Sunday, June 9, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, June 9.

 

Click 👉Today in History (general history) June 9. 

On This Day in Confederate History, June 9.

 1862: Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Army of the Valley is victorious again at the Battle of Port Republic, one of the bloodiest of the battles of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. Jackson's victories at Cross Keys, on June 8, and the Port Republic, on June 9, give Confederates control of the Shenandoah Valley and enable Jackson to reinforce General Lee for the Seven Days Battles. Federal casualties amounted to 1,002 and 816 Confederate casualties. Casualties at the Cross Keys battle were 684, and for the Confederates, 287. Federal casualties are the Port Republic battle were 1,002, and Confederate, 816.

(La. Civil War Centennial Brochure)
The Tigers played a key role in taking
the Yankee artillery in the battle.

1863: The Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle ever in America, occurs on this day. The battle involved 11,000 Federal troopers under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasanton versus 9,500 Confederate gray-clad cavalry under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. The Confederates were screening General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia which was camped around Culpepper, Va. Stuart's cavalry was caught by a surprise attack by Pleasonton's northerners. However, the Confederates counterattacked and brought victory for the Southerners. The Federals lost 907 men killed, 352 wounded, and 486 missing or captured. The Confederates suffered 51 killed, 250 wounded, and 132 missing or captured.

1864: The First Battle of Petersburg, Va. occurs when Federal Maj. Gen. Benjamin "Beast" Butler sent 4,500 bluecoats to attack the thin gray line then guarding Petersburg. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and Maj. Gen. Henry Wise initially had only about 1,000 men in the fortifications, mostly old men and young boys, when the attack first occurred. Beauregard managed to bring in reinforcement from the Bermuda Hundred line consisting of the 4th North Carolina Cavalry and the 7th Confederate States Cavalry to shore up the Confederate line. Brig. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston also brought in artillery reinforcements and the Federal attack was repulsed. The Federals had 40 total casualties and the Confederates had 80.

Brig. Gen. Raliegh E. Colston
Helped save the day with artillery
reinforcements.

Confederate General Birthdays, June 9.

Brigadier General John Rogers Cooke was born on this day in 1833 at Jefferson Barracks, Maryland. He was wounded seven times in the war. The son of a career army officer and brother-in-law to J.E.B. Stuart, Cooke was working in railroad construction when he received a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1855 in the 8th Infantry Regiment. He followed J.E.B. Stuart into the Confederate Army in 1861, while his father, Philip St. George Cooke stayed and became a Federal general. He began the war as an aide to Brig. Gen. T.H. Holmes under whom he fought at the First Battle of Manassas, Va. Cooke worked his way up the ranks and was commissioned a brigadier general on Nov. 1, 1862. His other battles included Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg (severely wounded), Bristoe Station (seriously wounded), Spotsylvania Court House (another leg wound), and the Battle of Sutherland's Station at the end of the Siege of Petersburg. Following the war,  Cooke made his living as a businessman in Richmond, Va., and helped found the Confederate Soldier's Home there. He died on April 10, 1891, in Richmond, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. John Rogers Cooke

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