Monday, March 25, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, March 25.

Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) March 25.


ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 25.

1863: Confederates make it difficult for Federals to extricate their remaining boats and troops at the conclusion of the Steele's Bayou Expedition near Vicksburg, Miss. Confederates had slipped around Porter's flotilla and felled some trees in the rear, possibly cutting the flotilla off from the troops. Porter sent Sherman an appeal for help and he receives it. Reinforcements rush to the scene so Porter's flotilla can safely retreat.

1864: The Battle of Paducah, Kentucky takes place between Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest with 3,000 troopers, and the Federal garrison there under the command of Col. Stephen G. Hicks, 650 men in Fort Anderson. The fort was also supported by two Federal gunboats on the Ohio River. Forrest occupied the town and demanded Hicks surrender his command, but the Federal commander refused. Forrest decided it would be too costly to assault the fort so he decided instead to take all the supplies and livestock he could and leave. But some of the Kentuckians in his command assaulted the fort on their own unsuccessfully. The Confederates suffered 90 casualties and the Federals 50.

1865: Confederates launch an attack on Fort Stedman at Petersburg. Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon leads 10,000 Southern troops in a desperate attempt to break the siege. Defending the fort are some 14,898 Federals under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke. The Confederates attacked early achieved surprise and occupied part of the fort. But when Federal reinforcements arrive, Gordon, with permission from General Robert E. Lee who was on the scene watching, withdraws the Southerners. Confederate casualties were 72 killed, 450 wounded, and 522 captured or missing. The Federals lost 600 killed, 2,400 wounded, and 1,000 captured or missing.
Col. Eugene Waggaman led the 
Consolidated Louisiana Brigade as
the tip of the spear, spearheading the
Confederate attack for Gen. Clement A. Evans' 
Division  in the Battle of Fort Stedman
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CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 25.

Major General William Thompson Martin was born on this day in 1823 in Glasgow, Kentucky. Prior to the war, he was a district attorney who opposed secession in Mississippi. During the war, he raised cavalry troops and served as a colonel under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. He was promoted to brigadier general in January 1863. His battles included Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Stuart's Ride Around McClellan's Army, the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Dumfries, and Occoquan. He was promoted to major general and transferred to the Army of Tennessee in 1863 and commanded a division under Maj. Gen. Fighting Joe Wheeler. He took part in the Tullahoma Campaign, Chickamauga, Knoxville, and Atlanta, and then commanded the Northwest District of Mississippi. Following the war, he practiced in Mississippi and died March 16, 1910, in Natchez, Miss., and was buried in Natchez City Cemetery.

Maj. Gen. William T. Martin
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Brigadier General Martin Witherspoon Gary was born on this day in 1831 in Cokesbury, South Carolina. Prior to the war, he practiced law at Edgefield, S.C., was elected to the state legislature in 1860, and supported secession. During the war, he started in 1861 as a captain in Hampton's Legion infantry and fought in the First Battle of Manassas. He rose to the command of a regiment and fought in various battles in Virginia before being transferred in 1863 to the Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to brigadier general and was transferred back to the Army of Northern Virginia and commanded a cavalry brigade. Gary refused to surrender at Appomattox and escorted President Davis with 200 cavalrymen to Greensboro, N.C., and left the army at that time. After the war, he practiced law in Edgefield, S.C. again and fought against Radical Republicans in his state. After Reconstruction, he was elected to the state senate until 1881 and moved to Cokesbury, S.C., and died there on April 9, 1881.


Brig. Gen. Martin W. Gary
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