Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ August 27.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Aug. 27.

1862: At the Second Battle of Manassas, Va., Lt. Gen. T.J. "Stonewall Jackson, Army of Northern Virginia, moved his army into position on the same battlefield as the First Battle of Manassas in 1861. The Confederates were placed along an unfinished railroad below Stony Ridge, and the heavily wooded area enabled the Southerners to conceal their position. Gen. Robert E. Lee, with Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's First Corps of the ANV, was rapidly approaching the battlefield and springing the planned trap on the befuddled Maj. Gen. John Pope's Federal Army of Virginia before Maj. Gen. G.B. McClelland's Army of the Potomac could reinforce him. It was a brilliant plan.

1863: In the Chickamauga Campaign in Georgia, Confederate Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg was moving the Army of Tennessee, numbering about 52,000 men, and was maneuvering to set a trap for Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland, about 65,000 men, in northern Georgia and east of Chattanooga, Tenn. Rosecrans believed Bragg was in retreat into northern Georgia rather than maneuvering him into a trap, as was the actual case.

Also in 1863, Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard gave this update on the Siege of Charleston, S.C.: The fire against Fort Sumter was limited on the 27th to 4 shots. In front of Battery Wagner, the enemy had advanced his trenches to within 300 yards of the work, while the number of the enemy's guns and the accuracy of his fire prevented the opening of the embrasures in Battery Wagner except at night. 

Lieutenant Colonel Warren Adams of Co. H,

1st South Carolina (Butler's) Infantry Regiment in uniform

He is probably wearing an S.C. Militia uniform in this image.

He was born in Richland Co., S.C. in 1838 and died in 1884

in Richland Co. Although designated as infantry, Butler's

1st S.C. actually served most of the war as artillery in defense of 

Charleston, S.C, and in Jan. 1865, infantry in the 

North Carolina Campaign.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1864: In the Atlanta Campaign, to break the Siege of Atlanta, Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman was planning to move six of his seven corps south of Atlanta to cut Gen. John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee's last railroad link to the city at Jonesborough and thus force him out of Atlanta. The Yankee XX Corps was covering a railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee River. The IV and XIV corps were moving south. The XXIII Corps remained at East Point. The Yankee cavalry was covering Sherman's north and south flanks. Hood was still oblivious to what was happening.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 27.

Brigadier General Roger Weightman Hanson was born on this day in 1827 in Winchester, Kentucky. He gained military experience in the Mexican-American War when he served in the 4th Kentucky Regiment and took part in the Battle of Cerro Gordo, where he was cited for bravery. Afterward, Hanson was a lawyer, a member of the state legislature, served in the U.S. Congress, and was an elector from Kentucky in the 1860 Presidential Election. During the War for Southern Independence, he was the colonel of the 2nd Kentucky Infantry, which was part of the Confederate surrender at Fort Donelson. Hanson was exchanged and promoted to brigadier general in December 1862. He was mortally wounded on January 2, 1862, in the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn. 

Brig. Gen. Roger W. Hanson

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Brigadier General James Alexander Walker was born on this day in 1832 at Mt. Sidney, Virginia. He was a student at the Virginia Military Institute in 1852 when he got into a famous dispute with his professor of natural history, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, and challenged the future "Stonewall Jackson" to a duel. The duel never happened, and Walker was expelled. Walker returned home and became a prominent lawyer in Pulaski County, Va. When war came in 1861, he became the lieutenant colonel of the 13th Virginia Infantry and was promoted to colonel in March 1862. He served under Stonewall Jackson, and the two patched up their past differences and developed a respect for each other. As a colonel, he acted as a temporary brigade commander in several battles, including Gaines' Mill, Sharpsburg (wounded), and Fredericksburg. Walker was promoted to brigadier general in May 1863. General Jackson, on his deathbed, recommended him to command the famous Stonewall Brigade. Walker led the brigade with distinction at Gettysburg, Mine Run, and the Wilderness, and was severely wounded at Spotsylvania Courthouse. No longer able for a field command. After recovering enough, he commanded a division at Petersburg in 1864 and surrendered and was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Returning home, he rebuilt in law practice and became a prominent member of the U.S. Congress. Walker died Oct. 21, 1901, in Wytheville, Va., and was buried in the East End Cemetery there.

                                                    

                                                            Brig. Gen. James A. Walker

Click👉 The Fighting First Louisiana Infantry Regiment

In the Army of Northern Virginia

The 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment was one of the hardest-fighting units of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the War for Southern Independence. This is its story. It fought at the Yorktown Peninsula Campaign, the Seven Days Battles, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg,  Fredericksburg,Va., all in 1862, Chancellorsville, Va., 2nd  Winchester, VA, Stephenson's Depot, VA, Gettysburg, PA, Mine Run, Payne's Farm, all in 1863, the Wilderness, Shenandoah Valley, Fort Stevens, Cold Harbor, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg, Va. in 1864, and Petersburg and Appomattox, in 1865.

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

Click 👉 Today in History (general history) Aug. 26.

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 26.

1862: The Second Battle of Manassas is rapidly taking shape when Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's wing of the Army of Northern Virginia, now in the rear of Yankee Maj. Gen. John "My headquarters are in the saddle," Pope's much larger army, and captures Manassas Junction. The railroad junction has mountains of supplies for the Federal Army. The always hungry Confederates feasted on the Yankee rations and carried off everything they could use and burned the rest. The other wing of the ANV, with General Lee and General Longstreet, is rapidly approaching and will be on Pope's flank before the Northern general even knows it.

Unidentified soldier with musket and

"Victory or Death" sign.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard gives an update on what happened in the Siege of Charleston, S.C. on this day: "On the 26th, 130 shots were fired at Sumter, Batteries Wagner and Gregg receiving the bulk of the fire. At 5 o'clock in the evening, the enemy concentrated his fire on our rifle pits in front of Battery Wagner. Between 7 and 8 p.m. the rifle pits in front of Battery Wagner. Between 7 and 8 p.m., the rifle-pits were carried by an overwhelming force, who also succeeded in capturing 76 out of 89 men of the Sixty-first North Carolina Volunteers, who formed the picket."

1864: North and South clash again in the Shenandoah Valley at the Battle of Smithfield Crossing, W. Va. between Aug. 25-29. Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's two infantry divisions crossed the Opequon Creek there when on the 29th forced back the Federal cavalry division of Maj. Gen. Westley Merritt. However, a federal infantry division stopped the Confederate advance on Charles Town. It is ranked as a tactical stalemate with about 300 casualties on both sides.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 26.

Brigadier General Theodore Washington Brevard was born on this day in 1821 in Tuskegee, Alabama. A prewar lawyer in Florida, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives and served in 1858 and 59. He got military experience serving in the Florida Militia as an adjutant and inspector general. He resigned from that position to serve as a first lieutenant in the Florida Mounted Volunteers in the Seminole War in 1857. After he was promoted to major and promoted to the militia adjutant general again. In the War for Southern Independence, he started as a captain in the 2nd Florida Infantry, was appointed a major and commander of Brevard's Partisan Rangers and fought in the Battle of Olustee. Then, with Finegan's Brigade, Brevard was promoted to colonel of the 11th Florida Infantry in the Battle of Cold Harbor, Va., the Second Battle of Ream's Station, the Battle of Globe Tavern, the Battle of Hatcher's Run, and the Battle of Sailor's Creek and was made a brigadier general April 6, 1865, when he was captured. He may not have learned he was a brigadier general until after the war. He returned to his home in Tallahassee, Florida, and died there on June 20, 1882. Brevard was buried in St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery. 

Brig. Gen. Theodore W. Brevard

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Brigadier General Danville Ledbetter was born on this day in 1811 in Leeds, Maine. He graduated from West Point in 1836 third in a class of 49 cadets. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he served until he resigned in 1857 and settled in Alabama. Ledbetter joined the Confederate Army on March 16, 1861, to oversee the construction of Mobile, Ala. defenses. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on Nov. 11, 1861, and to brigadier general on Feb. 27, 1862, and put in command of the 1st Brigade of the District of East Tennessee. He then became the Chief Engineer of the department and of the Army of Tennessee in 1863. Ledbetter oversaw the building of the defenses of Knoxville, Tenn. He next was put in command of the District of the Gulf where he ended the war. After the war, Ledbetter moved to Mexico and then Canada where he died in 1866. He was buried at Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Ala.

Brig. Gen. Danville Ledbetter

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, August 25.

 Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 25. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 25.

1862: The Skirmish at Waterloo Bridge was fought this day as part of the Second Manassas Campaign. The skirmish followed a raid by Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry on Aug. 23 at Catlett Station on Maj. Gen. John Pope's headquarters. This and other skirmishes along the Rappahannock River pinned Pope's army there while Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson successfully made his flank march and gained the rear of Pope's army. General Lee sent Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's wing of the army after Jackson. There were about 225 casualties in both armies at Waterloo Bridge.

Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform

 and Georgia state seal belt buckle with a musket.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: General P.G.T. Beauregard gives another report on the Siege of Charleston, S.C.: "Until 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th, the enemy's fire was principally directed against Fort Sumter. After that time Battery Wagner was fiercely bombarded, as well as the space between our rifle pits and work. At dusk, the enemy endeavored to carry the position held by our pickets but were repulsed. Our loss was 5 killed and 19 wounded. A very large amount of ammunition and ordnance stores were removed from Fort Sumter during the night."

1864: The Second Battle of Ream's Station, Va., takes place when Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia attacks and drives back Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott's Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Hill has between 8,000 and 10,000 men to Hancock's 9,000. The Federals had been tearing up the railroad tracks there. Hancock ordered a withdrawal at nightfall back to Petersburg. The Northerners lost 117 men killed, 439 wounded, and 2,046 missing or captured. The Southerners' casualties totaled 814.

Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 25.

None.

CLICK👉The Second Louisiana Infantry

A Regimental History

The Second Louisiana Infantry Regiment was one of the hardest-fighting combat units during the War for Southern Independence. This is the story of that regiment and its men.

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

Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 24.

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 24.

1861: The Trent Affair: President Davis appointed the new Confederate commissioners to Europe, John Slidell to France, James Mason to Great Britain, and Pierre Rost to Spain. 

1862: Second Manassas Campaign: General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson is with his 24,000-man wing of the Army of Northern Virginia on a soon-to-be-famous march around Maj. Gen. John Pope's army was tied down on the Rappahannock River by General Lee. Jackson moves his men to the upper Rappahannock and continues through Amissville, Orlean, Salem, across the Bull Run Mountains at Thoroughfare Gap, and gets in Pope's rear. The Second Battle of Manassas will completely befuddle Pope.

First Lieutenant Daniel J. Hatter of Co. I, 

23rd Alabama Infantry Regiment

 and probably his brother, Thomas A. Hatter

 of Co. C, 15th Alabama Cavalry Regiment

 in uniform.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: At the Siege of Charleston, S.C., General Beauregard reports on this day: "On the 24th, the fire on Fort Sumter lessened considerably; not more than 150 shots were thrown against it in the course of the day. Every endeavor was made to retard the approach of the besiegers to Battery Wagner. His working parties were fired on from the battery, but this had to be discontinued and embrasures closed in order to prevent our pieces from being dismounted."

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 24.

Brigadier General Thomas Fenwick Drayton was born on this day in 1808 in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from West Point in 1828 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry. He resigned in 1832 and became a civilian engineer in railroad construction in South Carolina, served in the state militia and the S.C. legislature, and was a supporter of States' Rights. During the War for Southern Independence, Drayton was appointed a brigadier general in September 1861 and took part in the battles of Port Royal, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Manassas, South Mountain, and Sharpsburg. He was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department and given administrative duties. Following the war, Drayton moved to Georgia and governed a plantation, then to North Carolina where he sold insurance and became president of the South Carolina Immigrant Society. He died Feb. 18, 1891, in Florence, S.C., and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, N.C.

Brig. Gen. Thomas F. Drayton

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Brigadier General Benjamin Grubb Humphreys was born on this day in 1808 in Claiborne County, Mississippi. He was admitted to West Point but was expelled in 1826 for misconduct. Humphreys returned to Mississippi and became a politician. He was elected to the state senate in 1844 and ran a cotton plantation. During the War Between the States, Drayton became the colonel of the 21st Mississippi Infantry and was then promoted to brigadier general in 1863. His battles included Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign. Following the war, he was elected governor of Mississippi in 1865, re-elected in 1868, and was removed by the Radical Republican Reconstruction government. He then made a living in the insurance business and died Dec. 20, 1882, in Jackson, Miss., and was buried in the Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson, Miss.

Brig. Gen. Benjamin G. Humphreys

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Brigadier General George Earl Maney was born on this day in 1826 at  Franklin, Tennessee. He served in the Mexican-American War as a second lieutenant in the 1st Tennessee Volunteers. Maney then joined the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Dragoons and was in Scott's Campaign to Mexico City. After that war, became a lawyer in Tennessee and served in the Tennessee legislature. During the War for Southern Independence, he became colonel of the 1st Tennessee Infantry and was promoted to brigadier general on April 16, 1862. His battles included Cheat Mountain, the Kentucky Campaign, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Chattanooga Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign, and the Carolinas Campaign. Following the war, Maney became president of the  Tennessee and Pacific Railroad, became a Republican, was an ambassador in South America, and died Feb. 9, 1901, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tenn.

Brig. Gen. George E. Maney

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Brigadier General George Hume Steuart was born on this day in 1828 in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from West Point in 1848, ranking 37th in his class, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd Dragoons. He was stationed on the frontier fighting Indians. During the War for Southern Independence, he became the colonel of the 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA, and was promoted to brigadier general on March 6, 1862. His battles included the First Battle of Manassas, First Winchester, Cross Keys, Gettysburg, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Petersburg, Five Forks, Sayler's Creek, and Appomattox Court House. Following the war, Steuart returned to Maryland and farmed, commanded the Maryland Division of the United Confederate Veterans, lived in a hotel in  Baltimore,  and died Nov. 22, 1903, in South River, Maryland, and was buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Md.

Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart

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Brigadier General Walter Husted Stevens was born on this day in Penn Yan, New York. He graduated from West Point in 1848, 4th in his class, and became a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers. He served mainly in Louisiana and Texas and married a Louisiana girl, the sister of Brig. Gen. Louis Hebert. Stevens resigned from the U.S. Army on March 2, 1861, and served in the Confederate Army as an engineer in Florida and then in Virginia. He was promoted to brigadier general on Aug. 28, 1864. His battles include First Manassas, the Peninsula Campaign, Seven Pines, the Richmond Defenses, Petersburg, and Appomattox. Following the war, Stevens moved to Mexico and was an engineer for the Mexican Imperial Railroad, and died of yellow fever at Vera Cruz on Nov. 12, 1867. Stevens was buried in Hollywood Cemetery on April 9, 1865. 

Brig. Gen. Walter H. Stevens

Today in History (general history)/On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthday, August 23.

Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 30.

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 30.

1862: In the Second Manassas Campaign, Confederate and Federal artillery batteries duel with their big guns across the rain-swollen Rappahannock River in 1862. Meanwhile, Generals Stonewall Jackson and JEB Stuart prepare to carry out General Robert E. Lee's plan to outflank the Yankees under the arrogant and pompous Maj. Gen. John Pope. There was also skirmishing across the river at Beverly Ford, Fant's Ford, and Springfield Springs, Va.

Pvt. W.T. (William Thomas) Harbison, Co. B, 11th N.C. Inf.

According to his military service record,

he was 18 (but may have been 17) and from Burke Co., N.C.

 when he enlisted on Feb. 1, 1862. He served in most

of the battles of his regiment and was wounded

in the right leg by a sharpshooter at Cold

Harbor, Va., June 12, 1864, but survived the war.

He farmed in North Carolina after the war,

married, had a family, and died on July 18, 1896.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: The Federal heavy artillery piece they call the Swamp Angel blows up as it bombards the city of Charleston, Morris Island, and Fort Sumter. The massive 16,500-pound pound rifled-Parrott gun was supposed to terrify the civilian population of Charleston and knock down the walls of Fort Sumter. But the big gun burst after just 36 rounds were fired. It was fired from the Marsh Battery near Morris Island.

1864: Siege of Fort Morgan, Ala.: The Confederate garrison on Fort Morgan at the opening of Mobile Bay surrendered on this day after a siege that started on August 5, 1864. All the fort's guns had been knocked out by the heavy bombardment of both the Federal army's and navy's big guns. Few men were killed and the City of  Mobile will hold out to the end of the war. The commander of the fort, Brig. Gen. Richard Page said he had nothing left to fight with.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 30.

None.

CLICK👉Swamp Angels

A History of the 11th Battalion

(Spaight's) Texas Volunteers

A history of the 11th Battalion (Spaight's) Texas Volunteers in the War for Southern Independence. The unit fought on the Texas Gulf Coast and in Louisiana to fend off Northern invaders of their homeland. The Battalion was a mixed service unit, including three infantry companies, two cavalry companies, and one heavy artillery battery. The battalion also included a diverse mixture of ethnic groups, including Anglos, Celts, Germans, Czechs, Cajuns, Mexicans, and others. They became known as Swamp Angels because of their general good discipline, good behavior, and because many were family men. They fought in the First Battle of Sabine Pass, TX/La, as Marines in a sea battle, the Battle of Stirling Plantation, LA, the Battle of Bayou Bourbeau, LA, and the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, LA.

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

Click 👉Today in History (general history), Aug. 22. 

On  This Day in Confederate History,  Aug. 22.

1862: In the Second Manassas Campaign, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia needed to cross the Rappahannock River on its way back up to Manassas, Va. This time, General Lee was focused on chastising the arrogant Maj. Gen. John Pope, who was in command of 75,000 Federals. Pope had been making war on the civilian population of Virginia. Lee's command consisted of 48,500 men, ANV. The Blue and the Gray fought along the river at Waterloo Bridge, Lee Springs, Freeman's Ford, and Sulphur Springs, but both sides were hampered by high water levels. Lee decided that rather than force his way across the river, he would send Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Second Corps and Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's magnificent cavalry on a flanking maneuver to sever Pope's line of communications, the Orange & Alexandria Railroad.

1863: In the Siege of Charleston, South Carolina, the Federals opened up on Charleston and Morris Island with a huge artillery piece they nicknamed the Swamp Angel. It was a massive 8-inch Parrott Rifle, which Federal Maj. Gen. Quincy Gilmore intended to level Fort Sumter, Morris Island, and the city of Charleston. After warning Gen. Beauregard to evacuate Charleston and the others, the warning message was unsigned; it was sent back to be verified. Gilmore opened fire on the 22nd. The Confederates returned fire, and the artillery duel would continue into the next day.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 22.

None

CLICK👉Lee's Second Louisiana Infantry Brigade

In the Army of Northern Virginia

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting brigades in Gen. Robert E. Lee's legendary Army of Northern Virginia, the Second Louisiana Infantry Brigade. It was one of Lee's most reliable infantry brigades, often used in some of his most dangerous situations, and it never let him down. The brigade included the 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 14th, and 15th infantry regiments, and the 1st Battalion Louisiana Zouaves. Outstanding brigadiers commanded the brigade throughout the war, including Brig. Gen. William E. Starke, Brig. Gen. Francis T. Nicholls, and Brig. Gen. Leroy Stafford. The brigade fought in such epic battles as Second Manassas, Sharpsburg (Antietam), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Petersburg, and many other smaller battles and skirmishes. The men of the brigade represented Louisiana's diverse population at the time, including typical Southern farm boys, ruffians from the New Orleans waterfront, and refined gentlemen from some of Louisiana's finest families. There was also a virtual Babylon of foreign languages spoken in the brigade. This is their story, from secession to Appomattox.

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

Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 21. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 21.

1863: Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, Kansas, occurred on this day. Captain William Clarke Quantrill with 450 partisan rangers, called guerrillas by the enemy, attacked Lawrence, Kansas, in retaliation for attacks by Federal raiders under James H. Lane's Jayhawkers, who were headquartered there. Female family members of some of Quantrill's men had been arrested and imprisoned in a building in Kansas City, Missouri. The building collapsed and killed four of the young women, and others were seriously injured and/or crippled. The Jayhawkers had also burned Osceola, Mo. Quantrill's partisan rangers struck Lawrence the morning of the 21st, but Lane escaped through a cornfield in his nightshirt. The raid was over by 9 o'clock that morning, with 150 men and boys old enough to carry firearms dead, and most of the town burning. The North labeled the raid as a "massacre."

1864: The weather has cleared for the third and last day of the Battle of Globe Tavern, Va., and finds the Federals safely in the new earthworks. The Confederates under Brig. Gen. Johnson Hagood and Brig. Gen. John C.C. Sanders of Mahone's Division launched attacks on the Federals in their earthworks and was repulsed. Among the dead was young General Sanders, who was just 24 years old. The Confederates withdrew leaving the Federals in control of the three miles of Weldon Railroad, thus cutting that rail line to Richmond and Petersburg. However, the Confederates soon established a wagon train supply line to get their vital supplies to those cities. Federal casualties for the three-day battle were 251 killed, 1,148 wounded, and 2,897 missing or captured. The Confederates lost 211 men killed, 990 wounded, and 419 missing or captured.

Brig. Gen. John Caldwell Calhoun Sanders, KIA in

Battle of Globe Tavern, Va.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 21.

Brigadier General William Barksdale was born on this day in 1821 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Before the war, he was an attorney in Mississippi, editor of a newspaper, congressman, and a committed secessionist. When the War for Southern Independence erupted, Barksdale resigned from the U.S. Congress and accepted a position as quartermaster general in the Mississippi Militia. He was appointed a colonel of the 13th Mississippi Infantry on May 1, 1861, and participated in the battles of First Manassas and Balls Bluff. In 1862, he fought in the Peninsula Campaign, the battles of Savage Station, Malvern Hill (and was promoted to brigadier general on Aug. 12, 1862), Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. In 1863, he led his brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Barksdale was then mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1862, leading his Mississippians in a famous charge in the Peach Orchard sector. He was captured and died on July 3, 1863. Barksdale was buried in his family plot without a marker in Greenwood Cemetery in Jackson, Miss. There are cenotaphs to his memory at both that cemetery and Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Miss.

Brig. Gen. William Barksdale

(Library of Congress)

CLICK👉1st Louisiana Zouaves

Jeff Davis' Pet Wolves

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.