Thursday, April 20, 1865
| Previous Week | Previous Day | Next Day | Next Week |Army Events:
| Scout: | Bath County, VA | April 15 - 23, 1865 | Expedition from: | Blakely, AL | April 17 - 20, 1865 | Expedition to: | Brownsville, MS | April 19 - 23, 1865 | Expedition to: | Camden, SC | April 5 - 25, 1865 | Campaign: | Campaign of the Carolinas | January 1 - April 26, 1865 | Operations: | Canyon City Road, OR | January 1 - November 30, 1865 | Campaign: | Carolinas, Campaign of the | January 1 - April 26, 1865 | Raid from: | Chickasaw, AL | March 22 - April 24, 1865 | Expedition to: | Clinton, LA | March 20 - April 20, 1865 | Expedition from: | Eastern Tennessee | March 20 - April 27, 1865 | Operation: | Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory | April 1 - May 27, 1865 | Scout: | Fort Stanton, New Mexico Territory | April 12 - 25, 1865 | Expedition to: | Georgetown, GA | April 17 - 30, 1865 | Expedition from: | Georgetown, SC | April 5 - 25, 1865 | Expedition to: | Grand Caillou, LA | April 19 - 25, 1865 | Scout: | Highland County, VA | April 15 - 23, 1865 | Scouts: | Licking, MO | April 1 - 30, 1865 | Skirmish: | Macon, GA | April 20, 1865 | Raid: | Macon, GA | March 22 - April 24, 1865 | Capture of: | Macon, GA | April 20, 1865 | Expedition from: | Memphis, TN | April 19 - 23, 1865 | Skirmish: | Mimm's Mills, GA | April 20, 1865 | Campaign: | Mobile, AL | March 17 - May 4, 1865 | Skirmish: | Montpelier Springs, AL | April 20, 1865 | Operation: | Northern Alabama | January 31 - April 24, 1865 | Expedition to: | Pelton's Plantation, LA | April 19 - 25, 1865 | Scout: | Pocohontas County, WV | April 15 - 23, 1865 | Scout: | Randolph County, WV | April 15 - 23, 1865 | Skirmish: | Rocky Creek Bridge, GA | April 20, 1865 | Raid: | Selma, AL | March 22 - April 24, 1865 | Expedition to: | Southwestern Virginia | March 21 - April 25, 1865 | Skirmish: | Spring Hill, GA | April 20, 1865 | Raid: | Stoneman's Raid, TN | March 21 - April 25, 1865 | Expedition from: | Terre Bonne, LA | April 19 - 25, 1865 | Skirmish: | Tobesofkee Creek, GA | April 20, 1865 | Expedition to: | Union Springs, AL | April 17 - 30, 1865 | Raid: | Western North Carolina | March 21 - April 25, 1865 | Raid: | Wilson's Raid | March 22 - April 24, 1865 |
| Appointment: | Brevet Brigadier General Guy V. Henry, 40th Massachusetts Infantry, USA, assumes command of the Federal South Sub-District of the Plains | ||
(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:
Four of the five Lincoln assassination suspects arrested on the 17th were imprisoned on the monitors U.S.S. Montauk and Saugus which had been prepared for this purpose on the 15th and were anchored off the Washington Navy Yard in the Anacostia River. Mrs. Mary E. Surratt was taken into custody at the boarding house she operated after it was learned that her son was a close friend of John Wilkes Booth and that the actor was a frequent visitor at the boarding house. Mrs. Surratt was jailed in the Carroll Annex of Old Capitol Prison. Lewis Paine was also taken into custody when he came to Mrs. Surratt's house during her arrest. Edward Spangler, stagehand at the Ford Theater and Booth's aide, along with Michael O'Laughlin and Samuel B. Arnold, close associates of Booth during the months leading up to the assassination, were also caught up in the dragnet. O'Laughlin and Paine, after overnight imprisonment in the Old Capitol Prison, were transferred to the monitors at the Navy Yard. They were joined by Arnold on the 19th and Spangler on the 24th. George A. Atzerodt, the would-be assassin of Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Ernest Hartman Richter, at whose home Atzerodt was captured, were brought on board the ships on the 20th. João Celestino, Portuguese sea captain who had been heard to say on the 14th that Seward ought to. be assassinated, was transferred from Old Capitol Prison to Montauk on. the 25th. The last of the eight conspiracy suspects to be incarcerated on board. the monitors was David E. Herold. The prisoners were kept below decks under heavy guard and were manacled with both wrist and leg irons. In addition, their heads were covered with canvas hoods the interior of which were fitted with cotton pads that tightly covered the prisoners' eyes and ears. The hoods contained two small openings to permit breathing and the consumption of food. An added security measure was taken with Paine by attaching a ball and chain to each ankle.(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.)
Additional Information:
Arkansas becomes the 19th state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which abolishes slavery.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee, CSA, writes to Confederate President Jefferson Davis of his opposition to Davis' idea of transforming the struggle for Southern independence into one of guerrilla warfare.
(Source: The Chronological Tracking Of The American Civil War Per The Offical Records Of The War of the Rebellion pp. 1-336. Ronald A. Mosocco.)