Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, February 4.

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

On This Day in Confederate History, July 25.

1861: The U.S. Congress on this day in 1861 passed the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution which specifically stated the Federals were fighting for the Union and the Constitution, and not for freeing the slaves. The vote was unanimous for the passage of the resolution.

1862: The Camden Confederate newspaper in South Carolina reported on this day in 1862 that the numerical strength of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac was less than previously reported. The paper also reported on a bombardment at Vicksburg, Miss., and exchange of prisoners with "the Yankee Government," and that Yankee Maj. Gen. John Pope had taken command of his Army of Virginia in which he bragged that "I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies. . . ." It also had an outraged story about Brig. Gen. Benjamin "Beast" Butler's infamous "women's order." The article stated, "Transparent hypocrite and unblushing liar, as well as beast."

1st Lt. William R. Macbeth

Co. B, Confederate Guards Response Battalion

KIA April 6, 1862, in the Battle of Shiloh.

He was, about 26-year-old,f born in Ireland

and in 1860 had a personal estate of $20,000. 

He was married to Martha Selser Bass and had a daughter,

Lydia Bass Macbeth was born in 1861.

His uniform hat is at the Confederate Memorial  Hall in New Orleans.

Unit history👉 Confederate Guards Response Battalion 

This is the history of one of the hardest fighting Louisiana units in the War for Southern Independence, the Confederate Guards Response Battalion. It covers the units organization in New Orleans, the Battle of Shiloh and their campaigns in Louisiana. The book includes photographs, maps, illustration, bibliography and index.

1864: Lt. Gen. Jubal Early and his Army of the Valley followed up the victory at Kernstown, Va. by pursuing Maj. Gen. George Crook's Federal forces and heavily skirmishing with them at Martinsburg, Va. Gen. Robert E. Lee reported on this pursuit in a report dated July 26, he wrote, "General Early states he attacked Major-General Crook on the 24th instant on the old battle-field of Kernstown, completely routing him, and pursued him five miles beyond Winchester, where he was compelled to halt from the exhaustion of his men, they had marched twenty-five miles that day. The pursuit was continued by the cavalry. Among the prisoners captured was General [James A.] Mulligan, mortally wounded.  Brigadier-General [Robert D.] Lilley and our other officers and men captured on the 20th were recovered. The strength of the enemy is stated to have been 15,000 infantrymen, besides the cavalry under [William] Averell."

Brig. Gen. Robert D. Lilley, who 

had been captured July 20, 1864, at

Stephenson's Depot but was recovered. He was also

wounded three times and his right arm amputated.

Confederate General Birthdays, July 25.

None.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, February 2.

Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Feb. 3. 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Feb. 3.

1862: War at Sea: At Southampton, England, the Confederate steamer Nashville leaves the port, and the U.S.S. Tuscarora moves to intercept the Southern vessel. However, the British Warship HMS Shannon prevents the confrontation in English waters in line with British neutrality.

1863: Second Battle of Fort Donelson, Tenn. Confederate cavalry under generals Fighting Joe Wheeler and Nathan Bedford Forrest attack Fort Donelson. The Federals hold the fort. The Yankees lost 12 dead and 30 wounded, while the Confederates suffered 100 dead and 400 wounded.

1864: At Richmond, President Davis recommends suspension of habeas corpus for such crimes as spying, desertion, and associating with the enemy.

1865: Carolinas Campaign. At River's Bridge and Dillingham's Crossroads along the Salkehatchie River, Confederate troops battle Sherman's Federals as they approach Charleston, South Carolina.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Feb. 3.

General Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born on this day in 1807 in Farmville, Virginia. Of Scottish heritage, his grandfather was from Scotland, and his father was a Revolutionary War veteran. He graduated from West Point in 1829 in the same class as Robert E. Lee. Johnston was 13th in a class of 46 cadets. Johnston resigned from the army in 1837 to study civil engineering. He did serve, as a civilian engineer, in the Second Seminole War and was wounded but was back in the army in 1838 as a first lieutenant with the topographical engineers and received brevet captaincy for the battle in which he was wounded. In the Mexican-American War, he was on the staff of Gen. Winfield Scott and the Siege of Vera Cruz and was wounded in the Battle of Cerro Gordo. His army career prospered in between wars and in 1860 was promoted to Quartermaster General with the rank of brigadier general. He resigned in 1861, the highest-ranking officer to do so when his native state left the Union. Johnston was made a full general in August 1861 in the Confederate Army. He was the ranking general at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861, but let Gen. Beauregard handle it tactically since Beauregard was more familiar with the ground. Johnston and President Jefferson Davis had a falling out early in the war that greatly hampered his service. Johnston was one of the developers of the famous St. Andrew's Cross Style Confederate Battle flag, along with General Beauregard and William Porcher Miles. He led the army in the Peninsula Campaign and was severely wounded in the Battle of Seven Pines in 1862. On November 24, 1862, still recovering from his wound, he was given command of the Dept. of the West, which was primarily a desk job. His continuing trouble with his wound also plagued him. He did lead an attempt to relieve the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, but his army was too small to even attempt to break the siege. President Davis appointed Johnston to the command of the Army of Tennessee on Dec. 27, 1863, and gave the Northern Army under Sherman fits in the Atlanta Campaign in 1864 with his Fabian tactics. But President Davis, dissatisfied with Johnston's tactics, relieved him of the command and gave it to Gen. John Bell Hood. The change proved to be a disaster for the Confederacy. Johnston was again appointed to the much-diminished Army of Tennessee in the final days of the war, for the Carolinas Campaign, but it was too little too late and he surrendered the army on April 26, 1865. Johnston worked at various jobs after the war, wrote his memoir, and engaged in the various post-war controversies left over from the conflict, with Jefferson Davis and others. He died on Feb. 19, 1891, and was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston

👱

Brigadier General George Thomas "Tige" Anderson was born on this day in 1824, in Covington, Georgia. Anderson was attending college when the Mexican-American War broke out and left his studies to serve as a second lieutenant with the Georgia cavalry. After that war, he served in the Georgia militia as a major general of the 11th Division but entered the U.S. Army in 1855 as a captain in the 1st Cavalry Regiment but resigned in 1858. During the War for Southern Independence, he became colonel of the 11th Georgia Infantry and fought in most of the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. He was promoted to brigadier general on Nov. 1, 1862, and was wounded at Gettysburg. Anderson surrendered with General Lee at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. Following the war, he became a railroad freight agent in Atlanta and then the police chief and tax collector in Anniston, Ala. He died there on April 4, 1901, and was buried in Edgemont Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. George T. Anderson

👱

Brigadier General Nathan George Evans was born on this day in 1824 at Marion, South Carolina. He attended West Point and graduated in 1848 36th in a class of 38 cadets. His service in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant was with the 1st U.S. Dragoons and 2nd U.S. Dragoons mostly at frontier outposts. Evans resigned from the U.S. Army on Feb. 27, 1861. At the First Battle of Manassas, he led a small brigade as a colonel made up of the 4th South Carolina Infantry and the 1st Special Battalion (Wheat's) Louisiana Volunteers (the famous Louisiana Tigers) and held off an overwhelming Yankee flanking force long enough for reinforcements to make a crucial stand on Henry House Hill. Evans was promoted to brigadier General effective to July 21, 1861, the date of the First Manassas. He then led his brigade at the battles of Ball's Bluff, Secessionville, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Kinston, and in the Vicksburg Campaign. Evans was severely injured in a buggy accident in Charleston, S.C. in 1864 and was never returned to command of his brigade. Following the war, he became a school principal and died on Nov. 23, 1868, in Midway, Alabama. Evans was interred in Tabernacle Cemetery in Cokesbury, Alabama.

Brig. Gen. Nathan G. Evans.

👱

Brigadier General William Lowther "Mudwall" Jackson was born on this day in 1825 in Clarksburg, Virginia. Prior to the war, he was a lawyer and Democrat politician who was a lieutenant governor of Virginia. During the War for Southern Independence Jackson became the lieutenant colonel of the 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment and served in the Western Virginia Campaign in the battles of Rich Mountain and Cheat Mountain. Jackson was promoted to colonel and served on the staff of Stonewall Jackson in 1862. In 1863, he raised the 19th Virginia Cavalry and served in the Jones-Imboden Raid and then under Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins at the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain and Early's Valley Campaign of 1864 and was promoted to brigadier general on Dec. 19, 1864. His brigade disbanded on April 15, 1865. Jackson refused to surrender and headed west but finally decided to take his parole on July 26, 1865, in Brownsville, Texas on July 26, 1865. He lived for a short time in Mexico and returned to West Virginia to practice law and then relocated to Louisville, Ky. where he became a circuit judge. He died March 26, 1890, in Louisville and was buried at Cave Hill Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. William L. Jackson

👋

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Feb. 2.

Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Feb. 2.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Feb. 2.

1862: Confederate batteries on the Vicksburg, Mississippi, bluffs fire on the Federal ship Queen of the West, but it slips by the city. The gunboat had a 30-pounder bow gun and three 12-pounder howitzers; it was also protected by cotton bales behind wood sheathing. 

1864: On the second day of the Battle of New Bern, N.C. Confederate raiders led by Commander John Taylor Wood boarded the Federal gunboat USS Underwriter and killed the commander. Three crewmen were going to sail it away, but the guns of Fort Stevenson opened fire and set it on fire. The Confederates evacuated the scene the next day.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Feb. 2.

General Albert Sidney Johnston was born on this day in 1803 in Madison County, Kentucky. After attending Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., Johnston attended West Point and graduated 8th in his class of 41 cadets. As a young second lieutenant, he was posted in New York and Missouri before serving in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Johnston resigned in 1834 to take care of his wife, who was dying of tuberculosis in Kentucky. She died in 1836. Johnston then went to the Republic of Texas, where he served as Secretary of War from 1838 to 1840. He also remarried and settled on the China Grove plantation in Brazoria County. Later, he moved back to Kentucky and then back to Texas for the Mexican-American War as colonel of the 1st Texas Rifles under Gen. Zachary Taylor at the Battle of Buena Vista. He lived on his Texas plantation until 1849, when President Zachary Taylor made him a major in the U.S. Army. Then President Franklin Pierce gave him command of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry and in 1857, gave him a brevet promotion to brigadier general in recognition of his service in the Utah War. At the outbreak of the War for Southern Independence, Johnston resigned and joined the Confederate Army. President Jefferson Davis made him a full general and he was given command of the Western Department. Johnston didn't have nearly enough men to defend his huge department and his forces were

General Albert Sydney Johnston

driven back from Kentucky all the way down to Corinth, Miss., in early 1862. With his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, and the Army of the Mississippi, they counterattacked on April 6, 1862, at the Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., while on the verge of victory, he was killed in action. Johnston is buried in an ornate tomb at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

Brigadier General Abner Monroe Perrin was born on this day in 1827 in Edgefield District, South Carolina. Perrin served in Mexican American War as an infantry lieutenant, after which he studied law in South Carolina and practiced law after being admitted to the bar. In the War for Southern Independence, he became a captain in the 14th South Carolina Infantry in A.P. Hill's famous "Light Division." He rose in rank and was promoted to brigadier general on Sept. 10, 1863. Perrin's battles included the Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness, and he was killed in action at Spotsylvania Court House on May 12, 1864, after being shot seven times. Perrin is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va.

                                               

Brig. Gen. Abner M. Perrin

👋

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthday, Feb. 1.

Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Feb. 1

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Feb. 1.

1861: Texas Gov. Sam Houston, anti-secession, is angered when the Texas Secession Convention votes to secede, the seventh state to do so. The action will have to be validated by a vote of the people. The convention then establishes the Committee of Public Safety and sends delegates to the meeting of seceded states in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Southern Confederacy. Houston turns down an offer from Lincoln to supply him with troops to fight secessionists.

 At the Texas Secession Convention, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Oran Milo Roberts presides. The delegates voted for secession by a margin of 166 to 8. The Committee on Public Safety was given the power to continue operation after the convention adjourned on Feb. 4, 1861. The committee authorized the seizure of all Federal property in Texas and the forced evacuation of 3,000 troops in the state. 

Texas Brigade soldiers in 1861.

1864: Major General George Pickett is ordered to capture New Bern, North Carolina, which has been occupied by the Federals. Brig. Gen. Robert Hoke's Brigade clashed with the 132nd N.Y. Inf. at Bachelor's Creek until dark when the Yankees retreated to New Bern. Meanwhile Brig. Gen. Seth Barton attacked the 17th Mass. Inf. and 3rd N.Y. Light Artillery across the Trent River but fell back when he found the fortifications there too strong for a frontal attack. The battle continued on Feb. 2, 1864.

Brig. Gen. Robert Hoke

1865: The Federal Army under Sherman destroys much private property in the Carolinas Campaign, as they had through Georgia. President Davis appointed Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to command the Army of the South in the campaign. His three corps commanders were Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee, Lt. Gen. Alexander P. Steward, and Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Lee. Johnston's cavalry chief was Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton. Greatly outnumbered, Johnston had to use Fabian's tactics and wait for opportunities to strike the Yankees.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Feb. 1.

Brigadier General Edward Higgins was born in 1821 in Norfolk, Va. but his exact month and day of birth are unknown. He was reared in Louisiana by an uncle and was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. Navy on Jan. 24, 1836, when he was about 15 years old. Promoted to passed midshipman on July 1, 1842, Higgins worked his way up to master and then to lieutenant on Aug. 24, 1849, after having seen service in the Mexican-American War. He married Anna Zimmerman in 1851 and resigned from the Navy in 1854. He and his wife settled in New Orleans where he worked as a steamship agent. When the war started in 1861, he served as a captain in the 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery regiment. He resigned on Jan. 2, 1865, to take the position of lieutenant colonel in the 21st  Louisiana Infantry, which was actually trained as heavy artillery and defended Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip on the Mississippi River. Higgins fought in the Battle of New Orleans and was captured on April 28, 1862. After being exchanged, on Oct. 16, 1862, he was promoted to colonel while still a prisoner and after his release was given command of the river batteries at Vicksburg. Captured again with the fall of Vicksburg, he was exchanged again on Oct. 13, 1863. He was then promoted to brigadier general and assigned to command the harbor defenses at Mobile, Ala. Higgins was relieved of his command on Feb. 18, 1865, for unknown reasons and never received another command. Following the war, he and his wife settled in Norfolk, Va. where he worked in the insurance and import businesses. They then moved to California in 1872 to work for the Pacific Mail  Steamship Company. Higgins died on Jan. 31, 1875, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma, California.

Brig. Gen. Edward Higgins

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, January 31.

Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Jan. 31.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 31.

1861: Louisiana Gov. Thomas Overton Moore ordered the seizure of the United States Mint in New Orleans on this day in 1861. An inventory of the mint taken by a committee of the Louisiana Secession Convention reported $483,983 in gold and silver coins. Mint employees stayed on as state employees. Also, seized on this day were the United States Customs House in New Orleans and the schooner Washington.

This La. soldier's ID is on the back as

Capt. James H. Bradley, Co. H. 1st La. Regt. of

New Orleans. He died of disease in N.O. on Oct. 3, 1864.

He has a crescent moon emblem & 1 on his hat

and a medal on his jacket.  There are 2 James

Bradleys are listed in Booth's La. Conf. Records, both

listed in Strawbridge's 1st La. Inf. One is a 37

year-old Pvt. in Co. D who was discharged for

disability in Oct. 1861, the other a Cpl. in Co. K, who was KIA 

at Shiloh, TN, April 6, 1862. The

uniform he is wearing appears to be from the early war.

The image was taken by N.O. Photographer Theo. Lilienthal.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1862: Queen Victoria reiterates Great Britain's neutrality stand in the war between the Confederate States and the United States. Despite the official stance, Confederate commissioners had an unofficial "home" (consulate) in Britain. They also successfully had such ships as the CSS Alabama built in Liverpool and imported thousands of Enfield Rifles, uniforms, and other war supplies from Great Britain.

Charles K. Prioleau, a cotton merchant in Liverpool, England,

from a prominent Charleston, S.C. family, became

the "mastermind" in England behind financing the 

The Confederate war effort in Europe. He had offices in Liverpool

and worked closely with Confederate agents to buy

war supplies for the Confederate Army. (Wikipedia Commons)

1863: Confederate and Federal forces fight at Unionville, Middleton, and Rover in Tennessee. This was a major raid by two Federal cavalry brigades consisting of six regiments and a section of artillery from Murfreesboro to Franklin, Tenn., totaling 1,328 bluecoat cavalrymen. It was commanded by Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis. Resisting the raid was Co. B, 51st Alabama Cavalry under Capt. L.W. Battle, Lt. Col. John S. Prather, and the 8th Confederate Cavalry, 150 men.  A half mile from the town of Rover, the 7th Pa. Cav. charged about 400 Confederates and had a sharp conflict, and the Confederates retreated. They captured 6 officers and 43 enlisted men, besides 49 wounded. All but one of the wounds was from sabers. The Federals held Unionville for about an hour and captured at Middleton Confederate Col. DeWitt Clinton Douglass, 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, and 41 men.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 31.

Brigadier General William Raine Peck was born on this day in 1818 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. He moved with his family to Madison Parish, Louisiana in the 1840s and became a successful plantation owner and one of the wealthiest men in the state. He represented his parish in the Louisiana legislature and at the Louisiana Secession Convention, at which he voted for secession. He then enlisted as a private in the 9th Louisiana Infantry Regiment and soon was elected a captain and rose to lieutenant colonel, colonel, and brigadier general near the end of the war. Among his battles were Gettysburg, and Second Winchester, and was promoted to colonel on Oct. 8, 1863. Peck also fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Third Winchester, where he was wounded. He was promoted to brigadier general on Feb. 18, 1864. Peck resumed running his plantation in Louisiana after the war and died Jan. 22, 1871, and was buried at Westview Cemetery in Jefferson City, Tenn.

Brig. Gen. William R. Peck

👱

Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles was born on this day in 1810 in Barrie, Massachusetts. He graduated from West Point in 1833 and had a long career in the U.S. Army. Ruggles participated in the Seminole War in Florida in 1839 and in the Mexican-American War, fought in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, the first two battles of the war, in Texas. Ruggles then served under Gen. Winfield Scott in the Mexico City Campaign, fighting at Vera Cruz, San Antonio, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. He was breveted a major for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct after Churubusco and was breveted a lieutenant colonel after Chapultepec. He had married a Virginia woman, sided with the South, and resigned from the U.S. Army on May 7, 1861. Ruggles was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on August 9, 1861, after having served briefly as a colonel in the Virginia militia. He led a division at the Battle of Shiloh and at the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1862. He was briefly in command of the Confederate Bastion at Port Hudson, La., on the Miss. River. He then took part in the Second Battle of Corinth, Miss. Later in the war, he served in various administrative posts. After the war, he was a real estate salesman and farmer in Virginia. Ruggles died June 1, 1897, in Fredericksburg, Va., and was buried in the Confederate Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles

👌 

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, January 30.

Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Jan. 30.

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 30.

1862: The two Confederate commissioners to Great Britain, James Mason and John Slidell, delayed by the Trent Affair, arrive in England. Slidell went to France and successfully negotiated a $15 million loan for the Confederacy from Emile Erlanger & Co. Mason was unsuccessful in his efforts to gain recognition for the Confederacy from the European nations, but he kept up the effort throughout the war.

1865: Reinforcements from the Army of Tennessee, which was recuperating in Tupelo, Mississippi, started arriving in Augusta, Georgia to oppose Sherman's Carolinas Campaign. Fighting broke out between General Hardee's Confederates and Sherman's Federals at Lawtonville, South Carolina.

Lt. Robert P. James

20th North Carolina Infantry

He was 23 at the time of his enlistment

in April 1861 and served as adjutant of the

regiment and was discharged due to disability

in Nov. 1862. He later served in the 8th N.C. Inf. and 66th N.C. Inf.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress) (Info., Portraits of Conflict, N.C., P. 397)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 30.

Brigadier General Alfred Cummings was born in 1831 in Augusta, Georgia. He attended West Point and graduated with the Class of 1849, ranking 35th out of 43 cadets. His U.S. Army career included service in Louisiana and the Utah Territory, including the Utah War. Cummings resigned from the U.S. Army as a captain in January 1861 and first served Georgia as lieutenant colonel of the Augusta Battalion, then joined the Confederate Army as a major in the 1st Georgia Infantry, then a lieutenant colonel in the 10th Georgia Infantry. Cummings served with distinction in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 in Virginia, the Battle of Yorktown, and the Seven Days Battles, including Savage's Station and Malvern Hill, where he was wounded. After serving as a temporary brigade commander in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and was promoted to brigadier general late in the year. Transferred to Mississippi, he led a brigade at the Battle of Champion Hill and at Vicksburg, where he surrendered with the garrison on July 4, 1863. After being exchanged, he led a brigade at Missionary Ridge in 1863 and in the Atlanta Campaign in 1864. Cummings was then disabled by a wound in the Battle of Jonesboro, Ga. in Sept. 1864. After the war, General Cummings became a farmer in Georgia. He died Dec. 19, 1910, in Rome, Ga., and is buried in Summerville Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Alfred Cummings

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General History, January 29.

Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Jan. 29. 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 29.

1861: The Louisiana Secession Convention reconvened at the City Hall in New Orleans. It moved to New Orleans because the Louisiana Legislature had convened and was taking up all the meeting places and hotel rooms. The convention adopted an ordinance that all Federal officers of the United States government would retain their positions in the new Republic of Louisiana, and all United States revenue, collection, and navigation laws would continue as Louisiana laws. All officers retained in their offices would be indemnified by Louisiana against claims by the United States. It also voted to send delegates to Montgomery, Alabama, to the convention of Southern states to form a provisional government for the Southern Confederacy.

President Mouton called the convention to order at 12 o'clock while outside the Washington Artillery on Lafayette Square boomed a salute that reverberated through the building. A Pelican flag was hoisted over the building at the same time. The galleries were crowded with spectators, including a fair array of the beautiful ladies of the city. The Rev. Dr. Palmer of the First Presbyterian Church offered an opening prayer. The Lyceum Hall was offered by the Mayor and City Council of New Orleans and was being prepared for the convention.

1863: President Davis sends a cable to General Pemberton in Vicksburg, Mississippi, suggesting he try to block the Yazoo Pass. Near Suffolk, Virginia, and Turner's Mills, Virginia, there is light fighting. At Stono River, South Carolina, the Confederate shore batteries exchanged fire with the U.S.S. Isaac Smith. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 29.

Major General Franklin Kitchell Gardner was born on this day in 1823 in New York, New York. He was the grandson of a Revolutionary War veteran, and his father was a War of 1812 hero. Gardner attended West Point and graduated in the class of 1843, ranking 17th out of 39 cadets. He then served as a second lieutenant in the 7th U.S. Infantry Regiment in Pensacola, Fla. During the Mexican-American War, Gardner served under General Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Monterrey in Sept. 1846 and was breveted a 1st lieutenant. He then fought under General Winfield Scott in his Mexico City Campaign and fought in the Siege of Veracruz, the battles of Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Cerro Gordo. For his gallantry at Cerro Gordo, he received another brevet to captain. After that war, he received a permanent promotion to captain in 1855 in the 10th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Gardner took part in the Utah War and served in various posts throughout the U.S. His older sister met and married Sen. Alexandre Mouton of Louisiana, and he married a younger daughter of Senator Mouton, Marie Celeste Mouton, in 1850, thus beginning a connection to Louisiana. Gardner resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 and was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army and assigned to the command of Fort Gaines, Ala., and served on the staff of General Braxton Bragg during the Battle of Shiloh. He was credited by Gen. Patton Anderson with spotting an enemy battery during that battle. Gardner was promoted to brigadier general on April 11, 1862, and given command of an Alabama infantry brigade. It was present for the Kentucky campaign in 1862 but never got into any serious fighting. He was promoted to major general on Dec. 17, 1862, and given command of Port Hudson, a Confederate bastion in Louisiana on the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg, Miss. He masterfully commanded the garrison during the Siege of Port Hudson, in May-June 1863, but finally had to surrender after Vicksburg fell. After he was exchanged, he served in the Dept. of Ala., Miss., & E. La. and was paroled May 11, 1865, at Meridian, Miss. After the war, he initially worked as a draftsman in New Orleans and then moved to Vermilionville (modern-day Lafayette), La., where he died on April 29, 1873, and was buried in St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and son, Alfred. 

Maj. General Franklin Gardner

A biography has been published on the life of Major General Franklin Gardner

    The book, "Major General Franklin Gardner: Hero of the Siege of Port Hudson," by Michael Dan Jones, is believed to be the first book-length biography on this important Confederate general. The author covers Gardner's entire life, from his birth in New York City and growing up in Washington, D.C., to his time as a student at West Point, his family life, his spectacular record in the Mexican-American War, the War for Southern Independence, and his final post-war years in Louisiana.    

     Jones also covers new ground in that he has corrected the historic record about Gardner's controversial departure from the U.S. Army in April 1861. He was accused of not having resigned before he left his last military post, which resulted in some previous historians accusing Gardner of being a deserter from the U.S. Army. Jones, however, found his actual resignation letter, as well as contemporary newspaper notices, which conclusively prove that Gardner did, in fact, resign before he left his last post.

    Gardner was a brilliant military leader who proved his courage in combat during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. He proved his leadership ability in numerous battles from the opening of the war in 1846 at Fort Brown, Texas, to the final dramatic victory at Mexico City in 1847. He received two brevet promotions for his gallantry in battle and personal praise from the commander of the American forces, General Winfield Scott.

    During the War for Southern Independence, Gardner was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America and given command of Fort Gaines, Alabama. During the Battle of Shiloh, he was on the staff of General Braxton Bragg and carried important orders to various points on the field of battle. He was promoted to brigadier general by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and given command of the cavalry of the Army of the Mississippi. During Bragg’s Kentucky campaign of 1862, he commanded a brigade of Alabama infantry and was present, but held in reserve, during the Battle of Perryville.

     In December 1862, Gardner was promoted to major general and put in command of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana with headquarters at Port Hudson, La. There, he conducted one of the most gallant and effective defenses of a Confederate fortification in the war. It was the longest siege in American military history. The author covers the siege and its aftermath, during which Gardner was a prisoner of war, in detail.

      Gardner married the daughter of former Louisiana senator and governor Alexandre Mouton in 1850, and after the war lived the rest of his life in the state. Jones has found that Gardner had a much more prominent and varied life in the postwar years, including jobs as a draftsman, newspaper reporter, and parish surveyor for Lafayette Parish.

      The book is published by Kindle and has 218 pages, photos, maps, an index, and a bibliography. It is available on eBay.com.