Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 26.

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ON THIS DAY DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 26.

1861: Trent Affair: The United States bows to Great Britain's demand to release Confederate commissioners James Mason and John Slidell to the custody of Great Britain. Mason and Slidell were released from Fort Warren, then boarded the British warship HMS Rinaldo and brought the Provincetown, Mass. St. Thomas Island, where they boarded the British mail packet La Plata on Jan. 14, 1862, and were taken to Southampton, England, where they were released. Mason stayed in England seeking diplomatic recognition for the Confederacy, and Slidell went to France seeking diplomatic recognition there. Although unsuccessful at that mission, Slidell was successful in securing a large loan for the Confederacy as well as an ironclad warship, the CSS Stonewall.

1863: Captain Felix Pierre Poché, Mouton's Brigade, Army of Western Louisiana, writes on this day: "This morning, after getting provisions for the Brigade I started on the road for Monroe with Capt Ranson, at 5 1/2 o'clock, and arrived there at 10 o'clock, and arrived there at 10 o'clock, and arrived there at 10 o'clock A.M.

     "Due to the great negligence of Major Mouton, I found only a few bushels of corn flour which in turn I was forced to divide with the other Brigade. 

     "Tonight, maintaining my rights, I had a great deal of trouble with Majors Mouton & Griffin, and at last I consented to give a barrel of flour to the latter.

     "Our Brigade camped tonight two miles from Monroe."

1864: General Hood crosses the Army of Tennessee over the Tennessee River, which effectively ended his campaign against Nashville. Hood resigned from command of the Army of Tennessee in January 1865 and the command devolved on Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor who siphoned off some of the brigades to Mobile, Ala. defenses, and the rest of the Army of Tennessee was sent to North Carolina under the command again of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston who rebuilt the army once again to resist Lincoln's and Sherman's scorched earth policy in the Carolinas. 

Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson

His Louisiana brigade was among

those which were transferred by Gen.

Richard Taylor from the Army of

Tennessee to the Mobile, Ala. defenses

(Library of Congress)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 26.

Brigadier General William Nelson Pendleton was born in 1809 in Caroline County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1830, fifth in a class of 42 cadets. He left the U.S. Army in 1833 and was a mathematics teacher until 1838, when he was ordained into the Episcopal priesthood. In 1861, he was commissioned a captain in the Confederate artillery and commanded the Rockbridge Artillery at the First Battle of Manassas. Pendleton was promoted to brigadier general on March 26, 1862, and was put in command of the artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was wounded during the Battle of Sharpsburg, Md. but recovered and served until the end of the war. Postwar he served as rector of Grace Church in Lexington, Va. and one of his parishioners was Robert E. Lee, as well as other prominent Confederates. He died on Jan. 15, 1883, and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Lexington.

Brig. Gen. William Nelson Pendleton

 Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 25

                                    HAVE A MERRY AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 25

1862: General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, on Dec. 13, 1862, had established his winter headquarters at Moss Neck Manor, which was two miles from the Rappahannock River in Virginia. On December 25, 1862, he wrote a letter to his wife Anna and hosted a Christmas Day party for Generals Lee, Stuart, and others in the mansion. They dined on turkey, sipped wine, and sang Christmas carols.

Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson

(Library of Congress)

General John Hunt Morgan's Confederate Cavalry Brigade raids a Federal outpost near Bear Wallow, Kentucky in continuation of disrupting Yankee communications before the Murfreesboro Campaign in 1862.

1863: A Confederate salt works near Bear Inlet, North Carolina, is destroyed by Federal raiders.

1864: General Hood's Army of Tennessee skirmishes with Federals at Richland Creek, Devils Gap, and White's Station, Tennessee in the aftermath of the Battle of Nashville.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 25

Brigadier General Milledge Luke Bonham was born in 1813 at Red Bank, South Carolina. He was the younger brother of James Butler Bonham, who died fighting at the Alamo in 1836. He got prewar military experience in the South Carolina militia and in the Mexican-American War in which he served as colonel of the 12th U.S. Infantry. Bonham was elected to the 35th & 36th U.S. Congress and served until the day after South Carolina seceded. He then traveled to other Southern states promoting secession. In the war, he was a brigadier general commanding a brigade of infantry, six companies of cavalry, and two batteries of artillery at the First Battle of Manassas. Bonham resigned from the army on Jan. 27, 1862, when he became a member of the Confederate Congress. He was then elected governor of South Carolina on Dec. 17, 1862. After the war, he served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, railroad commissioner, owned an insurance business, and was a planter. He died Aug. 27, 1890, at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia, S.C.

                                                     

Brig. Gen. Milledge Luke Bonham

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Brigadier General Preston Smith was born in 1823 in Giles County, Tennessee. He had a successful law practice in Memphis until he was elected colonel of the 154th Tenn. Inf. in 1861. Smith fought with his regiment at the Battle of Shiloh and received a severe shoulder wound. He then commanded a brigade in Cleburne's Division at the Battle of Perryville, after which he was promoted to brigadier general on Oct. 27, 1862. Smith was killed in action on Sept. 19, 1863, at the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga. Smith is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.

Brig. Gen. Preston Smith, KIA Sept. 19, 1863, Chickamauga, Ga.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 24.

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Merry Christmas

Father Abram J. Ryan

Confederate chaplain and poet

(Ca. 1870)

The poet-priest of the South, born at Norfolk, Virginia, 15 August 1839; died at Louisville, Kentucky, 22 April 1886. He inherited from his parents, in its most poetic and religious form, the strange witchery of the Irish temper. Fitted for the priesthood by a nature at once mystic and spiritual, he was ordained just before the beginning of the Civil War, entered the Confederate army as a chaplain, and served in this capacity until the end of the war. In the hour of defeat, he won the heart of the entire South by his "Conquered Banner," whose exquisite measure was taken, as he told a friend, from one of the Gregorian hymns. The Marseillaise, as a hymn of victory, never more profoundly stirred the heart of France than did this hymn of defeat the hearts of those to whom it was addressed. It was read or sung in every Southern household and thus became the apotheosis of the "Lost Cause." While much of his later war poetry was notable in its time, his first effort, which fixed his fame, was his finest production. The only other themes upon which he sang were those inspired by religious feeling. Among his poems of that class are to be found bits of the most weird and exquisite imagery. Within the limits of the Southern Confederacy and the Catholic Church in the United States, no poet was more popular. After the war, he exercised the ministry in New Orleans, and was editor of "The Star," a Catholic weekly; later, he founded "The Banner of the South" in Augusta, Georgia, a religious and political weekly; then he retired to Mobile. In 1880, he lectured in several Northern cities. As a pulpit orator and lecturer, he was always interesting and occasionally brilliant. As a man, he had a subtle, fascinating nature, full of magnetism when he saw fit to exert it; as a priest, he was full of tenderness, gentleness, and courage. In the midst of pestilence, he had no fear of death or disease. Even when he was young, his feeble body gave him the appearance of age, and with all this, there was the dreamy mysticism of the poet so manifest in the flesh as to impart to his personality something which marked him off from all other men. His "Poems, Patriotic, Religious, and Miscellaneous" has reached dozens of printings.

[Taylor, H. (1912). Father Abram J. Ryan. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13282b.htm]

A CHRISTMAS CHAUNT

(Excerpted From Father Abram Ryan's Poem)

 Ah! no eve is like the Christmas Eve!
                         Fears and hopes, and hopes and fears,
                         Tears and smiles, and smiles and tears,
                         Cheers and sighs, and sighs and cheers,
                         Sweet and bitter, bitter, sweet,
                         Bright and dark, and dark and bright.
                         All these mingle, all these meet,
                         In this great and solemn night.

                         Ah! there's nothing like a Christmas Eve!
                         To melt with kindly glowing heat,
                         From off our souls the snow and sleet,
                         The dreary drift of wintry years,
                         Only to make the cold winds blow,
                         Only to make a colder snow;
                         And make it drift, and drift, and drift,
                         In flakes so icy-cold and swift;
                         Until the heart that lies below
                         Is cold and colder than the snow.

                         And thus with the shadows only,
                         And the dreamings they unweave,
                         Alone, and yet not lonely,
                         I keep my Christmas Eve.

Father Ryan Monument, Mobile, Ala.

(Photo by M.D. Jones)

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 24

1861: Confederate War Department Clerk John Jones in Richmond, Virginia spends Christmas Eve day working. He writes, "I am at work working on the resolution passed by Congress. The Secretary sent it to me, with an order to prepare the list of names, and said that he would explain the grounds upon which they are permitted to depart. I can only give the number registered in this office.

1862: General Rosecrans was getting his Army of the Cumberland at Nashville, Tenn. ready for his campaign against the Confederates at nearby Murfreesboro. But General John Hunt Morgan was carrying out his raid on the Yankee lines of communications by driving out three companies of Michigan cavalry from Glasgow, Ky. The Confederates would spend Christmas there and occupy the town for three days while destroying the Federal railroad and communications facilities there.

Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan

1863: Captain Felix Pierre Poché of Mouton's Brigade writes in his daily diary, "We made about 14 miles, and encamped 32 miles from Monroe. I had a lot of trouble trying to buy potatoes for the troops without success. I never thought that there was a place as poor and miserable as this in the State of Louisiana.

     Tonight, despite the bad colds suffered by the men, it was easy to realize it was Christmas Eve by the shouting and noise in the regiments." (A Louisiana Confederate, 1972)

1864: The Federal Navy bombarded Fort Fisher, North Carolina on this day in preparation for an assault on the fort on Christmas day. Fort Fisher was guarding Wilmington, which was the Confederacy's last link to a port on the Atlantic coast. General Benjamin "Beast" Butler was commanding the invasion force for the Yankees. While the fort was temporarily silenced and some guns dismounted, General Maj. Robert F. Hoke's Division of Confederate infantry arrived there in a nick of time before the land assault began. But the Federals also managed to land their forces on this day.

Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 24

NONE

Today in History (general history/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 23.

 Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 23.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 23.

1861: Trent Affair: Lord Lyons, Queen Victoria's ambassador in Washington, pressured the U.S. government to release the two Confederate commissioners to Great Britain illegally seized on the high seas by the U.S. warship San Jacinto from the British ship Trent. After a meeting between Lincoln and his cabinet, U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner advised the Northern president to order the political prisoners released.

1862: Confederate President Jefferson Davis proclaims U.S. Brig. Gen. Benjamin Butler of New Orleans occupation infamy to be an enemy of mankind. Butler, who had recently been relieved by General Nathaniel Banks, was labeled by New Orleans residents with such nicknames as "Beast Butler," for his infamous "Women's order," which many take to mean allowing rape, and "Spoons Butler," for his alleged involvement in looting. 

Captain Elijah Petty of the 17th Texas Infantry, Walker's Texas Division, writes home, "We are still here near Little Rock in a state of uncertainty waiting for orders and hoping that they will come for us to go somewhere." (Find A Grave)

Capt. Elijah Petty

17th Texas Infantry

1863: Captain Felix Pierre Poché of Mouton's Louisiana Infantry Brigade, writes in his diary, "We made about 14 miles, and encamped 32 miles from Monroe. I have not had one serious accident on my wagon train. I had today the pleasure of receiving a very acceptable present from my Friend Emile Morvan, a wonderful pair of drawers." (A Louisiana Confederate, 1972).

1864: Skirmishing occurs between General Hood's Army of Tennessee, still in retreat from the Battle of Nashville, and the pursuing Federals around Columbia, Tennessee. Columbia today is the international headquarters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 23.

Brig. Gen. David A. Weisiger

Brigadier General David Addison Weisiger was born in 1818 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. During the Mexican-American War, he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Virginia Volunteers. He also served with the Virginia Militia in the 39th Regiment between 1853 and 1860 rising to the level of colonel.  During the War for Southern Independence, he served as a major in the 4th Infantry Battalion, Virginia Militia then, on May 9, 1961, the colonel of the 12th Virginia Infantry Regiment. He fought at the Battle of Seven Pines, the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and as a brigade commander at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and his promotion as a brigadier general was confirmed on June 7, 1864. His promotion was canceled, but then he was appointed again to the brigadier general rank to date from July 30, 1864, and he carried on as such in the Siege of Petersburg to the end of the war. He was wounded three times during the war and had two horses shot from under him. After the war, he made his living as a bank cashier in Petersburg, Va., and died on Feb. 23, 1899. Weisiger was buried at the historic Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day In Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 22.

 Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 22. 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 22.

1862: Murfreesboro Campaign: The encampment of the Army of Tennessee under Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg was in winter camp in Middle Tennessee while Federal Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, at Nashville, Tenn., under intense pressure from Washington, was preparing to advance on the Confederates after Christmas. But Bragg got the jump on Rosecrans by sending Brig. John Hunt Morgan's cavalry brigade started a raid on the Federal lines of communications. Morgan had just been promoted to brigadier general on December 11 and married Martha "Mattie" Ready on December 14. In just 8 days, North and South would be engaged in one of the bloodiest battles of the war along Stone's River near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan

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1863: Captain Felix Pierre Poché, commissary department, Mouton's Brigade, Army of Western Louisiana wrote in his daily diary: "Tuesday, Dec. 22. We were again on the road all day and camped at 6 o'clock P.m. on Bayou Dugdemonna [sic] 4 1/2 miles from Winnfield, the seat of Justice of Winn Parish, an ugly little town of about six or seven ugly houses and two or three stores. I was traveling ahead of the Brigade to inquire about some corn flour ground. I finally found a mill near Winnfield and had enough ground for two days' rations. We had rain tonight and a miserable camp.

Capt. Felix Pierre Poché, Mouton's La. Brigade 

(Poché Family Collection)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 22.

NONE.

Today in history (general history)/ On this Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthday, December 20.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 21.

1862: Confederate War Clerk John Jones writes in his diary in the War Department in Richmond, Va.: "Nothing yet has been done by the immense Federal fleet of iron-clad gunboats which were to devastate our coast this winter. But the winter is not over yet, and I apprehend something will be attempted. However, we shall make a heroic defense of every point assailed." Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1810, Jones had built a successful career as a journalist and author before the war. He had been the editor of the  Baltimore Sunday Visitor, authored a novel, Wild Western Scenes, and pro-Tyler publication Madisonian. He also served in the Tyler administration as the U.S. Consul at Naples, Italy. Jones later edited the Southern Monitor in Philadelphia. Jones moved to Richmond, Va. the same day as the firing on Fort Sumter occurred. His writing talent and keen observations in the War Department made his wartime diary one of the most important primary sources for historians ever since. He died Feb. 4, 1866, in Burlington, N.J.

John Beauchamp Jones, 

Confederate War Dept. Clerk, and famous diarist.

John Beauchamp Jones is seated at left in

Caleb Bingham's 1852 painting "Canvassing for Votes."

1862: Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's lightning raid in West Tennessee. After the Battle of Jackson, Tenn. on the 19th, then on the 20th captured Trenton, Tenn. after a sharp fight with the local garrison. He then ransacked the courthouse destroyed Federal supplies did more damage to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Depot and took 700 prisoners. Then on the 21st., Forrest captured Union City, Tenn. The town was occupied by a 106 detachment of the 54th Ohio Infantry commanded by Capt. Samuel B. Logan. Forrest overran the Federals burned the train depot, severed communications, and captured what supplies his men needed. The Confederates then moved on to Jordan, Ky., and burned the RR depot there as well.

Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

1864: The Confederate city of Savannah, Georgia falls to Sherman and his "bummers." The fall of Savannah marked the end of Sherman's destructive march across Georgia from Atlanta to the sea (Atlantic Ocean) during which many war crimes were committed against civilians. "General Howard reported to Sherman, “We have found the country full of provisions and forage…. private dwellings…have been destroyed by fire…; also, many instances of the most inexcusable and wanton acts, such as the breaking open of trunks, taking of silver pate, etc.”

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 21.

NONE.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays/ December 20.

 Click👉Today in History, (general history) Dec. 20.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 20.

1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union. The state justified its secession by citing the U.S. Declaration of Independence that whenever any "form of government becomes destructive of the ends for which it was established, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government." South Carolina continued preparations to defend its right to independence and awaited actions of other Southern states, six more of which followed its lead and instituted the Confederate States of America by February 1861.

A young Southron wearing a Secession cockade and ribbon.

(9th plate ambrotype, M.D. Jones Collection\colorized)

British sergeant, 47th

Regiment of Foot

Circa 1860s

(CDV, M.D. Jones Collection)

1861: In case of war with the United States over the Trent Affair, Great Britain sent two advance ships to Canada. The 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot was among the troops sent to Canada. It also helped the Canadians repel the Fenian invasion from the United States in 1866.

1862: Confederate General Earl Van Dorn attacked the Federal supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi & destroyed $1.5 million worth of supplies, and captured 1,500 bluecoats. Grant's campaign against Vicksburg was delayed, and he failed to join Sherman in consequence; the outnumbered Confederates there scored a signal victory over the Federals.

Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn

1864: General Hardee's Escape from Savannah: General Hardee moves his Confederate Army out of Savannah before being trapped by Sherman. The Confederates marched northward in hopes of finding reinforcements.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 20.

Brigadier General Richard Lucian Page was born on this day in 1807 in Clarke County, Virginia. He started his military career as a U.S. Navy midshipman in 1824 and served with distinction, achieving the rank of commander by the time he resigned in 1861. Page initially served in the Virginia Navy and was commissioned a commander in the Confederate Navy on June 10, 1861. He was promoted to captain soon after, equivalent to a colonel in the army, and served naval forces on land and sea. On March 1, 1864, he joined the C.S. Army and was commissioned a brigadier general. He was given command of the outer defenses of Mobile, Alabama, at Fort Morgan. He surrendered the fort on Aug. 23, 1864. He was imprisoned at Fort Delaware, Del., until Sept. 1865. After the war, he was superintendent of public schools from 1875 to 1883. Page died in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., on Aug. 9, 1861. His final resting place is in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Norfolk, Va.

Brig. Gen. Richard L. Page

Click👉Today in History, (general history) Dec. 20.

NONE.

                                 

CLICK👉The Bloody 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment

Battling for Southern Independence

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 18.

Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 18.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 18.

1862: Battle of Lexington, Tenn. General Nathan Bedford Forrest with 2,500 Confederate cavalrymen attacked a Federal outpost of 670 men at Lexington, Tennessee as part of his raid on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The Yankees were routed, and Forrest captured 140 enemies and two artillery pieces. The Confederates had 35 casualties, and the Federals had 157 casualties, including those captured.

Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

CLICK👉The Bloody 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment

Battling for Southern Independence

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.

1864: Battle of Savannah, Ga. At the Battle (siege) of Savannah, Georgia, Confederate commander General William Hardee refused the demand of surrender from Federal General William T. Sherman. Hardee then prepared his command to evacuate by a circuitous route he had planned.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 18.

Major General Arnold Elzey Jones Jr. (who dropped the Jones part of his name at age 28), was born in 1816 in Somerset County, Maryland. He graduated from West Point in the Class of 1837 ranking 33rd in his class. In his pre-war career in the U.S. Army, he served in the Second Seminole War with the 2nd U.S. Artillery, fought in the Mexican-American War, and was cited for his gallantry at the battles of Contreas and Churubusco. Elzey was also breveted captain for his bravery. He was then in the Third Seminole war and commanded the Augusta Arsenal in Georgia. In 1861 he sided with the South and resigned from the U.S. Army, joined the Confederate Army, and became colonel of the 1st Maryland Infantry. Elzey fought at the First Battle of Manassas in 1861 and was promoted to brigadier general by President Davis. In 1862, Elzey fought in Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign and was wounded in the leg at the Battle of Cross Keys, Va. At the Battle of Gaines' Mill, Va. he suffered a gunshot wound to the head. While recovering, he was promoted to major general on Dec. 4,1862. He was assigned command of the Department of Richmond, Va. in 1863, and in 1864 was made the Chief of Artillery in the Army of Tennessee. He was paroled at Washington, Ga. in 1865. After the war, he farmed in Anne Arundel Co., Md., and died Feb. 21, 1871, in Baltimore. He was buried in Green Mount Cemetery. 

Maj. Gen. Arnold Elzey (Jones Jr.)

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Brigadier General Thomas Pleasant Dockery was born on this day in 1833 in Montgomery County, North Carolina. He moved to Columbia Co., Arkansas, and served in the Arkansas militia in 1861. His company became part of the 5th Arkansas State Troops and fought at the Battle of Oak Hill, Mo. in 1861. After that, his unit disbanded and he helped raise and was elected colonel of the 19th Arkansas Infantry. Dockery fought in the battles of Pea Ridge, Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Big Black River, Siege of Vicksburg, battles of Mount Elba, Prairie D'Ane, Poison Spring, Mark's Mills, and Jenkins' Ferry. Dockery was promoted to brigadier general on August 10, 1864. He died Feb. 26, 1898, in New York City and was buried in Natchez, Miss.

                                                 

Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Dockery

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 17.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 17

1861: The First Virginia Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson begins to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal. The brigade was also known as the "Stonewall Brigade" and established a remarkable record in the course of the war. Its commanders included Jackson, as well as brigadier generals Richard B. Garnett, Charles Sidney Winder, William S. Baylor, Andrew J. Grigsby, Elisha F. Paxton, James A. Walker, and William Terry.

 

Pvt. William Baxter Ott, Co. I, 4th Va. Inf.

Stonewall Brigade, KIA at the First Battle

of Manassas, Va. (Library of Congress/colorized)

1862: Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant issued his infamous antisemitic General Order No. 11, prohibiting Jewish merchants from doing business with the U.S. Army in the three states under his control. Lincoln later forced him to rescind the bigoted order.

1863: The Battle of Tebbs Bend, Ky., occurred on this day. Here is the text of the historical marker on the site: "Here on July 4, 1863, Confederates of Morgan's Brigade under Col. A.R. Johnson attacked the entrenched position of Federal forces under Col. O.H. Moore. They were repulsed eight times. (Kentucky Department of Highways)  It resulted in casualties of 35 dead and 45 wounded for the Confederates. Federal losses were 6 dead and 23 wounded.

1864: Battle of Hollow Tree Gap, Tenn. After the Confederate defeat at Nashville, Tenn., the rear guard of the Army of Tennessee, including Brigadier General Randall Gibson's Louisiana Brigade, skirmished with Federal cavalry. At Hollow Tree Gap, near Franklin, the Southern army showed it still had fight left in it. The Louisianians distinguished themselves by holding off the Federals to give a section of Confederate artillery time to get across the Harpeth River and then engaging a fighting retreat to the river while entirely surrounded by the enemy.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 17

Major General Samuel Jones was born in 1819 in Powhatan County, Virginia. He was a 1841 graduate of West Point and in his U.S. Army career served with the 2nd Artillery Regiment, was an assistant professor of mathematics, artillery, and infantry tactics at West Point, and lastly was an assistant to the Judge Advocate of the Army at Washington. He resigned when Virginia seceded and joined the Virginia Corps of Artillery and then the Confederate Army. He served as a colonel on Gen. Beauregard's staff. Jones was promoted to brigadier general on Jan. 22, 1862, and appointed to command a department at Pensacola, Fla. He was then promoted to major general on March 10, 1862, and assigned to command the Dept. of East Tenn., then the Dept. of Western Va. In 1864, Jones was assigned to command the Dept. of S.C. & Ga., and in 1865 the Dept. of Fla. and S. Ga. His battles included First Manassas, Blountville, and Natural Bridge. After the war, he was the president of the Maryland Agricultural College. He died July 31, 1887, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

Major General Samuel Jones

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Brigadier General James Thadeus Holtzclaw was born in 1833. Henry County, Georgia. He turned down an appointment to West Point and instead pursued a career in law with a practice in Montgomery, Ala. When war came in 1861, he served with the Alabama militia and participated in the capture of Pensacola, Fla. Holtzclaw then joined the 18th Ala. Inf. as a lieutenant was quickly promoted to major and then lt. col. by the end of the year. He was severely wounded in the lung at the Battle of Shiloh but quickly recovered and was promoted to colonel. He was again wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863 and assumed command of a brigade. He was promoted to brig. gen. July 7, 1864, and fought in the Battle of Lookout Mountain and received a severe contusion to his ankle at the Battle of Franklin. He finished the war at Spanish Fort at Mobile Ala. and was paroled on May 10, 1865, at Meridian, Miss. After the war, Holtzclaw resumed his practice of law and served as a state commissioner of railroads in Alabama.  He died July 19, 1893, and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Ala.

                                   

Brig. Gen. James T. Holtzclaw

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, December 16.

 Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 16 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 16

1862: Burnside's Army of the Potomac retreats back to Falmouth, Va., and after being signally defeated at the Battle of Fredericksburg by General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. John W. Thompson Jr, a Federal soldier, wrote "Louisiana sent those famous cosmopolitan Zouaves called the Louisiana Tigers, and there were Florida troops who, undismayed in fire, stampeded the night after Fredericksburg, when the Aurora Borealis snapped and crackled over that field of the frozen dead hard by the Rappahannock ..." (Wikipedia) He may have been referring to the 1st Battalion (Coppens) Louisiana Zouaves (book-This is the story of one of the most unique and famed Louisiana units in the War for Southern Independence, the 1st Louisiana Zouaves. Made up largely of foreigners from many countries, the men wore the gaudy French Zouave uniform and fought with a fierce determination for the new Southern Republic. They fought in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 and numerous other battles throughout the war. ).

1st Bn. La. (Coppens) Zouaves

(Library of Congress)

Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

Capt. Alfred Coppens, standing,

and his brother, Lt. Col. Gason Coppens.

In New Orleans, Federal Major General Banks takes command of the Army of the Gulf and the occupation of New Orleans. In Alexandria, La., Confederate Major General Richard Taylor is building the Army of Western Louisiana into one of the best in the Confederacy.

1863: General Joseph E. Johnston takes command of the Army of Tennessee from the failed General Braxton Bragg. Johnston rebuilds the morale of the army by treating the enlisted men more fairly, but not at the expense of proper military discipline, and working to better their food, clothing, and furlough opportunities.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 16

Major General Henry Heth was born in 1825 in Chesterfield, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in the class of 1847, ranking at the bottom of his class. In his pre-war career in the U.S. Army, he saw action in the 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow against the Lakota. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 and worked his way up to major general in the Confederate Army. Wounded at Gettysburg, he led his division at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg and surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox. Postwar he worked in insurance and was a surveyor in the government. He died Sept. 27, 1899, in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va.

Maj. Gen. Henry Heth

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Brigadier Samuel Garland Jr. was born this day in 1830 at Lynchburg, Virginia. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1849 and became a lawyer. He was active in the prewar Virginia Militia and was the captain of his company. Garland's militia company joined the 11th Virginia Infantry in 1861 and he advanced brigadier general by May 5, 1862. His battles included First Manassas, Dranesville, Williamsburg, the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Oak Grove, Beaver Dam Creek, Seven Pines, Gaines's Mill, and he was killed at the Battle of South Mountain, Md. on September 14, 1862. Garland was buried in Lynchburg in the Presbyterian Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland

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Robert Selden Garnett was born in 1819 on this day at Essex, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1841, and served in the Mexican American War. Garnett was twice brevetted for his gallantry in the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. He resigned from the U.S. Army in April 1861, joined the Confederate Army and achieved the rank of brigadier genera.Garnett was in the Battle of Rich Mountain and was then killed in the Battle of Corrick's Ford, Virginia on July 13, 1861. Garnett was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City, N.Y. He was the first general officer killed in the war.

Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett 
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