Click 👉Today in History (general history) Sept. 6.
On This Day in Confederate History, Sept. 6.
1862:
Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Second Corps of the Army of
Northern Virginia occupied Frederick, Maryland on this day. While there,
soldiers of Starke's Louisiana Brigade were accused of looting. Brig. Gen. William E. Starke,
brigade commander, protested Jackson's order to return his brigade
there so the victims could identify the guilty soldiers. Starke's
refused unless the other brigades were ordered to do so as well. Jackson
put Starke under arrest, but General Lee returned Starke to duty for
the upcoming battles at Harper's Ferry and Sharpsburg (Antietam Creek).
An investigation proved that members of the Stonewall Brigade were the
guilty parties, not Starke's men.
Brig. Gen. William E. Starke
(National Park Service)
1863: After a day of heavy fighting at Battery Wagner in the Siege of Charleston, S.C., Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard decides to evacuate it. He reports: "The
evacuation began at 9 o’clock on the night of September 6. According to
instructions, a guard of 35 men, under the command of Captain T. A.
Huguenin, had been left to bring up the extreme rear and to fire the
only magazine that contained powder. The necessary arrangements being
completed, and Colonel Keitt having been informed that the
transportation was ready, the embarkation commenced and was continued
with the utmost quietness and dispatch. The wounded were first embarked
and were followed by the remnants of the infantry garrison. Captain [C,
E.] Kanapaux, commanding light artillery, was then ordered to spike his
three howitzers and embark on his command. Captain [H. R.] Lesesne,
commanding at Battery Gregg, spiked the guns of that battery, and
followed with his command, and the rear guard from Wagner coming up at
this time, in pursuance of orders from Colonel Keitt, the safety fuses
communicating with the magazines were lighted—that at Wagner by Captain
Huguenin and that at Gregg by Major [E. L.] Holcombe, commissary of
subsistence—and the remainder of the command was safely and
expeditiously embarked. Owing to defects in the fuses themselves, they
failed to accomplish the purpose, though their lighting was
superintended by careful and reliable officers. The magazines,
therefore, were not destroyed. The guns in the batteries were spiked as
far as their condition allowed, and the implements were generally
destroyed and equipment carried off. The evacuation was concluded at about 1.30 a.m. on the 7th instant.
The boats containing the portion of the garrison last embarked were
fired upon by the enemy’s barges, but without effect. Only two of our
boats, containing crews of about 19 men and 27 soldiers (or some 46 in
all), were captured by the enemy’s armed barges between Cumming’s Point
and Fort Sumter."
Confederate Colonel Alexander R. Chisolm,
aide-de-camp to General P.G.T. Beauregard, in uniform
(Liljenquist College, Library of Congress)
In the Chickamauga Campaign,
there was a skirmish at Stevens' Gap, Georgia, which was a pass-through
Missionary Ridge. Both sides were maneuvering for the best position
prior to the coming Battle of Chickamauga.
1864: Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor assumed command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana.
He said in his memoir his main initial duty was to support the Army of
Tennessee in the aftermath of the fall of Atlanta. One of his first
commands was to assign Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry had
the mission of cutting Sherman's supply lines. Taylor was very impressed
with Forrest and said they had a good working relationship.
Confederate General Birthdays, Sept. 6.
Major General William "Extra Billy" Smith was
born on this day in 1797 in King George County, Virginia. He was a
long-time Virginia lawyer, and member of congress and served two terms
as governor of Virginia. Smith was made a brigadier general after
Virginia seceded in 1861. His battles included Fairfax Court House,
First Manassas, Seven Pines, Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas,
Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. Smith resigned his
commission on July 10, 1863, but received a promotion to major general.
He was then made the Assistant Inspector General and was on recruiting
duty in his home state. Smith was also elected governor of Virginia
again on Jan. 1, 1864, and served in that office until removed by the
Yankees on May 9, 1865. However, he was paroled on June 8, 1865, and
retired to his plantation. But at age 80, he was elected to the Virginia
House of Delegates. Smith died May 18, 1887, at age 89 in Warrenton,
Virginia, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Maj. Gen. William "Extra Billy" Smith
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Brigadier General Francis Stebbins Bartow was
born on this day in Savannah, Georgia. He was a prewar lawyer in
Savannah, Ga., and was elected to two terms in the Georgia House of
Representatives and to one term in the Georgia Senate. Bartow was also a
captain in the 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry and supported the right
of secession. In the War for Southern Independence, he
commanded as a colonel two Georgia regiments and two battalions of
Kentucky infantry at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. They
played a key role in blocking a Federal flanking movement early in the
battle. He was killed in the battle and posthumously promoted to the
rank of brigadier general. Bartow was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in
Savannah, Ga.
Brig. Gen. Francis S. Bartow
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Brigadier General St. John Richardson Liddell was
born on this day in 1815 at Woodville, Mississippi. A wealthy
plantation owner, he was an outspoken proponent of freeing the slaves.
He attended West Point for two years, 1834 and 1836, but resigned before
graduating. Liddell returned to Louisiana and established his
plantation in Catahoula Parish. He had a famous prewar feud with Charles
Jones in the 1840s & 1850s. In 1861, he joined the Confederate Army
and was a staff officer of Gen. William Hardee and Gen. Albert Sidney
Johnston. Liddell was given command of an Arkansas Brigade in the Army
of Tennessee and led it at the battles of Perryville and Murfreesboro,
where his 16-year-old son was killed. He refused a promotion to major
general in order to secure a transfer to the Trans-Mississippi
Department. His brigade had the highest number of casualties at the
Battle of Chickamauga. He finally was transferred to the
Trans-Mississippi and was given command of the Sub-District of North
Louisiana. Before the end of the war, he was transferred to Mobile, Ala.
where he commanded the infantry and his last battle was at the Battle
of Fort Blakely. After the war, he resumed his feud with Jones and was
killed in New Orleans on Feb. 14, 1870, in New Orleans, La., and was
buried on his plantation.
Brig. Gen. St. John R. Liddell
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