Friday, July 10, 1863
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| Expedition from: | Batesville, AR | May 30 - February 3, 1864 | Expedition from: | Beaver Creek, KY | July 3 - 11, 1863 | Skirmish: | Bolivar, TN | July 10, 1863 | Action: | Boonesborough, MD | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Clear Spring, MD | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Clinton, MS | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Cocke County, TN | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Cook's Canyon, New Mexico Territory | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Cross Hollow, AR | July 1863 | Skirmish: | Florence, MO | July 10, 1863 | Operation: | Fort Gregg, SC | July 10 - September 7, 1863 | Operation: | Fort Wagner, SC | July 10 - September 7, 1863 | Skirmish: | Funkstown, MD | July 10 - 13, 1863 | Campaign: | Gettysburg, PA | June 3 - August 11, 1863 | Skirmish: | Hagerstown, MD | July 10, 1863 | Raid: | Indiana, Morgan's Raid in, IN | July 9 - 13, 1863 | Campaign: | Jackson, MS | July 5 - 25, 1863 | Siege: | Jackson, MS | July 10 - 17, 1863 | Expedition to: | James Island, SC | July 9 - 16, 1863 | Skirmish: | Jones' Cross Roads, MD | July 10 - 13, 1863 | Skirmish: | Lettersburg, MD | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Martin's Creek, KY | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Maryland Heights, MD | July 10, 1863 | Attack: | Mississippi River | July 7 - 10, 1863 | Operation: | Morgan's Raid | July 2 - 26, 1863 | Operation: | Morris Island, SC | July 10 - September 7, 1863 | Attack: | Morris Island, SC | July 10, 1863 | Operation: | Navajo Indians, New Mexico Territory | July 7 - August 19, 1863 | Skirmish: | Old Antietam Forge, MD | July 10, 1863 | Expedition from: | Pocohontas, TN | July 7 - 22, 1863 | Expedition to: | Pontotoc, MS | July 7 - 22, 1863 | Expedition to: | Pound Gap, KY | July 3 - 11, 1863 | Skirmish: | Salem, IN | July 10, 1863 | Expedition: | Sioux Expedition, Dakota Territory | June 16 - September 13, 1863 | Expedition against: | Snake Indians, Idaho Territory | May 4 - October 26, 1863 | Expedition to: | Southwestern Virginia | July 3 - 11, 1863 | Skirmish: | Union City, TN | July 10, 1863 | Skirmish: | Williamsport, MD | July 10 - 13, 1863 | Engagement: | Willstown Bluff, SC | July 10, 1863 |
(Source: Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Vol. I, p. 660-991. Frederick H. Dyer.)
Naval Events:
Under Rear Admiral Dahlgren, ironclads U.S.S. Catskill, under Commander G. W. Rodgers; Montauk, under Commander, Fairfax; Nahant, under Commander Downes; and Weehawken, under Commander Colhoun, bombarded Confederate defenses on Morris Island, Charleston harbor, supporting and covering a landing by Army troops under Brigadier General Quincy A. Gillmore. Close in support of the landing was rendered by small boats, under Lieutenant Commander Francis M. Bunce, armed with howitzers, from the blockading ships in Light House Inlet. The early morning assault followed the plan outlined by General Gillmore a week earlier in a letter to Rear Admiral Du Pont: "I cannot safely move without assistance from the Navy. We must have that island or Sullivan's Island as preliminary to any combined military and naval attack on the interior defenses of Charleston harbor. . . . I consider a naval force abreast of Morris Island as indispensable to cover our advance upon the Island and restrain the enemy's gunboats and ironclads."(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.)The ironclads were abreast of Fort Wagner by midmorning and bombarded the works until evening, but could not dislodge the determined and brave defenders.
The Confederates poured a withering fire into Dahlgren's ships. "The enemy," the Admiral reported, "seemed to have made a mark of the Catskill." She was. hit some 60 times, many of which were "very severe." Despite the battering she received, Rodgers had Catskill ready to renew the attack the following day. Dahlgren added: "The Nahant was hit six times, the Montauk twice, and the Weehawken escaped untouched." Colonel Robert F. Graham, CSA, reported that during the attack, as the Confederates were forced to withdraw within Fort Wagner, "the iron monitors followed us along the channel, pouring into us a fire of shell and grape," and that casualties were heavy. The prolonged, continuing bombardment of the Southern works at Charleston had begun.
Commodore Montgomery, commandant of the Boston Navy Yard, ordered U.S.S. Shenandoah, commanded by Captain Daniel B. Ridgely, and U.S.S. Ethan Allen, commanded by Acting Master Pennell, to search for C.S.S. Florida, under Commander Maffitt. Two days before, the commerce raider had destroyed two ships near New York, and now was reported to be "bound for the Provincetown mackeral fleet." The recent exploits of Lieutenant Read in C.S.S. Clarence, Tacony, and Archer had created great concern as to the safety of even New England waters.
The activity of Florida reinforced these fears, which had already been expressed to Lincoln in a resolution urging "the importance and necessity of placing along the coast a sufficient naval and military force to protect the commerce of the country from piratical depradations of the rebels. . . ." On 7 July the President had requested Secretary Welles to "do the best in regard to it which you can. . . ."
Assistant Secretary Fox wrote Rear Admiral Farragut, congratulating him upon "the final opening of the Mississippi" through the Union victories at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. "You smashed in the door [at New Orleans] in an unsurpassed movement and the success above became a certainty. . . . Your last move past Port Hudson has hastened the downfall of the Rebs."
U.S.S. New London, commanded by Lieutenant Commander G. H. Perkins, en route from Donaldsonville to New Orleans, was taken under fire and disabled by Confederate artillery at White Hall Point. Perkins went to Donaldsonville to obtain troops to prevent the ship's capture. While Farragut commended Perkins' handling of the ship, he informed him that "the principle was wrong--a commander should never leave his vessel under such circumstances."
Commander Bulloch informed Secretary Mallory that he was going to sell the bark Agrippina, which had been purchased initially to take stores and armament to C.S.S. Alabama at Terceira (see 28 July 1862). During the year she had made three voyages but had lost contact with Captain Semmes, the unresting commerce raider, and it would be too costly to maintain her as a tender.
Additional Information:
The Battle of Williamsport, Maryland. (MD004) (Gettysburg Campaign [June-July 1863]).
The Battle of Fort Wagner, South Carolina. (SC005) (Operations Against the Defenses of Charleston [April-September 1863]).
(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.)