Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 4: Action at Gettysburg

Junius Daniel was commissioned a brigadier general on September 1, 1862, making him one of the five men from Halifax County to attain that rank in the Confederate Army.  (I am unable to find out who the other four brigadier generals are from Halifax County, N.C.)

He spent the fall of 1862 with his brigade at Drewry's Bluff in Virginia and then served in North Carolina.  During this time, his unit saw very limited combat action.

Shortly after the Battle of Chancellorsville, his unit was transferred to Major General Robert E. Rodes' division of Richard S. Ewell's 2nd Corps, where he served with distinction during the Gettysburg Campaign  Daniel's largest brigade, trusted to carry the Corps Flag, consisted of the 32nd, 43rd, 45th and 53rd North Carolina along with the 2nd North Carolina Battalion.

On July 1, 1863, the first day of the battle, Daniel's brigade repeatedly attacked Union forces on McPherson's Ridge, eventually driving off  the Union brigade of Colonel Roy Stone.  As his first attack on that position failed, and his men began retreating, Daniel heroically galloped after his men, rallied them and  launched another assault.

Daniel's men suffered the  greatest loss of any brigade in the 2nd Corps on the first day at Gettysburg.

--Old Secesh

Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 3: Service on the Frontier, Louisiana and Back to North Carolina

Continued from October 11, 2020.

In 1852, he was assigned to Fort Albuquerque in New Mexico Territory and remained stationed on the frontier for five years.  Temporarily under the command of Richard S. Ewell of the 3rd Dragoons, Lieutenant Daniel saw action  in a series of skirmishes with Apache Indians in 1855.

In 1858, Daniel resigned his commission and became a planter in Louisiana, joining his father who had moved there in 1851 after his last term in Congress.  In October 1860, he married Ellen Long.

CIVIL WAR SERVICE

The state of Louisiana offered Daniel a commission after Lincoln's call for volunteers, but he returned to Halifax, North Carolina, where he offered his services to his native state.  he was chosen colonel of the  4th (later 14th N.C. Infantry).  When the period of enlistment ended, he was offered command of several regiments before accepting that of the 45th Infantry Regiment.

Junius Daniel led four regiments from Raleigh to Goldsboro where he organized them into a brigade.  Afterwards, he organized two other brigades.  In June 1862, his brigade was ordered to Petersburg, Virginia, where his brigade joined the Army of Northern Virginia just before the Seven Days Battles, though it took no part in them.

--Old Secesh

 

Confederate General Junius Daniel-- Part 2: From North Carolina, Attended West Point

From Wikipedia.

JUNIUS DANIEL

June 27, 1828-May 13, 1864

Planter and career military officer, serving in the U.S. and then the C.S. armies.  His troops were instrumental in the Confederate success at the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  He was killed in action at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

He was born in Halifax, North Carolina,  the son of a wealthy political family.  His father, John Reeves Jones Daniel served as attorney general for North Carolina and member of the U.S. Congress.  His mother,  Mary Stith, came from a family of prominent Virginians that descended from John Stith and William Randolph.

Education for Daniel came at local school in Halifax and then another school in Raleigh.  President James K. Polk appointed him to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1846 and graduated from there with the Class of 1851, ranking 33rd out of 41 one in that group.

Appointed brevet 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Infantry, he was sent to Newport, Kentucky, as assistant quartermaster.

Further Service in U.S. Army.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 1

 Today, I was writing about the Confederate statue at the Halifax County Courthouse in North Carolina being removed and a picture accompanying the article was a plaque in honor of this man, but actually wasn't the monument in question.

Junius Daniel was born and grew up in Halifax County and is buried there.

The plaque reads:

JUNIUS DANIEL

1828-1864

West Point graduate in 1851.  Officer in the U.S. Army until 1858.  Brigadier-General in  the C.S. Army  Mortally wounded in the Battle of Spottsylvania Court House.  Born and Buried in Halifax.

Erected 1929 by The North Carolina Historical Commission and the Halifax Chapter, U.D.C.

It is located on the grounds of the Halifax Court House.

Of course, now there is someone wanting to remove it.  Confederate, you know.

--Old Secesh