05/18, May 18th In Civil War History

Jimklag

Lt. Colonel
Joined
Mar 3, 2017
Location
Chicagoland
This date in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

May 18, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln receives the Republican nomination for President.

May 18, 1861 - Arkansas is admitted to the Confederacy.

May 18, 1861 - Engagement between the US steamer, Monticello, and the battery at Sewell's Point, VA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1861 - The US Navy essentially seals off Northern Virginia with the naval blockade of the Rappahannock River.

May 18, 1862 - Brig. Gen. William High Keim, USA, dies at Harrisburg, PA, from camp fever developed during the Peninsula Campaign, VA.

May 18, 1862 - Operations about Vicksburg, MS, and Baton Rouge, LA. (May 18-Aug 6)

May 18, 1862 - The surrender of Vicksburg, MS, is demanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA, and by Flag Officer Daniel Farragut and refused by Brig. Gen. Martin Luther Smith, CSA.

May 18, 1862 - Federal reconnaissance toward Old Church and Cold Harbor, VA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1862 - Maj. Gen. William Buel Franklin, USA, assumes the command of the 6th US Army Corps, the Army of the Potomac, the Peninsula Campaign, VA.

May 18, 1862 - Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter, USA, assumes the command of the 5th US Army Corps, the Peninsula Campaign, VA.

May 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Woodstock, VA, with Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, CSA, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, USA.

May 18, 1863 - Affair near Cheneyville, LA, with Confederate Cavalry.

May 18, 1863 - Operations about Merritt's Plantation, and on the Bayou Sara Road, LA, with Confederate Cavalry. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1863 - The Federal capture of Haynes' Bluff, MS.

May 18, 1863 - Skirmish near Island No. 82, about 15 miles from Greenville, MS, including the Federal vessel, Crescent City.

May 18, 1863 - Affair at Hog Island, Bates County, MO, with the destruction of Confederate food supplies, and the rebels fleeing to Henry County.

May 18, 1863 - Torpedo operations in Skull Creek and skirmish on Pope's Island, SC. (May 18-21)

May 18, 1863 - Skirmish on Horn Lake Creek, TN, about 4 miles from Nonconnah.

May 18, 1863 - Skirmishes at and about Fayetteville, WV. (May 18-20)

May 18, 1864 - Battle of Spotsylvania - Hancock's 2nd Corps attacks supported by the 6th and 9th Corps. Hancock's forces are heavily battered by R. S. Ewell's artillery, which had used the rain delays to improve their positions.

May 18, 1864 - Brig. Gen. Byron Gordon, CSA, dies in Richmond, VA, from his death wounds received on May 12 at the combat at Meadow Bridge, the Battle of the Wilderness, VA.

May 18, 1864 - Joseph Brevard Kershaw, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.

May 18, 1864 - John McCausland, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Fletcher's Ferry, AL.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Clarksville, AR.

May 18, 1864 - Affair near Searcy, AR, where the Yankees seize 80 good horses.

May 18, 1864 - Combats near Cassville, GA, as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, continues to pursue the retreating Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1864 - Combats near Kingston, GA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Pine Log Creek, GA.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish in Pike County, KY.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Wolf River, KY, as the Yankees moving from Glasgow, kill a few Rebs, losing a couple men themselves.

May 18, 1864 - Engagement at Yellow Bayou (Bayou De Glaize, Calhoun Station, Norwood's Plantation, or Old Oaks), LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.

May 18, 1864 - Federal scouts near Neosho and Carthage, MO, where no Rebels are found in force. The Yankees scout into Arkansas where small bands of guerrillas are operating, stealing and robbing the citizens. (May 18-23)

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at City Point, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Foster's Plantation, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA.

May 18, 1865 - Federal expedition against the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory, where the Yankees rescue a white woman prisoner and her little daughter, who had been purchased from the Cheyenne Indians when they killed her husband. The Federals capture 2 Sioux Indians chief, Two Face and Black Foot. (May 18-27)

May 18, 1865 - Skirmish with Indians on the Coteau, Minnesota, as a party of Union Indian Scouts with the assistance of some half-breeds attack a war party of Sioux Indians.

May 18, 1864 - Federal scout against guerrillas from Lebanon to Warsaw, MO. (May 18-20)

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish with Indians near Fort Kearny, the Nebraska Territory, as many Union soldiers receive arrow wounds.

May 18, 1865 - The 25th US Army Corps is ordered to be held in readiness for transportation to Texas.
 
This date in Civil War history
Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

May 18, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln receives the Republican nomination for President.

May 18, 1861 - Arkansas is admitted to the Confederacy.

May 18, 1861 - Engagement between the US steamer, Monticello, and the battery at Sewell's Point, VA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1861 - The US Navy essentially seals off Northern Virginia with the naval blockade of the Rappahannock River.

May 18, 1862 - Brig. Gen. William High Keim, USA, dies at Harrisburg, PA, from camp fever developed during the Peninsula Campaign, VA.

May 18, 1862 - Operations about Vicksburg, MS, and Baton Rouge, LA. (May 18-Aug 6)

May 18, 1862 - The surrender of Vicksburg, MS, is demanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA, and by Flag Officer Daniel Farragut and refused by Brig. Gen. Martin Luther Smith, CSA.

May 18, 1862 - Federal reconnaissance toward Old Church and Cold Harbor, VA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1862 - Maj. Gen. William Buel Franklin, USA, assumes the command of the 6th US Army Corps, the Army of the Potomac, the Peninsula Campaign, VA.

May 18, 1862 - Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter, USA, assumes the command of the 5th US Army Corps, the Peninsula Campaign, VA.

May 18, 1862 - Skirmish at Woodstock, VA, with Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, CSA, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Prentiss Banks, USA.

May 18, 1863 - Affair near Cheneyville, LA, with Confederate Cavalry.

May 18, 1863 - Operations about Merritt's Plantation, and on the Bayou Sara Road, LA, with Confederate Cavalry. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1863 - The Federal capture of Haynes' Bluff, MS.

May 18, 1863 - Skirmish near Island No. 82, about 15 miles from Greenville, MS, including the Federal vessel, Crescent City.

May 18, 1863 - Affair at Hog Island, Bates County, MO, with the destruction of Confederate food supplies, and the rebels fleeing to Henry County.

May 18, 1863 - Torpedo operations in Skull Creek and skirmish on Pope's Island, SC. (May 18-21)

May 18, 1863 - Skirmish on Horn Lake Creek, TN, about 4 miles from Nonconnah.

May 18, 1863 - Skirmishes at and about Fayetteville, WV. (May 18-20)

May 18, 1864 - Battle of Spotsylvania - Hancock's 2nd Corps attacks supported by the 6th and 9th Corps. Hancock's forces are heavily battered by R. S. Ewell's artillery, which had used the rain delays to improve their positions.

May 18, 1864 - Brig. Gen. Byron Gordon, CSA, dies in Richmond, VA, from his death wounds received on May 12 at the combat at Meadow Bridge, the Battle of the Wilderness, VA.

May 18, 1864 - Joseph Brevard Kershaw, C.S.A., is appointed Maj. Gen.

May 18, 1864 - John McCausland, CSA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Fletcher's Ferry, AL.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Clarksville, AR.

May 18, 1864 - Affair near Searcy, AR, where the Yankees seize 80 good horses.

May 18, 1864 - Combats near Cassville, GA, as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, USA, continues to pursue the retreating Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, CSA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1864 - Combats near Kingston, GA. (May 18-19)

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Pine Log Creek, GA.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish in Pike County, KY.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Wolf River, KY, as the Yankees moving from Glasgow, kill a few Rebs, losing a couple men themselves.

May 18, 1864 - Engagement at Yellow Bayou (Bayou De Glaize, Calhoun Station, Norwood's Plantation, or Old Oaks), LA, the Red River (LA) Campaign.

May 18, 1864 - Federal scouts near Neosho and Carthage, MO, where no Rebels are found in force. The Yankees scout into Arkansas where small bands of guerrillas are operating, stealing and robbing the citizens. (May 18-23)

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at City Point, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler.

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish at Foster's Plantation, VA, with Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, USA.

May 18, 1865 - Federal expedition against the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory, where the Yankees rescue a white woman prisoner and her little daughter, who had been purchased from the Cheyenne Indians when they killed her husband. The Federals capture 2 Sioux Indians chief, Two Face and Black Foot. (May 18-27)

May 18, 1865 - Skirmish with Indians on the Coteau, Minnesota, as a party of Union Indian Scouts with the assistance of some half-breeds attack a war party of Sioux Indians.

May 18, 1864 - Federal scout against guerrillas from Lebanon to Warsaw, MO. (May 18-20)

May 18, 1864 - Skirmish with Indians near Fort Kearny, the Nebraska Territory, as many Union soldiers receive arrow wounds.

May 18, 1865 - The 25th US Army Corps is ordered to be held in readiness for transportation to Texas.
Nothing to add to today,good job.
 
I had so much fun at Resaca for starters that was probably the biggest reenactment I have ever attended. I attended the reenactment both days and also visited The Cleburne statue in Ringgold and the Chickamauga battlefield

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Today marks the first day of the 160th Anniversary of the two day Battle of Sewell's Point Virginia. This battle took place in the Norfolk Virginia area. The result of this battle was inconclusive. Confederate commanders were Virginia Provisional Army Brigadier General Walter Gwynn and Captain Peyton H. Colquitt commanding 1 shore battery (3 32 pounder guns). The Union Commanders were USN Captain Henry Eagle and Lt. Daniel L. Braine commanding 2 gunboats. The Casualties and Losses combined was 10.

Sewells Point.jpg
 
Today marks the 157th Anniversary of the Battle of Yellow Bayou Louisiana. This battle took place in Avoyelles Parish Yellow Bayou Louisiana. The result of this battle was a strategic Union Victory. Union Army commander was Brig. General Joseph A. Mower commanding the XVI Army Corps. Union Army Casualties and losses were 360. The Confederate commander was Major General Richard "Fighting Dick" Taylor commanding the Confederate District of Western Louisiana. Casualties and losses for the Confederacy were 500.

Yellow Bayou.jpg
 
gentlemanrob

Thank You Sir! I have been trying to promote a little attention to this bloody little battle since my enrollment in this Noble Forum when I have an opportunity. I had numerous relatives who as Southern Jayhawkers enrolled in Federal Army around Alexandria Louisiana in 1864. This is the only battle they got to participate in. Immediately afterwards they were discharged from the Army and allowed to go back to their Jayhawker territories along with their horses and weapons. In the battle, they were as cavalry scout unit on the Federal left flank. Your presented narration is seemingly very historically accurate account from a local newspaper?
 
I have a couple of pages about this battle in my partial history of the 14th Iowa Infantry. The 14th had 48 casualties. The Second Brigade commander (and original commander of the 14th), Col. William T. Shaw, wrote an angry letter to his hometown paper in Anamosa, Iowa, about his brigade and two others being ordered to cross back over the Yellow Bayou "while Banks’ army, consisting of over 20,000 men, were rushing across the Atchafalaya, leaving their baggage-wagons and every thing behind for us to protect."
 
Unfortunately the only things I remember about Yellow Bayou are memories of a God-awful farbfest I attended there in the Bicentennial summer of 1976 during my very first year of reenacting.
 
See below as it is Col. William T. Shaw's official battle report in the OFFICIAL RECORDS:

"I soon perceived that the enemy was pressing closely our left, and without waiting orders I ordered the two regiments in reserve to move slowly to the left while I rode to the front to see how the battle went. I soon saw that the cavalry on the left had given way, and that the enemy was turning was turning our left flank. I immediately ordered the reserve into line at double-quick, fronting to the left, when the enemy made their appearance through the timber in their front, but a well-directed fire from the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-second Iowa, the Ninth Indiana Battery, and the two 12-pounder Napoleons of the Third Indiana Battery, also the Fourteenth Iowa, which had changed its front, soon sent them back with heavy loss. The enemy, having been heavily re-enforced, again advanced, when I was ordered to move forward and meet him. I moved forward, meeting him in the edge of the timber, driving him out of the timber, across an open field, under the protection of their artillery, inflicting upon him heavy loss. I then halted and withdrew with the balance of the line out of range of canister, and remained till dark, when we fell back to the ground occupied the night before. My list of casualties I have already forwarded. My loss, though heavy, is comparatively light when it is considered that I was twice engaged at short range with nearly four times my number of infantry, and that I was for two hours under a heavy fire of artillery."

WM. T. SHAW,

Colonel, Commanding Brigade.
 
The above is a portion of Col. Shaw's battle report. Based on this I consider Shaw: the Hero of the Battle. It was he who at the turning point acted "without waiting orders" begun outflanking the Confederates initially successful flank attack on the Federal left flank. His counterattack rolled up the Confederate Army and threw them back in great disorder. Supposedly, my ancestors were within the Federal cavalry that "on the left had given way" in the teeth of a massive Confederate infantry flanking attack.
 
Thanks for taking us on your tour of this reenactment of Resaca. Enjoyed the photos.
I had so much fun at Resaca for starters that was probably the biggest reenactment I have ever attended. I attended the reenactment both days and also visited The Cleburne statue in Ringgold and the Chickamauga battlefield

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Battle of Yellow Bayou:
Today marks the 158th​ anniversary of the Battle of Yellow Bayou. This battle was part of the Red River Campaign. The battle was fought on May 18th​, 1864. The location of the battle was at Avoyelles Parish, Yellow Bayou, Louisiana.


Result of Battle: Inconclusive :us34stars::CSA1stNat:


Union Army Commander:
Brig. General Joseph A. Mower (Vermont) 1827 – 1870

Union Army casualties and losses: 360



Confederate Army Commander:
Major General Richard "Dick" Taylor (Louisiana) 1826 – 1876

Confederate Army casualties and losses: 500

Battle of Yellow Bayou.jpg
 
Battle of Sewell's Point:
Today marks the 161st​ anniversary of the two – day Battle of Sewell's Point. The battle was fought on May 18th​, 1861 thru May 19th​, 1861. This battle was part of the Blockade of Chesapeake Bay. The battle was fought in Norfolk Virginia.


Result of Battle: Inconclusive :us34stars::CSA1stNat:


Confederate Army Commanders:
Brig. General Walter Gwynn (Virginia) 1802 – 1882

Captain Peyton H. Colquitt (Georgia) 1831 – 1863

Confederate Army Strength: - (1 shore battery)



United States Navy Commander:
Captain Henry Eagle (New York) 1801 – 1882

Lt. Daniel L. Braine (New York) 1829 – 1898

United States Navy Strength: - (2 gunboats)



Total battle casualties and losses:
10

Sewell's Point.jpg


Sewell's Point 1.jpg
 
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