Wednesday, May 27, 1863
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| Expedition to: | Antioch Church, TN | May 26 - 29, 1863 | Operation: | Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | April 21 - May 31, 1863 | Expedition to: | Bear River, Idaho Territory | May 5 - 30, 1863 | Expedition from: | Bolivar, TN | May 26 - 29, 1863 | Expedition from: | Camp Douglass, Utah Territory | May 5 - 30, 1863 | Expedition to: | Camp Wesley, TN | May 26 - 29, 1863 | Scout: | Cassville, AR | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Scout: | Cassville, MO | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Raid: | Clendennin's Raid, VA | May 20 - 28, 1863 | Expedition from: | Corinth, MS | May 26 - 31, 1863 | Operation: | Eastern Shore, VA | August 20 - June 3, 1863 | Scout: | Fairfax Court House, VA | May 27 - 29, 1863 | Expedition to: | Florence, AL | May 26 - 31, 1863 | Scout: | Fort Heiman, KY | May 26 - June 2, 1863 | Expedition from: | Fort Pillow, TN | May 27, 1863 | Operation: | Gloucester Peninsula, VA | August 20, 1862 - June 4, 1863 | Attack: | Greenwood, MS | May 27, 1863 | Expedition from: | Haynes Bluff, MS | May 26 - June 4, 1863 | Scout: | Hernando, MS | May 27, 1863 | Expedition to: | Jasper County, AR | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Scout: | Jasper County, MO | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Raid: | Jones' Raid | April 21 - May 31, 1863 | Skirmish: | Lake Providence, LA | May 27, 1863 | Scout: | Leesburg, VA | May 27 - 29, 1863 | Reconnaissance on: | Manchester Pike, TN | May 27 - 28, 1863 | Expedition to: | Mechanicsburg, MS | May 26 - June 4, 1863 | Expedition from: | Memphis, TN | May 27, 1863 | Scout: | Newton County, AR | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Scout: | Newton County, MO | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Expedition to: | Niblett's Bluff, LA | May 26 - 29, 1863 | Operation: | Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, VA | May 15 - 28, 1863 | Scout: | Northwestern Arkansas | May 21 - 30, 1863 | Assault: | Port Hudson, LA | May 27, 1863 | Siege: | Port Hudson, LA | May 21 - July 8, 1863 | Expedition against: | Snake Indians, Idaho Territory | May 4 - October 26, 1863 | Scout: | Snicker's Ferry, VA | May 27 - 29, 1863 | Expedition to: | Soda Springs, Idaho Territory | May 5 - 30, 1863 | Expedition to: | Somerville, TN | May 26 - 29, 1863 | Siege: | Vicksburg, MS | May 18 - July 4, 1863 | Operation: | Vicksburg, MS | January 20 - July 4, 1863 | Expedition to: | Wesley Camp, TN | May 26 - 29, 1863 | Skirmish: | White Oaks, VA | May 27, 1863 | Expedition up: | Yazoo River, MS | May 24 - 31, 1863 |
| Appointment: | William Dorsey Pender, CSA, to Major General | Appointment: | Edward Payson Chapin, USA, to Brigadier General | Death: | Brigadier General Edward Payson Chapin, USA, is killed while leading his men during the assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana |
(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:
Lieutenant Commander J. G. Walker ascended the Yazoo River with U.S.S. Baron De Kalb, Forest Rose, Linden, Signal, and Petrel to capture transports and to break up Confederate movements. Fifteen miles below Fort Pemberton, Walker found and burned four steamers which were sunk on a bar blocking the river. Fire was exchanged with Confederate sharp shooters as the Union gunboats returned downriver. A landing party destroyed a large sawmill, and at Yazoo City brought away a large quantity of bar, round, and flat iron from the navy yard." Walker next penetrated the Sunflower River for about 150 miles, destroying shipping and grain before returning to the mouth of the Yazoo River. Admiral Porter reported to Secretary Welles: "Steamers to the amount of $700,000 were destroyed by the late expedition--9 in all."(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.)U.S.S. Cincinnati, commanded by Lieutenant Bache, ". . . in accordance with Generals Grant's and Sherman's urgent request," moved to enfilade some rifle pits which had barred the Army's progress before Vicksburg. Though Porter took great precautions for the ship's safety by packing her with logs and hay, a shot entered Cincinnati's magazine, "and she commenced filling rapidly." Bache reported: "Before and after this time the enemy fired with great accuracy, hitting us almost every time. We were especially annoyed by plunging shots from the hills, an 8-inch rifle and a 10-inch smoothbore doing us much damage. The shots went entirely through our protection--hay, wood, and iron." Cincinnati, suffering 25 killed or wounded and 15 probable drownings, went down with her colors nailed to the mast. General Sherman wrote: "The style in which the Cincinnati engaged the battery elicited universal praise." And Secretary Welles expressed "the Department's appreciation of your brave conduct."
Confederate defenders turned back a major assault on Port Hudson, inflicting severe losses on the Union Army. General Banks' troops fell back into siege position and appealed to Rear Admiral Farragut to continue the mortar and ship bombardment night and day, and requested naval officers and Marines to man a heavy naval battery ashore. A week later, Farragut reported the situation to Welles: "General Banks still has Port Hudson closely invested and is now putting up a battery of four IX-inch guns and four 24 pounders. The first will be superintended by Lieutenant [Commander] Terry, of the Richmond, and worked by four of her gun crews and to be used as a breaching battery. We continue to shell the enemy every night from three to five hours, and at times during the day when they open fire on our troops. . . . I have the Hartford and two or three gunboats above Port Hudson; the Richmond, Genesee, Essex, and this vessel [Monongahela], together with the mortar boats below, ready to aid the army in any way in our power.
C.S.S. Chattahoochee, commanded by Lieutenant John J. Guthrie, was accidentally sunk with what one Southern newspaper termed "terrible loss of life" by an explosion in her boilers. Occurring while the gunboat was at anchor in the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, the accident cost the lives of some 18 men and injured others. She was later raised but never put to sea and was ultimately destroyed at war's end by the Confederates.
From Grand Gulf Lieutenant Commander Elias K. Owen, U.S.S. Louisville, reported to Rear Admiral Porter that, in accord with his order of the 23d, the destruction of the abandoned Rock Hill Point Battery had begun. He also informed the Admiral that at "the earnest request of Colonel [William] Hall, late commanding this post, I went up Big Black some three miles and destroyed a raft the enemy had placed across the river, chained at both ends. . . ."
U.S.S. Coeur de Lion, commanded by Acting Master William G. Morris, burned schooners Charity, Gazelle, and Flight in the Yeocomico River, Virginia.
U.S.S. Brooklyn, under Commodore H. H. Bell, captured sloop Blazer with cargo of cotton at Pass Cavallo, Texas.
Additional Information:
The Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi. (MS011) (Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg [March-July 1863]).
The Battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana. (LA010) (Siege of Port Hudson [May-July 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.)