Click 👉Today in History (general history) July 4.
On This Day in Confederate History, July 4.
1863: ANV WITHDRAWAL FROM GETTYSBURG, PA.: Low on ammunition, Confederate General Robert E. Lee begins his slow withdrawal from Gettysburg, Pa., to Virginia. His long wagon train will be harassed by Federal cavalry, but the badly damaged Federal Army does not seriously pursue the Confederates. The withdrawal was one of the most difficult military maneuvers, but General Lee pulled it off remarkably well, and the ANV would give the Northern invaders almost two more years of trouble before the South was conquered.
Three Confederate prisoners of war at Gettysburg.
(Library of Congress)
1863: VICKSBURG SURRENDERS: At Vicksburg, Miss., Lt. Gen. James Pemberton surrenders his some 29,000-man garrison to Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant's powerful 77,000-man Federal Army and equally powerful U.S. Navy river fleet. Here is what Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis Shoup reported that day from the rank and file viewpoint: "Capitulation ordered. At 10 a.m. we moved out of our trenches by battalion, stacked arms, and then returned to our old quarters in town. The men were full of indignation. Though they have had a very scant fare and had been exposed to a merciless and almost continuous fire, remaining at their post in the trenches without relief, I have rarely heard a murmur or complaint. The tone has always been 'This is pretty hard, but we can stand it.' Too much praise cannot be given to officers and men." In addition to those captured, the Confederate casualties for the siege amounted to 3,202, including 875 killed and 2,168 wounded, and 158 missing. Pre-siege Southern losses were 538 killed, 1,709 wounded, and 3,642 missing for a total of 5,889. The total number of casualties for the Confederates was 9,901, not including the 29,000 surrendered. Many of those who surrendered were eventually exchanged and got back into the war. The Confederates also lost 172 artillery pieces, captured, and one camel was killed. In the pre-siege operations, the Federals lost 1,367 men killed, 6,785 wounded, and 419 wounded, for a total of 8,571. In the siege operations, the Federals lost 214 killed (not included are the killed in the pre-siege charges of May 19 and May 22), 769 wounded, and 588 missing for a total of 1,571. Total losses for pre-siege and siege is 10,142. The Federal Navy also lost some men and ships during the campaign.
SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON, LA. The Confederate garrison under Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner, with less than 5,000 effectives, still holds out at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on the Mississippi River.
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. The brigade was commanded over the course of the war by outstanding brigadiers, 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 were representative of the diverse population of Louisiana of the time, including typical Southern farm boys, ruffians from the New Orleans waterfront, as well as 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.
Confederate General Birthdays, July 4.
Brigadier General Daniel Chevilette Govan was born on this day in 1829 in Northampton County, North Carolina. His family moved to Marshall County, Miss., in 1832, where he grew up. Govan took part in the California Gold Rush in 1849 and was elected sheriff of Sacramento, California, in 1850. He married in 1853, and he and his wife had 14 children. They moved to Helena, Arkansas, in 1860, where he became a planter. He began the War for Southern Independence in 1861 as a captain in the Arkansas Militia and was then elected lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Arkansas Infantry and was soon promoted to colonel. He was elevated to brigadier general on Dec. 29, 1863. His battles included Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold Gap, Pickett's Mill, and Jonesborough, and he was wounded in action at the Battle of Nashville, Tenn. Following the war, Govan returned to his farm, but in 1894 was later appointed to the Tulalip Agency in Washington State. He died March 12, 1911, at the home of one of his children in Memphis, Tennessee, and was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Brig. Gen. Daniel C. Govan
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Brigadier General James Johnston Pettigrew was born on this day in 1828 in Tyrrell County, North Carolina. Pettigrew was a scholar, traveler, attorney, and author, and was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1856. From 1860-61, he served as an aid to the governor of South Carolina and had taken part in the negotiations prior to the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. With the coming of war, he became colonel of the 1st S.C. Rifle Militia and then the 22nd North Carolina Infantry. He was then promoted to brigadier general just prior to the Peninsula Campaign in 1862 and was severely wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines, Va., and captured. He recovered and was exchanged later that summer and commanded a brigade around Richmond. During the Battle of Gettysburg where his brigade suffered 40 percent casualties on the first day. His division commander, Maj. Gen. Henry Heth was wounded that day and Pettigrew assumed command of the division. He then led the division in Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863, in which Pettigrew was wounded in the arm. Pettigrew was mortally wounded in action on July 14, 1863, and died on July 17, 1863, at the Potomac River at the end of the Gettysburg Campaign and died July 17, 1863, at Edgewood Manor, W. Va. He was buried on his estate, "Bonarva," in Tyrrell County, N.C.
Brig. Gen. James J. Pettigrew
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Brigadier General William Andrew Quarles was born on this day in 1825 in James City County, Virginia. As a youngster, his family moved to Christian County, Ky., and then Clarksville, Tenn. where he became a lawyer and politician. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1858. He was a presidential elector in 1856 and 1860. Quarles also became president of the Memphis, Clarksville, and Louisville Railway. After the war started, he organized the 42nd Tennessee Infantry and became its first colonel. He took part in the Battle of Donalsonville, Tenn. where he was captured. Quarles was exchanged and promoted to brigadier general of a Tennessee brigade on Aug. 25, 1863. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Pickett's Mill, Ga. in the Atlanta Campaign. Quarles was wounded again on Nov. 30, 1864, at the Battle of Franklin, Tenn., and captured again. He was recovering in a Federal hospital when the war ended and was paroled and exchanged in May 1865. Quarles returned to his law practice in Clarksville and was active in his church, Masonic Lodge, and became a state senator in the 1870s and '80s. He died Dec. 28, 1893, in Todd Co., Ky., and was buried in the Flat Lick Presbyterian Church cemetery in Christian Co., Ky.
Brig. Gen. William A. Quarles
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