CLICK 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) March 15.
ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 15.
1863: BATTLE OF KELLY'S FORD, VA: This battle was called non-conclusive by the North because their cavalry was not routed by the Confederate cavalry as usual. Nevertheless, the bluecoat troopers had to retreat and leave the field to the gray coat troopers. It certainly helped them to do better than the Federals usually did, but they outnumbered the Confederates by more than 2-to-1. The Northern cavalry consisted of the division of Maj. Gen. William Averell numbering 2,100 men. The Confederate troopers numbered 800 men under Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. The bluecoats gained an initial advantage by pushing back a small number of Confederates, some 60 men. But Lee rushed in the rest of his brigade at a strategic location which stopped the Federals and eventually caused them to a retreat. Northern casualties amounted to 6 killed, 50 wounded, and 22 missing. The Southerners suffered 11 killed, 88 wounded, and 34 captured. The Confederate dead included "The Gallant" Major John Pelham who was killed by a small piece of shrapnel which hit him in the head from a shell burst over him fired by enemy artillery. He died soon afterwards Pelham was one of bravest and talented artillerist in Army of Northern Virginia.
1864: In the Red River Campaign, as Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor's Army of Western Louisiana continued to retreat, and the Federal fleet under Admiral Porter reached Alexandria, Louisiana on the Red River. The invaders quickly turned the river port city into a major supply depot for their invasion and cotton-stealing expedition. However, Taylor had carefully seen to it that all public property was evacuated before the Federals arrived. The Confederate Army also continued to consolidate and receive reinforcements.
CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 15.
Brigadier General Edward Aylesworth Perry was born on this day in 1831 in Richmond, Massachusetts. He moved to Greenville, Alabama in 1853 to teach and study the law. In 1857 Perry moved to Pensacola, Florida where he served as a county judge. With the advent of war in 1861, Perry enlisted in the 2nd Florida Infantry and was elected captain of Company A. He was elected colonel of the regiment and then appointed brigadier general on August 28, 1862. Perry was wounded at the Battle of Glendale in June 1862 but later fought at the Battle of Chancellorsville, missing the Gettysburg campaign because of typhoid fever. He was able to return to his command for the Bristoe campaign in the Fall of 1863 but was severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. Perry tried to return to active duty for the Siege of Petersburg but had to be put on duty in the Confederate Invalid Corps for the rest of the war. Following the war, Perry became an active opponent of Reconstruction, was elected governor of Florida, and took office on Jan. 7, 1885. He died on Oct. 18, 1889, of a stroke while visiting Kerrville, Texas. He was buried in St. John's Cemetery in Pensacola.
No comments:
Post a Comment