Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
July 1, 1862 - Although Union guns devastate the enemy at Malvern Hills, the last of the Seven Days Battles, Gen. McClellan withdraws and leaves Richmond safe. The Confederate capital is safe for another three and a half years. Casualties for the Malvern Hills battle were: Union loss - 3214, and Confederate loss - 5355. Totals for the Seven Days Battles were: Union loss - 15,849, and Confederate loss - 20,141.
July 1, 1862 - The Union's freshwater and saltwater fleets meet for the first time on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg.
July 1, 1862 - About 5,000 Confederate Cavalry attack at Boonesville, Mississippi, but Colonel Philip Sheridan counterattacks with just 827 Union troops and routs the enemy.
July 2, 1862 - US Congress passes legislation requiring each military officer and government official to swear allegiance to the Constitution. President Lincoln authorizes the law, which became know as the "Ironclad test oath."
July 2, 1862 - President Lincoln signs the Morrill Act establishing colleges for agriculture and mechanical arts.
July 2, 1862 - General McClellan concludes the "great Skedaddle" from near Richmond to Harrison's Landings.
July 3, 1862 - Both President Lincoln and Gen. McClellan come under criticism and recrimination over the Peninsula campaign's failure.
July 3, 1862 - General Sterling Price is appointed to command the Confederate Army of the West.
July 4, 1862 - Confederate Col. John Morgan conducts his first cavalry raid into Kentucky. This raid lasts through most of the month and results in capture and parole of 1200 Union supporters.
July 4, 1862 - General McClellan writes a letter to President Lincoln outlining how to conduct the war, advising that the objective should be to preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery.
July 4, 1862 - Fitz John Porter, John Sedgwick, and Philip Kearny become major generals of the U.S. Army.
July 5, 1862 - The USS Hatteras captures the Elizabeth, a Confederate sloop, off the Louisiana coast.
July 5, 1862 - The U.S. Navy Department is reorganized into Divisions by an Act of Congress. The Divisions were: Recruiting, Equipment, Ordnance, Yards & Docks, Construction & Repair, Steam Engineering, Provisions & Clothing, and Medicine & Surgery.
July 6, 1862 - General Nathan Bedford Forrest assembles a cavalry unit in Mississippi and plans an extended raid into Tennessee.
July 7, 1862 - President Lincoln visits Harrison's Landing, Virginia to discuss recent events with General McClellan. The general cites lack of proper reinforcements as the primary reason he could not move on Richmond. He also advised the President to take a conservative approach, both in war strategy and politics.
July 7, 1862 - Commodore John Rogers' James River Flotilla escorts the convoy of army transports to Harrison's Landing in support of the Army of the Potomac.
