Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
January 29, 1862 - Union soldiers begin a manhunt for infamous guerrilla William C. Quantrill around Blue Springs, Missouri.
January 30, 1862 - Confederate envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell reach Southampton, England and receive a cordial welcome. (See several Trent Affair notes between November 7, 1861 and December 27, 1861.)
January 30, 1862 - At St. Louis General Henry W. Halleck authorizes combined Navy and Army operations against Confederate positions at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Tennessee. General Ulysses S. Grant orders his command into action but recent heavy rain causes the roads to be impassable. All troops are moved by gunboats and barges.
January 30, 1862 - Federal gunboat USS Conestoga makes final reconnaissance of the Tennessee River preparing for the movement against Fort Henry.
January 30, 1862 - The USS Monitor ironclad, called "a cheese box on a raft" by some onlookers, is launched at Greenpoint, Long Island. Testing begins immediately.
January 31, 1862 - Great Britain's Queen Victoria advises Confederate agents of British displeasure over the Union blockade of southern ports. However, Southern hopes are dashed when the Queen reiterates her government's neutrality in matters of war.
January 31, 1862 - President Lincoln refines his Special War Order No.1 to mandate an advance on Manassas Junction, Virginia by February 22. General George McClellan ignores the order. The President's original order had been composed and issued on January 27th.
January 31, 1862 - Radical Republicans call for General McClellan to attack Southern positions but also to actively free slaves and enlist them in the military. McClellan declines to turn the fight to save the Union into a social crusade to free slaves.
January 31, 1862 - The Railways and Telegraph Act, empowering the President to seize control of these Confederate held assets, is passed by Congress.
January 31, 1862 - Judah P. Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of War, orders General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson to move his troops from Winchester back to Romney in western Virginia. (See January 23,1862 when General Jackson moved to Winchester and General Loring's complaints were reported.) General Jackson, aware of Loring's violation of the chain of command behind his back, complies with the order and then resigns in anger. President Jefferson Davis refuses to accept the resignation and Jackson remains with the Army.
February 1, 1862 - General Henry H. Sibley moves into New Mexico Territory intent on bringing the entire region into Confederate control.
February 2, 1862 - General Grant and 17,000 troops depart Cairo, Illinois for a campaign against Fort Henry.
February 2, 1862 - The timberclad gunboats USS Lexington, Conestoga, and Tyler, under Lt. Seth L. Phelps, begin a foray down the Tennessee River to destroy the railroad bridge at Danville, Tennessee and then continue downstream as far as water depth allows.
February 3, 1862 - General George McClellan and President Lincoln continue to disagree on Union troop movement as well as the strategy to be used. Lincoln favors an overland campaign while McClellan suggests sidestepping Confederate defenses and landing behind the enemy.
February 3, 1862 - To stop the Confederates from carrying out the threat of hanging Union Naval personnel in retaliation for the Union treating Confederate captives as pirates, the Union decides to charge captured southern privateers as war prisoners.
February 4, 1862 - Confederate Commander at Fort Henry, General Lloyd Tilghman, learns of the large Union expedition floating toward his location and asks for reinforcements.
February 4, 1862 - Commodore Andrew H. Foote positions the USS Essex, Corondelet, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Tyler, and Lexington to bombard several targets along the Tennessee River. He also has a close-up look at Fort Henry. One Southerner is killed in the exchanges and several torpedoes (mines) break loose in the swift current but cause no damage to the Union fleet.
February 4, 1862 - The Confederate Congress briefly considers utilizing free African Americans in the Army. The remedy to address the shortage of troops in never seriously considered.
