballs came hissing a treble to the music of the roar."
The artillery duel lasted five hours, punctuated by charges the Union soldiers made from their positions behind the fortifications.
As Union Col. Baumer recalled: "The left flank, on Bloomfield Road, was protected by the First Wisconsin Cavalry. Three of their companies dismounted and fought the enemy on foot with their carbines."

Fierce Charge
Confederate Major Edwards described the battle evolving into far more than an artillery duel: "Shanks and Elliott, in a large peach orchard on the extreme right, were charged fiercely by a regiment of Federal cavalry, but they drove it back with loss after ten minutes of hot fighting. The enemy left their fortifications at last, and came down to grapple Shelby's command in the open field. The onset was destructive and lasted half an hour, but the Federals did not gain an inch by their determined efforts, and retired again to the comparative security [within the forts]. Around the battery and among the peach trees where Shanks and Elliott fought, the dead lay thick and in clusters."
Meanwhile, Union reinforcements were arriving by steamboat. Edwards recalled: "All [throughout] the hot hours of the fight the incessant screaming of steamboat whistles told of arriving reinforcements, and the departure of non-combatants for the Illinois shore. Commissary and quartermaster supplies of all kinds were piled in the streets and saturated with turpentine in expectation of defeat."
As Col. Shelby's men drove toward Fort B, Marmaduke sent him more men. "I deemed it necessary to bring Carter's column up to his support. I moved rapidly toward Shelby's column, and on arriving found that Shelby had driven the enemy's pickets and advanced into their works; that the enemy were admirably posted, possessing great natural advantages in position, supported by four large forts mounted with heavy guns, field artillery, and about 3,000 infantry and cavalry."
Faced with the risks inherent in charging the well-fortified Fort B, Marmaduke decided to retreat.
Col. Thompson agreed with the decision: "In my judgment it would have been impossible to have taken Cape Girardeau without charging it in force, and to have done this, under the circumstances, would have been wanton butchery and slaughter."
Edwards wasn't so sure: "The word 'charge' rang along the lines, and Shelby's skirmishers dashed up the large hill on which stood the nearest fort, almost to the guns, but the order was countermanded by General Marmaduke . . . A united attack by Marmaduke upon the forts with his entire force might probably have resulted in their capture. This was Shelby's opinion."
Retreat
Once the decision to retreat had been made, the Confederates fell back to Jackson. The Union forces, now heavily reinforced by both 5,000 men under General William Vandever from Rolla, plus another 2,000 by steamboat from St. Louis, pursued them, attacking them at both Jackson and Bloomfield. The rebels headed south for Chalk Bluffs, Arkansas, where Gen. Jeff Thompson and Major Robert Smith had forged ahead to make a temporary bridge over the St. Francis river. Major Edwards later wrote: "The infantry, that is, the dismounted men, barely managed to cross on it -- one at a time -- like Indians on a war-trail; the horses were pushed in below, and made to swim over, while a huge raft was constructed by Major Lawrence for the artillery, and, piece by piece, slowly and laboriously it was ferried over." The rebels escaped across the river, before destroying the bridge to thwart the Union pursuit.
"The Swamp Fox" later recalled an unusual aspect of the retreat: "An interesting feature of the trip was the number of snakes seen. The whole country being under water except the sections of this road, the snakes for miles had congregated here to sun themselves, and it is not exaggeration to say that there was one to every ten feet, or five hundred to the mile for the whole length of the road."
Meanwhile, back in Cape Girardeau, the dead and wounded lay upon the field. Although exact figures are unknown, reported Federal casualties were 23 dead and 44 wounded. Marmaduke stated in his official report that his loss from the Cape Girardeau expedition was "some 30 killed, 60 wounded, and 120 missing." Major Edwards wrote that "over 100 of our men were badly wounded and left in hospitals."
With the Confederates in retreat, McNeil's tone in his communications with General Curtis turned cocky: "The attack of the enemy has been brilliantly repulsed. I think you may give yourself no concern about Cape Girardeau. Do me the favor to keep my family advised with the progress of events."
http://www.capecounty.us/ProsecutingAttorney/battleofcapegirardeau.aspx
B++ Sunday, April 26, 1863 Battle of Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Campaign: Marmaduke’s Second Expedition into Missouri. Description: CSA Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke sought to strike Brig. Gen. John McNeil, with his combined force of about 2,000 men, at Bloomfield, Missouri. McNeil retreated and Marmaduke followed. Marmaduke received notification, on April 25, that McNeil was near Cape Girardeau. He sent troops to destroy or capture McNeil’s force, but then he learned that the Federals had placed themselves in the fortifications. Marmaduke ordered one of his brigades to make a demonstration to ascertain the Federals’ strength. Col. John S. Shelby’s brigade made the demonstration which escalated into an attack. Those Union forces not already in fortifications retreated into them. Realizing the Federals’ strength, Marmaduke withdrew his division to Jackson. After finding the force he had been chasing, Marmaduke was repulsed. Meant to relieve pressure on other Confederate troops and to disrupt Union operations, Marmaduke’s expedition did little to fulfill either objective. Result(s): Union victory. Estimated Casualties: 337 total (US 12; CS 325)
https://www.nps.gov/abpp/battles/mo020.htm
C Wednesday, April 26, 1865: CSA GEN Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Maj Gen William Tecumseh Sherman
In April 1865, two battle-weary adversaries, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and Union General William T. Sherman, met under a flag of truce to discuss a peaceful solution to the tragic Civil War.
The military leaders and their escorts got together midway between their lines on the Hillsborough Road, seven miles from Durham Station. Johnston suggested they sit down together at a simple farmhouse a short distance away.
On three separate occasions the Union and Confederate generals struggled to come to mutually agreeable surrender terms at the home of James and Nancy Bennitt (research indicates Bennitt is the correct spelling of the family name). Finally, on April 26, the Bennitt home became the site of the largest troop surrender of the Civil War.
After his controversial march from Atlanta to Savannah, Sherman turned his army of 60,000 north. In March 1865 he entered North Carolina. Living off the land and destroying public buildings and factories, the Union commander brought his “total war” policy to a state that had been slow to secede. Johnston, recently placed in command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, failed to stop Sherman at the Battle of Bentonville.
The days of the Confederacy were numbered. Seeking to avoid capture in Virginia, President Jefferson Davis arrived in Greensboro on April 11 and summoned Johnston to assess the strength of his army. Though Davis felt the South could continue the war, the confirmation of Lee’s surrender prompted him to allow Johnston to confer with Sherman.
Jefferson Davis, who opposed the more stringent terms, ordered Johnston to disband the infantry and escape with the mounted troops. Realizing the tragedy of a prolonged war, Johnston disobeyed orders and met Sherman again at the Bennitt farm on April 26. The final agreement was simply a military surrender which ended the war in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and involved 89,270 soldiers. The mustering out of the troops and the issuing of paroles for those who surrendered took place in Greensboro. Two surrenders followed; Richard Taylor in Alabama on May 4 and E. Kirby Smith at New Orleans on May 26. Together with Lee’s surrender, the Confederate forces were completely disbanded.
The surrender spared North Carolina the destruction experienced by her neighboring states. Equally important, the economy of the entire state and the development of Durham were boosted when troops in the area were introduced to “bright leaf” tobacco.
Background: On April 17 Johnston and Sherman met at the Bennitt farm. Before negotiations began Sherman showed Johnston a telegram announcing the assassination of President Lincoln. Unaware of the problems this tragedy would create, the generals began their conference. Sherman was prepared to offer terms like those Grant gave Lee — military terms only. Johnston wanted “to arrange the terms of a permanent peace,” including political terms.
At the second meeting on April 18, Sherman submitted “a basis of agreement” which Johnston accepted. This liberal document provided for an armistice that could be cancelled at 48 hours’ notice, disbanding armies following the depositing weapons in state arsenals, recognition of state government, establishment of federal courts, restoration of political and civil rights, and a general amnesty. Jefferson Davis approved these terms, but the Union rejected them because of hostilities in Washington following Lincoln’s assassination. Grant instructed Sherman to renegotiate terms similar to those given Lee at Appomattox.
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-civilwar/5620
D Wednesday, April 26, 1865: John Wilkes Booth is shot while fleeing a burning tobacco shed.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186504
Wednesday, April 26, 1865: John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
Twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14. Booth was a Maryland native and a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president. He enlisted the aid of several associates, but the opportunity never presented itself. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Booth changed the plan to a simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Only Lincoln was actually killed, however. Seward was stabbed by Lewis Paine but survived, while the man assigned to kill Johnson did not carry out his assignment.
After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home, and Mudd treated Booth’s leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.
After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth’s luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth, but he was shot while still inside. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering “Useless, useless,” as he died.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-assassin-john-wilkes-booth-dies
FYI CSM Charles Hayden LTC Private RallyPoint Member MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SSG Franklin Briant SGT Tiffanie G. SGT Mary G.CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SFC William Farrell SPC Michael Terrell SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SFC William Farrell SSG Franklin Briant SSG William Jones SSG Michael Noll MCPO Hilary Kunz MAJ Wayne Wickizer CPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell 1stSgt Eugene Harless SSG Bill McCoy

The American Civil War 150 Years Ago Today: Search results for April 26, 1861

A no-frills day-by-day account of what was happening 150 years ago, this blog is intended to be a way that we can experience or remember the Civil War with more immediacy, in addition to understanding the flow of time as we live in it.

What was the most significant event on April 26 during the U.S. Civil War?

What was the most significant event on April 26 during the U.S. Civil War?

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Apr 26 at 2016 9:57 PM

Response by SSG Leo Bell made Apr 26 at 2016 11:50 PM

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