Union Naval Action
North Carolina
Off Cape Hatteras, Federal vessels open fire on Fort Hatteras. The fort suffers severe damage and eventually surrenders. Casualties are light on both sides, however.
The fall of Fort Hatteras, along with that of Fort Clark, seals off an important blockading route. This successful invasion of North Carolina/Confederate soil by the Federals has a propaganda effect "out of all proportion to its military value."
Missouri
There is a skirmish at Ball's Mills, Missouri.
Virginia
There is a skirmish at Bailey's Cross Roads, Virginia.
St. Louis, Missouri
Union General Nathaniel Lyon, killed at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, is celebrated in St. Louis with pomp and circumstance. He was the first Union general to be killed in the war. (According to Wikipedia: In the confused aftermath of the Union retreat from Wilson's Creek, Lyon's body was mistakenly left behind on the battlefield and discovered by Confederate forces. It was briefly buried on a Union soldier's farm outside Springfield until it could be returned to Lyon's relatives. Eventually the remains were interred at the family plot in Eastford, Connecticut, where an estimated crowd of 15,000 attended the funeral. A cenotaph stands in memory of Lyon in the Springfield National Cemetery, Missouri.)
Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971
No comments:
Post a Comment