Click 👉 Today in History (general history) Sept. 27.
On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 27.
1862: Raid on Taylor's Bayou Ridge: Two cutters from the USS Henry James, one packed with 17 Federal sailors armed with rifles and cutlasses and a 12-pounder rifled boat howitzer, and a smaller one with eight seamen attempted to destroy the bridge over Taylor's Bayou, 12 miles upstream from Sabine Pass, Texas. They then attempted to fire the bridge. The Federal commander claimed they destroyed it, but Confederate commander Lt. Col. Ashley W. Spaight reported there was only slight damage to the bridge and that was quickly repaired.
1864: The Battle of Fort Davidson near Pilot Knob, Missouri took place during Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's cavalry raid on this day. The commander of the fort, Brigadier General Thomas Ewing Jr. had 1,456 men and Price had some 5,700 men engaged. The Confederates attacked from different points, but the attacks were piecemeal and driven back by the heavily defended fort. But Ewing evacuated the fort that night and blew it up. Federal casualties numbered 213, and Confederate casualties were said to be costly.
Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 27.
Admiral Raphael Semmes was born on this day in 1809 in Charles County, Maryland. He had a long career in the U.S. Navy, including the Mexican American War, and held the rank of commander when he resigned in 1861 to join the Confederate Navy. He is most famous for commanding the Confederate cruiser CSS Alabama. He was the most successful commerce raider with a total of 65 prizes. Besides holding the rank of rear admiral in the C.S. Navy, he was also promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in the C.S. Army near the end of the war and led the Naval Brigade which surrendered to Sherman with the Army of Tennessee and was paroled. Following the war, Semmes was charged with treason by the U.S. government, but the charges were dropped. He then worked as a professor at the Louisiana State Seminary, editor of the Memphis Bulletin, and wrote one of the greatest memoirs, Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States. He moved to Mobile, Alabama, and died there on August 30, 1877, and was buried in the Old Catholic Cemetery.
Brigadier General Lawrence Sullivan Ross was born on this day in 1838 in Bentonsport, Iowa. He was raised in the Republic of Texas, served in the Texas Rangers, and was in a number of engagements with Indians prior to the war. During the war, he rose from private to brigadier general of cavalry and was in some 135 engagements. Among his battles were Corinth, Thompson Station, and the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. After the war, he served as the 19th governor of Texas and president of what is now Texas A&M University. He died on January 3, 1898, in Brazos County, Texas, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Waco, Texas.
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