Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #confederateheritagemonth
Most recents (24)
There were no particularly notable confederates who passed away #OTD, so to honor #ConfederateHeritageMonth today, we wish a very happy birthday to General Ulysses S. Grant, conqueror of the confederacy. #CivilWar @USGrantNPS 
The Siege of Fort Macon, NC, ended #OTD in 1862 when the confederate garrison surrendered to U.S. troops under General John Parke. The fort had been under siege for a month as part of General Ambrose Burnside’s North Carolina Expedition. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of President Abraham Lincoln, was found and killed by a detachment of @USArmy soldiers #OTD in 1865, in a tobacco barn on the Garrett Farm near Port Royal, Virginia. #CivilWar #ConfederateHeritageMonth 🧵
Having escaped from Washington after the assassination, Booth spent nearly two weeks evading capture and seeking treatment for the leg he injured when he jumped to the @fordstheatre stage. He was accompanied by David Herold, one of his co-conspirators. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
They were guided to the Garrett Farm by a former confederate solider, Willie Jett. The Garrett family was unaware of who Booth was, or even that Lincoln had been assassinated, since the confederate mail system had stopped. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
U.S. forces arrived in New Orleans #OTD in 1862, a day after passing the confederate positions at Forts Jackson & St. Philip. Confederate commander Mansfield Lovell refused to surrender to the small force of Marines, and a mob pulled down the flag they’d raised at the US Mint.🧵
A week later, Admiral Farragut returned with a stronger force, removing the Louisiana flag from city hall. Shortly after, General Benjamin Butler arrived and occupied the city with 5,000 U.S. troops. #CivilWar #ConfederateHeritageMonth
The Battle of Marks’ Mills was fought #OTD in 1864, when confederate forces under James Fagan intercepted a wagon train of supplies intended for Gen. Frederick Steele's forces near Camden, AR. They were bottled up there after the failure of his Camden Expedition #CivilWar.🧵
On April 24, Steele sent about 1400 men and nearly 250 wagons under the command of Lt. Colonel Francis Drake, to forage for food. They were accompanied by several civilian wagons and nearly 300 formerly enslaved Black men who worked as laborers for the Army.
Encountering muddy roads and a swollen Moro Bayou bottom due to heavy spring rains, by mid-afternoon Drake ordered his men to camp for the night, sending the laborers ahead to cut logs to corduroy the muddy road. He was unaware that Fagan's cavalry was camped nearby.
John Doby Kennedy died #OTD in 1896. A law student prior to the #CivilWar, he elected to join the confederacy and commanded a regiment in the confederate losses at the Battles of @GettysburgNMP, Cedar Creek, Bentonville, and others. #ConfederateHeritageMonth🧵
After the war he was elected to the U.S. House, but was denied his seat when he refused to take the oath swearing allegiance to the federal government. He was also prominent in the effort to return South Carolina to majority white rule. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
Edmund W. Rucker died #OTD in 1924. He commanded cavalry units in the confederate losses at the Battles of Nashville, Franklin, Chattanooga and others. Despite fighting against the @USArmy for 4 years, they named Fort Rucker after him in 1942. #ConfederateHeritageMonth🧵
Two days ago, the fort was renamed Fort Novosel, after Medal of Honor recipient CW4 Michael J. Novosel, a medevac helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War.
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, was occupied by U.S. troops under General William T. Sherman #OTD in 1865, as retreating confederate forces under Joseph Johnston were no longer able to defend the state’s capital. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
The Battle of Fort Bisland was fought #OTD in 1863. General Nathaniel Banks marched his XIX Corps north out of New Orleans, with the goal of capturing Alexandria. The campaign was planned to coordinate with @USGrantNPS’s move toward @VicksburgNPS. #ConfederateHeritageMonth 🧵
Opposing Banks was Dick Taylor’s small confederate army, entrenched in an outpost named Fort Bisland near the Bayou Teche region of central Louisiana. It was the only major defensive position barring Banks’ advance.
Taylor’s men were able to hold off a series of US assaults, but ultimately were forced to abandon the fort when it became clear that a @USArmy division was in position to cut off their retreat. Banks was able to continue his advance, and occupied Alexandria for over a year.
Richard "Dick" Taylor died #OTD in 1879, at the age of 53. He was the only son of the late President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, but decided to join the confederacy at the outbreak of the #CivilWar. #ConfederateHeritageMonth🧵
A graduate of @Yale, Taylor displayed his confederate heritage by running a forced labor farm in Mississippi prior to the war, which included enslaving over 200 Black people. He later sold it and bought a different one named "Fashion" in Louisiana. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
When his crops failed and he went heavily into debt, Taylor entered politics. He was elected to the Louisiana Senate, where he became a member of the Native American Party, better known as the Know Nothings. The party was known for its harsh xenophobic, anti-immigration policies.
The Fort Pillow Massacre took place #OTD in 1864, when confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the U.S. outpost and killed over 200 Black soldiers and their officers, many murdered after they had been captured and disarmed. #CivilWar #ConfederateHeritageMonth
#OTD in 1861, southern troops in Charleston, SC, displayed their confederate heritage by opening fire without provocation on the @USArmy post at @FtSumterNPS, situated on an island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. The bombardment began the #CivilWar. #ConfederateHeritageMonth🧵
When South Carolina announced its attempt to secede from the U.S. four months earlier, they demanded the Army installations around Charleston be abandoned. The local commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused, and consolidated his men at Fort Sumter. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
Attempts were made to resupply the garrison. In January, the steamship "Star of the West" was hired to bring supplies & reinforcements to the fort, but it was needlessly fired upon by batteries manned by cadets from The @Citadel1842. The ship turned back before reaching the fort.
Wade Hampton III died #OTD in 1902. A prominent land and slave owner prior to the #CivilWar, he joined the rebellion and became a cavalry officer. He participated in many of the confederacy's most critical defeats, including @GettysburgNMP. #ConfederateHeritageMonth 🧵
Hampton's brother and son were killed during the war, and he was wounded several times. After participating in the final surrender of a major confederate army at Bennett Place, NC, Hampton returned to his South Carolina home and became active in politics.
Demonstrating his confederate heritage of racism, he raised funds for the formation of the Red Shirts, a paramilitary group that intimidated Black people with violence and lynchings, tactics he used to win election as Governor of South Carolina in 1876. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
James Longstreet began the Siege of Suffolk, VA #OTD in 1863. With 25,000 men under his command, he was not able to take the city away from the 20,000 U.S. troops under his former West Point classmate, General John J. Peck. #ConfederateHeritageMonth🧵
He was, however, successful in bottling up the U.S. troops in the city itself, leaving Longstreet's men free to forage for supplies to send back to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and protect @RichmondNPS from U.S. attacks.
The siege lasted for a month, before Longstreet's Corps was recalled to Lee's army to take part in the @GettysburgNMP Campaign.
Jesse James was killed #OTD in 1882. Before beginning his career as a common outlaw, he served with Bloody Bill Anderson's confederate guerrilla band in the #CivilWar & participated in the Centralia Massacre in which 24 @USArmy soldiers were murdered. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
The Battle of Namozine Church was fought #OTD in 1865, part of the @AppomattoxNPS Campaign. Cavalry under Gen. George Custer routed confederate forces under Fitzhugh Lee, capturing half his men and further unraveling Robert E. Lee's army. #CivilWar. #ConfederateHeritageMonth🧵
During the battle, Custer’s younger brother and aide-de-camp, Tom, earned the first of his two Medals of Honor by leaping his horse over a barricade under fire, seizing the flag of the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry and taking 14 prisoners.
A mob of 5,000, mostly poor women, broke into shops in @RichmondNPS #OTD in 1863, stealing bread and other goods that were in scarce supply in the southern capital. The “bread riot” was broken up by local militia. #CivilWar #ConfederateHeritageMonth
U.S. forces under Gen. James Wilson defeated the cavalry of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the Battle of Selma #OTD in 1865. Over two-thirds of Forrest's 4000 men were casualties, and his once-feared cavalry ceased to be an effective fighting force. #CivilWar #ConfederateHeritageMonth
A.P. Hill was shot and killed by U.S. troops from the 138th Pennsylvania Infantry #OTD in 1865. The action occurred during the Third Battle of @PetersburgNPS, a resounding U.S. victory. Strangely, the @USArmy decided to name @Fort_APHill after Hill. #ConfederateHeritageMonth 🧵
Along with Fort Polk, it is one of two active @USArmy installations named after a person who was intentionally killed in combat by the U.S. Army as an armed enemy of the United States.
John Doby Kennedy died #OTD in 1896. A law student prior to the #CivilWar, he elected to join the confederacy and commanded a regiment in the confederate losses at the Battles of @GettysburgNMP, Cedar Creek, Bentonville, and others. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
After the war he was elected to the @USHouseHistory, but was denied his seat when he refused to take the oath swearing allegiance to the federal government. He was also prominent in the effort to return South Carolina to majority white rule. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, was occupied by US troops under General William T. Sherman #OTD in 1865, as retreating confederate forces under Joseph Johnston were no longer able to defend the state’s capital. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
The Battle of Fort Bisland was fought #OTD in 1863. General Nathaniel Banks marched his XIX Corps north out of New Orleans, with the goal of capturing Alexandria. The campaign was planned to coordinate with @USGrantNPS’s move toward @VicksburgNPS. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
Opposing Banks was Dick Taylor’s small confederate army, entrenched in an outpost named Fort Bisland near the Bayou Teche region of central Louisiana. It was the only major defensive position barring Banks’ advance.
Taylor’s men were able to hold off a series of US assaults, but ultimately were forced to abandon the fort when it became clear that a @USArmy division was in position to cut off their retreat. Banks was able to continue his advance, and occupied Alexandria for over a year.
Richard "Dick" Taylor died #OTD in 1879, at the age of 53. He was the only son of the late President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, but decided to join the confederacy at the outbreak of the #CivilWar. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
A graduate of @Yale, Taylor displayed his confederate heritage by running a forced labor farm in Mississippi prior to the war, which included enslaving over 200 Black people. He later sold it and bought a different one named "Fashion" in Louisiana. #ConfederateHeritageMonth
When his crops failed and he went heavily into debt, Taylor entered politics. He was elected to the Louisiana Senate, where he became a member of the Native American Party, better known as the Know Nothings. The party was known for its harsh xenophobic, anti-immigration policies.
The Fort Pillow Massacre took place #OTD in 1864, when confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the US outpost and killed over 200 Black soldiers and their officers, many murdered after they had been captured and disarmed. #CivilWar #ConfederateHeritageMonth
