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.

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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.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, August 20.

 Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 20. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 20.

1861: President Davis approves sending more commissioners to Europe to buy armaments and other goods needed by the Confederacy. The Confederacy's first diplomats to Europe were William Yancey, Pierre Rost, and A. Dudley Mann. They were seeking recognition and support for their nation. The arrest in November 1861 by a U.S. warship of two later Confederate diplomats on their way to Europe on the British ship Trent, James Murray Mason and John Slidell, resulted in a major diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Great Britain. 

1862: Major General Richard Taylor was assigned to command the Army of Western Louisiana, which he had to build from a few scattered units, and Mouton's Louisiana Infantry Brigade, which was transferred from the Army of the Mississippi after suffering heavy casualties at the Battle of Shiloh. Taylor would succeed in forming it into a highly effective unit with Mouton's Louisiana-Texas Division, Walker's Texas Infantry Division, Green's Cavalry Division, and Churchill's Arkansas and Missouri Divisions.

1863: President Jefferson Davis proclaimed on August 20, 1863, that August 21, 1863, should be a "Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer for Soldiers of the South" throughout the Confederacy.

1864: The third day of the Battle of Globe Tavern, Va., takes place, but heavy rain prevents fighting. Late that night, Federal Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren pulls his forces back several miles to a new trench line.

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.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 20.

Brigadier General Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls was born this day in 1834 at Donaldsonville, Louisiana. He graduated from West Point in 1855 and served in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. Nicholls participated in the Third Seminole War in Florida and then resigned his commission in the army. He practiced law in Napoleonville, La. During the War for Southern Independence, Nicholls initially served as a captain, then, when the 8th Louisiana Infantry Regiment formed, became the first lieutenant colonel. He was with the 8th Louisiana Infantry at the First Battle of Manassas, but the regiment was in reserve guarding supplies. He led the regiment at the First Battle of Winchester, Va., was wounded in the left arm and captured, and had to have the arm amputated by a federal surgeon. He was promoted to brigadier general while still a prisoner and was given command of the Second Louisiana Brigade. After exchange and reporting for duty, he led the brigade at the Battle of Chancellorsville and lost his left leg. He was permanently disabled for further field service. Nicholls finished the war in the Trans-Mississippi Department, directing the Volunteer and Conscript Bureau. Following the war, Nicholls practiced law and was involved in the Reconstruction Era political strife in Louisiana. He was elected governor of the state and then became Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Nicholls died on Jan. 4, 1912, near Thibodaux, Louisiana, and was buried there in St. John's Episcopal Church Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Francis R.T. Nicholls

(Library of Congress)

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, August 19.

Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 19. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 19.d

1861: The Second Confederate Congress passed legislation establishing a Confederate state government in Missouri, which seceded and had a pro-Confederate governor.

1864: The second day of the Battle of Globe Tavern, Va., took place over the vital Weldon Railroad south of Richmond. More reinforcements for both sides poured in, with  Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard commanding at the Petersburg fortifications and Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill commanding the troops attacking the Federals at the Weldon Railroad. Because of heavy rain, fighting is restricted to skirmishing most of the day. But in the late afternoon, Maj. Gen. William Mahone's brigades launch a flank attack on the Federal right. Mahone's Confederates gain the Federal rear and capture large numbers of Yankees.  Maj. Gen. Henry Heth's Division launches a frontal assault, which is repulsed. The Federal counterattack and fighting became hand-to-hand, which lasted until dusk. The Virginia militia was providing a significant amount of the manpower in the Richmond area defenses.

Private William H. Presgraves of Company K, 

97th Militia Virginia Infantry Regiment, with rifle.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 19.

Major General John Porter McCowan was born on this day in 1815 in Sevierville, Tennessee. He graduated from West Point in 1840, ranking 10th out of 42 cadets. McCowan served in the 4th U.S. Artillery in the Mexican-American War. He fought in the Battle of Cerro Gordo in Mexico and was breveted to the rank of captain for his service. He also participated in the Seminole War in Florida and the Utah War during the 1850s. McCown resigned from the U.S. Army on May 17, 1861, and was given commissions in the Confederate Army that predated that. He was also given command of artillery with the rank of colonel on the same date he resigned from the US. Army. He was promoted to brigadier general on Oct. 12, 1861, and participated in the Battle of Belmont, Mo., on Nov. 7, 1861. He was promoted to major general on March 10, 1862, and was in the Battle of Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River. McCowan was also in the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn., but fell out of favor with Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg and was relieved of his command. He finished the war in North Carolina, where he was defending a river crossing. Following the war, McCowan was a teacher in Knoxville, Tennessee, and farmed in Arkansas. He died in Little Rock on January 22, 1879, and was buried in City Cemetery in Magnolia, Arkansas.

Maj. Gen. John P. McCowan

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

 Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 18. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 18.

1862: President Davis spoke to the opening session of the Second Confederate Congress in Richmond, Va., highlighting the progress of the Confederates and the necessity of triumphing over the despotic North in its uncivilized war against the Southern people.

1863: General P.G.T. Beauregard gives the following report on the Siege of Charleston, S.C. in 1863: "On August 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23, the fierce bombardment of Fort Sumter was continued by the enemy, both from his land batteries and at intervals from his fleet. From the 17th to the 23d, inclusive, he fired against the fort a total of 5,643 shots, of which number 2,643 struck inside, 1,699 outside, and 1,301 missed. These projectiles varied in weight from 30 pounds to 300 pounds and were fired from Parrott and 15-inch smooth-bore guns. An average of 150 pounds per shot would give a weight of nearly 385 tons discharged against the walls of Fort Sumter during this period of seven days. At the end of this time, nearly all the guns remaining in the fort were unserviceable, and the damage to the gorge wall and the northwest face by the reverse fire was great; but the sand that had been placed on the outside of the gorge wall, in conjunction with the filling up of the barracks and casemates with cotton bales, and, above all, the crumbling of the masonry under the enemy’s fire, converted this portion of Fort Sumter into a mass of debris and rubbish on which the enemy’s powerful artillery could make but little impression. Throughout the siege, the unremitting exertions of the engineer corps hourly increased the defensive power of the work." Confederate General History, Aug. 18."

Captain William Powell, Co. A, 33rd Va. Inf.

Stonewall Brigade

Army of Northern Virginia

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1864: The Battle of Globe Tavern, south of Petersburg, Va., marks the fight for the important Weldon Railroad. The attacking force is under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren with his 20,000-man corps against about 14,000 troops under Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill. Warren's men in the morning begin ripping up railroad tracks until the afternoon when the first Confederates arrive, two brigades from Maj. Gen. Henry Heth's Division and push the bluecoats back to Warren's main line. Fighting begins at 2 p.m. and both sides funnel in reinforcements. 

Maj. Gen. Henry Heth

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 18.

None.

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.

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

 Click 👉Today in History (general history), Aug. 17. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 17.

1863: Siege of Charleston, S.C.: Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard reported on this day an intensification of the bombardment of the Confederate forts guarding Charleston Harbor, S.C., by six Federal ironclad monitors: "Battery Wagner was bombarded heavily by the enemy about daylight on the 17th. About 9 a. m. the Ironsides and six monitors joined in the action. Their guns were turned also on Battery Gregg and Fort Sumter, a heavy cannonade being directed against those three works, but principally against Wagner, which, having only two 10-inch columbiads and one 32-pounder rifle to reply to the enemy’s fleet, maintained the unequal contest more than one hour, when Colonel [L.M.] Keitt, commanding on Morris Island, ordered the brave artillerists and their gallant officers to the cover of the bomb-proofs. During this terrible fire, the engineering department lost the valuable services of a most promising officer, Capt. J. M. Wampler, of Virginia, was killed by the explosion of a 15-inch shell. During the engagement, Captain [C. R. P.] Rodgers, commanding the monitor Weehawken, was killed in the pilothouse of his ship. In the twenty-four hours, 948 [951] shots were fired against Fort Sumter; 448 struck outside, 233 inside, and 270 passed over. The casualties in the fort amounted to 14." *Rodgers was not killed.

Col. Laurence M. Keitt

Pre-war, Keitt was a U.S. Congressman

and strong Southern Rights Advocate.

1864: After skirmishing with Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's numerically superior Federal Army retreats back toward Berryville, Va., for more supplies. Early's forces engaged in a sharp action with Sheridan's rearguard near Winchester.

Unidentified cavalry soldier in Confederate

 uniform and Valley Rangers, 10th Virginia Infantry Regiment hat,

 with double-barreled shotgun. (Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

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 of recent immigrants to New Orleans from the cities and farms of Germany and Ireland. Raised by Colonel Augustus Reichard, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Germany who was very prominent in the New Orleans German community and served as consul for several German states. He and other Germans had been active in the Louisiana State Militia and were eager to prove their loyalty to the Confederacy once the state seceded. They saw plenty of action during the war in such notable battles as 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, a bibliography, an index, and an annotated roster of over 1,000 soldiers who served in the regiment.

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 17.

None.