Jan. 9,1861 Mississippi secedes from the Union
Jan.20, 1861 Mississippi troops occupy Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island
Sept. 17, 1861 Ship Island evacuated by Mississippi troops
Dec. 3, 1861 Union troops occupy Fort Massachusetts
Dec. 31, 1861 Union naval and army units begin raids on the Gulf Coast
Mar. 8, 1862 Skirmish at Mississippi City
Apr. 3, 1862 Skirmish at Biloxi
Apr. 4, 1862 Skirmish at Pass Christian
Apr. 6, 1862 Battle of Shiloh, north of Corinth Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston against Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant A Johnston killed, succeeded by Gen. RG.T. Beauregard
Apr. 7, 1862 Battle of Shiloh continues A Beauregard withdraws to Corinth A Confederates surrender Island No. 1 0 on the Mississippi River to a Union amphibious force commanded by Gen. John Pope
Apr. 24, 1862 Flag Officer David G. Farragut, USN, sails up the Mississippi River, passes Forts Jackson and St. Phillips, which guard the southern approaches to New Orleans, and destroys the southern fleet. New Orleans surrenders. Baton Rouge surrenders soon afterward
Apr. 29,1862 Union siege operations against Corinth begin. Union Gen. Henry W. Halleck is in command; Grant is second in command
May 9, 1862 Battle at Farmington in north Mississippi, above Corinth
May 12-13, 1862 Commander of Union naval flotilla demands that the city of Natchez surrender. The mayor, saying that he has no authority to do so, refuses
May 1 6, 1862 Grand Gulf shelled by Union naval task force of six gunboats led by Commander S. Phillips Lee
May 1 8, 1862 Lee’s task force anchors below Vicksburg; he calls on city to surrender
May 29,1862 Beauregard evacuates Corinth
May 30, 1862 Halleck occupies Corinth
June 4, 1862 Confederates evacuate Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi above Memphis, TN
June 6, 1862 Memphis surrenders
June 10, 1862 Halleck breaks up his 120,000-man army at Corinth; Gen. Don Carlos Buell sent east to Chattanooga; Gen. Pope transferred to Virginia; Gen. William T Sherman occupies Memphis
June II, 1862 Halleck leaves Corinth for Washington; Grant resumes command
June 22, 1862 Union raid on Pass Christian on the coast
June 27, 1862 Jefferson Davis replaces Beauregard with Gen. Braxton Bragg; Bragg transfers troops to Chattanooga by rail; Gen. Earl Van Dorn sent to Vicksburg; Two of Van Dorn’s divisions left at Tupelo under Gen. Sterling Price
June 28, 1862 With eight ships, Farragut heads up the Mississippi River from south of Vicksburg, bombarding the city and passing its batteries; Soldiers under the command of Gen. Thomas Williams, who had left Baton Rouge on June 7-9, land and begin work on a canal across De Soto Point, opposite Vicksburg
July 1, 1862 Battle at Booneville; Cavalry battle between units commanded by Union Col. Philip H. Sheridan and Confederate Gen. James R. Chalmers; Since the fall of Corinth, the Federals had sought to maintain control throughout northeastern Mississippi by keeping its cavalry on the move in the region; Union fleet commanded by Flag Officer Charles H. Davis reaches Young’s Point from Memphis
July 14, 1862 Confederate ram Arkansas, commanded by Lt. Isaac N. Brown, completed at the Yazoo City Confederate naval yard, sails out of Liverpool and down the Yazoo River
July 15, 1862 Engagement between combined Union fleets, both Davis’ and Farragut’s, and the Arkansas; The Arkansas ties up in front of Vicksburg
July 15-16, 1862 Union fleet descends the river, attempting to but failing to destroy the Arkansas
July 22, 1862 Union attack on the Arkansas – by the ironclad Essex and the ram Queen of the West – fails
July 24,1862 Farragut’s fleet and Williams’ infantry withdraw to Baton Rouge and New Orleans
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