General officers in the Confederate States Army Edmund Kirby Smith, who was appointed general late in the war and into the PACS. Pierre G.T. Beauregard, had also initially been appointed a PACS general but was elevated to ACSA two months later with the same date of rank. These generals outranked all other grades of generals, as well as all lesser officers in the Confederate States Army. The first group of officers appointed to general were Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and Pierre G.T. Beauregard, with their seniority in that order. This ordering caused Cooper, a staff officer who would not see
Charleston in the American Civil War and a half before the war ended. Charleston Harbor was also the site of the first successful submarine attack in history on February 17, 1864, when the "H.L. Hunley" made a daring night attack on the USS "Housatonic". Although the "Hunley" survived the attack, she foundered and sank while returning from her mission, thus ending the threat to the Union blockade. As Gen. Sherman marched through South Carolina, the situation for Charleston became ever more precarious. On February 15, 1865, Gen. Beauregard ordered the evacuation of remaining Confederate forces. On February 18, the mayor surrendered the city to General Alexander