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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 31.

1862: In the Siege of Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River, which began March 15, the Confederates and Federals skirmished. Here's background excerpted from the Naval History and Heritage Command article: "Island No. 10 derived its name from the fact that it was the tenth island south of the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at Cairo, Illinois. Located on an S-bend in the Mississippi River, the island was in the first bend, and the town of New Madrid rested in the second bend. The swampy lowlands on either shore of the river at this point prevented any attempt to flank the batteries on the river. The only approach to the peninsula across from the island was from the south."

Pvt. Reuben Harrison Nations, Co. I, 12th La. Inf.

The regiment was originally part of the Island No. 10

garrison but was transferred to Fort Pillow. Has 

severely wounded on Oct. 20, 1864, at Decatur, Ala.

and both of his legs were amputated. (Find-A-Grave)

1864: Red River Campaign: As the Federal cavalry brigade under Brig. Gen. Albert Lee approaches Natchitoches, La., at 1 o'clock in the afternoon they hit a roadblock six miles from the town set up by the 5th and 7th Texas cavalry regiments and the Valverde Battery of the Texas artillery. The Federals breakthrough after a sharp skirmish and enter Natchitoches at 5 o'clock.

1865: Petersburg Campaign: Confederates despite being outnumbered 5 to 1, pushed back Federals at the Battle of Hatcher's Run on the Siege of Petersburg, Va. Confederates suffered 800 casualties and the Federals lost 1,870.

On the same day, at the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House on the Petersburg siege line, Confederates pushed back another Federal force trying to reach Five Forks. The Confederates lost 760 men and Federals 354. The two battles are considered the last offensive actions by General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 31.

Brigadier General John Herbert Kelly was born on this day in 1840 in Pickens County, Alabama. Kelly resigned from West Point a few months ahead of his graduation to his graduation when his home state seceded in 1861. He then joined the Confederate Army with the rank of second lieutenant. Kelly served on the staff of Lt. Gen. William Hardee. He was made a major in the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion and participated in the Battle of Shiloh. Kelly was then promoted to colonel and given command of the 8th Arkansas Infantry regiment. Kelly was promoted to brigadier general on Nov. 23, 1863. His other battles included Murfreesboro, Perryville, Chickamauga, Pickett's Mill, and Franklin and Nashville during Wheeler's Raid of Aug. & Sept. 1864. Kelly was mortally wounded Sept. 3, 1864, by a sharpshooter near Franklin, Tennessee, and captured, and died Sept. 4, 1864. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Mobile, Ala. He was the youngest Confederate general.

                                                              Brig. Gen. John H. Kelly

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 30.

1864: Red River Campaign: As the Federal cavalry advances toward Natchitoches, La., cotton is burned to keep it from falling into Federal hands. "In fact, the road all the way to Natchitoches, a distance of 18 miles one could say was a solid flame of, and the air was permeated with the smell of burning cotton," wrote Capt. Felix Poché of Mouton's brigade.

1865: Siege of Petersburg: Confederate and Federal forces pile up on the Confederate right in anticipation of a massive Federal attack at the Siege of Petersburg, Va.

Croxton's Raid: In Alabama, Federal Brig. Gen. John T. Croxton's brigade, detached for the main Federal force under Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson destroys all public property at Tuscaloosa.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 30.

Brig. Gen. Samuel Bell Maxey was born on this day in 1825 in Tompkinsville, Ky. He graduated from West Point in 1846 and was assigned as a brevet second lieutenant in the 7th U.S. Infantry Regiment. He joined his regiment in Monterrey, Mexico, and took part in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Molino del Rey. Maxey was promoted to brevet first lieutenant for gallantry at Cerro Gordo and Contreras. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1849 and became a lawyer and farmer in Paris, Texas, and the district attorney there for Lamar County. During the War for Southern Independence, Maxey became colonel of the 9th Texas Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to brigadier general on March 7, 1862. He was absent during the Battle of Shiloh but took part in the Siege of Port Hudson, La. in 1863. Late that year he was assigned to command Indian Territory. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, commander of the Trans-Mississippi Dept., appointed him a major general in the Trans-Mississippi only. He had some success in interdicting Federal Army supplies. He resigned on May 22, 1865, and resumed his civilian life in Paris, Texas. After receiving a pardon in 1867, he resumed practicing law. Beginning in 1875, he served two terms in the U.S. Senate. He died Aug. 16, 1894, in Eureka Springs, Ark., and was buried in Evergreen Springs Cemetery in Paris, Texas.

2nd Lt. Samuel B. Maxey

Mexican American War uniform

Brig. Gen. Samuel Bell Maxey

as a U.S. Senator from Texas

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, March 29.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, 29.

1862: Shiloh Campaign: Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston assembles reinforcements at Corinth, Mississippi to attack the Federal Army under Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, about 20 miles north, before he could join forces with another Federal Army under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell. General P.G.T. Beauregard, second in command to Johnston, called upon governors in the Southern states in the Mississippi River Valley to send reinforcements.

1864: Red River Campaign: Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor orders the burning of cotton ten miles above the approaching Federal Army along the Red River. A major goal of the Red River Campaign by the Federals is to steal as much cotton as possible. The cotton stealing turns out to be a major distraction for the Federals.

1865: Siege of Petersburg: Confederate General Robert E. Lee prepares to counter the new Federal offensive to turn the Confederate right flank in the Siege of Petersburg, Va. Sherman's forces have united with Grant's before Petersburg, giving them an overwhelming advantage. This is considered the beginning of the Appomattox Campaign. 

Confederate General Birthdays, March 29.

Major General Robert Emmett Rodes was born on this day in 1829 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was an 1848 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and taught there until 1851.  He then became a railroad engineer. In the War for Southern Independence, Rodes was the colonel of the 5th Alabama Infantry, then became a brigadier general in October 1861, and a major general effective May 2, 1863. His battles were First Manassas, Seven Pines, South Mountain, Sharpsburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Third Winchester. Rodes was killed in action on September 19, 1864, at the Third Battle of Winchester, Va. (aka Opequon) when he was struck in the back of the head by a shell fragment. He was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg, Va.

Brig. Gen. Robert E. Rodes

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, March 28.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 28.

1862: The major fighting in the Battle of Glorieta Pass, N.M. occurs on the third day of the battle. In the morning, the Confederates and the Federals both decide to launch attacks. Federal Lt Col. J.P. Slough splits his forces and detaches Maj. Chivington's command is to make a flank attack while he is attacking the rebels from the front. Lt. Col. W.R. Scurry decides to attack the Federals in a frontal assault, but a small part of his command is detached to guard the supply place at Johnson's Ranch with one artillery piece. He is expecting reinforcements under Col. Tom Green. The two armies clash along the Glorietta River near Pigeon's Ranch and the Federals attack first. Scurry counterattacked and outflanked the Federals, but Texan Maj. John Shropshire is killed in the action and Texan Maj. Henry Raguet is mortally wounded. By the end of the day, Slough retreats to Kozloski's Ranch with the Confederate winning that phase of the battle. However, Maj. Chivington doesn't flank the Confederates as ordered but attacks the small detachment at Johnson's Ranch and quickly overwhelms it, looting and destroying or capturing the vital Confederate supplies and livestock, including the artillery piece and some of the men. That phase is won by the Federals. The Confederates lost 222 men killed, wounded, and captured or missing. The Federal casualty total is 147.

1864: Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor on this day in the Red River Campaign gets positive word that Banks' Federal juggernaut has reached Cotile Landing just south of Natchitoches. Hoping to defend Natchitoches, but still waiting for Brig. Gen. Tom Green's Texas Cavalry Division, Taylor reluctantly orders his command to retreat to Pleasant Hill in Northwest Louisiana. The men, especially the Louisianians are anxious to stop the looting and burning of their state. Federal Brig. Gen. Albert Lee's cavalry is in the lead, followed by Maj. Gen. A.J. Smith's detachment from Vicksburg, and the elements of the 19th Army Corps and other units. The Federal flotilla brings added punch to the Northern offensive.

1865: Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in Alabama scrambles to set up an effective defense against Wilson's Raiders which are headed for the major Confederate base at Selma. But the Federal cavalry is moving fast and Forrest has few men with little hope of stopping them. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 28.

Lieutenant General Wade Hampton III was born this day in 1818 in Charleston, South Carolina. A wealthy prewar planter and politician in South Carolina, Hampton was a citizen soldier who rose to the second-highest rank of generals in the War For Southern Independence. He organized Hampton's Legion early in the war, took part in the First Battle of Manassas, and is wounded, and fought in most of the major campaigns and battles of the Army of Northern Virginia, rising to the level of lieutenant general and commanding the cavalry of the army. He finished the war with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee in North Carolina in 1865. In the post-war years, he was a major political figure in South Carolina fighting Reconstruction and serving as governor of the state. He died April 11, 1902, and is buried in Trinity Cathedral Churchyard, Charleston, in S.C.

Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton III

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Brigadier General Thomas Taylor Munford was born on this day in 1831 in Richmond, Virginia. He was an 1852 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and in the War for Southern Independence rose to the rank of brigadier general. His battles were First Manassas, Cross  Keys, White Oak Swamp, Second Manassas, Mile Hill, South Mountain, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Wapping Heights, Five Forks, High Bridge, and Sayler's Creek. Following the war, he worked as a cotton planter in Alabama and served as president of the Virginia Military Institute Board of  Visitors. He died Feb. 27, 1918, in Uniontown, Alabama and was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg, Va.

Brig. Gen. Thomas T. Munford

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Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, March 27.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 27.

1862: The Battle of Glorieta Pass, N.M. enters its second day. The battle occurs between mainly the Federal 1st and 2nd Colorado Infantry, 2nd New Mexico Infantry, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Texas Cavalry regiments under the command of Col. John P. Slough and Maj. John M. Chivington, with two artillery batteries. The Confederates had on hand Lt. Col. Charles L. Pyron's 2nd Texas Mounted infantry and five companies of the 5th Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj. John S. Shropshire. He was joined that afternoon by Lt. Col. William Read Scurry's nine companies of the 4th Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj. Henry Raguet and five companies of the 7th Texas Mounted Rifles under Maj. Powhatan Jordan, all from Sibley's Texas Brigade. The Confederates also had a total of five artillery pieces. No fighting occurs on this day.

Lt. Col. Charles L. Pyron

2nd Bn.Texas Mounted Rifles

(Find-A-Grave)

Maj. John Shropshire, 5th Texas Mounted Rifles

Killed in Action

(Find-A-Grave)

Maj. Henry Raguet

4th Texas Cavalry (Mounted Rifles)

Mortally Wounded

(Lawrence T. Jones II Texas Photographs, 

DeGloyer Library, Central University Libraries, 

Southern Methodist University)

1864: Red River Campaign: Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor with Brig. Gen. Alfred Mouton's fine infantry division at Cloutierville, La., is still anxiously awaiting the arrival of Brig. Gen. Tom Green's Texas cavalry division which is 20 miles south of Natchitoches. The Federal juggernaut is reported approaching Monett's Ferry. It is Easter Sunday.

1865: Siege of Petersburg: After the failure of the Confederate assault on Fort Stedman, the Siege of Petersburg, Va. enters its final phase of maneuvering. The Federals under General Grant have 114,335 men, and General Lee has 56,000 men of all arms.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 27.

NONE

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, March 26.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 26.

1862: The first day of the Battle of Glorieta Pass begins in New Mexico when Brig. Gen. Henry Hopkins Sibley's Texas Cavalry Brigade with 1,100 gray-clad troopers clashes with Federal forces numbering 1,300 bluecoats under Col. John Potts Slough. The day sees a skirmish at Apache Canyon between the Northern and Southern forces as the Confederates pushed the Federals back to Glorieta Pass.

The Battle of Glorieta Pass, Roy Andersen

(National Park Service)

1864: Red River Campaign: Brig. Gen. A.L. Lee's Federal cavalry arrived at Henderson Hill as it hunts for the main Confederate Army under Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor in western Louisiana. Brigadier General Tom Green's crack Texas cavalry is still pushing across the Sabine River to join forces with Taylor for the coming clash between the Blue and the Gray.

Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor

1865: Spanish Fort defense complex at Mobile, Alabama under Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson of Louisiana with just 2,500 men in Fort Huger, Fort Tracey, Fort McDermott, Fort Alexis, Red Fort, and Old Spanish Forts get ready for the arrival of Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby's massive army of 30,000 men. Though vastly outnumbered, the Confederates are determined to hold out as long as they can.

Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 26.

None.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, March 25.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 25.

1863: Confederates make it difficult for Federals to extricate their remaining boats and troops at the conclusion of the Steele's Bayou Expedition near Vicksburg, Miss. Confederates had slipped around Porter's flotilla and felled some trees in the rear, possibly cutting the flotilla off from the troops. Porter sent Sherman an appeal for help and he receives it. Reinforcements rush to the scene so Porter's flotilla can safely retreat.

1864: The Battle of Paducah, Kentucky takes place between Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest with 3,000 troopers, and the Federal garrison there under the command of Col. Stephen G. Hicks, 650 men in Fort Anderson. The fort was also supported by two Federal gunboats on the Ohio River. Forrest occupied the town and demanded Hicks surrender his command, but the Federal commander refused. Forrest decided it would be too costly to assault the fort so he decided instead to take all the supplies and livestock he could and leave. But some of the Kentuckians in his command assaulted the fort on their own unsuccessfully. The Confederates suffered 90 casualties and the Federals 50.

1865: Confederates launch an attack on Fort Stedman at Petersburg. Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon leads 10,000 Southern troops in a desperate attempt to break the siege. Defending the fort are some 14,898 Federals under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke. The Confederates attacked early achieved surprise and occupied part of the fort. But when Federal reinforcements arrive, Gordon, with permission from General Robert E. Lee who was on the scene watching, withdraws the Southerners. Confederate casualties were 72 killed, 450 wounded, and 522 captured or missing. The Federals lost 600 killed, 2,400 wounded, and 1,000 captured or missing.

Col. Eugene Waggaman led the 

Consolidated Louisiana Brigade as

the tip of the spear, spearheading the

Confederate attack for Gen. Clement A. Evans' 

Division  in the Battle of Fort Stedman

.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 25.

Major General William Thompson Martin was born on this day in 1823 in Glasgow, Kentucky. Prior to the war, he was a district attorney who opposed secession in Mississippi. During the war, he raised cavalry troops and served as a colonel under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. He was promoted to brigadier general in January 1863. His battles included Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Stuart's Ride Around McClellan's Army, the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Dumfries, and Occoquan. He was promoted to major general and transferred to the Army of Tennessee in 1863 and commanded a division under Maj. Gen. Fighting Joe Wheeler. He took part in the Tullahoma Campaign, Chickamauga, Knoxville, and Atlanta, and then commanded the Northwest District of Mississippi. Following the war, he practiced in Mississippi and died March 16, 1910, in Natchez, Miss., and was buried in Natchez City Cemetery.

Maj. Gen. William T. Martin

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Brigadier General Martin Witherspoon Gary was born on this day in 1831 in Cokesbury, South Carolina. Prior to the war, he practiced law at Edgefield, S.C., was elected to the state legislature in 1860, and supported secession. During the war, he started in 1861 as a captain in Hampton's Legion infantry and fought in the First Battle of Manassas. He rose to the command of a regiment and fought in various battles in Virginia before being transferred in 1863 to the Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to brigadier general and was transferred back to the Army of Northern Virginia and commanded a cavalry brigade. Gary refused to surrender at Appomattox and escorted President Davis with 200 cavalrymen to Greensboro, N.C., and left the army at that time. After the war, he practiced law in Edgefield, S.C. again and fought against Radical Republicans in his state. After Reconstruction, he was elected to the state senate until 1881 and moved to Cokesbury, S.C., and died there on April 9, 1881.

Brig. Gen. Martin W. Gary

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