January 18 In Civil War History

Jim Klag

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On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag
January 18, 1782 - American orator and politician Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire.
January 18, 1809 - Richard Caswell Gatlin, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Kinston, NC. (d. 1896)
January 18, 1815 - James Chesnut Jr, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), Senator, husband of Mary Boykin Chesnut is born in Camden, South Carolina. (d. 1885)
January 18, 1820 - Abraham Buford, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Woodford County, KY. (d. 1884)
January 18, 1831 - Edward Ferrero, American ballroom operator and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Granada, Spain (d. 1899)
January 18 1861 - The 3rd demand is made for the surrender of Fort Pickens, Pensacola Harbor, FL, and refused by Lieut. Adam Slemmer, USA.
January 18 1861 - Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, off Key West, FL, is garrisoned by the US troops, under Bvt. Maj. Lewis G. Arnold, to be used to hold political prisoners.
Saturday January 18 1862 - The Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed, comprised of the southern portion of the Federal Territory of New Mexico.
Saturday January 18 1862 - Former President of the United States of America, John Tyler, is buried today along the James River, in the Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA.
January 18 1863 - Skirmish in the Cherokee Country, the Indian Territory.
January 18 1864 - Major opposition to the Confederate conscription law continues to develop in northwestern Georgia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
January 18 1864 - Skirmish at Grand Gulf, MS, with Confederate guerrillas.
January 18 1864 - Affair at Flint Hill, VA, where this time, the Union pickets stationed here are able to drive off the attacking Confederates.
January 18 1865 - Skirmish at Clarksville, AR.
January 18 1865 - Federal expedition from Napoleonville by men under Brig. Gen. Robert A. Cameron, USA, commanding the District of La Fourche, to Grand River, LA. The main incidence of this night occurs when the surround a residence suspected of housing rebels. The Union Lieut. enters the house and comes running out when he hears shots being fired outside (at a dog). It being very dark, a Yankee private takes aim at the person fleeing out of the house (the Union Lieut.) and proceeds to fire a bullet into his forehead. (Jan 18-19)
January 18 1865 - Federal scout against guerrillas from Warrensburg to the Snibar Hills, MO. Due to the horrendous weather and current provisions in the area, the Yankees decide not to bring in any livestock, etc., from the local area, as the women and children living on farms in the area would greatly suffer, regardless if their husbands and fathers are bushwhackers. (Jan 18-22).
January 18 1865 - Affair near Lovettsville, VA, where Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser, CSA, and his Confederate Cavalry surprise attacks the Union vedettes and reserve force near Harper's Ferry; the Yankees pursue Rosser to Purcellville, but could not overtake him.
January 18, 1865 - Battle of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina.
 

5fish

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January 18 1865 - Skirmish at Clarksville, AR.
Jan. 1-27 Operations in Arkansas

IOWA--1st Cavalry; 40th Infantry.
OHIO--5th Indpt. Battery Light Arty.
ARKANSAS--3d Cavalry.
UNITED STATES--11th Colored Infantry.

Here is the story leading up to this skirmish... confederates tried to take control of the Arkansas River...

https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/action-at-dardanelle-and-iveys-ford-2937/

The actions at Dardanelle and Ivey’s Ford were fought as Confederate troops from southwest Arkansas tested the strength of Union outposts scattered along the Arkansas River in a last attempt to challenge Union dominance of the river valley.

On January 14, 1865, Colonel William H. Brooks led a Confederate force of 1,500 men consisting of his cavalry regiment, Colonel Robert C. Newton’s cavalry regiment, and Colonel Ras. Stirman’s cavalry brigade to the Arkansas River to assess the strength of Union garrisons along the river. The same day, a detachment of 276 Union men of the Cavalry Division, Seventh Army Corps, under Major J. D. Jenks of the First Iowa Cavalry Regiment disembarked from a small flotilla of Union steamboats and occupied the earthworks at Dardanelle. The flotilla, which consisted of the Ad. Hines, the Lotus, the Annie Jacobs, and the New Chippewa, continued upriver for Fort Smith (Sebastian County).

About two o’clock in the afternoon, Brooks attacked the Union force at Dardanelle as Jenks concentrated his men and two artillery pieces in stockades that guarded the roads into town. The Confederate cavalry, supported by a lone artillery piece, engaged the Union defenders of Dardanelle for four hours before withdrawing. The Union placed its casualties at one killed, fifteen wounded, and two missing, with Confederate losses at eighty-one killed and wounded. Confederate reports put the Union loss at eight dead, nineteen wounded, and two captured, and Confederate casualties at one killed and fifteen wounded. Union Sergeant William Ellis of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at Dardanelle.


Snip...

The New Chippewa approached the Confederate position at Ivey’s Ford at about one o’clock in the afternoon January 17 and immediately was raked with artillery and rifle fire, running aground on the south bank. Brooks’s men captured thirty men of the Fiftieth Indiana Infantry Regiment, forty freedmen, the vessel’s captain and crew, and several Unionist refugee families, seized all valuables aboard the boat, then set fire to the New Chippewa.
As the Annie Jacobs steamed into sight, Bowen spotted the stricken New Chippewa and ordered the Jacobs’s pilot to try to run past the Rebel guns. Brooks’s artillery piece hammered the steamer, which then grounded on the north bank of the river after being hit at least fifteen times. The Lotus soon steamed into range of the Confederate cannon and was hit five times before running aground on the north bank.


The actions at Dardanelle and Ivey’s Ford marked the last serious Confederate attempts to challenge Union control of the Arkansas River. Though both sides continued to make periodic scouts and raids into enemy territory, no other serious combat operations occurred in Arkansas during the remainder of the Civil War.

I will let read the article on how the union steamers were saved ... https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/action-at-dardanelle-and-iveys-ford-2937/
 
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