Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 15.

  Click 👉Today in History (general history) Aug. 15. 

On This Day in Confederate History, Aug. 15.

1863: Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard reports on what happened at the Siege of Charleston, S.C. on this day, Aug. 15: "During the greater part of the 15th, the enemy, both on land and sea, was unusually quiet, occasionally firing at Battery Wagner. Later in the day, they opened with some vigor on Battery Gregg. The enemy’s fleet consisted this morning of the Ironsides, six monitors, eight gunboats, three mortar hulks, and thirteen vessels inside the bar; outside, seven; at Hilton Head, fifty-two vessels, including gunboats and ironclads. My telegram of this date was: No change worth recording since yesterday. Sand-bag revetment or the gorge wall of Sumter and traverses inside of fort progressing as rapidly as means of transportation will permit.

Private Peter Jones was initially said to be

of the 12th Virginia Infantry, but subsequent

research has failed to find a record of a Peter

Jones in the 12th Virginia Infantry.

[Liljenquest Collection, Library of Congress]

1864: The cruiser CSS Tallahassee under Commander John Taylor Woods continues his raid up the Atlantic Ocean taking captive six more Federal transport ships off the coast of New England. Here is the National Park Service summary of the raid: "In August 1864, Fire Island and the New York area witnessed the daring 19-day raid of the CSS Tallahassee under Commander John Taylor Wood of the Confederate States Navy. The raid stretched from the New Jersey shore to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and involved the destruction of 26 vessels plus 7 bonded vessels. While the raid had little impact on changing the course of the Civil War, it occurred in the last throes of the Confederacy and served as a morale booster to the South in a year full of major defeats.CSS Tallahassee departed Wilmington, NC on August 6, 1864, bound for the North Atlantic coast. The Tallahassee arrived in the Long Island area on August 11 and quickly went into action disrupting merchant traffic. The first captured vessel was the pilot-boat James Finch which Tallahassee was able to lure by flying a Union Flag. Tallahassee crew members boarded the James Finch and began operating it as a pilot boat to lure other unsuspecting vessels waiting to be taken into New York Harbor. After a vessel was captured with the James Finch, the Tallahassee would appear and Commander Wood would demand a bond be paid or the vessel would be destroyed. By the end of the first day, six vessels were victims of the raid with five of them being destroyed."

Cmdr. John Taylor Wood, CSN

CSS Tallahassee, cruiser and commerce raider

Confederate General Birthdays, Aug. 15.

None.