This Month in the Civil War: Lincoln Inaugurated, Battles of Averasboro and Bentonville in North Carolina

From American Battlefield Trust March 2023 calendar.

MARCH 4, 1861

**  Abraham Lincoln inaugurated 16th President of the United States of America.

MARCH 7, 1862

**   Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, begins.

MARCH 16, 1865

Battle of Averasboro, North Carolina.

MARCH 17, 1863

Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia.

MARCH 19, 1865

Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina begins.

MARCH 23, 1862

**  First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia.

MARCH 5

**  Medal of Honor Day.

MARCH 26, 1862

**  Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory, begins.

MARCH 31, 1865

**   Battle of White Oak Road, Virginia.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in March: Averasboro, Bentonville, Glorieta Pass and White Oak Road

From the March 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

MARCH 16, 1865

**  Battle of Averasboro, North Carolina

MARCH 17, 1863

**  Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia

MARCH 19, 1865

Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, begins

MARCH 23, 1862

**  First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia; opening fight of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

MARCH 25   Medal of Honor Day

MARCH 26, 1862

**  Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory

MARCH 31, 1863

**  Battle of White Oak Road, Virginia

--Old Secesh

Battle of Valverde Re-enactment This Weekend-- Part 2

On February 16, 1862, the Confederate 5th Texas Mounted Volunteers headed south for Fort Craig, south of  Socorro, which had been built eight years earlier to protect civilians from Apache raids.  Union  Army Colonel Edward Canby stationed a battery of artillery and the Confederates withdrew.

Three days later they returned  to the north in an attempt to control the ford over the Rio Grande River at the town of Valverde.  The next day, February 21, 1862,  the two armies clashed along the river.  (The Rio Grande River is entirely in the state of New Mexico at this spot.  It does not form the boundary between the U.S. and Mexico as it dies in Texas.)

The battle ended in a tactical victory for the Confederates but they didn't capture Fort Craig.  Two days later, the Confederates easily defeated  the Union's 2nd New Mexico militia stationed in Socorro.  The capture of Santa Fe and Albuquerque followed, but the Confederates lost steam at the Battle of  Glorieta Pass southeast of Santa Fe.

Sibley and his Confederates returned to Texas.

--Old Secesh