1409 John II of Alençon (2 March 1409 â 8 September 1476) was the son of John I of Alençon and his wife Marie of Brittany, Lady of La Guerche (1391â1446), daughter of John V, Duke of Brittany, and Joan of Navarre. He succeeded his father as Duke of Alençon and Count of Perche as a minor in 1415, after the latter’s death at the Battle of Agincourt. He is best known as a general in the Last Phase of the Hundred Years’ War and for his role as a comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc, who called him “le beau duc” (“the fair duke”/”the gentle duke”).
1481 Franz von Sickingen or Francis of Sickingen was a German knight who, with Ulrich von Hutten, led the Knight’s Revolt, and was one of the most notable figures of the early period of the Reformation.
1793 Samuel Houston (March 2, 1793 â July 26, 1863) was an American soldier and politician. An important leader of the Texas Revolution, Houston served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas, and was one of the first two individuals to represent Texas in the United States Senate.
1824 Henry Beebee Carrington was a lawyer, professor, prolific author, and an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and in the Old West during Red Cloud’s War. A noted engineer, he constructed a series of forts to protect the Bozeman Trail, but suffered a major defeat at the hands of the warchief Red Cloud.
1828 Jefferson Columbus Davis’ distinguished service in Mexico earned him high prestige at the outbreak of the Civil War, when he led Union troops through Southern Missouri to Pea Ridge, Arkansas, being promoted to Brigadier General after that significant victory. Following the Siege of Corinth, he was granted home leave on account of exhaustion, but returned to duty on hearing of Union defeats in Kentucky, where he reported to General William “Bull” Nelson at Louisville in September 1862. Nelson was dissatisfied with his performance, and insulted him in front of witnesses. A few days later, Davis demanded a public apology, but instead the two officers argued noisily and physically, concluding in Davis mortally wounding Nelson with a pistol. Davis avoided conviction due to the shortage of experienced commanders in the Union Army, but the incident hampered his chances for promotion. He served as a corps commander under William Tecumseh Sherman during his March to the Sea in 1864. After the war, Davis was the first commander of the Department of Alaska from 1867 to 1870, and assumed field command during the Modoc War of 1872â1873.
1932 Frank Emmanuel Petersen Jr. (March 2, 1932 â August 25, 2015) was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. He was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general. Petersen retired from the Marine Corps in 1988 after 38 years of service.
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