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On This Day in Confederate History, June 6.
1862: The First Battle of Memphis, Tenn., a naval battle, takes place on the Mississippi River. The Confederates have eight riverboats equipped with cotton bales for protection, small guns, and rams on the prow. The Federals have nine ships, including four powerful ironclads and five steamers equipped with rams. The Confederate boats are vastly outmatched and quickly overwhelmed. The South loses seven of its eight vessels and 100 men were killed or wounded and 150 were captured. The Federals have one of their steamer rams disabled and one man wounded.
1863: Confederate Brigadier General John C. Vaughn in the Siege of Vicksburg, Miss. defenses gives his report on June 6, 1863, of the happenings of his brigade on the previous day: "Everything unusually quiet on my line yesterday; but little sharpshooting, and no artillery fire until evening, when the enemy shelled my line for a short time. One killed in Major Stevens' command; one wounded in the Sixty-second Tennessee Regiment."
Colonel William R. Miles commanding the Confederate right in the defenses at the Siege of Port Hudson reports this day: "The [Federal] batteries and fleet for some two hours this forenoon gave us a very heavy fire. The [Federal] battery heretofore stationed at the mouth of Troth's lane moved off this evening in the direction of the river below, and the battery near Hunt's house, with eight wagon-loads of stores, moved off also but the same hour and in the same direction. Unless these movements are a ruse, it is evident the enemy is moving off a large portion, if not all, of his forces. I have no casualties to report for the day."
1864: Confederate harassment of traffic on the Mississippi River resulted in the Battle of Lake Chicot, Arkansas (aka Battle of Old River Lake) which was fought on this day, the last battle of the war in Arkansas. In the battle, Major Joseph H. Pratt's 10th Texas Field Artillery and 600 Missouri Confederate cavalrymen under Major General John S. Marmaduke in Ditch Bayou fight against 3,000 Federal troops under Brigadier General Joseph Mower. In the rain, the outnumbered Confederates fall back and destroy the only bridge over the ditch. Hidden Confederate artillery and sharpshooters then open fire on the Federals and pin them down. But a Federal flanking force crosses the ditch to the south and the Confederates, running low on ammunition, withdraw. Four Confederates are killed and 33 wounded. The Federals lost 33 killed and 98 wounded. The Federals looted and burn in the area before withdrawing from the area on steamboats, leaving the Confederates still in control of the area.
Confederate General Birthdays, June 6.
Brigadier General James Edwin Slaughter was born on an unknown day in June 1827 at Cedar Mountain, Virginia. He attended the Virginia Military Institute for one year, 1845, and then accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen for the Mexican-American War. Slaughter took part in the Mexico City campaign. After that war, he continued to serve in the army with the U.S. 1st Artillery Regiment and was promoted to 1st Lt. in 1852. In May 1861, he resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederate Army, and mostly served as a staff officer. Slaughter served on the staff of Gen. Beauregard who recommended him for brigadier general, which occurred on March 8, 1862. He then became Gen. A.S. Johnston's inspector general and was at the Battle of Shiloh. Slaughter then joined the staff of Lt. Gen. Braxton Bragg, with whom he was present in the Kentucky Campaign. Next, he was given command of Mobile, Alabama. Slaughter was then assigned in April 1863 to serve as chief of artillery for Maj. Gen. J.B. Magruder in Galveston, Texas. His next assignment was to command the Second Division in the eastern sub-district of Texas and then became the chief of staff. At the end of the war, Slaughter moved to Mexico where he worked as a civil engineer for several years. He moved back to the U.S. and finally settled in New Orleans. Slaughter was on a visit to Mexico when he became sick and died of pneumonia on Jan. 1, 1901. His final resting place is in the Mexico City National Cemetery.
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