Portal:American Civil War/This week in American Civil War history/17

April 18

1864 - Poison Spring - Confederate divisions under John S. Marmaduke and Samuel B. Maxey fell on a Union foraging party under John M. Williams, capturing 200 wagons of corn

April 19

1861 - Baltimore - Anti-union sentiment in Baltimore builds into violence; while marching between Baltimore's President Street Station to Camden station, the Sixth Massachusetts infantry regiment is attacked by a mob and fires into the crowd, killing twelve

1862 - South Mills - In an effort to prevent Confederate ironclads from entering Albemarle Sound, two Union regiments under Jesse L. Reno unsuccessfully attempted to destroy Dismal Swamp Canal locks

1863 - Hill's Point - A detachment of the 8th Connecticut and the 89th New York landed on Hill's Point at the confluence of the forks of the Nansemond River; this amphibious force assaulted Fort Huger from the rear, quickly capturing its garrison, thus reopening the river to Union shipping

April 22

1863 - La Grange - Benjamin Grierson led a Union cavalry brigade consisting of Illinois and Iowa troopers to destroy Confederate infrastructure in central Mississippi in what became known as Grierson's Raid

1864 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act which mandated the inscription "In God We Trust" be placed on all coins minted as United States currency

April 23

1864 - Cane River Crossing - Using natural Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana obstacles, Confederate commander Hamilton P. Bee attempted to block a division under William H. Emory, but was overwhelmed by Federal reinforcements

April 24

1862 - New Orleans - A thirteen ship Union Navy flotilla commanded by David Farragut passed Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans