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

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1861: Colonel Robert E. Lee, U.S. Army, was offered command of the U.S. Army by Lincoln, through Francis Preston Blair in Washington, D.C. Lee's reply was, "I declined the offer he made me to take command of the army that was to be brought into the field, stating as candidly and as courteously as I could, that though opposed to secession and deprecating war, I could take no part in an invasion of the Southern States." He later told one of his daughter's, he was not "contending for the perpetuation of slavery."

Portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee circa 1861

1863: The Battle of Fayetteville, Arkansas took place on this day. Confederates under Brig. Gen. W.L. Cabell attacked the Federal garrison there under Col. M. LaRue Harrison. The Federals had 1,100 men and the Confederates 900 men and two light artillery pieces. The Southerners attacked the Northerners in downtown Fayetteville but were driven back. The Federals lost 4 killed, 26 wounded, 4 captured, and 35 missing. Confederates suffered around 20 killed, 30 wounded, and 20 missing. While the Federals won the battle, Cabell scored a strategic victory because the Northerners retreated to Missouri a week later.

Brig. Gen. W.L. Cabell

1864: Camden Expedition

Date(s):

April 1864

Principal Commanders:

Colonel James Williams [US] John Marmaduke [CS]

Forces Engaged:

1100 total (US 1100; CS 0;)

Estimated Casualties:

415 total (US 301; CS 114;)

Description:

Dwindling supplies for his army at Camden forced Maj. Gen. Fred Steele to send out a foraging party to gather corn that the Confederates had stored about twenty miles up the Prairie D'Ane-Camden Road on White Oak Creek. The party loaded the corn into wagons, and on April 18, Col. James M. Williams started his return to Camden. Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke's and Brig. Gen. Samuel B. Maxey's Confederate forces arrived at Lee Plantation, about fifteen miles from Camden, where they engaged Williams. The Rebels eventually attacked Williams in the front and rear forcing him to retreat north into a marsh where his men regrouped and then fell back to Camden. The Union lost 198 wagons and all the corn.

Results:

Confederate Victory [National Park Service Summary]

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS ON APRIL 18: NONE.

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

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On This Day in Confederate History

1861: Following the Battle of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers to subjugate the Southern states, Virginia passed its Ordinance of Secession. Virginia gave the Confederate States of America some of its greatest military men, such as Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall Jackson, and some of its greatest fighting men as evidenced by the Stonewall Brigade and many others.

 Richmond Grays [in 1859 at John Brown's execution] (which became Company A, 1st Virginia Volunteers Regiment in 1861) including Robert Alexander Caskie, center with goatee; John Wilkes Booth, left of Caskie's shoulder; and Aylett Reins Woodson, bottom center; also, Lieutenant Julian Alluisi of the Virginia Rifles in shako hat at top right. Tentatively identified are Louis F. Bossieux, center right; Cyrus Bossieux, top far left; Charles D. Clark, top right; David Garrick Wilson, bottom right; and William H. Caskie, behind Charles D. Clark. Photograph was previously thought to be of Confederate soldiers during the Civil War (Source: Angela Smythe, 2016).

(Library of Congress)

A young Virginia volunteer circa 1861

1862: Shenandoah Valley Campaign: With Federal armies marching on Confederate Richmond, Va., Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson marched his small, 3,500-man, army into the Shenandoah Valley to distract the Federals. The distraction worked remarkably well and over the next few months drew the Yankees into one defeat after another. On this day the Northern Army reached Mount Jackson in reaction to Jackson.

Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson

1863: Battle of Vermilion Bayou: The Bayou Teche Campaign continued in South Louisiana with Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor's Army of Western Louisiana, vastly outnumbered, made a delaying stand at the Bayou Vermilion bridge in modern-day Lafayette. The bridge was set on fire and then the Northern invaders arrived, Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, commanding, halted and deployed. The Confederate Artillery opened fire, and the Northern guns returned fire. The Confederates then withdrew that night.

Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton led a Louisiana

infantry brigade in the campaign.

1864: Battle of Plymouth, N.C.: A Confederate Army under Brig. Gen. Robert Hoke and the Confederate Ironclad CSS Albemarle attacked a Federal stronghold at Plymouth, which was used by the invaders to mount raids into eastern North Carolina. The battle would continue for several days.

Brig. Gen. Robert F. Hoke

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS:

Brigadier General Philip St. George Cocke was born on this day in 1809 in Fluvanna County, Va. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1828 and from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 1832. St. George Cocke served in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery but resigned in 1834. St. George Cocke resumed civilian life operating plantations in Virginia and Mississippi. He married Sallie Bowdoin shortly thereafter and the couple raised a large family. In the War for Southern Independence, he was appointed a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia and then was made a colonel in the Confederate Army and commanded the 19th Virginia Infantry. St. George Cocke was given command of a brigade and fought at the Battle of Blackburn's Ford and the First Battle of Manassas. After that, he was promoted to brigadier general in command of an infantry brigade. However, his battle experience shattered him mentally and physically and he killed himself on Dec. 26, 1861. St. George Cocke was first buried on his plantation, Bellmead, in Powhatan Co., Va. In 1904, his remains were reburied in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

Brig. Gen. Philip St. George Cocke

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTYR, April 18.

1860: SOUTH CAROLINA SECESSION: The South Carolina Legislature creates a special session to discuss the possibility of seceding from the Union. This is the start of the legal and constitutional process that leads to the first of the Southern states to secede.

Antebellum South Carolina militiaman

Confederate artilleryman wearing

a secession badge.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1862: Confederate infantry and Federal cavalry skirmish near Falmouth, Virginia.

1863: The Battle of Fayetteville, Arkansas took place on this day. Confederates under Brig. Gen. W.L. Cabell attacked the Federal garrison there under Col. M. LaRue Harrison. The Federals had 1,100 men and the Confederates 900 men and two light artillery pieces. The Southerners attacked the Northerners in downtown Fayetteville but were driven back. The Federals lost 4 killed, 26 wounded, 4 captured, and 35 missing. Confederates suffered around 20 killed, 30 wounded, and 20 missing. While the Federals won the battle, Cabell scored a strategic victory because the Northerners retreated to Missouri a week later.

Brig. Gen. William L. Cabell

Also in 1863, there was a bloody Skirmish at the Sabine Pass Lighthouse on the Louisiana side of the river. The Northern blockading gunboats had been sending landing parties to the abandoned lighthouse to spy on the Confederate forts on the Texas side of the river. Discovering this surreptitious activity, the Confederates set up an ambush on the Northern sailors as they were arriving by boat. The Northerners had six casualties and the Confederates lost Lt. E.T. Wright of Co. D, 20th Battalion Texas Infantry who was killed in action.

1864: Red River Campaign: Maj. Gen. Camille Polignac Louisiana and Texas Division were temporarily blocked from crossing the Calcasieu River while pursuing the Federals under Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks in the Red River Campaign. Attempts to build a pontoon bridge across the river had failed but they finally got the men across on a skiff and a flatboat while the horses swim across. The crossing wasn't finished until late at night. By marching most of the night they managed to make 17 miles when they reached Bayou Nezpiqué.

Maj. Gen. (Prince) Camille Polignac

1865: SURRENDER OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE: Generals Johnston and Sherman reach a tentative and unauthorized agreement by neither government, to end the war by promising an amnesty to all Confederates and promising to all Southern state governments to resume governing as soon as they take the oath of allegiance to the Union. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 18.

NONE.

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

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 ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 16.

1862: The Battle of Dam No. 1 along the Warwick River on the Yorktown, Va., defense line took place. Brig. Gen. Howell Cob wrote in his report, "During the engagement, which lasted about three hours, the enemy was twice successfully repulsed and finally driven across the stream with severe loss." The Federal casualties in the three-hour battle were 35 killed, 121 wounded, and nine missing. Of the Confederate units in the battle that actually filed reports, only one man was listed as killed, Col. Robert M. McKinney of the 15th North Carolina Infantry, which was the most advanced Confederate unit. Also, two 15th North Carolina men were listed as wounded.

President Davis in Richmond, Va. approved the first Confederate Conscription Act which was introduced to Congress. The law provides for the conscription of men 18 to 35 but also provides for the discharge of men already serving who are under 18 or over 35. It also extended the enlistment of men within the age group two more years, for a total of three years' service, or the end of the war if it came earlier.

1863: Vicksburg Campaign: On a clear moonlit night, the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg, Miss. fail to stop 10 Federal warships, seven gunboats, and three empty transports, from running past the fortress city on the Mississippi River. The steamers hugged close to the shore and the guns on the bluff couldn't be depressed low enough and didn't do any serious damage to the ships, however, 22 men were wounded but no one was killed.

President Davis signs a bill allowing men under 21 to become commissioned officers in the Confederate Army.

1864: Red River Campaign: Maj. Gen. Camille Polignac's Louisiana and Texas Infantry Division marched 25 miles chasing the retreating bluecoats of the Federal Army of the Gulf down the Red River in Louisiana.

1865: The Battle of West Point, Georgia, occurs at Fort Tyler. It was attacked by Wilson's Raiders. The commander of the fort, Brig. Gen. Robert Tyler became the last Confederate general to be killed in battle in the war. Total Confederate casualties were 19 killed, 28 wounded, and 218 captured. The Federals lost seven killed and 29 wounded. Tyler's garrison was composed of convalescent soldiers, invalids, and militiamen.

Brig. Gen. Robert C. Tyler

Last CSA Gen. KIA.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 16.

Major General Edward "Allegheny" Johnson was born on this day in 1816 in Salisbury, Va. He got his nickname at the Battle of Allegheny Mountain early in the war in Virginia. Gen. Lee considered him one of the best division commanders in the army. His family moved to Kentucky when he was a child, and he received his early schooling there and graduated in 1838 from West Point. Johnson had an outstanding record in the Mexican American War and fought at Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey. For his gallantry, he was awarded brevet promotions to captain and then major, as well as a ceremonial sword. After resigning his U.S. Army commission, Johnson was made colonel of the 12th Georgia Infantry Regiment and fought in the early battles of Greenbrier River and Allegheny Mountain in western Virginia. He was promoted to brigadier general on Dec. 13, 1861. His first brigade was known as the Army of the Northwest. Johnson was severely wounded in the ankle in the Battle of McDowell and was out of action for nearly a year. With his recovery, in May 1863, he was promoted to major general and given command of a division in the Army of Northern Virginia. He led the division to victory at the Second Battle of Winchester, Va. Johnson's Division fought on Culp's Hill at Gettysburg and played a key role in thwarting the Federals in the Mine Rune Campaign. Johnson also performed well in 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness, but his division was overrun at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and he was captured. After his exchange in August 1864, he was given command of a division in the Army of Tennessee, which he commanded in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. He was again captured at the Battle of Nashville on December 16, 1864. He didn't get paroled until July 22, 1865, because someone accused him of somehow being involved in the Lincoln Assassination, which was ridiculous since he was a P.O.W. the whole time. Following the war, he farmed in Virginia and was active with other veterans in an early attempt to create a monument to Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va. Johnson died March 2, 1873, and was given the honor of his body being laid in state in the state capitol before being buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

                                                               Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 15.

1861: Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers backfires in the upper South and begins the process that will see Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas eventually withdraw from the Union and join the Confederacy. These states gave the Confederacy far more soldiers than 75,000.

Capt. Daniel Turrentine, Co. G, 12th Ark. Inf.

(Library of Congress)

1862: Peninsula Campaign: Federals prepare for an attack on the Confederate fortification on Dam No. 1 in the middle of the Yorktown, Va. siege line. The Confederates see the activity and reinforce the line at that point.

1863: The CSS Alabama commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes captured two Yankee whalers off the coast of a Brazilian island.

1864: In the Red River Campaign of 1864 in western Louisiana, the Confederate cavalry aggressively pursues the retreating Army of the Gulf.

1865: Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. in a house across the street from Ford's theater in Washington, D.C. Vice President Andrew Johnson became the 17th U.S. President. 

                                                    Lincoln's death scene.  (Harper's Weekly)

Generals W.T. Sherman and J.E. Johnston meet in North Carolina to discuss peace terms even though neither has that authority. 

The surrender of Gen. Johnston's army near Durham, N.C.

(National Park Service

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 15.

Brigadier General Evander McNair was born on this day in 1820 in Laurel Hill, Scotland County, North Carolina. As a child, he moved with his family to Mississippi. McNair joined Col. Jefferson Davis's 1st Mississippi Rifles and fought in the Mexican American War. He relocated to Arkansas in 1856 engaging in the mercantile business in Washington. In 1861, he commanded the colonel of the 4th Arkansas Infantry and fought at the battles of Oak Hill, Elk Horn Tavern, and was commissioned a brigadier general Nov. 4, 1862. His other battles included Richmond, Ky., Murfreesboro, Jackson, Miss., Chickamauga (wounded). McNair was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department in 1864 where his brigade took part in Price's Missouri Raid.  Following the war he lived in New Orleans, Hattiesburg, Miss, and Magnolia, Miss. He died Nov. 13, 1902, in Hattiesburg and was buried there in Magnolia Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Evander McNair

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 14.

1861: Surrender of Fort Sumter: During the surrender ceremony at Fort Sumter, S.C., Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard gallantly allowed the defeated Federals to fire their cannons off before leaving. However, in the process of firing the cannon, one Federal soldier was accidentally killed, another mortally wounded, and four were wounded. The captives, when allowed to leave, were taken out to a Federal ship offshore, which was part of the failed Federal effort to reinforce the fort. Beauregard then had a Confederate flag raised over the fort. The Confederacy held on to the fort until the very end of the war and kept large Federal army and navy forces tied up there. 

Captain Francis Huger Harleston

of Co. D, 1st S.C. Battalion Artillery (Regulars)

in uniform in front of a painted

backdrop showing balustrade vase and landscape.

KIA Nov. 24, 1863, on Fort Sumter.

(Library of Congress)

1863: Bayou Teche Campaign: Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor thwarted a plan of the Army of the Gulf commander Maj. Gen. N.P. Banks to entrap the Confederates on Bayou Teche, La. Taylor had the Federal flanking force blocked at the Battle of Irish Bend, while the majority of the Confederate Army escaped the trap. Banks' Army of the Gulf consisted of the XIX Corps' 4th Infantry Division and Divisional Artillery. Taylor's Army of Western Louisiana included Mouton's Infantry Brigade with three batteries, Sibley's Texas Cavalry Brigade and one battery, and the unattached 2nd Louisiana Cavalry. Federal casualties were 43 enlisted men and 17 officers killed and 257 enlisted wounded. Confederate casualties were reported, but the Federals found 21 Confederate dead left on the field and 35 wounded Confederates captured. The Army of Western Louisiana would be heard from again in the fall of the Great Overland Campaign in the same area.

1864: Red River Campaign: Mouton's Louisiana Infantry Division, the unattached 2nd Louisiana Cavalry and Texas Infantry Division, was now commanded by Maj. Gen. Camille Polignac marched 30 miles in the Red River Campaign and camped at Kirk's Mill, an important crossroads, near Huddleston, La. The division is the only heavy infantry left for Maj. Gen. Taylor, after Gen. Kirby Smith took Walker's Texas Infantry Division and Churchill's divisions of Arkansas and Missouri infantry with him to Arkansas. The late General Green is replaced by Maj. Gen. John Austin Wharton to command the cavalry. Taylor's force relentlessly harassed Banks' retreating Army of the Gulf.

Maj. Gen. John A. Wharton

1865: Lincoln Assassination: Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. A massive manhunt is launched for Booth and other conspirators that results in a huge roundup of suspects (Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Powell). Mary Surratt was also arrested, and her trial, conviction, and execution remains the most controversial, according to some historians. Dr. Samuel Mudd's arrest was also controversial. Secretary of State Willian H. Seward was severely wounded in his home by Lewis Powell. George Atzerodt was allegedly tasked with killing Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant, which didn't happen. Booth's motive was to avenge the South.

A depiction of the Lincoln assassination.

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

Booth's dramatic exit.

(Library of Congress)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 14.

Major General Harry Thompson Hays was born on this day, April 14, 1820, in Wilson County, Tennessee, and was partly raised in Mississippi. He received his higher education at St. Mary's College in Baltimore, Md., where he studied law. Hays moved to New Orleans and practiced law until the Mexican-American War and served in the 5th La. Cavalry. Resuming his law practice after the war, Hays was a supporter and elector for Winfield Scott with the Whig Party in the presidential election of 1852. With the coming of the War for Southern Independence, Hays became the colonel of the 7th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to brigadier general on July 25, 1862. He commanded the famous 1st Louisiana Infantry Brigade, also called the "Louisiana Tigers." Hays' battles including 1st Manassas, Port Republic (wounded), Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania (wounded). Recovering from his wound, Hays was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Dept. and promoted to major general near the end of the war by order of Gen. E. Kirby Smith, department commander. Returning home to New Orleans after the war, Hays was elected sheriff of Orleans Parish but was removed from office by order of Gen. Philip Sheridan, Northern commander of occupied Louisiana, following the New Orleans Riot of 1866. He practiced law until his death on Aug. 21, 1876, and was buried in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans.

Maj. Gen. Harry T. Hays

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 13.

1861: Battle of Fort Sumter: After 34 hours of bombardment on Fort Sumter, S.C., Major Robert Anderson notifies Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard he is ready to surrender the fort. No Federal soldiers were killed in the bombardment, but the fort was heavily damaged. One Confederate was mortally wounded when his own cannon misfired. The surrender ceremony is scheduled for the next day. This victory gets the new Confederate nation off to a good start, showing it can successfully defend its claimed territory as a free and independent country. Beauregard became the Confederacy's first national military hero.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter

(Currier & Ives)

1862: New Mexico Campaign: With Confederate food, water, and ammunition about to be exhausted, Brig. Gen. H.H. Sibley began withdrawing his Confederate brigade to El Paso, Texas, on April 12 and continued on April 13. The retreat was slow and would continue until July 1, 1862, with the Second Battle of Mesilla and the subsequent withdrawal into Texas. 

Col. John S. "Rip" Ford, who was

the first colonel of the 2nd Texas

Cavalry (2nd Texas Mounted Rifles)

of the Arizona Brigade. He was also

commander of the Rio Grande Military

District and was in command of Confederate

forces at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, Tex,

the last military engagement of the war.

(DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)

On the Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia, Maj. Gen. J.B. Magruder received reinforcements building up to 34,000 men, which was barely enough to defend his fortifications across the peninsula anchored on Yorktown. Federal Maj. Gen. George McClellan built up his heavy siege artillery up to 15 batteries with more than 70 large-caliber guns. 

1865: Battles After Appomattox: Despite the surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, fighting continues with skirmishes on this day at Wetumpka, Ala., Whistler, Ala., and Morrisville, N.C. in which Gen. J.E. Johnston's army continues battling Sherman's advance. Also, a Confederate torpedo (underwater mine) sank the U.S.S. Ida in Mobile Bay, Ala.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 13.

Brigadier General Leroy Augustus Stafford Sr. was born this day in 1822 on Greenwood Plantation near Cheneyville, Louisiana. He was a prominent citizen soldier who, before the war, was a wealthy planter in Louisiana and sheriff of Rapides Parish and a veteran of the Mexican-American War. He organized the "Stafford Guards" as its captain in 1861 and then became colonel of the 9th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. Stafford commanded brigades temporarily as a colonel and was finally promoted to brigadier general. His battles included Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Rappahannock Station. General Stafford was mortally wounded on May 5, 1864, in the Battle of the Wilderness, Va., and died May 8, 1864, in Richmond, Va. He was temporarily buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va., and was reinterred in 1886 on his Greenwood Plantation in Rapides Parish, Louisiana.

Brig. Gen. Leroy A. Stafford

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Brigadier General William Stephen Walker was born on this day in 1822 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Raised in Mississippi and Washington, D.C. by an uncle, Walker served in the Mexican-American War. He rejoined the U.S. Army in 1855 and resigned in 1861 to join the Confederate Army. He held such positions as aide-de-camp to Gen. Robert E. Lee for a short period, inspector general of South Carolina, and was promoted to colonel and then brigadier general in 1862. He led troops in battle at the First Battle of Pocotaligo, S.C., the Battle of Port Royal, S.C., Petersburg, Va., the Overland Campaign, and the Battle of Ware Bottom Church, where he was wounded, captured, and had a foot amputated. Walker was paroled on May 1, 1865, at Greensboro, N.C. Following the war, Walker lived in Georgia and died June 7, 1899, in Atlanta and was buried there in Oakland Cemetery.

Brig. William S. Walker

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