February 14 In Civil War History

[Jim Klag]

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On this day in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag
February 14, 1813 - John McNeil, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (d. 1891)
February 14, 1818 - Frederick Douglass, African-American abolitionist, lecturer and editor who was also an escaped slave (exact birth year unknown), born in Talbot County, Maryland (d. 1895)
February 14, 1819 - James Green Martin, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina (d. 1878)
February 14, 1824 - Winfield Scott Hancock, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania (d. 1886)
February 14, 1824 - Congressional caucus nominates William Crawford for President.
February 14, 1829 - Alfred Iverson Jr., Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Clinton, Georgia (d. 1911)
February 14, 1851 - Baltimore and Ohio Railroad receives a charter to build the Northwestern Virginia Railroad from Grafton to Parkersburg.
February 14, 1859 - Oregon enters the United States as a free state.
February 14, 1862 - Joseph Lewis Hogg, CS A, is appointed Brig. Gen.
February 14, 1862 - Brig. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, USA, is assigned to the command of the District of Cairo, IL.
February 14, 1862 - Bowling Green, KY, is evacuated by the Confederates and occupied by the Union forces under Brig. Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchel, USA. (Feb 14-15)
February 14, 1862 - Skirmish at Flat Lick Ford, KY.
February 14, 1862 - Skirmish at Crane Creek, MO, with Brig. Gen. Samuel Curtis, USA.
February 14, 1862 - Skirmish near Cumberland Gap, TN, with the Confederate post defended by Col. James E. Rains, CSA, against Lieut. Col. Munday, USA, 1st Kentucky Cavalry.
February 14, 1862 - The Federal ironclads, St. Louis and Louisville, are severely damaged during the siege of Fort Donelson, TN.
February 14, 1862 - Brig. Gen. Ulysses Simpson Grant, USA, is assigned to the command of the District of West Tennessee.
February 14, 1862 - Affair at Bloomery Gap, WV.
February 14, 1863 - Federal expedition to Greenville, MS, and Cypress Bend, AR, with skirmishes:
at Cypress Bend, AR, (Feb 19) and
at Deer Creek and Fish Lake Bridge, near Greenville, MS.
(Feb 23). (Feb 14-26)
February 14, 1863 - The Queen of the West captures the Confederate vessel, the New Era Number Five, and is subsequently captured by the Confederates after running aground. The USS DeSoto rescues the crew of the Queen of the West from capture on the Mississippi River, near Vicksburg.
February 14, 1863 - Affair about 3 miles from Union Mills, VA, as the Rebel cavalry lay an ambush on the Federal Cavalry.
February 14, 1863 - Affair on the Hillsborough Road, and Federal scout to Leesburg, VA.
February 14, 1864 - Affair near Larkinsville, AL, with an attack by bushrangers.
February 14, 1864 - Skirmish at Ross' Landing, AR.
February 14, 1864 - Skirmish at Scott's Farm, Washita Cove, AR.
February 14, 1864 - Skirmish at Gainesville, FL, with Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour, USA.
February 14, 1864 - Union forces under Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, USA, occupy Gainesville, FL.
February 14, 1864 - Meridian, MS, is occupied by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, who promptly begins to destroy all Confederate contraband of importance; Brig. Gen. William S. Smith, USA, not having arrived as of yet, while Lieut. Gen. Leonidas Polk, CSA, watches the destruction taking place from outside the city, the Meridian, MS, Expedition. (Feb 14-20)
February 14, 1864 - Affair near Brentsville, VA, where Confederates ambush a Union escort, killing 2, wounding 4 Federals.
February 14, 1865 - Wade Hampton. C.S.A.. is appointed Lieut. Gen.
February 14, 1865 - Maj. Gen. Francis J. Herron, USA, assumes the command of the Northern Division of Louisiana.
February 14, 1865 - Federal expeditions from Donaldsonville to Gand Bayou and Bayou Goula, LA, with skirmish (Feb. 15) at Martin's Lane, with guerrillas, most from the 2nd LA Cavalry. (Feb 14-18)
February 14, 1865 - Skirmish at Gunter's Bridge, North Edisto River, SC, as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, crosses the Congaree River and pushes on for Columbia, SC.
February 14, 1865 - Skirmish at Wolf's Plantation, SC, as Lieut. Gen. William J. Hardee, CSA, contemplates the evacuation of Charleston.SC.
Maj. Gen. George Stoneman, USA, is assigned to the command of the District of East Tennessee.
February 14, 1865 - Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, USA, resumes the command of the 6th US Army Corps, the Richmond, VA, Campaign.
February 14, 1870 - St. John Richardson Liddell, American Civil War Confederate General, murdered in New Orleans, LA.
February 14, 1891 - William Tecumseh Sherman dies, New York City.
February 14, 1912 - Arizona becomes the 48th state to enter the Union.

 

[5fish]

The Queen of the West captures the Confederate vessel, the New Era Number Five, and is subsequently captured by the Confederates after running aground. The USS DeSoto rescues the crew of the Queen of the West from capture on the Mississippi River, near Vicksburg.

Here is a chunk of the story... there a story before and a story after the snip I posted here... https://www.historynet.com/admiral-porters-ironclad-hoax-during-the-american-civil-war.htm

On February 12, hearing of possible targets on the Atchafalaya River, Ellet cruised down to the Louisiana town of Simmesport. Queen‘s crew went ashore, destroying all supplies on the wharves and looting the residential area. That evening, Queen went back upriver toward the Mississippi. Local civilians fired their rifles at her along the way, shattering the knee of 1st Mate James Thompson. Angered by the attack, Ellet burned three plantations believed to have been the homes of those who wounded Thompson. As her manor house burned, a planter’s daughter defiantly sang ‘The Bonny Blue Flag’ into the face of a startled Ellet.

On February 14, 1863, Queen and De Soto set course up the Red River, overtaking and capturing the steamboat Era No.5 carrying 4,500 bushels of corn to Little Rock. After paroling the ship’s crew and passengers, a small crew from Queen transferred to Era to sail the vessel. The wounded Thompson was not among those transferred, a mistake that would come back to haunt Ellet. Era was left behind while Queen and De Soto proceeded toward the earthen Confederate battery at Fort Taylor (later renamed Fort DeRussey), built to defend the upper passages of the Red River.

Warned of Queen‘s approach, Fort Taylor’s commander, Captain John Kelso, carefully targeted his guns at the site where the ram would come into view. De Soto laid anchor behind a bend while Ellet reconnoitered Fort Taylor that evening. The stronghold opened fire, and Ellet ordered Queen about to avoid the shells. Not one of Ellet’s men had any knowledge of the Red River, thereby increasing the risk of running aground, especially in darkness. True to the risk, pilot Thomas Garvey ran Queen into a mudbank. Captain Kelso set fire to a nearby warehouse to light up the area where Queen was grounded, which was well within range of Fort Taylor’s guns.

Four 32-pounder cannons poured shells into the hapless ram, fracturing her steam chest. Scalding steam drove the crew out on the decks and over the sides. To prevent steam from entering their lungs, they stuffed shredded pieces of uniform into their mouths. The cotton bale armor was pitched overboard, and men clung to the bulky but buoyant bales as life preservers. Too wounded to move, 1st Mate Thompson had to be left on board. As a result, Queen could not be scuttled, but had to be abandoned to the Fort Taylor garrison. Thompson died in captivity several days later.

The survivors floated down to De Soto and clambered aboard. Departing in a thick fog, De Soto also ran aground, shearing off her rudder in the process. Ellet blamed pilot Garvey, whom he clapped in irons for treasonous behavior. Era No. 5 came to the rescue and took Ellet and his men aboard. No longer able to steer, De Soto was set on fire by spreading hot coals across her decks.

Two days prior to Queen‘s capture, Admiral Porter had sent Indianola downriver with a load of coal for Queen and De Soto. Lieutenant Commander George Brown lashed two coal barges to either side of Indianola and headed out. He caught the Vicksburg batteries napping around midnight on February 13 and slipped past without any appreciable damage. According to newspaper reporter W.S. Ward, ‘The fun had actually begun — shot and shell screamed and burst above and beyond us, and the pilot’s orders, now changed from whispered signs to vigorous commands, were heard and answered with no need of intervening messengers.’

Eventually, Era No. 5, battered by driftwood floating in the Red River that had snapped off portions of her starboard paddle wheel, limped into the Mississippi River. Ellet had exhausted his supply of coal, and had also burned his coal barge to prevent its capture. The harried officer was burning the cargo of captured corn as fuel. On February 16, Era made contact with Indianola. ‘You may be sure that no men ever witnessed a more welcome sight than this same good steamer Indianola,’ a reporter on Era stated. ‘It was a miraculous escape; from the depths of despair we were raised to the heights of exaltation.’

Ellet explained his fiasco to Brown over coffee. He warned him that Queen had been captured and would certainly be redeployed as a Confederate ram. After loading up on coal, Era set off upriver. Cotton bales, confiscated from plantations along the way, were used to protect her from gunfire. Indianola remained behind to block the mouth of the Red River. The Confederate ram William H. Webb tried to pursue Era No. 5, but after Indianola fired a few shots in her direction, Webb quickly turned upriver to warn Fort Taylor and any vessels she encountered.

I hope you all go a read the whole story at that link: