Saturday, June 27, 1863
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| Action: | Aldie, VA | June 27, 1863 | Expedition from: | Batesville, AR | May 30 - February 3, 1864 | Action: | Beach Grove, TN | June 24 - 27, 1863 | Skirmish: | Beaver Creek, KY | June 27, 1863 | Skirmish: | Carthage, MO | June 27 - 28, 1863 | Expedition to: | Deer Creek, MS | June 1863 | Campaign: | Dix's Peninsula, ? | June 24 - July 7, 1863 | Skirmish: | Fairfax Court House, VA | June 27, 1863 | Action: | Fairfield, TN | June 27, 1863 | Action: | Fosterville, TN | June 27, 1863 | Campaign: | Gettysburg, PA | June 3 - August 11, 1863 | Expedition to: | Greenville, MS | June 25 - July 1, 1863 | Action: | Guy's Gap, TN | June 27, 1863 | Actions: | Liberty Gap, TN | June 24 - 27, 1863 | Occupation of: | Manchester, TN | June 27, 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: | Shelbyville, TN | June 27, 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 | Expedition to: | South Anna Bridge, VA | June 23 - 28, 1863 | Campaign: | Tullahoma, TN | June 23 - July 7, 1863 | Operation: | Vicksburg, MS | January 20 - July 4, 1863 | Siege: | Vicksburg, MS | May 18 - July 4, 1863 | Expedition from: | Yorktown, VA | June 24 - 28, 1863 |
| Death: | Brigadier General Martin Edwin Green, CSA, is killed instantly by a shot through the head by a Federal sharpshooter while scanning Union position's at Vicksburg, Mississippi | ||
(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.)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.
C.S.S. Florida, commanded by Lieutenant Maffitt, seized and bonded whaling schooner V. H. Hill en route to Bermuda.
Commander A. G. Clary, U.S.S. Tioga, reported the capture of blockade running British schooner Julia off the Bahamas with cargo of cotton.
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 Portland (Harbor), Maine. The naval battle between the Union Caleb Cushing and the Confederate Archer.
The Confederate Army Corps of Lieutenant General James Longstreet, CSA, and Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill, CSA, arrive at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Confederate Major General Jubal A. Early's division of the Army of Northern Virginia seizes 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.)