1862:  
Confederates on Island No. 10 surrender to Union forces

Skirmishes at Medicine Creek and Moscow, and near Warrensburg, Missouri

Following a disasterous second day at Pittsburg Landing, Confederates withdraw to Corinth, Mississippi


1863:  
Skirmish on the Millwood Road in Virginia

Skirmish in Saint Francis County, Arkansas


1864:  
Skirmish at Paint Rock Bridge, Alabama

Skirmish at Winchester, Virginia

Battle of Sabine Crossroads

By a vote of 38 to 6, the U. S. Senate approves the 13th Amendment and sends it to the states for ratification

April 8, 1864

Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana
The Red River campaign of Union General Nathaniel Banks grinds to a halt when Confederate General Richard Taylor routs Banks' army at Mansfield, Louisiana.

The Red River campaign, which had begun a month earlier, was an attempt by the Union to invade Confederate Texas from Shreveport, Louisiana. Banks, accompanied by a flotilla on the Red River, would move northwest across the state and rendezvous at Shreveport with a force under General Frederick Steele moving from Little Rock, Arkansas.

The slow-moving Banks approached Mansfield and opted to take a shorter road to Shreveport than one that ran along the Red River. Not only was the road narrow, it was far away from the gun support offered by the Union flotilla on the river. Banks' troops ran into Taylor's force and a skirmish erupted. At 4:00 p.m., Taylor ordered an all-out assault on the Yankees. The Rebels withered a heavy fire before breaking the Union lines and sending the Federals in a disorganized retreat. The Yankees fell back three miles before reinforcements stopped the Confederate advance.

Banks suffered 113 men killed, 581 wounded, and 1,541 missing, while Taylor had about 1,500 total casualties. But Banks was now in retreat, and the Red River campaign was failing. Taylor attacked again the next day, but this time Banks' men held the Confederates at bay. Banks was unnerved, though, and he began to retreat back down the Red River without penetrating into Texas.



1865:  
Engagement at Appomattox Station, Virginia: Cavalry under Phillip Sheridan strikes the rail depot south of the Appomattox Court House, driving Rebels back and capturing essential supplies


Primary sources:
Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion ; by Frederick Dyer;
The Civil War Day By Day: An Almanac 1861-1865 by E. B. Long with Barbara Long;
National Archives Guide Index

On this date, Bill Rodman celebrated his second full month of gainful unemployment.