Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 21.
On This Day in Confederate History, May 21.
1863: The Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana begins with the arrival of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks' 40,000-man Army of the Gulf. The Port Hudson garrison commander is Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner with less than 6,000 effective troops. Gardner has greatly improved the defenses at Port Hudson, but there are still uncompleted portions and not enough men to man the forts and trenches around the perimeter. But Gardner would prove to be a master in gathering intelligence on the enemy and shifting men around to threatened parts of the line.
The Battle of Plains Store, La. near Port Hudson begins the fighting in the siege. The Federal cavalry brigade of Col. Benjamin Grierson in advance of the Federal Army, skirmishes with Col. Frank W. Powers Confederate Cavalry. Gardner sends out Col. William R. Miles's infantry to reinforce Power's cavalry. The Confederate infantry at first pushes back the Federal infantry of Maj. Gen. Christopher C. Augur. But the overwhelming numerical superiority of Augur pushes the Confederates back into Port Hudson. The Confederates have 100 casualties to the 150 of the Federals.
1864: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends with the withdrawal of Grant's Army of the Potomac in search of a better place to engage Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. But the Confederates continually outmarch the Federals and end up blocking their path to Richmond. In the battle, from May 9-21, 1864 the Federals lost 2,725 men killed, 13,416 wounded, and 2,258 captured or missing. The Confederates suffered 1,515 killed, 5,414 wounded, and 5,758 captured or missing.
Confederate General Birthdays, May 21.
Confederate Major General Dabney Herndon Maury is born on this day in 1822 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was an 1841 graduate of the University of Virginia and an instructor at West Point. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1846. Maury served in the Mexican-American War and was severely wounded in the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He authored an Army textbook, Tactics for Mounted Rifles. At the start of the War for Southern Independence, he resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederate Army as a colonel and chief of staff for Gen. Earl Van Dorn. Maury was promoted to brigadier general after the Battle of Elk Horn Tavern, Ark. He led a division at the Second Battle of Corinth, Miss., and was promoted to major general in Nov. 1862. Maury was given command of the Dept. of the Gulf with headquarters in Mobile, Ala. where he finished the war. He had a varied career after the war, teaching in Fredericksburg, Va., running a business in New Orleans, La., and serving as minister of Columbia during the administration of President Grover Cleveland. Maury also organized the Southern Historical Society and promoted the reorganization of the National Guard. He died on Jan. 11, 1900, in the home of his son in Peoria, Ill., and was buried in the city cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va.
Confederate Brigadier General Mosby Monroe Parsons is born on this day in 1822 in Charlottesville, Virginia. His family moved to Cole Co., Mo. in 1835, and as an adult practiced law in Jefferson City, Mo. During the Mexican-American War, he served as a captain in Col. Alexander W. Doniphan's regiment and fought in the Battle of Sacramento where he was cited for gallantry. After that war, he served as a U.S. District Attorney and a senator in the Missouri State Senate. Parsons was also appointed a brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard and led a division at the Battle of Oak Hill, Mo. in 1861. He was appointed a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on Nov. 5, 1862. He commanded a division in the Battle of Pleasant Hill, La., and at the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Ark. Following the war, Parsons and two companions were traveling in Mexico when they were murdered by Mexican soldiers on Aug. 15, 1865, near China, Nuevo Leon, and buried in unmarked graves.
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