Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 14.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 14.

1862: The fourth day of the Battle of Fredericksburg--General Burnsides asked General Lee for a truce so they can recover their wounded from the battlefield. Confederate Sgt. Richard Rowland Kirkland of the 2nd South Carolina Infantry gathered canteens and went out to bring water and aid to the suffering wounded the night of the 13th and the morning of the 14th before the cease-fire. Seeing he was helping the Federal wounded; the Federals held their fire. He gained the name "Angel of Marye's Heights." The Federal Army prepared to retreat. They suffered 12,653 casualties to 5,377 Confederates.

Sgt. Richard R. Kirkland

2nd S.C. Infantry

"Angel of Marye's Heights"

Kirkland Memorial

Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park

(NPS Photo)

Click the image to enlarge

1863: The Battle of Bean's Station, Tenn.: Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet with 12,000 men, but only 4,200 were engaged in the battle, attacked Federal Maj. Gen. James Shackelford's 5,000 cavalry and mounted infantry at Bean's Station in the Knoxville Campaign. After intense combat, the Yankees retreated. The Federals lost 115 men killed, wounded, and missing and the Confederates had a total of 222 casualties. 

Lt. General James Longstreet

CONFEDERATE GENERAL

 BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 14.

Brigadier General Daniel Harris Reynolds was born in 1832 in Centerburg, Ohio. Starting the war as a captain and colonel in the 1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles, he fought in the Battle of Oak Hill (Wilson's Creek) in Missouri in 1861, the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas in 1862, the Tullahoma Campaign in 1863, and as a brigadier general in 1864, led a brigade in the Atlanta Campaign, the Franklin-Nashville Campaign in 1864, and the Carolinas Campaign in 1865. He lost his leg in the Battle of Bentonville at the end of the war. After the war, he served in the Arkansas Senate. He died on March 14, 1902, and is buried at Lake Village Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Reynolds

👱

Brigadier General Allen Thomas was born in 1830, in Howard, Maryland. He was the colonel of the Vicksburg 28th Louisiana Infantry and led it gallantly at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou in December 1862, and commanded it throughout the Siege of Vicksburg, Miss. in 1863. He was promoted to brigadier general and led a Louisiana Brigade in the Trans-Mississippi Department in the last year of the war. After the war, he became a professor of agriculture at LSU in Baton Rouge, coiner at the U.S. New Orleans Mint, and U.S. Minister to Venezuela. He moved to Waveland, Miss. in 1907 and died there on Dec. 3, 1907, and was buried at Ascension Catholic Church Cemetery in Donaldsonville, La.

Brig. Gen. Allen Thomas

👋

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 13.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 13

1861: Battle of Camp Allegheny (Allegheny Mountain), Pocahontas County, (West) Virginia. Confederate Colonel Edward Johnson's Confederates repulsed an attack by Federal Brigadier General Robert Milroy's Federals. The Confederate casualties numbered 146 to the Federals 137. The victory gained Johnson the nickname "Allegheny" Johnson. He was promoted to brigadier general dated from Dec. 13, 1861. Johnson would eventually become a major general and one of General Lee's best division commanders.

Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson

1862: Third Day of the Battle of Fredericksburg -- General Burnsides launches his Federal Army of the Potomac on a futile and bloody charge on General Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia firmly entrenched in Mayre's Heights. The charge is repulsed with massive casualties on the Federal side. But among the Confederate casualties is the mortally wounded Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb of Georgia whose brigade was defending the "Sunken Road" part of the Confederate defense line. On the Federal side, Brig. Gen. George Dashiell Bayard was mortally wounded by an enemy shell. Also Federal Brig. Conrad Feger Jackson was killed in action by a gunshot wound to the head in the attack.

Major Thomas A. Brander

was wounded Dec. 13, 1862

at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va.

Co. A, 20th Va. Infantry Regiment

& Richmond "Letcher" Virginia

Light Artillery Battery

(Liljenquist Family Collection, Library of Congress)

1864: Confederate Fort McAllister, Savannah, Georgia, falls to Sherman's bummers. The fort was defended by only 230 Confederates under Maj. George Wayne Anderson. The fort was quickly overrun by the attacking Federals. Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee, seeing the futility in trying to defend Savannah with his greatly outnumbered 10,000-man garrison, chose to evacuate the city and save his army to fight another day. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 13

None.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 12.

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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, Dec. 12

1862: The second day of the Battle of Fredericksburg--The Federal army lands more troops in Fredericksburg and fights house to house clearing out Confederate sharpshooters of Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade. The main Confederate battle line is firmly dug in on Marie Heights beyond the city. Looting and violence in the city by the Northern soldiers become out of control. Federals also land troops south of the city. Confederate Brig. Gen. Maxcy Gregg was among the casualties on this day in the battle. His men were taking a break when they were unexpectedly fired upon by some Federals.

Brig. Gen. Maxcy Gregg

Mortally wounded on this day in the Battle of Fredericksburg.

1864: In the Siege of Savannah, Ga., Sherman's army, numbering some 62,000 men, moved into positions north, west, and south of the city. Confederate Lt. Gen. Willam J. Hardee, with his 10,000-man defense force, is occupying prepared fortifications around the city and the terrain including swamps, rivers, and rice fields helps the Confederates as well. The Southerners now wait for the blue coats, who were in contact with the Federal blockading fleet, to make a move.

 

Lt. Col. Charles C. Jones Jr.

Commanded all Confederate artillery 

during the siege.

( Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL Birthdays, Dec. 12

Brigadier General Paul Octave Hébert was born on this day in 1818 in Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Hébert graduated from West Point at the top of his class in 1840. He resigned from the army in 1845 but returned the next year for the Mexican-American War. His battles included Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. In the years that followed served as the Louisiana state engineer and the Louisiana governor. During the War for Southern Independence, Hébert commanded the Department of Texas and was in the Battle of Milliken's Bend, La. He returned to Texas and served there for the rest of the war. Following the War, Hébert became a Republican and was appointed to the state Board of Engineers and the U.S. Engineers for the Mississippi River Commission. He died Aug. 29, 1880, on his plantation at Bayou Goula, La., and was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery in Bayou Goula. Later, because of encroachment by the Mississippi River, he had to be reburied at St. Raphael Catholic Church Cemetery in Point Pleasant, La.

Brig. Gen. Paul O. Hébert

Brigadier General Joseph Orville Shelby was born on this day in 1830, in Lexington, Kentucky. Before the war, he ran a hemp plantation and sawmill in Missouri. He was involved in the prewar border trouble between Missouri and Kansas. During the War for Southern Independence, he became one of the great cavalry generals of the war with the rank of brigadier general. His battles included Carthage, Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Shelby's Riad, the Camden Expedition, and Price's Missouri Expedition. Following the war, Shelby led a contingent of Confederates into Mexico with the hope of serving Emperor Maximilian but was declined and given land for the New Virginia Colony near Veracruz. In 1867, Shelby came back to Missouri, served as the U.S. Marshall for the Western District of that state, and died on Feb. 13, 1897, in Bates County, Mo., and was buried in Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Mo.

 

Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 11.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY Dec. 11.

1861: A great fire burns a large swath of Charleston, S.C. on this day. The fire was fueled by high winds. General Robert E. Lee was staying in Charleston at that time at the Mills House Hotel. He helped others evacuate and then he went to the Edmonston-Alston House on East Battery. The fire roared on until the next day when it burned itself out. The conflagration consumed 540 acres, 575 homes, as well as many businesses and five churches. Damages were estimated at between $5 million and $8 million.

Gen. Lee was staying in Charleston

at the time of the great fire.

(Cdv, M.D. Jones Collection)

1862: The First Day of the Battle of Fredicksburg, Va. saw urban warfare in the town itself when Federals crossed the river on pontoon bridges and were met with blistering fire from Confederate artillery and infantry primarily from Brig. Gen. William Barksdale Brigade, fighting house to house. The Confederate's main line of defense was as little beyond the town on Marys Heights. The fighting continued until nightfall and the Yankees' crossing wasn't completed until the next day.

 

Pvt. Austin A. Trescott, Co. A, 21st Miss. Inf.

Holding the regimental battle flag. the 21st was

in Barksdale Brigade. (Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863:  In the Mississippi River, the Federal Navy ironclad USS Carondelet became stuck on a sand bar and was fired upon by Confederate artillery. However, the heavier fire from the gunboat drove off the Confederate guns.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, DEC. 11

NONE.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 10.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 10

1861: The Confederate Congress admits Kentucky to the Confederacy as the 13th State. Both President Davis and President Lincoln are native-born Kentuckians. George W. Johnson was the first Confederate governor of Kentucky and was the one who applied to President Jefferson Davis for his state's admission to the Confederacy. He served as a volunteer aide to Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge at the Battle of Shiloh. He was then sworn in as a private in the 4th Kentucky Infantry and fought on the second day of the battle and was mortally wounded and captured. He died in captivity on April 8, 1862, and his body was shipped to Georgetown, Ky. where he was buried.

Gov. George W. Johnson of Kentucky

He died a hero's death at the Battle of Shiloh

(Kentucky Historical Society)

1862: Port Royal, Virginia is bombarded by Federal gunboats. The Federals were responding to the Confederate shore batteries that bombarded them.

1864: Confederate Lt. Gen. William Hardee, commander at Savannah, Georgia, floods rice fields to narrow the avenues of attack by the Federals. Sherman's bummers arrive outside the city. Hardee has 18,000 men to defend the city and Sherman has 60,000. The scene was set for the Battle of Fort McAllister, Ga. three days later.

.

Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 10

None

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 9.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 9.

1861: KING COTTON: Cotton planters burn their cotton along the Southern Atlantic coast rather than see it falling into the hands of Northern textile mills. The South would also use cotton in diplomacy and as a source of revenue to buy needed war supplies.

 

Pvt. Burton Marchbanks, Co. E, 30th Texas Cavalry

(Layland Museum/ Cleburne, TX/colorized)

The Battle of Chusto-Talasha, IT (Okla,) took place when pro-South Indians drove out pro-Federal Indians at Bird Creek, which later became Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Confederates, numbering about 1,300 were under the command of Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Cooper and the Federals had between 2,000 and 2,5000 warriors under Chief Opothleyahola. The Confederates struck first, and the fighting lasted about 4 hours and the Federals finally retreated. The Federal casualties were estimated at 500 and the Confederates lost 15 killed and 47 wounded. A more decisive battle would be fought later in the month in the Indian Territory.

Brig. Gen. Stand Watie was the highest-ranking American Indian in the Confederate Army.

   

Battle flag of Gen. Watie's 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles

(Wilson's Creek Battlefield, NPS)

1862: Fredericksburg, Va. Campaign: Federal General Ambrose Burnside decided on this day to attack the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia left, thinking General Lee had strengthened the Confederate right. Lee had Longstreet on the left and Jackson on the right. The Confederates were ready and waiting for the attack.

Pvt. Christopher Swann

Powhatan, Va. Light Artillery

Wounded at Fredericksburg.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

 1863: Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The 4th Regiment, U.S. Infantry, Corps d'Afrique (former Louisiana Native Guards) mutinied at Fort Jackson, La. on the Mississippi River when two of their men were whipped by white Federal officers.  The U.S. Colored troops there were protesting this mistreatment by their officers. The commanding officer, Lt. Col. Augustus Benedict, was found guilty by court martial of inflicting unusual punishment and dismissed from the service. Twelve of the black soldiers were charged with being ringleaders of the mutiny. Two were found guilty and sentenced to be executed. Three were found not guilty and the others were found guilty and sentenced to various years of hard labor. The two death sentences were suspended, and the men ordered to be confined at Fort Jefferson, Fla.

1864: Skirmishing breaks out at Hatcher's Run near Petersburg, Virginia, between Federals scouting the earthworks there, and Confederates.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS

None.

Today in History (general history)' On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 8..

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 8.

1861: The Confederate cruiser C.S.S. Sumter seizes a Yankee whaler, Eben Dodge, in the Atlantic Ocean. The Sumter was commanded by legendary Captain Raphael Semmes and was a converted merchant steamer named Habana, which was built in 1859. It had a top speed of 10 knots and was armed with one 8-inch shell gun and four 32-pounders.

CSS Sumter flying an Argentine flag while 

stalking Yankee merchant ships.

1864: EBENEZER CREEK MASSACRE: Confederate cavalry was following Sherman's Federals on their march of destruction across Georgia. At rain-swollen Ebenezer Creek near Bryan Court House, Georgia, Confederate cavalry under Gen. "Fighting Joe" Wheeler was harassing the rear guard of the U.S. 14th Army Corps. The Federals were being followed by thousands of runaway slaves, but after the bluecoats crossed the rain-swollen creek, orders by the Federals were given to pull up the pontoons and not allow the desperate slaves to cross. Hundreds or thousands are estimated to have drowned attempting to cross the creek between Dec. 8-10.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 8.

Brigadier General Robert Bullock was born on this day in 1828, in Greenville, North Carolina. He moved to Sumter County, Florida where he taught school. Bullock served in the Seminole War of 1856 as a captain of Florida mounted volunteers. During the War for Southern Independence, he was a captain in the 7th Florida Infantry in the Confederate Army. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1863 and to brigadier general on Nov. 29, 1864. Bullock's battles and campaigns included Chickamauga, and the Atlanta Campaign, and was severely wounded in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. Following the war, Bullock became a lawyer, was elected to Congress, and to a judgeship in Marion County, Florida in 1903. He died July 27, 1905, in Ocala, Florida, and was buried there in Evergreen cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Robert Bullock is seen here as a 

postwar member of the U.S. Congress.

(Library of Congress)

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 7.

1861: Confederates and Federals clash at Dam Number Five on the Potomac River in Virginia.

Another Confederate citizen, James Waters Zacharie of New Orleans, Louisiana, a Confederate purchasing agent, is illegally seized on the British ship Eugenia Smith, by the USS Santiago de Cuba. He was a veteran of the Battle of New Orleans in 1814-15. His son, Howard Henderson Zacharie who was a major in the Confederate Army with a distinguished record and was in command of a cavalry division at the end of the war.

 

Maj. Howard H. Zacharie

He originally was commisioned the captain

of Co. C, 1st Bn. La. Zouaves, he was later

ordered to report to Maj. Gen. J.B. Magruder

to serve as the staff A.I.G. in Brig. Gen. J.P.

Major's Cavalry Brigade.

(Find A Grave) 

1862: Battle of Hartsville, Tennessee -- Confederate Colonel John Hunt Morgan, operating on Federal communication lines, attacks a crossing of the Cumberland River at Hartsville, Tennessee captures the Federal outpost after a bombardment and charge, and withdraws with 2,004 prisoners.

The Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas -- A Confederate force under General Thomas Hindman attacks a Federal Force under General James G. Blunt. The Federals numbered about 9,000 men and the Confederates about 11,000. After the indecisive fight, the Confederates retreated giving the Federals control of Northwestern Arkansas. Federal casualties numbered 1,251 and Confederate casualties, 1,251.

Maj. Gen. Thomas Hindman

1863: The fourth session of the First Confederate Congress convenes in Richmond, Virginia.

1864: Third Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee ends in defeat for the Confederates when two brigades of Federals venture out of their fortifications and drive off General Bates' infantry, while General Forrest's cavalry conducts an orderly retreat.

CONFEDERATE VETERAN HISTORY, Dec. 7.

NONE

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 6.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 6.

1864: Second day of the Third Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee--The Federals had been driven into Fortress Rosecrans by General Forrest's cavalry and General Bates' infantry, and on the morning of December 6, the Confederates bombarded the bluecoats for two hours, and then the fighting ceased for the rest of the day.

LYON'S RAID in 1864: Brig. Gen. Hylan Benton Lyon led a Confederate cavalry force numbering 800 troopers, said to be inexperienced recruits, on a successful raid from Paris, Tennessee to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The raiders captured three Federal transport vessels, destroyed 8 courthouses, and railroad bridges and the Federal cavalry retreated to the safety of Nashville. However, after hearing of the Army of Tennessee's defeat at Nashville, Lyon lost 500 of his recruits to desertion. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 6

Brig. Gen. Henry Eustace McCulloch was born on this day in 1816 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Henry and his brother Ben planned to meet their Tennessee neighbor, David Crockett in Nacogdoches, Texas in 1835 but were prevented from doing so when Ben became sick, which probably saved them from being killed at the Alamo with Crockett in 1836. However, the McCulloch brothers later came to the Republic of Texas and served in the Texas Revolution and made the nation and later state their permanent home. They took part in various campaigns against Indians and Mexicans. In the War for Southern Independence, both brothers became Confederate brigadier generals. Ben McCulloch was killed in action in the Battle of Elk Horn Tavern in 1862. Henry McCulloch led an infantry brigade in Walker's Texas Infantry Division in the Trans-Mississippi Department and fought at the Battle of Milliken's Bend, La. in 1863, and later served as a department commander in Texas. After the war, he was active in Texas politics, was in demand as a speaker, and was a trustee in the Methodist Church. He died March 12, 1895, at Rockport, Texas, and is buried at San Geronimo Cemetery in Seguin, Texas.

Brig. Gen. Henry E. McCulloch

(Attributed, Cowan Auctions)

(colorized)

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Dec. 5.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 5.

1861: Confederate War Department Clerk John B. Jones in Richmond, Va. entered in his diary on this day: "We have the Federal President's Message today. It is moderate in tone and is surprising for its argument on a new proposition that Congress passes resolutions proposing amendments to the Constitution, allowing compensation for all slaves emancipated between this year and 1900! He argues that slaves are property and that the South is no more responsible for the existence of slavery than the North! The very argument I have been using for twenty years." 

1862: The Battle of Coffeeville, Miss. took place on this day between the troopers of Colonel Theophilus Lyle Dickey's Federal Cavalry, 3,500 strong, and Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell's Confederates, 2,500 strong infantry and cavalry. The Federals had two artillery pieces and the Confederates six. The Confederates pushed the Yankee horse soldiers back three miles and ended Grant's invasion of Mississippi at that time. The Federals lost between 10 killed, 54 wounded, 43 captured. The Confederates lost 7 killed, 43 wounded, and 10 missing. 

1864: Third Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee took place on this day with Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's division and the infantry division of Maj. General William B. Bate attacks the 10,000-man Federal garrison at Murfreesboro, Tennessee under Maj. Gen. L.H. Rousseau. Forrest and Bate had 7,000 men for the attack. General Hood, at Nashville, wants Forrest to secure his right flank, his supply line, and his possible line of retreat. On this day Forrest's and Bate's forces drove the Federals into their Fortress Rosecans and the fighting would continue into the next day.

Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

Maj. Gen. William B. Bate

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 5.

NONE

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 4.

1861: Confederate General John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky is expelled from the U.S. Senate for joining the Confederate Army. Breckinridge had some military experience in the Mexican-American War and he proved a be a competent battlefield commander initially leading a brigade of Kentucky infantry that gained fame as the "Orphan Brigade."

Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge

 

 

Major Rice Evans Graves of Graves Battery

which supported the Orphan Brigade.

(Wikipedia)

In St. Louis, Missouri, Federal General Henry Halleck authorized the arrest of anyone speaking in support of secession. This is one of many actions curtailing civil rights in the North by the Lincoln administration during the war. 

Trent Affair:  In Great Britain, Queen Victoria, during the Trent Crisis, banned exports to the United States including armaments. Diplomacy had been paused and military actions were being put in place. The British reinforced Canada's defenses.

 

A British Sergeant of the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment

of Foot. The 47th was one of the regiments sent to Canada in 1861.

He appears to be holding a two-band P 1856 sergeant's model Enfield rifled musket.

(CDV, M.D. Jones Collection)

1862: Clashes near Fredericksburg, Virginia between Confederates and Federals occur along the Rappahannock River, Stone's River near Stewart's Ferry.

Also, on this day in 1862, Nathan Bedford Forrest was appointed a major general. With no prewar military training or experience, he bewildered and amazed his Northern opponents and revolutionized cavalry tactics.

1864: Confederate Cavalry and Federal Cavalry clashed near Waynesborough, Georgia. Other clashes with Sherman's bummers occurred along the Georgia Central Railroad at Statesboro and Lumpkin Station, as well as on the Ogeechee River.

In Tennessee, Confederate cavalry hit Federal outposts around Nashville at Whites Station and Bell's Mills.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 4.

Major General William Wing Loring was born on this day in 1818, in Wilmington, North Carolina. He gained military experience as a teenager in the Florida Militia in the Seminole Wars. In the Mexican-American War, he served as a major with two brevets to colonel. He was wounded three times and lost an arm. In the War for Southern Independence, he served as a major general in the Confederate Army. His battles included the Western Virginia Campaign, the Vicksburg Campaign, Champions Hill, Ezra Church, Franklin, Nashville, and the Carolina Campaign. Following the war, Loring continued his military career in the Egyptian War and was in the Battle of Gura. He returned to the United States after nine years he wrote two books, lived in New York City where died on Dec. 30, 1886, and was buried in Loring Park in St. Augustine, Florida but his ashes were moved to Craig Funeral Home Memorial Park on Aug. 24, 2020.

Maj. Gen. William W. Loring

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 3.

1861: NEW ORLEANS CAMPAIGN 1861-62: Federal forces arrive at Ship Island off the coast of Mississippi, in preparation for the invasion of Confederate Louisiana. Louisiana was building up its military, but the Louisiana regiments were being quickly ordered to the active fighting fronts like Virginia, Pensacola, Fla., Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. New Orleans had several old forts in the vicinity, as well as the old defenses at Chalmette where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1815.

Louisiana Confederate soldier

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1862: Confederates raid a Federal outpost on the Hardin Pike at Nashville, Tennessee.

A Federal army numbering some 20,000 men occupy Grenada, Mississippi.

1863: KNOXVILE, TENN. CAMPAIGN: General Longstreet moves his army away from Knoxville, Tennessee to winter quarters at Greenville, Tennessee. However, part of Sherman's Federal Army was sent to confront Longstreet.

1864: CAVALRY SHIRMISH AT THOMAS' STATION, GA.: Confederates delay Sherman's bummers' "March to the Sea" at Thomas Station, Georgia. Kilpatrick's Federal Cavalry reached Thomas' Station on this day and began destroying the railroad tracks, and Wheeler's Confederate Cavalry arrived that night and sharply skirmished with the Yankees. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 3.

Brigadier General Henry Alexander Wise, in 1806, Accomack, Virginia. Before the war, he had a long and prominent career in politics, including serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, as the Governor of Virginia, and as the U.S. Minister to Brazil. He was also governor of Virginia during the trial of John Brown in 1859. Wise was a supper of secession. During the war, Wise was a brigadier general and took part in the Peninsula Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Appomattox Campaign. Wise died Sept. 12, 1876, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va.

Brig. Gen. Henry A. Wise

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 2.

1861: Naval battle off Newport News, Virginia between the C.S.S. Patrick Henry and four Federal gunboats. The Patrick Henry is heavily damaged.

1863: General Braxton Bragg resigns and turns over command of the Army of Tennessee to Lieutenant General William Hardee. After the disaster at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, both the officers and men of the Army of Tennessee had largely lost confidence in Bragg.

1864: Confederate cavalry and infantry stages raids on Federal railroads and defense lines around Nashville, Tennessee.

Also, on this day Brig. Gen. Archibald Gracie III was killed in action during the Petersburg Campaign in Virginia. Gracie had just turned 32 years old the day before and was observing Federal lines through a telescope when he was struck and instantly killed by Federal artillery fire. His daughter, Adeline, was born the day before he was killed. His son, Archibald Gracie IV, would gain some fame as a survivor of the Titanic sinking in 1912.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 2.

Brigadier General Rufus Clay Barringer was born on this day in 1821, in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. He was a prewar lawyer and politician who served in the N.C. House of Commons. He led the 1st North Carolina Cavalry Regiment under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, and then a North Carolina cavalry brigade when he was made a brigadier general in 1864. His battles and campaigns included the Peninsula Campaign, Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Maryland Campaign, Gettysburg Campaign, Battle of Brandy Station, and the Battle of Namozine Church., where he was captured on June 6, 1864. Following the war, Barringer resumed his practice of law and engaged in Republican politics and wrote a history of the 9th N.C. Cavalry. He died Feb. 3, 1895, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, N.C.

Brigadier General Rufus Barringer

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Dec. 1.

1862: There was skirmishing between North and South on this day in Hudsonville, Oxford, and near Mitchell's Cross-Roads, Miss. Also, there was fighting on this day were Nolensville, Tenn., and Beaver Day Church in Virginia.

1863: General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia retired into its prepared fortifications behind Mine Run, Virginia, and awaits any further attacks by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac. Meade planned to have Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's II Corps and Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's VI Corps to attack the Confederate defenses. But when Meade saw for himself how strong Lee's defenses are, he calls off the attack and withdraws back into his own fortifications that night and went into winter quarters, thus ending the Mine Run Campaign.

1864: Nashville-Franklin Campaign: General Hood's Army of Tennessee arrives at a position southeast of Nashville, Tennessee, and begins digging in. Hood hoped to get reinforcements from the Trans-Mississippi and planned a defensive strategy. In spite of being greatly outnumbered, Hood felt his army could defeat any attacks from his fortifications.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Dec. 1.

Major General William Mahone was born in 1826, in Southampton, Virginia. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1847, became a civil engineer, a teacher at the Rappahannock Academy, did engineer work on railroads, and in the War for Southern Independence became a major general in the Confederate Army. His battles included the Peninsula Campaign, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the Crater, and the Appomattox Campaign. Following the war, Mahone worked on railroads, was active in politics as a Republican, and died on Oct. 8, 1895, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Va.

Major General William Mahone

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Brigadier General Archibald Gracie Jr. was born in 1832, in New York City, New York. He graduated from West Point in 1854, resigned from the army in 1857, and settled in Mobile, Ala. He became active in the Alabama State Militia as a captain in the Washington Light Infantry. During the War for Southern Independence, he became a brigadier general. His battles included Yorktown, Perryville, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, and Bean's Station. He was killed in action during the Siege of Petersburg, Va. on Dec. 2, 1864. Gracie was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City, N.Y.

Brig. Gen. Archibald Gracie

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Brigadier General Micah Jenkins was born in 1835, on Edisto, Island, South Carolina. He graduated from the South Carolina Military Academy in 1854 and organized the King's Mount Military School where he taught from 1855 to 1861. Jenkins was elected colonel of the 5th South Carolina Infantry on April 13, 1861, and was promoted to brigadier general on July 22, 1862. His battles include First Manassas, Seven Pines, Second Manassas, Chickamauga, and Knoxville. He was killed in action on May 6, 1864, at the Wilderness, Virginia by friendly fire. He was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, S.C.

Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins

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

Click 👉Today in History, Nov. 30. 

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 30.

1862: Near the Leeward Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the CSS Alabama under the legendary Captain Raphael Semmes, masterfully evades the Federal warship USS Vanderbilt and then captured the 136-ton Boston bark Parker Cook with a cargo that included butter, cheese, pork, dried fruit, and ship's bread.

1863: Fighting continued in the Mine Run Campaign in Virginia on this day with skirmishes between North and South at Licking Run Bridge, along Mine Run, and near Raccoon Ford.

Fort Esperanza on the northeastern tip of Matagorda Island in Texas was attacked by a strong Federal force under Maj. General C.C. Washburn from the XIII Army Corps. The fort was garrisoned by 500 men of the 8th Texas Infantry Regiment and the 5th Texas Militia under Col. W.R. Bradfute with 7 24-pounders, and one 128-pounder Columbiad on a pivot mounting. The Yankee invaders had six regiments of infantry and two artillery companies. After holding out against the overwhelming force of bluecoats for four days, the Confederates evacuated the fort and retreated. The Federals then occupied the fort. The Federalists lost 1 killed and 10 wounded. The Confederates suffered 1 killed and 10 captured.

Private J.E. Mayfield

8th (aka 12th) Texas Infantry Regiment

(Lawrence T. Jones Collection, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)

(Image colorized, orange blotches are discoloration)

1864: Gen. John Bell Hood's Confederate Army of Tennesse and Maj. Gen. John Schofield's XXIII Corps and the XIV Corps, both numbering about 27,000 men each, fought the extremely bloody BATTLE OF FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE. The Federals were strongly entrenched and the Confederates would have to make a frontal assault over an open field. Hood's generals advised against a frontal assault but the commanding general was determined to make the attack. The fighting was close and the Confederates gallantly gave it their all, but the fortifications were too strong and too well-manned for a frontal attack to succeed. Schofield began withdrawing his army at 11 o'clock that night and by the next morning, the Confederates found empty entrenchments. The casualties were staggering for the Confederates with five generals killed, including Patrick Cleburne, John Adams, Hiram B. Granbury, States Right Gist, and Otto Strahl, and John C. Carter mortally wounded. Hood reported a total of 4,500 men killed, wounded, and missing or captured. The Federalists lost 189 killed, 1,033 wounded, and 1,104 missing or captured for a total of 2,326 casualties.

Brig. Gen. Hiram B. Granbury

Killed in action at the Battle of Franklin, Tenn.

Confederate General Birthdays, Nov. 30.

Major General Gustavus Woodson Smith was born on this day in 1821 in Georgetown, Kentucky. He graduated from West Point in 1842, served in the Mexican-American War, and was brevetted a first lieutenant, and captain for service at the Battle of Contreras. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1854 and became the Commissioner of Streets in New York City from 1858 to 1861. Smith joined the Confederate Army and was commissioned a major general. At the Battle of Seven Pines, Va., on May 31, 1862, he became temporary commander of the Army of the Potomac (soon to be renamed Army of Northern Virginia, when Gen. J.E. Johnston was wounded. Gen. Robert E. Lee took command of the army on June 1, 1862, and Smith went on sick leave. In August 1862, he returned to duty in August 1862 and was assigned to command the Dept. of the Dept. of N.C.. and Southern Va. and in November became the interim Confederate Secretary of War. He resigned from the army on Feb. 17, 1863, and subsequently served as a volunteer aid to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, as superintendent of the Edowah Iron Works, and as a major general in the Georgia Militia. Following the war, Smith served as the Kentucky Insurance Commissioner and wrote several books on the War for Southern Independence and the Mexican War. He died on June 24, 1896, in New York City, N.Y., and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, in New London, Connecticut.

Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith