Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, May 28.

Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 28. 

On This Day in Confederate History, May 28.

1863: Siege of Port Hudson, La. In the aftermath of the severe casualties inflicted on the Federals on May 27, 1863, at the Siege of Port Hudson, La., Federal Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks sent an urgent message to Brashear City, La., ordering more reinforcements, including seven regiments of infantry. Confederates were having to resort to making homemade artillery supplies, such as improvised bags of scrap iron.

This museum diorama at the Port Hudson State

Historic Site portrays trench life for the Confederate

soldiers during the Siege. (Port Hudson State Historic Site)

Click👉A History of the 20th Louisiana Infantry Regiment

This is the story of one of the most unique infantry units in the Confederate Army, the 20th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. It was made up largely are recent immigrants to New Orleans from the cities and farms of Germany and Ireland. Raised by Colonel Augustus Reichard, a naturalized citizen of the U.S. born in Germany who was very prominent in the New Orleans German community, and the consul for several German states. He and other Germans had been active in the Louisiana State Militia and were eager to prove themselves loyal Confederates once the state seceded. They saw plenty of action during the war in such notable battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Ezra Church, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin, Nashville, and Spanish Fort. The book has footnotes, images, maps, bibliography, index, and an annotated roster of over a 1,000 soldiers who served in the regiment.

1864: Atlanta Campaign: Following the Confederate victory at the Battle of Pickett's Mill, Ga. Confederate skirmishers engage with the Federals. Captain Samuel T. Foster of the 24th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) writes, "We were not permitted to sit down and reflect over it, but were ordered forw'd about an hour by sun, just our Reg't. We advanced cautiously for about a mile through the wood when we found them again, and open fire upon them, and soon have them on the retreat -- There is only a skirmish line of them but that is all we have shooting at them, so we drive them about 1/2 mile to their breastworks. . ."

 Confederate General Birthdays, May 28.

General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was born on this day in 1818 in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. He graduated from West Point in 1838, ranking 2nd in his class. During the Mexican-American War, Beauregard served on the staff of Gen. Winfield Scott as an engineer, along with Captain Robert E. Lee. For his performance in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, he earned brevet promotions to captain and major. He also had important input in the planning for the attack on Chapultepec and was one of the first American officers to enter Mexico City. In 1861, he briefly served as the superintendent of West Point but was dismissed because he was a Southerner. Beauregard resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederate Army. President Jefferson Davis gave him command of the Confederate forces at Charleston, S.C., and he gained early fame with the early victory at Fort Sumter. He was promoted to full general and placed in command of the forces at Manassas, Va., where he and Gen. J.E. Johnston were victorious in the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. His other battles and campaigns included Shiloh, Corinth, Charleston Harbor, Fort Wagner, Second Fort Sumter, Bermuda Hundred, and Bentonville. Following the war, he rebuilt his life in the civilian sector, in New Orleans, La., as an engineer, in railroad construction, and in the Louisiana lottery. He was a voice of moderation during the tumult of Reconstruction in Louisiana and active in the cultural life of the city. Beauregard died Feb. 20,  1893, in New Orleans and was entombed in the Tomb of the Army of Tennessee in Metairie Cemetery.

Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard

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Brigadier General Alpheus Baker was born on this day in 1828 in Abbeville District, South Carolina. Before the War for Southern Independence, he was a school teacher and lawyer and South Carolina and Alabama. During the war, he became a colonel and fought in the Battle of New Madrid and was taken prisoner. After being exchanged, he was given command of the 54th Alabama Infantry. Baker was seriously wounded in the Battle of Champion's Hill, Mississippi, in 1863. When he recovered, he was promoted to brigadier general and led an Alabama brigade in the Atlanta Campaign. He was wounded again at the Battle of Ezra Church. Baker led his brigade in defending Mobile, Ala., and finished the war in the Carolinas Campaign. Following the war, Baker resumed the practice of law and moved to Louisville, Ky. He died there on Oct. 21, 1891, and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Alpheus Baker

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Brigadier General Basil Wilson Duke was born on this day in 1838 in Georgetown, Kentucky. Before the war, Duke was a lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri, and supported the cause of secession and Southern Independence. He was charged with arson and treason for his secessionist activities but escaped to Lexington, Ky., where he married the sister of John Hunt Morgan and joined Morgan's command as a second lieutenant. Duke was wounded in the Battle of Shiloh. After recovering,  he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and wounded again in Morgan's Christmas Raid of 1862. After that, he participated in Morgan's other raids and, following the death of Morgan, was promoted to brigadier general and assumed command of Morgan's forces. He surrendered to the Federals on May 10, 1865. Following the war, Duke moved to Louisville, Ky., where he practiced law, wrote a history of Morgan's Cavalry, and helped found the Filson Club. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him a commissioner of Shiloh National Military Park. He died Sept. 16, 1916, following several operations in a New York City hospital and was buried in the Hunt Family plot in Lexington Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Basil Duke

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate general birthdays, May 27.

 Click 👉 Today in History (general history) May 27.

On This Day in Confederate History, May 27.

1863: At the Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., Confederate Heavy Artillery at Fort Hill, which anchors the left flank of the Confederate defense line, wins an artillery duel with the ironclad gunboat USS Cincinnati and sends the vessel to the bottom of the river. The 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery was in command of the heavy guns at Fort Hill. Some 40 bluejackets were either killed or wounded. 

Captain William Parks

1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery

(Library of Congress)

Click👉Thunder Guns of Vicksburg

The First Louisiana Heavy Artillery Regiment

This is the history of the First Louisiana Heavy Artillery Regiment in the War for Southern Independence. The regiments started the war by safeguarding the most populous city in the Confederacy, New Orleans. The big "Thunder Guns" then was assigned to the Confederate "Gibraltar" of the Confederacy, Vicksburg, Mississippi. It then finished the war at one of the South's last great cities and ports, Mobile, Alabama. In each case the First Louisiana Heavies were involved in some of the most critical and desperate fight for the Southerner's valiant struggle to establish their Southern Republic among the nations of the world.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, La., Confederates successfully repelled an all-out assault on the Confederate defense line. Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner did a masterful job in shifting troops around to the most endangered points at any one time. Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks' assault is poorly coordinated, and the naval bombardment was not effective. On the north side of the assault, soldiers of the 1st and 3rd Louisiana Native Guard (Union) were in one of the strongest Confederate positions, and they were badly slaughtered. On the south end of the attack in the afternoon, Maj. Gen. Thomas Sherman was severely wounded in the assault there. Brigadier General Neal Dow was severely wounded in the center assault. Banks' frontal assault was a disaster for the Federals. Dow was later captured in the rear by Confederate cavalry.

1864: After being defeated at the Battle of New Hope Church, Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman tries again at the Battle of Pickett's Mill when he sends in Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard's men attacked the Confederate right flank, but it repulsed the attack and inflicted high casualties on the Northerners. The Federals lost 1,600 casualties and the Confederates 500.

In the aftermath of the Battle of North Anna River, Va., Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant moves his army toward Cold Harbor while Gen. Robert E. Lee moves his army to block Grant at the coming battle there.

Confederate General Birthdays, May 27.

Maj. Gen. Robert Frederick Hoke was born this day in 1837 at Lincolnton, North Carolina. He graduated from the Kentucky Military Institute in 1854 and then went into the family business. When North Carolina seceded in 1861, Hoke joined the 1st North Carolina Infantry, was promoted to major in September 1861, to colonel of the 21st North Carolina in 1862, to brigadier general on January 17, 1863, and to major general on April 23, 1864. His battles and campaigns were Big Bethel, New Bern, Peninsula, 2nd Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Plymouth, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Carolinas, and Bentonville. Following the war, Hoke resumed his business career in insurance, gold mining, and railroad construction. He died July 3, 1912, and was buried at Oakwood Cemetery.

Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke

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Brigadier General Edwin Gray Lee was born on this day in 1836 in Loudoun County, Virginia. He received a law degree in 1859 and, after the War for Southern Independence began, joined the staff of Col. Thomas J. Jackson and participated in the First Battle of Manassas, Va., Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, the Seven Days Battles, and the Battle of Cedar Mountain. Lee was captured and, after being exchanged, was given command of the 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiment and led it at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. He was promoted to brigadier general on Sept. 23, 1864, and served in the cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley. Lee was assigned to a secret mission in December 1864, and he and his wife slipped through the blockade and went to Canada. They were there in Montreal until the end of the war and didn't return to Virginia until 1866. He died Aug. 24, 1870, at Yellow Sulphur Springs, Virginia, and was buried in Lexington, Virginia, at Oak Grove Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Edwin G. Lee

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

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On This Day in Confederate History, May 26.

1861: The Confederate ports of New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, are blockaded by Federal warships. These port cities did the best they could to strengthen their defenses against this blatant Northern aggression. The blockade gave foreign nations the right to recognize the Confederates as lawful combatants under international conventions and Admiralty Law.

1863: At the Siege of Port Hudson, La., a 10-inch Columbiad gun on the bluffs is dismounted for several days when it is hit by a shell from the U.S.S. Monongahela. The Confederate batteries shell a Federal work party building a bridge in a willow swamp. That night, Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner has 24-pounder rifles moved from the bluffs to the landward side in anticipation of a major assault on Confederate lines. He also adjusts his regiments, battalions, and batteries along the lines, under Col. I.G.W. Steedman on the left, Brig. Gen. W.N.R. Beall in the center, and Col. William Miles on the Confederate right. Each soldier in the line also has multiple guns at the ready.

Capt. Robert Leggett Pruyn, 4th La. Inf.

He carried a message from

Port Hudson to Jackson for

Gen. Gardner during the Siege

of Port Hudson.

 1864: The second day of the Battle of New Hope Church, Ga., takes place. There is firing across the lines throughout the day, but no assaults. Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart was commended by both Generals J.E. Johnston and J.B. Hood for the handling of his division in the Confederate victory.

Click👉Fighting  For Southern Independence

A History of the 13th Louisiana Infantry

This is the story of one of the most heroic and hardest fighting regiments in the Confederate Army, the 13th Louisiana Infantry. The men of this regiment were largely from the New Orleans area and fought in such famous battles as Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Atlanta (Campaign), Franklin, and Nashville in the main Confederate Army of the in the western theater of operations. They served under such great Confederate generals as P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Joseph Johnston and John Bell Hood.

On the third and last day of the Battle of North Anna, Va., the two sides continue to skirmish, but at the end of the day, Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant gives up trying to break the Confederate line and withdraws his Federals for another wide flanking maneuver. The total casualties for the Confederates were 124 killed, 704 wounded, and 724 missing or captured. The Federals lost 591 killed, 2,734 wounded, and 661 captured or missing.

Confederate General Birthdays, May 26.

Brigadier General Edward Porter Alexander was born on this day in 1835 in Washington, Georgia. He graduated from West Point in 1857, ranking 3rd in a class of 38 cadets. He resigned his U.S. Army commission on May 1, 1861, joined the Confederate Army, and was assigned to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard's staff at Manassas, Va. In the First Battle of Manassas, as a signal officer, he played a key role in warning the Confederates were being flanked. He was also notable for having commanded the artillery for Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. During the war, he was in charge of ordnance and artillery and rose steadily in rank to brigadier general. His battles and campaigns included First Manassas, Williamsburg, Gaines' Mill, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Knoxville, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, the Crater, and Chaffin's Farm. Alexander was wounded by a sharpshooter on June 30, 1864, and surrendered with Lee at Appomattox. Following the war, he was a college professor and railroad executive and wrote a famous war memoir, Fighting for the Confederacy. Alexander died on April 28, 1910, in Savannah, Georgia, and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta, Georgia.

Brig. Gen. Edward Porter Alexander

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

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

On This Day in Confederate History, May 25.

1862: The First Battle of Winchester, Va. marks one of Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's major victories in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. Jackson's 16,500 smashes the Federal right flank of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks. Banks commanded 6,500 men in the battle. Key to the Confederate victory was Brig. Gen. Richard Taylor's Louisiana Tiger Brigade, reinforced by Fulkerson's and Scott's brigades, overlapped the Federal left. The victory also disrupted the Federal plans in the Peninsula Campaign. The Federals lost 62 men killed, 243 wounded, and 1,714 missing. Confederate casualties were 68 killed and 329 wounded.

Col. Francis Nicholls led the 8th La. Inf. 

in the battle. He was wounded in the left

arm, which had to be amputated, and captured.

He was later promoted to brigadier general.

(Library of Congress)

CLICK👉Confederate States Rangers

of the 10th Louisiana Infantry

This is the history of Company K, Confederate States Rangers, and the regiment to which it belonged, the 10th Louisiana Infantry. It fought in nearly every major engagement of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, including the Yorktown Peninsula of 1862, the Seven Days, Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg (Antietam), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864, Petersburg and Appomattox. The book features photographs, illustrations, maps, a bibliography and an Index.

1863: On this day in the Siege of Vicksburg, Miss. Federals appeared in force on the Warrenton and Hall's Ferry roads. There was the usual sharpshooting and at 6 o'clock that evening a cease-fire was agreed upon, the Federals were able to bury their dead and remove their wounded from the failed May 22 assault. About 100 prisoners were captured by the Confederates on this day.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, La., Col. I.G.W. Steedman advanced his men on the Confederate left about 500 yards to a new line of battle. He was supported by a section of Watson's Louisiana battery under the command of 1st Lt. Edmund A. Toledano. Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner sent engineers and laborers to fortify this new line to give better protection with breastworks and rifle pits. The position became known as Fort Desperate. Gardner was convinced this would be a likely point of attack by the Federals.

1864: The Battle of New Hope Church, Ga., one of the major battles of the Atlanta Campaign, occurred on this day. Sherman had 16,000 men and the Confederates 4,000. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had anticipated Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's line of march was waiting for him in the New Hope Church vicinity. Misjudging the Confederate force before him, Sherman ordered Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's XX Corps attack, but when the bluecoats reached Johnston's main defense line, their attack was repulsed with severe casualties. The battle would continue into the next day. Texas Captain Samuel T. Foster, 24th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) reported that the Federals had lost 703 men killed and 350 captured on his part of the line. Overall losses were 1,665 for the Federals and 400 for the Confederates.

Pvt. Robert Patterson, Co. D, 12th Tenn. Infantry

Army of Tennessee

(Library of Congress)

In the continuing Battle of North Anna River in Virginia, the battle has settled into a stalemate. The Federals tried to outflank the Confederate defenses at the Little River crossing but found it strongly guarded by Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton's Southern cavalry.

Confederate General Birthdays, May 25.

Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley was born on this day in 1816 in Natchitoches, Louisiana. He graduated from West Point in 1838 and fought in the Seminole and Mexican-American wars. Sibley invented the "Sibley tent" for the army and had extensive experience on the frontier before the War for Southern Independence. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 and joined the Confederate Army. Sibley was given command of a brigade of cavalry in west Texas and with it invaded New Mexico. His battles there in 1862 included Valverde and Glorieta Pass. After returning to Texas, his command participated in the Battle of Galveston on Jan. 1. 1863, and was a major part of the victory. He led a brigade of Texas cavalry in the Bayou Teche Campaign in 1863 but was court-martialed on charges of cowardice but was found not guilty. However, he was censured and had a problem with alcoholism. Following the war, he served in the Egyptian Army from 1870 to 1873 as a military adviser but was dismissed for illness and disability. Returning to the U.S., he lived with his daughter in Fredericksburg, Va., and worked on military inventions, but died in poverty on Aug. 23, 1886, in Fredericksburg. Sibley was buried there in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley

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

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

On This Day in Confederate History, May 24.

1861: In Alexandria, Va. proprietor of the Madison House, James Jackson, shoots and kills Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Regiment when Ellsworth removed a Confederate flag from the roof of his hotel. Jackson is then shot and killed by Pvt. Brownell. Ellsworth is said to be the first Federal officer to be killed in the war.

1863: At the Siege of Vicksburg, the Federal Navy mortar fleet kept firing upon the Confederate fortifications all day. Also, that afternoon, the Confederates drove off an attempt by the Federals to mine the Jackson Road. The Southerners drove off the Federals with hand grenades. The Confederates also sank an enemy coal barge. General Carter L. Stevenson's command also collected ammunition from the Federal dead in front of the part of the line. General John C. Pemberton said they were particularly in need of percussion caps because they had one million more cartridges than caps.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, La., Lt. Col. Paul Francis DeGournay's 12th Louisiana Heavy Artillery exchanges fire with the Federal mortar fleet. One shell from Captain W.B. Sewall's battery strikes the USS Monongahela on the bow. The Confederate batteries suffered a little damage from shell fragments, but none of them were put out of action. On Colonel William Miles's segment of the line on the southern part of the Confederate fortifications, three men are killed by the bombardment, and three are wounded.

Click👉9th Battalion Louisiana Infantry

In The Battle of Baton Rouge & the Siege of Port Hudson

This is the history of the 9th Battalion Louisiana Infantry which fought at the Battle of Baton Rouge and the Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana in the War for Southern Independence. The unit took part in the famous charge of Allen's Brigade at Baton Rouge. The men of the unit were fighting in defense of their own home area since most were from East Baton Rouge and nearby parishes.

1864: The Battle of North Anna River, Va. continues on this day, and Confederates repulse an attack by Federal Brigadier Gen. James H. Ledlie on the Confederates' Ox Ford position at the apex of the inverted V formation Gen. Robert E. Lee has intended to be a trap for the enemy. But with Lee still sick, no one else can carry out his plan.

At the Atlanta Campaign in Georgia, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's Confederate cavalry keeps the pressure on the Federal supply lines by launching sporadic attacks on them. There are skirmishes this day at Cass Station, Burnt Hickory, and near Dallas, Georgia, as the two sides continue to maneuver.

Maj Gen. Joseph Wheeler

Confederate General Birthdays, May 24.

Brigadier General Charles Clark was born on this day in 1811 in Warren County, Ohio. Before the war, he practiced law in Mississippi, became a large plantation owner, and was elected to the Mississippi State Legislature. Clark also served as the colonel of the 2nd Mississippi Regiment in the Mexican American War and was a brigadier general in the Mississippi State Militia. During the War for Southern Independence was a brigadier general and fought at the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Baton Rouge, La., where he was wounded and captured. When he was paroled, he was promoted to major general of Mississippi State Troops and was elected governor of Mississippi. Following the war, Clark was removed from office by Federal occupiers and briefly imprisoned at Fort Pulaski, Ga. After being released, he continued serving as ex officio President of the University Board of Trustees and lived in Natchez, Mississippi. Clark died in Bolivar County, Mississippi, and was buried in his family cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Charles Clark

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

Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 23.

On This Day in Confederate History, May 23.

1861: VIRGINIA SECESSION: Voters of Virginia went to the polls and voted 125,950 to 20,373 to endorse the state's secession from the Union. Some 155,000 Virginians served in the Confederate Army during the War for Southern Independence. The state also supplied some of the Confederacy's greatest generals, including Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart.

1862: Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's 16,500 Confederate Army wins an easy victory over Col. John Reese Kenly with 1,063 Federals and two artillery pieces at the Battle of Front Royal, Va., Confederate Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat with his ferocious Louisiana Tigers (1st Battalion Louisiana Volunteers) and the 1st Maryland Infantry routed the Northern occupiers. The Tigers played a major role in Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Confederate casualties were 36 killed and wounded, to 773 total Federal casualties (83 killed and wounded and 691 captured).

Maj. Chatham R. Wheat

Louisiana Tiger

Unidentified, Co. C 1st Maryland Infantry

(Library of Congress)

Click👉The Tiger Rifles: The Making of a Louisiana Legend

A history of Company B, 1st Special Battalion (Wheat's) Louisiana Volunteers in the War Between the States. The Tiger Rifles, Company B, of Wheat's Battalion became famous because of their flashy Zouave uniforms, their famous battalion commander, Major Roberdeau Wheat, and their heroics at First Battle of Manassas. Their nickname, Tigers, became attached, first to the battalion, and then to all Louisiana troops serving in the Army of Northern Virginia. The book tries to separate fact from myth with regards to the Tigers. The men became so notorious for their antics in camp, they got blamed for a lot of things they didn't do, although they did plenty on their own to deserve their reputation. Also examined is the possible real identity of their company commander, Captain Alexander White. His name is an alias but as far as is known, his real identity has been a mystery. The book focuses tightly on the men of the Tiger Rifles and brings them to life as much as the limited resources allows.

+1863: The Siege of  Vicksburg continues, but because of the massive defeat of the day before, there is little artillery fire and sharpshooting from the Federals. "Many of his dead were still lying unburied insight of our trenches," Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton reported later. The Federal keeps up their mortar fire, and at night, the Confederates keep busy repairing their trenches.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, Federals complete their investment of the Confederate line, but on the Confederate left wing, Colonel I.G.W. Steedman, who is in command of the Confederate left wing, throws out skirmishers from the 1st Alabama Volunteers to push back on the Yankees in the swamps and ravines in that area. 

Col. I.G.W. Steedman

1st Alabama Volunteers

1864: Fighting erupts at the Battle of North Anna River and becomes severe when the Federals advance, but Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill strikes back with his 3rd Corps, with severe fighting at Chesterfield Bridge and Jericho Mills. That night, General Robert E. Lee set a trap with an inverted V formation for Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant, but Lee is down sick that day and can't supervise the battle, which continues until May 26.

In the Atlanta Campaign, General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee kept in front of Lt. Gen. U.S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee with action at Stilesborough as the armies moved toward Dallas, Georgia, drawing ever closer to Atlanta.

Confederate General Birthdays, May 23.

None.

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

Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 22.

On This Day in Confederate History, May 22.

1863: Second Assault on Vicksburg: Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton and his Confederate garrison at Vicksburg, Miss., bloodily repulse the second Federal frontal assault by Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant's Federal invaders on the strong fortifications there. Grant preceded the frontal assault with an all-night artillery barrage. He then launched the corps of Sherman, McPherson, and McClernand, but each one was signally repulsed. McClernand's assaults on the Confederate right had some breakthroughs, but Confederate counterattacks recovered each break in the lines. Particularly notable was the fighting at the Railroad Redoubt and the 2nd Texas Lunette. Grant gave up on taking Vicksburg by storm, and the fighting settled into a siege. Federal casualties in the failed frontal attack total 502 killed, 2,550 wounded, and 147 missing. Confederates lost about 500 men killed and wounded.

Pvt. Charles H. Ruff, Co. G, 2nd Tex. Inf.

He served in the Siege of Vicksburg.

(Liljenquist Collection: Library of Congress)

Click👉The Vicksburg 28th Louisiana Infantry

The Vicksburg 28th/29th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was 

involved in the 1862-63 defense of the "Gibraltar of the Mississippi," 

Vicksburg, from the first attack by the Union fleet of Admiral 

Farragut, to the final siege by Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The regiment 

had its finest hour in the war during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou,

 Miss. on Dec. 28, 1862, when it was compared to the Spartans at the

 Battle of Thermopylae in Ancient Greece, for holding off an 

enemy force many times its size. The regiment was made up 

of men from throughout Louisiana who endured incredible 

hardships and danger for their sacred cause of Southern 

Independence. Included in the book is a roster of the regiment, 

photographs, maps, footnotes, bibliography and index.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner had sent out Col. John L. Logan's 1200 Confederate cavalrymen, partisan rangers, and two artillery pieces before the siege to harass Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks' Army of the Gulf during the siege. The horse soldiers slowed the Federal efforts at encirclement of the fortress.

1864: General Robert E. Lee once again disrupted Maj. Gen. Grant's Overland Campaign. Lee's Second Corps, under Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, beat Grant to Hanover Junction along the North Anna River.

In the Atlanta Campaign in Georgia, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston set up his Army of Tennessee in a new defensive position at Altoona Pass. But Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman's Army of the Tennessee once again outflanks Johnston, who has to retreat closer to Atlanta.

Confederate General Birthdays, May 22.

Brigadier General Richard Lee Turberville Beale was born on this day in 1819 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. A prewar lawyer and Virginia politician, Beale was elected to the 30th Congress in 1847-1840, and to the Virginia Senate from 1858 to 1860. He served in the 9th Virginia Cavalry as a captain and major, then was promoted to brigadier general. His battles and campaigns included the Battle of Brandy Station, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Culpepper Court House, the Bristoe Campaign, the Mine River Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Second Battle of Ream's Station. Beale was wounded and captured on April 9, 1865, at the Battle of Appomattox Court House, Va. Following the war, Beale became active in politics again and was elected to the 45th and 46th Congresses. He also practiced law and wrote a history of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry. Beale died April 21, 1893, near Hague, Va., and was buried there in Hickory Wood Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. R.L.T. Beale