Friday, June 26, 1863
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| Expedition from: | Batesville, AR | May 30 - February 3, 1864 | Action: | Beach Grove, TN | June 24 - 27, 1863 | Skirmish: | Beech Grove, TN | June 26, 1863 | Raid: | Brookhaven, MS | June 23 - 26, 1863 | Expedition to: | Deer Creek, MS | June 1863 | Campaign: | Dix's Peninsula, ? | June 24 - July 7, 1863 | Campaign: | Gettysburg, PA | June 3 - August 11, 1863 | Skirmish: | Gettysburg, PA | June 26, 1863 | Expedition to: | Greenville, MS | June 25 - July 1, 1863 | Actions: | Hoover's Gap, TN | June 24 - 26, 1863 | Actions: | Liberty Gap, TN | June 24 - 27, 1863 | Skirmish: | Loup Creek, WV | June 26, 1863 | Skirmish: | Messenger's Ferry, MS | June 26, 1863 | Campaign: | Middle Tennessee | June 23 - July 7, 1863 | Campaign: | Peninsula, VA | June 24 - July 7, 1863 | Siege: | Port Hudson, LA | May 21 - July 8, 1863 | Action: | Rogers' Gap, TN | June 26, 1863 | Expedition: | Sioux Expedition, Dakota Territory | June 16 - September 13, 1863 | Expedition against: | Snake Indians, Idaho Territory | May 4 - October 26, 1863 | Expedition from: | Snyder's Bluff, MS | June 25 - July 1, 1863 | Skirmish: | South Anna Bridge, VA | June 26, 1863 | Expedition to: | South Anna Bridge, VA | June 23 - 28, 1863 | Campaign: | Tullahoma, TN | June 23 - July 7, 1863 | Siege: | Vicksburg, MS | May 18 - July 4, 1863 | Operation: | Vicksburg, MS | January 20 - July 4, 1863 | Expedition from: | Yorktown, VA | June 24 - 28, 1863 |
| Death: | Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote, USN, dies in New York City from wounds sustained during the siege of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, February 13-16, 1862 | ||
(Source: Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Vol. I, p. 660-991. Frederick H. Dyer; The Chronological Tracking Of The American Civil War Per The Offical Records Of The War of the Rebellion pp. 1-336. Ronald A. Mosocco.)
Naval Events:
Under Commander Pierce Crosby, gunboats Commodore Barney, Commodore Morris, Western World, and Morse, with Army gunboats Smith Briggs and Jesup, escorted and covered an Army landing at White House on the Pamunkey River, Virginia. Arriving on the 26th, Crosby reported that he "found all quiet on the river," but stationed the gunboats at White House and Jesup at West Point, with instructions for two of his ships to "run [daily] from White House to West Point to protect the army transports and examine the banks of the river to discover signs of the enemy should they be near. . . ." A naval landing party at White House destroyed rails and a turntable inside an earthwork on which the Confederates intended to place a railroad car mounting a heavy gun.(Source: Civil War Naval Chronology 1861-1865. pp. I:1-41; II:1-117; III:1-170; IV:1-152; V:1-134. 1971: Naval History Division, Navy Department.)Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote died in New York City of the wound received while brilliantly leading the naval forces on the Western rivers. The next day the Navy Department announced: "A gallant and distinguished naval officer is lost to the country. The hero of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, the daring and inimitable spirit that created and led to successive victories the Mississippi Flotilla, the heroic Christian sailor, who in the China Seas and on the coast of Africa, as well as the great interior rivers of our country, sustained with unfaltering fidelity and devotion the honor of our flag and the causes of the Union--Rear-Admiral Andrew Hull Foote--is no more. . . . Appreciating his virtues and his services, a grateful country had rendered him while living its willing honors, and will mourn his death."
Ships, rifled cannon, mortar boats, and Army guns laid down a heavy bombardment barrage which was answered bravely by the Confederate gunners at Port Hudson. Captain Alden in U.S.S. Richmond reported to Rear Admiral Farragut: "The Genessee's firing was as fine as usual. The Essex stood up manfully and did her work handsomely. She was the only vessel hit, and, strange to say, although the enemy's fire was for the most part of the engagement--which lasted some four hours--concentrated upon her, was struck only three times, but one of those was near proving fatal to her. The shot passed through her starboard smokepipe, down through the deck, through the coal bunker, grazing the starboard boiler, down through the machinery and steam pipes, over the galley, and through the wheelhouse into the water. . . . They all seem to be very much pleased with the operation of the naval battery on shore. . . . It had done, as you know, splendid service under the command of our gallant executive officer, Lieutenant Commander [Edward] Terry, before you were called away, and is still, I am happy to say, earning new laurels."
Rear Admiral Porter wrote Secretary Welles of the operations at Vicksburg: "I was in hopes ere this to have announced the fall of Vicksburg, but the rebels hold out persistently, and will no doubt do so while there is a thing left to eat. In the meantime, they are hoping for relief from General Johnston--a vain hope, for even if he succeeded in getting the better of General Sherman . . . his forces would be so cut up that he could take no advantage of any victory that he might gain. General Sherman has only to fall back to our entrenchments at Vicksburg, and he could defy twice his own force. The rebels have been making every effort to bring relief to Vicksburg through Louisiana, but without avail. With the few men we have at Young's Point and the gunboats, we keep them in check. . . . They have lined the river bank and are annoying the transports a little, but the gunboats are so vigilant and give them so little rest that they have done no damage worth mentioning. I have lined the river from Cairo to Vicksburg with a good force. . . . I am having the Cincinnati's guns removed, and Colonel Woods, of the army, is erecting a battery on shore with them. I have now ten heavy naval guns landed from the gunboats, in the rear of Vicksburg, some of them manned by sailors. They have kept up a heavy fire for some days, doing great execution."
C.S.S. Archer, commanded by Lieutenant Read, made the Portland, Maine, light. Read picked up two fishermen, "who," he reported, "taking us for a pleasure party, willingly consented to pilot us into Portland." From the fishermen Read learned that revenue cutter Caleb Cushing and a passenger steamer, Chesapeake, "a staunch, swift propeller," were at Portland and would remain there over night. Steamer Forest City was also in Portland and two gunboats were building there. At once Read made a daring plan: he would enter the harbor and at night "quietly seize the cutter and steamer."
At sunset he boldly sailed in, anchoring "in full view of the shipping." Read discussed the plan with his crew and admitted there were difficulties in the scheme. Engineer Eugene H. Brown was doubtful that he could get the engines of the steamer started without the assistance of another engineer, and Read pointed out that "as the nights were very short it was evident that if we failed to get the steamer underway, after waiting to get up steam, we could not get clear of the forts before we were discovered." Read decided to concentrate on capturing the revenue cutter. At 1:30 in the morning, 27 June, Read's crew boarded and took Caleb Cushing, "without noise or resistance." Luck and time were running out on Read's courageous band, however, for, with a light breeze and the tide running in, the cutter was still under the fort's guns at daybreak. By midmorning, when Caleb Cushing was but 20 miles off the harbor, Read saw ,.two large steamers and three tugs . . . coming out of Portland." He cleared for action and fired on the leading steamer, Forest City, as soon as she was in range. After firing five shells from the pivot gun, Read "was mortified to find that all the projectiles for that gun were expended." About to be caught in a crossfire from the steamers and in a defenseless position, Read ordered the cutter destroyed and the men into the lifeboats. "At 11:30 I surrendered myself and crew to the steamer Forest City [First Lieutenant James H. Merryman, USRS]." Read had yet another moment of success: at noon Caleb Cushing blew up.
So ended an exploit of gallant dash and daring by Read and his small crew. From the date of their first capture to the destruction of the revenue cutter off Portland, the doughty Confederate seamen had taken 22 prizes.
Additional Information:
The Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi. (MS011) (Grant's Operations Against Vicksburg [March-July 1863]).
The Battle of Port Hudson, Louisiana. (LA010) (Siege of Port Hudson [May-July 1863]).
The Battle of Hoover's Gap, Tennessee. (TN017) (Tullahoma or Middle Tennessee Campaign [June 1863]).
The Battle of Portland (Harbor), Maine. The naval battle between the Union Caleb Cushing and the Confederate Archer.
Confederate Major General Jubal A. Early, CSA, passes through Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on his way toward York, Pennsylvania.
(Source: Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report: Battle Summaries. National Park Service. In The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., 1998. Edited by Frances H. Kennedy; A Concise Encyclopedia of the Civil War, p. 203-221. Henry E. Simmons 1965; The Chronological Tracking Of The American Civil War Per The Offical Records Of The War of the Rebellion pp. 1-336. Ronald A. Mosocco.)