What was the most significant event on April 30 during the U.S. Civil War?

1863: If you hear trench warfare many people think of WWI. However, trench warfare existed in centuries prior and was a major part of both siege warfare and pitched battles in the US Civil War including the Battle of Chancellorsville which was the bloodiest battle up to that point. It would soon be ellipses by Gettysburg that summer.
1863: From the abandoned general store in the extinct town of Grand Gulf, Mississippi, a narrow road meanders up the steep bluff bordering the Mississippi River floodplain and, after journeying almost 50 miles, terminates at the picturesque town of Raymond, Mississippi. This scenic and historic trace, despite its significance in American history and its remarkable state of preservation, is little known and sparsely traveled today. This country road of today was a main thoroughfare in the early nineteenth century, and it served as Major General U. S. Grant's main supply route (MSR) during the Vicksburg Campaign.
Pictures: 1863 Map of Vicksburg, MS shows its formidable position on a sharp bend in the Mississippi, enemy ships made a laborious turn under fire from the fort's batteries; 1863 Union troops in the trenches at Chancellorsville; 1863 Grierson's Raid Vicksburg Campaign April July 63; xx
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. Thursday, April 30, 1863 COL Grierson’s Raid: The raiders continued south on April 30, destroying bridges, water tanks and trestle works, and burning the depot and 15 freight cars at Bogue Chitto Station. They reached Summit as sunset neared. Grierson ordered the destruction of 25 freight cars and a large cache of government sugar, but spared the depot itself. He did not want to risk a fire again spreading into town, and he could not afford to lose more time while his men fought the blaze. Grierson ordered his men to remount–some were a bit unsteady in the saddle after discovering a supply of rum–and made six more miles before camping.
B. Thursday, April 30, 1863 Day 1 of Battle of Chancellorsville: Major General Joseph Hooker's energetic make-over polished the Northern army into tip-top condition, and with more strength than ever before. The army commander outmaneuvered Lee in late April, when the weather finally allowed roads to harden enough for marching.
Swinging far beyond Lee's left, Hooker closed up on the Chancellorsville intersection on the last evening in April. He never managed to escape the clutches of the Wilderness, though—the tangled, brush-choked thickets that covered about 70 square miles around Chancellorsville.
Having crossed the two rivers, Hooker’s Federals are moving into the Wilderness. Slocum and Howard move down to the Germanna Ford across the Rapidan, while Meade crosses at a ford further east, and all three corps advance southeast along the road to Fredericksburg. Couch’s II Corps moves across the U.S. Ford, and Sickles’ III Corps moves off from Falmouth to follow Couch. One of Couch’s divisions, however, remains in a bend of the Rapidan to keep an eye on Banks Ford and Scott’s Ford, and Richard Anderson’s division of Confederates beyond it. Lee has McLaws and then Early with their divisions along Marye’s Heights above Fredericksburg. On the hills south of the town, Stonewall Jackson commands the divisions of Colston, A.P. Hill and Robert Rodes. Jackson comes to confer with Lee, and Lee decides that the real action is behind them, and that Sedgwick and Reynolds’ demonstration against Fredericksburg is a feint. Meade and other officers want to push ahead, but the chance today for an attack on the Rebels is called off by Hooker.
C. Thursday, April 30, 1863: Vicksburg Campaign. After having failed to make a beachhead at Grand Gulf, MG U.S. Grant orders his troops to march south along the west bank until opposite of Bruinsburg. Porter shells Grand Gulf again, while the transports steam downstream and then ferry troops across the river. Grant is the first to step onto the east bank, followed by the 24th and 46th Indiana Infantry Regiments. In rapid succession, the entire XIII Corps and part of the XVII Corps are ferried across---over 17,000 troops---with no opposition. After so many months, this landing is nearly anticlimactic. Early in the evening, Grant puts the troops on the march on the Rodney Road, heading for Port Gibson.
D. Saturday, April 30, 1864: Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Arkansas – Union Victory: At daylight on April 30, CSA Major General John Sappington Marmaduke reengaged Brigadier General Frederick Salomon’s men but made little headway. Reinforcements arrived under Confederate Major General Sterling Price, who quickly sent Brigadier General Thomas James Churchill’s division into the fray. As the Confederates approached, the ground sloped toward the Federal position in the swampy river bottoms. Salomon’s men had anchored their right flank to a flooded creek and their left in dense, swampy woodland, leaving only small areas for unobstructed maneuvering. As a result, Churchill had to feed his brigades into the fight piecemeal, which worked toward the Union advantage. In good position but outnumbered, Salomon received reinforcements from Brigadier General John M. Thayer’s Frontier Division, including the Second Kansas Colored Infantry, and blunted the Confederate attack.
Wishing to regain momentum, Confederate Brigadier General Mosby M. Parsons’s division deployed forward to assist Churchill. Parsons split his command to fill gaps in the lines, but the advance was ineffectual. Artillery seeking to shell key Federal positions exposed the troops to assault and capture by the Second Kansas Colored Infantry and Twenty-ninth Iowa. During the assault, troops from the Second Kansas bayoneted several surrendering Confederates in retaliation for the brutal murders of surrendering and wounded African Americans from the First Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment during and after the Engagement at Poison Spring. Another strong-willed assault on Parsons’s men by the Fortieth Iowa and the Twenty-seventh Wisconsin reversed the Confederate counterattack. As the Confederate advance fractured, Confederate Major General John G. Walker’s division arrived, deploying forward in hopes of reversing it; however, Walker failed. The overall Confederate attack was called off around 12:30 p.m., ending the engagement.
After conferring with Steele, Salomon moved his men across the river to safety. Union troops destroyed what could not be easily carried, including the pontoon bridge, and continued marching to Little Rock. The Confederates turned to gathering the wounded and reforming their shattered ranks. Several mutilated bodies of Confederate soldiers were discovered near the engagement area of the Second Kansas.
The Confederates claimed losses of eighty-six killed, 356 wounded, and one missing, and the Federals claimed sixty-three killed, 413 wounded, and forty-five missing, but most historians think the numbers were greater because some units did not file official returns. Brigadier General Samuel Allen Rice was wounded in the foot by a bullet fired during the engagement and died several weeks later as a result of this wound.
1. Wednesday, April 30, 1862: Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, in command of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia (or the army that will soon be re-named such), which has mostly relocated down to the James Peninsula, writes to Gen. Lee this surprisingly frank and pessimistic (and yet realistic) assessment of his ability to stop McClellan’s advance toward Richmond: HEADQUARTERS, Lee's House, April 30, 1862.
To General R. E. LEE: GENERAL: We are engaged in a species of warfare at which we can never win.
It is plain that General McClellan will adhere to the system adopted by him last summer, and depend for success upon artillery and engineering. We can compete with him in neither.
We must therefore change our course, take the offensive, collect all the troops we have in the East and cross the Potomac with them, while Beauregard, with all we have in the West, invades Ohio.
Our troops have always wished for the offensive, and so does the country. Please submit this suggestion to the President. We can have no success while McClellan is allowed, as he is by our defensive, to choose his mode of warfare. Most respectfully, your obedient servant, J. E. JOHNSTON, General.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+30%2C+1862
2. Thursday, April 30, 1863: Army of the Potomac forces set up camp in The Wilderness surrounding the Chancellor family home after crossing the Rappahannock River, Virginia [Chancellorsville]
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186304
3. Thursday, April 30, 1863: During the Raid on Rome, Georgia, [US] COL Abel Streight fights a pitched battle at Day's Gap, Alabama
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186304
4. Thursday, April 30, 1863: About noon, Ulysses S. Grant begins crossing the Mississippi and landing U. S. troops south of Vicksburg
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186304
5. Thursday, April 30, 1863 --- Vicksburg Campaign: Grant's Vicksburg Supply Line; BY PARKER HILLS; HALLOWED GROUND MAGAZINE, FALL 2004
From the abandoned general store in the extinct town of Grand Gulf, Mississippi, a narrow road meanders up the steep bluff bordering the Mississippi River floodplain and, after journeying almost 50 miles, terminates at the picturesque town of Raymond, Mississippi. This scenic and historic trace, despite its significance in American history and its remarkable state of preservation, is little known and sparsely traveled today.
This country road of today was a main thoroughfare in the early nineteenth century, and it served as Major General U. S. Grant's main supply route (MSR) during the Vicksburg Campaign. Contrary to the popular myth that Grant cut loose from his base when he moved toward Vicksburg to combat Lieutenant General John Pemberton's Confederate army in the spring of 1863, Grant established and maintained an MSR in Mississippi.
On April 29 and 30, 1863, Grant successfully crossed the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, Mississippi in his quest for "footing upon dry ground on the east side of the river from which the troops could operate against Vicksburg." On May 1, his troops defeated a much smaller Confederate force just west of Port Gibson, and on May 3, Grant forced the evacuation of the Confederate fortifications at Grand Gulf. Immediately the river fortress of Grand Gulf became a beehive of Federal activity, and Grant's first objective after crossing the Mississippi had been achieved. He reported, "I went to Grand Gulf myself, and made the necessary arrangements for changing my base of supplies from Bruinsburg to Grand Gulf."
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg/vicksburg-history-articles/vicksburgsupplyhillpg.html
6. Thursday, April 30, 1863 --- Sarah Morgan of Louisiana is despondent after having arrived in comparative safety in Union-occupied New Orleans, because the Federal occupiers have since ordered out any people who have not taken a loyalty oath to the U.S. Government: To-day, thousands of families, from the most respectable down to the least, all who have had the firmness to register themselves enemies to the United States, are ordered to leave the city before the fifteenth of May. Think of the thousands, perfectly destitute, who can hardly afford to buy their daily bread even here, sent to the Confederacy, where it is neither to be earned nor bought, without money, friends, or a home. Hundreds have comfortable homes here, which will be confiscated to enrich those who drive them out. “It is an ill wind that blows no one good.” Such dismal faces as one meets everywhere! Each looks heartbroken. Homeless, friendless, beggars, is written in every eye. Brother’s face is too unhappy to make it pleasant to look at him. True, he is safe; but hundreds of his friends are going forth destitute, leaving happy homes behind, not knowing where the crust of bread for famishing children is to come from to-morrow. He went to General Bowens and asked if it were possible that women and children were included in the order. Yes, he said; they should all go, and go in the Confederacy. They should not be allowed to go elsewhere. Penned up like sheep to starve! That’s the idea! With the addition of forty thousand mouths to feed, they think they can invoke famine to their aid, seeing that their negro brothers don’t help them much in the task of subjugating us.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+30%2C+1863
A Thursday, April 30, 1863 --- Grierson’s Raid – Grierson continues his ride, burning railroad track and trestle bridges as he goes. The raiders burn the train depot and 15 cars at Bogue Chitto Station, and at Summit destroys a huge store of sugar and 25 freight cars.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+30%2C+1863
A+ Thursday, April 30, 1863: Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson’s Raid A major part of Grant’s plan was to distract the Confederate commander, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, while he crossed the river and swung around to approach Vicksburg from the east. Major General William T Sherman played a part in the plan: his division remained north of Vicksburg, demonstrating against the Chickasaw Bluffs. The local Confederate commander sent a panicky message to Pemberton, claiming that ‘the enemy are in front of me in force such as never before been seen at Vicksburg. Send me reinforcements.’ In reality, Sherman represented only about a third of Grant’s command and probably could not have taken the bluffs if he tried. (In fact, he had already tried and failed the previous December.) Nevertheless, Pemberton sent 3,000 troops that had been marching south to oppose Grant.
Another diversion, one that would prove wildly successful, was a cavalry raid launched into Mississippi from La Grange, Tenn., on April 17. It was the beginning of 16 days of nearly non-stop movement, widespread destruction and frequent battle. When it was over, Grant would accurately describe it as one of the most brilliant cavalry exploits of the war.’
Grant had first considered such a raid as early as February 1863, suggesting a volunteer force of 500 be used. As his strategy evolved, the importance of the raid increased. By mid, March, the strength of the raiders had been dramatically enlarged and the volunteer stipulation had vanished.
The man assigned to lead the raid was 36-year-old Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, a prewar music teacher from the Midwest who, in less violent times, had traveled to various small towns organizing amateur bands. Later he went into the produce business and, in 1860, wrote campaign songs for Abraham Lincoln. When the war began, Grierson enlisted as a private in the infantry. He very much wanted to do his share of the fighting on foot; while a child, he had been kicked in the face by a horse and still harbored a severe dislike for the equine creatures.
This was not to be. In May 1862, Grierson was commissioned a major in the 6th Illinois Cavalry. A man with little military training or experience–and a pronounced dislike of horses–would soon prove to be one of the most skilled cavalry leaders of the war.
The raid began at dawn on the 17th. Grierson rode south from La Grange with 1,700 men: Colonel Reuben Loomis’ 6th Illinois Cavalry, Colonel Edward Prince’s 7th Illinois Cavalry, and Colonel Edward Hatch’s 2nd Iowa Cavalry, along with a battery of six 2-pounders. Grierson alone knew the extent of their orders, to penetrate deep into the Rebel-held state, cut Pemberton’s supply line, and then return to Union lines by whatever route seemed best. To guide him, Grierson brought a compass and a pocket map of Mississippi.
They moved quickly, covering 30 miles on the first day. During the afternoon of the 18th, they crossed the Tallahatchee River at three separate points. A battalion of the 7th Illinois was the first to meet opposition. Crossing at New Albany, they encountered Southern troops attempting to destroy the bridge. The Illinoisans advanced and were fired on. They pressed forward, and the outnumbered Rebels were forced to run. The bridge was repaired and the crossing made.
Six miles farther up the Tallahatchee, Hatch’s 2nd Iowa also met the enemy, numbering about 200. Hatch fought skirmishes that day and the next morning. Armed with Colt revolving rifles, Hatch’s men emerged victorious, taking a number of prisoners.
After a night of torrential rains, the command re-formed on April 19 and continued south to Ponotoc, where they burned a mill and again skirmished with Confederate soldiers. Dawn of April 20 found the Northerners 80 miles inside Confederate territory, with Grierson forming his men for inspection. He culled out 175 men suffering from dysentery and saddle galls. Calling themselves the ‘Quinine Brigade, ‘ these men escorted the prisoners back through Ponotoc that night, in the hopes of convincing the Confederates that the entire command was returning to Tennessee. Grierson himself continued south with the two Illinois regiments, while the 2nd Iowa and a 2-pounder broke off and turned eastward the next morning, with orders to cut the Mobile & Ohio Railroad.
Hatch’s men arrived at Palo Alto that afternoon, drawing Confederate cavalry away from Grierson. Hatch was met by Lt. Col. C.R. Barteau’s 2nd Tennessee Cavalry. A skirmish ensued, and the Iowans’ revolving rifles again gave them a decided advantage. Hatch retreated north along the railroad, with Barteau in close pursuit. He destroyed the rails at OkoIona and Tupelo. Barteau caught him again near Birmingham on April 24. After a two-hour battle, Hatch retreated across Camp Creek and burned the bridge behind him. Barteau, his own men exhausted and his ammunition low, gave up the pursuit.
Hatch returned to La Grange on April 26, his diversion within a diversion a roaring success. He brought with him 600 horses and mules, with about 200 able-bodied civilians to lead them, and claimed 100 Confederate casualties while losing only 10 men himself
Grierson, in the meanwhile, had not been idle. Hatch had drawn away what little cavalry the Confederates had to field in northern Mississippi (most had been detached to General Braxton Bragg in Tennessee), and Grierson’s 950 remaining men could gallop south without worries of pursuit from the rear.
They entered Starkville about 4 p.m. on the 21st, capturing and destroying government property. just south of town, Grierson detached another unit to operate independently. The 7th Illinois’ Company B, under Captain Henry Forbes, moved east, then galloped south down the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. They raided Macon, and despite the tiny size of his command, Forbes demanded that the town of Enterprise surrender to him. Not surprisingly, Rebel troops there refused and Forbes moved on to rejoin Grierson at the Pearl River.
By now, the Confederates were desperate to stop the Union raiders. Thanks to Hatch, Forbes, and the Quinine Brigade, Pemberton was receiving confused and exaggerated reports of Grierson’s strength and position. Lacking sufficient cavalry, he was diverting more and more infantry from Vicksburg and Grand Gulf, where Grant was preparing to cross. An infantry brigade marching to Vicksburg from Alabama was halted at Meridian. Three regiments and supporting artillery were sent to Morton against the possibility that Grierson might turn toward Jackson, Pemberton’s headquarters. Routes north and northwest were blocked by troops at Okolona, Canton and Carthage. Troops as far away as Port Hudson, La., were mobilized against the hard-riding former music teacher.
All was to no avail. It was swift-footed cavalry against slow, plodding infantry. It was impossible for the Confederates to effectively close in on Grierson’s men.
Leaving Starkville, Grierson moved south toward Louisville, Miss. His Illinoisans pushed through a swamp–‘a dismal swamp nearly belly-deep in mud,’ as Grierson later described it–and swam their horses across streams. He detached a battalion to destroy a large tannery and shoe factory. The battalion succeeded, doing an estimated $50,000 in damage.
They pressed on, still moving, with no road visible, through the swamp and water of the Nuxubee River bottom, arriving at Louisville after sunset on the 22nd. Grierson threw out two battalions as pickets, bottling up the citizens to prevent any information about his route from getting out. Still, he showed real concern that Southern civilians and their property be protected, as the orders to the pickets included instructions to ‘drive out stragglers, preserve order, and quiet the fears of the people.’ Considering the behavior of many Union soldiers regarding the South during the war, such concerns were not unfounded. Grierson, though, could later write with justifiable pride that ‘they [the Southerners] were protected in their persons and their property.’ His men passed through Louisville without incident.
They soon struck another swamp and lost several horses to drowning. By midnight, they had reached a plantation 10 miles south of town, halting there until daybreak. They moved past Philadelphia, resting again until 10 o’clock that night. Two battalions of the 7th Illinois then moved on, ordered to pass through Decatur and hit the Southern Railroad at Newton Station, a major supply junction due east of Vicksburg. Grierson followed with the main column an hour later.
Preceding everyone, including the two point battalions, were nine men clad in Confederate uniforms. These volunteer Illinoisans, under the command of Sergeant Richard Surby, had been designated the ‘Butternut Guerrillas’ and were to prove their value as scouts again and again during the raid. This day they seized a telegraph station, preventing a warning of Grierson’s approach.
Grierson arrived at Newton Station around 6 a.m. The advance battalions seized the hamlet and captured two trains. The main column soon joined them. Here was property of legitimate military value, and Grierson had no qualms about laying waste. Two locomotives, 25 freight cars filled with commissary stores and ammunition (including artillery shells intended for the garrison at Vicksburg), were burned, along with additional stores and 500 muskets found in town.
A battalion from the 6th Illinois rode east, destroying bridges, trestle works and telegraph wire. Seventy-five prisoners were taken, but were soon paroled. Several men found–and inevitably helped themselves to–a supply of whiskey, but all were ready to move out by 2 p.m.
The Federals continued south, soon reaching Garlandville. Here they were met by shotgun-wielding civilians, ‘many of them,’ wrote Grierson, ‘venerable with age.’ The Illinoisans were fired upon and one man was wounded. A quick charge broke up the untrained Southerners, capturing several.
According to Grierson, the prisoners were apologetic, ‘acknowledging their mistake, and declared that they had been grossly deceived as to our real character. One volunteered his services as a guide and upon leaving us declared that hereafter his prayers should be for the Union Army.’ Grierson used this as a sample of the attitudes he encountered among civilians during the raid, describing the ‘hundreds who are skulking and hiding out to avoid conscription, only to await the presence of our arms to sustain them, when they will rise up and declare their principles; and thousands who have been deceived upon vindication of our cause would immediately return to loyalty.’
To a point, the attitudes of the citizens of Garlandville must be taken with a grain of salt. They were, after all, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers whom they had very recently shot at and were thus liable to be disagreeable. Still, such dissension did exist in the South throughout the war. Poverty, food shortages, government policies that unfairly favored large plantation owners over poor farmers, destruction of home’s and livelihoods–all this was stripping away loyalty to the Confederacy from many Southerners. The people of Garlandville had been willing to fight to defend their homes, but once they discovered the raiders meant them no harm, the obligation to bear arms against them disappeared. This was not really, as Grierson implied, due to any latent loyalty to the Union, but was rather part of the quite human desire to keep a roof over one’s head and a moderate amount of food in one’s stomach.
The raiders rode another 12 miles, stopping that night on a plantation belonging to a Dr. Mackadora, 50 miles from Newton Station. Newton had been the primary tactical objective of the raid. After leaving there, Grierson had complete discretion as to his route and final destination. The ride south through Garlandville had been to find a spot to rest and forage. His men would not be on the move again until the morning of the 26th. In the meantime, the Butternut Guerrillas were out gathering information about Confederate troop dispositions.
One of the scouts, dressed as a civilian, turned north, back toward the Southern Railroad, to cut the telegraph and perhaps burn a bridge or trestlework. Seven miles from the tracks, he ran into a regiment of Rebel cavalry from Brandon searching for Grierson. They were riding directly toward the Mackadora plantation, but the quick-thinking scout bluffed them. Claiming to have seen the raiders recently, he sent the horsemen galloping off in the wrong direction.
Grierson soon learned that Pemberton had been reinforcing Jackson and points east with infantry and artillery. He decided to move southwest, crossing the Pearl River and hitting the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad at Hazelhurst. From there, he would flank Confederate forces and eventually join Grant at Grand Gulf.
Pemberton, though, had finally guessed correctly regarding Grierson’s intentions. He ordered Maj. Gen. John Bowen, commander of the Grand Gulf garrison, to detach seven Mississippi cavalry companies to intercept the raiders. This, in turn, further weakened Bowen, who would soon be meeting Grant’s far superior force in battle. Pemberton was in a no-win situation. He could hardly allow a thousand enemy troops to romp around behind his lines, but the only way to stop them was by diverting men from strategically vital areas. By now, there was more than a division’s worth of troops scattered about the state hoping to stop Grierson. This, of course, was the primary objective of the raid, beyond damaging Pemberton’s supply line.
Rested and re-provisioned, the raiders set out again at 6 a.m. on April 26. They crossed the Leaf River, burning the bridge behind them. Arriving at Raleigh, they captured the county sheriff and confiscated $3,000 in cash, and then stopped for the night at Westville.
On April 27, the Butternut Guerrillas were again dressed in Confederate uniforms. Moving ahead of the main column, they seized a ferryboat on the Pearl River, presenting Grierson with an easy method of crossing. Reunited here with Forbes’ B Company, the raiders moved on to Hazelhurst. Here a string of boxcars was burned, but the flames spread to nearby buildings and suddenly the whole town was in danger of going up. Grierson set his men to work alongside the townspeople, fighting to save Hazelhurst. A hard rain fell that night, helping to contain the blaze. It was not until well after dark that the Illinoisans could move on. Now their course was due west, toward Grand Gulf.
They continued west on the 28th. A battalion from the 7th Illinois was detached to double back to the railroad, destroying rails, telegraph wire and government property. The main column stopped at a plantation that afternoon, but the break did not prove restful. Without warning, the pickets were fired upon and Rebel horsemen charged forward, their sudden attack panicking many of the Illinoisans.
Grierson led a counterattack, and the Southerners, consisting merely of two understrength companies, were pushed back. The Federals kept pushing, driving the Rebels through the nearby town of Union Church and occupying it that night. The detached battalion rejoined them there.
The attackers were part of Colonel Wirt Adams’ command, the Mississippi cavalrymen detached from Grand Gulf. The bulk of Adams’ men were west of Union Church, waiting to ambush Grierson. A Butternut Guerrilla again saved the day, riding ahead in disguise and speaking with some of the Mississippians. Warned of the ambush, Grierson changed his plans. He made a brief demonstration to the west, then doubled back to the east. His final destination was now Baton Rouge. His men would have to ride an extra 100 miles, but the decision was unavoidable. Adams pursued, staying on Grierson’s tail as far south as Greensburg, La.
Five hundred armed citizens and conscripts awaited the raiders at Brookhaven, a town astride the Great Northern Railroad 20 miles south of Hazelhurst. The raiders charged into town, quickly ending resistance. The town proved to contain a ‘camp of instruction’–what would nowadays be called boot camp. Prisoners were paroled and the camp, along with the railroad and the telegraph was destroyed. Once again, flames jumped onto civilian buildings and once again, despite the loss of precious time, Grierson’s men helped to save a town. The raiders turned south, riding eight more miles before making camp at a plantation.
Elsewhere on the 29th, William Sherman was carrying out his demonstration near Chickasaw Bluffs. Farther south Union gunboats spent six hours bombarding Grand Gulf in preparation of Grant’s crossing. But the Confederate positions remained intact. Grant was forced to move again, intending now to cross at undefended Bruinsburg.
The raiders continued south on April 30, destroying bridges, water tanks and trestle works, and burning the depot and 15 freight cars at Bogue Chitto Station. They reached Summit as sunset neared. Grierson ordered the destruction of 25 freight cars and a large cache of government sugar, but spared the depot itself. He did not want to risk a fire again spreading into town, and he could not afford to lose more time while his men fought the blaze.
Grierson ordered his men to remount–some were a bit unsteady in the saddle after discovering a supply of rum–and made six more miles before camping. On May 1 they turned west, then south, making a straight line for Baton Rouge, and let speed be our safety,’ as Grierson phrased it. The raiders were to cover 76 miles in the next 28 hours.
http://www.historynet.com/griersons-raid-during-the-vicksburg-campaign.htm
B Thursday, April 30, 1863 --- Chancellorsville Campaign – Having crossed the two rivers, Hooker’s Federals are moving into the Wilderness. Slocum and Howard move down to the Germanna Ford across the Rapidan, while Meade crosses at a ford further east, and all three corps advance southeast along the road to Fredericksburg. Couch’s II Corps moves across the U.S. Ford, and Sickles’ III Corps moves off from Falmouth to follow Couch. One of Couch’s divisions, however, remains in a bend of the Rapidan to keep an eye on Banks Ford and Scott’s Ford, and Richard Anderson’s division of Confederates beyond it. Lee has McLaws and then Early with their divisions along Marye’s Heights above Fredericksburg. On the hills south of the town, Stonewall Jackson commands the divisions of Colston, A.P. Hill and Robert Rodes. Jackson comes to confer with Lee, and Lee decides that the real action is behind them, and that Sedgwick and Reynolds’ demonstration against Fredericksburg is a feint.
Meade and other officers want to push ahead, but the chance today for an attack on the Rebels is called off by Hooker.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+30%2C+1863
B+ Chancellorsville April 30 - May 6, 1863, SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Ambrose E. Burnside only lasted a single campaign at the head of the Army of the Potomac. His abject failure at Fredericksburg, followed by further fumbling on January's "Mud March," convinced President Abraham Lincoln to make a change.
Major General Joseph Hooker's energetic make-over polished the Northern army into tip-top condition, and with more strength than ever before. The army commander outmaneuvered Lee in late April, when the weather finally allowed roads to harden enough for marching.
Swinging far beyond Lee's left, Hooker closed up on the Chancellorsville intersection on the last evening in April. He never managed to escape the clutches of the Wilderness, though—the tangled, brush-choked thickets that covered about 70 square miles around Chancellorsville.
On May 1, Lee hurriedly gathered his army from its far-flung camps across the Old Dominion. He used his regiments to hem the quiescent Hooker into the Wilderness, pushing west along the two primary corridors in the region—the Orange Turnpike and the Orange Plank Road.
That evening Lee and his incomparable lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson, conceived their greatest, and last, collaboration. Early on May 2 Jackson took nearly 30,000 men off on a march that clandestinely crossed the front of the enemy army and swung around behind it. That left Lee with only about 15,000 men to hold off Hooker's army. He managed that formidable task by feigning attacks with a scant line of skirmishers.
Soon after 5 p.m. Jackson, having completed his circuit around the enemy, unleashed his men in an overwhelming attack on Hooker's right flank and rear. They shattered the Federal Eleventh Corps and pushed the Northern army back more than two miles.
When Jackson's men burst out of the thickets screaming the Rebel Yell that afternoon, they dashed across the high-water mark of the Army of Northern Virginia. About three hours later the army suffered a nadir as low as the afternoon's zenith, when Jackson fell mortally wounded by the mistaken fire of his own men.
The long marches, high risks, and veiled stratagems of May 1-2 gave way on the 3rd to a slugging match in the woods on three sides of Chancellorsville intersection. Hooker abandoned key ground in a further display of timidity; Confederate artillery roared from a crucial hilltop, employing a brand-new battalion organization; and Southern infantry doggedly pushed ahead.
When a Confederate artillery round smashed into a pillar against which Hooker was leaning, the Federal leader spent an unconscious half hour. His return to semi-sentience disappointed the veteran corps commanders who had hoped, unencumbered by Hooker, to employ their army's considerable untapped might.
By mid-morning, Southern infantry smashed through the final resistance and united in the Chancellorsville clearing. Their boisterous, well-earned, celebration did not run long: word came from the direction of Fredericksburg that a Northern rearguard had broken through and threatened the rear.
The May 3 Battle of Salem Church, just west of Fredericksburg, halted the threat from the east. Lee went to that zone in person to ensure final success on the 4th, then returned to Chancellorsville to superintend the corralling of Hooker's defeated army.
Hooker re-crossed the Rappahannock River to its left bank, whence he had come, early on May 6. The campaign had cost him about 18,000 casualties, and his enemy about 13,000. None of the losses on either side would resonate as loudly and long as the death of Stonewall Jackson.
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/chancellorsville.html?tab=facts
C Thursday, April 30, 1863 --- Vicksburg Campaign – After having failed to make a beachhead at Grand Gulf, Grant orders his troops to march south along the west bank until opposite of Bruinsburg. Porter shells Grand Gulf again, while the transports steam downstream and then ferry troops across the river. Grant is the first to step onto the east bank, followed by the 24th and 46th Indiana Infantry Regiments. In rapid succession, the entire XIII Corps and part of the XVII Corps are ferried across---over 17,000 troops---with no opposition. After so many months, this landing is nearly anticlimactic. Early in the evening, Grant puts the troops on the march on the Rodney Road, heading for Port Gibson.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+30%2C+1863
Saturday, April 30, 1864: Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Arkansas
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186404
Saturday, April 30, 1864: Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Arkansas – Union Victory: Gen. Steele, trying to cross the Saline River in his retreat back to Little Rock, decides to turn and inflict some damage on the pursuing Rebels led by Gen. Sterling Price of Missouri, since not all of Steele’s men are able to cross the river on their pontoon bridge by the time morning arrives. (Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, the Department commander, is close behind, with reinforcements for Price.) Steele sets up his defensive line only 400 yards wide, with earthworks and protected flanks, with the Saline River at his back---forcing the Southerners to attack over open ground, much of it muddy or even swampy. In direct command is Brig. Gen. Samuel Rice with 4,000 Northern infantrymen and artillery. Price sends troops forward, and incurs severe casualties, since the attacks are not coordinated. Battle smoke hangs heavy in the humid air, obscuring visibility, and depriving Price of getting any good scouting reports. Churchill is given conflicting orders, and sends a regiment forward as skirmishers, and then orders Gen. Tappan (the brigade commander) to go in with the rest of the brigade---but Tappan soon discovers that the Federals facing him are much greater a force, and he calls for reinforcements. Churchill sends in Hawthorn’s brigade on Tappan’s flank, but Hawthorn gets roughly handled, too. Gen. Price sends in Gen. Mosby Parsons’ division to reinforce Churchill, but still were unable to make headway. At one point, the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry and the 29th Iowa make a counterattack and capture 3 Rebel cannon and somehow being them back through the mire. When Kirby Smith arrives in the afternoon, he has with him a division of Texas infantry under Gen. John Walker, and sends them in---but only one brigade at a time, and they take heavy losses, also. All three brigade commanders under Walker are wounded---Gen. Scurry and Col. Randal are mortally wounded. Waul’s brigade is sent in, but several key officers are killed, leaving confusion in Waul’s command, and no advance. As the Rebels withdraw, soldiers of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry shoot as many Rebel wounded on the field as possible, in retaliation for massacres of black wounded and prisoners at Poison Springs and Mark’s Mill. Soon after 3:00 PM, Steele sees his chance and pulls out of his lines, crossed his pontoon bridge (and then burns it), and continues northward, unmolested, to Little Rock. However, the Federals lose many vehicles in the mud of the river bottoms. The Rebels are slow to pursue. And James Fagan’s 3,000 troopers do not arrive until evening, and too late to take part in the battle. Losses are high on both sides, although this is clearly a victory for the Federals, even if marginal.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=April+30%2C+1864
D Engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas, April 29–30, 1864; Result: Union victory.
The Engagement at Jenkins’ Ferry occurred April 29–30, 1864, when Confederates caught the Federal army retreating from Camden (Ouachita County) near the Saline River. After intense combat, the Union troops crossed the river and returned to Little Rock (Pulaski County).
The Camden Expedition had not gone well for Major General Frederick Steele. Poor logistical conditions and an increasing Confederate presence in southwestern Arkansas led to the abandonment of his planned invasion route toward Shreveport, Louisiana. Shifting eastward and capturing Camden, Steele hoped to find the logistical support necessary to continue his movement toward northwestern Louisiana. From Camden, Steele dispatched troops to obtain supplies. On April 18, 1864, the first foray resulted in the disastrous loss of some 301 combatants and 198 wagons at the Engagement at Poison Spring. A second deployment of troops to obtain supplies eastward toward Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) ended in a second disaster for Steele, with the loss of another 1,800 combatants and 240 wagons as the entire force capitulated at the Action at Marks’ Mills on April 25, 1864.
The loss of men, stock, and wagons at Poison Spring and Marks’ Mills placed Union Major General Frederick Steele in a precarious position. With few supplies and increasing Confederate numbers due to the arrival of Lieutenant General Edmund Kirby Smith’s command from Louisiana, Steele’s position became untenable. During the night on April 26, Union troops quietly withdrew across the Ouachita River. The successful maneuver did not attract the attention of the Confederates for several hours.
On April 29, Steele’s column arrived at the Saline River. Without delay, engineers began building pontoons across the swollen river, and soldiers began constructing crude battlements. Confederate Brigadier General John Sappington Marmaduke’s troops arrived and began skirmishing with the Federal rear guard of Brigadier General Frederick Salomon’s Division, stopping as darkness fell.
At daylight on April 30, Marmaduke reengaged Salomon’s men but made little headway. Reinforcements arrived under Confederate Major General Sterling Price, who quickly sent Brigadier General Thomas James Churchill’s division into the fray. As the Confederates approached, the ground sloped toward the Federal position in the swampy river bottoms. Salomon’s men had anchored their right flank to a flooded creek and their left in dense, swampy woodland, leaving only small areas for unobstructed maneuvering. As a result, Churchill had to feed his brigades into the fight piecemeal, which worked toward the Union advantage. In good position but outnumbered, Salomon received reinforcements from Brigadier General John M. Thayer’s Frontier Division, including the Second Kansas Colored Infantry, and blunted the Confederate attack.
Wishing to regain momentum, Confederate Brigadier General Mosby M. Parsons’s division deployed forward to assist Churchill. Parsons split his command to fill gaps in the lines, but the advance was ineffectual. Artillery seeking to shell key Federal positions exposed the troops to assault and capture by the Second Kansas Colored Infantry and Twenty-ninth Iowa. During the assault, troops from the Second Kansas bayoneted several surrendering Confederates in retaliation for the brutal murders of surrendering and wounded African Americans from the First Kansas Colored Infantry Regiment during and after the Engagement at Poison Spring. Another strong-willed assault on Parsons’s men by the Fortieth Iowa and the Twenty-seventh Wisconsin reversed the Confederate counterattack. As the Confederate advance fractured, Confederate Major General John G. Walker’s division arrived, deploying forward in hopes of reversing it; however, Walker failed. The overall Confederate attack was called off around 12:30 p.m., ending the engagement.
After conferring with Steele, Salomon moved his men across the river to safety. Union troops destroyed what could not be easily carried, including the pontoon bridge, and continued marching to Little Rock. The Confederates turned to gathering the wounded and reforming their shattered ranks. Several mutilated bodies of Confederate soldiers were discovered near the engagement area of the Second Kansas.
The Confederates claimed losses of eighty-six killed, 356 wounded, and one missing, and the Federals claimed sixty-three killed, 413 wounded, and forty-five missing, but most historians think the numbers were greater because some units did not file official returns. Brigadier General Samuel Allen Rice was wounded in the foot by a bullet fired during the engagement and died several weeks later as a result of this wound.
Forces Engaged: Salomon’s Third Division and elements of Brigadier General John M. Thayer’s Frontier Division (US); Army of Arkansas (CS); Estimated Casualties: 521 (US); 443 (CS)
http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1136
Saturday, April 30, 1864: Jefferson Davis's son Joe dies following a fall from the Confederate White House
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186404
FYI CSM Charles Hayden SGT Tiffanie G. SGT Mary G.CPL Ronald Keyes Jr SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D MAJ Roland McDonald SSG Franklin BriantCPO William Glen (W.G.) Powell1stSgt Eugene Harless PO3 (Join to see)MSG Greg KellyMSG Joseph Christofaro]CPL Ronald Keyes Jr LTC Greg Henning CPT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell LTC John Griscom LTC Thomas Tennant MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca SFC George Smith

Before Grant, generals would prepare their campaign plans independently of each other. When Grant showed up he took control of the generals. He was the boss. Generals started to follow a campaign plan. That is called Unity of Command. It supports common Objective.

All events seemed equally important on April 30th LTC Stephen F.

Just by looking at the drawings and photographs, its hard to phantom what they endured LTC Stephen F..

Great history and a great post LTC Stephen F.!

Enjoy the history lesson Sir!