CW - 150
The Civil War 150th Anniversary
Interesting facts, links, and suggested books for each month of the Civil War.
March 1863
This Month's Events
- 3 March. The U. S. Congress establishes the position of Chief Signal Officer, the beginning of the Signal Corps. Almost 3,000 men will serve in the corps during the war.
Congress also passes a conscription [draft] act today. It allows men to buy their way out of serving for $300, a much resented provision. - 8-16 March. Hoping to reestablish Confederate supremacy in eastern North Carolina, General Daniel Harvey Hill attacks New Bern, but is not able to retake it from the Union.
- 9 March. A Confederate raid led by Captain John S. Mosby (with only 29 men) swoops in on Fairfax Courthouse, Viginia, capturing Union General Edwin Stoughton in his nightshirt. In addition to General Stoughton, there are 2 other officers and 30 enlisted men captured as well as 58 horses. There are no Confederate casualties. Supposedly when told of the raid, Lincoln said that he could always create another brigadier general, "...but those horses cost $125 apiece!" Mosby's Rangers are on their way to becoming a legend and Mosby himself becomes the "Grey Ghost".
- 10 March. Lincoln offers amnesty to thousands of Union deserters if they will surrender and return to their units. By this time, the armies of both sides have massive desertion rates as the war drags on.
- 15 March. Major William G. Morris of the 37th N. C. writes home to Dallas again, this time from Virginia. He wants his family to invest in slaves or land.
- 18 March. In Salisbury, North Carolina, unable to buy food for their hungry families, about 50 to 75 women brandishing hatchets storm the warehouses of government agents and speculators and take flour and other supplies. Most are the wives of men away in the army. The local newspaper calls it the "Female Raid."
- 9 March David Schenck observes the scene of enlistment day in Lincolnton. "The Enrolling officer, under the Conscription Act, enrolled all citizens up to 40 years old, today at this place. It was a solemn occasion and much seriousness prevailed. There was no denunciation of the law but a deep feeling of sadness at its necessity," wrote the 28 year old Schenck. "Many families are left in a helpless condition. I have no heart to dwell on these necessary burthens - the history of this war will be one of many sorrows and sublime patriotism." Fine words, but Schenck himself managed to avoid military service throughout the war.
This Month's Fiction
Adult Fiction
Civil Blood by ISBN: 0670899976Publication Date: 2001-06-25After members of a child gang steal a dying Confederate major's uniform jacket from a smallpox ward in 1862 Richmond, Narcissa Powers, a young widowed nurse of means, and Judah Priest, an older free black healer, attempt to find them and prevent an epidemic. The murder of a slave boy connected with the hospital, visits to the major's family and others, and input from a British reporter and Narcissa's sister-in-law lead the pair to the truth. This third installment of McMillan's Civil War series (Dead March) is an exciting, authentic, and affecting depiction of wartime hardships made personal.
Children's Fiction
Across Five Aprils by Call Number: J HUNISBN: 9780425102411Publication Date: 1986-11-15This novel, based on the childhood of the author's grandfather, takes readers from the first shots fired at Fort Sumter to Lincoln's assassination as seen through the eyes of a Southern Illinois farm boy. Jethro Creighton is 9 when his close knit family learns that hostilities have broken out. As numerous male relatives go off to fight for the North and the South, and after his father falls ill, young Jethro takes responsibility for the family farm. With help from an older sister and neighboring farmers, he copes with attacks from local vigilantes, and he makes mature choices about a cousin who has deserted the army.
This Month's Non-Fiction
Adult Nonfiction
Gray Ghost by Call Number: 923.5 Mosby RAMISBN: 0813121353Publication Date: 1999-08-19The extraordinary life of Confederate guerrilla John Singleton Mosby defies belief. Mosby never had more than 400 irregulars under his command, yet his raids occupied an enemy force many times that number. Painstaking research, dramatic illustrations, and a useful bibliographic essay add to this absorbing biography.
Never Caught; Personal Adventures Connected with Twelve Successful Trips in Blockade-Running During the American Civil War, 1863-1864 by Call Number: 973.7 R N.C.ISBN: 1340850761Publication Date: 2015-09-01This book was originally published in England in 1867. Its author, "Captain Roberts," was the son of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, a British naval captain, and at one time commanded Queen Victoria's yacht. In later years he became commander of the entire Turkish navy. On leave from the British navy, he engaged in blockade running for fun and profit.
Voices from the Civil War : a documentary history of the great American conflict, edited by Milton Meltzer, pub. 1989, 203 p., call #: 973.7 Voi This collection of letters, diaries, memoirs, interviews, ballads, newspaper articles, and speeches depicts life and events during the four years of the Civil War. The eyewitness accounts and oral histories have all the passion, immediacy, and bias of the participant, and Meltzer's unobtrusive notes to each section and to each piece briefly introduce the setting and circumstances, producing a volume of interest to both older children and adults.