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1735 François-Ãtienne-Christophe Kellermann or de Kellermann, 1st Duke of Valmy (German: Franz Stephan Christoph Edler von Kellermann; 28 May 1735 â 23 September 1820) was a French military commander, later the Général d’Armée, a Marshal of the Empire and a freemason. Marshal Kellermann served in varying roles throughout the entirety of two epochal conflicts, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Kellermann is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.
1818 Pierre G. T. Beauregard Born May 28, 1818 d. 1893 American Confederate general. He led the attack on Fort Sumter starting the American Civil War (1861). The commander of Fort Sumter, whom he attacked, had been his instructor at West Point. Beauregard became the first Confederate general when he was appointed brigadier general (March 1, 1861).
1819 William Birney (May 28, 1819 â August 14, 1907) was a professor, Union Army general during the American Civil War, attorney and author. An ardent abolitionist, he was noted for encouraging thousands of free black men to join the Union army. Birney was a son of prominent Southern abolitionist leader James G. Birney and the older brother of Civil War general David B. Birney. Another brother, James M. Birney, served as Lieutenant Governor of Michigan in 1860. A cousin, Humphrey Marshall, was a U.S. Congressman and a general in the Confederate States Army
1830 George Lucas Hartsuff (May 28, 1830 â May 16, 1874) was an American soldier, born at Tyre, New York. He graduated at West Point in 1852, graduating 19th out of 43 in his class. He served on the frontier and in Florida, where, during a fight with the Seminole Indians near Fort Myers in December 1855, he received a wound which eventually caused his death. Hartsuff survived the wreck of the steamer Lady Elgin on Lake Michigan on September 8, 1860.
1914 Group Captain Wilfrid George Gerald Duncan Smith, DSO & Bar, DFC & Two Bars, AE (28 May 1914 â 11 December 1996) was a Royal Air Force flying ace of the Second World War.
1819 Lauri Allan Törni (May 28, 1919 â October 18, 1965) also known as Larry Thorne, was a Finnish war hero who fought for Finland, United States, and Germany. He led an infantry company as a Finnish Army captain in fighting the Soviet Union in the Winter War, a military conflict that began following the Soviet invasion of Finland. He also fought in such capacity in the Continuation Wars, a conflict fought against the Soviet Union by co-belligerents Finland and Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Following the Second World War he went to the US where he joined the United States Army Special Forces and fought in the Vietnam War. Considered a national hero of Finland, this war veteran lost his life in the Vietnam War. He received several military awards and decorations for his valor and contributions in the wars. These include Finnish decoration Mannerheim Cross; German decoration Iron Cross 2nd Class; and United States Army decorations and medals Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and Purple Heart among others.
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