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Wednesday, July 1, 1863
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Army Events:
Expedition from: Batesville, AR May 30 - February 3, 1864 Skirmish: Bethpage Bridge, TN July 1 - 2, 1863 Expedition to: Beverly, WV June 29 - July 4, 1863 Skirmish: Big Black River, MS July 1, 1863 Skirmish: Bob's Cross Roads, TN July 1, 1863 Expedition to: Bottom's Bridge, VA July 1 - 7, 1863 Skirmish: Carlisle, PA July 1, 1863 Skirmish: Christiansburg, KY July 1, 1863 Skirmish: Cross Hollow, AR July 1863 Campaign: Dix's Peninsula, ? June 24 - July 7, 1863 Skirmish: Edwards Station, MS July 1, 1863 Skirmish: Elk River, TN July 1 - 2, 1863 Campaign: Gettysburg, PA June 3 - August 11, 1863 Battle: Gettysburg, PA July 1 - 3, 1863 Expedition to: Greenville, MS June 25 - July 1, 1863 Skirmish: Hankinson's Ferry, MS July 1, 1863 Action: Manchester, TN July 1, 1863 Campaign: Middle Tennessee June 23 - July 7, 1863 Campaign: Peninsula, VA June 24 - July 7, 1863 Siege: Port Hudson, LA May 21 - July 8, 1863 Expedition: Sioux Expedition, Dakota Territory June 16 - September 13, 1863 Expedition against: Snake Indians, Idaho Territory May 4 - October 26, 1863 Expedition from: Snyder's Bluff, MS June 25 - July 1, 1863 Expedition to: South Anna River, VA July 1 - 7, 1863 Occupation of: Tullahoma, TN July 1, 1863 Campaign: Tullahoma, TN June 23 - July 7, 1863 Siege: Vicksburg, MS May 18 - July 4, 1863 Operation: Vicksburg, MS January 20 - July 4, 1863 Expedition from: White House, VA July 1 - 7, 1863
(Source: Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Vol. I, p. 660-991. Frederick H. Dyer.)
Naval Events:
Major General Rosecrans asked Captain Pennock in Cairo for gunboat assistance in operations on the Tennessee River. The Confederates repeatedly attempted to establish bases along this waterway, but the Union Navy had several gunboats stationed on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers to frustrate such moves. These unheralded but nonetheless eventful actions by the forces afloat, as Admiral Mahan later wrote, showed "the unending and essential work performed by the navy in keeping the communications open, aiding isolated garrisons, and checking the growth of the guerilla war."(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.)Commander Caldwell, upon being detached from command of U.S.S. Essex and the mortar flotilla at Port Hudson, reported to Rear Admiral Farragut: "From the 23 of May to the 26 of June there followed a constant succession of bombardments and artillery fights between the Essex and mortar vessels on one side and the rebel batteries on the other. We have fired from this vessel 738 shells and from the mortar vessels an aggregate of 2,800 XIII-inch shells." The continued bombardment of the strong Southern works was instrumental in forcing its surrender after the fall of Vicksburg.
James M. Tindel wrote Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin from Mobile, proposing the capture of Pacific Mail Steamers, Union ships carrying on an active trade along the west coast. The expedition, Tindel wrote, would proceed first to Matamoras. "There the expedition would be divided, one portion to proceed overland to San Francisco to make an attempt to capture one of the steamers plying between that port and the Isthmus, the other to sail as a neutral from some port near Aspinwall [Panama], to make a similar attempt on the steamer sailing from that port. . . ." The Confederates recognized that the success of such a mission would cause considerable excitement and greatly disrupt shipping in the area, but the Union moved to strengthen its Pacific Squadron in the last 6 months of the year and Confederate plans bore no fruit.
J. B. Jones, a clerk in the Confederate War Department, noted in his diary that President Davis had "decided that the obstructions below the city [Richmond] shall not be opened for the steam iron-clad Richmond to go out until another iron-clad be in readiness to accompany her."
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 Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. (PA002) (Gettysburg Campaign [June-July 1863]).
The Battle of Cabin Creek, Oklahoma. (OK006) (Operations to Control Indian Territory [June-September 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.)