On This Day in Confederate History, June 10.
1863: Confederate officer prisoners of war were transported to northern prison camps on the passenger steamship Maple Leaf, overpower their
12 Federal soldier guards and capture the ship. The prisoners then
liberated themselves and escaped to Richmond, Va. There were 70
Confederate P.O.W.'s who participated in the seizure and escape. Among
them was Captain Oliver John Semmes of the 1st Confederate Battery
(Semmes Battery). He was the son of Admiral Raphael Semmes. He was born on Aug. 29, 1839 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Va. and was a third year student at West Point, N.Y. in 1861 when he resigned to join the Confederate Army. Semmes was appointed a second lieutenant of infantry but in February 1862 organized the 1st Confederate Regular Artillery Battery, better know as Semmes Battery, and served well at the Battle of Baton Rouge and was captured while commanding the CSS Diana in the Battle of Irish Bend, La. on April 14, 1863. After his escape from the Maple Leaf, he was promoted to major and commanded artillery in the Trans-Mississippi Department. After the war, he became a judge in Mobile, Alabama and married Amante Electra Gaines there in 1873. The couple was blessed with three children, Amante Electra, Oliver John, and Raphael Owen Semmes. His wife died in 1889 and he died on Jan. 18, 1918 and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Ala.
1864: The Battle of Brice's Crossroads, near Baldwyn, Miss. A Federal expedition from Memphis, Tenn. led by Brigadier General Samuel D. Sturgis includes 4,800 infantry, 3,300 cavalry, and 22 artillery pieces clashed with 3,500 Confederate cavalrymen under Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. The outnumbered Confederates rout the Federals inflicting them with 223 killed, 394 wounded, 1,632 captured or missing, and captured 18 Federal artillery pieces. The Confederates suffered 96 killed and 396 wounded. The battle was a great victory for General Forrest and his men.
Confederate General Birthdays, June 10.
Brigadier General Thomas Fentress Toon was born on this day in 1840 in Columbus County, North Carolina. He was attending Wake Forest College when the war began in 1861 and left to join the Confederate Army. He was elected the first lieutenant of the 20th North Carolina Infantry and fought in nearly all the battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was wounded severely on March 25, 1865, at the Battle of Fort Stedman and was recuperating when the war ended. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1864. Following the war, Toon returned to North Carolina and in 1900 was elected superintendent of public education for North Carolina. Toon died at Raleigh, N.C. on Feb. 19, 1902, and was buried in Historic Oakwood Cemetery there.
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