Ulysses S. Grant consults with his commanders and formulates a plan to break his Federals out of Chattanooga.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Ulysses S. Grant consults with his commanders and formulates a plan to break his Federals out of Chattanooga.
Braxton Bragg continues to reconfigure his weakened Confederate army outside Chattanooga, while Ulysses S. Grant continues gathering Federal reinforcements to break out of Chattanooga.
Federal batteries open a new bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort had already been reduced to rubble by this time, but the defenders still refuse to surrender.
Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia returns to the south side of the Rapidan River, settling into the defensive positions they had left when they began moving against the Federals in October.
Elements of the Federal Army of the Potomac try crossing the Rappahannock River, while Robert E. Lee’s Confederates are determined to stop them.
An engagement occurs as part of William W. Averell’s Federal raid on Confederate supply lines in West Virginia.