This Day in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, May 12.

 Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 12. 

On This Day in Confederate History, May 12.

1863: The Battle of Raymond, Mississippi between Confederate Brig. Gen. John Gregg's 3,000-man infantry brigade, and Federal Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson's 12,000 men in the XVII Corps collide in the Vicksburg Campaign. Gregg has been dispatched to Raymond to help stop Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee, but doesn't know the real strength of the enemy because of a lack of cavalry. He finds he is greatly outnumbered, but rather than retreat and risk destruction, he decides to bluff the enemy and charge. At first, he has great success in heavily wooded terrain where the enemy can't determine his strength, but the outnumbered Confederates are eventually pushed back. But Gregg manages to get the bulk of his brigade away and substantially intact. The Confederates suffered about 515 casualties and the Federals about 446.

Brig. Gen. John Gregg

In the Vicksburg Campaign, Lt. Gen. John Pemberton is getting his army ready to resist Grant but is greatly hampered by a lack of cavalry to monitor Grant's strength and movements and cut Grant's supply line at Grand Gulf. He has repeatedly asked General Joseph Johnston in Jackson, Miss. to release Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's 6,000-man cavalry force to him but Johnston, misreading the situation, repeatedly refuses.

1864: Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown Stuart dies of the wound he received on May 11 at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, Va. Stuart was the premier Confederate cavalry commander in the Army of Northern Virginia. His last words were, "I am resigned; God's will be done." The 31-year-old left behind his wife, Flora, and three children, a boy, and two girls. General Robert E. Lee reportedly said he could hardly think of General Stuart without weeping.

Statue of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart

At the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Va. Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia repulses the greatest Federal assault yet, at the Mule Shoe salient, but suffers many casualties and is pushed back to a secondary line, which holds. The Federals capture some 3,000 Confederates and 20 cannons. Among the captured is Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson who was one of Lee's best division commanders. 

Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson

1865: The Battle of Palmito Ranch east of Brownsville, Texas is the last battle of the War for Southern Independence, and it is a Confederate victory. Confederate forces, about 300 strong, led by Colonel John "Rip" Ford clashes with Federal forces numbering about 500 under Colonel Thomas H. Barrett. Barrett started the battle by breaking a truce that probably would have led to a peaceful surrender. The Federals didn't realize Ford had six artillery pieces, probably supplied by the French Army just across the border in Mexico. On this first day of the battle, the Federals captured several Confederates but were driven back by the end of the day.

Col. John S. "Rip" Ford

Confederate General Birthdays, May 12.

None.