What Happened in 1864

Confederate Secret Service Manufactures Coal Torpedoes

The coal torpedo was invented by Capt. Thomas Edgeworth Courtenay of the Confederate Secret Service. During the Civil War, the term torpedo was... Read more

Oscar Wilde Attends the Portora Royal School for Boys

We know something of Oscar Wilde's time at Portora from surviving records and from contemporaries. When Ocsar enrolled at Portora in February 1864,... Read more

Confederate Spy David Dodd Hanged

Arrest and trial On December 29, 1863, Dodd was stopped by a Union sentry in west Little Rock, near Ten Mile House on Stagecoach Road, and was... Read more

Battle of Dandridge

Description: Union forces under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke advanced on Dandridge, Tennessee, near the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad, on January... Read more

Battle of Fair Garden

Description: Since the Battle of Dandridge, the Union cavalry had moved to the south side of the French Broad River and had disrupted Confederate... Read more

Henry James' First Short Story "A Tragedy of Error" Is Published

A Tragedy of Error is the title of a short story by American writer Henry James, his first, written at the age of 21 and published anonymously in... Read more

Battle of Meridian

Description: From Vicksburg, Mississippi, Sherman launched a campaign to take the important railroad center at Meridian and, if the situation was... Read more

Battle of Olustee - Union Fails to Take Florida

Description: In February 1864, the commander of the Department of the South, Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, launched an expedition into Florida to... Read more

Battle of Okolona

Description: From Vicksburg, Mississippi, Sherman launched a campaign to take the important railroad center at Meridian, Mississippi, and if the... Read more

Anna Elinor Jones Imprisoned on Confederate Spy Accusations

Jones was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and educated in the common schools. Following the start of the Civil War in early 1861, she left home... Read more

Battle of Walkerton - the Dahlgren Affair

Description: On February 28, Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick left his encampment at Stevensburg with 4,000 picked men to raid Richmond. Col. Ulric... Read more

Great Sheffield Flood

The Great Sheffield Flood, also known as the Great Inundation, was a flood that devastated parts of Sheffield, England, on 11 March 1864, when the... Read more

Battle of Fort De Russy

Other Names: None Location: Avoyelles Parish Campaign: Red River Campaign (1864) Date(s): March 14, 1864 Principal Commanders: Brig.... Read more

Battle of Elkin's Ferry - Confederates Unable to Prevent Union River Crossing

Description: During the expedition, Union forces sought a ford to cross the Little Missouri River because other roads were impassible. They reached... Read more

Battle of Mansfield - Confederates Halt Red River Campaign

Little attention has been paid nationally to the Battle of Mansfield or the Red River Campaign, perhaps because it was the last decisive... Read more

Battle of Prairie D'Ane

Description: On April 10, Maj. Gen. Fred Steele’s Union forces, combined with Brig. Gen. John M. Thayer’s division, marched south from the... Read more

Battle of Pleasant Hill - Confederate Attack Fails

Description: By April 1864, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s Red River Expedition had advanced about 150 miles up Red River. Maj. Gen. Richard... Read more

Battle of Blair's Landing

Other Names: Pleasant Hill Landing Location: Red River Parish Campaign: Red River Campaign (1864) Date(s): April 12-13, 1864 Principal... Read more

Battle of Fort Pillow - Controversy Surrounds Massacre

Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history. Read more

Battle of Plymouth - Confederates Retake Union Forts

Description: In a combined operation with the CSS ram Albemarle, Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. R.F. Hoke, attacked the Federal garrison at... Read more

Battle of Poison Spring - Black Troops Massacred

Description: Dwindling supplies for his army at Camden forced Maj. Gen. Fred Steele to send out a foraging party to gather corn that the... Read more

Battle of Monett's Ferry

The Battle of Monett's Ferry was fought on April 23, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces. The Union army was led by Nathaniel P. Banks. They... Read more

Battle of Marks' Mills - Confederates Rout Union Forces

The Battle of Marks' Mills (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Marks' Mill) occurred on April 25, 1864, in Cleveland County, Arkansas as part... Read more

Battle of Jenkins' Ferry

Description: Maj. Gen. Fred Steele’s forces retreated from Camden after being mauled at Marks’ Mills and Poison Spring. On the afternoon of April... Read more

Charles Dickens publishes Our Mutual Friend

Our Mutual Friend (written in the years 1864–65) is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is in many ways one of his most sophisticated... Read more