Click👉Today in History, General History Feb. 24.
On This Day in Confederate History
1862: SHILOH CAMPAIGN: Confederates under Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry evacuates Nashville, Tenn. under pressure from General Buel's Army of the Ohio. The Confederate forces were in shambles after the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson. General Albert Sidney Johnston appeared to be a failure and he had only 17,000 men to stop the Federal onslaught on the Mississippi Valley. Out of desperation, President Davis sent General P.G.T. Beauregard to the West to rescue the situation. Johnston welcomed Beauregard, who was sick, who set up his command in Jackson, Tennessee, and began calling on the region's Southern governors to immediately send reinforcements to Corinth, Miss. to throw back the Northern invaders.
Two Tennessee Confederates
(Library of Congress)
This is the history of one of the hardest-fighting infantry regiments in the War for Southern Independence, the 23rd Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was raised predominantly from the Middle Tennessee counties, where there was considerable support for secession and Southern Independence. The men were overwhelmingly made up of yeoman farmers of predominantly Anglo-Celtic descent who were to face some of the largest, bloodiest, and most memorable battles of the war, both in the West and the East. They got their baptism of fire in the Battle of Shiloh, followed by the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, and Knoxville in the West with the famed Army of Tennessee. They were then transferred to the East, where they fought in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign in Virginia, under the legendary General P.G.T. Beauregard, and then in the famed Army of Northern Virginia in the Petersburg Campaign and ended the war with the great General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. The book covers the history of the regiment from letters, diaries, memoirs, and official records to cover both officers and men in a personal way. It also has an annotated roster of some 1,164 men who served in the regiment, as well as maps, photos, illustrations, bibliography, footnotes, and index.
1863: The Confederate Ram C.S.S. Webb and C.S.S. Queen of the West attack the ironclad U.S.S. Indianola in the Red River in Louisiana, ramming it seven times until it is a wreck and surrenders. The Southern victory impairs Federal operations in the Red River and Mississippi River.
CSS QUEEN OF THE WEST AND THE CSS Web FORCED THE SURRENDER OF THE USS INDIANOLA
1864: President Davis appoints to the post of chief of staff General Braxton Bragg, who had been such a failure as the commander of the Army of Tennessee.
1865: Civilians in South Carolina suffer mightily under the onslaught of Sherman's vengeful bummers who feel they have a license to wreak havoc on the people of the first state to secede. Sherman complains to General Wade Hampton about the "murder" of some of the bluecoat foragers. Hampton replies he is unaware of the specific complaint but reiterates his standing order to shoot on sight any Federal caught burning people's homes. "This order shall remain in force so long as you disgrace the profession of arms by allowing your men to destroy private dwellings," Hampton writes.
Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton
CONFEDERATE GENERAL HISTORY, Feb. 24.
Brigadier General Thomas Benton Smith was born on this day in 1838 in Mechanicsville, Tennessee. He received a military education at the Nashville Military Academy and was appointed to West Point but resigned. Smith worked for the Nashville & Decatur Railroad. With the coming of war in 1861, he was elected a second lieutenant in the 20th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. After the battles of Mill Springs and Shiloh in 1862, he was promoted to colonel of his regiment and to brigadier general on July 29, 1864, and commanded an infantry brigade. His other battles included Baton Rouge, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, and Nashville where he was captured. After his surrender, a Federal colonel, William L. McMillen, beat unarmed Smith over the head with Smith's own sword, inflicting serious brain damage. Incarcerated at Johnson's Island, Ohio, and Fort Warren, Mass., Smith was not released until July 24, 1865. Following the war, Smith worked for the railroad, unsuccessfully ran for Congress, and with lingering brain damage from the assault, spent many of his post-war years in an insane asylum in Nashville. Occasionally he was able to attend veteran reunions or social events. He died May 21, 1923, and was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.
Brig. Gen. Thomas B. Smith
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Brigadier General John Crawford Vaughn was born on this day in 1824 in Roane County, Tennessee. He gained military experience in the Mexican American War serving as a captain in the Mexico City campaign. However, his regiment saw no combat action. In between wars he searched for gold in California, ran a hotel in Sweetwater, Tenn., and served as a sheriff in Monroe Co., Tenn. In the War for Southern Independence, Vaughn was elected colonel of the 3rd Tenn. Inf. Regiment and participated in the First Battle of Manassas, Va. Returning to Tennessee, he was promoted to brigadier general, led a brigade in the Vicksburg Campaign, and surrendered with the garrison at the end of the siege. Paroled in Oct. 1863, and then returned to active duty, took part in the Siege of Knoxville in 1863 under Lt. Gen. James Longstreet. After that, he mounted his brigade and served at the Battle of Piedmont, Bull's Gap, Morristown. On April 19, 1865, he joined President Jefferson Davis to escort his party. Vaughn surrendered on May 10, 1865, and was indicted by Tennessee for treason, but moved his family to Georgia. He returned to Tennessee in 1870 and entered politics and was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly. In 1874 he plead guilty in a fraud case involving a widow's pension and was fined $1,000, after which he moved back to Georgia. Vaughn died Sept. 10, 1875, and was buried with military honors at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Thomasville, Ga.
Brig. Gen. John C. Vaughn
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