Gen. George McClellan
April 20, 1862 – May 3, 1862
By Phil Kohn
Phil Kohn can be reached at USCW160@yahoo.com.
On April 20, 1862, U.S. Navy vessels bombard Forts Jackson and St. Philip, situated across from each other on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans, with the goal of taking the Crescent City. The bombardment is not particularly effective. In the West, Col. William Steele, hearing reports of Brig. Gen. Sibley’s detour to the west, moves the headquarters of his battalion of the 7th Texas Cavalry (the rear guard of the Army of New Mexico) to Doña Ana, about 7 miles north of Mesilla. He sends out scouting parties to look out for the arrival of Sibley’s troops.
In Richmond, Virginia, on April 21, the Confederate Congress passes the “Partisan Ranger Act,” which authorizes commissioned officers to raise groups of partisans behind Union lines.
Federal reinforcements arrive at Yorktown, Virginia, to join Maj. Gen. McClellan’s already huge Army of the Potomac as he continues to besiege — rather than attack — the small Confederate garrison.
On April 23, U.S. Flag Officer David Farragut — frustrated by his ships’ inability to reduce Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River by artillery bombardment and the impossibility of conducting land operations to get around them because of the swampy terrain — orders his Federal fleet to move past the two forts and head to New Orleans. In Confederate Arizona Territory, Capt. Sherod Hunter’s prisoners — Unionist miller Ammi White, Capt. William McCleave, of the 1st California Cavalry, and eight of his troopers — arrive at Doña Ana.
Despite valiant Confederate efforts to stop them, the Federal ships of Farragut’s fleet manage to sail past Forts Jackson and St. Philip on April 24. The achievement comes at a cost of vessels lost, but New Orleans — undefended — lies open ahead.
On April 25, U.S. Navy forces under Flag Officer David G. Farragut — without firing a shot — seize New Orleans. The next day U.S. Army troops under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler begin occupying the city (the largest in the Confederacy), which remains in Union hands for the remainder of the war. In the New Mexico Territory, Brig. Gen. Henry Sibley’s invasion force — after an excruciating trek 20 miles west, then 60 miles south through the unforgiving Magdalena Mountains, then 20 miles back east again, with stragglers continually set upon by hostile bands of Apaches — finally regains the Rio Grande, some 40 miles south of Fort Craig.
In North Carolina, the 450 Confederate troops at Fort Macon, after being besieged for a month, on April 26 surrender to Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside, commanding 17,000 Union soldiers. Riding in an ambulance ahead of his troops (who are strung out for 50 miles behind him), Brig. Gen. Henry Sibley arrives at Mesilla, Confederate Arizona, and immediately departs for Fort Bliss, in Texas. From the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory, Col. Stand Watie, commanding the Confederate 2nd Cherokee Mounted Rifles, launches a surprise attack on the Federal garrison at Neosho, Missouri. The result of the assault is inconclusive.
Seeing the inevitability of the surrender of Fort Jackson, on the Mississippi south of New Orleans, part of the Confederate garrison mutinies on April 27, and flees the fort. The main body of Sibley’s invasion force begins arriving in Mesilla, Confederate Arizona, with the bulk of the men arriving over the next three days. All are in poor shape. After resting in Mesilla, they continue their retreat, moving on to Fort Bliss, in Texas.
On April 28, both Forts Jackson and St. Philip are surrendered to Union authorities, thus ending any Confederate control of the lower Mississippi River.
Along the Tennessee River near Pittsburg Landing, Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck on April 29 continues to prepare his 100,000 Federal troops for an attack on the roughly 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Pierre Beauregard at Corinth, Mississippi.
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Brig. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson leads his Confederate troops on April 30 toward Staunton, Virginia, a trade, transportation and industrial hub in the Shenandoah Valley.
Princeton, in western Virginia, is occupied by a Federal force under Brig. Gen. Jacob Cox on May 1. At Yorktown, Virginia, Maj. Gen. George McClellan begins preparations to attack the city in the next several days. In the Trans-Mississippi West, Brig. Gen. James Blunt takes command of the Federal Dept. of Kansas. In Confederate Arizona, the roughly 400 men of the Second Battalion of the 7th Texas Cavalry, under the command of Col. William Steele, learn that they are to remain in the area until further orders are received. Their mission: “Hold the Territory.”
Faced by the overwhelming numbers of the Federal Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. John Magruder’s Confederate forces on May 3 evacuate Yorktown and begin pulling back through Williamsburg towards Richmond. In the Western Theater, Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck’s force from Tennessee heads slowly southward toward Corinth, Mississippi, where Gen. Beauregard’s Confederates are holed up. In the Far West, the last of the 1,250 survivors of Brig. Gen. Henry Sibley’s invasion force (of 2,515 originally) arrive at Doña Ana, Confederate Arizona. Once the last of the stragglers are fed, treated medically, and sent on their way, Col. Steele moves his five companies of 7th Texas Cavalry to a more-defensible position at Fort Fillmore, near Mesilla.
