Click 👉 THIS DAY IN HISTORY (General History)
ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, Nov. 6.
1861 -- Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected the first president of the Confederate States of America on this day, and Alexander Stephens of Georgia was the first vice president of the CSA. Born June 3, 1809, in Fairview, Kentucky, Davis' father was a Revolutionary War veteran. His family moved to Louisiana and then to Mississippi, where they permanently settled when Jefferson was a child. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., 23rd in a class of 33 in 1828. He served in the Black Hawk War as a 1st Lt. and in the Mexican War as colonel of the 1st Miss. Rifles in which he distinguished himself and came home a wounded war hero.
He married Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of General and future president Zachary Taylor, in 1837, but the marriage tragically ended in a few months when both contracted malaria, and she died, and he barely survived. His second wife was Varina Howell, and the couple was blessed with five children. Davis' pre-war political career included serving from Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and as Secretary of War in the administration of President Franklin Pierce. Davis was a unanimous choice for provisional president of the Confederacy and was then elected the first president of the new independent Southern Republic on this day in 1861.
1863: The Battle of Droop Mountain, [West] Virginia. Gen. William Averell led 3,855 Federal troops against 1,700 Confederate troops under Gen. John Echols. Confederate losses were 33 killed, 121 wounded, and 122 missing. Federal casualties were 45 killed, 98 wounded, and 2 captured. The Federals set a trap for the Confederates, and the battle is considered a Federal victory.
1864: the Second Battle of Cane Hill, Arkansas (also called a skirmish). This small battle was part of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri Campaign was winding down at that time. The actual fighting was between elements of Federal Lt. Col. Frederick W. Benteen's Cavalry Brigade and the rear guard of Confederate Brig. Gen. Joseph Orville Shelby's Cavalry. Estimated casualties were 2 to 3 killed for each side.
1865: The CSS Shenandoah, commanded by Commander James Iredell Waddell, after 13 months of valiant service as a Confederate cruiser, strikes its flag in Liverpool, England. The Shenandoah was an extreme clipper ship with an iron-framed hull. It displaced 1160 tons, was 230 ft. in length, and had a 33.5 ft. beam. It was both steam-powered and a full-rigged sailing ship, with a bronze propeller. The ship could make 8 knots under steam and 16 knots with sails. The ship's complement was 109 officers and men and was armed with four 8-inch smoothbore guns and two 12-pounder rifled Whitworth guns, and two 32-pounder guns. In its commerce raiding career, the Shenandoah captured, sank, or bonded 38 merchant vessels. When it surrendered in Liverpool, England, in 1865, the last official Confederate flag was furled. The war was truly over, but the military occupation and corruption of the South would linger and leave much bitterness.
CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, Nov. 6.
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