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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 20

1862: General Bragg changed the name of the Army of the Mississippi to the Army of Tennessee after moving the army to Kentucky and then Tennessee. Bragg divided the army into two corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk and Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee. He then formed a third corps out of Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith's Department of East Tennessee.

Pvt. W.P. Ward, Co. F, 40th Ga. Inf. Bn.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: Siege of Knoxville, Tenn.: Confederate forces around Chattanooga, Tennessee continue their siege. At Knoxville, General Longstreet is waiting on reinforcements before attacking the main Federal bastion, Fort Sanders.

1864: Sherman's March to the Sea: Georgia state militia and home guards continue to try to retard Sherman's March to the Sea at Clinton, Walnut Creek, East Macon, and Griswoldsville, Georgia.

Confederate General Birthdays, Nov, 20

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Nov. 19.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 19

1863: SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE, Tenn.: Confederates under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet were now before Knoxville, Tenn. but the Confederate general knew he didn't have the manpower or firepower he would need for a real siege of the East Tennessee city. Longstreet wanted to try an attack on the formidable earthworks around the city he knew it would grow stronger every day. He determined that the only vulnerable point was Fort Sanders. 

Lt. Gen. James Longstreet

(Library of Congress)

1864: THE BLOCKADE THAT FAILED: ''The two outstanding facts concerning the blockade of the southern states by the United States Navy during the Civil War are, one, that it was, for the first three and a half years, almost totally ineffective, insofar as preventing supplies from reaching the rebels was concerned, and, two, that by the end of 1864, when it did become effective, the war was already over, for all practical purposes." Daniel O'Flaherty, American Heritage, August 1955. Click on the link for the entire article.''

The Anaconda Plan for the Blockade of the South.

(Library of Congress)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Nov. 19

Major General Fitzhugh Lee, in 1835, Fairfax, Virginia. The son of Commander Sydney Smith Lee, older brother of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Fitzhugh graduated from West Point in 1856 and served the prewar 2nd U.S. Cavalry under the command of Col. Albert Sidney Johnston and his uncle, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee on the Texas Frontier. The young lieutenant distinguished himself in combat against the Comanches Indians and was severely wounded in May 1859. He resigned his commission when Virginia seceded and joined the Confederate Army. He was serving on the staff of Gen.Joseph E. Johnston at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. Lee worked his way up to the rank of major general of cavalry and was one of the Confederate Army's finest cavalry commanders. After the war he was active in Virginia politics in Virginia, serving as governor of that state from 1886 to 1890. During the Spanish-American War in 1898, he served as a major general in the U.S. Army and served as the military governor of Cuba in the postwar occupation. Lee died in Washington, D.C. April 28, 1905, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 18

1861: The Provisional Confederate Congress opens its fifth session in the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia. In Russellville, Kentucky, a group formed a secession convention and voted to secede from the Union. They also elected a Confederate governor of the state.

1862: Fredericksburg Campaign: Burnside's Federals arrive a Falmouth, Virginia across from Fredericksburg, and begin skirmishing with Confederates. 

1864: President Davis orders General Howell Cobb to mobilize the Georgia militia to oppose Sherman's rampage across Georgia.  Also opposing Sherman's "scorched earth" policy was Lt. Gen. William Hardee, commanding the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and Maj. Gen. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler commanded the cavalry in the department, but both had neither the manpower nor firepower to stop Sherman's bummers.

Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler

PRICE'S MISSOURI RAID: General Sterling Price's Confederate raiders departs Missouri while Confederate partisans fight Federal troops at Fayette, Missouri. The expedition had proven to be a failure.

Maj. Gen. Sterling Price

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS

Brigadier General Jesse Johnson Finley, in 1812, at Lebanon, Tennessee. His brigade included all the Florida infantry in the Army of Tennessee. His brigade fought well in the rear guard of the Confederate retreat from Missionary Ridge. It also saw heavy fights in the Atlanta Campaign. Finley was wounded twice in battle.  After the war, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He died Nov. 6, 1904, in Lake City, Florida, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Gainesville, Florida.

Brig. Gen. Jesse J. Finley

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 17

1862: Confederate Secretary of War George W. Randolph resigns after disagreements with President Davis and some Confederate generals. He is replaced temporarily by General G.W. Smith. James Seddon was appointed Secretary of War on Nov. 21, 1862, and served the longest in that office, to Feb. 5, 1865.

Also in 1862, the Confederate Cruiser C.S.S. Alabama arrives in the French colony of Martinique shadowed by the U.S.S. San Jacinto. San Jacinto pulls into port briefly then goes out again to be in a good position to attack the Confederate cruiser. However, Alabama's commander, Capt. Raphael Semmes outsmarts the Yankee and slips by undetected. The very presence of Alabama in the Caribbean strikes fear in the blockading Federal ships, with good reason.

 

Captain Raphael Semmes, cmdr. of the  C.S.S. Alabama.

CSS ALABAMA (US Navy Historical Center)

Col. Alfred M. Hobby of the 8th Tex. Inf.

1863: In the Battle of Mustang Island off the coast of Texas, a detachment of 98 Confederate infantry, in Fort Semmes, including the 3rd Texas State Militia and Company I of the 8th Texas Infantry under Captain William H. Maltby were greatly outnumbered by three Federal infantry regiments under Brig. Gen. Thomas E.G. Ransom was backed by the U.S.S. Monongahela. The Confederates surrendered to the Northern invaders after brief fighting. The prisoners of war are taken to New Orleans. 

1864: President Jefferson Davis denounces any plans by individual states to make a separate peace with the United States. Skirmishing occurs in Georgia, and in North Alabama at Maysville and New Market.

 

President Jefferson Davis

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Nov. 17

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 16

1863: BATTLE OF CAMPBELL'S STATION, TN: (National Park Service)

In early November 1863, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, with two divisions and about 5,000 cavalry, was detached from the Confederate Army of Tennessee near Chattanooga to attack Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's Union Department of the Ohio troops at Knoxville, Tennessee. Following parallel routes, Longstreet and Burnside raced for Campbell's Station, a hamlet where the Concord Road, from the south, intersected the Kingston Road to Knoxville. Burnside hoped to reach the crossroads first and continue on to safety in Knoxville; Longstreet planned to reach the crossroads and hold it, which would prevent Burnside from gaining Knoxville and force him to fight outside his earthworks. By forced marching, on a rainy November 16, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's advance reached the vital intersection and deployed first. The main column arrived at noon with the baggage train just behind. Scarcely 15 minutes later, Longstreet's Confederates approached. Longstreet attempted a double envelopment: attacks timed to strike both Union flanks simultaneously. Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaw's Confederate division struck with such force that the Union right had to redeploy, but held. Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins's Confederate division maneuvered ineffectively as it advanced and was unable to turn the Union left. Burnside ordered his two divisions astride the Kingston Road to withdraw three-quarters of a mile to a ridge in their rear. This was accomplished without confusion. The Confederates suspended their attack while Burnside continued his retrograde movement to Knoxville. Had Longstreet reached Campbell's Station first, the Knoxville Campaign's results might have been different.

 

Major General Lafayette McLaws 

1864: Sherman's March to the Sea was in its second day with 60,000 troops fulfilling Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's pledge to "Make Georgia Howl." He was opposed by 8,000 Confederate cavalry under Major General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler and the Georgia State Militia under Gen. Gustavus W. Smith.

 

Sherman's March to the Sea (Battles and Leaders)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Nov. 17

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Nov. 15.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY

1861: The Trent Affair: U.S. Postmaster General Montgomery Blair speaks out against the illegal seizure of Confederate commissioners John Slidell and James Mason and urges their release. U.S. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts joins Blair in calling for the release of the Confederate diplomats.

Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins

Early in the war in the 5th S.C. Inf.

1863: At the Battle of Campbell Station, Tennessee, Lt. Gen James Longstreet attempts to cut off Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside's Federals from retreating into Knoxville. Both sides wanted the strategic crossroads at Campbell Station. Longstreet tries to arrive first, but Burnside arrived before the Southerners and begins a fighting retreat. The Federals set up their artillery on each flank and Longstreet tried to make a double envelopment on each Yankee flank. Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins' Division was to attack the Yankee left and Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws' Division was to hit the bluecoat's right flank. The Federals, however, kept falling back and Jenkins could not keep up. Seeing what was happening, Longstreet halts McLaws as the Federals had gained a strong position. The coming of darkness ended the battle. Burnside then retreated into the strong fortifications of Knoxville to await reinforcements coming from Sherman's Army. The Confederates suffered 570 casualties in the battle, and the Federals 400.

1864: Burning of Atlanta: Sherman's bummers leave burning Atlanta, Georgia, and begin their "March to the Sea." Similar war crimes against Southern civilians occurred in Louisiana in 1862, 1863, and 1864 and many other places in the South carried out by other Federal troops. Confederate General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler strikes at the Federal rear-guard.

Burning of Atlanta, Ga.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Nov. 14.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 15

1861: The Trent Affair: USS San Jacinto with Confederate diplomat prisoners, John Slidell and James Mason, docks at Fort Monroe, Virginia. They are then transferred to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. The diplomatic crisis deepened between the United States, Great Britain, and France. The Confederate diplomats were illegally taken from a British mail packet ship Trent in the Atlantic Ocean by the Federal warship San Jacinto.

1863: General "Fighting  Joe" Wheeler's Confederate cavalry unites General Longstreet's forces for the Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside headed for the strategic crossroads of Campbell's Station in hopes of blocking Longstreet there and gradually withdrawing back to the city.

Confederate Cavalryman

(Painting by W.M. Sheppard 1903)

1864:  Georgia State Militia fights with Federals around Atlanta while the bluecoats complete the destruction of the city prior to their "March to the Sea." Brig. Gen. Plesant J. Philips commanded three brigades of Georgia Militia which engaged Sherman in November near Macon, Georgia in the Battle of Griswoldville.

Clinch Rifles, Augusta, Ga., Georgia Militia

(Heritage Auctions)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Nov. 15

Major General Pierce Manning Butler Young was born on this day in 1836, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He resigned from West Point in 1861 two months before graduation when Georgia seceded. He had previously attended the Georgia Military Institute. Starting out as a second lieutenant in the 1st Georgia Infantry, he was appointed adjutant of Cobb's Legion and worked his way up to major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, brigadier general, and major general of cavalry. His battles and campaigns included Maryland, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Mine Run, Overland, and Carolinas. After the war, he had a long political career, including four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Young died July 6, 1896, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Cartersville, Georgia.

Maj. Gen. Pierce M.B. Young