Tuesday, October 15, 2024

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

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 15.

1863: Confederate submarine C.S.S. Hunley tragically sank during a training accident in Charleston Harbor, S.C. drowning its inventor Captain Horace Hunley, and seven other crew members. The other crewmen who died in that sinking were Robert Brockbank, Joseph Patterson, Thomas W. Park, Charles McHugh, Henry Baird, John Marshall, and Charles L. Sprague. There was also a prior sinking in a training exercise in which five crewmen died and three survived.

Also on this day, the second day of the Battle of Buzzard's Prairie, La. takes place. Early in the morning of the 15th of October, Brig. Gen. Tom Green advanced the 4th, 5th, and 7th Texas cavalry regiments to a plantation fence bordering the prairie. He placed Semmes' Battery on the left and the Valverde Battery on the right. Col. William Polk "Gotch" Hardeman of the 4th Texas, led a contingent of skirmishers, made up of one company from each regiment, out onto the prairie to lure two Federal divisions into attacking the strong Confederate position. General William Franklin took the bait and ordered out Brig. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel's Division to attack across the open prairie, supported by artillery batteries. Advancing in full battle order with flags flying, the Federals crossed the prairie and easily pushed the Confederate skirmishers back to the fence line.      

The horse soldiers of the 4th, 5th, and 7th Texas cavalry regiments then made a wild dash and full-throated "Rebel Yell" on the right of Weitzel's line.  The soldiers from New York and Massachusetts became panic-stricken and the  Yankee right collapsed. Coming to the rescue for the Federals was Lt. William Marland of Nim's Battery who stopped the rout and drove the Confederates back with grape and canister, as well as exploding an ammunition chest of Semmes' Battery.

Pvt. Simeon J. Crews
Co. F, 7th Tex. Cav.
(Liljenquisit Collection, Library of Congress)

       The battle then settled into an exchange of musket and cannon fire that lasted several hours. While the Federals had overwhelming numbers, Franklin didn't order another full-strength attack until about 10 o'clock that morning, led by the Mid-Westerners of Burbridge's Brigade. The Confederates withdrew behind Bayou Bourbeau while Hardeman had the 7th Texas Cavalry slow down the Yankees from concealed positions, around the Chretien Plantation. The 7th then withdrew across the bayou and the 4th and 5th Texas began skirmishing with the Mid-Westerners to slow their advance. Green's men were driven off, but he accomplished his goal of taking the measure of the Federal Army's strength. 

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 15.

Major General Thomas Lafayette Rosser was born on this day in 1836 in Campbell County, Virginia. He attended West Point but left in 1861 to enlist in the Confederate Army as a first lieutenant and commanded the Second Company, Washington Artillery of New Orleans in the First Battle of Manassas. Rosser rose through the ranks to major general by November 1864. His battles included First Manassas, the Seven Days Battles, Mechanicsville, Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Kelly's Ford, Hanover, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Trevillian Station, Cedar Creek, Tom's Brook, Petersburg, Appomattox. After the war, he worked for an express company, and a railroad, worked to have Confederate monuments constructed, bought a plantation, and was a brigadier general of U.S. volunteers in the Spanish-American War. Rosser died March 29, 1910, in Charlottesville, Va., and was buried there in Riverview Cemetery.

Maj. Thomas L. Rosser
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Brigadier General Henry Harrison Walker was born on October 15, 1832, in Sussex County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1853 ranking 41st in a class of 53 cadets. Walker resigned from the U.S. Army on May 3, 1861, and joined the Confederate Army and served as the lieutenant colonel of the 40th Virginia Infantry. He was appointed a brigadier general on July 1, 1863. His battles included Gaines' Mill where he was wounded twice, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, lost a foot at Spotsylvania Court House, Siege of Petersburg, and was paroled May 7, 1865. Following the war, Walker became a stockbroker in New Jersey and died March 22, 1912, in Morristown and was buried there in Evergreen Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Henry H. Walker
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Monday, October 14, 2024

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

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 14.

1862: Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton is given command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, which includes the two major Confederate fortifications on the Mississippi River, about 200 miles apart, Vicksburg, Miss. and Port Hudson, La., about 16 miles north of Baton Rouge. He is also in command of Confederate forces in Southwestern Tennessee.

1863: The Battle of Buzzard's Prairie, La. took place on Oct. 14-15 between Federal Brig. Gen. Stephen Burbridge's 4th Division, 13th Corps; Brig. Gen. Godfrey Weitzel's 1st Division, 19th Corps; and Confederate Brig. Gen. Tom Green's Cavalry Division including the brigades of Col. Arthur P. Bagby, Col. John P. Major, and Capt. Oliver Semmes' 1st Confederate Battery. The Federals were camped at Carencro, aka Buzzard's Prairie by the Cretien Plantation awaiting further orders and their advance across Southwest Louisiana to invade Texas. General Green's Confederate was making a reconnaissance in force to determine the strength of the invaders and harass them. The Confederates made sudden probing attacks and Semmes' Battery exchanged fire with Nim's Massachusetts Battery. The Confederates then withdrew about two miles to await more action on the following day.

1864: The Battle of Bristoe Station, Va. occurred on this day in the Bristoe Campaign. Confederate Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps, about 17,218 men, fought the Federal II Corps of Maj. Gen. G.K. Warren, about 8,383 men, which was the rear guard of Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac. Warren had a strong defensive position behind the embankment of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. Warren ambushed two brigades of Brig. Gen. Henry Heth's Division and succeeded in capturing a battery of artillery. Hill sent reinforcements but they were unable to break the strong Federal line. Confederate Brig. Gen. Carnot Posey was mortally wounded in the battle and died on Nov. 13, 1863. The Confederates suffered an estimated 1,380 casualties to 540 for the Federals.

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 14.

Brigadier-General Ellison Capers was born on this day in 1837 in Charleston, South Carolina. An 1857 graduate of the South Carolina Military Academy, Capers was a math professor at SCMA and at Zion College in the prewar years. He joined the Confederate Army in 1861 as a major and was present for the bombardment of Fort Sumter and at the Battle of Secessionville. Capers served in the coastal defense forces in South Carolina then as the lieutenant colonel in the 24th South Carolina Infantry in the Battle of Chickamauga in the Army of Tennessee. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Franklin and promoted to brigadier general on March 1, 1865. Following the war, Capers was elected Secretary of State of South Carolina, became an Episcopal priest, taught at the University of the South, and became an Episcopal bishop. He died on Oct. 14, 1908, and was buried in the Trinity Episcopal Churchyard.

Brig. Gen. Ellison Capers

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 13.

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 13.

1862: Confederate Col. Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler was put in command of all the cavalry of the Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to brigadier general on Oct. 30, 1862, and to major general on Jan. 20, 1863.

1863: The First Battle of Auburn, Va. was fought on this day in the Bristoe Campaign between 2,000 Federal infantry under Maj. Gen. William French and 3,000 Confederate cavalrymen under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. The Confederates were planning to attack a federal wagon train, but the Federals and Confederates stumbled into each other and had a brief firefight that lasted about 30 minutes. There were about 50 casualties on both sides.

1864: Col. John Singleton Mosby's 43rd Virginia Cavalry (Partisan Rangers), captured and burned a train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad near Kearneysville, Va., and also captured a Federal Army paymaster with $170,000.

Mosby's Rangers

  • Top row (left to right): Lee Herverson, Ben Palmer, John Puryear, Tom Booker, Norman Randolph, Frank Raham.
  • Second row: Robert Blanks Parrott, John Troop, John W. Munson, John S. Mosby, Newell, Neely, Quarles.
  • Third row: Walter Gosden, Harry T. Sinnott, Butler, Gentry.

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 13.

None.

Saturday, October 12, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 12.

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 12.

1861: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomats John Murray Mason of Virginia and John Slidell of Louisiana to Europe to promote recognition of the Confederacy, successfully ran the blockade from Charleston, South Carolina in the steamer Gordon renamed the Theodora bound for Cuba en route to Europe.

1862: Stuart's Maryland/Pennsylvania Raid: Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and his Confederate cavalry, en route to Virginia after his successful raid into Pennsylvania, evaded the Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. George Stoneman guarding the crossing of the Potomac River at Poolesville, Md., and crosses at White's Ford into Loudon County, Virginia. The Confederates then rode safely into Leesburg, Va. with their captured horses, supplies, and civilian hostages to be exchanged for Confederate civilians being held by the Federals. Stuart didn't lose a man or a horse in the raid.

1863: The Skirmish at Buckhorn Tavern, Alabama occurred on this day when Confederate Brig. Gen. Phillip D. Roddey's Alabama Cavalry Brigade intercepted Federal Brig. Gen. Robert Mitchell's Cavalry brigade in the darkness south of the town of New Market. The Confederates and Federals were close enough to see each other when their carbines flashed upon firing. However, neither side wanted to charge in the dark.

1864: Franklin, Tenn. Campaign: Units of Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee and Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Federal armies skirmished on this day near Kingston, LaFayette, Resaca, and Rome, Ga. Gen. Hood was maneuvering for the opportunity to attack an isolated portion of Sherman's massively larger armies, which included the armies of Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio.

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 12.

Lieutenant General William Joseph Hardee was born on this day in Camden County, Georgia. Gen. Hardee graduated from West Point in 1838 26th in a class of 45 cadets. In the Mexican-American War, he won two brevet promotions. He also wrote the infantry manual in 1855 that was used by both sides in the War for Southern Independence. During the war, he led a corps that led the attack at Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and was wounded in that battle. He went on to lead his corps in battles at  Perryville, Ky., Murfreesboro, Tenn., Third Chattanooga, Tenn. Peachtree Creek, Atlanta in Ga., and Averasborough and Bentonville in N.C. His 16-year-old son Willie was tragically mortally wounded at Bentonville. After the war, Hardee and his family settled in Selma Alabama where he was president of the Selma and Meridian Railroad. He died on Nov. 6, 1863, in Selma and is buried there at Live Oak Cemetery.

Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee
wearing a Hardee hat

Hardee-style Confederate battle flag.

Friday, October 11, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 11.

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 11.

1862: Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry on his Maryland/Pennsylvania Raid arrived within 8 miles of Gettysburg on this day on the way back to Virginia. They then arrived at Emmitsburg, Md. where they were welcome by pro-Confederate sympathizers and quickly moved on taking obscure routes to avoid detection by Federal scouts. That night the raiders cut telegraph lines to obstruct the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 

Stuart's Ride Around the Yankee Army

1863: The Battle of Collierville, Tenn. takes place when Brig. Gen. James Chalmers' Confederate cavalry numbering 3,000 men attack a Federal garrison at Collierville numbering 1,280 infantry Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman. The Confederates surrounded the town and drove all the bluecoats into their fort. Sherman barely escaped capture but his personal belongings and his horse Dolly, on the train he just came into town on, were captured. Fearing that large Federal reinforcements were coming; Chalmers withdrew without storming the fort. Confederate casualties were 51 killed and wounded and the Federals lost 110 killed, wounded, and missing.

Brig. Gen. James Chalmers

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 11.

Brigadier General Elkanah Brackin Greer was born on this day in1825 in Paris, Tennessee. He gained military training and experience in the Mexican-American War as a member of the 1st Mississippi Rifles commanded by Col. Jefferson Davis. Greer saw action at the Battle of Monterrey and the Battle of Buena Vista. He moved to Marshall, Texas in 1848 to practice law. Greer was active in the Texas branch of the Knights of the Golden Circle and supported secession. In 1861, he became the 3rd Texas Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army. His battles included the Battle of Oak Hill, Mo., the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, Ark. (slight wound), and the Siege of Corinth, Miss. He was promoted to brigadier general in October 1862. Greer was assigned to be the chief of conscription in the Trans-Mississippi Department and late in the war was in command of the Reserve Corps. Following the war, he practiced law and was a planter and merchant. Greer died March 25, 1877, while visiting his sister in DeVall, Arkansas. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis Tennessee.

Brig. Gen. Elkanah B. Greer

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthday, Octl. 10.

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 10.

1862: Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and his Confederate cavalry on their Maryland/Pennsylvania Raid captured Chambersburg, Pa. at about 7 p.m. this day. Stuart ordered his men to take no personal property and no plunder for private gain. Along the way that day, at Mercersburg, Pa. they seized clothing and shoes for the army and paid for it in Confederate money. At Chambersburg, they burned the Chambersburg railroad depot which was stocked with trains, a machine shop, and warehouses with military supplies, and tore up the track. The Confederate cavalrymen also captured 280 convalescent Federal soldiers and paroled them. They also achieved such objectives as seizing fresh horses, mules, arms, and supplies.

1863: In the Bristoe, Va. Campaign in Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac maneuvered for advantage resulting in skirmishes at Russell's Ford, on Robertson's River, Bethsaida Church, and James City, Va.

1864: Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate raiders in Eastport, Mississippi fought off an attack by Federals landing off five Federal transport vessels. Several of the transports were disabled before they could land troops.

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 10.

Brigadier General Dandridge McRae was born on this day in 1829 in Baldwin, Alabama. After graduating from South Carolina, he moved to Arkansas where he was admitted to the bar joined the Arkansas State Militia, and was commissioned a captain. In February 1861, he led a company in seizing the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock, the state capital. In the Confederate Army, he was elected to be the lieutenant colonel and on Nov. 5, 1862, was commissioned a brigadier general. His battles included Wilson's Creek, Mo., Pea Ridge, Ark., Helena, Ark., Mark's Mill, Ark., and Jenkin's Ferry, Ark. After the war, he practiced law and was elected Deputy Secretary of State. He died on April 23, 1899, in Searcy, Ark., and was buried there.

Brig. Gen. Dandridge McRae
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Brigadier General Zebulon York was born on this day in 1819 in Avon, Maine. He studied law at the University of Louisiana at New Orleans, Louisiana, and settled in Concordia Parish, La. and was a lawyer and planter and became immensely wealthy. He represented his parish at the Louisiana Secession Convention and voted for secession. York raised a company of infantry and eventually commanded the 14th Louisiana Infantry and was then promoted to brigadier general in command of the 2nd Louisiana Infantry Brigade. His battles included the Peninsula Campaign, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Bristoe Campaign, Mine Run Campaign, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and the Valley Campaigns of 1864. He was severely wounded in the Third Battle of Winchester, Va. in 1864 and his arm had to be amputated. After the war, he regained some of his wealth as the owner of five steamboats. He died in Natchez, Miss., and is buried in Natchez City Cemetery. 

Brig. Gen. Zebulon York
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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 9.

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On This Day in Confederate History, Oct. 9.

1862: Stuart's Raid on Md. & Pa.: Gen. Robert E. Lee ordered Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown Stuart on an expedition to Maryland and Pennsylvania to gather intelligence on the Army of the Potomac and wreak havoc on Federal property following the Battle of Sharpsburg.  It was his second complete ride around the Federal Army led by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan.

Private John Poole Sellman of Co. K, 1st Virginia Cavalry
 Regiment and Co. A, 1st Maryland Cavalry 
Regiment in uniform with Maryland state seal buttons.
(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: skirmish at Bristoe Station, Va. marked the beginning of Gen. Robert E. Lee's attempt to outflank Maj. Gen. George Meade's Army of the Potomac. There is hard fighting at James City, Brandy Station, Jeffersonton, and Auburn.

1864: The Battle of Tom's Brook, Va. on this day was between Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser's 3,500 cavalrymen and Brig. Gen. Alfred Torbert's 6,300 Federal cavalrymen resulted in a clear victory for the Northerners. There are 57 Federal casualties and 350 for the Confederates.

Confederate General Birthdays, Oct. 9.

Brigadier General Samuel McGowan was born on this day in 1819 in Laurens District, South Carolina. Educated at South Carolina College and studied the law, McGowan gained military experience in Mexican-American War in the Palmetto Regiment. He was commended for gallantry near Mexico and achieved the rank of captain. He was appointed a brigadier general in the South Carolina Militia in 1860 and was present at the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861. In the Confederate Army, he rose from lieutenant colonel of the 14th South Carolina to brigadier general on Jan. 17, 1863, and led a brigade. His battles included Fort Sumter, First Manassas, the Seven Days battles, Second Manassas, Chancellorsville, and Spotsylvania Court House. He suffered four wounds including one in his last battle at Spottsylvania Court House. After the war, he served in the U.S. Congress and was elected associate justice in the South Carolina Supreme Court. He was married to Susan Caroline Wardlaw McGowan. He died August 9, 1897, in Abbeville, South Carolina, and is buried in Upper Long Cane Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan