Click 👉Today in History (general history) Sept. 10.
On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 10.
1861: Confederate troops of Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd and Brig. A. Wise are forced to retreat from Carnifex Ferry in western Virginia by Federal Brig. Gen. William Starke Rosecrans. Prior to this engagement, the Federals had been defeated at Cross Lanes, on Aug. 26, 1861.
1862: There is more skirmishing in the Sharpsburg/Antietam Campaign in Maryland at Boonsborough, Md. and Frederick, Md. The effective strength of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was 55,000 effective. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan had 102,234 men in the Army of the Potomac at that time.
1863: Activity in the Chickamauga Campaign in Georgia with a skirmish at Summerville, near Pea Vine Creek, and near Graysville, Ga. Federals also reconnoiter between Alpine, Rome, La Fayette, and Summerville, Ga.
1864: Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and E. Louisiana determines the best way to aid the Southern cause is to help Hood's Army of Tennessee in Georgia and Tennessee by strongly fortifying Mobile, Alabama which can be held by a minimal number of troops to draw off a large number of Federal troops in a prolonged campaign.
Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 10.
Lieutenant General Joseph Wheeler was born on this day in 1836 in Augusta, Georgia. Wheeler, nicknamed "Fighting Joe," led the cavalry corps of the Army of Tennessee. He graduated from West Point in 1859 ranking 19th in his class of 22 cadets. As a brevet 2nd lieutenant, he attended the U.S. Army Cavalry School in Carlisle, Pa. He then served in the Regiment of Mounted Rifles in New Mexico Territory, then at Fort Barrancas at Pensacola, Fla. He was serving there when he resigned from the U.S. Army on April 22, 1861, and joined the Confederate Army and was soon given command of the 13th Alabama Infantry with the rank of colonel. He was promoted to brigadier general on Oct. 30, 1862, then to major general on Jan. 20, 1863, and to lieutenant general but the promotion was not confirmed. Wheeler's cavalry fought Sherman in his march through North and South Carolina in 1865 and his last battle was the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina on March 19-20, 1865. After the war, he practiced law near Courtland, Alabama, and farmed. He was elected to Congress in 1880 and served seven terms. In 1898, he was appointed a major general by President William McKinley and led troops in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, including at the Battle of Las Guasimas and the Battle of San Juan Hill. He then served in the Philippine-American War until January 1900. Wheeler died on January 25, 1906, at the age of 69 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Brigadier General Albert Gallatin Blanchard was born this day in 1810 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He graduated from West Point in 1829 ranking 26th in his class and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Infantry. After serving on the frontier in various capacities, Blanchard resigned from the army in 1840 as a first lieutenant. After his first wife died, leaving him with two children, he married Marie Benoist and settled in New Orleans where he became director of public schools. He had a total of 15 children. At the outbreak of war in Mexico in 1847, he became the colonel of the 2nd Louisiana Volunteers which he led with distinction at the Battle of Monterey and the Siege of Vera Cruz. Blanchard was then commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army in the 12th U.S. Infantry. Following that war, he became a public school teacher in New Orleans, a surveyor, and secretary and treasurer of the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad. During the War for Southern Independence, Blanchard became the colonel of the 1st Louisiana Infantry, which was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. He was promoted to brigadier general on Sept. 21, 1861. His brigade was held in reserve during the Battle of Seven Pines. He was then given a series of administrative assignments until near the end of the war when he led a South Carolina Reserve Brigade in the Carolinas Campaign. He returned to New Orleans after the war and was a member of the New Orleans Academy. Blanchard died June 21, 1891, and was buried in the historic St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 in New Orleans. He was a Roman Catholic and his Confederate uniform is on display in the Confederate Memorial Hal Civil War Museum.
Brigadier General Randall Lee Gibson was born this day in Weekford, Kentucky, and was raised in Louisiana. He was an 1853 graduate of Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Louisiana Law School in New Orleans. Gibson became active in the Louisiana Militia as an artillery captain. When war came, he was appointed colonel of the 13th Louisiana Infantry. Prior to the Battle of Shiloh, he was given command of a brigade, which he led with distinction at that battle. Due to his long-standing feud with Lt. Gen. Bran Bragg, which predated the war when both were planters in Terrebonne Parish, La., his promotion to brigadier general was delayed until Jan. 11, 1864. His other battles and campaigns included Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, and the defense of the Spanish Fort at Mobile, Ala. at the end. He was paroled on May 14, 1865. Gibson played an important political role in the postwar era in both Louisiana and the United States as a U.S. congressman and senator of his state. Gibson played a major role in the settlement of the 1876 presidential election dispute, and the ending of Reconstruction in the South. He died on Dec. 15, 1892, at Hot Springs, Ark. where he had gone for his failing health. He was buried in Lexington, Ky., and Lexington Cemetery there.
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