The day before, Union forces had taken Falmouth, across the Rappahannock, and threatened the city of Fredericksburg which Confederate forces had abandoned after destroying the river bridges.  Town officials conferred that Friday afternoon and the next morning met with Brigadier General Christopher Augur to declare they were surrendering the town but remained loyal to the Confederacy.  Union occupation lasted till September 17, 1862. (By John Osborne)

Federal troops advanced into Stafford County and occupied Falmouth, the home town of Dickinson graduate Moncure Conway, after a sharp skirmish.  Across the river in Fredericksburg, Confederate troops burned the bridges and withdrew.  During the next five months of Union occupation of Frederiksburg and its environs, an estimated 10,000 African-Americans fled to freedom, including the slaves of Conway's father.  (By John Osborne) 

Oregon named Democrat Benjamin Stark to fill the unexpired term of war casualty Edward Dickinson Baker. Republican activists in Oregon petitioned Congress to reject his being seated on grounds of his pro-slavery and seemingly disloyal statements made earlier in the war.  The special committee of Congress investigating these charges returned on this day a finding that Stark was indeed disloyal.  Since Stark's term only ran for a few more months, the full Senate took no action and Benjamin Harding replaced him in September 1862.  (By John Osborne) 

The first session of the First Confederate Congress elected in the national ballot of November 6, 1861 met in Richmond between February 18, 1862 and April 21, 1862.  The second session met between August 18, 1862 and October 13, 1862.  The third session sat between January 12, 1863 and May 1, 1863.  The fourth and final session was held between November 18, 1863 and February 21, 1864.  Elections for the Second Congress were held between June and November 1863.  (By John Osborne)  

Congress voted to establish a branch mint in Denver, Colorado, appropriating $75,000 and purchasing the building of the private company that had been minting coins and ingots there.  The facility opened on September 24, 1863, however, only as an assay office.  So it remained until 1904 when a new full minting facility was built.  It first struck coins in February 1906 and in 2012 was the world's largest producer of coinage.  (By John Osborne)  

In the morning, Union troops under General N.P. Banks pushed quickly into Mount Jackson, in Shenandoah County in western Virginia.  Confederate troops had no time to complete their customary destruction of bridges and property before being forced to retreat.  Mount Jackson was the home of Dickinson graduate John Henry Grabill, already fighting with the Virginia cavalry.  (By John Osborne) 

The Confederate defenders of Fort Jackson, the main strongpoint on the Mississippi River defending New Orleans, had endured flood conditions and an almost constant naval bombardment for nearly ten days.  When news that New Orleans itself had been captured reached them, much of the garrison mutinied overnight, spiked the fort's guns, and prepared to desert en masse. Powerless to stop them, their officers allowed them to leave but, when the sun rose, decided the fort was no longer defensible and surrendered. (By John Osborne)