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

Click 👉Today in History (general history) May 23.

On This Day in Confederate History, May 23.

1861: VIRGINIA SECESSION: Voters of Virginia went to the polls and voted 125,950 to 20,373 to endorse the state's secession from the Union. Some 155,000 Virginians served in the Confederate Army during the War for Southern Independence. The state also supplied some of the Confederacy's greatest generals, including Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart.

1862: Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's 16,500 Confederate Army wins an easy victory over Col. John Reese Kenly with 1,063 Federals and two artillery pieces at the Battle of Front Royal, Va., Confederate Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat with his ferocious Louisiana Tigers (1st Battalion Louisiana Volunteers) and the 1st Maryland Infantry routed the Northern occupiers. The Tigers played a major role in Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Confederate casualties were 36 killed and wounded, to 773 total Federal casualties (83 killed and wounded and 691 captured).

Maj. Chatham R. Wheat

Louisiana Tiger

Unidentified, Co. C 1st Maryland Infantry

(Library of Congress)

Click👉The Tiger Rifles: The Making of a Louisiana Legend

A history of Company B, 1st Special Battalion (Wheat's) Louisiana Volunteers in the War Between the States. The Tiger Rifles, Company B, of Wheat's Battalion became famous because of their flashy Zouave uniforms, their famous battalion commander, Major Roberdeau Wheat, and their heroics at First Battle of Manassas. Their nickname, Tigers, became attached, first to the battalion, and then to all Louisiana troops serving in the Army of Northern Virginia. The book tries to separate fact from myth with regards to the Tigers. The men became so notorious for their antics in camp, they got blamed for a lot of things they didn't do, although they did plenty on their own to deserve their reputation. Also examined is the possible real identity of their company commander, Captain Alexander White. His name is an alias but as far as is known, his real identity has been a mystery. The book focuses tightly on the men of the Tiger Rifles and brings them to life as much as the limited resources allows.

+1863: The Siege of  Vicksburg continues, but because of the massive defeat of the day before, there is little artillery fire and sharpshooting from the Federals. "Many of his dead were still lying unburied insight of our trenches," Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton reported later. The Federal keeps up their mortar fire, and at night, the Confederates keep busy repairing their trenches.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, Federals complete their investment of the Confederate line, but on the Confederate left wing, Colonel I.G.W. Steedman, who is in command of the Confederate left wing, throws out skirmishers from the 1st Alabama Volunteers to push back on the Yankees in the swamps and ravines in that area. 

Col. I.G.W. Steedman

1st Alabama Volunteers

1864: Fighting erupts at the Battle of North Anna River and becomes severe when the Federals advance, but Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill strikes back with his 3rd Corps, with severe fighting at Chesterfield Bridge and Jericho Mills. That night, General Robert E. Lee set a trap with an inverted V formation for Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant, but Lee is down sick that day and can't supervise the battle, which continues until May 26.

In the Atlanta Campaign, General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee kept in front of Lt. Gen. U.S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee with action at Stilesborough as the armies moved toward Dallas, Georgia, drawing ever closer to Atlanta.

Confederate General Birthdays, May 23.

None.