Wednesday, July 6, 1864
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| Action: | Aberdeen, AR | July 6 - 7, 1864 | Action: | Aldie, VA | July 6, 1864 | Skirmish: | Antietam, MD | July 6, 1864 | Campaign: | Atlanta, GA | May 1 - September 8, 1864 | Expedition from: | Beaufort, SC | June 30 - July 10, 1864 | Skirmish: | Benton, AR | July 6, 1864 | Skirmish: | Big Cacapon Bridge, WV | July 6, 1864 | Scout: | Big Piney, MO | July 5 - 6, 1864 | Skirmish: | Bolivar, MS | July 6, 1864 | Scout: | Buffalo Creek, Ripley County, MO | July 3 - 12, 1864 | Expedition to: | Caruthersville, MO | July 5 - 10, 1864 | Operation: | Charleston Harbor, SC | January 1 - November 13, 1864 | Operation: | Chattahoochie River, GA | July 5 - 17, 1864 | Expedition from: | Fort Churchill, Nevada Territory | June 8 - August 9,1864 | Expedition from: | Fort Craig, New Mexico Territory | May 16 - August 2, 1864 | Expedition from: | Fort Dalles, OR Territory | April 20 - October 26, 1864 | Expedition to: | Fort Goodwin, Arizona Territory | May 16 - August 2, 1864 | Expedition from: | Fort Walla Walla, Washington Territory | April 20 - October 26, 1864 | Expedition from: | Fort Wingate, New Mexico Territory | May 25 - July 15, 1864 | Expedition to: | Gila River, Arizona Territory | May 25 - July 13, 1864 | Expedition to: | Grand Gulf, MS | July 4 - 24, 1864 | Skirmish: | Hagerstown, MD | July 6, 1864 | Operation: | Harper's Ferry, WV | July 4 - 7, 1864 | Expedition to: | Humboldt River, Nevada Territory | June 8 - August 9, 1864 | Engagement: | James Island, SC | July 6, 1864 | Expedition to: | John's Island, SC | July 2 - 10, 1864 | Skirmish: | Kingston, GA | July 1864 | Expedition from: | La Grange, TN | July 5 - 21, 1864 | Skirmish: | Little Blue River, MO | July 6, 1864 | Action: | Maryland Heights, MD | July 6 - 7, 1864 | Expedition from: | Memphis, TN | July 4 - 24, 1864 | Expedition from: | Morganza, LA | July 5 - 7, 1864 | Raid: | Morristown, TN | June 13 - July 15, 1864 | Action: | Mount Zion Church, VA | July 6, 1864 | Expedition from: | New Madrid, MO | July 5 - 10, 1864 | Skirmish: | Nickajack Creek, GA | July 6 - 8, 1864 | Operation: | Northern Alabama | June 24 - August 20, 1864 | Expedition to: | Pearl River, MS | July 2 - 10, 1864 | Siege: | Petersburg, VA | June 16, 1864 - April 2, 1865 | Operation: | Pringle Battery, SC | July 4 - 9, 1864 | Operation: | Richmond, VA | June 19 - July 31, 1864 | Campaign: | Richmond, VA | June 13, 1864 - April 2, 1865 | Expedition to: | San Carlos River, New Mexico Territory | May 25 - July 13, 1864 | Skirmish: | Sandtown, GA | July 6 - 7, 1864 | Expedition to: | Simsport, LA | July 5 - 7, 1864 | Skirmish: | Sir John's Run, WV | July 6, 1864 | Scout: | Southeastern Arizona | July 6 - 24, 1864 | Expedition to: | Southeastern Oregon | April 20 - October 26, 1864 | Skirmish: | Station Four, FL | July 6, 1864 | Expedition to: | Tupelo, MS | July 5 - 21, 1864 | Expedition from: | Vicksburg, MS | July 2 - 10, 1864 | Expedition from: | Walla Walla, Washington Territory | April 20 - October 26, 1864 | Operation: | Western Missouri | July 6 - 30, 1864 |
| Appointment: | Edward Cary Walthall, CSA, to Major General | Death: | Brigadier General Samuel Allen Rice, USA, dies at his home in Oskaloosa, Iowa, from complications resulting from a shattered ankle received during the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas, April 30, 1864 |
(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:
Single-turreted monitors U.S.S. Lehigh, commanded by Lieutenant Commander A. A. Semmes, U.S.S. Montauk, commanded by Lieutenant Commander A. W. Johnson, and other ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron supported Army troops in a demonstration up the Stono River, South Carolina. Hearing that Confederate forces were about to move against the blockaders off Charleston, Rear Admiral Dahlgren and Major General Foster planned a diversionary expedition up the Stono River, intending to cut the important Charleston-Savannah railroad. Union monitors and gunboats shelled Confederate works on both sides of the river with telling effect in support of movements ashore. Brigadier General Schimmelfennig, troop commander, reported to Dahlgren on 6 July: "I take pleasure in informing you of the excellent practice by your gunboats and monitors on Stono River yesterday. They drove the enemy out of his rifle pits and prevented him from erecting an earthwork which he had commenced. As I shall probably have to occupy that line again before long, this fire of your monitors will undoubtedly save many lives on our side, for which I desire to express to them my thanks." Dahlgren's vessels later effectively covered the Army withdrawal from Stono River.(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.)Illustrating the great paucity of Confederate naval power and the strategic importance of C.S.S. Albemarle to the defense of North Carolina, Brigadier General Lawrence S. Baker, CSA, wrote to Commander Maffitt, captain of the ironclad, cautioning him against risking his vessel: "I beg leave to remind you of the importance to the Confederacy of the country opened to us by the taking of Plymouth, to suggest that its recapture now engages the serious attention of the U.S. Government, and that the loss of the gunboat which you command would be irreparable and productive of ruin to the interests of the government, particularly in this State and district, and indeed would be a heavy blow to the whole country. . . . I have no doubt that in event of an attack by you the most desperate efforts will be made to destroy your boat, and thus open the approach to Plymouth and Washington [North Carolina]." While criticism was leveled at the Confederate Navy Department for not bringing Albemarle into action, her presence at Plymouth constituted a powerful threat to Union control of the North Carolina sounds, demanded a vigilant patrol by many Northern ships, and prevented recapture of the area by Union troops. Few ships better illustrate the important relationship between a nation's land and sea-based power.
Captain Cicero Price, U.S.S. Jamestown, wrote Secretary Welles from Yokohama, Japan, regarding the celebration of Independence Day in that far-off port: "The Fourth was very handsomely celebrated here, all the foreign ships of war participating by dressing their ships, as well as saluting. It was very marked on the part of the British." With the tide of war ashore as well as afloat having swung irrevocably in favor of the Union, British intervention on behalf of the South could no longer be considered a possibility.
Additional Information:
Confederate Major General Jubal A. Early crosses the Potomac River into Maryland.
(Source: A Concise Encyclopedia of the Civil War, p. 203-221. Henry E. Simmons 1965.)