March 1
1861- The U.S. Congress refuses to consider Virginia's peace conference
proposals.
1864- Pres. Lincoln nominates Gen. Ulysses S. Grant for the newly created rank of
lieutenant general.
March 2
1861- The U.S. Congress passes the Morrill Tariff Act, a high protective tariff, long
opposed by the South.
1862- Polk abandons the Rebels' Mississippi River stronghold at Columbus, Ky.
1865- Sheridan destroys Early's remaining troops in the Shenandoah Valley at
Waynesboro, Va.
1867- U.S. Congress passes the Reconstruction Act, setting conditions for
reintegration of Southern states into the Union.
March 3
1862- Lincoln appoints Andrew Johnson military governor of Tennessee.
1863- The Lincoln and the U.S. Congress pass the first federal draft applicable to all
men between 20 and 45; exemptions are provided for by the payment of $300
or the hiring of a substitute.
1864- A Union cavalry raid on Richmond led by Brig Gen. Judson Kilpatrick and Col.
Ulric Dahlgren fails; Dahlgren is killed and incriminated in an assassination
plot against Jefferson Davis.
March 4
1861- Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated for his first term.
1864- Sherman's troops return to Vicksburg after a damaging, month-long raid on
Meridan, Miss.
- Civil government is restored in Louisiana.
1865- Lincoln is inaugurated for a second term.
March 5
1861- Lincoln's cabinet is announced: State- William H. Seward;
Treasury- Salmon P. Chase; Navy- Gideon Welles;
War- Simon Cameron; Interior- Caleb B. Smith
Attorney General- Edward Bates;
Postmaster General- Montgomery Blair.
1862- Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard assumes command of the
Confederate Army of the Mississippi.
March 6
1831- Philip Henry Sheridan (USA) is born in Albany, N.Y.
1861- The Confederate cabinet is completed: State- Robert Toombs;
War- Leroy P. Walker; Navy- Stephen R. Mallory
Treasury- Christopher G. Memminger;
Attorney General- Judah P. Benjamin;
Postmaster General- John H. Reagan.
- The Confederacy calls for 100,000 volunteers.
1862- Lincoln proposes to Congress the gradual, compensated emancipation of
border-state slaves.
- The Monitor , the first Federal ironclad, leaves New York.
March 7
1862- The raised Federal warship Merrimac ,converted to the Confederate ironclad
Virginia at Norfolk, is prepared for a trial run in Hampton Roads, Va.
- Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Ark., biggest battle of the West, begins.
1865- Hugh McCulloch replaces William Fessenden as U.S. Secretary of the
Treasury.
March 8
1862- Confederated lose the two-day Battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., ensuring Union
control of Missouri.
- The Virginia (Merrimac) enters Hampton Roads, destroying the U.S.S
Cumberland and damages two other Union warships.
1863- Grant abandons his attempts to bypass Vicksburg's river defenses via the
Canal and Lake Providence routes.
March 9
1862- Modern era of naval warfare begins as the ironclads Monitor and Merrimac
battle at Hampton Roads, Va.
March 10
1863- Pres. Lincoln issues a proclamation of amnesty to soldiers absent without
leave, if they report before April 1.
March 11
1861- The Confederacy adopts a permanent Constitution.
1862- Halleck is given command of all Federal forces in the West.
- Pres. Lincoln relieves George B. McClellan from his post as General-in-Chief
of the U.S. Armies. But, he retains command of the Army of the Potomac.
1865- Sherman reaches Fayetteville, N.C., and re-establishes contact with Federal
forces on the coast.
March 12
1862- A naval force occupies Jacksonville, Fla.
1864- Grant, promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, becomes General-in-Chief
of the U.S. armies.
- Red River campaign begins under Union Gen. Nathaniel Banks.
March 13
1863- Explosion at the Confederate Ordinance Laboratory in Richmond kills or
injures 69.
1865- The Confederate Congress authorizes the use of slaves as combat soldiers.
March 14
1862- Southern forces abandon New Madrid, Mo., opening the way for a Union
attack on Island No. 10 in the Mississippi.
- Burnside takes New Bern, N.C.
1863- Adm. Farragut leads his Union flotilla up the Mississippi at night, past the
batteries at Port Hudson, La.
March 15
1861- Montgomery Blair, alone among Lincoln's cabinet members, advises the
reinforcement of Anderson at Fort Sumter.
1863- In San Francisco, authorities seize the schooner J.M. Chapman, about to
depart with 20 alleged secessionists and 6 Dahlgren guns.
1864- Porter's Union flotilla reaches Alexandria, La., to spearhead the Red River
Campaign.
March 16
1862- Martial law is instituted by the U.S. in San Francisco in response to rumors
of possible attack.
1865- Federal troops restore order in New York City.
March 17
1862- Grant assumes command of the Federal army at Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn.
- Davis completes the reorganization of the Confederate cabinet, with Judah P.
Benjamin succeeding R.M.T. Hunter as Sec. of State, George W. Randolph
taking Benjamin's place as Sec. of War, and Thomas H. Watts replacing
Thomas Bragg as Attorney General.
1863- Grant's Yazoo Pass expedition is blocked at Rebel Fort Pemberton.
1864- Lt. Gen. Grant formally assumes command of the Armies of the U.S.
1865- Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby opens a Federal attack on Mobile.
March 18
1864- Sherman assumes command of the principal Union armies in the West.
1865- In the midst of contention with Pres. Davis, Confederate Congress adjourns
its last session
March 19
1861- In Texas, Forts Clark, Inge, and Lancaster are surrendered by Federal troops.
1865- Sherman repulses Johnston's attack at Bentonville, N.C., and the Rebels
retreat toward Raleigh.
March 20
1862- Stonewall Jackson pursues withdrawing Union troops toward Winchester, Va.
March 21
1861- Louisiana ratifies the Confederate Constitution.
1863- Sherman rescues Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter's ironclads, trapped in
Steel's Bayou, ending another attempt to reach Vicksburg's rear.
1865- Battle of Bentonville, N.C., is the last significant Confederate effort to halt
Sherman's advance.
March 22
1817- Braxton Bragg (CSA) is born in Warrenton, N.C.
1865- Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson launches a sweeping Federal cavalry raid into
Northern Alabama.
March 23
1862- First Battle of Kernstown, Va., marks the opening of the Shenandoah
campaign.
1864- Frederick Steele advances from Little Rock, Ark., to join the Union Red River
Campaign
1865- Sherman occupies Goldsboro, N.C.
March 24
1864- President Lincoln meets with U.S. Grant, General-in-Chief of the U.S.
Armies, at the White House.
March 25
1863- Burnside is appointed commander of the Department of the Ohio with orders
to operate eastern Tennessee.
1864- Nathaniel P. Banks assumes command of the Red River Campaign.
1865- Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon captures Fort Stedman at Petersburg but is forced
to retreat under heavy Federal counterattacks.
- Union troops begin siege of Mobile, Ala.
March 26
1863- West Virginia voters approve gradual emancipation of slaves.
March 27
1865- Pres. Lincoln meets with Generals Grant and Sherman and Adm. Porter
aboard the River Queen at City Point, Va.
- Sheridan rejoins the Army of the Potomac.
March 28
1818- Wade Hampton (CSA) is born in Charleston, S.C.
1863- The Confederate invasion of New Mexico is halted at the Battle of Glorieta.
March 29
1861- Lincoln's cabinet takes a stronger stand on holding Federal forces in the
South.
1862- A.S. Johnston reassembles Confederate Western forces at Corinth, Miss.
1865- Appomattox Campaign begins.
March 30
1864- Confederates attack Synder's Bluff, Miss.
March 31
1862- Pres. Lincoln recalls some of McClellan's troops to help protect Washington.
