BATTLE AT SHILOH CHURCH IN TENNESSEE
Federal forces under General Ulysses S. Grant came under attack today at Shiloh Church near Pittsburg Landing in western Tennessee.
Grant's forces captured Forts Henry & Donelson in February & made their way southward along the Tennessee River.
Confederate troops under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston & PGT Beauregard launched a surprise attack and by the end of the day had driven Grant's forces back to the river.
It is reported, however, that General Johnston was badly wounded in the leg during the afternoon & bled to death on the battlefield. If this report is accurate, the death of Johnston will be a bitter blow to the Rebels despite having the advantage at the end of the day.
Fighting at Shiloh is expected to continue tomorrow.*
*The 2 day battle at Shiloh was fought to a tactical draw but because Confederate forces retreated back into Mississippi, many military historians see it as a Union victory. The Battle of Shiloh will be known as the "Bloodiest Battle of the Civil War."
Battle of Shioh or Pittsburg Landing
April 6 & 7, 1862
April 6, 1841
JOHN TYLER SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT
John Tyler officially became the 10th President of the United States today as he was sworn in to office.
Tyler, a Virginian who supports states rights & slavery, is the 1st Vice-President to assume the office of the Presidency on the death of the President.
William Henry Harrison, the 9th President, died of pneumonia after only about a month in office.
Tyler, a life-long Democratic-Republican, joined with the Whigs in 1840 & became the new party's nominee for Vice-President.
After being sworn in as Vice-President in Washington, D.C., Tyler returned to his home in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was there that he received word of the death of Harrison.*
*Tyler proved to be unpopular within the Whig Party & would not be nominated for President in 1844. He was sometimes referred to as "His Accidency".
April 6, 1830
CHURCH OF CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS FOUNDED
Today in Fayette Township, New York, Joseph Smith, Jr. established the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church.
The church is based on the Book of Mormon, said to be originally engraved in Hebrew on gold plates & translated by Smith.*
*Mormons later set up communities in Ohio, Missouri & Illinois.
The Book of Mormon (1830)
April 6, 1963
US WILL RENEW PATROL OF FLORIDA WATERS
The New York Times reported today that the United States government will direct a renewed effort to patrol the waters south of Florida to prevent provocative acts by anti-Castro raiders.*
*Anti-Castro Cubans in the United States, many residing in Miami, remained upset about the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion of April 1961 & were undertaking action against Castro independent of the US government's support.
April 6, 1965
NATIONAL SECURITY MEMO 328
On this date, LBJ's National Security adviser, McGeorge Bundy, issued on his behalf, National Security Memorandum 328.
The memo, drafted & signed by Bundy, authorizes US forces to take the offensive in South Vietnam "to secure enclaves" in support of South Vietnamese operations.
The memo represents a shift in policy in that previously all US military operations in South Vietnam were defensive in nature.
McGeorge Bundy