Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, April 30.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 30.

1863: Vicksburg Campaign: Federal troops succeed in crossing the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, Miss. The bluecoats cross without opposition. Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant crossed 17,000 men who began their drive to outflank the Vicksburg fortifications. Several battles will occur before the Northern invaders arrive before Vicksburg. Meanwhile, near Vicksburg, the Battle of Snyder's Bluff was in progress. The XV Corps under Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman, 8 gunboats, and 10 transports assault the Confederate stronghold there under the command of Brig. Gen. Louis Hébert. Sherman's assault was a feint to keep Confederate attention away from Grant's movements.

1864: The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Ark. in the Camden Expedition phase of the Red River Campaign. Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele's 12,000 men were in retreat after devastating Confederate cavalry raids on Federal supplies. Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith's 10,000 Texans, Arkansans, and Missourians caught up with Steele at Jenkin's Ferry. The Federal rear guard successfully repulsed several Confederate assaults at Jenkin's Ferry, but the Confederates were left in control of the battlefield. Brig. Gen. James Fagan's 3,000 Confederates arrived too late to take part in the battle. The Confederates suffered about 1,000 casualties and the Federals about 700. Brigadier Generals William Scurry and Horace Randal, both leading brigades in Walker's Texas Infantry Division, were mortally wounded. Confederate Brigadier General Thomas Waul was severely wounded. On the Federal side, Brigadier General Samuel A. Rice was mortally wounded and died on July 6, 1864. Also, soldiers of the 2nd Kansas (Colored) Infantry reportedly killed wounded Confederates on the battlefield. Smith moved his portion of the Confederate Army back to Louisiana to help Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor finished off Bank's Federals, including the fleet, which was stuck by the low river level at Alexandria Falls.

Brig. Gen. Horace Randal

Mortally wounded at Jenkin's Ferry.

1865: Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor, commanding the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, meets with Federal Maj. Gen. Edward Canby to arrange for the surrender of his department.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 30.

NONE.

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 29.

1861: The Maryland State Legislature votes against seceding from the Union. The legislature met in a special session in the strongly pro-Union town of Frederick. The vote was 53-13 against secession.

1862: Admiral D.G. Farragut lands in New Orleans with 250 Marines from the USS Hartford marches to City Hall and removes the Louisiana state flag. City officials had refused to lower their state flag and were still defiant. The flag was adopted by Louisiana in February 1861 to represent the state's new independent status after seceding on January 26, 1861.

Louisiana State Flag of the style removed at

New Orleans, La. City Hall.

1863: The Battle of Grand Gulf takes place south of Vicksburg. The Federal Gunboats of Admiral D.D. Porter begins bombarding the Confederate forts protecting Grand Gulf. While one of the forts is knocked out, Fort Wade and Fort Coburn fight on, and the Federals decide to not try an amphibious landing there. Federal casualties were 18 killed and 57 wounded. The Confederates lost three dead and 19 wounded. The USS Tuscumbia is knocked out of action. The Federals will have to find another place to cross the river.

1865: President Jefferson Davis's party making its way to the Trans-Mississippi Department, reaches Yorkville, South Carolina. The president had hopes of continuing the struggle for Southern Independence in Texas as the base. There was still a large Confederate Army there and in Louisiana that had not yet surrendered. However, the army there was rapidly breaking up.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL HISTORY, April 29.

Brigadier General Henry Watkins Allen was born on this day in 1820 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Prior to the war, he became a lawyer in Mississippi. Allen also gained some military experience serving as a volunteer in the Texas Army in 1842 as captain of the Mississippi Guards. He spent the summer on the western frontier in Texas fighting Mexicans and Indians. His term of service was up in October 1842 and he went back to Mississippi. He served in the Mississippi Legislature, studied law at Harvard University, and in 1852 became co-owner of a plantation in Louisiana. He was elected to the Louisiana Legislature in 1853. In the War for Southern Independence, Allen served as colonel of the 4th Louisiana Infantry and was seriously wounded at the Battle of Shiloh. He then led a brigade at the Battle of Baton Rouge on Aug. 5, 1862, and was wounded in both legs. While recuperating, he served as a military judge in Mississippi. Allen was also a major general in the Louisiana Militia and was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on Aug. 19, 1863. Elected governor of Louisiana, Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman called him the best administrator in the Confederacy. Allen personally led a brigade of state militia in the Red River Campaign in 1864. After the war, his property having been destroyed by the enemy, he moved to Mexico City and died there on April 22, 1866. His body was reinterred in New Orleans 10 years later, then moved again years later and reburied on the grounds of the Louisiana State Capital in Baton Rouge.

Brig. Gen. Henry W. Allen

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 28.

1862: Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River about 70 miles South of New Orleans surrendered on this day to Admiral Farragut's Northern fleet, after a siege and bombardment of 12 days. Brig. Gen. Johnson K. Duncan was the Confederate commander commanding the heavy artillery in the forts. The two forts had about 177 guns. The Federals suffered 229 casualties and the Confederates 782, mostly captured.

Confederate National Flag captured at Fort Jackson, La.

(Jud McCranie, Wikipedia Commons)

1863: Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant with three army corps supported by Admiral D.D. Porter's gunboats plan to cross from the Louisiana side to the Mississippi side of the Mississippi River at Grand Gulf, Miss. Maj. Gen. John S. Bowen is in command of 4,200 men in the Confederate fortress. The Northern invaders had a fleet of 7 ironclad warships and 10,000 troops on transports. The primary fortresses for the Confederates were Fort Cobun and Fort Wade.

Brig. Gen. John S. Bowen

1864: Red River Campaign: On this day Maj. Gen. Camille Polignac's division of Louisiana and Texas infantry brigades crossed Monett's Ferry and moved toward Alexandria, La. on Bayou Cotile. The division was part of Mouton's Charge at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864, and was one of the best in Confederate service.

At Fort Sumter, S.C., the Confederate fortress is bombarded by Federal batteries. The bombardment would last for a week.

A 42-pounder heavy artillery gun at Port Hudson

State Historic site. It is similar to what they had at

Fort Sumter, S.C. The gun is a U.S. Navy model 1816 on a 

barbette carriage. It weighs 7,870 pounds and is 121 inches in length.

(Photo by M.D. Jones)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 28.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 27.

1861: Virginia offers its state capital, Richmond, as the permanent home of the capital of the Confederacy. Richmond with its strategic geographic location, industrial capacity, and history, it is the logical choice for the capital of the Confederacy. 

Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland and parts of the Mid-West, which gives him the power to arrest those who oppose his war policies, such as newspaper editors and publishers.

1862: MUTINY AT FORT JACKSON, La. Four Confederate forts near New Orleans surrendered due to the passage of the Federal fleet. The garrison of Fort Jackson mutiny and many of the men escaped capture and imprisonment. Brigadier General Benjamin Butler and his army of occupation arrive at Fort St. Phillip below New Orleans.

1863: CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN: The Federal Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker begins its movement in Richmond, Va. by crossing the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers. Hooker has 133,868 men for the Chancellorsville campaign. Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia has 60,298 men present for duty. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet with two of his divisions of the First Corps are absent in the Suffolk, Va. area staging a siege there and gathering supplies for the ANV and missing the campaign.

1st Sgt. Wm. A. Hightower,

Co. E, 23rd Va. Inf. was among

the mortally wounded at Chancellorsville.

1864: CAMDEN EXPEDITION: Federal Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele is in the process of retreating back to Little Rock, Arkansas while Lt. Gen. Kirby Smith's Confederates are in rapid pursuit. Steele has 12,000 men to Smith's 10,000. But Steele's supplies have been seriously depleted by Confederate cavalry raids and Smith has the initiative. Part of Smith's command is made up of veterans of the recent victories in Louisiana, including Walker's Texas Infantry Division.

1865: The steam-powered riverboat Sultana suddenly explodes killing 1,238 Federal soldiers, mostly returning from Southern prisoner-of-war camps. The accidental explosion is the most catastrophic accident on the Mississippi River.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL HISTORY, April 27.

NONE.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 26.

1862: New Orleans Defiant: At New Orleans, Federal warships, with the guns of the fleet intimidating the helpless citizens of the city, are still waiting for surrender from the local authorities. Captain Henry W. Morris orders Marines from the USS Pensacola to go ashore and raise the U.S. flag over the former U.S. Mint building in the city. The Marines carry out the orders to the disgust of local citizens. But William Bruce Mumford and six other men take it down and raise the Louisiana State Flag over the building.

The Louisiana Republic Flag of the type lowered

by the Northern invaders in New Orleans to the jeers

of the public. (M.D. Jones Collection)

Angry citizens of New Orleans watch as a Northern invader

lowers the Louisiana Republic Flag from City Hall.

Confederate Fort Macon, North Carolina surrendered to the Federals after a month-long siege. The small garrison, under Colonel Moses White, suffered 8 killed, 16 wounded, and 400 captured. The Federals lost 2 killed, wounded, and 8 captured. 

1863: Confederate raiders under Brig. Gen. John Marmaduke fights the Battle of Cape Girardeau, Mo. against the Federal garrison under Brig. Gen. John McNeil. The Confederates attack the strong fortifications there, but each attack is driven back. Confederate casualties total 325 when the Federals have 12.

1864: Red River Campaign: The Federal fleet on the Red River in Louisiana suffers several setbacks on this day. Unable to free the grounded USS Eastport, a powerful gunboat, the Federals blow it up. The Confederates forces then ambushed vessels involved in the failed salvage attempt, the gunboat Cricket, the steam pump boat Champion No. 5, and two transport vessels. The Confederate forces included a four-gun battery commanded by Captain Florian Cornay supported by 200 infantrymen of the 28th Louisiana Infantry of Mouton's brigade. Set up near the mouth of the Cane River, the Confederates opened fire and shelled and riddled the Cricket being hit 38 times. But it makes it by the ambush safely. However, Champion No. 5. and two transports are sunk. Tragically, on Champion No. 5, 175 African American laborers died when its boiler exploded. The Federals also lost about 100 crewmen killed on the various vessels and about as many captured. The Confederates lost only one man, Captain Cornay, who was killed in action.

1865: General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee surrendered to Sherman in North Carolina. The Confederates still have other armies in the field further west.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 26.

Major General Ambrose Ransom Wright was born on this day in 1826 in Louisville, Georgia. A prewar lawyer and politician, Wright failed in runs for the Georgia legislature and U.S. Congress. However, he was successful at becoming a presidential elector for Millard Fillmore in 1856. Wright was a supporter of the Bell-Everett ticket in the 1860 presidential election. In the War for Southern Independence, he served as colonel of the 3rd Georgia Infantry and was promoted to brigadier general. He received his promotion to major general on Nov. 26, 1862. His battles included South Mills, Seven Pines, the Seven Days Battles, Sharpsburg (wounded), Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. When he was promoted to major general he was given a command in Georgia. Following the war, he became a newspaper publisher and was defeated in a run for the U.S. Senate. However, Wright was elected to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives but died before he could be seated. Wright died Dec. 21, 1872, and was buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta, Ga.

Maj. Gen. Ambrose R. Wright

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 25.

1862: New Orleans Defiant: Confederate Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell with a garrison of 4,000, in New Orleans, realizes that his position is no longer tenable with the passage of the Federal fleet at Forts Jackson and St. Phillip. He withdraws his forces to Camp Moore about 80 miles to the north. Rear Admiral David G. Farragut arrived with his powerful fleet to demand the surrender of the city. Naval Captain Theodorus Bailey and Lieutenant George Perkins were sent into the city to make the demand of the New Orleans mayor. In spite of being surrounded by protesting, but mostly peaceful citizens, they arrived safely at city hall. They demanded that Mayor John Monroe surrender the city and raise the U.S. flag over city hall and the former U.S. mint and customhouse. Monroe refused and noted that he had no such authority to do so. The Federal officers then made it safely back to their ship. 

The people were defiant when Northern sailors

arrived in New Orleans on April 25, 1862, to

demand the city surrender.

Capt. Theodorus Bailey and

Lt. George H. Perkins who were harassed,

but not harmed by angry citizens.

1863: Jones-Imboden Raid: Brig. Gens. William E. "Grumble" Jones and John D. Imboden staged a raid into western Virginia to disrupt the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and to stop a growing separatist movement in the area. Their forces include infantry, cavalry, and artillery totaling about 7,000 men. Federal defenders in the area included the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin S. Roberts, reinforced by Brig. Robert C. Schenck with between 1,500 and 4,000 men. The first battle, the Battle of Greenland Gap occurs on this day with the 23rd Illinois Infantry. They lasted about four hours before the bluecoats surrendered, and the Confederates under Jones went on their way.

1864: Red River Campaign: Defeated Federals in the Red River Campaign begin arriving at their supply base at Alexandria. But with the river level so low, the fleet remains trapped for the time being. Meanwhile, the Confederates have additional traps set for the fleet on the river.

1865: Generals Sherman and Johnston, after their peace agreement is rejected by the Northern government, agree to meet again to arrange the surrender of the Army of Tennessee. Other Confederate armies still in the field are the Army of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 25.

Brigadier General James Dearing was born on this day in Campbell County, Virginia. Dearing was a student at West Point in 1861 when he resigned on April 22, 1861, after Virginia seceded. He joined the Virginia Militia and then accepted a commission as second lieutenant to the Washington Artillery of New Orleans and fought in the First Battle of Manassas, Va. He rose rapidly in rank in the Virginia artillery. By 1864 he was given a promotion to colonel of cavalry and to brigadier general (not confirmed of cavalry).  His other battles and campaigns included the Peninsular Campaign, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Siege of Suffolk, Gettysburg, Bermuda Hundred Campaign, Plymouth, Petersburg Campaign, Boydton Plank Road, and the Appomattox Campaign. After a brilliant combat record throughout the war, he was mortally wounded in one of the last battles, the Battle of High Bridge on April 6, 1865, and died April 22, 1865, at Lynchburg, Va. Dearing was buried at Springhill Cemetery.

                                                                 Brig. Gen. James Dearing 

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 24.

1862: Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip: Confederate Forts Jackson and St. Philip on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans fiercely defend against the Federal fleet, but it slips by them and encounters the Confederate River fleet led by the ironclad ram CSS Manassas. The Manassas rammed the USS Mississippi and USS Brooklyn, but neither was disabled. The Confederate ironclad eventually went aground and was mercilessly bombarded but the crew escaped. The vessel broke loose and drifted but exploded and sank. The Federals continued on toward New Orleans.

The nighttime Battle of Forts Jackson and Philips was

intense and deadly, as well as spectacular visually.

(Library of Congress)

CSS MANASSAS

(Naval History & Heritage Command)

1865: President Davis gives his approval of the peace agreement worked out by Sherman and Johnston. However, Grant brings word to Sherman that the Lincoln government doesn't accept it and tells Sherman he exceeded his authority. Sherman notifies Johnston the truce will end within 48 hours.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 24.

Brigadier General James Edward Harrison was born on this day in 1815 in Greenville District, South Carolina. Harrison moved to near Waco, Texas in 1857 and in 1861, became a commissioner to Texas Indian tribes to persuade them into joining the Confederacy. He then became a member of the Texas secession convention. During the War for Southern Independence, Harrison served in the 15th Texas Infantry regiment and fought in the Bayou Teche Campaign in Louisiana and operations against the Federals along the Atchafalaya River in 1863. Harrison also was promoted to colonel in 1864 and served in the Red River Campaign. He was promoted to brigadier general by President Davis to take effect as of December 22, 1864, and commanded a brigade in the last days of the war. Following the war, he returned to Waco and became a trustee for Baylor University. Harrison died on Feb. 23, 1875, in Waco and was buried there in the First Street Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. James E. Harrison

👱

Brigadier General Robert Brank Vance was born on this day in 1828 in Buncombe County, North Carolina. The brother of North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance, he was a Whig politician and merchant in Ashville before the war. In the war, he was elected colonel of the 29th North Carolina Infantry and fought in the Kentucky Campaign of 1862 and the Battle of Murfreesboro, from Dec. 31, 1862, to Jan. 4, 1863. After surviving a bout with typhoid fever, Vance was promoted to brigadier general on March 4, 1863. He was captured and incarcerated at Fort Delaware. Vance received special parole to buy clothing for Confederate P.O.W.s, on the stipulation he would not participate further in the war. Following the war, Vance became a U.S. Congressman and assistant commissioner of patents. He also served a term in the North Carolina legislature. Vance died Nov. 28, 1899, near Ashville and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Ashville.

Brig. Gen. Robert B. Vance

👋

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, April 23.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 23.

1862: Battle of Forts Jackson & St. Philip, La.: Confederate-held Forts Jackson and St. Phillip under Brig. Gen. Johnson K. Duncan is intensely bombarded by Commander David D. Porter's 21 mortar schooners under the overall command of Admiral David G. Farragut south of New Orleans. The city was the Confederacy's largest and one of the great ports in the world. It was in the process of becoming and wartime industrial powerhouse for the C.S.A. A fierce artillery duel developed between the Southern forts and the Nothern steam warships, which had the advantage of speed and maneuverability.

Confederate cannoneer

(6th Plate Ambrotype, M.D. Jones Collection)

One of Porter's mortar schooners shows what

a 13-inch mortar looked like. 

(click on image for enlargement)

(Library of Congress)

1864: Red River Campaign: The Battle of Monett's Ferry, La. occurred on this day in the Red River Campaign. About 2,500 to 3,000 Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. Hamilton Bee holds back 25,000 to 30,000 Federals under Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks. But the Federals eventually outflank Bee's force causing him to order a retreat. Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, commander of the Army of Western Louisiana, blamed Bee and removed him from command. Taylor kept up the pressure on the Federals.

Brig. Gen. Hamilton P. Bee

(DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)

1865: Fighting between blue and gray continues at Henderson, North Carolina, and at Munford, Alabama. Johnston's Army of Tennessee has not yet surrendered.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL HISTORY, April 23.

None.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 22.

1861: ARKANSAS SECESSION: Arkansas Gov. H.M. Rector refuses Lincoln's demand to contribute Arkansas men to his call for  75,000 volunteers, nationwide, to subjugate the seceded Southern states. The reaction to Lincoln's war was similar in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina--SECESSION. 

Maj. Micajah R. Wilson

1st Battalion Arkansaw Infantry

1863: VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN: At Vicksburg, Miss., 18 Federal vessels run past the Confederate guns but 7 are sunk (one transport and 6 barges), and 11 make it and bring supplies to Grant's army. President Davis suggested to Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton that he send fire rafts downriver to obstruct Federal river traffic.

1864:  Red River Campaign: At Natchitoches, La., Confederate cavalry under Brig. Gen. William Steele saves the town from being burned down by retreating Federals of A.J. Smith's division from Sherman's army. Steele reported he had only one regiment available to him that morning, the 19th Texas Cavalry of Parson's brigade, and he ordered them to press the retreating bluecoats. The Northern arsonists lit several fires but before they could burn the town, the Confederate horse soldiers drove them out and saved the community. The Federals, further down the road to Alexandria, burned Magnolia Plantation's main house and killed the overseer on the front porch.

Brig. Gen. William Steele

(Colorized)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 22.

None.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, April 21.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 21.

1864: Red River Campaign: Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks orders the Army of the Gulf to retreat from Grand Ecore through Natchitoches and to Alexandria. The demoralized Yankees began burning every building in their reach along the way. A soldier in the 114th New York Infantry wrote, "At night, the burning buildings mark our pathway." The Louisiana soldiers were fighting to defend and avenge their families that were being terrorized, and the Texas soldiers were fighting to keep the Northmen out of Texas, which accounts for their great fierceness in battle.

Cpl. Paul Thibodaux,

Consolidated 18th La. Inf. Reg't.of

Mouton's Brigade. The Louisiana

soldiers were fighting in defense of

their homes and families in the Red

River Campaign. (Courtesy of C.J. Knobloch, grandson)

1865: The famous "Gray Ghost," Colonel John Singleton Mosby disbanded his 43rd Va. Cavalry Battalion (Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders, and Mosby's Men) at Salem, Virginia. While some of his men to the Federals were paroled, Mosby moved south with other officers planning to continue the fight with General Johnston in North Carolina. 

Col. John S. Mosby

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 21.

Brigadier General Louis Trezevant Wigfall was born on this day in 1816 at Edgefield District, South Carolina. He had a long political career in the South prior to the war, which included service as well as service as a lieutenant in the Second Seminole War in Florida. He also had the reputation of a duelist in South Carolina before moving to Texas in 1848 where he set up a law practice. He was also elected to the Texas House of Representatives and then the Texas Senate. He then became a leading advocate of secession. After Texas seceded from the Union, he became the colonel of the 1st Texas Infantry Regiment, which soon went to Virginia. Wigfall had also served as an aide to General Beauregard during to Fort Sumter crisis. He soon received a promotion to the brigadier general but resigned in February 1862 to serve in the Confederate Senate where he served through the duration of the war. Following the war, he first went into exile in London, England but returned to the United States in 1870 and settled in Baltimore, Maryland but moved to Galveston, Texas in January 1874. Wigfall died there on Feb. 18, 1874, and was buried in the Episcopal cemetery in Galveston.

Brig. Gen Louis T. Wigfall

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 20.

1861: Robert E. Lee resigned from the U.S. Army and was commissioned as commander of the Virginia Militia two days later. General Lee was one of the first five full Confederate generals and went on to become one the greatest commanders in all history.

Robert E. Lee with son

William H.F. Lee c. 1845.

The style for men at this

was the clean-shaven look.

(Wikipedia/Public Domain)

1863: Skirmishes happen on this day at Bloomfield, Mo., Patterson, Mo., and Sandy Ridge, North Carolina.

1864: Skirmishes occur near Camden, Arkansas, and near Natchitoches, Louisiana in the Red River Campaign in those two states during the Red River Campaign, also called the Camden Expedition in Arkansas. General E. Kirby Smith commanded the Confederates and Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele the Federals. The climactic battle of the Arkansas occurred at Jenkins' Ferry on April 30, 1864.

Gen. E. Kirby Smith

The Battle of Plymouth. The Federal garrison at Plymouth, North Carolina surrendered to Confederate Major General Robert F. Hoke after a three-day battle on land and sea. The Federal casualties totaled 2,000, including captured, one ironclad ship sunk, and one ironclad ship damaged. Among the Northern casualties was Lt. Charles W. Flusser, USN, of the U.S.S. Miami. The Confederates lost a total of 800 casualties, including Col. John T. Mercer, commanding Hoke's Brigade, killed in action. This is an example of a Confederate victory that overcame the naval advantage of the  North, which had five gunboats to the South's ironclad CSS Albemarle and the CSS Cotton Plant.

1865: President Davis advocates the continuation of the struggle for Southern Independence through partisan warfare, but both General R.E. Lee and General J.E. Johnston express their opposition and want a cessation of hostilities.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 20.

Brigadier General Alfred Holt Colquitt was born this day in 1824 in Walton County, Georgia. He was a prewar attorney at law in Georgia and a veteran of the Mexican-American War. After the war, he served as a major and paymaster in the U.S. Army and one term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1853-1855). Colquitt was a delegate in the Georgia secession convention and voted for secession. At the beginning of the War for Southern Independence, he started out as a captain in the 6th Georgia Infantry but rose to colonel of the regiment. Colquitt led his regiment in the Peninsula Campaign and then assumed command of the brigade of Brig. Gen. Gabriel Rains after Rains was wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines. He led the brigade successfully at South Mountain and Sharpsburg where he was promoted to brigadier general as of Sept. 1, 1862. His other battles included Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Colquitt and his brigade were then transferred to Charleston, S.C. and in Feb. 1864, took part in the Confederate victory at the Battle of Olustee, Fla. Colquitt's brigade then returned to Virginia for a while and finished the war in North Carolina in 1865. Following the war, Colquitt was elected to two terms of Georgia's governor and then to the U.S. Senate. He died while still serving in the Senate on March 26, 1894, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Ga.

Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt

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Brigadier General John Smith Preston was born on this day in 1809 in Abingdon, Virginia. He practiced law in Columbia, S.C. served in the state senate between 1848 and 1856, and was a delegate in the South Carolina Secession Convention in 1860. With the coming of war, he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army and headed the conscription bureau in Richmond, Va. Following the war, Preston moved to England and did not return to the U.S. until 1868. He died at Columbia, S.C. May 1, 1881, and was buried at the Trinity Cathedral Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. John S. Preston

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, April 19.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 19.

1861: Baltimore Riot of 1861: While marching through Baltimore, Maryland changing trains on the way to Washington, D.C., troops from the 2nd Massachusetts Militia are attacked by a rioting mob. Four soldiers and 12 civilians were killed in the riot. The city was soon occupied by Northern forces who suppressed the secessionist and made arbitrary arrests. James Ryder Randall was inspired to write a famous song, "Maryland, My Maryland" which became a Confederate war song and the state song of Maryland after the war. One of his friends, Francis X. Ward was killed in the riot. Randall later joined the Confederate Navy.

Baltimore Riot of 1861

(Currier & Ives)

James Randall Ryder at age 22

Northern President Lincoln proclaims a blockade of Southern ports. The blockade was part of the North's Anaconda strategy to cut the South off from trade with foreign nations. However, the blockade also had the legal result of de facto recognition of the Confederate States of America and enabled foreign nations to recognize the Confederacy as a lawful belligerent since under international and maritime law a nation can close its own ports but can only blockade a belligerent nation. The Confederacy responded with blockade running, and Confederate Ironclads and Confederate torpedo boats and submarines attacked the blockade ships. It also commissioned Confederate States Cruisers like the CSS Alabama to attack U.S. Merchant ships worldwide. 

Blockade runner CSS Robert E. Lee

1864: The Battle of Plymouth, North Carolina takes place from April 17-20. In a combined rare Confederate army navy attack, Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke's three brigades of infantry, the 8th Va. Cav., the Virginia Horse Artillery battery, and the CSS Albemarle ironclad ram, a total of 4,500 men, attacked the Federal garrison at Plymouth, North Carolina. The Federal garrison consists of 8 regiments of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, two batteries of artillery, five gunboats, and one transport, for a total of 2,500 men. The garrison commander was Brig. Gen. Henry W. Wessells. The Albemarle sinks one gunboat, damages another, and drives off the rest of the ships. 

Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 19.

None.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, April 18.

 Click👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) APRIL 18. 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTYR, April 18.

1860: SOUTH CAROLINA SECESSION: The South Carolina Legislature creates a special session to discuss the possibility of seceding from the Union. This is the start of the legal and constitutional process that leads to the first of the Southern states to secede.

Confederate artilleryman wearing

a secession badge.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1862: Confederate infantry and Federal cavalry skirmish near Falmouth, Virginia.

1863: The Battle of Fayetteville, Arkansas took place on this day. Confederates under Brig. Gen. W.L. Cabell attacked the Federal garrison there under Col. M. LaRue Harrison. The Federals had 1,100 men and the Confederates 900 men and two light artillery pieces. The Southerners attacked the Northerners in downtown Fayetteville but were driven back. The Federals lost 4 killed, 26 wounded, 4 captured, and 35 missing. Confederates suffered around 20 killed, 30 wounded, and 20 missing. While the Federals won the battle, Cabell scored a strategic victory because the Northerners retreated to Missouri a week later.

Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell

Also in 1863, there was a bloody Skirmish at the Sabine Pass Lighthouse on the Louisiana side of the river. The Northern blockading gunboats had been sending landing parties to the abandoned lighthouse to spy on the Confederate forts on the Texas side of the river. Discovering this surreptitious activity, the Confederates set up an ambush on the Northern sailors as they were arriving by boat. The Northerners had six casualties and the Confederates lost Lt. E.T. Wright of Co. D, 20th Battalion Texas Infantry who was killed in action.

1864: Red River Campaign: Maj. Gen. Camille Polignac Louisiana and Texas Division were temporarily blocked from crossing the Calcasieu River while pursuing the Federals under Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks in the Red River Campaign. Attempts to build a pontoon bridge across the river had failed but they finally got the men across on a skiff and a flatboat while the horses swam across. The crossing wasn't finished until late at night. By marching most of the night they managed to make 17 miles when they reached Bayou Nezpique.

1865: SURRENDER OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE: Generals Johnston and Sherman reach a tentative and unauthorized agreement by neither government, to end the war by promising an amnesty to all Confederates and promising to all Southern state governments to resume governing as soon as they take the oath of allegiance to the Union. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 18.

NONE.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate General History/ Confederate General Birthdays, April 17.

Click👉Today in History, April 17.

On This Day in Confederate History

1861: Following the Battle of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to subjugate the Southern states, Virginia passed its Ordinance of Secession. Virginia gave the Confederate States of America some of its greatest military men, such as  Robert E. Lee and Thomas  J. "Stonewall Jackson, and some of its greatest fighting men.

A young Virginia volunteer circa 1861

1862: Shenandoah Valley Campaign: With Federal armies marching on Confederate Richmond, Va., Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson marched his small, 3,500-man, army into the Shenandoah Valley to distract the Federals. The distraction worked remarkably well and over the next few months drew the Yankees into one defeat after another. On this day the  Northern Army reached Mount Jackson in reaction to Jackson.

Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson

1863: Battle of Vermilion Bayou: The Bayou Teche Campaign continued in South Louisiana with Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor's  Army of Western Louisiana, vastly outnumbered, made a delaying stand at the Bayou Vermilion bridge in modern-day Lafayette. The bridge was set on fire and then the Northern invaders arrived, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, commanding, halted and deployed. The Confederate Artillery opened fire and the Northern guns returned fire. The Confederates then withdrew that night.

Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton led a Louisiana

infantry brigade in the campaign.

1864: Battle of Plymouth, N.C.: A Confederate Army under Brig. Gen. Robert Hoke and the Confederate Ironclad CSS Albemarle attacked a Federal stronghold at Plymouth, which was used by the invaders to mount raids into eastern North Carolina. The battle would continue for several days.

Brig. Gen. Robert F. Hoke

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS:

Brigadier General Philip St. George Cocke was born on this day in 1809 in Fluvanna County, Va. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1828 and from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 1832. St. George Cocke served in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery but resigned in 1834. St. George Cocke resumed civilian life operating plantations in Virginia and Mississippi. He married Sallie Bowdoin shortly thereafter and the couple raised a large family. In the War for Southern Independence, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia and then was made a colonel in the Confederate Army and commanded the 19th Virginia Infantry. St. George Cocke was given command of a brigade and fought at the Battle of Blackburn's Ford and the First Battle of Manassas. After that, he was promoted to brigadier general in command of an infantry brigade. However, his battle experience shattered him mentally and physically and he killed himself on Dec. 26, 1861. St. George Cocke was first buried on his plantation, Bellmead, in Powhatan Co., Va. In 1904, his remains were reburied in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

Brig. Gen. Philip St. George Cocke

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TODAY IN HISTORY (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, APRIL 18.

Click👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) APRIL 18. 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTYR, April 18.

1860: SOUTH CAROLINA SECESSION: The South Carolina Legislature creates a special session to discuss the possibility of seceding from the Union. This is the start of the legal and constitutional process that leads to the first of the Southern states to secede.

Confederate artilleryman wearing

a secession badge.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1862: Confederate infantry and Federal cavalry skirmish near Falmouth, Virginia.

1863: The Battle of Fayetteville, Arkansas took place on this day. Confederates under Brig. Gen. W.L. Cabell attacked the Federal garrison there under Col. M. LaRue Harrison. The Federals had 1,100 men and the Confederates 900 men and two light artillery pieces. The Southerners attacked the Northerners in downtown Fayetteville but were driven back. The Federals lost 4 killed, 26 wounded, 4 captured, and 35 missing. Confederates suffered around 20 killed, 30 wounded, and 20 missing. While the Federals won the battle, Cabell scored a strategic victory because the Northerners retreated to Missouri a week later.

Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell

Also in 1863, there was a bloody Skirmish at the Sabine Pass Lighthouse on the Louisiana side of the river. The Northern blockading gunboats had been sending landing parties to the abandoned lighthouse to spy on the Confederate forts on the Texas side of the river. Discovering this surreptitious activity, the Confederates set up an ambush on the Northern sailors as they were arriving by boat. The Northerners had six casualties and the Confederates lost Lt. E.T. Wright of Co. D, 20th Battalion Texas Infantry who was killed in action.

1864: Red River Campaign: Maj. Gen. Camille Polignac Louisiana and Texas Division were temporarily blocked from crossing the Calcasieu River while pursuing the Federals under Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks in the Red River Campaign. Attempts to build a pontoon bridge across the river had failed but they finally got the men across on a skiff and a flatboat while the horses swim across. The crossing wasn't finished until late at night. By marching most of the night they managed to make 17 miles when they reached Bayou Nezpique.

1865: SURRENDER OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE: Generals Johnston and Sherman reach a tentative and unauthorized agreement by neither government, to end the war by promising an amnesty to all Confederates and promising to all Southern state governments to resume governing as soon as they take the oath of allegiance to the Union. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 18.

NONE.