Click 👉Today in History (general history) July 3,
On This Day in Confederate History, July 3.
1863: The third day of the Battle of Gettysburg sees more bloody fighting. General Lee orders Longstreet to make a major assault in the center of the Federal line since attacks on the left and right stalled the previous day. He orders General Ewell to make a demonstration on Culp's Hill on the Federal right. However, the Federals began the day with an attack on the Confederates on Culp Hill to take back gains the Southerners made the previous evening. Lee then changes the plan to assault the center, assuming it must have been weakened for the Federal assault. After a long Confederate bombardment on the center, Pickett's Charge is made and repulsed. There is also a cavalry battle at the "East Cavalry Field" and the Federal cavalry also attacks Longstreet's infantry southwest of Big Round Top and is repulsed. Federal Gen. Elon J. Farnsworth is among the killed. General Lee, running low on ammunition, decides to withdraw from Gettysburg. Total Federal casualties are 23,049, including 3,155 killed, 14,529 wounded, and 5,365 captured/missing. Confederate losses are estimated to be between 23,000 and 28,000.
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At the Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., a truce is announced. Brig. Gen. Francis Shoup reports that day, "A truce today. We can now see more clearly what the enemy is about. He has abandoned work in front of the redan. He is running a gallery, with the intention of blowing up the stockade between the lunette and redan. Is hard at work today. A sad accident occurred last night. Lieutenant [E.] McMahon, the engineer, was mortally wounded by the carelessness of our own men. Lieutenant McMahon has done most excellent service, and his loss is greatly deplored."
Confederate General Birthdays, July 3.
Major General John Austin Wharton was born in 1828 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was brought to Texas by his parents while still a baby and settled in what would become Brazoria County. He received his higher education at the South Carolina College and studied law in Texas where he practiced in Brazoria. Wharton was an ardent secessionist and started the war in 1861 as a captain in Terry's Texas Rangers (the 8th Texas Cavalry) and rose to colonel of the regiment. He was distinguished at the Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., then at Perryville, Ky. He was promoted to brigadier general of cavalry on November 18, 1862. He was subsequently wounded at the Battle of Murfreesboro. In the saddle for the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., Wharton again distinguished himself. He was then promoted to major general. He was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department and took command of the cavalry in the Army of Western Louisiana after Brig. Gen. Tom Green was killed at Blair's Landing, La. April 12, 1864. Wharton led the cavalry for the rest of the Red River Campaign. He was in command at the Battle of Yellow Bayou, on May 18, 1864, which ended the campaign. General Wharton was shot and killed on April 6, 1865, in the Fannin House Hotel in Houston, Texas by Colonel George Wythe Baylor, during an argument over military matters. Wharton was unarmed. He is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas where a monument was erected in his honor. General Wharton is considered one of the Confederate Army's best cavalry commanders.
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