Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
March 31, 1863 - Oliver O. Howard is promoted to major general, U.S. Army.
March 31, 1863 - At Gulf Port, Mississippi, Admiral David G. Farragut sails past the Confederate batteries aboard his flagship USS Hartford, accompanied by the USS Albatross and the recently repaired ram "Switzerland." They continue to the Red River and establish a blockade.
March 31, 1863 - The crews of USS Two Sisters and the USS Memphis capture the Confederate schooner "Agnus" of Tortuga, Florida and the British schooner "Antelope" off Charleston, South Carolina, respectively.
April 1, 1863 - General Grant officially abandons any advance on Vicksburg, Mississippi from the north after Grant, General W.T. Sherman, Admiral David D. Porter, and the crew of the USS Tuscumbia complete a reconnaissance of the Yazoo River as far as Haynes Bluff. General Grant now concentrates his attention on operations below the city.
April 1, 1863 - Confederate Cavalry General John Mosby's 65 men are surprised in camp at Broad Run, Virginia by 200 Union Cavalry. More than 100 casualties result and Mosby prevails.
April 2, 1863 - The "Bread Riot" at Richmond takes place on this date. A small group of women and boys march from Capital Square in search of bread and draw a crowd of 1,000 or more unruly sympathizers. Full scale rioting and looting results and many businesses are ransacked. President Jefferson Davis leaves the Confederate "White House" and demands that they disperse or be fired on. The riot slowly falls apart.
April 2, 1863 - In a planning session concerning an attack on Vicksburg, General Sherman is assigned to create a diversion along Haynes Bluff north of Vicksburg while General Grant marches the main force south along the west bank of the Mississippi River. Admiral Porter will attempt to sail south past the city and reunite at Hard Times, Mississippi, 30 miles south. There the entire army will be moved to the Confederate shore by Porter's vessels. No date is set.
April 2, 1863 - Union forces under General John G. Foster are under siege at Washington, D.C. Naval gunboats move up the Pamlico River and silences the shore batteries of the Confederates, breaking the siege.
April 3, 1863 - In retaliation for recent Confederate attacks on Union shipping, the USS Lexington, Brilliant, Robb, Silver Lake, and Springfield bombard and destroy the town of Palmyra, Tennessee.
April 4, 1863 - The British built "Alexandra," destined for service in the Confederate navy, is set to depart the shipyard. American minister Charles F. Adams lodges a formal protest.
April 4, 1863 - The final Union activity on the Yazoo River is the expedition of Generals Leonard F. Ross and Isaac F. Quinby to bombard Fort Pemberton at Greenwood, Mississippi. The expedition fails and the flotilla vessels steam back to the Mississippi River.
April 4, 1863 - The CSS Alabama raider records another success by capturing and burning the Union ship "Louisa Hatch" off Brazil.
April 5, 1863 - General Joseph Hooker meets with President Lincoln at Fredericksburg, Virginia. They concur that the object of future military action should be directed at General Robert E. Lee's army and not at the city of Richmond.
April 5, 1863 - Admiral Samuel DuPont cautiously approaches Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, intending to attack. He decides to anchor his ironclads and steamers off shore until a sand bar can be marked with buoys.
April 6, 1863 - The newly completed warship "Alexandra" is seized by the British government to placate the U.S. (see the protest of April 2). The ship is eventually released to the Confederacy by the courts.
April 6, 1863 - With buoys installed on the Stono sand bar, Admiral DuPont leads his squadron of nine heavy ironclads inside Charleston Harbor.
