Aaron's Civil War Travels

06/02/2026

Today in the Civil War June 2

1861-P.G.T. Beauregard takes command of Confederate forces in in northern Virginia.
1862-Skirmish, Woodstock, Shenandoah County Virginia.
1862-Skirmish, Strasburg, Shenandoah County Virginia.
1862-Skirmish, Tom’s Brook, Shenandoah County Virginia.
1862-James Andrews escapes Swims Jail, Chattanooga. He is recaptured the next day.
1863-Skirmish, near Strasburg, Shenandoah County Virginia.
1864-Ordered to pursue and destroy General Nathan Bedford Forrest, General John Sturgis leaves Memphis Tennessee with a force of 8,100 men.
1864-Union General Ulysses S. Grant prepared for a major assault along the entire Confederate front. He attacked the next day.
1865-The last Confederate surrender in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.

06/01/2026

Today in the Civil War June 1

1861-Skirmish at Fairfax Court House, Virginia.
1862-Jefferson Davis replaces wounded Army of Northern Virginia commander Joseph E. Johnston with Robert E. Lee.
1862-Skirmish, Mt. Carmel Church, Shenandoah County Virginia.
1862-Robert E. Lee issue the first orders bearing the name Army of Northern Virginia.
1863-Ambrose Burnside orders the Chicago Times to close because of the paper's anti-Lincoln rhetoric.
1864-Skirmish at Allatoona Pass Georgia.
1864-Don Carlos Buell resigns his commission.
1864-The Battle of Cold Harbor began when Confederate troops attacked Union troops a few miles from Richmond.
1864-Cavalry troops under General Samual D. Sturgis left Memphis in search of Confederate commander Nathan Bedford Forrest.

05/31/2026

Today in the Civil War May 31

1861-P. G. T. Beauregard ordered to assume command of the Alexandria Virginia Line.
1862-[May 31-June 1] Battle of Seven Pines [US]/Battle of Fair Oaks [CS]
Virginia.
1862-Joseph E. Johnston severly wounded during the Battle of Fair Oaks Virginia.
1862-Skirmish near, Front Royal, Warren County Virginia.
1864-[May 31-June 12] Battle of Cold Harbor Virginia.
Robert E. Lee [CS] defeats General Ulysses S. Grant [US] and General George Meade [US].
1864-A small convention in Cleveland of Republican abolitionists unhappy with Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and other things, nominates John C. Fremont for president.
1864-Combat at Bethesda Church, Virginia.

05/30/2026

https://youtu.be/J5JxH113ZQs?si=BnXxFf9nyKJk_Crx

A little park along Interstate 81 in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The park features monuments to both Lee and Jackson, as well as monuments that were remove...

05/30/2026

Today in the Civil War May 30

1861-At a convention in Knoxville, a group of Unionists denounce Tennessee's secessionist actions.
1861-Union troops occuppied Grafton, Virginia.
1862-The Confederates abandoned the city of Corinth, Mississippi. Union troops under Henry Halleck entered the deserted city.
1862-Confederates evacuate Corinth Mississippi.
1862-Action, Front Royal, Warren County Virginia.
1863-Robert E. Lee completes the restructuring of the Army of Northern Virginia, creating three corps under James Longstreet, Dick Ewell and A. P. Hill.
1864-Confederates attacked Union troops at Bethesda Church, Virginia.
1864-Skirmish, Newtown, Frederick County Virginia.

05/29/2026

Today in the Civil War May 29

1862-P.T. Beauregard began moving troops out of Corinth, Mississippi. The evacuation was completed the next day.
1863-Ambrose Burnside offers his resignation over the Vallandigham affair. Lincoln refuses.
1864-Union troops reached Totopotomoy Creek, Virginia. The Union troops were turned away by the Rebels.
1864-Confederates capture wagon train at Salem, Arkansas.
1865-Andrew Johnson grants a Presidential pardon to those who directly or indirectly aided the Southern war effort. He restored property rights to the South with the exception of slaves. Unlike Lincoln's declaration in December, 1863, Johnson creates an exception for property owners whose holdings total $20,000 dollars or more.
1864-Skirmish, Newtown, Frederick County Virginia.
1865-President Andrew Johnson appoints William Holden as provisional governor of North Carolina, a blueprint for his plans of Presidential Reconstruction. Holden was instructed to call a constitutional convention of men who had signed an oath of allegiance to the United States.

05/28/2026

Today in the Civil War May 28

1861-Robert Anderson assumes command of the Department of Kentucky. Irvin McDowell assumes command of the Department of Northeastern Virginia.
1861-Confederates seize the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Point of Rocks to Cumberland Maryland.
1862-Skirmish, Charles Town, Jefferson County West Virginia.
1863-The 54th Massachusetts Infantry left Boston for combat in the South.
1864-Battle of Dallas Georgia.
1864-Skirmish near Jacksonville, Florida.

05/27/2026

Today in the Civil War May 27

1862-Battle of Hanover Court House Virginia.
1863-[May 27-July 9] Siege of Port Hudson Louisiana. After attempting to storm the walls of Port Hudson, Nathaniel Banks digs in for a siege.
1863-Chief Justice Roger B. Taney issued ex parte Merryman to challenge the authority of Abraham Lincoln and the military to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland.
1864-Battle of Picketts Mill Georgia.

05/26/2026

Today in the Civil War May 26

1862-Skirmish at Calico Rock, Arkansas.
1863-[May26-July4] Siege of Vicksburg Mississippi.
Date of the start of siege varies from May 18 - May 26.
1863-Confederate Naval flag introduced by Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory.
1864-Territory of Montana is formed from the Territory of Idaho.
1865-Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered. He was one of the last general of the Confederate Army to surrender. Smith officially laid down his arms on June 2 in Galveston.

05/25/2026

Today in the Civil War May 25

1861-John Merryman, a vocal secessionist, was arrested in Cockeysville, Maryland. He appealed for his release under a writ of habeas corpus. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln had suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington and Philadelphia on April 27. The move was made to give the military the necessary power to silence dissenters and rebels.
1862-First Battle of Wi******er Virginia,
Stonewall Jackson [CS] defeats Nathaniel Banks [US].
1862-Halleck arrives outside of Corinth Mississippi. It has taken him 26 days to march 20 miles, virtually unopposed.
1863-Clement Vallandigham is banished to the Confederacy for his "pro-Confederate remarks." The exchange took place at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
1863-Major General Dick Ewell's returns to the Army of Northern Virginia following the amputation of his leg after the battle of Groveton (Second Bull Run).
1864-Battle of New Hope Church Georgia.
"Fighting Joe" Ho**er runs into John Bell Hood's entrenched line in Paulding County.