February 9,1864-President Abraham Lincoln sits for several photographs during a prolonged session. One portrait taken that day was eventually used on the $5.00 bill.
February 9,1864-Colonel Thomas Rose led 107 prisoners through a tunnel and out of Libby Prison in Richmond. Rose and 47 others were recaptured, two drowned during the escape and the others reached the freedom of Union lines.
February 9,1864-Yazoo City, Mississippi is reoccupied by General Sherman's forces.
February 10,1864-General William Sooy Smith assumes command of the Union cavalry brigade formerly commanded by Colonel George Waring.
February 10,1864-The Confederate raider CSS Florida slips out of the harbor at Brest, France after seven months of repair work. Fog and rain provide cover and the USS Kearsage is unable to stop the escape.
February 11,1864-General William S. Smith, with 8,000 Union troops, departs Collierville, Tennessee and heads for Meridian, Mississippi. His march is delayed by rain, swampy ground, and over 1000 escaped and freed slaves joining the column.
February 11,1864-A B&O Railroad is damaged by Confederate Guerrillas at Kearneysville, West Virginia causing a Union train to derail. Crew and passengers are robbed of valuables.
February 12,1864-After an hour long meeting, President Lincoln approves General Huge J. Kilpatrick's plan to raid Richmond and free Union prisoners.
February 14,1864-Union troops occupy Gainesville, Florida, led by General Quincy A. Gillmore.
February 14,1864-Meridian, Mississippi falls without resistance when General Sherman's large force arrives. Sherman's Army covered 150 miles in eleven days. All buildings, supplies, railroads, and cotton were destroyed over the next five days.
February 14,1864-General William S. Smith's cavalry is overdue in Meridian, Mississippi by several days.
February 15,1864-The Confederate Congress approves $5 million to fund a sabotage campaign based in Canada and aided by Peace Democrats in the Northern States.
February 16,1864-At Fairfield, North Carolina, under cover of a heavy snowfall, Union troops capture an entire company of Confederates in their camp.
February 16,1864-Federal troops begin a major campaign against hostile Indians at Fort Walla Walla in Washington Territory.
February 16,1864-Soldiers of the 54th Illinois engage in an altercation in Paris,(Edger County) Illinois. The soldiers disrupt local Democrats opposed to continuation of the war.
