Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 6.

Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 6. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 6.

1862: Following the Battle of Baton Rouge, La., Maj. Gen. John C.  Breckinridge was ordered to fortify Port Hudson, La., a town about 20 miles north of Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River with a high bluff and a sharp turn. It was the perfect spot for a major fortification and perfect southern anchor to Vicksburg, Miss. further upstream. Breckinridge began plans to turn that bustling little river port into a awesome Confederate bastion.

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge

1863: The CSS Alabama captured the Federal Bark Sea Bride off the coast of the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. After the capture, the prize was sold to the Confederacy. Alabama patrolled that area in August and September. It also captured Martha Wenzell on August 9 but released it. The Federal Navy's USS Vanderbilt was hunting for Alabama but had never found the Confederatecruiser. Alabama was able to rendezvous in that area several times with the CSS Tuscaloosa.

Admiral Raphael Semmes, foreground, and
1st Lt. John Kell during Alabama's South Africa
patrol in Aug. 1863.
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Col. John Singleton Mosby
The "Gray Ghost"

Also on this day in 1863, Col. John Singleton Mosby's 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion captured a Federal wagon train at Fairfax Court House, Virginia. Mosby, the "Gray Ghost," had formed his battalion under the Partisan Rangers Act in January 1863 and had great success with his unconventional tactics. The "Gray Ghost's" legend made him one of the best remembered Confederate heroes. In the 20th Century, he was the subject of a television TV series in the 1950s and of a Disney TV mini-series in the 1960s.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 6.

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