March 16, 1865
Confederates open fire on a Union working party near Union Battery 23 from Fort Mahone and the next battery to its left around 9:30 am and 10:10 am.
The 10th United States Colored Troops is relieved from duty at City Point and sent to the Army of the James.
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton visits the Army of the Potomac, traveling from Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia to the front at Petersburg, Virginia.
Union Fifth Corps holds a review for Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton at Humphreys’ Station, on the same field it used in a preliminary review on March 14.
General Edward O. C. Ord, commander of the Army of the James, hears firing north of the Chickahominy River. He sends Colonel Robert M. West and the cavalry division of the Army of the James north to patrol the southern bank of that river and try to contact Sheridan’s Union cavalry on the north side.
General Philip H. Sheridan and his two divisions of cavalry end the day near Mangohick Church, Virginia, having skirmished with Confederate forces north of Richmond.
Jefferson Davis receives confidential notice of a joint resolution of the Virginia Legislature from March 6, 1865 which lawfully allows free Blacks and slaves to bear arms as soldiers in active military service.
James Longstreet, chasing after General Philip Sheridan’s Union cavalry, assures Robert E. Lee that Sheridan has no intention of attacking Richmond.
Confederate scouts inform authorities that the Union army has established a supply depot for Philip Sheridan at White house, Virginia.
Note: All “Today In The Petersburg Campaign” blog entries are used with permission from Ronald A. Mosocco’s Chronological Tracking of the American Civil War per the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. Order the book HERE.
Copyright © 1993, 1994 by Ronald A. Mosocco
Mentions of This Date at The Siege of Petersburg Online:
- LT: March 16, 1865 Charles Personius
- NP: March 31, 1865 The Roman Citizen (Rome, NY): 15th NY Eng Letter, March 18, 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #4: Itineraries of the Army of the Potomac, Sheridan’s Cavalry Command, and the Army of the James, January-April 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #7: Report of Bvt. Lieutenant Col Nathaniel Michler, Acting Chief Engineer, AotP, March 11-18, 1865
- OR XLVI P1 #23: Reports of Asst. Surg. Charles Smart, Medical Inspector, II/AotP, Mar 1-Apr 30, 1865