October 16, 1862

October 16, 1862:  At Gainesville, Texas, Confederate authorities have been sweeping the region northeast of Dallas for two weeks, arresting nearly 200 men of anti-slavery and anti-secession sentiments for failure to report for the military draft.  On October 13, seven leaders of the Union League are condemned to death by a hastily-assembled military tribunal and hanged.  But an irate mob seizes 14 more and hangs them.  Troops from the 11^th Texas Cavalry round up more civilians, and another 19 are hanged.  Five more are hanged soon after. 

The Great Hanging, Gainesville, Texas, Oct. 1862

---Near Lexington, Kentucky, a force of 3,000 Rebel cavalry and six cannon under Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan overtake and attack 350 Federal cavalry of the 3^rd Ohio Cavalry, and put them to rout.

---Brig. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, of the Army of the Potomac, pushes his troops forward in a reconnaissance toward the town of Charles Town, Virginia.  After a hot exchange of artillery fire, the Confederates abandon the town and Hancock takes possession.