Wednesday, December 31, 1862
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| Expedition to: | Camp Beauregard, KY | December 28 - 31, 1862 | Skirmish: | Carter's Depot, TN | December 31, 1862 | Raid: | Carter's Raid, in East Tennessee | December 20, 1862 - January 5, 1863 | Campn: | Central Mississippi | October 31, 1862 - January 10, 1863 | Operation: | Columbus, KY | December 15, 1862 - January 3, 1863 | Expedition from: | Corinth, MS | December 18, 1862 - January 3, 1863 | Raid: | East Tennessee | December 20, 1862 - January 5, 1863 | Expedition in: | East Tennessee | December 24, 1862 - January 1, 1863 | Operation: | Eastern Shore, VA | August 20 - June 3, 1863 | Expedition to: | Ellis Ford, VA | December 30 - 31, 1862 | Operation: | Forest's Raid, in Mississippi | December 18, 1862 - January 3, 1863 | Capture of: | Fort Davis, AR | December 1862 | Expedition to: | Fort Gibson, Indian Territory | December 1862 | Operation: | Gloucester Peninsula, VA | August 20, 1862 - June 4, 1863 | Campaign: | Grant's Central MS | October 31, 1862 - January 10, 1863 | Operation: | Harper's Ferry, WV | November 15, 1862 - January 25, 1863 | Operation: | Marmaduke's Expedition | December 31, 1862 - January 25, 1863 | Operation: | Mississippi Central Railroad, MS | October 31, 1862 - January 10, 1863 | Operation: | Morgan's Raid | December 22, 1862 - January 2, 1863 | Affair: | Muldraugh's Hill, KY | December 31, 1862 | Campaign: | Murfreesborough, TN | December 26, 1862 - January 5, 1863 | Battle: | Murfreesborough, TN | December 31, 1862 - January 3, 1863 | Affair: | New Market, KY | December 31, 1862 | Skirmish: | Overall's Creek, TN | December 31, 1862 | Engagement: | Parker's Cross Roads, TN | December 31, 1862 | Affair: | Plaquemine, LA | December 31, 1862 | Expedition from: | Potomac Creek, VA | December 30 - 31, 1862 | Expedition to: | Rappahannock River, VA | December 30 - 31, 1862 | Engagement: | Red Mound, TN | December 31, 1862 | Expedition to: | Richard's Ford, VA | December 30 - 31, 1862 | Affair: | Stewart's Ferry, TN | December 1862 | Campaign: | Stone's River Campaign, TN | December 26, 1862 - January 5, 1863 | Battle: | Stone's River, TN | December 31, 1862 - January 3, 1863 | Operation: | Sugar Creek Hills, MO | December 23 - 31, 1862 | Expedition against: | Vicksburg, MS | December 20, 1862 - January 3, 1863 | Expedition to: | Warrenton, VA | December 30 - 31, 1862 | Skirmish: | Wilkinson's Cross Roads, TN | December 31, 1862 |
| Death: | Brigadier General James Edward Rains, CSA, is killed instantly by a rifle shot while leading his command in a charge against a Federal artillery battery during the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee | Death: | Brigadier General Joshua Woodrow Sill, USA, is killed instantly while leading his command during the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee | Mortally Wounded: | Brigadier General Edward Needles Kirk, USA, is mortally wounded while leading his command during the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee. He dies at home in Sterling, Illinois, on July 29, 1863. |
(Source: Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Vol. I, p. 660-991. Frederick H. Dyer; The Chronological Tracking Of The American Civil War Per The Offical Records Of The War of the Rebellion pp. 1-336. Ronald A. Mosocco.)
Naval Events:
U.S.S. Monitor, under Commander Bankhead, foundered and was lost off Cape Hatteras en route from Hampton Roads to Beaufort, North Carolina. During the short career of the first Union seagoing ironclad, she had fought C.S.S. Virginia in the historic engagement that ushered in a new era in warfare, had supported General McClellan's Peninsular Campaign, and had effected for all time momentous changes in naval tactics and ship construction.(Source: Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865. pp. I:1-41; II:1-117; III:1-170; IV:1-152; V:1-134. 1971: Naval History Division, Navy Department.)The Confederate embargo, the capture of New Orleans, and the Union Navy's blockade combined to curtail greatly the export of the South's major product, cotton. Meanwhile, the North's control of the seas, threatened only by a few Confederate commerce raiders, granted the Union access to the world markets for the importation of war materials and exportation of produce such as wheat, which was a major factor in deterring European powers from recognizing the Confederacy.
Additional Information:
The Battle of Parker's Cross Roads, Tennessee. (TN011) (Forrest's Expedition into West Tennessee [December 1862-January 1863]).
The Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee. (TN010) (Stones River Campaign [December 1862-January 1863]).
(Source: Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report: Battle Summaries. National Park Service. In The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., 1998. Edited by Frances H. Kennedy.)