Portal:American Civil War/This week in American Civil War history/53

December 26
1861 - Chustenahlah - Confederate commander Douglas H. Cooper used his mostly Texas troops to defeat pro-Union Native Americans in what was known as Indian Territory, forcing the flight of the last band of 9,000 to Kansas in bitter cold and snow in what became known as the "Trail of Blood on the Ice"

December 27
1862 - Chickasaw Bayou - Sherman's Army of the Tennessee pushed their lines forward through Yazoo River swamps toward the strongly defended Walnut Hills of Vicksburg, Mississippi

December 28
1861 - Battle of Mount Zion Church - Benjamin M. Prentiss led a battalion-sized Union force of mounted infantry and sharpshooters into Boone County; at first surprised by the strength of local resistance, Prentiss's men smashed Confederate locals with three charges, ending Rebel recruiting activities in the region

December 29
1862 - Battle of Chickasaw Bayou - William T. Sherman withdrew after a frontal assault by his Army of the Tennessee was repulsed with heavy casualties; this Confederate victory frustrated Ulysses S. Grant's attempts to take Vicksburg by direct approach.

1863 - Mossy Creek - William T. Martin and his Confederate cavalry saw an opportunity to attack the Union outpost at Talbott's Station in Jefferson County, Tennessee, but quick response by Union commander Samuel D. Sturgis prevented disaster

December 31
1862 - Cape Hatteras - The USS Monitor, the first turreted ironclad warship, was swamped by high waves while under tow by USS Rhode Island and sank off Hatteras Island, North Carolina

1862 - Murfreesboro - In the third major battle, after Fort Donelson and Shiloh, in which an early morning attack caught a Union army by surprise, successive attacks by Confederate corps under William J. Hardee and Leonidas Polk collapsed the Union right, forcing defenders into a small defensive pocket

1862 - Parker's Cross Roads - Union brigades under Cyrus Dunham and John W. Fuller attempted to surround Forrest's cavalry after its successful railroad raid at Jackson, Tennessee; "Charge 'em both ways," ordered Forrest