Sunday, January 13

This week in the Civil War: Jan. 13, 1863

Arkansas skirmishing persists, troop movements reported in the East

Skirmishes continue in Arkansas this week 150 years ago in the Civil War, a week after major fighting in the region. The skirmishing follows a Union victory over Confederate forces garrisoned at Fort Hindman in Arkansas during fighting Jan. 9-11, 1863. The skirmishing takes place in spots including Lick Creek and DeValls Bluff and Frog Bayou in the days after the major battle. But such small-scale engagements pose little significance in the larger scope of the war. Skirmishes would continue sporadically in Arkansas throughout the coming months of the war. Meanwhile, this week brings attention in the North to the fact that hundreds of thousands of soldiers are expected to finish their service and be eligible to leave the Union army by May. That report in Northern newspapers the second week of January prompts speculation in Richmond, Va., capital of the Confederacy, that the Union may seek to employ freed blacks for military service. Eventually in March 1863, President Abraham Lincoln will be prompted to sign his government's first Conscription Act. Also this week, Northern newspapers quote an Associated Press report as saying there are signs the Union's Army of the Potomac is again "in motion." The reports indicate Union Gen. Ambrose Burnside's troops are again afoot in northern Virginia. But details are sketchy and the report raises worries in the Confederacy that a renewed attempt may be afoot by the Union to advance toward Richmond.


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