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

 Click 👉 TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) Nov. 20

ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 20

1862: General Bragg changed the name of the Army of the Mississippi to the Army of Tennessee after moving the army to Kentucky and then Tennessee. Bragg divided the army into two corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk and Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee. He then formed a third corps out of Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith's Department of East Tennessee. However, the Third Corps was soon broken up. Bragg commanded the AOT in 1862-63, then Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, 1863-64,  then Gen. J.B.  Hood, 1864-65, and in 1865, Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor (briefly), and J.E. Johnston again in the last few months of the war. The peak strength of the Confederate Army of Tennessee was in September 1863, during the Battle of Chickamauga, when it had 48,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry, marking its greatest victory of the war.

Pvt. William P. Ward (1842-1916) of Cobb County, Ga.

He served in Co. F, 40th Ga. Inf. and later Co. B, 41st Ga. Inf.

The 40th Georgia & 41st Georgia fought in the battles of  Perryville, 

Chickasaw Bayou, Champion's Hill, and the Siege of Vicksburg, where it

was surrendered on July 4, 1863. After being exchanged,

it served in Stovall's brigade of the AOT, where it fought in 

 the Chattanooga and Nashville campaigns before its surrender, 

and the men were paroled at the end of the war.

(Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress)

1863: Siege of Knoxville, Tenn.: Confederate forces around Chattanooga, Tennessee continue their siege. At Knoxville, General Longstreet is waiting on reinforcements before attacking the main Federal bastion, Fort Sanders.

1864: Sherman's March to the Sea: Georgia state militia and home guards continue to try to retard Sherman's March to the Sea at Clinton, Walnut Creek, East Macon, and Griswoldsville, Georgia.

Confederate General Birthdays, Nov, 20

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