Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) April 6.
ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, April 6.
1862: The first day of the Battle of Shiloh, the bloodiest battle up to then in the war, takes place around Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston leads 44,894 Confederates in an attack on 40,335 Federals under Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant. The Federals are caught by surprise because of the negligence of Grant and Maj. Gen. W.T. Sherman ignored numerous warning signs. The first day involved epic hard fighting on the part of both sides resulting in enormous casualties, including Johnston who was killed in action. Second-in-command Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard takes over after learning of Johnston's death. Believing the battle is won because the enemy has been driven back to Pittsburg Landing and seems to be in disarray, at dark he orders Confederates to fall back to get reorganized and finish off the Federals the next day. However, the first of over 20,000 Federal reinforcements are already pouring in by nightfall.
1864: In the Red River Campaign in western Louisiana, Confederates expect the arrival of an enormous Federal juggernaut headed their way at Mansfield with an obvious objective of Shreveport and then Texas. However, the Southrons are anxious and ready for the coming battle even if greatly outnumbered.
1865: The Battle of Sailor's Creek, Va. is a blow to the Army of Northern Virginia. Part of Grant's huge army catches the Confederates on the road and overwhelms a third of the Confederate Army en route to Farmville, Va. The fighting was said to be "desperate" and "hand-to-hand." Confederates lost 7,700 men killed and wounded, but mostly captured. The Federals report 1,148 casualties in the battle.
CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, April 6.
Major General Charles William Field was born on this day in 1828 in Woodford County, Kentucky. He was an 1849 graduate of West Point, ranking 27th out of 43 cadets. He was assigned to frontier duty and rose to the rank of captain in 1861 before he resigned to join the Confederate Army. He rose from the rank of major in the 6th Virginia Cavalry, then to colonel in Nov. 1861, and was promoted to brigadier general in March of 1862 and commanded an infantry brigade. Field then received his promotion to major general in 1864. His campaigns and battles included the Peninsula Campaign and the Valley Campaign of 1862. He was severely wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas and was out of action for over a year. He took the field again in 1864 and fought in the Overland Campaign, the Battle of Cold Harbor, the Siege of Petersburg, and the Battle of Deep Bottom, Va. He surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Va. April 9, 1865. Following the war, he had a varied career in business, served in the Egyptian Army, and as a doorkeeper for the U.S. House of Representatives. After that, he worked as a civil engineer and died on April 9, 1892, in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
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