Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
April 14, 1863 - Fort Bisland, Louisiana is abandoned by General Richard Taylor's Confederate force. Union troops under General Cuvier Grover are surprised by Taylor's evacuating force and suffer about 600 causalities while Confederate losses are unknown. Union General Nathaniel Banks moves his larger force into the fort while Taylor's small force escapes without any pursuit by Grover or Banks.
April 14, 1863 - General Richard Taylor's retreating troops are forced to scuttle the recently re-captured CSS Diana. (See March 28,1863 entry.)
April 14, 1863 - At Suffolk, Virginia, the Federal gunboats USS Mount Washington, Stepping Stones, and Commodore Barney accurately target the advancing Confederates as they attempt to surround the Union garrison.
April 14, 1863 - The CSS Queen of the West ram is sunk in Grand Lake, Louisiana by the USS Estrella, Arizona, and Calhoun. The USS Huntsman seizes the British blockade runner 'Ascension' off the Florida Gulf Coast and the USS Sonoma captures the Confederate schooner 'Clyde' in the Gulf of Mexico.
April 15, 1863 - General Daniel H. Hill is forced to abandon his siege at New Bern, North Carolina with the arrival of Union General John G. Foster, who sails from Washington, North Carolina on the Pamlico River.
April 15, 1863 - The plan to bypass Vicksburg, Mississippi by marching troops down the left bank of the river, sailing part of the fleet past the fort under cover of darkness, and creating a diversion north of the city using General Sherman's troops begins. This plan was put together on April 2, 1863 (see entry) and was mostly completed by April 30. The advance on Vicksburg from the south then follows starting May 1, 1863.
April 15, 1863 - The portion of General Grant's plan carried out on this date includes assembly of 45,000 troops at Milliken's Bend, 10 miles north of Vicksburg and the march of General James McPherson's corps down the left side of the Mississippi River to New Carthage to join General McClernand already there. General Sherman begins to demonstrate at Chickasaw Bluffs as a feint.
April 15, 1863 - The CSS Alabama continues to have success as a raider, this time capturing and burning the whalers 'Kate Cory' and 'Lafayette' off Brazil.
April 16, 1863 - Legislation permitting minors under 18 years of age to become commissioned officers is signed by President Jefferson Davis.
April 16, 1863 - At Vicksburg, a gala ball underway to celebrate the "impregnability" of the city is interrupted by heavy gunfire on the Mississippi River. Admiral David Porter sails 12 vessels past the Confederate batteries. Action lasted over two hours with most vessels taking hits. The transport 'Henry Clay' sinks and the gunboat 'Forest Queen' is disabled.
April 17, 1863 - To draw attention away from Vicksburg, Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson begins a planned 16-day cavalry raid from La Grange, Tennessee, down through Mississippi to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has 1,700 troopers from the 6th and 7th Illinois Cavalry, the 2nd Iowa, and a battery of horse artillery. The mission is to tear up track and telegraph while taking prisoners.
April 18, 1863 - To encourage outfitting of warships at private expense, the Confederate Congress authorizes a volunteer navy.
April 18, 1863 - Confederate held Fort Huger on the Nansemond River, Virginia is attacked by the crew from the USS Stepping Stones and 270 soldiers. The soldiers push into the fort before the garrison can react and seize 137 prisoners and five cannons. The 55th North Carolina, the guard unit in the fort, is blamed for the defeat and duals of honor are waged between several officers of commanding General Evander M. Law's staff.
April 18, 1863 - A force of 3,000 Confederates under General John S. Marmaduke is repulsed at Fayetteville, Arkansas, by a 2,000 man Union garrison.
April 18, 1863 - The USS Gem of the Sea sinks the British blockade runner 'Inez' off Cape Romain, South Carolina. The USS Stettin captures the Confederate steamer 'St. John' off Indian River Inlet, Florida, and the USS Susquehanna captures the Confederate schooner 'Alabama' off the Florida Gulf Coast.
April 19, 1863 - President Lincoln, General in Chief Henry Halleck, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton meet at Aquia Creek, Virginia to discuss military matters.
April 20, 1863 - The USS Sterling Price and USS Tuscumba jointly reconnoiter the Mississippi River to Grand Gulf, the object of a planned Union assault.
April 20, 1863 - General Banks moves a portion of his command to Washington and Opelousas, Louisiana. The rest of Bank's command is inside Fort Bisland, Louisiana.
April 20, 1863 - President Lincoln announces that the new state of West Virginia will be established on June 20,1863. Land will come from the western most counties of Virginia.
