Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 28.
On This Day in Confederate History, May 28.
1863: Siege of Port Hudson, La.: In the aftermath of the severe casualties inflicted on the Federals on May 27, 1863, at the Siege of Port Hudson, La., Federal Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks sent an urgent message to Brashear City, La. ordering more reinforcements including seven regiments of infantry. Confederates were having to resort to making homemade artillery supplies, such as improvised bags of scrap iron.
1864: Atlanta Campaign: Following the Confederate victory at the Battle of Pickett's Mill, Ga. Confederate skirmishers engage with the Federals. Captain Samuel T. Foster of the 24th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) writes, "We were not permitted to sit down and reflect over it, but were ordered forw'd about an hour by sun, just our Reg't. We advanced cautiously for about a mile through the wood when we found them again, and open fire upon them, and soon have them on the retreat -- There is only a skirmish line of them but that is all we have shooting at them, so we drive them about 1/2 mile to their breastworks. . ."
Confederate General Birthdays, May 28.
General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was born on this day in 1818 in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. He graduated from West Point in 1838 ranking 2nd in his class. During the Mexican-American War, Beauregard served on the staff of Gen. Winfield Scott as an engineer, along with Captain Robert E. Lee. For his performance in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, he earned brevet promotions to captain and major. He also had important input in the planning for the attack on Chapultepec and was one of the first American officers to enter Mexico City. In 1861, he briefly served as the superintendent of West Point but was dismissed because he was a Southerner. Beauregard resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederate Army. President Jefferson Davis gave him command of the Confederate forces at Charleston, S.C. and he gained early fame with early victory at Fort Sumter. He was promoted to full general and placed in command of the forces at Manassas, Va. where he and Gen. J.E. Johnston were victorious in the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. His other battles and campaigns included Shiloh, Corinth, Charleston Harbor, Fort Wagner, Second Fort Sumter, Bermuda Hundred, and Bentonville. Following the war, he rebuilt his life in the civilian sector, in New Orleans, La. as an engineer, in railroad construction, and in the Louisiana lottery. He was a voice of moderation during the tumult during Reconstruction in Louisiana, and active in the cultural life of the city. Beauregard died Feb. 20, 1893, in New Orleans and was entombed in the Tomb of the Army of Tennessee in Metairie Cemetery.
Brigadier General Alpheus Baker is born on this day in 1828 in Abbeville District, South Carolina. Before the War for Southern Independence, he was a school teacher and lawyer and South Carolina and Alabama. During the war, he became a colonel and fought in the Battle of New Madrid, and was taken, prisoner. After being exchanged he was given command of the 54th Alabama Infantry. Baker was seriously wounded in the Battle of Champion's Hill, Miss. in 1863. When he recovered he was promoted to brigadier general and led an Alabama brigade in the Atlanta Campaign. He has wounded again at the Battle of Ezra Church. Baker led his brigade in defending Mobile, Ala., and finished the war in the Carolinas Campaign. Following the war, Baker resumed the practice of law and moved to Louisville, Ky. He died there on Oct. 21, 1891, and was buried in Cave Hille Cemetery.
Brigadier General Basil Wilson Duke was born on this day in 1838 in Georgetown, Kentucky. Before the war, Duke was a lawyer in St. Louis, Mo., and supported the cause of secession and Southern Independence. He was charged with arson and treason for his secessionist activities but escaped to Lexington, Ky. where he married the sister of John Hunt Morgan and joined Morgan's command as a second lieutenant. Duke was wounded in the Battle of Shiloh. After recovering he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and wounded again in Morgan's Christmas Raid of 1862. After that, he participated in Morgan's other raids and following the death of Morgan, was promoted to brigadier general and assumed command of Morgan's forces. He surrendered to the Federals on May 10, 1865. Following the war, Duke moved to Louisville, Ky. where he practiced law, wrote a history of Morgan's Cavalry, and helped found the Filson Club. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him a commissioner of Shiloh National Military Park. He died Sept. 16, 1916, following several operations in a New York City hospital and was buried in the Hunt Family plot in Lexington Cemetery.
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