1861:  
Skirmish at Sandy Hook, Maryland


1862:  
Confederates invade Kentucky

Carter Stevenson [CS] appears at the entrance to the Cumberland Gap in eastern Tennessee.

George McClellan completes the evacuation of Harrison's Landing, ending the Peninsula Campaign. His men land at Aquia Creek, VA and Alexandria, VA, within the week, but most are reassigned to John Pope's Army of Virginia

Don Carlos Buell orders William "Bull" Nelson to assume command of federal forces in Kentucky.

Brigadier General Charles Stone is released from prison in New York.

Bombardment of Corpus Christi, Texas by Union forces

Action at Lone Jack, Missouri

Skirmishes near Corinth and at Horn Lake Creek, Mississippi

Skirmish at Wire Bridge, West Virginia

Skirmish at Meriwether's Ferry, Tennessee


1863:  
Chickamauga Campaign begins (continues until September 22)

Skirmish at Harrison's Landing, Arkansas

Skirmish at Falls Church, Virginia


1864:  
Skirmish at Richland Creek, Arkansas

Skirmish near Columbia, Missouri

Confederate General John Chambliss is killed
Confederate General John Chambliss is killed during a cavalry charge at Deep Bottom, Virginia—one of the sieges of Petersburg.

Union General Ulysses S. Grant had bottled the army of Confederate General Robert E. Lee behind a perimeter that stretched from Petersburg to the Confederate capital at Richmond, 20 miles north. By June 1864, the armies had settled into trench warfare, with little movement of the lines. In August, Grant sought to break the stalemate by attacking the Southern defenses near Richmond.

In an attempt to regain control of a section of trenches breached by the Yankees, the Confederates counterattacked, and Chambliss was killed. His body was recovered by a former West Point classmate, Union General David Gregg, who made a surprising discovery: a detailed map of the Richmond defenses. Gregg gave the plan to Union topographical engineers, who then looked for a way to copy and distribute the map through the army's command structure. Using a new photographic technique known as Margedant's Quick Method, which did not require a camera, the engineers traced Chambliss's map and laid it over a sheet of photographic paper. The paper was then exposed to the sun's rays, which darkened the paper except under the traced lines.

The result was a mass-produced negative of the map, which was distributed to all Union officers in the area within 48 hours. It may not have helped the Union capture Richmond—that would take another seven months—but it may have reduced casualties by preventing foolhardy attacks on well-defended positions.



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