Editing 1862 (section)

=== March ===
* [[March 6]] &ndash; An ammunition warehouse explosion in [[Ciudad Serdán|San Andres Chalchicomula]], [[Mexico]], kills between 1,400 and 2,280 during the [[Second French intervention in Mexico]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Miguel Galindo y Galindo|title=Catástrofe de Chalchicomula|url=http://cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx/la/1080018007/1080018007_12.pdf|date=21 October 2019|publisher=Secretaria de Fomento|pages=233–237|access-date=21 October 2019|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305193552/http://cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx/la/1080018007/1080018007_12.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[American Civil War]]: 
** [[March 7]] &ndash; [[Battle of Pea Ridge]] &ndash; The Confederates are shut out of [[Missouri]].
** [[March 8]] &ndash; Ironclad {{ship|CSS|Virginia}} (formerly USS ''Merrimack'') is launched at [[Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]]; the [[Battle of Hampton Roads]] starts the same day.
* [[March 13]]
** [[American Civil War]]: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]] and setting the stage for the [[Emancipation Proclamation]].
** A [[smallpox]] [[epidemic]] in [[San Francisco]] spreads to [[British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Spirit of Pestilence|url=http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/smallpox/overview/|publisher=[[University of Victoria]]|date=2002-03-30|access-date=2015-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002023934/http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/smallpox/overview/|archive-date=October 2, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[March 17]] &ndash; The first [[Rail transport in Finland|railway line]] in [[Finland]], between the cities of [[Helsinki]] and [[Hämeenlinna]], is officially opened.<ref>Neil Kent: ''Helsinki: A Cultural History'', p. 18. Interlink Books, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1566565448}}.</ref>
* [[March 26]]&ndash;[[March 28|28]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: [[Battle of Glorieta Pass]] &ndash; In [[New Mexico]], Union forces succeed in stopping the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] invasion of [[New Mexico Territory]].
* [[March 31]] &ndash; [[Victor Hugo]]'s epic French historical novel ''[[Les Misérables]]'' begins publication in Brussels.