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Monday, February 28, 2011

28 February, 1862: Friday

Union - Government/Miliarty
In Washington, President Lincoln meets again with GEneral McClellan. Lincoln is informed that operations have not begun at Harper's Ferry because the canal boats sent north to form a pontoon bridge over the Potomac were too large for the locks.

Confederacy - Government/Civilian
Throughout the Confederacy it was a day of fasting and prayer, following a proclamation by President Davis.

President Davis writes General Joseph E. Johnston, who was in command of the main Confederate army in Virginia. He was aware that the enemy appeared to be concentrating on Johnson's front, and that the general believed his position could be turned. Davis directed Johnston to make sure that the heavy guns could be removed, along with stores, and that lines of retreat be planned. "Recent disasters have depressed the weak, and are depriving us of the aid of the wavering. Traitors show the tendencies heretofore concealed, and the selfish grow clamourous for local,and personal, interests. At such an hour, the wisdom of the trained, and the steadiness of the brave, possess a double value."

Union - Military
Missouri

Union forces under John Pope move south along the west shore of the Mississippi from Commerce toward New Madrid, Missouri. Confederate batteries protect the Mississippi River at Island No. 10 north of New Madrid on both the Missouri and Eastern sides.

Arkansas
There is a skirmish at Osage Springs, Arkansas, near Fayetteville, where another Union colunm is threatening.

Bibliography
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865. E.B. Long with Barbara Long, De Capo, 1971

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