This Month in Civil War: The Formation of the Confederate States of America

From the February 2023 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

FEBRUARY 4, 1861

**  The seceded states meet in Montgmery, Alabama, to form a new government.

FEBRUARY 5, 1865

**  Battle of Hatcher's Run, Virginia, begins.

FEBRUARY 8, 1861

The Confederate States of America adopts a provisional constitution.

FEBRUARY 9, 1864

**  109 Union officers escape from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.

FEBRUARY 16, 1862

Union captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee, where U.S. Grant gains the nickname "Unconditional Surrender."

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in February-- Part 1: The Confederate States of America Formed

From the American Battlefield Trust.

FEBRUARY 4, 1861

**  The seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a government.

FEBRUARY 5, 1861

**  The Battle of Hatcher's Run, Virginia, begins.

FEBRUARY 8, 1861

**  The Confederate States of America adopts a provisional constitution.

FEBRUARY 9, 1861

**   Jefferson Davis elected provisional Confederate President.

FEBRUARY 15, 1861

**  The Provisional Confederate Congress establishes a Peace Commission to avoid war with the United States.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in February: The Confederate States of America

From the American Battlefield Trust 2021 February calendar.

FEBRUARY 2

GROUNDHOG DAY:  I wonder if the groundhog saw his shadow on this date during the war.

FEBRUARY 4

1861  The seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a new government.

FEBRUARY 8

1861   The Confederate States of America adopts a provisional constitution.

FEBRUARY 18

1861  Jefferson Davis inaugurated President of the Confederate States of America.

FEBRUARY  20

1864   Battle of Olustee, Florida.

FEBRUARY 21

1862   Battle of Valverde, New Mexico Territory

--Old Secesh

February 9, 1861: Jefferson Davis Elected CSA President

On February 9, 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected provisional president of the Confederate States of America at a congress held in Montgomery, Alabama.

--Old Secesh

Georgia's Allen Daniel Candler: One Wife, One Baby, One Dollar and One Eye"

From Wikipedia.

Follow up on Candler from the previous post. I was unable to find further details on his helping Union General Dow to excape execution by the Montgomery mob, unfortunately. But, this is one interesting man as more research revealed.

Born Nov. 4, 1834 and died Oct. 26, 1910. State legislator, U.S. Representative and Georgia's 56th governor.

In May 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 34th Georgia Volunteer Infantry and was soon elected by the others as a first lieutenant.

He fought at Vicksburg, Missuionary Ridge, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta and Jonesboro and later was a colonel under Gen. Johnston in North Carolina at the end of the war.

He was wounded at Kennesaw Mountain and lost an eye at Jonesboro. When he made the comment that he had "one wife, one baby, one dollar and one eye" at the end of the war, he was saying that he was more fortunate than others.

Candler County, Georgia, is named for him.

--Old Secesh

Confederate Colonel Candler Protected Hated Union Officer: "One Wife, One Baby, One Dollar and One Eye"

From the January 12, 2014, Gainesville (Ga.) Times "Johnny Vardeman Column: 'Col. Candler defied mob to protect Union officer.' "

A.D. Candler of Gainesville, Georgia, was mayor, U.S. representative and Georgia's governor. But before that, he was a Confederate veteran.

At age 26, he enlisted in the Army as a private and one month later had been elected as 1st lieutenat and then captain within a year. Eventually, he rose to the rank of colonel.

He was once put in charge of transporting captured Union General Neal Dow to Richmond to be exchanged. Dow was an ardent abolitionist and much hated in the South. On the way to Richmond from Mississippi, Candler and his prisoner stopped in Montgomery, Alabama, and stayed at the Exchange Hotel (not bad for a prisoner to overnight in a hotel, I guess being a general, even an enemy general, has its privileges.)

Townspeople heard about Dow being there and a mob soon gathered with intentions of killing him. Candler hid him and eventually made a getaway.

Later, Candler lost his left eye at the Battle of Jonesboro. He made a famous statement at the end of the war that all he had was "one wife, one baby, one dollar and one eye."

During his political campaigns, he was referred to as "The One-Eyed Plough Boy From Pigeon Roost."

Old One-Eye. --Old Secesh