Wednesday, June 17, 1863
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| Action: | Aldie, VA | June 17, 1863 | Expedition from: | Batesville, AR | May 30 - February 3, 1864 | Skirmish: | Benton's Mill, VA | June 17, 1863 | Skirmish: | Big Creek Gap, TN | June 17, 1863 | Expedition to: | Blackwater River, VA | June 12 - 18, 1863 | Skirmish: | Catoctin Creek, MD | June 17, 1863 | Attack: | Commerce, MS | June 17, 1863 | Scout: | Core Creek, NC | June 17 - 18, 1863 | Expedition to: | Deer Creek, MS | June 1863 | Scout: | Dover, NC | June 17 - 18, 1863 | Operation: | Eastern Kentucky | June 13 - 23, 1863 | Operation: | Everett's Raid, in KY | June 13 - 23, 1863 | Operation: | Fort Gibson, Indian Territory | June 6 - 20, 1863 | Campaign: | Gettysburg, PA | June 3 - August 11, 1863 | Skirmish: | Holly Springs, MS | June 16 - 17, 1863 | Affairs: | Holmes County, OH | June 16 - 20, 1863 | Raid: | Indiana, Hines' Raid in, IN | June 17, 1863 | Expedition from: | La Grange, TN | June 16 - 24, 1863 | Skirmish: | La Grange, TN | June 17, 1863 | Expedition to: | Lebanon, TN | June 15 - 17, 1863 | Attack: | Memphis, TN | June 17 - 18, 1863 | Skirmish: | Middleburg, VA | June 17, 1863 | Affair: | Montgomery, TN | June 17, 1863 | Operation: | Northeastern Mississippi | June 13 - 22, 1863 | Operation: | Northwestern Mississippi | June 15 - 22, 1863 | Skirmish: | Obion River, TN | June 17, 1863 | Skirmish: | Orleans, IN | June 17, 1863 | Expedition to: | Panola, MS | June 16 - 24, 1863 | Skirmish: | Point of Rocks, MD | June 17, 1863 | Siege: | Port Hudson, LA | May 21 - July 8, 1863 | Capture of: | Ram Atlanta, GA | June 17, 1863 | Scout: | Rocky Run, NC | June 17 - 18, 1863 | Expedition: | Sioux Expedition, Dakota Territory | June 16 - September 13, 1863 | Expedition against: | Snake Indians, Idaho Territory | May 4 - October 26, 1863 | Skirmish: | Thoroughfare Gap, VA | June 17, 1863 | Siege: | Vicksburg, MS | May 18 - July 4, 1863 | Operation: | Vicksburg, MS | January 20 - July 4, 1863 | Capture of: | Warsaw Sound, GA | June 17, 1863 | Affair: | Wartburg, TN | June 17, 1863 | Skirmish: | Wellington, MO | June 17, 1863 | Skirmish: | Westport, MO | June 17, 1863 |
| Death: | Brigadier General Isham Warren Garrott, CSA, is killed on a skirmish line while firing a rifle at Federal troops during the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi | ||
(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:
C.S.S. Atlanta, Commander Webb, with wooden steamers Isondiga and Resolute, engaged U.S.S. Weehawken, commanded by Captain J. Rodgers, and U.S.S. Nahant, Commander Downes, in Wassaw Sound. A percussion torpedo was fitted to the ram's bow, "which," Webb wrote, "I knew would do its work to my entire satisfaction, should I but be able to touch the Weehawken. . . ." Atlanta grounded coming into the channel, was gotten off, but repeatedly failed to obey her helm. Weehawken poured five shots from her heavy guns into the Confederate ram, and Nahant moved into attacking position. With two of his gun crews out of action, with two of three pilots severely injured, and with his ship helpless and hard aground, Webb was compelled to surrender. His two wooden escorts had returned upriver without engaging.(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.)Captain Rodgers reported: "The Atlanta was found to have mounted two 6-inch and two 7-inch rifles, the 6-inch broadside., the 7-inch working on a pivot either as broadside or bow and stern guns. There is a large supply of ammunition for these guns and other stores, said to be of great value by some of the officers of the vessel. There were on board at the time of capture, as per muster roll, 21 officers and 124 men, including 28 marines."
In a message of congratulations to Captain Rodgers, Secretary Welles wrote: "Every contest in which the ironclads have been engaged against ironclads has been instructive, and affords food for reflection. The lessons to be drawn are momentous. . . . Your early connection with the Mississippi Flotilla and your participation in the projection and construction of the first ironclads on the Western waters, your heroic conduct in the attack on Drewry's Bluff, the high moral courage that led you to put to sea in the Weehawken upon the approach of a violent storm in order to test the seagoing qualities of these new craft at a time when a safe anchorage was close under your lee, the brave and daring manner in which you, with your associates, pressed the ironclads under the concentrated fire of the batteries in Charleston harbor and there tested and proved the endurance and resisting power of these vessels, and your crowning successful achievement in the capture of the Fingal, alias Atlanta, are all proofs of a skill and courage and devotion to the country and the cause of the Union, regardless of self, that can not be permitted to pass unrewarded. . . . For these heroic and serviceable acts I have presented your name to the President, requesting him to recommend that Congress give you a vote of thanks in order that you may be advanced to the grade of commodore in the American Navy."
Boat expedition under Acting Master Sylvanus Nickerson from U.S.S. Itasca captured blockade runner Miriam at Brazos Santiago, Texas, with cargo of cotton.
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]).
The Battle of Aldie, Virginia. (VA036) (Gettysburg Campaign [June-July 1863]).
The Battle of Middleburg, Virginia. (VA037) (Gettysburg Campaign [June-July 1863]).
The Battle of Wassaw Sound, Georgia. The Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Atlanta, with two wooden steamers in company, engaged Union U.S.S. Weebawken and Nahant in Wassaw Sound, Georgia. The heavy Confederate warship became grounded and was compelled to surrender.
(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; Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865. pp. I-1; II-1,2; III-1,2; IV-1; V-1,2. 1971: Naval History Division, Navy Department.)