Thursday, November 21, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Nov. 21.

Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Nov. 21

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 21

1861: Confederate Cabinet: President Davis reorganizes his cabinet appointing Judah Benjamin secretary of war, Thomas Bragg, attorney general. The president also appointed General Lloyd Tilghman commander of Forts Henry and Donelson at the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. 

1862: Second Manassas Campaign: It becomes obvious to General Lee that Burnside is concentrating his whole Yankee army at Fredericksburg. That same day Federal General Sumner demanded the surrender of the city by 5 o'clock that afternoon or else he would commence bombarding it. The threat is an empty one and no bombardment occurs. General Lee advised city officials the invasion would be resisted and the civilians began evacuating.

A  young Confederate private wearing
an Atlanta Depot-style jacket.
The ambrotype has a Georgia provenance. 
(M.D. Jones Collection, 9th Plate Ambrotype, colorized)

1863: Missionary Ridge: General Bragg at Missionary Ridge in Tennessee overestimates the strength of his position while General Grant prepares for a massive assault. Bragg has also transferred Longstreet's Corps plus Bushrod Rust Johnson's Division to Knoxville, Tenn. which was then under a partial siege.

1864: Sherman's March to the Sea: General Hood moves the Army of Tennessee, including 30,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalrymen, out of Florence, Alabama toward Tennessee. Sherman's March to the Sea continues with Confederate cavalry and Georgia militia harassing the bluecoats. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Nov. 21

Brigadier General Richard Brooke Garnett was born on this day in 1817 in Essex, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1841 and served in the Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the Utah Expedition. He resigned from the U.S. Army on May 17, 1861, and joined the Confederate Army. Garnett initially served as a major of artillery, then as the lieutenant colonel of Cobb's Legion. He was arrested by Jackson at the First Battle Kernstown, Va. for retreating. However, General Lee released Garnett from arrest and gave him command of a brigade in Longstreet's Corps. He fought credibly at the Battle of Sharpsburg, Md., and the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., and was killed in action in Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pa. on July 3, 1863. His body was never identified but it was assumed he was among the unidentified Confederate dead later reburied in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va. A cenotaph was erected in memoriam to Brig. Gen. Richard Brooke Garnett at that location. Pictures of Richard Brooke Garnet are in dispute. Some Garnett family members claim that pictures identified as him are his cousin, Robert S. Garnett, also a Confederate general. Some claim that a long-identified picture of Confederate General Franklin Gardner is actually Richard Brooke Garnett. He was promoted to brigadier general on November 14, 1861, and was given command of a brigade in Stonewall Jackson's Army of the Valley. 


Brigadier General William McComb, in 1828, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. He moved to Clarksville, Tenn. in 1864 where he ran a flour mill in Cumberland County. He started the war as a private in the 14th Tenn. Inf. but quickly moved up the ranks to second lieutenant and major of the regiment. McComb was wounded in battles at Gaines' Mill, Va., in 1862; Sharpsburg, Md., in 1862; and at Chancellorsville, Va. in 1863. He commanded an Alabama brigade as a colonel and was promoted to brigadier general on Jan. 20, 1865. McComb was paroled at Appomattox Court House, Va. April 9, 1865. After the war, he took up the life of a Virginia farmer in Louisa County, which he did for almost 50 years. McComb died July 12, 1918, and is buried in Mechanicsville Baptist Cemetery in Louisa County, Va.

Brig. Gen. William McComb

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