Wednesday, 17 May 1865
Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant appoints Major General Philip H. Sheridan commander of all Federal troops west of the Mississippi River and south of the Arkansas River. Sheridan’s appointment causes great resentment among many Southerners because of his wanton destruction in the Shenandoah Valley and his professed hatred of Confederate Virginians.
According to Union Major General James H. Wilson, "There are three or four good boats on the Apalachicola capable of carrying, between them, 350 tons of freight all the year round. If you can deliver that amount of freight every six days at Apalachicola, I can therefore get it to my command. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will make arrangements to send me hay and oats by that line."
General Order 95, issued this morning from Washington, DC, abolishes the military division of West Florida. The District of Key West and the Tortugas will now constitute the Department of the Gulf, Major General Edward R. S. Canby commanding. Major General Nathaniel T. Banks is relieved of his command of the Department of the Gulf.
The Confederate troops in Florida surrender to Federal Brevet Brigadier General Israel Vogdes.
The escape of the ram CSS Stonewall from Ferrol, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, is reported which created a great deal of excitement at the time, but did not lead to battle. The ironclad put into Havana on the 11th without having spoken a single Union ship enroute from the Canary Islands. Upon learning of the Stonewall's arrival, Rear Admiral Cornelius K. Stribling, commanding the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, dispatchs a squadron, led by USS Powhatan and commanded by Commander Reed Werden, to cruise off Havana and engage the Confederate ram when she departs. Captain T. J. Page, the Stonewall's commander, however, learning of the collapse of the Confederacy, delivered the ship over to the Governor General of Cuba and in turn received $16,000--the amount of money Page required to pay off his officers and crew. Subsequently the ship was turned over to the United States and was ultimately sold to Japan.
After weathering an earlier typhoon, the CSS Shenandoah encounters a second less violent blow. "The weather continued so threatening that it looked impossible for the Shenandoah to get north of the parallel of 45, but the last gale, like its predecessor, had worked to the westward, and the ship began to make her northing again..." her commander, Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell wrote. "On the 17th of May we were north of the parallel of 45 and the weather, though cold, looked more settled, and we took a long breath."
Lieutenant General Hiram U. Grant appoints Major General Philip H. Sheridan commander of all Federal troops west of the Mississippi River and south of the Arkansas River. Sheridan’s appointment causes great resentment among many Southerners because of his wanton destruction in the Shenandoah Valley and his professed hatred of Confederate Virginians.
According to Union Major General James H. Wilson, "There are three or four good boats on the Apalachicola capable of carrying, between them, 350 tons of freight all the year round. If you can deliver that amount of freight every six days at Apalachicola, I can therefore get it to my command. I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will make arrangements to send me hay and oats by that line."
General Order 95, issued this morning from Washington, DC, abolishes the military division of West Florida. The District of Key West and the Tortugas will now constitute the Department of the Gulf, Major General Edward R. S. Canby commanding. Major General Nathaniel T. Banks is relieved of his command of the Department of the Gulf.
The Confederate troops in Florida surrender to Federal Brevet Brigadier General Israel Vogdes.
The escape of the ram CSS Stonewall from Ferrol, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, is reported which created a great deal of excitement at the time, but did not lead to battle. The ironclad put into Havana on the 11th without having spoken a single Union ship enroute from the Canary Islands. Upon learning of the Stonewall's arrival, Rear Admiral Cornelius K. Stribling, commanding the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, dispatchs a squadron, led by USS Powhatan and commanded by Commander Reed Werden, to cruise off Havana and engage the Confederate ram when she departs. Captain T. J. Page, the Stonewall's commander, however, learning of the collapse of the Confederacy, delivered the ship over to the Governor General of Cuba and in turn received $16,000--the amount of money Page required to pay off his officers and crew. Subsequently the ship was turned over to the United States and was ultimately sold to Japan.
After weathering an earlier typhoon, the CSS Shenandoah encounters a second less violent blow. "The weather continued so threatening that it looked impossible for the Shenandoah to get north of the parallel of 45, but the last gale, like its predecessor, had worked to the westward, and the ship began to make her northing again..." her commander, Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell wrote. "On the 17th of May we were north of the parallel of 45 and the weather, though cold, looked more settled, and we took a long breath."
