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

Click 👉Today in History (general history), Sept. 24. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 24.

1861: James Ewell Brown Stuart was appointed a brigadier general on this day. Stuart was Robert E. Lee's premier cavalryman in the Army of Northern Virginia, and Lee relied heavily on Stuart's expertise in all aspects of the cavalry. In those days, the cavalry was the eyes and ears of the army and guarded its flanks during battle and maneuvers. Stuart was flamboyant and was one of the legendary characters of the war.

Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart

1862: The First Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas, occurred on this day and the next in 1862. The battle was between the Federal West Gulf Blockading Squadron, two schooners and one steamer, under the command of Lt. Frederick Crocker of the USS Kensington, versus the 11th Battalion (Spaight)'s Texas Volunteers, which included infantry, artillery, and cavalry, Daley's Texas Cavalry Battalion, and artillery Company B of Spaight's Battalion.  Major Josephus S. Irvine was in overall command of the Confederates. The Kensington's draft was too great to get over the bar at the entrance of the pass, so the schooner USS Rachel Seaman and the mortar schooner USS Henry Janes carried out the attack. The Confederates were in Fort Sabine, which is a totally different fort from the more famous Second Battle of Sabine Pass a year later, which was Fort Griffin further up the pass. The Confederates were vastly undermanned because there was a yellow fever epidemic and most of the men had been given a furlough. The four heavy artillery guns were manned by Co. B, Spaight's Battalion, 18 men under Capt. K.D. Keith, and 10 cavalrymen of Co. A, Spaight's Battalion. The fort was also vastly outgunned by the Federal blockaders. The Confederates rejected a surrender demand. The schooners then stood out of range for the Confederate guns and pummeled the Confederates at a long distance for five hours. At 2 o'clock A.M., Maj. Irvine determined resistance in the undermanned and outgunned little fort was futile and had the guns spiked, saved most of the ordnance and other public property, and withdrew. The next morning, the town was surrendered, but because of the yellow fever epidemic, the Federals were too afraid to land and occupy it, but did land a party to finish destroying the fort. They did bombard some parts of the helpless village and continued to terrorize the civilian population. No one was killed or wounded on either side, but two Confederates were left behind because they were too ill with yellow fever to be moved.

Major Josephus S. Irvine, Spaight's Battalion

He was in overall command during the battle.

Maj. Irvine was a veteran of the Texas Revolution

and fought in the Siege of Bexar (San Antonio) in

1835, and the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836.

Confederate reenactors fired this artillery piece at

a reenactment of the Second Battle of Sabine Pass

on the actual battlefield. (Photo by M.D. Jones)

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 defend their homeland against Northern invaders. They fought in the First Battle of Sabine Pass, Texas, a sea battle of Galveston, Texas, the Battle of Stirling's Plantation, the Battle of Bayou Bourbeau, and the Battle of Calcasieu Pass, all in Louisiana. The book also contains a roster of men who served in the battalion, pictures, maps, a bibliography, and an index.

1864: On the second day of Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest's action at the Battle of Fort Henderson, Alabama, part of Forrest's raid on Sherman's supply line, the Confederates bombarded the enemy installation for hours. Forrest then met with the Federal commander, Col. Wallace Campbell, who agreed to surrender. Some Federals of the 18th Michigan and 102nd Ohio tried to relieve the fort but were turned back by a Confederate counterattack. Forrest's cavalry moved on, destroying other parts of the Nashville and Decatur Railroad and supplying Sherman's army.

Confederate General History, Sept. 24.

None. 

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

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

On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 23.

1863: SIEGE OF CHATTANOOGA--General Braxton Bragg arrived on Missionary Ridge on this day and surveyed the situation. There was no evidence that Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans was going to evacuate Chattanooga, so Bragg stationed Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's Corps of the Army of Tennessee from Lookout Mountain to the east bank of Chattanooga Creek. Lt. Gen. D.H. Hill and Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk's corps were covering the valley and Missionary Ridge positions. The Confederates are able to seriously restrict Rosecrans's supply line.

Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

1864: Battles of Fort Henderson and Sulphur Creek Trestle--Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate Cavalry struck Fort Henderson, Tennessee, disrupting Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's supply line between Nashville and Decatur. The fort was garrisoned by three regiments of U.S. Colored Troops, the 18th Michigan, the 102nd Ohio, and the 2nd Tennessee (Union) Cavalry under the command of Col. Wallace Campbell. Forrest's men and the Federals skirmished in the morning, and Campbell retreated back into the fort. The siege would conclude the next day.

Two Tennessee Confederate soldiers.

Tennessee furnished over 120,000

soldiers to the Confederate Army.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 23.

None.

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

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

On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 22.

1861: U.S. Sen. and Brig. Gen. James Lane and his 2,000 Kansas Jayhawkers sacked the town of Osceola, Missouri, and captured a supply train for the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard. However, the raid ended in the plundering the town and the civilians. There were only 200 Missouri militiamen under Missouri State Guard Captain John M. Weidemeyer to defend the town. The badly outnumbered militiamen were soon forced to retreat, and the drunken Jayhawkers set to looting the town and burning everything in sight.

1863: Confederates in the Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Chattanooga, Tennessee, and skirmished with Federals at Missionary Ridge and Shallow Ford Gap and occupied the high ground on Missionary Ridge. In the meantime, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant strikes out of Vicksburg, Mississippi, with three divisions of the XV Army Corps of the Army of the Tennessee to relieve Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans and the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga. 

1864: The conclusion of the Battle of Fisher's Hill, Va., sees Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, with about 35,000 blue coats, overwhelmed Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley, forcing a retreat up the Shenandoah with about 1,234 men lost, mostly captured. Federal losses numbered 528. The defeated Confederates concentrated at Waynesboro, Va.

Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 22.

Lieutenant General Stephen Dill Lee, a distant cousin of General Robert E. Lee, was born on this day in 1833 in Charleston, South Carolina. He graduated from West Point in 1850, ranking 17th in a class of 46 cadets. Lee served as a second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry Regiment and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1856. He took part in the Seminole Wars in 1857. Lee resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 and became a captain in the South Carolina Militia. On March 16, 1861, he was commissioned a captain in the Confederate Army and served on the staff of Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard. Promotions rapidly followed, and he was elevated to brigadier general on Nov. 6, 1862, to major general on August 3, 1863, and to lieutenant general on June 23, 1864. His battles and campaigns included Fort Sumter, the Peninsula Campaign, Seven Pines, Savage's Station, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Chickasaw Bayou, the Vicksburg Campaign, Champion's Hill (wounded), the Siege of Vicksburg, Siege of Chattanooga, Tupelo, Atlanta Campaign, Ezra Church, Utoy Creek, Jonesborough, Franklin-Nashville Campaign, Spring Hill, Franklin, Nashville, and the Carolina Campaign. Following the war, he lived in Columbus, Mississippi, served in the Mississippi State Senate, and was the first president of Mississippi A&M College. Lee served as commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans and gave the Sons of Confederate Veterans their "charge" in 1906 at the UCV Reunion in New Orleans. He died on May 28, 1908, in Vicksburg, Miss., and was buried in Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Miss.

 

Lieutenant General Stephen Dill Lee

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Brigadier General Eppa Hunton was born on this day in 1822 in Fauquier County, Virginia. He practiced law in Brentsville, Va., before the war and served in the state militia, rising to brigadier general. He was a delegate at the Virginia Secession Convention, and when the war came, he was commissioned a colonel of the 8th Virginia Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general in August 1863. His battles and campaigns included First Manassas, Ball's Bluff, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Frazier's Farm, Gaines' Mill, Second Manassas, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg (wounded), Cold Harbor, the Richmond and Petersburg Campaign, Five Forks, and Sayler's Creek. Following the war, he practiced law in Virginia and was elected to the U.S. Congress (serving both in the House and Senate). Hunton was also active in the United Confederate Veterans. Hunton died Oct. 11, 11, 1908 in Richmond, Va., and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Eppa Hunton

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, September 21.

 Click 👉Today in History (general history) Sept. 21.

On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 21.

1863: CHICKAMAUGA  AFTERMATH--The defeated Federal Army of the Cumberland retreated into the fortifications in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg failed to send his victorious Army of the Tennessee immediately into Chattanooga before the Northerners could get reorganized and reinforced. Bragg's failure to follow up victories is a major reason why much of his army had lost confidence in him. Instead, Bragg put Chattanooga under siege, which was one of the biggest mistakes of the war.  Skirmishing continued around the area, including Rossville, Lookout Church, and Dry Valley, Georgia.

 

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Pvt. Felix Arroyo, Co. 5, Washington

Artillery of New Orleans, La. He was

wounded on 19 Sept. 1863 at Chickamauga

and hospitalized in Marietta, Ga. He returned

to duty in time for Missionary Ridge, the

Atlanta Campaign, and was paroled May 10,

1865 in Meridian, Miss. He enlisted on June 1, 1863 

in Mobile, Alabama, after being expelled by Federal

occupation authorities in New Orleans, after

refusing to take the oath of allegiance. 

(Arroyo was previously the 1st. Lt. of Co. G, 

Orleans Guards Reg't. La. State Guards.) 

He was a bookkeeper in New Orleans, born 

July 25, 1825, in St. Charles Parish, LA, 

was married with 3 children. He died August 18, 1891 

at age 66 and was entombed in Metairie Cemetery, 

Army of Tennessee tomb, crypt no. 11.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

CLICK👉Fighting for Southern Independence: A History of the 13th Louisiana Infantry

From the Battle of Shiloh to the Siege of Spanish Fort

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 western theater of operations. They served under such great Confederate generals as P.G.T. Beauregard, Braxton Bragg, Joseph Johnston, and John Bell Hood

1864: The Battle of Fisher's Hill, Virginia, began as the Federals under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan followed up their victory at the Third Battle of Winchester on Sept. 16. Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early thought Fisher's Hill would be another "Rock of Gibraltar." Early had only 9,500 men left in his Army of the Valley, while Sheridan had 35,000. In the skirmishing on this day, the Northerners captured the high ground and prepared for an assault the next day.

Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 21.

Major General Carter Littlepage Stevenson was born this day in 1817 in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  He graduated from West Point in1838 and served as a second lieutenant in the 5th U.S. Infantry. Steveson, promoted to the first lieutenant, participated in the Second Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, the Third Seminole war, and the Utah War. He resigned from the U.S. Army in `861, returned to Virginia, and was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army. Promoted to colonel, he commanded the 53rd Virginia Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general in February 1862, and to major general in October 1862. His battles and campaigns included Champion's Hill, the Siege of Vicksburg, the Atlanta Campaign, the Battle of Nashville, and the Carolina Campaign. Following the war, Stevenson was a civil and mining engineer in Caroline County, Virginia. He died August 15, 1888, in Caroline County, Va., and was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va.

Maj. Gen. Carter. L. Stevenson

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Brigadier General Williams Carter Wickham was born on this day in 1820 in Richmond, Virginia. He was a lawyer, politician, and plantation owner before the war. He was elected to both the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. In 1859, in response to John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry, he organized the Hanover Dragoons and was commissioned a captain in the Virginia militia. He was against secession and twice against it in the Virginia Secession Convention. But when Virginians voted to ratify Virginia's secession, he led his Hanover Dragoons into the Confederate Army and became lieutenant colonel and colonel of the 4th Virginia Cavalry, and was promoted to brigadier general on Sept. 9, 1863. His battles and campaigns included First Manassas, Williamsburg, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Gettysburg Campaign, and Yellow Tavern. Following the war, he became a Republican, president of the Virginia Central Railroad, and the president of the Covington & Ohio Railroad. He was also elected to the Virginia Senate. Wickham died on July 23, 1888, in Richmond, Va., and was buried in Hickory Hill Cemetery in Hanover County, Va.

Brig. Gen. Williams C. Wickham

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

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

On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 20.

1861: Federals in Lexington, Mo., under Col. James Mulligan surrendered on this day to the Missouri State Guard under Maj. Gen. Sterling Price. The siege lasted seven days. The pro-Confederate MSG suffered 30 men killed and 120 wounded, for a total of 150. The Federals lost 36 wounded, 117 wounded, 8 missing, and 3,000 captured. 

Pvt. P.S. Alexander, Moniteau County Rangers,

& Pvt. S.W. Stone, California Guards, Missouri

State Guard. (Library of Congress/colorization by AI)

1863: The Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg wins its biggest victory on this day at the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. The key to victory was a breakthrough assault under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet commanding the left wing, with Maj. Gen. Bushrod Johnson's Division of the AOT is in the forefront, followed by two divisions from the Army of Northern Virginia with Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood led all three divisions. The Federal right flank was crushed. Hood was severely wounded and had to have a leg amputated. He was later promoted to lieutenant general to date from Sept. 20, 1863. Confederate Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. Helm was wounded mortally. Brig. Gen. James Deshler was killed in action. Federal Brig. Gen. William H. Lytle was killed in action. Federal losses were 1,657 killed, 9,756 wounded, and 4,757 captured or missing for a total of 16,170 casualties. Confederates suffered 2,312 killed, 14,674 wounded, and 1,456 captured or missing for a casualty total of 18,454.

Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood

was severely wounded.

CLICK👉The Bloody 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment

Battling for Southern Independence

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.

1864: Simon Bolivar Buckner was promoted to lieutenant general and was assigned to important commands in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Also promoted on this day were Edwin Gray Lee, Patrick Theodore More, and William Henry Wallace, all to brigadier general.

Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 20.

Major General Sterling Price was born on this day in 1809 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. He was a prewar Missouri politician who served in the Missouri House of Representatives. elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1844 and was governor from 1853-1857. During the Mexican-American War, Price was colonel of the 2nd Missouri Mounted Infantry Regiment. During the War for Southern Independence, he commanded the Missouri State Guard as a major general and was appointed a major general in the Confederate Army. His battles and campaigns included Carthage, Oak Hill, Lexington, Elk Horn Tavern (wounded), Iuka, Corinth, Helena, the Little Rock Campaign, Camden Expedition, and the Missouri Expedition. Following the war, he lived in Mexico, and when his health declined, he moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he died on Sept. 29, 1867, and was buried there in the Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Maj. Gen. Sterling Price

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Brigadier General Edward Asbury O'Neal was born on this day in 1818 in Madison County, Alabama. He was a prewar lawyer and judge who believed in secession. During the War Between the States, O'Neal was appointed the major of the 9th Alabama Infantry Regiment, then colonel of the 26th Alabama Infantry, and was appointed a brigadier general on June 6, 1863, but General R.E. Lee held up the appointment, and President Jefferson Davis canceled it. His battles and campaigns included the Peninsula Campaign, Seven Pines (severely wounded), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Manassas Gap, Mine Run, and the Atlanta Campaign. Following the war, O'Neal practiced law in Alabama and was elected to the Alabama Constitutional Convention in 1875. He was an elector for 1880 Democratic Party presidential candidate Winfield Scott Hancock. O'Neal served as governor of Alabama from 1882 to 1886. He died on Nov. 7, 1890, in Florence, Alabama, and was buried in the Florence City Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Edward A. O'Neal

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

Click 👉Today in History (general history), Sept. 19. 

On This Day In Confederate History, Sept. 19.

1862: General Robert E. Lee moved the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River at Boteler's Ford to safety in Virginia. There was skirmishing in Sharpsburg, Shepherdstown, and near Williamsport, Maryland.

1863: At the Battle of Chickamauga, General Braxton Bragg planned a major assault on the Federal Army of the Cumberland early in the morning. However, poor communication with his subordinate generals led to disjointed, belated attacks that the Federals repulsed. Bragg assigned Lt. Gen. James Longstreet, newly arrived from Virginia, who would be in command of the Army of Tennessee's left wing late that night. Confederate Brig. Gen. Preston Smith was mortally wounded while directing a night attack. 

A charging Confederate shouting the

Rebel Yell at Chickamauga. This is an

AI rendering of a charging Confederate

statue picture that I took at the Chickamauga &

Chattanooga NMP. (M.D. Jones)

Brig. Gen. Preston Smith

Mortally wounded at Chickamauga

CLICK👉The Bloody 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment

Battling for Southern Independence

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.

1864: The Confederacy won the first two battles of Winchester, Va. but the third battle there on this day in the Shenandoah Valley was a serious loss for the South. Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's Army of the Valley with 15,514 men to Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's 40,000 men in two Federal armies, the Army of the Shenandoah and the Army of West Virginia. The Confederates are overwhelmed by numbers and a double envelopment of their flanks. Early's army retreats back to a prepared fortress at Fisher's Hill, Va. after suffering some 5,015 casualties. The Federals lost 5,018 casualties. Among the Confederate casualties was Brig. Gen. Archibald Campbell Godwin, by a shell fragment, and Brig. Gen. Robert Rodes, who was mortally wounded while leading a counterattack. On the Federal side, Brig. Gen. David Allen Russell was instantly killed when hit by a shell fragment to the heart.

Brig. Gen. Archibald C. Godwin

Killed in action at Third Winchester

Click on the map for enlargement

Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 19.

None.

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

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

On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 18.

1861: Confederate Brig. Gen. Paul Octave Hebert takes command of Confederate forces in the Department of Texas with headquarters in Houston. Texas coastal ports are being blockaded, and the threat of invasion seems real.

1862: After the bloodiest day in American history, on the 17th, at Sharpsburg/Antietam, Gen. Robert E. Lee readjusted his defense line to a much stronger position on a hill and waited all day for the Federals to restart their assaults. But they never came. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan saw that it would be suicidal to send his troops up that hill. Instead, both sides, by mutual agreement, have an unofficial truce to recover their wounded from the battlefield. That evening, General Lee decided to withdraw the Army of Northern Virginia back over the Potomac River and into Virginia.

1863: The first official day of the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, began on this day. The fighting is around Chickamauga Creek between 66,326 Confederates of the Army of Tennessee under Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg, and 58,222 Federals of the Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans. On this day, Confederate Brig. Gen. Bushrod's Division takes the wrong road and runs into Federal Col. Robert Minty's cavalry brigade at Reed's Bridge, but the Confederates succeed in crossing when rushed by the 23rd Tenn. Inf. Johnson is joined by Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood's Division of Longstreet's Corps, arriving from Virginia, pushes on in the dark in front of Col. John T. Wilder's mounted infantry brigade, which is armed with Spencer repeating rifles.  Confederate Maj. Gen. Simon Buckner's Division crossed the creek, too. Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk is confronting Federals and Lee & Gordon's Mill. Lt. Gen. D.H. Hill's Corps crosses the creek further south. Troop maneuvering continues. 

Brig. Gen. Bushrod Johnson

CLICK👉The Bloody 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment

Battling for Southern Independence

This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign, and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.

Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 18.

Brigadier General Marcellus Augustus Stovall was born on this day in 1818 in Sparta, Georgia. He got early military experience in 1835-37 when he served as a private in the Georgia State Militia in the Seminole Wars. He was briefly a cadet at West Point but resigned after a year due to poor health. Stovall returned to Augusta to work as a merchant but continued in the Georgia State Militia as an artillery captain. In 1861, he was appointed the colonel of the 2nd Artillery Regiment in the militia but became a lieutenant colonel of the 3rd Georgia Battalion in the Confederate Army. He was promoted to brigadier general on Jan. 20, 1863, and fought with the Army of Tennessee. His battles included the Battle of Murfreesboro, the Siege of Jackson, Miss., the Battle of Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, and the Carolinas Campaign at the end of the war. Following the war, Stovall worked as a merchant, manager of the Georgia Chemical Works, a city alderman, and police commissioner in Augusta.  He died on August 4, 1895, in Augusta, Ga., and was buried in Magnolia Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. Marcellus A. Stovall

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Brigadier General Henry Constantine Wayne was born on this day in 1815 in Savannah, Georgia. He graduated from West Point in 1838 and became a second lieutenant in the artillery. Wayne participated in the Aroostook War in Maine, was an instructor of artillery at West Point, and in the Mexican-American  War was in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, after which he was brevetted a major. After that war, he proposed using camels in the army and led an expedition to the Middle East to purchase the camels. The War Between the States ended the camel experiment and his service in the U.S. Army. Wayne became Georgia's Quartermaster General. He was promoted to brigadier general on Dec. 16, 1861. He resigned his commission so he could remain with the Georgia militia. He led Confederate troops at the Battle of Ball's Ferry on Nov. 23-26, 1864, during Sherman's March to the Sea. Following the war, Wayne worked in the lumber business in Savannah, Ga. He died on March 15, 1883, and was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. Henry C. Wayne