Portal:American Civil War/This week in American Civil War history/15

April 4

1862 - New Madrid Bend, Mississippi River - USS Carondelet ran past the Confederate batteries at Island No. 10 on a stormy night and joined with the Union Army of the Mississippi at New Madrid, Missouri

1864 - Elkin's Ferry - John S. Marmaduke's cavalry assaulted Federals as they were crossing the Little Missouri; Steele's Union forces were able to fend off these attacks and then cross the river

1865 - Richmond - A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital

April 5

1862 - Yorktown - John B. Magruder's prepared Confederate positions and showy demonstrations of force compelled Army of the Potomac commander George B. McClellan to slow his intended advance on Richmond

April 6

1862 - Shiloh - Albert S. Johnston's Army of Mississippi surprised camps under Ulysses S. Grant in a pre-dawn assault, pushing the Union force back to a defensive position protecting supplies at Pittsburg Landing

1865 - Sayler's Creek - Nearly a quarter of the Confederate army was cut off and forced to surrender by Sheridan; many of the Confederate supply trains were also captured

1865 - High Bridge - Confederate cavalry fought stubbornly to secure the Appomattox River bridges separating Prince Edward & Cumberland Counties

1866 - Decatur - The Grand Army of the Republic, an American patriotic organization composed of Union veterans of the American Civil War, was founded; it lasted until 1956

April 7

1862 - Pittsburg Landing - Albert S. Johnston's death, and the timely arrival of reinforcements under Don Carlos Buell allowed Ulysses S. Grant to launch a counterattack along the entire line forcing rebels to retreat

1865 - Cumberland Church - The Union II Corps under Andrew A. Humphreys struck at the Confederate rear but was held at bay in Cumberland County, Virginia

April 8

1862 - Island Number Ten - Confederate commander William W. Mackall surrendered Island No. 10 and its garrison of 7,000 men

1864 - Sabine Cross-Roads - After losing contact with his accompanying Red River gunboat fleet, Nathaniel P. Banks's vangard was defeated and routed by Confederates concentrated under Richard Taylor

1865 - Spanish Fort - After an eight day envelopment, garrison commander St. John Richardson Liddell surrendered to Union forces

1865 - Appomattox Station - After George A. Custer's cavalry division seized a supply train and 25 guns, effectively blocking Robert E. Lee's path, Grant sent a letter proposing a meeting to discuss terms of surrender

April 9

1864 - Pleasant Hill - Thomas Churchill's brigade was sent mistakenly into the strong Union center and repulsed, but Banks decided to retreat toward his gunboat fleet without gathering all Union wounded

1865 - Appomattox Courthouse - Army of Northern Virginia commander Robert E. Lee sat down in Appomattox Courthouse to discuss the surrender of all Confederate armies

1865 - Fort Blakely - In the last combined-force battle of the war, Union forces under Edward Canby forced the surrender of the last Mobile Bay fortification

April 10

1862 - Fort Pulaski - Union forces on Tybee Island besiege and capture the Confederate-held fort after 30 hours of bombardment

1863 - Franklin - Earl Van Dorn's Army of Tennessee cavalry division probed Williamson County, Tennessee for Gordon Granger's Army of Kentucky

1864 - Prairie D'Ane - Frederick Steele’s forces, combined with Brig. Gen. John M. Thayer’s division, encountered a Confederate line of battle at Prairie D’Ane and attacked, driving it back a mile before checked

1865 - Appomattox Courthouse - A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addressed his troops for the last time