Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, January 2.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 2.

1861: U.S. President James Buchanan refuses to recognize South Carolina's independence and orders Federal reinforcements to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, under the command of Major Robert Anderson. Also, on this day in Charleston, South Carolina, state troops seized Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor, which had been abandoned by the U.S. Army. 

1863: Third day of the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (aka Stone's River). Fierce fighting resumes with the highest percentage of casualties of any other battle in the war. Major General John C. Breckinridge led attacks with heavy fighting in the "Round Forrest," also called "Hell's Half Acre," but the Yankees counterattacked and drove the Confederates back. Confederate casualties were 1,294 killed, 7,739 wounded, and 2,500 captured or missing for a total of 11,739. Federal casualties were 1,677 killed, 7,543 wounded, and 3,686 captured or missing for a total of 12,906. Among the wounded was Cpl. Sam Watkins, Co. H, 1st Tenn. Inf., who wrote the famous memoir Co. "Aytch." He wrote of his wounding, "When I was wounded, the shell and shot that struck me, knocked me winding. I said, 'O, O, I'm wounded,' and at the same time I grabbed my arm." While he was walking back to the field hospital, he saw another soldier walking along who had his left arm torn away. The soldier suddenly and without a word dropped dead. "I was filled with wonder and horror at the sight," Watkins wrote. The Confederates largely felt they had won the battle, but Bragg retreated anyway, causing widespread discontent and dissatisfaction with the general.

Cpl. Sam Watkins, Co. H. 1st Tenn. Inf.

Wounded in action at Murfreesboro.

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge

BATTLE OF GALVESTON: AFTERMATH: In the aftermath of the stunning liberation of Galveston, Texas, by Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder announced the lifting of the blockade of the port city, and the Confederate Congress passed the following resolution: "The bold, intrepid, and gallant conduct of Maj. Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder, Col. Thomas Green, Maj. Leon Smith and other officers, and of the Texan Rangers and soldiers engaged in the attack on, and victory achieved over, the land and naval forces of the enemy at Galveston, on the 1st of January, 1863, eminently entitle them to the thanks of Congress and the country... This brilliant achievement, resulting, under the providence of God, in the capture of the war steamer Harriet Lane and the defeat and ignominious flight of the hostile fleet from the harbor, the recapture of the city, and the raising of the blockade of the port of Galveston, signally evinces that superior force may be overcome by skillful conception and daring courage." Confederate Congress.

Maj. Leon Smith, Texas Marine Dept.

(Wikipedia Commons)

                                                  

                                       Col. Joseph Cook, 1st Tex. Hvy. Arty. (Find A Grave)

Col. Joseph Cook, Cmdr., of the 1st Texas Heavy Artillery regiment led the infantry attack on the 42nd Mass. Inf.'s defenses on Kuhn's Wharf in the battle.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 2.

NONE.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, January 1.

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ON  THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 1.

1862: Trent Affair: Confederate Commissioners John Slidell and James Mason resume their trip to Europe on the British schooner Rinaldo from Provincetown, Massachusetts. The commissioners will try to get Britain and France to officially recognize the Confederacy. It was a Confederate diplomatic victory.

An artillery duel erupts between Confederate batteries at Pensacola, Florida, and Federal batteries at Fort Pickens. Florida. Skirmishes between North and South occur at Port Royal, South Carolina, and Dayton, Missouri.

1863: Second Day, Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (aka Stone's River). Bragg and Rosecrans both reposition troops and only minor skirmishing occurs on the second day of the battle. They are mainly taking care of their wounded from the previous day while Maj. Gen. Fighting Joe Wheeler continued harassing the Federal rear.

Battle of Galveston, Texas. The year 1863 started off with a brilliant Confederate victory. Major General John Bankhead Magruder leads a Confederate attack on the Federal-occupied Texas city of Galveston. Magruder's combined army-navy attack succeeds in driving off the Federal Navy and captures about 420 Yankee occupiers. Federal losses were 26 killed and 117 wounded, in addition to the captures. The Federal naval commander, William B. Renshaw, was killed while leading a landing party to blow up his beached flagship, the USS Westfield. The Confederates held the coastal city until the end of the war, the only Confederate city so liberated and held. 

Maj. John Bankhead Magruder

(CDV, M.D. Jones)

1865: At the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, a massive explosion set off by Federals in the James River fails to complete a canal meant to bypass the blocked bend in the river. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 1.

Brigadier General William Lewis Cabell was born on this day in 1827, in Danville, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1850 and served in the U.S. Army up to the start of the War for Southern Independence and joined the Confederate Army in 1861. He served on the staff of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and Gen. J.E. Johnston. Cabell fought in the Battle of Iuka, the Second Battle of Corinth, the Battle of Hatchie Bridge, the Battle of Fayetteville, the Battle of Devil's Backbone, and the Camden Expedition (which was the Arkansas phase of the Red River Campaign) at the Battle of Poison Spring, the Battle of Marks' Mill. He also fought in Price's Missouri Expedition at the Battle of Mine Creek where he was captured. After the war, he became a lawyer and moved to Dallas, Texas where he served as elected mayor for several terms. Cabell died in Dallas on Feb. 22, 1911, and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell

👱

Brigadier General William Hugh Young was born on this day in 1838 in Boonville, Missouri. He moved with his family to Texas in 1841. He had studied military tactics prior to the war and in 1861 became a captain in the 9th Texas Infantry Regiment and fought at the Battle of Shiloh, the Siege of Corinth, Miss., and the Battle of Perryville. Young was wounded in the right shoulder at the Battle of Murfreesboro, had two horses shot from under him, and was commended by Maj. Gen. B.F. Cheatham. At the Battle of Jackson, Miss. was wounded in the thigh and wounded in the chest at the Battle of Chickamauga. He commanded a brigade in the Atlanta Campaign and was wounded in the neck in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Promoted to brigadier general (temporary) on Aug. 15, 1864, he was wounded in the neck at the Battle of Altoona Pass and was captured and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. He spent most of his time in Federal hospitals and wasn't paroled until July 24, 1865. After the war, he became a lawyer and real estate agent in Texas and died Nov. 28, 1901, and was buried in the Confederate cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. 

Brig. Gen. William H. Young

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 31.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 31.

1862: First Day Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. (aka Stones River). Gen. Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee, with 35,000 effective troops, clashed with Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland, with 43,400 effective troops, along Stones River at Murfreesboro, Tenn. Rosecrans's army came from Nashville to attack Bragg's right flank. Bragg also planned to attack Rosecrans' right flank and attacked first, and overran Maj. Gen. Alexander McCook's Wing. However, Brig. Gen. Philip Sheridan's line stopped the collapse of the Federal army. Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge's assaults at the "Round Forest" were also repulsed. The battle continued.

Confederate POWs of the 20th Tenn. Inf.

Preston's Brigade, Breckinridge's Division

These POWs were taken at Missionary Ridge.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. 

(Stones River NMP)

Also, on this day in 1862, the Battle of Parker's Crossroads, Tenn., took place between 3,000 men under Federal Brig. Gen. Jeremiah C. Sullivan, who was blocking Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's 1,8000 cavalrymen from crossing the Tennessee River after their successful raid in West Tenn. Forrest then took the initiative with his artillery, driving the Federals back. Then his men struck in front and on both flanks and rear. Forrest demanded a surrender, which was refused. The Confederates were then attacked from the rear by the Federals, and Forrest famously gave the order, "Charge 'em both ways." The Confederates repelled the bluecoats, who then withdrew south to Lexington, Tenn., and Forrest's command crossed the river.

Capt. John W. Morton Jr.

Commanded Forrest's artillery.

CLICK👉The Bloody 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment

Battling for Southern Independence

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 31. 

NONE.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays.

Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 30.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 30.

1861: Confederate commissioners James Mason and John Slidell are transferred by the United States to Great Britain's minister to the U.S., Lord Lyons, thus ending the Trent Affair. 

1862: BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO, TENN.: Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg has the Army of Tennessee ready and waiting for the Federals under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans with the Army of the Cumberland. Bragg has Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk's Corps west of Stone's River and Maj. Gen. William J. Hardee's Corps was on the east side waiting for the Northerners to attack. The battle begins the next morning. The battle will begin on the 31st.

Pvt./Cpl. John M. Sellers, Co. G, 16th La. Inf. was

wounded in action at the Battle of Murfreesboro

and was hospitalized until July 1863, when he returned

to duty. He had been present for the Battle of Shiloh

and for most of the battles of the Army of Tennessee.

He was present for the last roll call of his company

at the end of the war on April 30, 1865, at Mobile, AL. Sellers

was paroled with the Chalmette Reg't. (a consolidation

of the fragmental La. regiments) on May 14, 1865, at

Meridian, MS. By all records, he was an outstanding combat

infantryman. (Courtesy of David McCollum & Robert Albanese, descendants.)

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge

He led a division at the Battle.

of Murfreesboro.

Skirmish at New Haven, Ky. The action was part of Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan's 1862 Christmas Raid into Kentucky. The Confederates demanded the surrender of the Federal of Fort Allen but were turned down. The Confederate bombardment missed the fort and hit the town doing some damage there. Dismounted cavalry then made one charge on the fort and was repulsed. The Confederates then withdrew. There was one Confederate soldier wounded, and the Federals suffered no casualties.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry skirmishes at Clarksburg and Huntington. Other skirmishes in Tennessee take place at La Vergne, Nolensville, and Rock Spring. But the Federals under Brig. Gen. Samuel Powhattan Carter captured Union, Tenn., and destroyed a railroad bridge over the Holston River.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 30.

Brigadier General James Cantey was born in 1818 in Camden, South Carolina. Before the war, he was a lawyer and was elected to two terms in the South Carolina legislature. During the Mexican-American War, he was an officer in the Palmetto Regiment and was severely wounded. After that war, Cantey moved to Alabama and became a planter in Russell County. During the War for Southern Independence, he became colonel of the 15th Alabama Infantry and fought under Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 and the Seven Days Battles. Cantey was appointed brigadier general to date from June 8, 1863. He was sent to Alabama, where he organized another, and was transferred to the Army of Tennessee. There, he fought in the Atlanta, Franklin-Nashville and Carolinas campaigns with distinction. After the war, Cantey returned to planting in Alabama and died on his plantation on June 30, 1874. He was buried in the Crowell family cemetery at Fort Mitchell, Ala.

Brig. Gen. James Cantey

👱

Brigadier General Mark Perrin Lowery was born in 1828 in McNairy County, Tennessee. His family moved to Mississippi when he was young, and during the Mexican-American War, he served as a private in the 2nd Mississippi Volunteers in 1847, but saw no combat. After that war, he became a Southern Baptist preacher. During the War for Southern Independence, Lowery began as a captain and later rose to the rank of colonel in the state militia. He then became the colonel of the 4th Mississippi Infantry and the 32nd Mississippi Infantry. Lowry fought at Shiloh and Perryville, where he was wounded, in 1862. He recovered sufficiently to fight at Murfreesboro and the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. Lowry was promoted to brigadier general on Oct. 4, 1863. After the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, he resigned on March 14, 1865. After the war, he was president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention and founded the Blue Mountain Female Institute, where he taught. Lowery died Feb. 27, 1885, in Middleton, Tennessee. Gen. Patrick Cleburne once called Gen. Lowrey "the bravest man in the Confederate Army."

Brig. Gen. Mark P. Lowery

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 29.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 29.

1862: Second Day of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. -- Sherman's bluecoats launch a futile frontal assault against outnumbered Confederates on Walnut Hills, under the command of Brig. Gen. S.D. Lee repulses the attack. Sherman admits the failure of the campaign. Federal losses are 208 killed, 1,005 wounded, and 563 captured for a total of 1,776. Confederate casualties are 63 killed, 134 wounded, and 10 missing. Vicksburg celebrates the victory.

Pvt. Thomas I. Booker, Co. B, 28th La. Inf.

Fought at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

(colorized, the pants should be sky blue, not red)

CLICK👉The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou

This is a concise history of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi

 , from December 26-29, 1862. Also covered are the preliminary 

cavalry raids of Generals Earl Van Dorn and Nathan Bedford Forrest. 

The book contains maps, photographs, and illustrations, 

a bibliography, and an index.

Capt. James W. Bryan, Co. I,

28th La. Inf. and the regiment

held off large numbers of the enemy

at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou.

BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO, TENN.-- Also in 1862, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans with his 43,400-man Army of the Cumberland, which had started its march from Nashville on Dec. 26, was approaching Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where General Braxton Bragg's 35,000-man Army of Tennessee is encamped and dug in. On this day, skirmishing was increasing between the two sides. The Federals have a decided advantage in artillery, and on Dec. 16 Bragg was ordered by President Davis to send Maj. Gen. Carter Stevenson was sent to Mississippi to reinforce Vicksburg, which reduced the Army of Tennessee's manpower by 7,500 infantrymen.

Brig. Gen. John A. Wharton

He led his cavalry brigade to

slow down the Federals approaching

Murfreesboro.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 29.

Brigadier General Albert Pike was born on this day in 1809, in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  Prior to the war is was a prominent member of the Freemasons, author, poet, editor, lawyer, and editor. He moved to the west in 1831 and engaged in hunting, trading, and trapping. He was also prominent in the legal profession and had permission to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Pike served in the Mexican-American War with the Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regiment and fought in the Battle of Buena Vista. During the War for Southern Independence, he was commissioned as a brigadier general who led a brigade of Indians at the Battle of Elk Horn Tavern, Ark. He resigned his commission in May 1862. He was appointed an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. He died April 2, 1891, in Charleston, S.C., and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. 

Brig. Gen. Albert Pike

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 28.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 28.

1861: Battle of Mount Zion Church, Missouri--The Missouri State Guard (Confederate) with about 900 men under Col. Caleb W. Dorsey, clashes with the 3rd Missouri Cavalry, and Birge's Western Sharpshooters (both Union), 440 men, under Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss. Most of the Confederates were local volunteers with civilian guns or unarmed. The Federals attacked the Confederate encampment and overrun it after three charges. The Confederates suffered 25 dead, 150 wounded, and 60 prisoners of war. The Federals lost three dead, 63 wounded, and four prisoners of war.

1862: First Day of the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi -- Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Lee, with 13,792, defended Vicksburg by blocking a Federal flanking movement north of the city at Chickasaw Bayou and the Walnut Hills. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman attacks with 30,720 bluecoats. The Northern invaders find the terrain rugged and well defended and their attempt at a flanking movement is blocked.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 28.

Major General William Booth Taliaferro was born in 1822 in Gloucester County, Virginia. He gained military experience in the Mexican American War serving in both the 11th and 9th U.S. Infantry regiments. In the War for Southern Independence, Taliaferro was in command of the Virginia State Militia in 1861, then became colonel of the 23rd Virginia Infantry and led it in the Battle of Green River, W. Va., and became a brigadier general by the end of that year. His brigade served under Stonewall Jackson and rose to division major general in 1862. However, he and Jackson didn't get along.  Taliaferro was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas. Following the Battle of Fredericksburg, he was given command of the District of Savannah and led troops at the Battle of Fort Wagner on Morris Island, S.C. Taliaferro also commanded Confederates in the Battle of Olustee, Fla. in February of 1864, another Confederate victory. After the war, he served in the Virginia State Legislature and as a judge. He died Feb. 27, 1898, and was buried in Ware Church Cemetery, Gloucester, Virginia.

Maj. Gen. William Booth Taliferro

👱

Brigadier General Charles Miller Shelley was born in 1833 in Sullivan County, Tennessee. He started the war as a first lieutenant in the 5th Alabama Infantry and was promoted steadily to and became brigadier general and led Cantey's Brigade at the Battle of Franklin in 1864. General Hood credited Shelley with saving Stewart's Corps from capture there. After the war, he was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1876. He died on Jan. 20, 1907, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Talladega, Alabama.

Brig. Gen. Charles M. Shelley

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 27.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 27.

1861: A Missouri State Guard detachment under Col. Caleb Dorsey skirmishes with a company sent by Federal Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss to disrupt secessionists near Hallsville, Missouri. The MSG was formed by pro-secession Gov. Claiborne Fox Jackson to resist the Federal Army invasion of his state.

1862: Battle of Chickasaw Bayou:  Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman leads 32,000 bluecoats north of Vicksburg, MS at Chickasaw Bayou to outflank the Confederates and take the city. Major General Martin Luther Smith was in command at Vicksburg with 13,792 men. Brigadier General Stephen Dill Lee was the Confederate commander at the beginning of the battle. It was a situation for the Confederates sometimes likened to the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, Greece but with a different outcome for the outnumbered army.

Maj. Gen. Martin Luther Smith

(Library of Congress)

1864: General Hood leads the Confederate Army of Tennessee to Tupelo, Mississippi where it regroups after the disastrous Battle of Nashville. This defeat wasn't the last chapter in the history of the Army of Tennessee. It had been reduced to just 4,500 stalwart men but was rebuilt by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to over 20,000 and made its last stand in the Carolinas Campaign of 1865. His men loved Johnston and he was arguably their favorite commander of the Army of Tennessee.

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston

(Library of Congress)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 27.

None.