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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 31.

1861: Louisiana Gov. Thomas Overton Moore ordered the seizure of the United States Mint in New Orleans on this day in 1861. An inventory of the mint taken by a committee of the Louisiana Secession Convention reported $483,983 in gold and silver coins. Mint employees stayed on as state employees. Also, seized on this day were the United States Customs House in New Orleans and the schooner Washington.

This La. soldier's is I.D.'ed on the back as

Capt. James H. Bradley, Co. H. 1st La. Regt. of

New Orleans. He died of disease in N.O. on Oct. 3, 1864.

He has a crescent moon emblem & 1 on his hat

and a medal on his jacket.  There are 2 James

Bradleys listed in Booth's La. Conf. Records, both

listed in Strawbridge's 1st La. Inf. One is a 37

year-old Pvt. in Co. D who was discharged for

disability in Oct. 1861, the other a Cpl. in Co. K

who was KIA at Shiloh, TN April 6, 1862. The

uniform he is wearing appears to be early war.

The image was taken by N.O. Photographer Theo. Lilienthal.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1862: Queen Victoria reiterates Great Britain's neutrality stand in the war between the Confederate States and the United States. Despite the official stance, Confederate commissioners had an unofficial "home" (consulate) in Britain. They also successfully had such ships as the CSS Alabama built in Liverpool and imported thousands of Enfield Rifles, uniforms, and other war supplies from Great Britain.

Charles K. Prioleau, a cotton merchant in Liverpool, England,

from a prominent Charleston, S.C. family became

the "mastermind" in England behind financing the 

The Confederate war effort in Europe. He had offices in Liverpool

and worked closely with Confederate agents to buy

war supplies for the Confederate Army. (Wikipedia Commons)

1863: Confederate and Federal forces fight at Unionville, Middleton, and Rover in Tennessee. This was a major raid by two Federal cavalry brigades consisting of six regiments and a section of artillery from Murfreesboro to Franklin, Tenn. totaling 1,328 bluecoat cavalrymen. It was commanded by Brig. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis. Resisting the raid was Co. B, 51st Alabama Cavalry under Capt. L.W. Battle, Lt. Col. John S. Prather, and the 8th Confederate Cavalry, 150 men.  A half mile from the town of Rover the 7th Pa. Cav. charged about 400 Confederates and had a sharp conflict and the Confederates retreated. They captured 6 officers, and 43 enlisted men, besides 49 wounded. All but one of the wounds was from sabers. The Federals held Unionville for about an hour and captured at Middleton Confederate Col. DeWitt Clinton Douglass, 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, and 41 men.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 31.

Brigadier General William Raine Peck was born on this day in 1818 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. He moved with his family to Madison Parish, Louisiana in the 1840s and became a successful plantation owner and one of the wealthiest men in the state. He represented his parish in the Louisiana legislature and at the Louisiana Secession Convention, at which he voted for secession. He then enlisted as a private in the 9th Louisiana Infantry Regiment and soon was elected a captain and rose to lieutenant colonel, colonel, and brigadier general near the end of the war. Among his battles were Gettysburg, and Second Winchester, and was promoted to colonel on Oct. 8, 1863. Peck also fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Third Winchester, where he was wounded. He was promoted to brigadier general on Feb. 18, 1864. Peck resumed running his plantation in Louisiana after the war and died Jan. 22, 1871, and was buried at Westview Cemetery in Jefferson City, Tenn.

Brig. Gen. William R. Peck

👱

Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles was born on this day in 1810 in Barrie, Massachusetts. He graduated from West Point in 1833 and had a long career in the U.S. Army. Ruggles participated in the Seminole War in Florida in 1839, and in the Mexican-American War fought in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, the first two battles of the war, in Texas. Ruggles then served under Gen. Winfield Scott in the Mexico City Campaign fighting at Vera Cruz, San Antonio, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. He was breveted a major for Gallant and Meritorious Conduct after Churubusco and was breveted a lieutenant colonel after Chapultepec. He had married a Virginia woman, sided with the South, and resigned from the U.S. Army on May 7, 1861. Ruggles was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on August 9, 1861, after having served briefly as a colonel in the Virginia militia. He led a division at the Battle of Shiloh and at the Battle of Baton Rouge in 1862. He was briefly in command of the Confederate Bastion at Port Hudson, La. on the Miss. River. He then took part in the Second Battle of Corinth, Miss. Later in the war, he served in various administrative posts. After the war, he was a real estate salesman and farmer in Virginia. Ruggles died June 1, 1897, in Fredericksburg, Va., and was buried in the Confederate Cemetery there.

Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles

👌

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 30.

1862: The two Confederate commissioners to Great Britain, James Mason, and John Slidell, delayed by the Trent Affair, arrive in England. Slidell went to France and successfully negotiated a $15 million loan for the Confederacy from Emile Erlanger & Co. Mason was unsuccessful in his efforts to gain recognition for the Confederacy from the European nations, but he kept up the effort throughout the war.

1865: Reinforcements from the Army of Tennessee, which was recuperating in Tupelo, Mississippi, started arriving in Augusta, Georgia to oppose Sherman's Carolinas Campaign. Fighting broke out between General Hardee's Confederates and Sherman's Federals at Lawtonville, South Carolina.

Lt. Robert P. James

20th North Carolina Infantry

He was 23 at the time of his enlistment

in April 1861 and served as adjutant of the

regiment and was discharged due to disability

in Nov. 1862. He later served in the 8th N.C. Inf. and 66th N.C. Inf.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress) (Info., Portraits of Conflict, N.C., P. 397)

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 30.

Brigadier General Alfred Cummings was born in 1831 in Augusta, Georgia. He attended West Point and graduated with the Class of 1849, ranking 35th out of 43 cadets. His U.S. Army career included service in Louisiana, and the Utah Territory, including the Utah War. Cummings resigned from the U.S. Army as a captain in January 1861 and first served Georgia as lieutenant colonel of the Augusta Battalion, then joined the Confederate Army as a major in the 1st Georgia Infantry, then a lieutenant colonel in the 10th Georgia Infantry. Cummings served with distinction in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862 in Virginia, the Battle of Yorktown, and the Seven Days Battles, including Savage's Station, and Malvern Hill, where he was wounded. After serving as a temporary brigade commander in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 and was promoted to brigadier general late in the year. Transferred to Mississippi, he led a brigade at the Battle of Champions Hill and at Vicksburg, where he surrendered with the garrison on July 4, 1863. After being exchanged, he led a brigade at Missionary Ridge in 1863 and in the Atlanta Campaign in 1864. Cummings was then disabled by a wound in the Battle of Jonesboro, Ga. in Sept. 1864. After the war, General Cummings became a farmer in Georgia. He died Dec. 19, 1910, in Rome, Ga., and is buried in Summerville Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. Alfred Cummings

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 29.

1861: The Louisiana Secession Convention reconvened at the City Hall in New Orleans. It moved to New Orleans because the Louisiana Legislature had convened and was taking up all the meeting places and hotel rooms. The convention adopted an ordinance that all Federal officers of the United States government would retain their positions in the new Republic of Louisiana, and all United States revenue, collection, and navigation laws would continue as Louisiana laws. All officers retained their offices would be indemnified by Louisiana against claims by the United States. It also voted to send delegates to Montgomery, Alabama to the convention of Southern states to form a provisional government for the Southern Confederacy.

President Mouton called the convention to order at 12 o'clock while outside the Washington Artillery on Lafayette Square boomed a salute that reverberated through the building. A Pelican flag was hoisted over the building at the same time. The galleries were crowded with spectators, including a fair array of the beautiful ladies of the city. The Rev. Dr. Palmer of the First Presbyterian Church offered an opening prayer. The Lyceum Hall was offered by the Mayor and City Council of New Orleans and was being prepared for the convention.

1863: President Davis sends a cable to General Pemberton in Vicksburg, Mississippi suggesting he try to block the Yazoo Pass. Near Suffolk, Virginia, and Turner's Mills, Virginia there is light fighting. At Stono River, South Carolina the Confederate shore batteries exchanged fire with the U.S.S. Isaac Smith. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 29.

Major General Franklin Kitchell Gardner was born on this day in 1823 in New York, New York. He was the grandson of a Revolutionary War veteran and his father a War of 1812 hero. Gardner attended West Point and graduated in the class of 1843 ranking 17th out of 39 cadets. He then served as a second lieutenant in the 7th U.S. Infantry Regiment in Pensacola, Fla. During the Mexican-American War, Gardner served under General Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Monterrey in Sept. 1846 and was breveted a 1st lieutenant. He then fought under General Winfield Scott in his Mexico City Campaign and fought in the Siege of Veracruz, the battles of Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Cerro Gordo. For his gallantry at Cerro Gordo, he received another brevet to captain. After that war, he received a permanent promotion to captain in 1855 in the 10th U.S. Infantry Regiment. Gardner took part in the Utah War and served in various posts throughout the U.S. His older sister met and married Sen. Alexandre Mouton of Louisiana and he married a younger daughter of Senator Mouton, Marie Celeste Mouton in 1850, thus beginning a connection to Louisiana. Gardner resigned from the U.S. Army in 1861 and was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army and assigned to the command of Fort Gaines, Ala., and served on the staff of General Braxton Bragg during the Battle of Shiloh. He was credited by Gen. Patton Anderson with spotting an enemy battery during that battle. Gardner was promoted to brigadier general to date from April 11, 1862, and given command of an Alabama infantry brigade. It was present for the Kentucky campaign in 1862 but never got into any serious fighting. He was promoted to major general on Dec. 17, 1862, and given command of the Port Hudson, a Confederate bastion in Louisiana on the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg, Miss. He masterfully commanded the garrison during the Siege of Port Hudson, in May-June 1863, but finally had to surrender after Vicksburg fell. After he was exchanged, he served in the Dept. of Ala., Miss., & E. La. and was paroled May 11, 1865, at Meridian, Miss. After the war, he initially worked as a draftsman in New Orleans and then moved to Vermilionville (modern-day Lafayette), La. where he died on April 29, 1873, and was buried in St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and son, Alfred. 

Maj. General Franklin Gardner

A biography has been published on the life of Major General Franklin Gardner

    The book, "Major General Franklin Gardner: Hero of the Siege of Port Hudson," by Michael Dan Jones, is believed to be the first book-length biography on this important Confederate general. The author covers Gardner's entire life, from his birth in New York City and growing up in Washington D.C. to his time as a student at the West Point, his family life, his spectacular record in the Mexican-American War, the War for Southern Independence and his final post-war years in Louisiana.    

     Jones also covers new ground in that he has corrected the historic record about Gardner's controversial departure from the U.S. Army in April 1861. He was accused of not having resigned before he left his last military post, which resulted in some previous historians accusing Gardner of being a deserter from the U.S. Army. Jones, however, found his actual resignation letter, as well as contemporary newspaper notices, which conclusively prove that Gardner did, in fact, resign before he left his last post.

    Gardner was a brilliant military leader who proved his courage in combat during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. He proved his leadership ability in numerous battles from the opening of the war in 1846 at Fort Brown, Texas to the final dramatic victory at Mexico City in 1847. He received two brevet promotions for his gallantry in battle and personal praise from the commander of the American forces, General Winfield Scott.

    During the War for Southern Independence, Gardner was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America and given command of Fort Gaines, Alabama. During the Battle of Shiloh, he was on the staff of General Braxton Bragg and carried important orders to various points on the field of battle. He was promoted to brigadier general by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard and given command of the cavalry of the Army of the Mississippi. During Braggs’ Kentucky campaign of 1862, he commanded a brigade of Alabama infantry and was present, but held in reserve, during the Battle of Perryville.

     In December 1862, Gardner was promoted to major general and put in command of the District of Mississippi and East Louisiana with headquarters at Port Hudson, La. There, he conducted one of the most gallant and effective defenses of a Confederate fortification in the war. It was the longest siege in American military history. The author covers the siege and its aftermath, during which Gardner was a prisoner of war, in detail.

      Gardner married the daughter of former Louisiana senator and governor Alexandre Mouton, in 1850 and after the war lived the rest of his life in the state. Jones has found that Gardner had a much more prominent and varied life in the postwar years, including jobs as a draftsman, newspaper reporter, and parish surveyor for Lafayette Parish.

      The book is published by CreateSpace.com in Charleston, S.C., and has 218 pages, photos, maps, an index, and a bibliography. It is $15.95 and is available on Amazon.com, Barnesandnobles.com, Booksamillion.com, and other online booksellers.

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 28.

1861: Fort Macomb, La. near New Orleans was seized on this day in 1861 by the 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment of the state militia. It guarded one of the routes, Chef Menteur Pass, to Lake Pontchartrain, which borders New Orleans. The fort was built in 1822 and was first named Fort Chef Menteur but later changed to Fort Macomb. The Federals took control of the fort in 1862 when they invaded Louisiana.

A Louisiana Confederate, likely early war

(Louisiana Digital Archives)

1864: Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk took command of the Dept. of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana on the day in 1864. Polk had previously been given command of just the Department of Mississippi, on Dec. 23, 1863, but when left the department to take command of the Army of Tennessee, Davis expanded the department to include Alabama.

1865: Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Senator Robert M.T. Hunter, and Assistant Secretary of War John A. Campbell are appointed by President Davis to represent the Confederacy at peace talks with the Lincoln administration.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 28.

Major General Thomas Carmichael Hindman, in 1828, Knoxville, Tennessee. He had some prewar experience with the 2nd Mississippi Regiment in the Mexican-American War as a lieutenant and captain. Following that war, Hindman practiced law in Ripley and was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1854 to 1856. He then moved to Helena, Arkansas where he practiced law with future Confederate general Patrick R. Cleburne. Hindman was elected to the U.S. Congress and resigned because of the war and Arkansas secession, which he supported. During the War for Southern Independence, Hindman joined the Confederate Army and organized the 2nd Arkansas Infantry. He was commissioned a brigadier general on Sept. 28, 1861, and commanded a brigade at the Battle of Shiloh and was injured when his horse fell on him on April 6, 1862. He was promoted to major general on April 14, 1862. Hindman then commanded a corps at Corinth, Miss. before being made the commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department. His other battles included the Battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., where he was again wounded, the Battle of Chattanooga, Tenn., the Atlanta Campaign during which he was wounded again in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, Ga. He was disabled for the rest of the war and moved to Mexico after it was over. Hindman returned to Arkansas to practice law but was assassinated on Sept. 27, 1868, by unknown assassins and was buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Helena.

Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman

👱

Brigadier General Henry Brevard Davidson was born on this day in 1831 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He served in the Mexican-American War as a private in the 1st Tennessee Infantry and was decorated for gallantry at the Battle of Monterrey. Promoted to sergeant, he was discharged in May 1847. His service earned him an appointment to West Point where he graduated in 1853, 33rd in his class. During his U.S. Army service, he served on the frontier and rose to captain by 1861. Davidson resigned and joined the Confederate Army as a captain, was given several staff assignments, and received a promotion to colonel. He was captured at Island No. 10 in the Miss. River, April 7, 1862. After being exchanged, he was given command at Staunton, Va. Davidson was promoted to brigadier general in August 1863, and given command of a cavalry command, and fought at the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., the Atlanta Campaign, and the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in Va. Davidson surrendered with Gen. J.E. Johnston in North Carolina and paroled May 1, 1865. Following the war, he moved to New Orleans, La. and was employed as a deputy sheriff. He moved to San Pedro, Calif. in 1868 and served in a variety of government jobs and as a railroad agent. Davidson died March 4, 1899, in Livermore, Calif. and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, Calif.

Brig. Gen. Henry B. Davidson

👋

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

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 27.

1863: The Confederate Fort McAllister in Georgia undergoes a day-long bombardment by the Federal ironclad USS Montauk. The Yankee warship was firing from the Ogeechee River. 

1864: General Braxton Bragg is called by President Davis to Richmond, Virginia if he is well. Bragg had failed miserably in the aftermath of his victory at the Battle of Chickamauga, Ga. in the debacle at the Battle of Missionary Ridge on November 25, 1863. Bragg resigned on Nov. 29, 1863, and Davis immediately accepted it. The president then gave Bragg a desk job as a military adviser.

1865: There is fighting between Confederates and Federals at DeKalb, Alabama. The Federals had been foraging in the area and Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest sent a detachment to suppress them. The Confederates caught the foragers in an ambush. Several bluecoats were wounded, and the rest retreated and got away on their horses.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 27.

Lieutenant General Richard Taylor was born on this day in 1826 in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the son of General and President Zachary Taylor and was raised largely on the frontier at army posts where his father was stationed. He attended Harvard College and graduated from Yale. Taylor was also an avid reader of classical and military history. He had no military training or experience, except as a volunteer aide-de-camp for his father during the Mexican-American War. He settled into running the family plantations. His older sister, Sarah Knox Taylor, married Jefferson Davis but the marriage ended in a tragedy three months later when she died of illness. Taylor was elected to the Louisiana Legislature from 1855 to 1861. He represented St. Charles Parish at the Louisiana Secession Convention and voted for secession. In the War for Southern Independence, after serving as a volunteer on the staff of Braxton Bragg at the beginning of the war, he was commissioned the colonel of the 9th Louisiana Infantry. His regiment was too late to take part in the First Battle of Manassas. President Davis promoted Taylor to brigadier general on Oct. 21, 1861, and was given command of the First Louisiana Brigade. He led it with distinction in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. He was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and missed the Seven Days Battles. Taylor received a promotion to major general on July 28, 1862, and was given command of the District of Western Louisiana. He had to build his army practically from scratch but was able to patch together some veteran regiments as a base and built it up to a crack fighting force. Greatly outnumbered, he had to use Fabian tactics against the enemy but by 1864 was able to defeat the Federals in the Red River Campaign of 1864. Taylor was promoted to lieutenant general and was put in command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana in the final days of the war. He surrendered his department about a month after Appomattox. Afterward, he lived in New Orleans and wrote one of the best wartime memoirs, Destruction and Reconstruction, which has been much quoted by historians ever since. He died April 12, 1879, of dropsy and was buried at Metairie Cemetery.

Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor

👱

Brigadier General William Henry Fitzhugh Payne, in 1830, Fauquier County, Virginia. He attended the Virginia Military Institute for one year and studied law at the University of Virginia. Payne practiced law in Warrenton, Virginia. He also served as the Commonwealth's Attorney for Fauquier County for a few years. At the beginning of the war, he volunteered as a private but later he became a captain in the Black Horse Cavalry. Payne was promoted to major in the 4th Virginia Cavalry and commanded the regiment in the Battle of Williamsburg in 1862 where he was severely wounded and captured. After being exchanged, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and was captured at the Battle of Hanover Station. Payne was again exchanged and promoted to brigadier general and led a brigade in Early's Valley Campaign of 1864, and afterward was severely wounded at the Battle of Five Forks in 1865. Following the war, Payne practiced law in Virginia, and served as the general counsel for the Southern Railway Company and in the Virginia legislature. He died March 29, 1904, in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Warrenton City Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. William H.F. Payne

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 26.

1861: On the fourth day of the Louisiana Secession Convention, the State of Louisiana seceded from the Union and became an independent republic. With this action, Louisiana brought to the soon-to-be Confederate States of America the largest city in the South, New Orleans, the largest port in the South, the largest manufacturing city in the South, and control of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It also brought to the Confederate Army one of its ablest generals, P.G.T. Beauregard. The convention voted 113 to 17 in favor of the Ordinance of Secession. Convention President Alexandre Mouton pronounced the connection between Louisiana and the United States dissolved and declared Louisiana "a free, sovereign, and independent power." The president then had a beautiful Pelican flag unfurled at his table. Around the state, the news was greeted with ringing church bells and volleys fired by the state militia.

Presbyterian Rev. Benjamin M. Palmer of New Orleans

was an influential supporter of the right of secession. His

sermons had an impact on Southern public opinion

and he reorganized the Presbyterian Church in the Confederacy.

Louisiana Secession Flag

Louisiana Ordinance of Secession

 

Also, on this day in 1861, the Georgia State Militia took possession of Oglethorpe Barracks and Fort Jackson in Savannah. Oglethorpe Barracks was built in the 1820s and Fort James Jackson was constructed between 1808 and 1812. The fort was shelled by Federal blockade warships in 1862 and was held until 1864 until the Federal overran it in December 1864. Oglethorpe Barracks was taken when the Confederate Army retreated from Savannah in that same month.

Three Georgia Confederates

1865: Confederate troops skirmish with Federals near Pocotaligo, South Carolina as Sherman's Federals burn their way across the state which they particularly hate the most. Pocotaligo was an important depot on the Charleston and Savannah Railway and for a short time General Robert E. Lee in 1862 served in the state to protect the railway. 

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 26.

None.

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THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 25.

1861: On the 3rd day of the Louisiana Secession Convention, Charles Bienvenu introduced a resolution that would require the voters to approve an Ordinance of Secession from the Union. The proposal is defeated on an 84-43 vote. Also, that day former South Carolina Gov. John L. Manning and former Alabama Gov. John A. Winston spoke to the convention and proposed the rapid formation of a Southern Confederacy. Winston says the Confederacy will be the greatest nation on earth within two years.

Louisiana Secession Convention

1864: Federal bombardment of Fort Sumter has been continuing since 12 Aug. 1863.  The Charleston Courier reported there was only one casualty, Private Westbury of 11th S.C. Volunteers who "accidentally discharged his own gun, the ball from the gun entering his head and taking off a part of his skull."

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 25.

Brigadier General Xavier Debray was born on this day in 1816, in Espinal, France. Debray reportedly attended École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr [A French Military Academy established in 1802]. He was also in the French diplomatic service. Debray came to the U.S. in 1848 and joined the U.S. Army in the 2nd Dragoons. After his service, he moved to Texas in 1852 and became a naturalized citizen in 1855 and a newspaper publisher in San Antonio. He also started a military academy and was a translator for the General Land Office. When war erupted in 1861, Debray raised a regiment of cavalry, the 26th Texas, and took part in the Battle of Galveston, on Jan. 1, 1863. During the Red River Campaign of 1864, Debray led the 26th Texas Cavalry at the Battle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864, and the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9, 1864, as a colonel, and was put in command of his cavalry brigade. Department commander Gen. E. Kirby Smith promoted him to brigadier general on April 13, 1864, but his appointment was never confirmed by President Jefferson Davis. After the war, he lived in Houston, Galveston, and San Antonio where he became a translator for the Texas General Office. Debray died on Jan. 6, 1895, and is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. 

Brig. Gen. Xavier Debray

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 24.

1861: At the Louisiana Secession Convention, an ordinance was introduced by Joseph A. Rozier, unionist delegate of New Orleans, in place of a secession report by the Committee of Fifteen, called for a convention of Southern states to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution to secure Southern rights. The unionist's resolution was rejected by a vote of 106 to 24. A cooperationist resolution was introduced by James O. Fuqua of East Feliciana Parish, stating that Louisiana wouldn't cooperate with the Republican agenda and that any armed aggression against the Southern states would absolve Louisiana of allegiance to the Union. The resolution was also defeated, 73-47. In the war, Fuqua served as a captain in the 16th Louisiana Infantry and then on the staff of Brig. Gen. Daniel Ruggles as a colonel. Rozier promoted the Union cause in New Orleans during the war and served as the 30th Mayor of New Orleans for one day in 1866. He was a conservative Democrat who advocated a return to the Louisiana Constitution of 1852, minus slavery.

Richard Taylor, one of the

delegates to the La. Secession

Convention. Taylor, the son of

former President Zachary Taylor

voted in favor of secession and 

during the war became a Confederate

lieutenant general.

(Mansfield State Historic Site)

Also, in Georgia on this day in 1861, George State Troops under Col. A.R. Lawton, seized the US Arsenal in Augusta. The arsenal was expanded in 1862 under Lt. Col. G.W. Rains to include enormous powder works. The arsenal produced a huge amount of war supplies for the Confederate Army during the war.

Pvt., later Lt., R.A. Mizell,

Co. A., 4th Ga. Inf. in 1861.

(Photographic History of the C.W.)

1862: President Jefferson Davis made the following general appointments: Richard S. Ewell, major general; Bushrod R. Johnson, James McQ. McIntosh, Lewis G. Arnold, brigadier generals.

1865: Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest took command of the District of Miss., E. La., and W. Tennessee on this day. 

 CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 24.

Brigadier General John Pegram was born in 1832 in Petersburg, Virginia. He attended West Point and graduated 10th in his Class of 1854. As a second lieutenant he served in several frontier forts with the dragoons, then as a cavalry instructor at West Point, and, while on leave, toured Europe in 1858-59. Pegram then was on frontier duty in 1860 and resigned from the U.S. Army in May 1861 after Virginia seceded. Pegram was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the 20th Virginia Infantry in the Confederate Army. During the Battle of Rich Mountain, Va., he was captured. After being exchanged, he was promoted to colonel and had staff jobs for generals Beauregard, Bragg, and E. Kirby Smith. Pegram was promoted to brigadier general in Nov. 1862 and was given command of a cavalry brigade. His other battles were Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Overland Campaign, the Valley Campaigns of 1864, and the Petersburg Campaign. Pegram was killed in action on Feb. 6, 1865, at the Battle of Hatcher's Run, Virginia. He had been married three weeks earlier to Miss Hetty Cary.

Brig. Gen. John Pegram

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Jan. 23.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 23.

1861: The Louisiana Secession Convention convened in the state capital Baton Rouge. Gov. Thomas Overton Moore told the convention that compromise with the North had become impossible and that Louisiana must never accept "coercion into submission, by force of arms." Former Gov. Alexandre Mouton was elected president of the convention. A Committee of Fifteen was formed to report back with an Ordinance of Secession.

Alexandre Mouton was elected

president of the Louisiana Secession

Convention. He was a former governor

of Louisiana and a former U.S. Senator.

His father was an Acadian exile who came

to Louisiana as a child and became a 

successful planter. His son Alfred was a

graduate of West Point and became a

Confederate brigadier general.

 (Library of Congress)

1862: Martial law is enacted in St. Louis, Missouri which allows for the seizure of property and arrests of Confederate sympathizers.

1865: General Robert E. Lee is appointed commander-in-chief of all Confederate armies. By this time the armies of the Confederacy had been greatly reduced. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was about 50,000 men by April; the Army of Tennessee under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had been reduced to about 20,000 in the Carolinas; Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor's army in the Dept. of Miss., Ala; and E. La. could field about 12,000 men, and Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith commanded between 30 and 40,000 men in the Trans-Mississippi Department. Over the four years of the war, the Confederacy was able to enlist 1,082,119 men, compared to the Federals' 2,128,948, according to Statista.

Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor is made commander of the Army of Tennessee, which is recovering at Tupelo, Miss. from its defeat at the Battle of Nashville. Taylor was able to keep some of the troops in his department to reinforce Mobile, Ala., then under siege by the Federals before it was transferred to the Carolinas under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 23.

Brigadier General John Randolph Chambliss Jr., in 1833, in Greenville County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in the Class of 1853, ranking 31st out of 52 cadets. Chambliss had a short tenure in the U.S. Army as a brevet second lieutenant. He was appointed to teach at the cavalry school at Carlisle Barracks, Penn. but resigned in the spring. Chambliss then engaged in agriculture on the family plantation and as a major on the staff of Gov. Henry A. Wise from 1856 to 1861. After the war started; he was commissioned a colonel in command of the 13th Virginia Cavalry. He was promoted to brigadier general after the Bristoe Campaign and commanded Brig. Gen. Rooney Lee's old brigade. His service included the Maryland Campaign in the fall of 1862. His battles included Brandy Station, Aldie, Middleburg, Hanover, Gettysburg, the Bristoe Campaign, the Overland Campaign, and the Second Battle of Deep Bottom, Va. where he was killed in action on August 17, 1864. He is buried in the Chambliss Family Cemetery in Emporia, Virginia.

Brig. Gen. John R. Chambliss Jr.

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Jan. 22.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 22.

1861: The New Orleans Daily Crescent reports that delegates to the Louisiana Legislature and the Louisiana Secession Convention are pouring into Baton Rouge, where the convention will convene the next day. The newspaper reports the general sentiment prevailing is for secession from the Union.

La. Gov. Thomas Overton Moore

led Louisiana out of the Union,

but former La. governor & U.S. Senator

Alexandre Mouton was president of the

La. Secession Convention.

President Alexandre Mouton of the

Louisiana Secession Convention

(Library of Congress)

An Early Secession Banner

1862: The New Orleans Daily Crescent reports that the Louisiana Militia will have a grand celebration for the first anniversary of the secession from the Union by Louisiana. The militia order notes, ". . . this great and glorious event should be celebrated in a manner worthy of a chivalrous and patriotic people, who disenthralled themselves and their political connection with a government whose principals were diametrically averse to the guaranteed constitutional rights, and their domestic institutions."

Louisiana Republic flag.

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 22.

Brigadier General Merriwether Jeff Thompson was born in 1826 in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Before the war, he worked as a store clerk, and city engineer was elected the Mayor of St. Joseph, Mo., and presided over the first Pony Express ride in 1860. He started out the war as a lieutenant colonel in the Missouri State Militia and led a battalion in partisan attacks gaining them the nickname, "Swamp Fox of the Confederacy." He was promoted to brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard led cavalry raids on the enemy and was in several battles in Arkansas. He was captured in 1864. Exchanged, he participated in Major General Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition in 1864. Thompson fought in the battles of Westport, Mine Creek, and Newtonia. He surrendered on May 11, 1865. After the war, Jeff Thompson settled in New Orleans where he worked as a civil engineer. He moved to St. Joseph, Mo. where he died Sept. 5, 1876, and was buried in Mount Mora Cemetery.

Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Jan. 21.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan. 21.

Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was born on this day in 1824 in Clarksburg, Virginia. Of humble origins, Jackson was of Scotch-Irish heritage and both of his parents, Julia Beckwith Neale Jackson and Jonathan Jackson, an attorney, were dead by the time he was seven. He was raised by an uncle, Cummins Jackson. Thomas was admitted to West Point and graduated with the Class of 1846 ranking 17th out of 56 cadets. Jackson was assigned as a second lieutenant in Co. K, 1st U.S. Artillery and compiled an outstanding record in the Mexican-American War, rising to the rank of brevet major. He fought at the Siege of Vera Cruz, and the battles of Contreras, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. After the war, he reverted to first lieutenant and served in the Second Seminole War and frontier duty. He resigned because he could not get along with his commanding officer. Jackson then got a professorship at the Virginia Military Institute. During this period, he married Elinor Junkin Jackson who died from childbirth along with the baby boy. His second wife Martha Anna Morrison Jackson had one child, Julia, both of whom survived Jackson. After the War for South Independence started his military genius soon became apparent and he rose quickly from brigadier general to lieutenant general and commander of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Jackson gained his nickname "Stonewall" at First Manassas in 1861. Jackson then amazed the world with his victories, including the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, the Seven Days Battles, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville in 1863, where he was mortally wounded. He died May 10, 1863, at Guinea Station, Virginia. Stonewall Jackson was buried in Lexington, Va. His fame is enduring, and his military tactics were admired and used by several World War II generals.

Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson

1863: Confederate cotton-clad gunboats Uncle Ben and Josiah Bell, with Lt. Dick Dowling's artillery company, Co. F, 1st Texas Heavy Artillery, and Capt. George O'Brien's Company E, 11th Bn. Tex. Vols. as sharpshooters, chased two Federal blockaders, Morning Light and Velocity, for 30 miles in the Gulf of Mexico off Sabine Pass, Texas. A sharp sea battle was fought and both Yankee ships were captured. This was the third battle won by the Confederates in Texas in January. The other two were the Battle of Galveston on Jan. 1, 1863, and the sea battle between the CSS Alabama commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, and the USS Hatteras in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston. 

Major Richard W. "Dicks" Dowling

(LLMVC, Hill Mem. Lib., LSU)

Today in History (general history)/ On This Day in Confederate History/ Confederate General Birthdays, Jan. 20.

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ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Jan 20.

1861: Mississippi state militia seized Fort Massachusetts which is located on Ship Island in the Gulf of Mexico. The fort was as of yet unfinished. It would become a major base for the Federal's invasion of Louisiana. It was also an important port for refueling its blockaders in the Gulf of Mexico.

Early war Confederate with musket

side knife and "Jeff Davis and the

South" sign, probably photographed.

in Corinth, Miss. (Library of Congress)

1862: The blockade-running ship J.W. Wilder is beached when prevented from entering Charleston Harbor by a sunken ship that the Federals put there. The Northerners tried to land to seize the ship but were prevented from doing so by Confederate troops.

1863: President Jefferson Davis made five general appointments on the day. He promoted Joseph "Fightin' Joe" Wheeler to major general. The president also appointed the following to brigadier general: Frank Crawford Armstrong, William Lewis Cabell, George Blake Cosby, and Marcellus Augustus Stovall.

1864: President Jefferson Davis appointed two men to brigadier general in the Confederate Army on this day, and Nathaniel Harrison Harris, Clement Hoffman Stevens.

1865: President Jefferson Davis appointed William McComb as brigadier general in the Army of Northern Virginia. At Appomattox Courthouse, his brigade, in Heth's Division, consisting of the 2nd Battalion Maryland Infantry, 1st, 7th, 14th, 17th, 23rd, 25th 44th, and 63rd Tennessee infantry regiments.

Brig. Gen. William McComb

CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Jan. 20.

NONE.