Today in History (general history)\ On This Day in Confederate History, Confederate General Birthdays, April 13.

Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) April 13.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 13.

1861: Battle of Fort Sumter: After 34 hours of bombardment on Fort Sumter, S.C., Major Robert Anderson notifies Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard he is ready to surrender the fort. No Federal soldiers were killed in the bombardment, but the fort is heavily damaged. One Confederate was mortally wounded when his own cannon misfired. The surrender ceremony is scheduled for the next day. This victory gets the new Confederate nation off to a good start showing it can successfully defend its claimed territory as a free and independent country.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter

(Currier & Ives)

1862: New Mexico Campaign: With Confederate food, water, and ammunition about to be exhausted, Brig. Gen. H.H. Sibley began withdrawing his Confederate brigade to El Paso, Texas on April 12 and continued on April 13.

On the Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia, Maj. Gen. J.B. Magruder received reinforcements building up to 34,000 men, which was barely enough to defend his fortifications across the peninsula anchored on Yorktown. Federal Maj. Gen. George McClellan built up his heavy siege artillery up to 15 batteries with more than 70 large caliber guns. 

1865: Battles After Appomattox: Despite the surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, fighting continues with skirmishes on this day at Wetumpka, Ala., Whistler, Ala., and Morrisville, N.C. in which Gen. J.E. Johnston's army continues battling Sherman's advance. Also, a Confederate torpedo (underwater mine) sank the U.S.S. Ida in Mobile Bay, Ala.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 13.

Brigadier General Leroy Augustus Stafford Sr. was born this day in 1822 on Greenwood Plantation near Cheneyville, Louisiana. He was a prominent citizen soldier who before the war was a wealthy planter in Louisiana and sheriff of Rapides Parish and a veteran of the Mexican-American War. He organized the "Stafford Guards" as its captain in 1861 and then became colonel of the 9th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Stafford commanded brigades temporarily as a colonel and was finally promoted to brigadier general. His battles included Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Rappahannock Station. General Stafford was mortally wounded on May 5, 1864, in the Battle of the Wilderness, Va., and died May 8, 1864, in Richmond, Va. He was temporarily buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va., and was reinterred in 1886 on his Greenwood Plantation in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

Brig. Gen. Leroy A. Stafford

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Brigadier General William Stephen Walker was born on this day in 1822 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Raised in Mississippi and Washington, D.C. by an uncle, Walker served in the Mexican-American War. He rejoined the U.S. Army in 1855 and resigned in 1861 to join the Confederate Army. He held such positions as aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert E. Lee for a short period, inspector general of South Carolina, and was promoted to colonel and then a brigadier general in 1862. He led troops in battle at the First Battle of Pocotaligo, S.C., the Battle of Port Royal, S.C., Petersburg, Va., the Overland Campaign, and the Battle of Ware Bottom Church, where he was wounded, captured, and had a foot amputated. Walker was paroled on May 1, 1865, at Greensboro, N.C. Following the war, Walker lived in Georgia and died June 7, 1899, in Atlanta and was buried there in Oakland Cemetery.

Brig. William S. Walker

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