March 15, 1945 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix

The St. Croix remained in the Solomons area ferrying passengers and equipment between Guadalcanal the Florida Islands. 

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The Battle of Iwo Jima began on and the island is nearly secured by March 15th, after weeks of heavy fighting .  Iwo Jima would become an emergency landing site for bombers returning from attacks on the Japanese mainland.

Despite the capture of Manila, fighting would continue in the Philippines until July.  

On the 9th,  US air forces began a 2 day fire bombing of Tokyo, estimated to have killed between 80,000 and 130,000 people.

Allied advancement on both European fronts continues.  Soviet troops are nearing the German border.  In the west, Allies have begun capturing German towns and cities.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 633-641.
• The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp.  228-302. 
  
• Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 65
• USS_Saint_Croix
• Events of March, 1945
  

 

NEXT POST: APRIL 1ST

March 15, 1865 - Wednesday - 160 years ago today

Status - 40th Indiana - 4th Army Corps - 2nd Division - 2nd Brigade

The 4th Army Corps is ordered to East Tennessee, and has arrived there by March 15th.

By March 2nd, the Union had gained full control of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and General Sheridan was ordered to move south out of the valley toward Lynchburg, VA.  Here he would cut the remaining railroads supplying the Confederate army at Petersburg, and also deprive them of an escape route through Virginia and North Carolina.  Sheridan was approaching Lynchburg by the 15th.

President Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4th, and gave his Second Inaugural Address, in which he addressed the end of the war and the aftermath.

Sherman was still moving north through the Carolinas, and reached Fayetteville, NC on the 10th.  Accomplishing the reduction of that city, he was moving north by the 15th toward Goldsboro, NC.  He would soon be engaged with the remainder of the Confederate western army, now being consolidated by Generals Bragg and Joseph Johnston.

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John Baer - Home, Tippecanoe County, IN

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More Information:

• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. pp. 201-203. 
• The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1II, Red River to Appomattox, Shelby Foote, pp. 797-817.
  
• Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, p. 682-683.
• Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, pp. 772-783.
• Link: War Operations, see Volume XLIX, Chapter LXI, Part I, Correspondence, pp. 812.
• Events: 1865   
  

NEXT POST: APRIL 1ST

March 1, 1945 - Thursday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix

The St. Croix remained in the Solomons area ferrying passengers and equipment between Guadalcanal the Florida Islands.

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The Battle of Iwo Jima began on February 16th as the Navy started the pre-landing bombardment.  Although Mount Suribachi had been taken, by March 1st the fighting was still intense on the island.  

There were landings on Corregidor as battles continued in the Philippines. Manila was taken and mostly cleared of Japanese resistance by March 1st.

Allied advancement on both European fronts continues.  Soviet troops are within 100 miles of Berlin, although advancement would be slower in the coming weeks.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 623-633.
• The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 194-302. 
  
• Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 24-65,
• USS_Saint_Croix
• Events of February, 1945 
• Events of March, 1945
  

 

NEXT POST: MARCH 15TH

March 1, 1865 - Wednesday - 160 years ago today

Status - 40th Indiana - 4th Army Corps - 2nd Division - 2nd Brigade

The focus for General Thomas is returning to East Tennessee, in order to support the forces of Sherman and Grant in the East.  He is planning to send the 4th Army Corps, including the 40th Indiana, back to the Knoxville area soon.

 Sherman has passed through Columbia, SC and is approaching the North Carolina border by the 1st of March. headed toward Fayetteville.  Much of downtown Columbia was burned while the Yankees were there; and the debate about how much of the fire was intentional lasts up to this very day.

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John Baer - Home, Tippecanoe County, IN

Around this time, John and Jenny would have learned that they were expecting their first child, due in August.

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More Information:

• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. pp. 199-201. 
• The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1II, Red River to Appomattox, Shelby Foote, pp. 792-797
  
• Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, p. 681-682.
• Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, pp. 758-772.
• Link: War Operations, see Volume XLIX, Chapter LXI, Part I, Correspondence, pp.724-812.
• Events: 1865   
  

NEXT POST: MARCH 15TH