Compiled by Jim Hachtel, President
Gen. William T. Sherman Memorial Civil War Roundtable
January 13, 1863 - Union Colonel Thomas W. Higginson of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry begins recruiting former slaves.
January 13, 1863 - The USS General Bragg departs Mound City, Arkansas to participate in a joint army-navy expedition along the Mississippi River. Confederate guerrillas are operating along the river and several buildings have been burned.
January 14, 1863 - Federal forces are successful against Confederates at Bayou Teche, Louisiana. Federal gunboats attack and sink the CSS Cotton.
January 15, 1863 - President Lincoln visits the Washington Navy Yard to confer with Admiral John A.B. Dahlgren and to observe weapons testing.
January 15, 1863 - In retaliation for the residents supporting guerrillas, Union troops burn Mound City, Arkansas.
January 16, 1863 - Lieutenant John N. Maffitt aboard the CSS Florida evades Union blockaders and slips out of Mobile Bay under darkness. The CSS Florida raider eventually captures 15 Union vessels.
January 17, 1863 - President Lincoln signs legislation that allows immediate payment to military personnel. He also asks Congress for currency reform as the North is facing mounting inflation.
January 17, 1863 - General U.S. Grant orders General McClernand back to Milliken's Bend, Louisiana. Grant resents McClernand's disregard for communication to gain approval of his expedition to Fort Hindeman, Arkansas.
January 18, 1863 - The 64th North Carolina under Colonel James A. Keith receives orders from General Henry Heth to sweep through western North Carolina in search of Northern sympathizers. Fifteen suspects are eventually captured. They all deny any bushwhacking activity but are lined up, shot, and buried in shallow graves. Confederate Secretary of War James A. Seddon and North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance call for an investigation but no one is ever punished.
January 18, 1863 - Admiral Porter renews his efforts against Vicksburg by ordering all available gunboats to Milliken's Bend on the Yazoo.
January 19, 1863 - General Ambrose E. Burnside attempts to redeem his reputation by ordering his two Grand Divisions (under General Hooker and General William Franklin) to cross the Rappahannock at Bank's Ford, Virginia. This puts the Army of the Potomac behind General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and only ten miles from Fredericksburg. Good winter weather prevails but does not last.
