April 16, 1862

April 16, 1862: In Corinth, Mississippi, Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard issues this proclamation of thanks and congratulations to his army:

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Corinth, Miss., April 16, 1862.

Soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi:
You have bravely fought the invaders of your soil for two days in his own position. Fought your superior in numbers, in arms, in all the appliances of war. Your success has been signal. His losses have been immense, outnumbering yours in all save the personal worth of the slain. You drove him from his camps to the shelter of his iron-clad gunboats, which alone saved him from complete disaster. You captured his artillery, more than 25 flags and standards, and took over 3,000 prisoners.
You have done your duty. Your commanding general thanks you. Your countrymen are proud of your deeds on the bloody field of Shiloh; confident in the ultimate results of your valor.
Soldiers, untoward events saved the enemy from annihilation. His insolent presence still pollutes your soil, his hostile flag still flaunts before you. There can be no peace so long as these things are.
Trusting that God is with us, as with our fathers, let us seek to be worthy of His favor, and resolve to be independent or perish in the struggle.
G. T. BEAUREGARD,
General, Commanding.
—Within the last week, Pres. Lincoln has signed into law several bills concerning slavery, including one that forbids Union soldiers to return escaped slaves to their owners. Today, he signs a law that frees all 3,000 slaves in the District of Columbia. The black population spontaneously celebrate their emancipation in the streets of the capital.

—Pres. Davis, in Richmond, signs into the law the Conscription Act, requiring all able-bodied males up through age 35 to serve for three years in the Confederate Army. This act is extremely unpopular throughout the South.

—Eastern Theater, Peninsula Campaign: Skirmish at Lee’s Mills - Gen. George McClellan orders Gen. William "Baldy" Smith to attack a section of the Rebel fortifications around Yorktown, to take gun emplacements that could prevent further Union siege activity. Smith sends four companies of Vermont troops across the mill pond, who easily drive off the scanty Rebel picket line. McClellan will not authorize Smith to do any more, and orders the Vermonters to be withdrawn. But Smith, on his own hook, sends across two whole regiments, the 4^th and 6^th Vermont. The 4^th crosses the mill dam easily, but the 6^th are fording upstream, and increasing Rebel fire, with the muddy ground, force them to retreat.