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

Click👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Dec. 12 

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